((Author's Note: Child Abuse Mention TW))
"HOLY SHIT. THIS IS THE COOLEST ROOM EVER!"
Fred couldn't even try to hold in his enthusiasm as Tadashi and Mr. Lee show him his new bedroom. Not only was the door made of steel and designed to slide apart when he clapped to open it (which was insanely cool in and of itself), the entire interior was practically a shrine to everything that he loved. Was it maybe a little more museum-like than he would have chosen himself? Maybe. But he appreciated Tadashi picking out furniture that would show off the collection of nerd memorabilia. And the bed-oh gosh, he'd never had a bed that big in his entire life!
"I'm glad you like it!" Tadashi beams at him. "I tried to pick out what I thought you'd like, but I'm not offended if you want to change anything."
"No, this is perfect exactly the way it is," Fred answers earnestly. "I-I don't know how to thank you for this-both of you," he adds, realizing that Mr. Lee was probably the one who had funded all of the room changes.
"We just want you to be happy and comfortable here," Mr. Lee tells him with a warm smile. "I know you probably want to explore around in here, and I'm more than happy to let you do that, but it is getting late so I propose that we find some dinner first."
"Sounds good," Fred agrees-that was an entirely reasonable suggestion. Checking out his room could wait until after they got some food.
"I think we'll have to order in or fend for ourselves," Mr. Lee says, leading them in the direction of the kitchen. "Usually Marie does the cooking around here since I'm hopeless in the kitchen, but Friday is one of her nights off-she deserves it with as hard as she works."
"Wait, Marie? Like, the Marie?" Fred cries.
"Yes, she still takes care of things around here," Mr. Lee chuckles. "And Heathcliff is still my butler, before you ask about him."
"Wow…" Fred breathes. "That is so awesome…"
"I'm glad you think so-I'm sure they'll be very happy to meet you."
"I'm super excited to meet them!"
"Glad to hear it. Hopefully you'll get a chance to meet them tomor- Wait." Mr. Lee pauses in the middle of the hallway, a frown appearing on his face.
"What is it? Is something wrong?" Fred asks before becoming aware of noises coming from a little ways down the hallway. Oh gosh, had someone broken in? What if it was a supervillain? Sure, Fred wanted to get a chance to fight some bad guys eventually, but he'd barely been in this world an hour and he wasn't sure he was quite ready to take one on yet.
"Nothing's wrong, per se," Mr. Lee shakes his head. "But something tells me that someone isn't taking their night off like they were supposed to."
He starts down the hallway again, and Fred hurries after him, not quite sure what he meant by that but hoping it meant that there wasn't an impending threat. Tadashi looked pretty relaxed too, so hopefully that was a good sign…
"Marie, you're supposed to be taking a break," Mr. Lee says, his tone obviously meant to be reproving but a hint of amusement making its way through in spite of himself.
"Well I couldn't let the poor boy's first dinner here be takeout! What sort of precedent would that be?" A grandmotherly lady standing at the stove turns around to meet his stern gaze, one hand on her hip and the other still stirring something in a pot on the stove that smelled amazing to Fred, who mostly lived on a steady diet of ramen since that was all he could afford.
"I suppose I can't argue with that," Mr. Lee sighs. "It's just as well-he was quite excited by the idea of getting to meet you."
"Well, isn't that sweet?" Marie beams as she turns to look at the teen who was awkwardly standing in the doorway, trying not to completely geek out and make things weird. She leaves the stove and, to his utter disbelief, comes over and wraps her arms tightly around him in a bear hug that somehow smelled of cinnamon and just about every other good smell that could be associated with baking.
"It's very, very nice to finally meet you, lamb," Marie says when she finally lets the stunned boy go. "Mr. Lee and Tadashi have told me all about you, and I'm so happy to have you here!"
She clucks her tongue disapprovingly as she looks Fred over. "And not a moment too soon! Poor boy, you're half starved to death! I'll take care of that in a jiffy. You'll have to tell me all of your favorite foods so that I can make them for you, but for tonight I hope you like spaghetti and garlic bread."
"I- Um- Y-Yes, that sounds wonderful!" Fred finally manages to get out, coming out of his state of semi-shock.
"Wonderful!" Marie beams at him again before returning to the stove.
