Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations all characters find themselves in. Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoy and let me know what you think!
Getting Into Trouble
Over the past few decades Harry had had plenty of occasions to accidentally stumble upon a couple locked in a passionate embrace in various secluded and not so private venues. He'd even stumbled across couples in the throes, in two very awkward cases, one instance being a case of him walking in on Chester with one of his mistresses in the man's study. Walking in to find your mate fucking his assistant at the time over his desk was never a good way to start one's day in anyone's books, especially since Chester was not a man Harry ever enjoyed seeing with his pants down around his ankles.
But the point was Harry had been put on the spot before, stuck trying unsuccessfully to leave without being noticed so that the couple in question could continue what they were doing without any embarrassing silences and future awkward meetings.
He'd never been one half of the couple caught before.
Caught basically rutting with Eggsy in the hallway, because really what was the point in trying to pretty it up after the fact since he couldn't truthfully deny the fact that yes, he'd had Eggsy up on his tip toes so that their hips and cocks could line up enough for them to all but rub off on each other. Nor could he deny that Eggsy's fingers had been digging into his ass cheeks and his own hands had been occupied turning Eggsy's formerly styled hair into a very sexy mess that made it clear what they had been getting up to. No pun intended.
Naturally they'd been making out with plenty of tongue previously, and the sounds they'd been making had no doubt echoed in the corridors of his former mate's house. And of course when he'd stopped the snogging, still completely unaware of the audience that had snuck up on them, Harry had turned his attention to marking up the other man's throat too high on Eggsy's neck for his collar to cover completely, because yes, his stupid dragon half was just that determined to make sure that everyone knew without a doubt that he and Eggsy weren't mated in name only.
So that's what they'd been doing when Eggsy suddenly went still and tense against him, his boy's hands dropping away from Harry's ass, which he hadn't appreciated. Or hadn't appreciated until the lack of attention from his mate had allowed Harry's brain to function enough to clue him into the fact that there were eyes that weren't Eggsy's on him. And that wasn't a good thing.
And of course it was Chester's close friends the Heskeths, and their grandson Charles, who Eggsy hated with a passion and had constantly gotten into altercations with in the past.
Someone up there really wasn't willing to cut him a break.
Eggsy had acted like it was no big deal of course, his mate grinning over at the three people gaping at them like landed trout while acting all cute and charming as he explained away their behavior with a casual comment about them being newlyweds. Like that excused them entirely for their completely inappropriate behavior.
The Heskeths had just stared at them like they'd lost their minds, and Harry had been about to stutter out what would have no doubt been a longwinded and jumbled up apology, when Eggsy had latched onto his arm while stating that they really should be heading down and didn't want to hold them up.
So just like that Eggsy had gently but firmly steered him down the hallway and past the others, not looking back for a moment or showing any sign of thinking the whole thing had been awkward at all until they'd arrived at the stairs leading downstairs. Then the imp had actually dared to wink at him.
"Just breathe, Luv. Who gives a fuck what they think, anyway."
"Estelle Hesketh will spend the entire afternoon and evening recounting what they saw to everyone she comes into contact with. And her husband will tell anyone she might miss."
"And Charlie will run his mouth plenty. So what?"
Numerous responses on the tip of his tongue, Eggsy wasn't a child after all and should realize the damage gossip could cause, but Harry found the words dying away as he really looked at his mate, too overcome with mortification to speak. You just had to look at Eggsy to see what they'd been up to.
"What?" Reaching up Eggsy started to finger comb his hair, Harry batting it away so that he could do it himself.
"I think we should go back to our room and call Roxanne. You need to ask her to come up with some makeup to cover up the…I'm afraid I marked up your neck rather badly."
"Oh I can feel it, Luv."
And don't you sound pleased with yourself, Harry noted with a quick eye roll, though a part of him was a little bit…chuffed that Eggsy was pleased to wear his mark.
"A'rry, if my hair's good now we should head down. I ain't wearin makeup. I'm goin down there, and let anyone who cares to look, look. It ain't something to hide. Unless it will really embarrass you. I'll put that crap on for you, but you will owe me." The boy wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, his leer making it clear what he meant by that.
"Eggsy."
"Harry."
The idea of asking Eggsy what he was supposed to do with him occurred to Harry, but he wasn't born yesterday, thank you very much. He knew exactly what sort of zingers the boy would toss back at him if he did. So instead Harry reached over and fiddled with the collar that only partially obscured the discoloration that marked where his lips had been earlier, trying to figure out how he could get it through his mate's head that it wasn't just propriety that had him arguing with him, but his knowledge of Chester as well. He didn't belong to the old bastard anymore, but that didn't mean Chester's nose wouldn't get out of joint over anything that suggested that Eggsy could inspire anything resembling passion from Harry, when he hadn't been able to do the same.
