There are days when Mouse really enjoys his job.
Today was not one of those days.
Sitting in a large meeting hall, listening to executives drone on about the company's financials and hiring plans, and eating dry sandwiches with a beverage that's more ice than soda, is not his idea of a good time. He doesn't know why such an event is mandatory anyway, but he tells himself it's only once a year, and spends his time tuning out the presentation and thinking about ways to make progress on his projects, instead.
He's ready to bolt when the day ends, but his manager finds him before he can, practically drags him to the CTO to sing his praises, and Mouse spends too long discussing the recent intrusion attempt that he'd helped thwart.
Mouse should be proud, he knows. He should be flattered, and thankful for the attention and conversation and what it means for his career. Instead, all he can think about his Will, waiting at home, and how he's going to be late.
It's nearly an hour before he's able to politely excuse himself -- you don't just tell the CTO you need to leave, he thinks -- and fire off a quick message to his boyfriend as he walks to his car.
Sorry got pulled into conversation couldn't get away heading home now
Of all the days to be late, this was probably one of the worst. He hopes Will hadn't made reservations at a restaurant somewhere that they'd now miss thanks to him.
He practically bursts through the door of their house, an apology ready on his tongue, but the house is quiet. Normally, Will would be greeting him at the door with a kiss.
He must really be upset with me...
"I'm home," he calls out into the silence.
"In here," Will's voice calls from what sounds like the dining room, and Mouse can make out music now -- a slow song that sounds extremely familiar, but he can't quite place, drifting quietly through the house.
He rounds the corner, not knowing what to expect, but certainly not expecting to see...
"Jay?!"
Jay grins, pulling him into a hug before he can react, and he squeezes the man tightly against him. "About time you showed up, man."
Mouse starts to apologize when Natalie speaks up as she stands from a dining room chair. "Stop making him feel bad, Jay. You were literally just saying it was good that he was late."
Jay rolls his eyes, patting Mouse's shoulder as they break their embrace. "Yeah, well. If my flight hadn't been delayed, I would've been here hours ago, and then he would've kept me waiting. It's rude to keep guests waiting."
"Why are you here..." Mouse starts, before a movement catches his attention, and he turns to see Will, leaning against a corner.
Will's wearing a suit, his eyes twinkling, and it takes a second for Mouse to understand why all of this seems familiar.
It was the suit Will had worn to Jay and Hailey's marriage celebration. And this was the song that...
"Can I have this dance?" Will asks, smiling softly as he walks up to Mouse, holding out his hand.
Mouse doesn't bother responding, instead slotting easily into Will's arms. He hadn't danced since the evening two years ago that had changed his life, but instead of nervousness, he only feels joy.
He watches as Natalie grabs Jay and forces him to dance, Jay's expression displaying annoyance, and Mouse knowing he's only tolerating it for his sake, and he closes his eyes, just feeling Will's arms around him and slowly swaying with his boyfriend to the music.
"Are you going to kiss me, this time?" He doesn't necessarily mean to ask it, but when he opens his eyes and looks up at Will, Will is grinning.
"Do you want me to?"
"I wanted you to last time, too."
Will doesn't need to be asked twice, kissing him slowly, tenderly. Mouse melts into it, pressing against Will as much as he can.
He wants this for the rest of his life.
"I wanted to make it up to you," Will says when they break, a contented smile on his face that Mouse is sure he shares, at the moment. "If I hadn't been such an idiot, I would've kissed you on that dance floor."
"You didn't have to ma..." Mouse starts, trailing off as Will pulls away from him, and slowly...
"I wanted to make it up to you," Will says again, as he reaches into his pocket and slowly kneels. "Because I..."
"Yes," Mouse says, then turning red because he knows he's getting ahead of himself.
"You don't even know what he's asking you yet," Jay says from somewhere, amused, and Mouse can hear Natalie shushing him.
Will just laughs, pulling out the ring box and opening it. The metal band glistens in the light, and Mouse can't help but stare at it. "Yes, you'll marry me?"