"Yes, she's always like that," Tadashi chuckles softly, seeing the expression Fred's face. "But she means well, and she's the best cook I've met after Aunt Cass. You're in very capable hands here."
"And she knows this place as well as I do-better, quite possibly," Mr. Lee adds. "If you ever have any questions or need anything and I'm not available, you can always go to her or Heathcliff and they'll be able to help you out."
"I'm almost always here, and I'm always happy to help, dear!" Marie confirms, not missing a beat as she checks her egg timer and proceeds to pull the most mouth-watering smelling garlic bread Fred had ever encountered out of the oven.
"Thank you…" Fred beams at her, wondering not for the first time if all of this was a dream because how could there be this many amazing people in existence who actually seemed to care about his welfare?
"C'mon." Tadashi gently places a hand on the small of Fred's back and starts guiding him over to the kitchen table. "It looks like supper's almost ready so let's go ahead and sit down."
"Okay," Fred agrees, once again deciding that if this was a dream he never wanted to wake up from it.
The food tasted, unsurprisingly, as amazing as it had looked and smelled. Fred kept thanking Marie and telling her how good it was until she was practically glowing with pleasure.
When dessert was finished (sea salt caramel brownies that had been absolutely heavenly) and the dishes cleared away, Mr. Lee announces that he was going to go get ready for bed-or, as he put it, to "retire for the evening."
"Don't feel like you have to go to bed now on my account," Mr. Lee says once Fred reassures him that he could fend for himself for the remainder of the evening. "Everything in the house is open access to you-well, except for others' bedrooms without permission, of course. And Tadashi's welcome to stay for as long as he wants to if he'd like to keep you company."
"Which I definitely do!" Tadashi quickly puts in as he squeezes Fred's hand under the table.
"That sounds perfect." Fred beams at him, glad that Tadashi wasn't planning to go yet-hell, he'd take any time that he could with Tadashi.
"All right." Mr. Lee smiles as he stands up from the table. "Just don't get too crazy tonight, okay?"
"We won't," Tadashi promises, although there was a mischievous sparkle in his eyes that made Fred's heart beat just that much faster.
"So, what do you want to do now?" Tadashi asks once Mr. Lee had left.
"Well… Maybe we could go back to my room since I wasn't able to check it out fully earlier?" Fred answers, his fingers tentatively lacing through Tadashi's.
"That sounds like a perfect idea," Tadashi agrees, pecking him on the cheek and grinning at him as he stands up.
"Okay!" Fred grins back, eagerly following after him as Tadashi starts heading back towards his room.
"So you really like how I decorated everything?" Tadashi asks once they're back inside, the door sliding shut behind them.
"It's amazing," Fred answers earnestly. "It's the most amazing room I've ever seen… And that's saying something, considering I've seen Mr. Lee's room!"
"Well I'll take that as a high compliment," Tadashi chuckles. His thumb gently rubs circles on the back of Fred's hand, sending tiny thrills through the fanboy and making him feel happier than he'd felt in-well, possibly his entire life. How had he, of all people, ended up getting lucky enough to live this dream?
"So…" Tadashi's tone was playful if a bit hesitant as his free hand comes to rest on Fred's waist. "Now that we're here… Is there anything in particular that you want to do?"
Fred shivers slightly, wondering what exactly Tadashi had in mind, when suddenly a yawn escapes him.
"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to do that!" he cries, turning bright red.
"What? No, it's fine!" Tadashi answers, a reassuring smile on his face. "You never, ever have to apologize for something like that, okay? And I should probably be the one apologizing for keeping you up so late!"
"Usually I'm a total night owl, but I guess there's just been so much happening today…" Fred admits.
"You're worn out, and I absolutely get that!" Tadashi gently kisses his cheek, making him turn even brighter red. "If you want me to go home so you can get your sleep in, I completely understand!"
"N-No! I don't want you to go home!" The words come out before Fred can fully think them through.
"So you… Want me to stay the night?" Tadashi asks, raising a brow quizzically but a small smile twitching at the corner of his lips.
