Work Text:
September 13th.
Avery was the one.
Derek knew that from the start. Him and Avery had an intimate understanding of each other that no one else could come close to replicating. They hadn’t even known each other for a year, but their bond was as strong as lifelong friends who had gone through thick and thin. Even with most of the infinite knowledge gone from his head, Derek knew that he would spend the rest of his life with Avery.
His nieces birthday party was just the final nail in the coffin.
When they had arrived at his aunts house for Azar’s birthday party, they were immediately swarmed by the children present, including Azar herself. Cyrus and Omid were dressed as Lumière and Cogsworth, Darius was dressed as Chip, and the birthday girl was in an adorable yellow dress that she insisted would take at least three twirls for them to see it in all its glory.
“Well look at you, birthday girl!” Avery had cooed, scooping her up into his arms. “The big old age of seven now, huh? You’re gonna have to start doing taxes soon, young missy.” Azar giggled in his hold, admiring his outfit. Avery had gone out of his way to rent a white dress shirt and golden detailed vest to simulate a male Belle, matching with Derek’s deep blue waistcoat with golden buttons for The Beast.
“Nuh uh! I won’t do taxes!” Azar proclaimed proudly, turning to her ‘adoring subjects’. “I say there’s no more taxes, ever!”
“No more taxes!” The boys cheered, before tugging on Avery’s pants to get their hugs from him. Derek set the cookies on the food table before sitting down in the living room next to Laleh and Mahsa. They were dressed as Ms. Pots and ‘Chipette’, an adorable matching set. He half-heartedly listened to his families conversations but kept his eyes on Avery the entire time.
It was natural, seeing him with kids. Avery had told him many stories about his childhood with his younger brother, Peter. He talked so highly about his brother, it was guaranteed he would so loving towards any child. The way he held Omid and Darius at the same time like it was nothing, how he kept his voice gentle when talking to Cyrus after learning about his sensitivity, the adoring looks he gave while intently listening to Azar ramble about the roles of her stuffed animals in her kingdoms court. It made him fall in love all over again.
He only looked away when he felt a weight in his lap, holding Mahsa gently with both hands. Laleh passed him a glass of root beer, which he thanked her for before looking back over at Avery. In the few seconds he had looked away, his lover was being pulled up the stairs to Azar’s room. Derek decided to let him be for a while, taking the time to socialize with his family. Well, he actually spent most of it pretending to have a conversation with Mahsa, who had began to babble.
“He’s the one, isn’t he?” His mother asked from behind him, taking the spot to the left of him.
Derek took a moment to think about the statement. Until meeting Avery, he didn’t believe in “The One”. That special someone you meet when the time is right, someone who completes you in a way no one else can. If it did exist, then it wasn’t in the cards for him. From his lackluster past relationships to the knowledge that he was going to die for the world, he wasn’t exactly expecting to have that kind of bond with anyone.
With Avery, however, there was no other way to describe him than “The One”. Call it soulmates, destiny, the red string of fate, there was something invisible that tied them together and remained impossible to break. He was almost glad for the incident with Hastur, otherwise he would never have known the beautiful soul that was Avery.
Almost.
“The One,” Derek agreed, looking to his mother with a smile so wide he swore his face would split open. “It’s only been two months, but I can already see my life with him. My future, our future.” His mother pulled him into a warm embrace, the same way she did when he got overwhelmed as a child. “It looks so bright, maman.” He was crying now, but they were tears of a pure joy, of love he couldn’t keep within his body.
“Oh Azizam, I’m so happy for you.” She squeezed him once, twice, then placed a kiss on his forehead. “You deserve this, Derek. You deserve good things.” Derek nodded into her blouse, letting himself take another selfish moment to sit in the arms of his mother and inhale the same perfume she wore when he was younger. She may be growing grey hairs and wrinkles on her face, but her hugs were still warm and safe and they would be forever.
Mahsa became fussy in his lap, making Derek pull away and try to figure out what was wrong. She didn’t smell like she needed a change, and Laleh didn’t immediately grab her bottle so he assumed she had been fed recently, so the two most likely causes were eliminated. He tried rocking her, but that only made her cry louder. He tried giving her back to her mother, same result. He racked his brain, trying to figure out what else could be making her so upset, other than the fact that babies just needed to cry sometimes.
Her crying quieted down to low sniffles, and Derek looked up to see that Avery had come back downstairs with yellow bows in his hair and sparkly red chapstick on his lips. Mahsa was looking directly at him, reaching one of her hands out and babbling between her sniffles. Avery froze when he locked eyes with her as if he wasn’t sure what to do. The longer he stood there, the more it seemed Mahsa was about to have a meltdown.
