YO YO YO S'ME BACK WITH A DOUBLE UPDATE.
Hang on what was that? *WE LOVE YOU PRECIOUS AUTHOR AND WISH TO LAVISH YOUR NAKED BODY WITH SCENTED OILS AND GIVE YOU GIFTS OF CHOCOLATE AND SEXUAL FAVOURS*?
Well that's very kind of you, but really there's no need. ;)
Except for the sexual favours. Hook a girl up? xD
...
Morgan drove them into town in his car, following Reid's memorised directions to the store he wanted to check out. The radio was playing pop songs quietly in the background. Reid was looking out the window. Morgan found it hard to gauge his mood and felt a jab of anxiety.
What if he gets bored? What if he doesn't really want to do this but he's pretending cause he thinks I want to? Why did he pull away from me this morning? Is he still upset about last night? Should I have been more apologetic? God I'm gonna screw this up.
He turned the radio volume up, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel.
"Apart from books do you need anything else?" he asked.
Reid shook his head. Morgan smiled.
"You sure? Cause I looked in your wardrobe and you have like four shirts and two pairs of pants. We're gonna be down here for a while remember."
"Am I not pretty enough for you already?" Reid grinned.
Morgan chuckled, "Always baby boy. I just want your clothes to reflect that."
"Oh? So what do my shirts reflect?"
"A genius with the dress sense of an eighty year old."
Reid pretended to look offended. "Well maybe that's what I am." He said mock-defensively.
"Don't worry, I won't make you change the grandpa chic thing you got goin' on there." Morgan teased "I think it's cute."
Reid laughed, tucking his chin into his chest and going a bit pink.
"We could get you some nice comfy slippers and a pipe." Morgan joked. "To go with those big old specs o' yours."
"I wouldn't mind a pair of pince-nez should they sell them."
"A pinch what?"
"Pince-nez. Those frameless glasses that stick to your nose. I think they'd give me an air of distinction."
"You'd look like Dumbledore minus the beard." Morgan chuckled to himself again.
A few seconds later he remarked, with a wink which Reid tried not to find so sexy, "Still, even with the beard I'd let you finger my wand."
"Really?" Reid said exasperatedly. "You're gonna go there?"
"I'd make you scream so hard you'd think you were in Azkaban."
"Please stop."
"Give me your wand and I'd expecto your patronum pretty damn soon."
"Childhood being destroyed here."
"Is that a broomstick between your legs or are you just happy to see me?"
Reid put his head in his hands. "Stahhp." He mumbled in anguish.
"See I'm a seduction machine even in Nerd language." Morgan grinned proudly.
"No that just proves you're a pervert and a dork." Reid scolded him, smiling.
"Well you're sleeping with me so..." Morgan stuck his tongue out, braking for a red light.
"Not for much longer if you keep that up."
"Baby I can keep it up all night." He smirked. "You know that."
Reid shook his head despairingly. "I am not saying another word. You'll just twist it and make it dirty."
"Spoilsport." Morgan pouted, before smiling and leaning across to kiss him just before the light turned green.
...
An hour and a half had gone by and they were still at the book store. Morgan gave up trying to extricate Reid from the shop and resigned himself to carrying an armful of thick dusty second-hand books while Reid pulled yet more books off the shelves to look at. It was worth it though seeing Reid's enthusiasm. It was more than enthusiasm though, his whole...kind of aura changed. He was completely at ease and in his element, he felt safe here.
Sometimes it occurred to him suddenly that he was on a date with Reid. Reid. He never dared to even hope that this would happen. It was terrifying him how happy he was and how broken up he would be if it ended, and sometimes he wanted to laugh out loud because, him and Reid? The thought of how flabbergasted the others would be if they knew just made him smile. But no one could be more surprised than he was that Reid was his boyfriend.
They had a small crime section in the corner and Morgan wandered over to it. He didn't normally have time for reading but now and then he found great pleasure from authors' wild estimations of what it was like to be a cop, more precisely laughing at the detective character's inadequacy in basic investigative procedure and snorting at their wild unfounded leaps of imagination. He picked up a few to read later since they were so cheap. His arms started to ache.
