I am proclaiming this finished. It's given me a friggen complex over this past week, and as is such, I AM COMPLETELY OPEN TO CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM. I haven't written anything in at least seven months, and I've looked over and edited and re-wrote this sucker so much that I have no opinion on it anymore. It's either too much in too small a space or not enough. IDK anymore. /whining
Title: The Third Law
Characters/Pairings: Will/Skandar
Word Count: 4,952
Author's Notes: See above. I don't even know. Also un-beta'd, which was probably a bad idea.
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Skandar flirts mercilessly with Will, and finds it undeniably hilarious when Will tries, rather unsuccessfully, to hide his uncomfortable squirms at being come at so bluntly, so often. He smiles, though, and turns his head to the side in what, Skandar thinks, might be the most adorable nervous twitch ever. Sometimes he flirts back-makes a comment here or there that Skandar has to process for a few moments before he even realizes that Will's hitting on him. Skandar doesn't think that Georgie or even Anna realize what Will’s doing, although Anna had called him on his flirting with Will once, raising an eyebrow in his direction after one of his more lude remarks. Skandar had just smiled at her, open and easy, and laughed happily at Will's blush and shy smirk.
Skandar figures that Will flirts back with him out of a sense of companionship, in a just-going-along-with-his-best-friend kind of way. He also assumes that Will, however, knows he isn’t kidding.
Skandar looks back on it and thinks that he’s had a crush on Will since the end of Wardrobe, but never really admitted to himself-not until he had returned to set at the start of Prince Caspian and had seen Will for the first time in months. Skandar had grown up quite a bit in the time between films, and when he realized that hey, he was madly attracted to Will (and didn’t mind admitting it), flirting with Will came more naturally than anything.
Will had seemed surprised by it at first, as had Anna (although Georgie was a different story altogether) but Skandar soon realized that Will was also flattered, in that non-assuming way of his. And as time passed and everyone got used to it, Will had started to go along with it; Skandar was just thankful that it wasn’t weird between them, that it really didn’t seem to matter. Skandar didn’t feel led on by it and didn’t read anything into it. And things carried on.
***
So When Will comes into Skandar's trailer when they’re done for day and are just waiting for Anna to finish some touch-ups in the studio, Skandar doesn't think anything of it. He watches as Will strides purposefully into his trailer, but stops suddenly halfway between the kitchen and the sitting area as if he’s only just realized what he’s done and regrets it, and then stars rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet. Skandar can tell that Will is obviously tense and agitated, and he gets up from his spot on the couch and walks into the kitchen area, leans against the counter to face Will, and waits for him to speak.
When more than a few moments pass in tense silence, Skandar looks at Will more closely, brows furrowed with concern. Will sees the look and smiles at him, but it’s slightly manic, an attempt to keep things normal, and it doesn’t reassure Skandar at all.
Skandar frowns inwardly and, at a loss of where to start this conversation, offers Will a drink. (Raspberry iced tea-all he has left in his mini-fridge). Will takes him up on the offer, although Skandar thinks he did so more to have something to do than because he wanted anything.
"Something up?" he asks, handing Will the glass, figuring it best to just get to the point.
"Nah," Will shrugs. "Why d'you ask?" He takes a sip and some of the liquid spills out and runs down his chin. He nearly drops the glass in his haste to wipe it off with his sleeve, and he looks nervously at Skandar when he notices Skandar watching him a curious expression.
A tense moment passes when Will just stares wide-eyed at him, and then Skandar raises an eyebrow and asks, in nearly a whisper, "Are you sure, Will?"
"Yeah," he says curtly, waving away Skandar’s concern. "Yeah," he says again, but he sounds unsure this time, a slight quaver in his voice. He keeps looking at Skandar, though, as if waiting for something.
Skandar looks back at him, and cocks his head as if to ask, "What?"
When Will doesn't say anything else, Skandar starts to get really concerned. He closes the distance between them and takes the glass out of Will's hand; Will doesn’t seem to notice. "Will," Skandar says, not unkindly. "What's wrong with you?"