Chester already hated Eggsy for not just his bloodlines, Harry knew, but his good looks, youth, and reputation in the bedroom. Having it rubbed in his face that yes, Eggsy was better looking, sexier, and a million times better in bed than Chester could ever hope to be would not end well.
Unfortunately, Eggsy would just be that much more eager to flaunt the mark if he thought it would piss Chester off.
And even if the mark was covered the Heskeths would make sure everyone in the Guild knew what they'd seen earlier, so standing here arguing with Eggsy about it was pointless in the grand scheme of things. Better to just leave it, Harry decided after some thoughtful consideration, and at least present a united front between them.
"Let's go then. We're late to the festivities as it is."
Grinning as he held out his arm for Harry to take, it was obvious that Eggsy was pleased Harry wasn't going to argue with him about it anymore. Whether he'd continue to be smug once people started to question him about the mark was the question soon to be answered.
)
Not surprisingly the boy only looked that much happier when minutes later they were approached by the Mortons, who came towards them with pleased expressions as Colin informed them that they'd been on their way to see what was keeping them, as the Guild Master had been asking after them for a while now. The underlying message being that they'd basically been drafted into retrieving them for Chester, and were sorry for it.
"My fault entirely. Lost track of time." Eggsy informed them, grinning like a Cheshire cat as he said it.
"Now why doesn't that surprise me." Shaking his head in a very motherly sort of way at Eggsy, Colin smiled at Harry in a way that said he knew Harry was just as bad about being on time, though of course he didn't say so. Eggsy, on the other hand, was like another son to Colin, and therefore his to scold.
Which Colin made perfectly clear when his eyes narrowed and his stride lengthened until he was standing right up in Eggsy's personal space, his hand rising to pull Eggsy's collar off to the side so that he could get a look at the boy's throat. "Gary Unwin! Why didn't you cover this up?! What were you thinking?"
Not waiting for an answer Colin grabbed ahold of Eggsy's arm, yanked/pulled him over to a nearby chair, pushed him down into it, and then retrieving a compact from a hidden pocket in his suit jacket ordered Eggsy to hold his collar off to the side, so that he could hide the bruising for him.
Wisely Eggsy didn't argue, the boy hunching his shoulders like a naughty schoolboy as he did as ordered.
Acting like nothing out of the ordinary was happening, despite the fact that it was obvious that Colin was quite obviously taking Eggsy to task in a tone meant for the boy's ears alone, Edward informed Harry that it looked to start raining within the hour, which did not bode well for the outdoor ceremony planned for later on.
What went unsaid, but was heavily implied, was that the soon to be mated couple were making life miserable for everyone they came into contact with as a result. Nevermind that the weather was beyond all their control.
"We were lucky yesterday, weather wise."
"It was a lovely ceremony." Edward agreed, just the faintest hint of amusement in his normally sober eyes. "It will be hard for it to be topped any time soon."
"There, that should do it." Closing the compact up with a rather loud snap, Colin moved back to look over his handiwork before nodding definitely. "It's waterproof, so it shouldn't be a problem if they do have the ceremony outside."
"Thank you." Getting to his feet now that Colin was done with both the makeup and lecture, Eggsy returned to Harry's side looking like a well scolded child seeking refugee with a far more lenient relative. Which of course had Harry reaching over to link their fingers together, giving them a comforting squeeze since he knew what it was like to be scolded, however lovingly, by Colin.
"Well we should be heading outside then." Moving over to his mate Edward offered his arm, Colin immediately taking it with a smile of thanks.
"And there will be no more funny business, right, Eggsy?"
"Right."
Lips twitching over how his mate had been reduced to a scolded little boy, Harry couldn't help but throw some kindling on the fire, so to speak. "Even without the mark showing…the Heskeths saw us kissing upstairs. And they probably saw the mark."
"Eggsy! We talked about this!" Colin sent Eggsy a fierce look.
"It wasn't on purpose! Exactly." Another guilty expression.
"What am I missing here?"
Colin made a huffing sound of displeasure, keeping his voice low and for their ears only. "I explained to him that it would be very unwise of him to rub it in the Guild Master or his new consort's face that you're so happy together. Looks like I should have had that talk with you as well." The last sentence was mumbled, but Harry heard it and flushed in response.
"You also said making Harry happy was my job."
"You do make me happy." Harry assured him, giving Eggsy's had a squeeze.
"And you should both focus on making each other happy, just not so that it's too obvious to everyone else. At least not for the next little while. And not while the new consort is around. You don't want her whispering in his ear that you two were involved before your mating."
