Unfortunately, it's almost three thirty by the time Eric rushes up the steps and jogs down the hallway until he reaches classroom 52. Hesitantly, he crosses the threshold and falters in his steps. There, in the classroom, seated at a table next to his nephew, is a gorgeous young man with a lean form and beautiful green eyes when he looks up at the sound of eric coming in. Eric's so dazed by the sight of this man that he's thankful when Kyle practically hops out of his chair, leaping into his arms and begins rambling about his day.
aka for all those times horatio called ryan, 'mr. wolfe' and i hated it.
tumblr — @ericdelko
i hate how horatio calls ryan for 'mr. wolfe' all the time, despite the fact that they've worked together for about seven years and h calls everyone else by their first name.
so i got to thinking, in what situation would it make sense for horatio to call ryan, 'mr. wolfe'?
here you go, have some teacher!ryan and good family relationship feels between kyle and eric.
(context — a little brief cause i haven't figured out the details fully, but in this au, marisol and horatio met and married earlier, kyle was in the foster system and found out who his father was. he went to find h at his house and after hearing what happened, the two took him in. also, horatio owns a private investigation firm, eric works as a forsenic scientist there and that's how h met marisol. ryan is a middle school chemistry teacher and kyle's home room teacher.)
Eric's already jumping out of his car, cursing as he takes another look at the time. He swore that he was going to be early, but then he got distracted by processing the evidence, and then he had to log it in, and by that time Eric was running late to pick up his nephew.
His nephew, his mind helpfully recalls, who is probably wondering where he is and why he hasn't picked him up yet.
This is still all new to Eric, a nephew that just suddenly popped into his life.
It certainly wasn't a thought he hasn't entertained in his mind, Marisol and Horatio were open about having a child, considering it was one of his sister's life long dreams, being someone's mother.
But that wasn't what happened with Kyle.
This seven year old boy that randomly appeared, claiming to be Horatio's son and stunning them all into confusion.
Once everything was explained and Horatio had immediately took Kyle in, Marisol and Eric were both adamant that he was to be raised as family.
That was almost four years ago, and to this day, Eric is constantly spoiling his little nephew. He's always been good with kids, but there was something endearing about Kyle, who clung onto him instantly and was so similar to his sister, despite not being blood related.
So when Horatio has to attend a meeting for a potential client, Eric automatically volunteers to pick up Kyle from school. After waving off Marisol's multiple warnings of not buying him ice cream or spoiling his nephew even more, Eric headed off to work, mentally reminding himself to pick up Kyle at three.
Unfortunately, it's almost three thirty by the time Eric rushes up the steps and jogs down the hallway until he reaches classroom 52. Hesitantly, he crosses the threshold and falters in his steps. There, in the classroom, seated at a table next to his nephew, is a gorgeous young man with a lean form and beautiful green eyes when he looks up at the sound of eric coming in. Eric's so dazed by the sight of this man that he's thankful when Kyle practically hops out of his chair, leaping into his arms and begins rambling about his day.
Despite being eleven now, Kyle is much more affectionate than most kids at his age, probably due to his years in foster care. Eric doesn't mind that, even when he finds himself with an arm full of the kid.
The young man gracefully stands up and steps towards the two. "Hi," the man greets Eric, glittering green eyes that Eric notes is even more eye-catching up close. But before he can introduce himself, Kyle inserts himself into the conversation. Squirming in Eric's arms, he joyfully fills the other man in. "Mr. Wolfe! this is my Uncle Eric!"
The man, Mr. Wolfe humors Kyle, pretending to act shock when his eyes meet Eric's. Eric can feel his lips quirk up when Kyle starts giggling and jumps out of his embrace. He holds his arm up, offering a handshake and ignores the spark when their palms brush up against each other.
"So you must be the uncle he talks so much about," Mr. Wolfe says, amusement shining in his eyes. Eric groans internally, leave it to his nephew to regale embracing stories to an attractive man he wants.
But the other man must be reading his mind because he quickly adds, "I've especially heard a lot about your ice cream adventures." Eric grins widely, glancing down at Kyle who's wrapped an arm around his leg, looking at a poster on the wall. seems he began to tune out once he realized it was just adult talk between the two older men.
Eric smirks, bringing up a finger to his mouth. "Shh, don't tell his parents, I'm technically not allowed to do that."
The teacher smirks back, mimicking zipping his mouth closed and throwing away a key. Eric has the sudden urge to crowd the man and kiss those plump lips.
Kyle interrupts him, tugging at his pants and Eric turns his attention away from the handsome teacher. "Yeah buddy?" he asks, and Kyle looks over at Mr. Wolfe, who gives him a wide smile.
"Are you done?" Eric looks at the other man and catches a shift of understanding flash through those green eyes and Eric nods at Kyle.
"Can we get ice cream now?" Kyle whispers, the picture of innocence in front of the two men. Which prompts a full body laugh from his teacher and an exasperated sigh from his uncle.
"i guess this means i'm not telling mr. caine this?" mr. wolfe raises an eyebrow towards eric once he's composed himself.
Eric just grins mischievously and shakes the man's hand again. "thanks for waiting with Kyle, Mr. Wolfe."
The man returns the gesture, but before Eric can pull his hand away, Mr. Wolfe tugs him closer and their faces are mere inches away.
He grins suggestively and whispers, "call me Ryan," before letting Eric go and stepping back, leaving an appropriate gap between them.
Eric sneaks a peek at Kyle, who hadn't even noticed a thing, too distracted by grabbing something in his backpack, and looks back at Ryan, who winks.
Eric throws a lopsided grin at the man. "I will," and reaches out, throwing an arm around Kyle's shoulders, guiding them out of the classroom.
As the two walk down the hallway together, Eric's already planning to ask Horatio if he could pick up Kyle more often. After all, now there's a whole new reason for Eric to show up to the school.