"Huh?" Will asks, shaking his head as if coming out of trance. "What?" He pauses. Skandar looks at him. "Nothing," he continues. "Everything's fine. Look, thanks for the iced tea." He turns and heads for the door. "I'll…I’ll see you…later, yeah?" he asks over his shoulder, and the door closes behind him before he's even done speaking.
***
Skandar stands in the doorway of his trailer, eyes following Will as he all but runs across the parking lot back to the studio buildings. As Skandar watches him go, he wonders if Will has realized yet that they still have to ride in the same car back to the hotel. He shrugs inwardly, figuring that he'll cross that bridge when he gets there.
He turns back into his trailer to grab his things and tidy up a bit, before slipping on his jacket and making his way over to where the car will pick them up, following Will's path to the main studio. He meets up with Georgie about half way over, and they get caught up taking about shooting that day-they’ve just started in earnest the battle at the How-a conversation that leads them to the car, and they hop in the back seat to wait for Anna and Will. Anna comes out first. She opens the front passenger side door and one of her legs is already in the car when she glances back at Skandar, who is sitting in the middle of the back seat. She pauses, and Skandar catches her eye, and after a moment of uncertainty she gets out and opens the back door, climbing in next to Skandar. She smiles at him like nothing out of the ordinary just occurred, and seems content to look out of the window and not say anything when Georgie asks, with a laugh just under her words, "What was that about, Anna?"
Anna's head snaps back to look at Georgie and she mutters, "Huh? What was what about?" and looks at Georgie with such a guilty nervousness that Georgie just frowns and says, "Nothing." Anna scowls, and Georgie adds, "Sorry," like she doesn't want to know anymore.
Skandar, however, is looking at Anna with deep concentration. She is pointedly avoiding his gaze, although after a few minutes of his staring she does look at him again and forces her mouth into a smile, as if they aren’t sitting there waiting for Will in a completely awkward silence.
Where is Will, anyway? Skandar thinks. As if on cue, the driver glances at his watch and then out of his window as if expecting to see Will walking over. Several more minutes pass, however, and now Skandar is just downright suspicious. Anna doesn't look at him again, though, and Georgie has seemed to realize the tension and is keeping her distance from both of them, looking out of her own window and avoiding eye contact with either of them.
After what seems like an hour, Will finally comes running out of the studio waving his arms frantically and muttering apologies to the driver as he opens the passenger side door. He glances back at Skandar, too, and gives Anna and Georgie a quick smile before turning back, sparing Skandar one last glance and an attempted smile that turns into a sort of grimace.
Georgie is muttering something under her breath and shaking her head, still looking out of her window. Skandar turns to her and raises an eyebrow, fighting back a curious smile, because Georgie’s commentaries are usually entertaining, even at the worst of times. But when Georgie turns to him, she only flicks her eyes to Will in the front, raises an eyebrow of her own, and smirks.
Skandar’s smile vanishes and he doesn’t look at her again.
***
When they finally pull up in front of their hotel, Will practically jumps out of the car before it even comes to a stop. Skandar, Anna, and Georgie all pause in getting out, and the driver looks back at them questioningly.
"Maybe he needs to use the loo," Georgie replies, and not even the driver can miss the slightly sarcastic smirk in her words.
The three of them make their way to the elevators after Will and up to their floor. Anna and Georgie wave to Skandar in farewell as they enter their room, and Skandar lets himself into his and Will's. Skandar sees that Will is already in the shower, and he's suddenly angry. What's wrong with him? he thinks, already running through possible reasons in his mind. He was acting really oddly in Skandar’s trailer earlier, there’s no doubt about that, and now he's avoiding Skandar altogether.
It’s hard for Skandar not to think the obvious. Of course it crosses his mind that maybe Will's being weird around him because he's starting to have feelings for him, or something of that sort, but Skandar pushes the thought away immediately. For one thing, he thinks, Will wouldn't suddenly realize in one day that he likes Skandar, not when Skandar's given him plenty of opportunity to come to that conclusion over the past few months. And he knows that thinking like this will only make matters worse. Skandar's fine with knowing that he and Will are just friends, and aren’t going to be anything more. He’d had to get over hoping for anything else pretty quickly, and he did so without incident. He's really rather fine with it, and he enjoys Will's friendship as much as he does Anna’s or Georgie’s.