"Yes," Mouse repeats, grabbing Will's hands, pulling him to his feet and claiming his mouth again.
"Ugh. Get a room," he vaguely hears Jay say, as Natalie shushes him again, but all his attention is focused on the man in front of him. The man against him.
The man he wanted to be his husband.
"Happy anniversary," Will manages between kisses. "I love you."
Mouse just kisses Will harder.
Will sighs as he parks his car and walks into the house. As much as he hated the fact that he'd been paged on his day off -- on his night off -- he feels a sense of satisfaction at the work. He'd saved more than a few lives that night, after a multi-car pileup on the interstate, making his interrupted sleep schedule more than worth it.
He isn't sure what to expect when he gets home, half expecting his fiance to still be in bed, but he walks into the kitchen to find various pantry staples set out on the counter -- flour, sugar, baking powder, salt -- and smiles to himself. Apparently Mouse was already awake, after all.
It takes him longer to find the man himself, and it isn't until he remembers to check the backyard that he sees him, shirtless and in a pair of tight workout shorts, in the middle of a workout with a jump rope.
Will leans against the glass of the sliding back door and allows himself to admire the man as the sweat on his shoulders glisten in the sun and his biceps and legs bulge with the motions, smiling to himself at the look of determination and focus on Mouse's face as he counts jumps to himself.
He's absolutely gorgeous.
Mouse finishes his jumps, and takes a moment to catch his breath, and moves toward some hand-held weights when he spots Will. Their eyes meet and Mouse blushes.
Will doesn't look away, grinning as Mouse shakes his head and starts some squats, glancing over at Will every few reps, as if to make sure he's still there.
As if there's any risk of Will not watching him.
"You're earlier than I expected," Mouse says after he finishes, giving Will a kiss. He tastes like salt and sweat and Will loves it. "I thought I had time to finish, shower, and have breakfast ready for you when you got back."
"Breakfast and a show," Will murmurs, kissing him again, and Mouse blushes.
"I'm glad you... enjoyed that," Mouse says, eyes half lidded.
"Mind some company in the shower?" Will asks, already starting to pull off his shirt.
Mouse shakes his head, smiling and watching him. "I definitely don't mind."
It takes Mouse a while to figure out what kinds of dirty talk he likes, although in retrospect, he thinks a lot of it should've been obvious.
"Suck my cock, baby." Blunt. Demeaning. Demanding. It makes Mouse feel like he's nothing but a warm body to be used, and he's had more than enough of that in his life.
Still, he cares about Will and doesn't want to disappoint him, and takes care of the man as requested. While he definitely enjoys the act, it still leaves him feeling off afterward.
And to be fair to Will, he notices, and asks what's wrong, but Mouse doesn't want to ruin Will's pleasant afterglow and distracts Will with his own pressing problem instead of voicing his discomfort.
"Baby, I need your mouth." Urgent. Carnal. Affectionate. It mirrors the desperate need Mouse is experiencing, and makes him feel wanted.
Will's hand running through his hair afterward feels extra satisfying, as does listening to Will's heartbeat as it slowly returns to normal, knowing he was responsible for both its elevation and the conclusion.
What does surprise him though is how much he likes Will's touch outside of the bedroom, and how much a gentle brush of their fingers together or a quick run of Will's hand over his ass can leave him wanting more.
To be fair to Will again, he apologizes the first few times, seemingly doing it automatically, concerned about both Mouse's comfort with both public (or semi-public) displays of affection and his dislike of physical contact. But Will's different, somehow. Mouse wants Will to touch him.
"It's fine," he says again the next time they're out walking in the Arboretum and Will gently strokes his shoulder before apologizing. "No, it's more than fine," he adds this time, blushing. "I... like when you touch me."
Will smiles a soft smile at him, all affection, and holds his hand out, and Mouse takes it, feeling both pride and satisfaction at it.
"I... like when it feels like you need me," he adds, allowing his brain to continue on the topic, this time. "Like you can't keep from touching me. I like feeling wanted."
He knows Will won't make the connection to the bedroom talk, but he feels like maybe now he can bring it up in the future without feeling quite so weird about it.