When Derek (impatiently, he admitted) held her out to him, he snapped out of it and swooped in to cradle her. “Hey, hey, shhh. It’s alright, Mahsa. I’m here.” He moved to sit on the bean-bag in the living room, slowly rocking her in his arms. Derek watched, practically hypnotized when he started humming a lullaby, keeping her close to his chest. Only one thought crossed his mind as the image of his lover holding a baby so adoringly ingrained itself into his mind.
He wanted children with Avery.
Another, more dangerous thought creeped in right after, one that Derek had to physically shake out of his head, embarrassed he was even thinking like that here and now. It was hardly the appropriate time to discover new… things, about himself. He willed the thought away, focusing on the here and now. It was perfect timing, since his uncle announced they were going to sing Happy Birthday. Even as Mahsa was given back to Laleh and Avery dragged him to join the circle forming around the table, the thought never truly left Derek’s mind.
How would Avery feel about getting pregnant?
He knew it was impossible. Avery had gotten his tubes tied last year, though he still took birth control to handle his periods. Even if that wasn’t a factor, the damage absorbing Hastur had done to his body had left him completely infertile according to the doctors. He and Avery were both completely on board with adopting children at some point in the future in any case, so he wasn’t sure why his thoughts had wandered that far. He decided to ignore it, trying to push it as far back into his mind as he could.
Considering how much Avery was interacting with the children, that didn’t last long.
-
Derek contained himself for all of five minutes after they arrived home.
He left barely enough time for them to change into casual clothes before he let himself kiss the side of Avery’s neck.
“What’s got you in the mood?” Avery asked him, turning around to give him a proper kiss. Derek’s hands grabbed his waist, hesitating on whether to admit the discovery he had made about himself or keep it as a fantasy in the back of his mind. He kissed Avery again and again, stalling for time until he decided that it couldn’t hurt to at least offer the idea.
“I made a discovery about myself.” He blurted out before he could go back on his choice. Avery looked at him curiously but nodded for him to continue. “Seeing you handle the kids, handle Mahsa, it made me think about how good of a father you’d be.” His thumbs began rubbing circles on his lovers hips, a nervous habit he’d developed recently. “One thought led to another and I realized the idea of getting you pregnant was… exceptionally appealing to me.”
Avery stared at him while he processed what he had said, his eyes not revealing anything about how he felt. Derek let go of his hips to pace around the room, hands griping his head tightly.
“Don’t get me wrong I know it’s not possible with our combined-“
“Derek.”
“-Conditions and I would never ask you to play along with something like that if you-“
“Derek.”
“-Didn’t want to I just wanted to be honest with you about my-“
“Derek!” Avery grabbed his shoulders and turned him around. “Derek. Minha Vida. You didn’t do anything wrong, you didn’t make me uncomfortable, we’re okay.” The comforting words made his shoulders relax and his jaw unclench. “Besides, I don’t… hate it. The idea of pretending.”
It was Derek’s turn to stare now, locking eyes with his lover before kissing him so hard they fell backwards onto the bed. His hands squeezed the pudge on his stomach, moving his lips down to his collarbone and sucking another hickey into the skin.
“Derek, you gotta let me undress first.” Avery gently shoved him off, and he complied just enough to get his own clothes off. The sound of fabric hitting the floor made everything feel more real than he realized, but he regretted nothing.
The body in front of him was gorgeous. Tanned and covered in freckles so perfect he was thankful for his near-photographic memory. The pudgy stomach he had felt for so long was finally revealed to him, and it was just as beautiful as he had always pictured it. He couldn’t help himself, leaning down to press kisses to the flesh and leaving the occasional mark, Avery’s sounds only serving as motivation.
He kissed up towards his chest slowly, tracing the scars under his nipples with his finger, then his tongue. The metal of the piercings enticed him, a siren song bringing his tongue and lips around one bud and his fingers around another. He knew that this areas sensitivity was dulled due to the surgery, but he still earned beautiful moans as a reward for his actions.
“Gorgeous. Absolutely gorgeous, and all mine.” He whispered, moving lower down to where he truly wanted to be. Avery had already spread his legs, consciously or not, revealing that intimate spot made for his eyes only. His, it was only his. He wanted so badly to taste it, but he knew both of them were too impatient for much more foreplay. Another time then.
Derek traced his thumb across Avery’s lips, pushing in enough for him to open. Two fingers were gently pressed into his mouth, his tongue wetting them enough for what they planned. Derek was content to watch him the entire time before his eyes caught something on the floor. One of his zip-up hoodies, black with red accents and his last name embroidered on the back. A devious idea settled into his head as he reached his free hand down to grab it. Avery looked at him confused until he removed his fingers and slid the jacket underneath him, Avery putting it on the rest of the way once he realized what was happening.