So no, he tells himself, this has to be something else. He thinks through everything he’s said to Will, everything that happened today and in the past week or so that could have prompted this behavior. He doesn't come up with much, though, at least not anything that would explain why Will just started acting like this today. But what if it wasn't just today? Skandar thinks, inexplicably beginning to feel panicked, and starts to consider how Will's been acting towards him recently. Again, there’s nothing out of the ordinary; Will's been himself lately, been rambling about the new clothes he bought last week and how awesome shooting's been lately, even flirting will Skandar a little more openly.
But it's not that, he tells himself again, a little more forcefully than is perhaps necessary.
Skandar snaps abruptly out of his thoughts when he hears the water shut off, and Will comes into the room with only a towel wrapped around his hips.
"Skandar," Will acknowledges, and Skandar notices the forced calm in his tone, the slightly stiff smile on his face and slight swagger in his gait, not unlike how he holds himself during interviews and premieres when he’s uncomfortable with the situation or with the swarms of crazed fans. It makes Skandar irritable, seeing Will act this way around him, at the same time that it makes him ache a little with want, wanting to know what’s bothering Will and wanting to make it go away.
Skandar, however, just nods his head at Will in response, and Will grabs his clothes and rushes back into the bathroom to change.
Will comes out a few minutes later in a white t-shirt and his boxers, and Skandar watches as he flops face-down onto his bed. He stays silent for a few minutes, but can’t contain himself any longer. "Will," he says, not loudly, but sternly. Will freezes and Skandar can see his whole body tense up, as if he had been expecting and dreading this moment. After an imperceptible pause, Will slowly raises himself up on his elbows and looks at Skandar. Skandar is taken aback by the look on his face, as if he’s waiting for some judgment to fall, and it makes his next words come out more softly than he'd intended.
"Will," he says, "Tell me what's wrong with you. You can't pretend that everything's fine, not after how-" after how you acted today, he wants to say, but says instead, "After what happened today."
Will flinches at his words, as if he knew what Skandar wanted to say and knew that he deserved it. He stays quiet, though, and Skandar sits through the silence, knowing that Will will talk if Skandar gives him time to collect his thoughts.
Soon enough, Will takes a deep breath and begins. "I'm sorry," he says. "I am. About the way I was acting around you today." He pauses, and Skandar waits. He doesn’t say anything because he knows Will understands that he accepts the apology-that he didn’t really need one to begin with. "It's just that I-" Will sighs and trails off, laughs nervously. "Jesus," he exclaims softly. "This is harder than I thought it would be."
Unbidden, a rush of excitement floods through Skandar's body before he can do anything to stop it. His head snaps up and he looks at Will expectantly, hardly daring to hope. Will doesn’t say anything more, however, and Skandar looks back down at the floor between their feet and berates himself for letting his mind go there, again.
The silence spirals onward but Skandar knows that he doesn't need to say anything else, doesn't need to prod Will in any way, and as he expected, Will continues. "It's just that-" he trails off again. A moment later Skandar hears him say, "Skandar, look at me," and Skandar's head snaps back up and his stomach ends up somewhere in his throat when he realizes that Will's been looking at him this whole time.
Will glances back down for a second and sighs, but looks back up and catches Skandar's eyes again. His voice is rough and unsteady as he chokes out, "It's just that, I like you," he says suddenly.
Skandar, having spent the last few minutes forcing himself to just forget about his feelings for Will for one goddamn moment (since Will obviously needed him as a friend, here) is somewhat confused by Will’s confession and says, uncertainly, "I like you, too, Will."
Will lets out an angry breath through his nose and shakes his head. "No, Skan," he says heatedly, hitting his thighs in frustration. "That's not what I meant." He runs his hands through his hair, looking slightly crazed, and looks back at Skandar intensely. "I mean…I like you."
Skandar immediately assumes that he must be hearing this wrong, that Will must be talking about something else entirely and that he just doesn’t understand what. Will’s looking at him desperately, and he looks back with a somewhat dazed expression on his face, still refusing to believe what he just heard. A few more moments pass in dead silence, and Will says-pleads-"Say something, Skan."