"I always want you, Greg," Will says, smiling before looking like he's thinking of something and leaning close to Mouse's ear. "And I'll see you about that at home," he growls.
Mouse turns bright red.
He wouldn't be surprised if his sudden erection was visible from space.
"Greg?" The name still sounds strange in Will's mouth, but he reminds himself that Mouse had explicitly asked him to use the name, and it clearly meant a lot to him, so Will was more than happy to oblige.
"Mm?" Mouse doesn't move from his position against Will's side, one hand quietly fidgeting with the sheet draped over the two of them.
"Would you tell me about your tattoos?"
Mouse seems to stiffen, and Will starts an apology before Mouse shakes his head, looking up at him and kissing him gently.
"Yeah. They, uh... it's stupid though."
Will kisses him again. "Nothing about you is stupid. But you don't have to tell me anything you don't want to."
"No. It's just... your tattoo means something," Mouse says, still looking a bit embarrassed. "Like, you got the cross to commemorate your uncle. For me, it's the place rather than the symbol." Mouse pauses and shifts so Will can more clearly see the lines on his hip. "Shrapnel." He shifts again and points to his bicep. "Bullet. My back was a training exercise accident. My leg's also a bullet wound."
Will had always noticed that the ink lined up with some of Mouse's old scars, and he thinks he's starting to understand now. "They're symbols that you get to commemorate your recovery."
Mouse blushes. "Yeah. Just... reminders, I guess, that I got through something. I survived. I learned from it. I'm stronger now because of it. Not every injury but... the ones that meant something."
"Then..." Will's fingers trace the small inked heart on Mouse's pec, the lines still fresh and skin still slightly irritated.
"I... realized that not wounds are physical, so I..." Mouse seems to hesitate, and Will isn't sure whether he should push.
He pulls Mouse back against him, instead, and Mouse sighs contentedly as he settles back into place. "Like I said, you don't have to explain anything you don't want to."
Mouse doesn't say anything for a while, his hand fidgeting with the sheet again, until...
"Broken heart," he whispers into Will's chest, and Will's suddenly teary. "You and Jay... you saved me."
"Baby..." Will knows his voice is choked with emotion now.
"I... know we haven't talked about my childhood, or my experiences while I was deployed," Mouse says. "And I... don't know if I'm ready to, yet. But you two..."
Mouse trails off, but Will gets the point anyway. He shifts so he can see Mouse's face, and claims his mouth in a searing kiss.
I love you, he thinks, as Mouse melts into him.
And he's sure that Mouse feels the same about him.
It's not that Mouse is trying to get his fiance drunk.
He just doesn't do well in social situations, and it's easier to get two drinks and occupy both of his hands when he walks up to the bar, but Will seems to also be getting his own drinks from somewhere, and before he knows it, the man is practically hanging off of his arm while chatting animatedly with his coworkers.
Mouse thinks he should be embarrassed -- these are his coworkers, after all -- but instead his heart feels full at how protected and desired he feels.
There's a dance floor -- because of course there would be because what would an over-the-top ostentatious holiday party be without a dance floor -- and the instant Will spots it, his face seems to light up, and he grins at Mouse.
"C'mon, baby!"
Mouse would say he doesn't dance, except he's danced twice now, and the first time resulted in him having a boyfriend and the second time resulted in him getting engaged, so he doesn't object too much when Will grabs his drink, sets it on a nearby table, and drags Mouse onto the dance floor.
"Fuck you're so hot," Will growls in his ear, and that does things to him.
"You... you can't say things like that to me when we're in public," Mouse objects as Will pulls away and starts moving to the music, even though he doesn't really mind at all.
"Yeah, well. The way those ladies were looking at you? I don't blame them one damn bit." Will kisses his cheek and bends in by his ear again. "But you're mine, and I'm gonna make sure you know it, later," he growls again.
Mouse bites his lip, furiously red now, shifting in a futile effort to hide evidence of his sudden arousal. "Fuck, I hope so."
Will just grins at him, knowingly, before grabbing his hands and swinging him around.