It was possessive, Derek wouldn’t deny, a way of staking a claim none could refute. It didn’t help that it made Avery look at him like he was the only thing that mattered to him.
“You want me to leave it unzipped?” Derek could only nod, leading Avery to laugh again before cutting himself off with a moan. Derek circled his fingers around his hole again, slipping one inside quickly but gently, and then another when he deemed him loose enough.
“When was the last time you did this?” It wasn’t an interrogation in any way, a question born from pure curiosity and not any sort of jealousy.
The question seemed to make Avery think between the quiet moans he pulled out of him. “Second year of college, I think? Hooked up with a classmate, but he didn’t want anything serious.” He shrugged, casual despite the two, now three fingers inside him. “You?”
Derek chewed on his lip, another nervous habit he’d developed since the incident. “I’ve had a few casual relationships over the years, but they usually wanted my hands or mouth. This is… the first time I’ve ever gotten this far.” He wasn’t ashamed of his inexperience, but he did wish now that he had taken more of the offers he was given if only to have more experience for this moment.
Avery’s face softened, pulling him down by his shoulders to kiss him in a way that was much softer than what his fingers were busy with. “I have a feeling you’ll be amazing.” A full body shiver came from those words, and his lover just smiled. “I’m ready.” Derek nodded, easing his fingers out and carefully replacing them with just the tip for now.
He was average, slightly above at best, longer rather than thicker. He never paid that much attention to himself in that way, he just didn’t have a need nor a want, but with Avery now in his life he had a feeling he was going to know that part of him vividly. He looked at Avery one more time, pushing forward slowly when he nodded.
Moans echoed from them both as Derek eased himself inside gently, pausing whenever he heard a pained noise. It was heaven, the feeling of being inside him. Not just physically, but the emotional bliss it gave him to know that for the rest of time, this was something only he would experience. This was his. No one, not Hastur, not the world, nobody could take it from him.
He was fully sheathed now, letting himself lay against Avery and kiss at his neck. Avery took advantage of that and sucked on his shoulder, causing his hips to stutter when he gave an experimental thrust.
“You feel so good.” He muttered, mouthing at whatever skin he could find. All rational and logical thoughts were melting from his mind, not caring about anything that wasn’t Avery and how his body felt like coming home after years of being on the road.
“You feel so good- fuck-“ Ecstasy, that was the only word to describe how Avery’s words felt to his ears. “God you’re so deep.” Lips kissed the shell of his ear, whispering dirty promises and one crucial phrase.
“You’ll have no issue putting a baby in me at this rate.”
Derek’s hips stilled for a moment, before continuing their movements. Still gentle, but deeper now. He was aiming for something he couldn’t see, something he couldn’t reach, but those facts didn’t cement in his mind.
“I will I will I will-“ His words were reverent, prayers to the god lying underneath him who had blessed him with his holy rite. “You’ll look so beautiful, so full, so round. So full of me, of us.” Derek wasn’t a man anymore, not fully. Part of him remained a gentle lover, but the rest of him became a rabid animal with a one track mind.
“You’ll have a piece of me with you, forever,” The words wouldn’t stop leaving his lips, not even as he felt Avery tighten around him. “And we’ll have a physical piece of our love to care for, a manifestation of our bond.” He was close, they both were, and he couldn’t bear the thought of stopping now.
“Come on, come on- cum first. I’ll cum right after, I’ll fill you and let it take after, I promise.” He needed his lover to be the first to finish, needed to prove to his mind that he was taking care of him. Not even a moment later, Avery bit down on his shoulder to silence a moan that would’ve gotten them a noise complaint and let himself go, Derek joining him barely seconds later.
His mind was foggy now, bliss the only feeling he could comprehend. It felt amazing, but he couldn’t let himself sink into it, not until he had taken care of Avery. He gave his lover a once-over, finding only pure bliss and mild exhaustion on his face. His heart filled with pride at the knowledge that it was him who was the cause of it. Grinning, he dug into their nightstand drawer for a box of tissues he had been saving for this occasion. He pulled out as slow as he could, wiping off both their bodies and the bed below them. He’d have to change the sheets before they slept tonight.
Derek carefully lifted his drowsy partner into his arms, seating him on the toilet lid before starting a bath. He felt a hand grab his arm and he obliged, sliding the zip-up off his shoulders before bringing him into his arms again.
“I love you, nafasam.” He pressed a kiss against his forehead, giggling when he received a muddled ‘love you’ in return. Once the tub had filled enough, he placed Avery into the water before joining him, content to sit in the moment.
The next morning, Avery would insist he be carried around the entire day despite only having a slight limp. Derek obliged of course, but not without significant fake complaining.