On Purpose

Chapter 3: The Birds and The Bees

———James———

Monday, August 26th, 2019

"Hey, James. You look happy. Who ya texting?" Lark asked as he dropped his bag on the locker room bench next to me.

"My... partner, Marcus," I answered with a smile. Birdie's eyes lit up but caught himself as I looked pointedly towards the other guys who were zombie-ing their way around the locker room, as a few were human. He leaned toward me and hid his face behind his hand in a way that was absolutely suspicious.

"Your— you have a mate?" Lark whispered with wide eyes.

"Yeah," I said with a barely contained laugh.

"What's he like? How did you know he was your mate? Is it really like love at first sight?" Birdie rattled off a whole set of questions like he had a list memorized. My laugh finally escaped me, and a slight blush rose to Lark's face, but he didn't seem deterred in the slightest.

"Sorry... I'm just curious. I've always wanted to know how the whole mate thing works," Lark said with a dimpled grin. "Like, how do—"

"Hold on, Birdie. Let's wait till after practice. Then I'll answer all your questions," I said with another laugh. "Too many people around now."

"It's too fucking early for this shit," Donovan said with a groan as he pushed open the locker room door and dropped his bag down on the other side of me. More of the guys (and their complaints) soon filled up the locker room. Lark looked like he would practically burst from the effort, but he managed to contain himself.

Practice went by uneventfully. As much as I hated the early morning wake-ups, the water felt nice, and it was a refreshing way to start the day. Plus, Lark's enthusiasm was beginning to spread to other members of the team.

"See ya, Birdie," Donovan called as he shouldered his bag. Lark looked positively stunned at hearing someone else call him that.

"Bye, Donovan!" Lark called after him with a grin long after the door had shut.

"I've never had a nickname before," he said with another blinding smile. I smiled as Lark's commitment to positivity gave me an idea.

"Hey, Birdie, do you want to get lunch with me and my roommate in the cafeteria?" I asked innocently. "I'm sure he'd love to help answer your questions about mates."

—————

"James, who the fuck is this?" Ant deadpanned.

"Hey, Cupcake," I said, ignoring his question as I dropped into the seat across from Anthony at our usual isolated table in the corner of the cafeteria and pulled the tray he had waiting toward me. Lark sat beside me and pulled a lunch container out of his backpack.

"Hey! Nice to meet you! I'm Lark." Lark stuck his hand out toward Anthony. Anthony returned the handshake, but he kept his flat gaze on me.

"Birdie's a freshman on the swim team," I said as Lark beamed beside me. "He had some questions about how mates work, so I invited him to lunch."

"Why does James call you Cupcake?" Lark asked with an innocent smile. Anthony immediately frowned.

"On account of how sweet he is," I answered in Anthony's stead with a smile. Lark seemed undeterred by Anthony's deepening frown.

"Are you from the same pack? Do you have a—"

"What the fuck is he on?" Anthony said with a distraught look in my direction.