Mouse thinks he really doesn't mind when Will is drunk.
Will has no idea how to broach the topic with Mouse.
Mouse and Natalie get along well, nowadays, after a bit of a rough start because of Will's history with her. Mouse had been jealous for a while, afraid that Will's moving to Seattle would rekindle his old feelings for her, and worried that he'd lose Will.
He doesn't worry about that anymore, at least as far as Will can tell, and a lot of that is having seen Will and Natalie interact over the years since. Will's proven, with his actions and not just his words, that he doesn't see Natalie in that way anymore.
But being friends with your husband's ex and being okay with your husband being a sperm donor for his ex are two entirely different things.
Will intends to sit on the topic for a while while he works out how to start the conversation, but he's never had a great poker face, and Mouse has a way of making him spill his innermost secrets and feelings anyway. So it's the following evening, as they're eating dinner, that Mouse starts to ask questions.
"Are you okay?" Mouse asks, reaching over and grabbing Will's hand as Will cuts into his chicken. "You've seemed like you've been deep in thought since yesterday."
Will looks up at his husband, and his concerned blue eyes, and sighs, setting down his fork and knife.
"I'm okay. I just..." Will runs his hand through his hair. "I'm just going to say it, and you can say no, and that'll be the end of the conversation. I promise."
"Okay," Mouse says, but he looks even more concerned now and starts to fiddle with his own silverware.
"Nat wants to have another kid, because she thinks Owen needs a sibling, and asked whether I'd be the sperm donor for her."
Mouse stops fiddling with the silverware and just stares at him, and Will immediately regrets bringing up the topic, especially as the seconds tick by with no response.
I should have just told her no. Why didn't I tell her no? Why did I tell her I'd talk to Mouse?
"I'll tell her no," Will says, picking up his fork and knife again and shaking his head. "I don't know why I didn't just do that when she asked."
"You've always wanted kids," Mouse says, still staring at him, and that response doesn't entirely surprise Will.
He puts his silverware down again, reaching across the table for Mouse's hands. Mouse, at least, doesn't seem upset enough to resist, immediately setting his hands into Will's palms and making a pleasant sound when Will squeezes.
"I want you, Greg," Will says, hoping Mouse knows how much he means the words. "We've talked about this, and nothing has changed for me. I want you more than I want kids. Besides, being an uncle to Owen is better, in many ways. I get all of the fun parts of raising a child without all of the responsibility."
"You're smart," Mouse says, staring down at his plate but not pulling his hands away. "Caring. Passionate. Driven. Honest. Sexy."
"Baby..." Will isn't sure where Mouse is going, but he blushes at the compliments anyway.
"Any kid would be lucky to have you as a dad." Mouse shakes his head. "Do you want to do this for her?"
It feels like a loaded question, even though Will knows Mouse doesn't do that. They're always honest with each other.
"Yes." He hates saying it, but he knows he'd hate lying to Mouse even more. "We're not going to have kids, and... Greg, I'm fine with that. I promise I'm fine with that. But when she asked, my immediate reaction was yes, because it's the next best thing. I know that's not fair to you though, and you're the most important thing to me, so your opinion here is the most important one."
Will feels like he's holding his breath until Mouse smiles, looking back up at him, and relief washes over him.
"You two would have a cute kid."
Will shakes his head, but he's smiling now. "I mean it. If you're not 100% sure about this, I'll tell her no."
Mouse shrugs, withdrawing his hands, and picking up his silverware again. "Let me think on it for a bit? Just to make sure. But I... I'm not bothered like I thought I might be. And, um... I actually like being Owen's uncle, too, so if it means another kid to spoil..."
Will's sure he's grinning now. "You'd be the best co-uncle, baby. But yeah. Please take as much time as you need to think."
Mouse nods, smiling at Will again. "Thank you for trusting me with this conversation."
Will definitely hadn't been expecting that line, and his chest feels ten times lighter as he returns to his own meal. "I trust you with anything, Greg. I love you. Always."
Mouse just blushes. "I know."