Skandar opens and closes his mouth uselessly a few times as the truth finally starts to sinks in. "You," he mutters, "you…like me? I mean, you have, like…feelings for me?"
Skandar hadn't realized how anxious Will was for a response until he sighs dramatically, exasperated, and nearly shouts, "Yes, Skan! That's what I've been trying to tell you."
Will stands up suddenly, and Skandar can tell that Will's running on pure nervous energy, not really thinking straight, by the way his hands are shaking as he starts pacing up and down the length of the bed, talking all the while.
He’s mumbling almost to himself, and Skandar doesn't catch all of it, but what he does gather is that Will first realized he had feelings for Skandar a little less than a month ago; that he couldn't stop thinking about him, couldn’t stop looking at him, and that he was jealous of Georgie-jealous of Georgie, for Christ's sake-for always talking to him about how awesome Dawn Treader was going to be, how it’d be to film and to spend more time will Ben and meet Will P. and every other thing even slightly related; but that was also when he realized that he probably wouldn't see Skandar for months and that he really couldn’t handle that fact; and that this all just kind of blew up today when he saw Skandar fighting on location, filming the more Edmund-heavy bits of the battle at the How.
Will pauses to take a breath, and continues more slowly. Skandar tries to focus on what Will is saying, ignoring the giddiness he feels slowly building inside of him. "And I was going to say something to you, today, in your trailer, but when I got there I couldn't do it, I don’t know why, and then I started to question myself, and I started to think that maybe all of your flirting was just in fun, like mine had been, and I started worrying that maybe I was going to completely ruin our friendship if I told you and then, with the way I ran off, I thought that you might have figured it out anyway so I couldn't even look at you in the car and then-"
Skandar cuts him off. "Will," he says sternly, and Will stops mid-sentence, his hands still in the air where they had been gesturing wildly. Will seems to deflate under Skandar's gaze; his hands fall back to his sides and he sinks down onto the edge of the bed.
A few more minutes pass in silence before Will speaks again. "I didn't really mean to tell you all of that just now," he admits. "It's just that," he continues, somewhat desperately, "Once I started I couldn't really stop, you know? I'm not even sure that I should have told you anything to begin with. I mean, I don't really know much more than I did this afternoon, and for all I know I’m doing now what I was trying to avoid earlier, and I could still be ruining our friendship by telling you all of this. And then what if it gets really awkward, you know, and you're so weird around me after this that it ruins our dynamic on set, as well, and we start screwing up scenes and-"
"Wi-ill", Skandar says, making it two syllables, cutting Will off for the second time, exasperated but barely suppressing a laugh. Will stops mid-sentence again, and looks slightly embarrassed at being caught rambling once more. He looks down at his hands, folded in his lap, and Skandar stands, a smile turning up the corners of his mouth.
"You think too much, you know," he says, and Will looks up at him as Skandar takes two steps and closes the distance between them. He grabs Will's chin in his fingers and lifts Will's face up to his. Will looks at him with a question in his eyes but Skandar just smirks, leans down, and kisses Will on the lips.
Will makes a surprised noise in the back of his throat and follows Skandar’s mouth when he pulls away. Skandar laughs, but then looks down at Will seriously and says, voice deep and barely above a whisper, "I like you, too, you know," and kisses Will again.
Will’s mouth is warm under his and Skandar runs his tongue over Will’s bottom lip, and slips it inside when Will opens his mouth to deepen the kiss. Will’s tongue meets his and Skandar tries not to moan into Will’s mouth. Will’s hand comes up to frame the side of Skandar’s face, the other reaching for his waist and coming to rest on his hip. He pulls Skandar closer, spreads his legs so Skandar is standing between them, and Skandar’s hand reaches out and scrabbles for purchase in the front of Will’s shirt, the other curling around the nape of his neck, fingers tangling themselves into Will’s hair.
