me, him, and the moon ☾ l.s.

fourteen - the arrangement

The two boys woke up the next morning happy and sated, both floating in a lovestruck haze from the night before. Louis took a quick shower while Harry lounged in bed, already dreading going to his work shift because that meant being apart from Louis. He felt needy and clingy and dependent for the first time in his life, and somehow, he couldn't find it in him to care.

Louis walked out of the bathroom with just his jeans on, his tanned, toned chest on full display. He was still towelling his hair dry, sending droplets of water flying across the room. Leaning against the door frame, he asked, "What time do you work today?"

Harry groaned, burying his face in the pillow. "Ten."

"Still have half an hour, then. Plenty of time," the older boy decided, tugging a t-shirt over his head.

Looking up from his pillow, Harry scrunched his brow at the alpha. "Plenty of time for what?" he wondered, halfway hoping that Louis would jump on the bed and kiss him into oblivion like he did the night before.

Okay, maybe fully hoping that Louis would kiss him into oblivion.

"Let's work on your transitioning, yeah?" Louis suggested, and Harry perked up immediately at that -- because learning how to transition took a close second place to sexual activities. "Usually your father would be the one to do it, but --"

"I want you to show me," Harry interrupted, rolling out of bed to stand in front of Louis, rocking up onto his toes a few times with uncontrollable eagerness. Louis grinned at his enthusiasm, and Harry prodded impatiently, "Where do we start?"

"First, you're going to observe," Louis instructed. "I'm going to tell you what I think about when I transition, and then you're going to watch me. Sound good?"

Harry nodded enthusiastically, clasping his hands together in front of him to try to contain his excitement. He had always loved to watch Louis transition, and now he was going to learn to do it himself -- he didn't think anything could top yesterday, but today was already looking up.

"Okay, this is going to sound really stupid," Louis warned him. "But physically, I have to think about growing. Like, you want to feel like you're telling your bones to extend; be aware of your body in its current state, and then what you need it to grow into after your transition."

"Okay," Harry nodded, a bit intimidated by the idea. "What about, like, emotionally?"

"Emotionally, there are two potential scenarios. Sometimes, I have an external motivator, like when I went to find you in the woods that night. Focusing on the fact that you needed my help made my transition easy, almost instinctive. Other times, I have to create a motivator for myself. Make sense?"

"Yeah, that makes sense. So what do you think about? What scenario do you imagine?"

Louis swallowed the lump that rose in his throat. "Well, this is probably going to be a bit weird for you, but I imagine you."

Harry coughed awkwardly. "Me?"

Louis nodded, heating rising to settle in his cheeks. He scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. "Even when I first presented, I've always thought about you. Just imagining someone trying to hurt you, or thinking about you scared or upset -- it's always been an easy trigger for my wolf."

Despite his rosy cheeks, the corners of Harry's mouth tugged upward into a smile, and he couldn't resist stepping forward to press his lips against Louis's. Louis obliged him for a moment, but then he gently pushed the younger boy away, shooting him a reprimanding look.

"Okay, anyway. Focus," he said, although he couldn't hide the sheepish smile on his face. "Are you ready?"

Harry nodded obediently, taking a few steps back and staring intently at Louis. The alpha rolled his neck, then flexed his muscles, preparing himself to transition as slowly as possible so that Harry could observe the process in detail. A low growl fell from his lips, and then Harry watched in awe as the alpha's claws extended from his hands, almost in slow motion. Louis growled one more time, flashing his newly-pointed canines. And then, just a few seconds later, all of his wolf features were gone, and Louis stood in front of Harry back in his human form.