"Baby," he said, more patiently than he felt, "are you nearly done?"
"Nearly." Reid muttered without looking up.
"You said that half an hour ago." Morgan pointed out.
"Yeah yeah just looking at these two."
Morgan realised Reid would probably spend the whole day in here if he didn't do something. He grabbed the two books.
"Hey I hadn't made up my mind yet!"
"I will buy you both of these." Morgan said flapping his arms to herd Reid over to the till. "Shoo now. Leave. Go."
Reid reluctantly shuffled up to the counter and they paid. A book display on the counter caught his eye and he reached for it while he thought Morgan wasn't looking, but Morgan calmly reached back and slapped his wrist lightly mid-conversation. Reid withdrew his hand and quietly sulked.
Morgan smiled charmingly at the checkout lady and bundled Reid out of the shop.
"It's for your own good." He told Reid, smiling and kissing him. Reid reached out to take his hand but Morgan turned away before seeing. Reid pushed his fingers into his pockets and hoped no one saw.
...
They put the tons worth of books in his car and walked along the street to a huge clothing store which looked pretty good (to Morgan anyway). They wandered between the racks, Reid thinking longingly of getting back to read his books.
Morgan picked up a brown leather jacket which looked like it would fit Reid. He held it up.
"Look at this."
Reid glanced at it. "Um...I think it's a bit small for you."
"No for you! To go with your wheels." Morgan grinned, holding it up against him.
Reid laughed nervously. "Umm..."
"I'll take that as a no then." Morgan laughed, putting it back.
"I like it." Reid protested, not wanting to offend him. "I'm just not cool enough to wear something like that."
"You can wear anything you like dumbass." Morgan said affectionately, shaking his head. "You can wear a freaking cocktail dress if it makes you happy."
Reid laughed. "Well I do have the figure for it."
Morgan placed his hands on his hips. "You certainly do." He said, looking like he was about to kiss him. Then suddenly he picked up a T-shirt with a photo of a Great White shark on the front.
"Hmm." He said.
"Cuddly." Reid remarked dryly, slightly miffed that Morgan had been so easily distracted.
Morgan walked over to a range of shirts on hangers. Reid hesitated, looking at the shark T-shirt for a few seconds, then picked it up and joined Morgan.
"Do you like any of these?" Morgan asked.
There was about six different types and Reid actually thought they were pretty cool. There was a grey one with elbow-length sleeves and a sketch of a stag on the front with antlers which branched out until they literally looked like a tree, complete with a little black bird on one branch. Another one was cream coloured, printed with little brown moths. There was a deep red paisley one, a black one with an oriental looking design picked out in silver, then there was a dark blue plain one and a white one. Reid tried to second guess which one Morgan liked but gave up and said he liked the one with the stag. He also liked the one with the moths, but he thought they might be a little too close to butterflies to be manly. Morgan agreed with him about the one with the stag, then pointed to the moth-printed shirt and said:
"That one's interesting."
"Yeah!" Reid said, a little too enthusiastically. "I mean...I was looking at that one as well."
"Wanna try 'em on?" Morgan asked.
"Yeah okay." Reid said, feeling a bit happier.
They continued their tour of the men's section, and by the time they got to the fitting rooms Reid had picked up a shirt, sleeves to the elbow, printed with a design of an ancient style map in light brown with a darker brown leather collar and cuffs, a tweed waistcoat and matching blazer which he was very happy with, a new pair of jeans in navy-blue, one grey and white striped long-sleeved turtleneck, one in beige, a grey double-breasted jacket cut low on the chest with no lapel, giving it a more casual look, and Morgan's choice; a tight-fitting black jacket with a circular collar which stood straight up and an off-centred zip. Reid once again protested it was too cool for him but Morgan pointed out that he couldn't exactly wear a tweed blazer on a motorbike and he agreed to try it on.
