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Fated [BlueAmbient & crypticpieces]

Liam leaned back on his elbows, occasionally continuing to eat his toast and jam and intentionally not immediately answering Brennan. When he had made it through a good deal of the piece of toast, he glanced back at the wolf. He sighed as he went back to staring out at the property. “I spent my adult life knowing that supernatural things were dangerous, so…” He hated this conversation, but he also didn’t want to be nagged after for the next five days about it. “You took away anything I had to defend myself.” His head tilted. “Except you. Like I’m supposed to trust you going into a whole room of werewolves, and you’re the only thing between me and them if something goes wrong.”

The hunter felt his pulse shift, tick up. “And I played that game before, right? Someone said it would be fine and the sigil on the floor would protect us, and it didn’t. And I don’t go into rooms filled with stuff I think is going to kill me with nothing but my trust in what someone else says about that situation—not even other hunters.” Liam left what was mostly the crust of his food on the porch and got up. He descended the steps and stood at the bottom of the steps, leaning his back against the rail, hands shoved into his pockets. “Worse?” He paused, ruffled his hair, and let out a short breath of a laugh. “I trust you, just a little, just enough to know how stupid that is. That’s…” Insane.

“You can’t do anything to help. I don’t want you to. I don’t. It’s fucked either way.” Liam shoved away from the rail. He didn’t follow the road, but started in the opposite direction. “Come on,” he called back to Brennan. “Either make sure I don’t sneak home or drag me back.” It felt hard to breathe, and it would have been ideal to be alone, but he couldn’t shut himself in Brennan’s room for another day without wanting to burn the whole place down.
 
Brennan listens to Liam, sadness on his face. Brennan so wishes he'd somehow met Liam early in life, so he could have protected him from the trauma of his past. He knows that's impossible, they'd been worlds away. Warmth blooms in his chest upon hearing Liam trusts him, but it's dampened by pain when Liam says it's insane. This up and down of emotions is making his inner wolf whimper.

Brennan is on his feet when Liam pushes off the railing. Despite everything, he's still on high alert for Liam to run. His long legs mean he catches up to the shorter man quickly. Brennan wants to reach out to him, almost does, but instead he curls his hands into fists, keeping them at his sides.

"Liam, I can't let you have a loaded gun, here. If something startles you, and you react.. I know you don't want to believe it, but you are safe here. Nobody is going to harm you.." Brennan shakes his head, eyes watching Liam closely as he follows him into the trees. "And it's not insane to trust me. I know you're a hunter, but we're not demons. We're not human kids that have no idea how to properly put up protections. You are safe here." Brennan attempts a half smile. "And for the record, I didn't take the fork away."
 
If someone startled him… Liam clenched his jaw and his shoulders lifted slightly as the tension of not snapping a retort at Brennan settled in. Even the funny little remark about the fork didn’t earn a smile, not even a lightening of his mood. “Is that supposed to make me feel better?” The question was peevish to the point of it being rhetorical. The fork wouldn’t stop a werewolf from killing him; at best it would slow one down for a fraction of a second. The fork was desperation, and Liam didn’t find it particularly fun. “I didn’t tell you any of that so you could try to double down on ‘trust me, you’re safe.’ I told you so you’d stop asking, and now you know and we don’t have to talk about it.”

Liam heaved a sigh. “I’m safe here because killing me would start a war, because you think I’m your mate, because me being alive buys you time, because I serve a purpose.” He glanced sideways at Brennan. “Spare me the ‘not like other werewolves’ argument.” All they did was go around and around in a circle about his safety and the desire of the pack to live in peace.

On this adventure into the woods, Liam had no particular destination in mind. What he wanted was away from the house, the wolves, and the noise. He’d be content to go as far out as Brennan would let him until he couldn’t see or hear the traces of civilization. “And for someone who wants me to trust them, you could bother trusting me when I say I won’t leave. I feel like I should now, out of spite.”
 