Will begins to rise, and for a moment he is standing crotch-to-crotch with Skandar, but before he can reach his full height Skandar’s fingers tighten in his hair and angle his head harshly, and Will loses his balance and stumbles forward. Skandar moves back with him gracefully, somehow holding the kiss, and Will’s stumble pushes Skandar backwards onto the bed. Skandar breaks the kiss in a huff of breath as Will lands heavily on top of him and knocks the air out of his chest. Will scrambles to get up, pushing himself up on his hands, but Skandar just shimmies backwards and sideways a little to get his knees on the bed and pulls Will back down on top of him. Will crawls up Skandar’s body to reach his mouth again and Skandar wraps his hand behind Will’s neck and pulls him back down, crushing their mouths together. Skandar kisses Will messily, brutally, and as Will slips his hand under Skandar’s head, cradling it and lifting Skandar’s head into the kiss, Skandar bucks his hips up into Will’s, his cock rubbing against Will’s lower stomach. Will moans and Skandar can feel the blood rushing down to his cock, bringing it to semi-hardness. He drops his head back into the sheets and pants Will’s name into Will’s mouth, and this time Will pushes down, rocks his hips up into Skandar, and Skandar has to bite off his groan as he feels Will’s hard cock rub against his own.
Will leans down closer to Skandar, nuzzles against his neck and thrusts again. Skandar arches up underneath him, his fingers curling tightly into the sheets. Will kisses Skandar’s neck and mouths over his jaw, but Skandar tilts his head down to catch Will’s lips again. Their kiss is open-mouthed and breathy, and the pressure behind Will’s thrusts is increasing when Skandar mutters into Will’s mouth, "Clothes, Will."
Will understands completely and he pushes himself up and kneels between Skandar’s bent legs. He rips his shirt off over his head and starts on the buttons of Skandar’s shirt. Skandar tries to help but just gets in the way, and Will playfully smacks his hands away, smiling. Skandar instead reaches for the elastic of Will’s boxers and gets them down, over his hard cock and down his thighs. Will finishes Skandar’s shirt, and as Skandar sits up to take it off Will kicks off his boxers and readjusts himself between Skandar’s legs.
Without warning, Skandar reaches out and wraps his hand around Will’s cock, slowly pumping up and down. Will’s breath hitches at the sudden contact, and he looks back at Skandar, who is smiling innocently like he isn’t doing amazing things-like that, Will splutters, as Skandar flicks his wrist and twists his hand around the shaft of his cock-to his co-star’s dick.
Somehow, among all of this, Will realizes that Skandar is still decently clothed, and he forces himself to focus on undoing Skandar’s trousers instead of on Skandar’s hand. It proves difficult, but soon enough Will feels Skandar lose his rhythm a little as Will hooks his fingers into the belt loops of Skandar’s trousers and teases them down his hips. Skandar seems more than willing to assist, now that both hands are free, and he pushes them down one leg, bending his knee to get them off, and kicks them off the other leg on Will’s other side.
Skandar’s knees are still bent and Will lays down on the bed between them, his mouth running over the outline of Skandar’s cock through his boxers. He sucks at the wet spot over what he rightfully assumes is the head and Skandar’s whole body jerks upward, feeling the suction through the thin material. Will does it again, and Skandar cries out, pleading with Will to c’mon, just do it correctly, already, and Will laughs inwardly at Skandar’s tone, that slightly demanding and commiserating sarcasm coloring his words even now. "Will," Skandar says again, and Will springs into action, up on his knees again, forgetting his teasing and yanking Skandar’s boxers over his cock. Skandar gasps as the cooler air hits his dick, but Will immediately sucks the head of Skandar’s cock into his mouth, sucking lightly. Skandar makes a strangled "nnngh" sound and Will smiles around his cock, slowly taking more of him down his throat. Skandar thrusts up into Will’s mouth and Will doesn’t bother to hold his hips down, doesn’t bother to stop him. He hollows his cheeks and swallows Skandar down, one of his hands jerking what little his mouth doesn’t reach, the other cupping Skandar’s balls, rolling them in his hand.
