fandomhighdorms | The Roof, Tuesday Evening

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The Roof, Tuesday Evening

Pacing was good, and so was smoking (arguably), when you were on edge about something; Anders just happened to be capable, believe it or not, of doing both things at once. And so he was up on the roof, pacing and smoking at the same time, trying hard not to think too much about Sunday's unsettling trip to the Underworld, or how frakking fast these last few days were going.

And maybe, if he thought hard enough, he could come up with a way to freeze time.

. . . yeah, right. He might've managed (even though he couldn't for the life of him figure out how) to knock out a demon, but that wasn't going to turn him into a miracle worker overnight or anything.

Stupid time, and its stubborn insistence on moving forward.

[OOC: Anders and Bel's thread locked to them, but the roof is open for all your roof needs, emo or non-emo.]

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"Oh," Anders said, used to Bel's gruff and reticent moments by now. He wondered briefly if Lucifer had been around at the time, and eyed Bel askance for a moment, but shook it off. "Stuff on your mind, huh? With time running out and all . . ."

"He's offered to pay for college for me and Phoebe," Bel said, lighting up his cigarette with a small fireball. "Wanted to thank him for it, but I don't know what I'm gonna do."

Anders knew how much of a worry that had been for both of them, and a surprised smile flashed across his face for a moment as he made a mental note to thank Aziraphale himself. "Go to college, kick ass, and make us all proud, that's what you're gonna do, you dumbass," he said affectionately.

This time, he couldn't resist the impulse to move closer to Bel, so he did, brushing his fingertips against his boyfriend's hand as he closed the distance. "I'd be proud of you no matter what, though. Always will."

Bel drew in a lungful of smoke and let it out slowly, trying to relax. "I'm a thug, not a scholar," he said with a sigh.

"Dumbass," Anders said again as he flicked his cigarette off the edge of the roof and slid behind Bel to start massaging his shoulders. "You're selling yourself short. I should know how it sounds; Phoebe whaps me for it all the time when I do it to myself."

"She's good at that," Bel said, relaxing into Anders's touch. "I just don't know what to do. What, am I supposed to be a doctor or a lawyer or something? I've never been more than a. . . ." He broke off.

"More than what?" Anders brushed a light kiss against the back of Bel's neck, found a particularly tense knot, and went to work on it with his fingers. "You're limiting yourself before you even give it a shot. You can be any damn thing you want to. I know it sounds cliché, but it's true, dammit. You've seen and done more stuff than people three times your age. For frak's sake, Bel, you came back from the dead. After that, figuring out what you want to do with your life should be a piece of cake."

Anders was a little naive sometimes. But optimistic.

"I wish it was that easy," Bel said quietly, giving a grunt of half-pain, half-pleasure as Anders worked the knot. "I was trained on how to fit in with the human world, but . . . it's harder than it looks."

"I think you're doing just fine," Anders assured him. "Trust me, you fit in great with us humans ~~mmm, irony~~. I believe in you, you know that. Phoebe believes in you. Aziraphale obviously does, too, and Doctor Wilson. You're going to be fine, I promise."

Impulsively, he wrapped both arms around Bel's waist and hugged him hard, then went back to his massaging. "What am I gonna do without you around to get me into trouble like going to the Underworld, huh?"

Bel flicked his cigarette off the roof. "I haven't told you thank you yet, have I?" he said gruffly.

"For what?" Anders ran his thumbs slowly down either side of Bel's spine, then back up again. "I didn't do anything special."

"You saved my life," Bel said quietly. "If it wasn't for you, Vornac. . . ."

Anders's hands stopped moving, and he stared at Bel. "I didn't . . . wow," he mumbled, a little shaken by the realization that what he'd done had turned out to be that huge. "Wow."

He rested his cheek against Bel's back and leaned against him, his arms wrapped lightly around Bel's waist. "I'd've stayed down there if I had to, you know, just to make sure you got back safe. But there was no way I was letting him lay a hand on you."

Bel couldn't suppress a shudder. "He was the worst when I was growing up. Made it his mission to prove I was weak. As soon as Raynor dropped his protection of me, he claimed me."

Anders sensed the shudder and pulled Bel closer. "I won't let him touch you again, I swear. He was wrong, Bel. You're not weak. You're the strongest man I know. I see how hard you work to be human . . . I couldn't even imagine having to do that . . . and I love you, and I'm proud of you."

"You can't think you're useless anymore," Bel said, trying to force the tension to leave his body. "You saved my life. You took out a powerful demon."

"Sweating buckets the whole time," Anders replied, just before he leaned in to kiss Bel. "And shaking so hard I could barely function afterward. I don't feel heroic or anything . . . I'm just glad I could save you."

"Thank you," Bel said, kissing Anders back. He chuckled a little. "Vornac never knew what hit him. You nailed him pretty hard with that rock."

"Guess I've got a pretty good arm," Anders admitted bashfully -- which was a weird reaction for a jock, but jocks didn't usually end up using their athletic prowess to save their half-demon boyfriends from threats in the Underworld either, did they? Jocks didn't usually engage in shamelessly snuggly PDA moments with said half-demon boyfriends, either.

"And you know you're welcome. After everything you've done for me . . . I guess we're even, now. Who the frak summoned the cats, though? I don't get that."

"I have no idea," Bel said. "They didn't appear too concerned about it."

"Weird." Anders shook his head. "But I guess as long as they're okay and you're okay and Phoebe decided not to kill us, everything's fine, right?"

No, he hadn't let go of Bel yet. He didn't show signs of doing so any time soon, either.

"Yeah, fine," Bel agreed, closing his eyes. Except for what was looming a few days ahead.

"Fine," echoed Anders hollowly. He let out a short, unconvincing laugh and tightened his arms around Bel. "I guess it's dumb to say I wish I could go with you, huh?"

"Not dumb," Bel said. "But what about finishing school?"

"Not like this is the only high school in the world or something," Anders muttered, though he was pretty well aware of the fact that this had a pretty good chance of being the only high school that would accept a guy from another planet, with no actual legal identity on Earth, no questions asked. "And I can't exactly try and drop out now that I've given you the whole lecture about doing well in school . . . and Phoebe would kill me if I did."

He sighed softly. "Dammit."

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