Brennan clenches his jaw, taking a deep breath. He doesn't know what else to say that he wouldn't regret. He'd already tried to ask Liam to see things from his point of view, and that hadn't worked. Brennan is running out of ideas to comfort Liam. They continue through the woods, and Brennan changes which side of Liam to walk on when they come up to a split in the trail, to direct Liam to the right.

"I don't know what you want me to say, Liam. I can't change what you are to me. And it wouldn't be any different if you weren't a hunter. You would still be my mate. And I do trust you. I didn't follow you because I thought you'd run off. I followed you because I didn't want you to be alone. You had a panic attack yesterday, and almost had another today. I'm just worried about you."
 
Liam suspected that he was being guided at the split, but he went without complaint. At least the walking part was easy, even if the talking wasn’t, but he did stop at the idea that Brennan trusted him. “Oh, you do? That’s news, and I absolutely believe that. You trust yourself, your pack, and the situation. You don’t trust me. If you did, I’d like an example because I’ve got plenty to counter with.” Despite the request, he pressed on because it wasn’t necessarily the conversation he wanted to have nor did it matter that much. Brennan didn’t need to trust him.

“Don’t worry about me. I didn’t ask you to, and you have enough to think about. There are plenty of werewolves that need you to worry about them.” Slowly, he started moving again. “And I’m not your mate. If I am, which I’m not, prove it. I said I trusted you a little, not that I was going to believe you telling me we’re whatever being mates means for a werewolf and a human. A hunter. What sort of match is that supposed to be?” Liam got the concept of mates between werewolves. That was fine. It made sense in a ridiculous sort of fantastical sort of way, but it was likely easier to believe because he didn’t have to be involved.
 
Brennan bites his tongue, keeping back a stinging retort. Instead, he listens, stopping when Liam stops. "I do trust you, Liam. I sleep when you sleep, with no guard at the door. I didn't search you for weapons when I dragged you through the woods that first night, nor when I let you walk. I trusted you not to shoot me when you aimed your gun at my chest. I trusted you to cook, and to not hit me with the frying pan." Brennan gives Liam a wry smile. All these chances Liam had, and he hadn't been afraid that Liam would carry through.

There's that increasingly familiar stab of heartache as Liam rejects him again. Brennan actually lifts a hand to rub at his chest, his expression briefly distressed. His inner wolf whimpers. Prove Liam is his mate? Easier said than done.. "Liam, I dont know how to prove to you that you're my mate, besides words. Everything about you makes me want to get closer. Your scent is distracting, makes me want to howl. You know how I reacted, mid battle, to another wolf pinning you down. I body checked my own Pack member to make sure you were safe. And every time you reject me, I–"

Brennan cuts off, his jaw clenching. No, he can't tell Liam that. I can't put that burden on him, knowing he'll be gone in five days. "Nevermind. It doesnt matter. Look, turn left here, theres a nice spot behind those willow trees." Brennan drops the conversation so suddenly, pulling his eyes away from Liam.

Beyond the willows is a small clearing with a natural hotspring, the water welling up from beneath the ground. Brennan sits at the water's edge, rolling up the pantlegs of his sweats to hang his feet in the water. His back is to Liam, head bowed as he stares into the hotspring. His hands grip the bank to either side of his thighs.
 
They spent most of their time arguing, like now, which does nothing to convince Liam that the supernatural matchmaking, however it worked, was broken. Or Brennan was wrong. All the anxiety of the initial announcement of it had faded into background noise, except that moment in the bar. For some reason, that first time, when he’d seen Brennan’s eyes flare to that annoyingly distracting gold, took up more space in his head than he wanted to ever admit.

The distressed look from Brennan registered to the hunter, but it wasn’t something he could fully understand other than it was a product of the fighting. His head tilted at the sudden departure from the conversation, which wasn’t that unexpected since neither of them seemed compelled to go around in circles. Liam pulled his expression into a frown, but he followed the wolf to the spring, attention scattered only long enough to take in the area.