Skandar is gasping out Will’s name, a constant WillWillohGodWill and Will looks up at him, watching Skandar’s throat work noisily as he gulps down shallow breaths of air between the string of 'Will's, his head thrown back, his eyes closed. Will backs off, slides his mouth off of Skandar’s dick, his lips closing over the head, but by the time Skandar can cry out at the loss of contact Will is swallowing him down again, and Skandar brings his head up and open his eyes.
Will’s focus is entirely on his cock, and his eyes are lidded as he makes slow, almost unnoticeable movements up and down the farthest inch of his cock Will can reach. Skandar watches, enthralled, and his eyes flicker down Will’s face, sees Will’s lips red and swollen over his cock, a trickle of spit or what could be precome running down his chin. Will swallows again, and Skandar lets out a "Fuck, Will," at the same time Will looks up at him. He catches Will’s gaze, makes eye contact over his chest and stomach. Skandar can practically see the lust in Will’s eyes, his pupils blown wide and dark, but Skandar can only be struck by it for a moment as he throws his head back and comes hard into Will’s mouth without so much as a warning.
Will’s sore throat works frantically to swallow all of Skandar’s come, and it stings a little as it goes down, but Will milks every last drop from Skandar’s dick, jerking it slowly as Skandar arches up into the air and rides out his orgasm. After what seems like ages to Skandar, his muscles loosen and he drops back onto the bed, still panting. Will is still sitting on his knees, hovering between Skandar’s legs, and Skandar reaches out, wanting to touch him, any part of him. He ends up rubbing his thumb shakily over Will’s cheekbone, tucking back a sweaty strand of his hair.
Will leans forward to kiss Skandar, sprawls out over him, resting his weight on his knees, straddling Skandar’s thighs, and on his hands, placed on either side of Skandar’s head. As he positions himself, Skandar feels Will’s still-hard cock rub against the inside of his thigh. He reaches down and wraps his hand around Will’s dick again, pumping it hard. He swipes his thumb across the slit and spreads precome down the shaft, picking up his speed. Will thrusts into the circle of Skandar’s fist and his head drops down to rest on Skandar’s shoulder, his breath warm and light as he whispers into Skandar’s skin (Jesus Skandar, oh God, so- so good).
Skandar wraps his other arm around Will’s back, fingers playing with the hair at the nape of Will’s neck.
"C’mon, Will," he whispers into Will’s ear, his other hand maintaining his steady rhythm on Will’s cock, in time with Will’s thrusts. "Come for me."
Will thrusts one, two, three more times and muffles his cry as he comes over Skandar’s hand, dripping down onto Skandar’s stomach. Will collapses on top of him, his come smeared between them, and Skandar keeps twirling Will’s hair around his fingers, wrapping his legs around Will’s.
Will breathes in deep, smells sex and sweat and something that is inexplicably Skandar on the sheets and on Skandar’s skin, and he sighs contentedly. Skandar makes a throaty noise of agreement and tilts his head down to kiss Will’s temple, runs his fingers through Will’s hair and sweeps it away from his face.
Will closes his eyes and nestles his head on Skandar’s chest, but he can feel his come cooling on his stomach and says brokenly, his voice tired and fucked out, "Skan. We need. Clean."
Skandar gets the idea and slips out from under Will to run to the bathroom and grab a washcloth, wiping off his stomach and hand on the way back to the bed. Will turns over onto his side and lets Skandar wipe off his stomach what the sheets hadn’t already done. Skandar rubs the cloth a couple of times over the wet spot on the bed, but then decides fuck it and shrugs, and lays back down next to Will.
Will sits up and grabs the covers from the bottom of the bed, then kind of flops back down half on top of Skandar, covering them both. Skandar lets out a soft "oomph" but wraps one arm around Will all the same, the other reaching for the lamp switch on the table between their beds. He turns off the light, and Will mutters, "Goodnight, Skan" into Skandar’s skin.
Skandar is hot, sweaty, still a little sticky and sort of half-crushed under Will, but he’s smiling as he whispers back, "'Night, Will" and closes his eyes. He vaguely wonders what will happen in the morning, how they’ll be on set, the inevitable what now?, but he finds that, at the moment, he couldn’t care less. He tightens his arms around Will and soon drifts off to sleep.