Morgan had also picked up a few things, he went with a short, khaki, many-pocketed jacket with a zip-up grey hooded sweatshirt as an inside layer, and a rust-red leather jacket. He picked up some new black jeans, several white and black shirts, several long-sleeved T-shirts in plain colours and a pair of black tracksuit bottoms.
They both finished trying their stuff on around the same time as Morgan had to go out several times to get smaller sizes (he'd lost quite a bit of weight while Reid was gone). It took quite a while since Morgan insisted on seeing Reid in every single item, but eventually they got re-clothed and back to the checkout and paid for their hoard.
"How about shoes?" Morgan suddenly asked as the checkout girl folded their new clothes into bags. "I know you're surgically attached to those sneakers but you're gonna wear them out if you wear them every day."
Reid accepted reluctantly that this was true, and they moved back across the store to the shoe section.
"What size are you?" Morgan asked.
"Nine, nine and a half?" Reid answered.
He didn't like the smart brown and black leather shoes much, never had. They looked too much like the shoes his dad always put on whenever he left the house. They were unnaturally smooth and shiny. Like beetles. That was why he generally stuck to his Converse sneakers.
The shelf to the side of that had a better variety. Once again Reid suppressed his own taste, which was pulling him alarmingly toward a pair of python skin patterned lace-ups. He willed Morgan to reach for them and validate his strange desire to wear them, but alas Morgan was further down looking at shoes closer to the sneaker type he wore. He tried to look for another type he liked and his eye fell on a pair of brown cowboy boots. From the ankle up it was dusty brown suede, while the toe and heel were darker brown leather, but it was kind of soft and crumpled leather. There was a leather strap over the toe joining up perpendicular to a looser strap around his ankle, falling behind the heel, and further up the calf there was another strap. There was a buckle on the outside of each. They looked like something a great explorer would wear trekking through jungle or desert. He liked them almost as much as the snake ones. He wanted both. He wasn't sure which ones were more socially acceptable.
He suddenly realised how dumb it was to experience such anguish over slightly flamboyant footwear. I'm pretty much gay now dammit, I can wear anything I want.
Morgan came to see whether he'd made up his mind, and he pointed to the brown boots hesitantly.
"Oh yeah those would suit you." Morgan agreed.
Encouraged by his positive response, Reid gestured at the snakeskin ones.
"Um...well those are kind of cool as well." He mumbled casually.
Morgan picked one up. "Ahh look at them! Pretty snazzy."
"You don't think they're too girly?" Reid said doubtfully.
Morgan grinned. "I'm gonna answer your question with a visual aid." He said. "Come with me."
They walked over to the women's section and Morgan picked up a pair of glittery, knee-high, white leather stiletto-heeled boots. As Reid gaped he took off his own sneakers, pulled the crumpled paper supports out of the toes, unzipped the boots and slid his feet into them with difficulty, sitting down to zip them back up. Then, hilariously unstable, the tall black man stood up and preened with his hands on his hips. By this time Reid was laughing his ass off so hard tears were creeping out of his eyes.
"YOU IDIOT." He wheezed, covering his face. "Take those off before you break them!"
"Hey what's your problem? You ain't never seen a brother in heels before?" Morgan said pouting. "I never felt so sexually empowered in my life."
Reid gave up on standing and collapsed onto a leather box-stool, his eyes streaming and his stomach hurting.
"Oh my god Prentiss would kill me for not taking a photo of this."
Morgan's eyes glittered. "Try some on." He said in a low voice, like a naughty child conspiring with him.
"No way." Reid said, wiping his face with his sleeves, still occasionally hiccupping with laughter and having to stop himself starting all over again.
"You know you want to." Morgan urged him.
"What if someone sees us?" Reid hissed.
"We're hidden from sight over here. C'mon just quickly." Morgan grinned.
Reid turned to the display of shoes, checked over his shoulder and picked up the nearest pair, which happened to be neon yellow and orange peep-toe sling-back heels with big blue and purple flowers on the toe.
The young dark haired woman, Alice, who worked at the store looked up from her stock check of the shoe section a few minutes later to see one of the strangest sights of her career.