He glanced back in the direction that they’d come, listening and hearing nothing that sounded remotely civilized. It was all birds and fluttering leaves when the wind picked up. Liam scrunched up the legs of his borrowed jeans and settled down next to Brennan, closer than he needed, but not touching. He hunched over, forearms resting on his legs enough to run his fingers through the water. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a hot spring before. I didn’t know we had them here.”

Liam was intentionally focused on the water, aware that he was going to try to drag Brennan back into the conversation. “What were you going to say before you decided it didn’t matter?” Anything could have helped, he assumed.
 
Even though Liam leaves space between them, Brennan instinctively leans toward him. He doesn't lift his hands from the bank, but his grip does loosen slightly, enough to ease pressure and allow color to return to his whitened knuckles. "I think hotsprings are likely rare around here. This was a surprise find two weeks ago when I was running patrol."

When Liam directs them back to the previous conversation, Brennan bristles. His newfound protectiveness of the man beside him won't allow him to reveal the consequences of mate rejection. Especially since Liam would never have to suffer that fate. Brennan looks at Liam, watching him play his fingers in the pleasantly hot water.

"It's not important, Liam. Don't worry about it. It's just another problem I have to deal with. I shouldn't have yelled at you like that." Brennan is doing his best to brush off the question. "Do you swim? We could take a dip, if you want. Or if we head back, we might catch the tail end of the wolf drills."
 
“Yeah, you said never mind the first time,” he reminded without the tension it might have held if they hadn’t taken a break to sit at the edge of the water. His lips quirked up at the question of swimming, and he squinted over at Brennan. “I swim. I’m not a witch.” Liam was aware that the original lore about witches not being able to swim was ridiculous. Still, he considered what it meant to miss the drills. It had sounded like something useful to see, to know, to report on later, but he liked the quiet after breakfast. “Swimming it is,” he decided even as he sat up long enough to pull the shirt up and over his head and drop it safely in dry grass.

Liam set a hand over Brennan’s forearm. “It’s fine, you know? I mean, in terms of communication, the yelling’s probably not going to earn you a passing grade, but I’m not going to break.” He pushed gently at the wolf and grinned as he got up, shoving his pant legs down. “Hunters aren’t exactly warm and squishy and working in a kitchen… you’d think it was a war zone. But,” he added, looking quietly pleased as he paused with his jeans unbuttoned, “I’m also going to keep irritating you. I can’t be sorry about that. Really, it’s going to be easier to just give me what I want.” He doubted it would be that easy, but based on their history already, he would continue to push and upset Brennan. Liam felt somewhat obligated to do it. The last of his clothes were thrown near the shirt, and Liam wasted no time in trust falling backward into the unfamiliar spring.
 
Brennan half smiles at Liam's humor, a bit more of the tension leaving his shoulders. But it all melts away when Liam touches his forearm, voice softer, reassuring. Brennan actually shudders, as if that touch alone brought him some form of pleasure. His lips part, and he leans in closer, until Liam pushes at him.

It's then that Brennan realizes Liam is shirtless. There's a low sound building in his chest, possessive, his inner wolf reacting to the view. Brennan blinks and chokes off the sound by clearing his throat. "I know you're not going to break, Liam, but you don't deserve to have me taking out my frustrations on–"

Brennan cuts off as Liam sheds the remainder of his clothing and he gets a full view of the shorter man's naked body. His eyes flash from hazel to gold. Somehow, this is different than watching him shower the day before. Then Liam falls back into the water, splashing Brennan, and his senses come back to him. With the sight of Liam fresh in his mind, Brennan's eyes stay gold. Distracted, he doesn't immediately join Liam in the water.
 
It took Liam about thirty seconds as he ensured the water wasn’t not going to get in his eyes and he pushed his wet hair back to see the change in Brennan’s eyes and realize the other man hadn’t moved. Since the bar, Liam had noticed that shift here and there, but he didn’t understand what was triggering it. He knew it was based in emotion, but they weren’t arguing. They were, all things considered, getting along. “Better me than someone who’ll be hurt by it,” he finally got around to answering the half-finished remark on what he did or didn’t deserve.