Mouth dropping a little, he hadn't even thought of that possibility, Harry could easily see Veronica doing precisely that. Getting Chester to arrange for their mating had been intended as a punishment for them both after all. Once she realized that they were actually happy together, she would most definitely make up lies about them.
"Your friends will have your back."
"I know." Smiling over at Edward, Harry hoped his appreciation showed over the nerves.
"And now we're rejoining everyone and acting like nothing out of the ordinary has happened." Colin stated as Eggsy moved to get the door to hold it open for all of them. "Game faces on."
"Come find us or Merlin and Rachel if you run into trouble." Edward added.
)
As Edward had predicted the weather dictated that the mating ceremony had to be moved inside before it had even started, which the 'bride' was not pleased about, though she hid it well. Overall the whole ceremony was very dignified and full of pomp, the whole thing reminding Harry of his own mating ceremony decades ago, only this one had more flowers and pink. And thankfully Veronica had spent the entire afternoon sequestered in her rooms, getting ready for the ceremony, so it was only after the whole ritual was over that the new consort became aware that her mating ceremony was not going to be the talk of the evening.
Estelle Hesketh had done precisely what Harry had known she'd do, the news sweeping like a tidal wave over the members of their Guild until Harry was fairly sure that even the wait staff hired for the event were aware that she'd seen Eggsy and him snogging upstairs before they'd come down.
And in true gossip fashion, the story got bigger and more lurid as the hours ticked by.
Not that they were interrogated or even pointedly questioned, oh no, that would have been rude since he and Eggsy had not only stuck to each other like glue, but they'd refused to be shepherded off to a private corner to be questioned there. Their age difference actually worked in their favor here too, since none of Eggsy's age group wanted to interrogate him in front of Harry, who they were still thinking of him as their consort, and none of Harry's peers wanted to take on Eggsy, who was giving off vibes that made it clear it would be unwise for them to upset Harry. And okay, he was probably giving off protective vibes as well where Eggsy was concerned; since he didn't want anyone messing with his mate either.
Their friends formed a protective shield around them that kept the worst of the bunch at bay too, no one wanting to cross Colin, Edward, Merlin, or the rest. Colin in particular kept them well shielded as he had the social clot to blacklist anyone who crossed him with the exception of the Guild Master and his new consort. And thankfully the two of them only had to speak briefly to the Guild Master and Veronica right after the ceremony, as was customary, and by the time Veronica had gotten wind of the fact that everyone was talking about them instead of her dinner was served.
Luckily for them, and not for her, the consort had previously arranged for them to be seated at the very back of the room as a sort of social slap, which meant that there was plenty of space between them during the meal which made talking impossible. And afterwards Eggsy kept Harry on the dance floor as much as possible, since that made it hard for people to bother them. Including their Guild Master, who would have had to dance with Harry to question him, and that would have only made things worse. Especially since he would have had to ask Eggsy permission to dance with Harry, and Harry was pretty sure his former mate would have choked on the request.
So for the next few hours they basically hid out with friends or were on the dance floor while people talked about them and Veronica sent them death glares in between swanning around the room, celebrating her new status as consort.
"So has enough time passed that we can leave without being rude?" Eggsy murmured into Harry's ear as they slow danced to 'All You Need Is Love'.
Subtly turning his head so that he could get a look at his wrist, Harry did the mental math. It was pushing it, a little, but they were a newly mated couple, and this was the day after their mating ceremony. "Yes, I think we can go after this song is over."
"Brilliant."
To amuse them both, or Harry assumed that was the reason Eggsy would do something so silly, his mate started singing the song in his ear, proving that his boy could carry a tune pretty well. And knew the Beatles song very well, Harry noted with a grin, which proved that he'd had some success over the years when it came to broadening Eggsy's musical tastes.
They'd been abysmal before he'd started educating the boy.
As the song ended on the last 'Love is all you need', Eggsy came to a stop and smiled at him, Harry smiling back because yes, his mate really was that adorable, especially when he was in a playful mood.
"So shall we go say your goodbyes so that we can blow this joint?" Leaning forward Eggsy pressed his lips against Harry's ear. "I'd rather be home blowing you, after all."
Going red in the face, he could feel his cheeks burning, Harry resisted the urge to reach up and twist Eggsy's ear and instead leaned in to speak into his mate's ear in turn. "I'm going to make you very sorry you said that when we get home."
Home. They had a home to go home to. And didn't that sound lovely, Harry mused, the thought of it enough to quell both his blush and lessen his desire to smack Eggsy upside the head.
"I'll look forward to my punishment."
Cheek boy.
Shaking his head Harry took the arm Eggsy offered him and together they headed in the direction of their Guild Master and his consort, who were thankfully with a large group of people which made it relative quick and painless for them to say their goodbyes.
And then they were free and heading out of the ballroom.
Home time.