Two men, one mixed-race and muscular, one white and skinny, were...prancing around the aisle in women's shoes, clutching each other and giggling and striking dramatic poses.
After staring for a few seconds in shock, she did what any responsible retail employee would do. She went and dragged her friend over to watch. After a their giggles subsided he leaned over to her and whispered, "Should we be stopping them?"
"Aw." She replied. "Yeah probably."
She cleared her throat.
The white guy was so shocked he stepped backwards, tripped over a shoe box, hit his head on the shelves and was pelted by an avalanche of spiked heels, which the other man tried in vain to block with his arms.
Reid and Morgan looked at the store workers with sheepish expressions. Morgan pushed the loose shoes back on their platforms, apologising profusely to the man and woman, then pulled Reid to his feet, at which point it became apparent to everyone that one of the heels had broken on the shoes he was wearing. Morgan laughed.
"Aww man, you know we're gonna have to buy those now."
"I'm so sorry!" Reid said to the woman. Normally he would have been mortified caught doing what they'd been doing, but with Morgan there he barely felt any embarrassment, only the helpless urge to laugh.
"Fun's over gentlemen." She said, fighting to keep a straight face. "Put everything back and come pay for anything which got broken."
They both nodded, apologising once again.
Alice turned and walked away hastily until she was out of view, then burst out laughing and got out her phone to post the incident on facebook.
Reid and Morgan were also giggling as they put the shoes back on the shelf. "I thought we were so screwed!" Reid squeaked.
"I know!" Morgan half groaned half laughed, covering his face with his hands.
Once they gathered up their composure and the shoes they wanted (and were legally obligated) to buy, Morgan bravely went to pay while Reid slinked out of the shop in shame.
"You won't be purchasing the white boots today then sir?" Alice said pleasantly as she folded up the shirts they'd bought.
Morgan grinned, "Well I was tempted, but I'm more of a ballet-pump guy myself."
She laughed.
"I really am sorry, I hope we weren't too much trouble." He said.
"No that's...quite alright." Alice chuckled. "Nice to see two guys getting in touch with their feminine side. Lightened up a boring shift."
Morgan hung his head and laughed before heading out the door.
Reid saw him and walked up to him. He tried to say something but suddenly they both creased up again, snorting unattractively with laughter.
Then Morgan took Reid's hand in his and they started to walk up the street.
"Well, we can never go to that store ever again." He remarked with a grin, squeezing Reid's hand lightly.
...
They were on their way back to the car to put their stuff away when Morgan saw an outfit in a store window he thought Reid would like, a smart checked shirt and red tie, a navy knitted vest top and grey woollen slacks. Reid did like it so they went in to look around (still hand in hand, to Reid's butterfly-stomached pleasure). There was a smaller Men's section which made it easier to find the component parts but they took their time, holding stuff up they'd never be caught dead in and laughing at each other.
Morgan looked up at one point to see the guy at the checkout looking at them with an expression he knew all too well. Feeling annoyed and childish, he put down the stuff he was holding, grabbed his boyfriend and pulled him into a long kiss.
Reid smiled, "What was that for?" he asked.
Morgan shrugged, "Felt like it." He said, casually glancing over to the tills to see if the guy was still eyeballing them. He was pretending not to have seen but from his scowl Morgan knew he'd seen perfectly well. Reid turned his head, trying to follow his eye-line.
"Better go try these on or we'll miss the next showing." Morgan said, itching to get away from the unpleasant man's stare.
Reid nodded and they went into the fitting rooms, Reid taking a number 3 from a woman at the entrance. Reid found a cubicle and Morgan took a seat opposite.
Quickly getting bored and observing that there was no-one else around he crept up to the cubicle and stuck his head through the curtain just in time to see Reid in his underwear.
"Get out of here!" Reid said, holding up the shirt to cover himself and trying not to laugh.
"How's it going?" he asked innocently. "I thought you might need some help."
Reid put his hand on Morgan's face and pushed his head out.
"Hey, hey! It's awful lonely out here." Morgan chuckled, sticking his head back in. "And you know you did say you got a thing for public places..."