Near the edge, the water was shallower, but it still sat far above his waist. Beads of water that couldn’t quite go on clinging to his skin, slipped in little rivers down, interrupted by the scar and the contours of his body. “Brennan,” he said softly, attention fixed on the werewolf’s face as though he might read something that made sense there. He touched the back of one of Brennan’s submerged calves, applied a gentle pressure. “Why does that keep happening?” Liam’s voice stayed quiet because he was too interested in the change in color and some part of his brain didn’t want to disrupt whatever caused it. Of course, the other part was anticipating Brennan wouldn’t tell him and the secret-like volume might feel safer.
 
Brennan's attention is wholly focused on the man in the water. His eyes follow the water drops chasing each other down Liam's torso. He hears his name in Liam's voice, but it's the touch to his leg that catches his focus. The muscles in that leg twitch, then relax.

"Why does what keep happening?" Brennan also speaks quietly, though for him, it's because of distraction. When Brennan's eyes change color, he's not entirely aware of it occurring. There's no change to his vision, and while it is a known occurrence in werewolves, without a mirror, the werewolf in question has no idea it has happened. So Brennan makes a guess. "Do you mean our arguments? Or are you talking about my keeping my problems to myself?"
 
The jump in muscle prompted Liam to run his thumb over the skin in some unconscious soothing action. He shook his head slightly. “Those are both good questions, but no.” At least Liam knew why their arguments kept happening: they weren’t meant to be together. “Your eyes turn gold.” He set his teeth down on his bottom lip before deciding he would be a little more forthcoming about what he thought he knew. “They did when— they did in the bar. Aren’t they only supposed to do that when you feel something?” He meant the question to be clearer, but that was how his brain pieced it together when his focus was so divided.

“It keeps happening.” That seemed like the core of the secret he was sharing in the hushed tone he’d adopted. “We aren’t fighting,” he pointed out as though it were necessary to remind Brennan of the fact. “It happened this morning.” Liam hadn’t spent time dwelling on it because he had been too startled with himself that he’d intentionally crawled over Brennan, which wasn’t exactly flirting, but it was a little more than friendly when they weren’t supposed to be friends.
 
The soothing touch on his leg is distracting, and it takes Brennan a moment to refocus. But he hears Liam talk about his eyes. Liam shares what little knowledge he has, and it makes Brennan smile. Then he mentions it had happened that morning, and Brennan shivers with the memory of Liam straddling his hips.

"Ah, yes, sort of, but there's more to it than that. The gold is.. Well, you could call it a side effect, to intense emotion. But it's not just anger that causes it. Joy, sorrow." Brennan pauses, licking his lips. His hands are gripping the bank tightly again, to keep himself from pulling Liam closer. "Desire. Possessiveness. In the bar, when I caught your scent.." Brennan trails off, letting Liam reach the conclusion himself. Either Liam would brush it off and reject him again, or he'd try to change the subject.
 
In some other instance, when he wasn’t the focus of it, Liam might have found the incessant desire to breathe in a person’s scent funny, but he’d had Brennan in his personal space more than a few times already to do it, and it certainly didn’t feel funny. It made his pulse do an uncomfortable skip every time, which he decided was because people weren’t used to having someone else that close. “Oh,” was Liam’s purely unfiltered response as his mind backtracked through times he recalled the color shift. “So,” he started slowly, “this morning was…” Liam could blame the flush in his skin on the hot spring, but it most certainly wasn’t. He could feel the little pin pricks of a blush run across the bridge of his nose.

“And now?” His voice had dropped officially into a whisper. He hadn’t done anything that he knew of to prompt the coloring. He’d showered in front of the werewolf, and it hadn’t gotten that reaction. Now felt like an ideal place to make light of the situation, but he couldn’t think beyond what he was asking and the incident in the morning. His hand had stilled against Brennan’s leg, but he’d applied a little bit more pressure without realizing it; it certainly wasn’t enough to hurt, but it was steady.
 