"Y-Yes?" Fred answers in a small voice before quickly adding, "B-But not stay the night, like, in a sexual way! I-I just sometimes have a hard time adjusting to sleeping in a new place, and it might be nice to not be alone for once while I'm doing it…"
"I completely understand, and I'm more than happy to oblige," Tadashi reassures him, gently squeezing his hand. "Let me just text my aunt to let her know that I'm spending the night so she won't worry about me, and then I'm all yours for whatever you need."
"T-Thank you…" Fred felt slightly embarrassed-he knew he was acting like a five year old, scared of monsters in the dark. But in the various foster homes he'd been shuffled around to and dumped in over the years the monsters in the dark had often been all too real, and especially in a new room in a completely new world he had a feeling that their ghosts would be coming back to haunt him.
"M-Maybe not actually share the bed while we're sleeping?" he adds quickly, realizing how awkward he'd possibly just made things. "Y'know, since we kinda just met in person? But I could take the couch if you want the bed…"
"No way!" Tadashi shakes his head firmly. "I'll take the couch. I'm not having you sleep on a couch your first night here!"
"I'm not exactly a stranger to sleeping on couches…" Fred admits.
"All the more reason you should sleep on the bed tonight," Tadashi answers, a determined glint in his eyes. "Besides, you need to test it out-if it's not comfortable for you, we need to know so we can change it for a new one!"
"...I'm not going to be able to change your mind, am I?"
"Nope!"
"Okay then, you win…" Fred sighs, shaking his head.
"Good!" Tadashi beams triumphantly before adding more gently, "And if you want, I'll stay with you until you fall asleep before moving to the couch, okay?"
"I'd actually really like that, thank you," Fred admits with a sheepish smile.
"Of course." Tadashi smiles warmly at him before pulling out his phone and starting to text, Fred could only assume to his aunt.
"There, done!" Tadashi says a few minutes later, putting his phone back in his pocket. "Now we can do whatever you want."
"I guess heading to bed now would probably be a good idea," Fred admits.
"If that's what you want to do, absolutely. Do you have any sort of bedtime rituals I should know about?" Tadashi asks. "I know some people like to have white noise sounds or music on, or they have the TV playing in the background, or I know I like to read before bed."
"Well… I usually like to read before bed too," Fred answers sheepishly.
"Perfect." Tadashi beams at him. "So let's get ready for bed and then we can both read-or, if you'd like, I could read to you?"
"I-I'd love that," Fred admits-he'd never get over how gorgeous Tadashi's voice was in person and the idea of Tadashi reading to him until he fell asleep was pretty much a pure fantasy for him.
"You like Harry Potter, if I remember correctly?"
"I love it! But... do you guys have Harry Potter here?"
"Of course! I think we have most of the same books and movies here that you have in your world. But we can do comparisons later on-for now, let's get you ready for bed so you can finally get some sleep. Mr. Lee got you some new clothes-he had to guess your size so hopefully they fit, but if not we can always exchange them. If nothing else the pajama pants he had me help pick out will work for tonight. Provided you actually sleep in pajamas? If not, that is totally okay, I know he won't be offended!"
"Pajama pants are fine! Probably a good idea since it's kind of a bit chilly in here…"
"Do you want me to turn the air down?" Tadashi offers.
"N-No, it's fine! I-I don't want to put anyone to any trouble…"
"It wouldn't be any trouble! Why would you think that?"
Fred doesn't say anything, but he shivers as a particularly unpleasant memory from his days in the foster care system comes back to him…
"What the hell do you think you were doing, you little shit?"
"P-Please… It's so cold, I was just going to turn the air down a little…"
"Do you pay the bills in this house?"
"N-No…"
"Do you have to look after all of these snivelling little brats day in and day out?"
"N-N-No…"
"Then don't. EVER." SMACK. "TOUCH." SMACK. "THAT THERMOSTAT AGAIN."
Fred starts shivering uncontrollably at the memory of the beating he received on that day-and on many other days after that as well.
"Fred? Fred what is it, what's wrong?" Tadashi asks, his hands closing around Fred's shoulders, concerned eyes searching his face.
"I-" Fred tried to speak, but how could he explain to Tadashi why he had been terrified of ever touching a thermostat after everything he'd experienced as a kid. Finally he just shakes his head, whispering, "P-Please… J-Just leave it alone…"
"All right." Tadashi's eyes still clearly showed confusion, but he didn't press Fred any further for an explanation, something which Fred was infinitely grateful for. "I will. Still, I don't want you being cold…" A playful but somehow soft look steals across his face. "I guess I'll just have to keep you warm myself."