"You are so annoying." Reid laughed.
"You know people can see through here...better let me in before someone comes." Morgan fake-whispered.
"Fine...get in here!" Reid said grabbing his arm and pulling him inside. Morgan closed the curtain again.
He took the shirt from Reid, held it away and looked at him. "Yeah...that really suits you."
"I've got nothing on." Reid said, confused.
"Really? Well you should wear that all the time." Morgan grinned, pulling Reid close to kiss him. Despite faking reluctance Reid practically fell against him and wound his arms around his neck tightly. Morgan sucked at his lower lip, clamping it gently with his teeth to make it plump up, then released it and placed light kisses on Reid's upper lip while Reid breathed out with difficulty, closed eyes, open-mouth. Then Morgan couldn't focus on kissing him anymore, only Reid's warm body, and he let his forehead rest against Reid's while his hands grabbed at every bit of flesh available to him. Then he relaxed his fingers and ran his palms up and down Reid's beautiful back, feeling the prominent ridges in his spine with his fingertips. Leaving his back for the time being Morgan focused on his shoulders, his hands tracing the lines which permanently taunted him with their perfection, kissing the ridge of collarbone and...
"What's this bone called, right here?" he murmured, stroking his finger over an arch-shaped edge in the dip of his right shoulder.
"Scapula." Reid whispered, his eyes still closed.
"Scapula." Morgan repeated. He would remember that. He kissed it, held it between his teeth, sucked it until it left a red mark which would turn purple over time. Reid didn't even flinch, just opened his eyes to look at it, then looked at Morgan.
Morgan realised Reid's body was tensed up, fighting not to shiver, and it occurred to him that the store was quite cold. So were his hands. He opened his eyes and lifted his head.
"You're cold?" he said guiltily.
"Hmm-what? No." Reid mumbled, his cheeks turning red. "Well...uh...a bit. I just...ah...I don't think I'm ready to...to try this again. Yet."
Morgan cocked his head to one side to meet Reid's lowered eyes. He drew Reid into a warm embrace and kissed his hair. "That's fine." He murmured. "I wasn't...I mean I wasn't really suggesting that we...right now." He let go of Reid and picked up the shirt again. "Here," he said, helping Reid into it. He buttoned it up, then turned the young genius to face the mirror. He fiddled with the collar to make it sit right, then held Reid's shoulders in his hands and looked over them into the mirror.
"Like it?" he asked.
"I think it would look better if I put some pants on." Reid remarked drily.
Morgan chuckled. "Well...if you must." He passed the pants to Reid.
Just as Reid was tucking the shirt in the curtain was yanked open. Reid jumped, looking startled.
"Hey!" Morgan snapped. "Can't you see it's occupied?" he recognised the man as the one who had given them dirty looks earlier.
"Sir I'm going to have to ask you to leave the fitting area." The man, whose name tag said he was the manager and that his name was "Simon," said to Morgan, his lip curling with obvious disgust. "We don't allow more than one adult in a cubicle at any time."
Morgan laughed sharply. "Excuse me, but I don't see any signs up around here."
Simon looked annoyed at being questioned. "It's our store policy. This is a family store. There are children here."
The sanctimonious way he said the word 'children' made Morgan want to smash his self-righteous head against the wall.
"I don't see any children in here. And if there were there'd be nothing for them to see. We weren't doing anything."
Reid pulled on his arm. "Just leave it Derek." He pleaded.
"I'd listen to your...friend sir."
Morgan stepped forward angrily. "He is my boyfriend, as you well know, and this, is discrimination, pure and simple. I should not be harassed for watching my boyfriend try on clothes."
"I don't care who or what you are. It's the rules. Only one adult per cubicle at any-"
"-I don't believe you." Morgan growled. "Especially since you're meant to be working the checkout, not the fitting rooms. The other guy didn't say anything about these 'rules' of yours. You followed us in here looking for an excuse to cause trouble."
"I'm afraid the only one causing trouble for you is you. This store has a zero-tolerance approach to aggression towards staff members." The slimy weed of a man folded his arms, looking smug. "Leave the fitting rooms now or I'll be forced to call the police."