Brennan doesn't miss the blush, and he also catches on that it's not the hotspring. Liam had been standing in it for a few minutes, and hadn't been affected by the heat. Brennan's inner wolf is howling, urging Brennan to do something,  anything, to stake a claim on Liam. He bites the inside of his cheek as Liam questions again.

"You're naked, we're alone, and the likelihood of anyone interrupting is very low." Brennan's voice reverberates in his chest with a low crooning sound. Everything in him wants to jump in the water, drag Liam up against him, kiss him, mark his neck.. Brennan's muscles tense and he leans forward toward Liam. A heartbeat later, Brennan realizes what he's doing and stops. Then a second realization. He's hard, cock tenting out the front of his sweats. Brennan blinks, then lifts a hand to cover his now closed eyes, willing himself to calm down. "Ah, s-sorry, just.. Give me a second.."
 
Liam had stopped blinking at some point, and he was barely breathing. He drew in a short, sharp breath when Brennan moved forward, but by the time the wolf had leaned back, Liam was blinking and breathing like his brain hadn’t completely misfired. Through force of will, he released his hold on Brennan’s calf and pushed himself back to drift into deeper water, putting distance between them because he’d clearly slipped into some Twilight Zone episode. Idly he rubbed at one cheek, trying to smudge out the color that seemed to linger.

At the most, Liam was dazed, not blind. He knew the werewolf was hard, which made him wonder if the same had been true in the morning and, what was worse, his imagination was more than willing to fill in gaps in empty spaces and the unnecessary hypotheticals. He sank his head below the water long enough to clear out the images that were taking up residence like they were going to start paying rent. When he resurfaced, he seemed better suited to deal with the situation. He slapped at the water, hard enough to rain light drops onto Brennan’s legs. “Does this mean you were or weren’t hoping I’d choose to go watch the drills? And,” he continued with a sly smile, “are you saying you aren’t coming in here, because I’m beginning to think you might not actually be a werewolf. You could be a witch; I think that’s my new stance and professional opinion.”
 
Liam putting distance between them helps Brennan to calm, but his erection doesn't go down as easily. When Brennan drops his hand from his eyes, they're hazel again, though very light in color. He folds his hands in his lap. The water splash gains his focus, and he gives Liam a tight smile. "You sounded excited to see the drills. I realize you just wanted to study how we fight, but I was going you the benefit of the doubt. As for swimming, I know you're nervous around my pack in human form, so I gave you a choice to avoid their wolf forms."

Brennan pauses at Liam's humor, a wry smile on his lips. He sighs lightly, fingers curling. "Liam, I'm trying to be respectful to you, but you make it.. Difficult."
 
“Brennan,” he said in the same tone as the wolf uses his name, “I did say it was easier to give me what I want because I’d continue to irritate you.” The bright blue of his eyes focus intently on the color of Brennan’s own, but even from the new distance, he can tell that the gold is mostly gone. He slapped the water once again, this time a little harder now that Brennan seemed to have pulled himself more together. “I’m sure my inner seventy-year-old woman is delighted at your restraint and upstanding behavior.”

“I was excited,” Liam continued, “to get out of the house. You could have asked if I wanted to help build a barn and I would have said yes.” By now, he could feel the color fading out of his face, although he did still rub at it, trying to hurry it along. “And, yeah, sure. I wanted to know how you fight. I still want to know. I’d be bad at my job if I didn’t. But,” he said with a grin, “what I’m hearing now is ‘yes, Liam, I am a witch. I can’t swim and I’ll be making offerings to the devil later tonight, you're absolutely right about me.’”
 
Brennan rolls his eyes when Liam talks about building a barn. More water is splashed at him, and he chuckles softly. Then he's teased about being a witch again, and the humor helps him calm further. Brennan bares his teeth in a mocking grin, growling playfully. "Alright, alright. I'll prove you wrong, then."