His strong arms wrap around Fred, and, after freezing for a moment at the unexpected contact, Fred gratefully sinks into the warmth of his chest.
"How are you this warm?" Fred murmurs before suddenly realizing how stupid a question that had been. "Sorry, I should have known that…"
"It's okay." Tadashi starts gently stroking Fred's hair, and Fred lets out an involuntary but completely contented mew. Oh God, if Tadashi ever wanted anything from him, there was no chance Fred would ever be able to tell him no. He had him completely wrapped around his finger without even trying…
"Are you always like this?" Fred asks, daring to indulge his curiosity-he had so many questions about the Sunfire side of Tadashi that he finally had the opportunity to ask, but he also didn't want to make Tadashi uncomfortable and scare him off.
"Mm," Tadashi agrees, his fingers almost absentmindedly continuing to play with Fred's hair. "I've always got some fire inside of me, even when I'm not fighting."
"How does that work?"
"I don't really know, for certain," Tadashi admits. "When I finally woke up after the fire, it was just… There. Like a blaze in my chest. It gets bigger whenever I need it-sort of like stoking the flames of a fire-and it just… flows out of me. And then when I don't need it, I just let it die out, and then it shrinks down until I need it again."
"Wow…" Fred whispers. "I-It must be incredible to have that sort of power…"
"I suppose…" Tadashi shrugs slightly. "I try not to think about it too much. It's useful sometimes, but it can also be annoying… I accidentally light things on fire sometimes. Plus I'm so warm most people don't like standing too close to me unless it's super cold…"
"Well, lucky for you," Fred says with a playful smile, daring to reach up to tuck a loose strand of hair behind Tadashi's ear, "I'm extremely cold natured, so you being warm all the time is perfect for me."
A surprised look flits across Tadashi's face for a moment, and then he grins. "I guess we're pretty perfect for each other, huh?"
"Guess so," Fred agrees, grinning back up at him.
"C'mon." Tadashi gently rubs his thumb across Fred's cheek. "Let's get you ready for bed, and then I can read you Harry Potter and keep you warm until you fall asleep."
"Sounds good." Fred agrees, happily nuzzling into the touch. No one had ever treated him like this-cared for him like this-before, and while it was a bit unsettling at times, he was more than ready to dive into these feelings and indulge in everything that Tadashi was willing to offer him.
Tadashi shows Fred where the new clothes are, and, as he hadn't planned to spend the night and thus didn't have any pajamas of his own, Fred reassures him that he doesn't mind him borrowing some for the night. The two quickly get changed and ready for bed, and then, heart pounding in his chest, Fred finds himself crawling into his new bed (which was heavenly soft) while Tadashi went to go find the book.
"Which one do you want me to read?" Tadashi asks once he finds the series on the bookshelf. "Do you have a favorite?"
"Well… Maybe we can start with the first one and then over time we can read our way through the series?" Fred answers tentatively.
"I like the sound of that." Tadashi beams at him, pulling The Sorcerer's Stone off of the shelf and then coming over to join Fred.
"This okay?" he asks softly as he climbs into the bed and slowly lies down next to Fred, seeming very aware of what his boundaries might be in this situation.
"Definitely," Fred breathes, and to prove his words he squirms over until he was snuggled up against Tadashi's chest again.
"There. Perfect." He smiles a bit impishly up at Tadashi, who in return laughs before gently pecking the top of his head.
"Okay." Tadashi adjusts himself until he was in a half-seated position, one arm wrapped around Fred and the other holding the book open. It couldn't have been a terribly comfortable position, which made Fred even more grateful to Tadashi for being willing to do this for him.
"Chapter one," Tadashi starts reading aloud, his already spellbinding voice even more enchanting to listen to as he starts narrating the familiar story. "Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. They were the last people you'd expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn't hold with such nonsense."
Fred lets his eyes slide shut as he nuzzles into Tadashi's warm, muskily sweet-smelling chest. Any anxiety that his body still held about sleeping in new surroundings completely melted away. He felt like he was floating in a warm, cozy bath, and it wasn't long until he drifted off completely.