Morgan laughed.
"What? You think I'm not serious?" Simon's fat face formed an expression of outrage. "You'll be arrested. Harassment is a crime you know."
Morgan smirked. "Yes." He pulled out his FBI badge. "It is, Simon."
Simon pretended not to be worried but his face went pale. "Yeah," he scoffed nervously. "Like that's real."
Morgan pulled his coat open to show his gun and cuffs. Simon stepped back, alarmed.
"Baby, get changed. We're not buying shit from here." Morgan said over his shoulder. Reid nodded and pulled the curtain across, glad the standoff was over.
Simon didn't move. It looked like he was still thinking about ordering Morgan to leave.
Morgan gave his best 'mean FBI agent' look and said, "Tell me Simon, after ruining our date with your homophobic bullshit and threatening an FBI agent do you think it's a good idea for you to stick around to watch my boyfriend change behind a curtain? Or would things go much better for you if you left right about now?"
Simon glared at him, turned and flounced off. Morgan relaxed his clenched hands and posture.
"You okay baby?" he asked Reid, his anger subsiding to worry. This was probably Reid's first encounter with homophobia.
"How can I be okay after that?" Reid snapped.
Morgan sighed. "I know. You just gotta try to ignore assholes like that. Still, I can't believe he-"
"He was doing his job Morgan! There was no need for you to wind him up like that."
Morgan was speechless for a moment, unable to believe what he had just heard. "His job? Are you serious? You think he'd have been all up in our business like that if we were a regular couple?"
Fully dressed, Reid pushed the curtain open. "Maybe he didn't come across that well but it's perfectly understandable for them not to want people having sex in the cubicles! He didn't say anything about the fact we're both men."
Again Morgan was speechless. "You really believe that?" he asked finally, an emotional ache in his voice. Of all people he'd have thought Reid would back him up on this.
Reid looked down and shrugged uneasily. "Even if he was, I don't see why it had to be such a big deal. He wasn't asking us to leave or anything."
Morgan stared at him for a few seconds, then shook his head in resignation.
"You got a lot to learn about being gay in this world baby."
Morgan picked up their shopping bags and walked out, Reid following uncomfortably a step behind. When they reached the main store Reid jogged a couple of paces and linked his arm through Morgan.
"I'm sorry." He said.
Morgan smiled. "Hey, you don't ever apologise to me for speaking your mind, y'hear me?"
Reid smiled and nuzzled his shoulder. They walked past Simon on the checkout, smiling, without even glancing at him. Morgan held the glass door open for Reid to go through, and couldn't resist looking over his shoulder to smirk at Simon, who was looking very ruffled.
"So," Reid said, stopping to look at his watch. "We probably won't make it for-" Morgan cut him off with a passionate kiss.
Reid pulled away. "What was that?" he asked, but before Morgan could answer Reid glanced through the window and realised they were in Simon's eye-shot. "Oh for god's sake Morgan." He muttered, storming off down the sidewalk. Morgan caught up with him easily.
"Hey, what's wrong? I just wanted to show him he hasn't made us feel ashamed of who we are, that's all."
"That's not a reason to kiss me Derek. That's not a reason to kiss anyone. I'm your boyfriend, not a political statement!" Reid snapped.
Morgan realised he was right. He hadn't been thinking about Reid at all when he kissed him, only about getting at Simon. Apart from anything else it was just plain rude.
He put a hand on Reid's shoulder to stop him. Reid turned his head warily, like he expected to be argued with.
"You're right." Morgan admitted, pulling him towards a shop window so they weren't blocking the flow of pedestrians. "I'm sorry for doing that."
He held out his shopping-laden arms awkwardly, and after a moment Reid hugged him, despite getting thumped in the ribs by the bags.
Morgan looked into his pretty hazel eyes, smiling. "From now on it'll be...just 'cause." He said softly before kissing him again. Reid held his face in his cold hands and Morgan let the bags fall to the ground so he could run his fingertips over Reid's scalp and play with his hair.
...