Brennan pulls his feet from the water and stands, shedding his shirt and his sweats. As usual, there's no underwear. Brennan's modesty, in respect of Liam, fades as he drops into the water. Being taller, the water barely reaches Brennan's hips at the edge. He moves through the water as easily as if he moved on land, the resistance of the water not slowing him down. When he's close enough Brennan sweeps his hands through the water to send a big wave at Liam.
 
Liam was intentional about where he let his gaze go, which was nowhere below Brennan’s waist. It wasn’t as though he’d forgotten what the werewolf’s body looked like, but with recent events, he adamantly had to be less interested in the wolf as a whole. Brennan didn’t make it easy. Liam yelped and twisted at the surge of water, but by the time the attack was over, he was laughing, shoving a smaller wave back. “Fine,” he conceded. “You’re still a werewolf.”

He shook his head faintly. “Although, I’m not sure you’re even swimming so much as standing.” For him, Liam couldn’t touch the bottom from where he was, not without going under. Brennan was an entirely different matter because he was so tall it was hard for Liam to fully process unless they stood next to one another. “But, because I’m so generous,” he added with a flicker of a smile, “I’ll give you a pass for now, just know that I’m watching you for any Satan-worshiping tendencies and weird relationships to goats or rats.”
 
Brennan grins, moving closer to Liam. It's true, he's still standing, but here where it's deeper, the water reaches his shoulders. When Liam teases him about Satan-worshipping and weird relationships, Brennan scoffs, reaching out tp push Liam's shoulder playfully. "As if. The only things I, as a werewolf, would worship are the moon and-" Brennan pauses, biting his lower lip. Can he get away with saying that, without making Liam uncomfortable? Brennan chooses to finish his sentence quietly. "And you.."

Brennan tries to redirect by suddenly dropping beneath the water. He swims around Liam, then grabs his ankle and drags him under. Surfacing, Brennan chuckles, turning to face where Liam had been. The prank had been harmless, and Brennan waits for Liam to resurface.
 
The initial push against his shoulder makes his smile widen, although it wavers at the pause, eyebrows lifted in anticipatory interest. Whatever he might have anticipated the answer to be, it wasn’t going to include him. Liam lost track of what his expression was doing, although it had absolutely turned into something unmistakably surprised. The disappearance prompted a sound of protest out of Liam. “You don’t just—”

Then he disappeared, the tug pulling him under the surface of the water. Liam didn’t resurface immediately. Instead, he’d gotten around Brennan, popped up behind him long enough to grab him. To get Brennan to move, Liam figured he had to throw all of his weight back to get the wolf off-balance enough to drag them both backward and down, even if that meant wrapping one leg around him for extra leverage. It was only then that Liam let go to properly come up for air, grinning mostly to himself.
 
Brennan turns his head when he hears Liam pop up from the water behind him. Then Liam is on his back, one leg wrapped around his waist. He can feel what the man is attempting, and while he easily could have remained stable by moving one foot back and flexing his abs, Brennan chooses to let Liam win this attempt, tipping over backward. But he's not about to let Liam think he's won the apparent wrestling match.

Brennan stands in front of Liam and easily scoops him up, tossing him through the air and back into the water effortlessly. He's careful with his toss, though, so Liam doesn't land anywhere near the edges or less deep sections. Brennan laughs again, fingers pushing wet, red hair back from his face.
 
Liam made a sound of protest about being picked up, that action prompting more flailing than any actual well-practiced attempt at escape. He had time to catch his breath before he hit the water again, coming up quickly and holding a hand out to stave off any further attacks. “Before you drown me,” he started, taking a breath in the middle of the thought, “I surrender.” For a second or two, he watched Brennan, the vague sort of smile stretching wider as his hand lowered.

“Seems like this turned out better than it would have if you’d gone on being respectful.” Aside from sleeping, it had probably been the longest span of time they’d gone without getting into some sort of disagreement. He liked Brennan this way, happy and not preoccupied, which would bother Liam later because he shouldn’t like the wolf at all. Liam shouldn’t like him, get too comfortable with him, or let his mind wander too much because it was going to end abruptly and unpleasantly. The amusement in his expression mellowed.
 
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