Slacking Off (Gavin/Andy)

[Andy Moreau]

There was a bit of bounce to Andy's step as they reached Hogsmeade, nerves dissipated, heart light. In his excitement he forgot to be distrustful, forgot to keep himself closed off. He'd just spent the past however long talking with a cute prep school guy who'd ended up being at least bi. There was no reason to hide that he was too, and no pressure to try pushing forward because Gavin wasn't pushy like that.

So he'd suggested just having fun and letting things happen, and Mr. Super-Cute Overachiever had given him a super-sweet smile he couldn't help but return.

"Let's just go in everyplace and see what they have," he suggested. He didn't have any extra money, but he was a pro at window-shopping, and he'd spent plenty of time entertaining himself wherever he happened to be. One of the closest places was a book store. Andy wasn't much of a reader, but they were just looking anyway. He threw Gavin a glance over his shoulder, then pulled open the door and slipped inside.

[Gavin Kent]

Gavin didn't really go browsing shops often, and when he did it was with the team in the awkward timeslots between practice and games or traveling. He had the feeling that browsing a shop would be a much different sort of fun. "Magical book stores are so much better than muggle ones," he said as the door closed behind them. "You don't find books that bite at Waterstones."

[Andy Moreau]

"Not unless you're into 50 Shades or something," Andy said. "Are there really books that bite, though?" He looked toward the counter, but there didn't seem to be anyone there so he proceeded into the nearest sets of shelves to browse covers. He glanced back at Gavin, much more comfortable looking now that he knew it was okay.

[Gavin Kent]

"My tutor took me to a store that had one on display." Having something other than his sexuality to focus on was nice. Gavin could examine himself later, or maybe he would just let what happened happen. Of course, what happened was that he couldn't help but glance over at Andy's jawline or the way his hair moved. "If it was angry, it would try to bite, but if you pet its spine it would be happy and let you read." The magical world had a way of making the most mundane objects incredibly dangerous.

[Andy Moreau]

"Oh wow, that's brilliant," Andy said. He'd love to see a book like that, if only to try the petting thing. He stopped at a shelf that declared itself Staff Picks. He wrinkled his nose at the sheer number of novels fronted with ridiculously dressed people in about to kiss poses. And there were three different bibles. Why not just one? And, for that matter, where was a Torah or a Koran or anything?

Andy looked around, still saw no staff, then started grabbing books and setting them in a stack at the end of a shelf. "We can fix this," he said. "Do you think they have that biting book?"

[Gavin Kent]

Gavin forgot his glances at specific bits of Andy, and his eyes widened as he focused his gaze on Andy's face. "What are you doing?" he asked softly, sparing a brief glance toward the main section of the store before looking back at Andy. None of his browsing had ever involved rearranging staff displays.

[Andy Moreau]

"Putting up something better," Andy said. He held up a book with a ridiculously overlarge man holding onto a freakishly skinny blonde with tits the size of her head. "Would you read this?" he asked. "Seriously." Gavin looked scared to death, so Andy smiled at him. "I'm not hurting anything, and if they even notice, it'll take like a minute to put everything back the way it was. We won't get banned or anything." There. Plenty of space. Now to look for something more interesting.

[Gavin Kent]

Gavin glanced around uncertainly again, but he had to admit he was curious to see what Andy had planned. "Do you normally go into shops and change things around?" he asked. He pulled a tad closer to Andy, as though attempting to hide the emptied shelf from view. Just because no staff had shown up yet didn't mean they were completely in the clear.

[Andy Moreau]

"If there's nothing better to do," Andy said. He only realized as he turned away from Gavin that he'd been holding his breath. The guy was half a foot taller than him, and was it bad to notice he smelled good? "Let's find something good to put up! He slipped around the end of a shelf and found himself in the Muggle section.

A Game of Thrones. He liked the tv show. That was something he'd miss. He tucked the book under his arm and kept going.

[Gavin Kent]

Gavin's eyes caught on the book. "Do you enjoy fantasy?" he asked. "I always liked it, but it's odd now reading it when I know magic's real." Since Andy had gone for fantasy, Gavin turned his attention toward fantasy novels he recognized. Huge fantasy tomes probably weren't exactly normal fare for a fifteen year old, but he recognized at least a few of the names.

[Andy Moreau]

"Uh, I picked this one because I like the show. Have you ever seen it?" Andy suddenly realized that he was in a book store with someone who probably actually read books. Andy could count the number of books he'd finished on one hand. Without using his fingers. "Ugh, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, who reads non-fiction?" Pride and Prejudice and Zombies looked much more interesting. He tucked that under his arm with A Game of Thrones.

[Gavin Kent]

"I've only seen bits and pieces," Gavin said as he flipped through books and pulled one here or there. DnD fantasy joined a more modern and mature Sanderson novel in the crook of his arm. "There was never a lot of spare time at school, and I never had anything other than public broadcasting on the telly in my room." Game of Thrones wasn't quite BBC material.

[Andy Moreau]

Andy glanced back at Gavin. He'd had a television in his room? "One of the families I was with watched Game of Thrones," he said. "And one of them watched Pride and Prejudice about a hundred times." He gestured to the second book he'd picked up, then stopped entirely. Getting Off: A Novel of Sex and Violence had a drawing of a naked lady's butt with her hand hiding the crack with a large knife. Andy giggled and stuffed the book under his arm before moving on. And seeing Moby Díck. He couldn't help laughing.

[Gavin Kent]

If Gavin's cheeks hadn't flushed before, they did now, to a wonderful cherry tomato color. "My mates always said there was an entire section in the store dedicated to things like that," he said anyway, pointing at Andy's revealing cover. He pulled his eyes away and even if his lips did curve he couldn't let himself actually laugh.

[Andy Moreau]

Andy looked down to see which book Gavin was pointing at, then gave a little laugh and a blush. "Do you think so?" he asked. "Well, they have them in video stores. I mean, not that I ever..." He looked away quickly, then reached for the next book he saw with a cool cover and stuffed it under his arm with the rest. "This should be enough!" They hadn't even made it past the Muggle section.