#c: Scotia (Butterfly Effect AU)

[thefallons]

secrets | the fallon-vogels + charlie (butterfly effect au)

Above all the things Jensen felt as he sat in the living room of his childhood home, confusion permeated them all. In another nearby room, three men spoke away from him in secrecy, one his father by blood, another by law and a third by bond. It was unnerving to Jensen, to be kept in the dark for so long about something that should have yielded a simple answer from Charlie. 

The man was technically his uncle, though estranged from the family now, but he would have had plenty of reasons to interact with Jensen when he was younger, before he left the Vogel clan for good...right? He didn’t think the explanation warranted a trip to his fathers’ house, let alone one that made each man within it so apprehensive. 

Jensen had been lost, staring off into a moving photograph on the wall from his Durmstrang graduation. Both of his dads proudly had their arms around his shoulders and Jensen himself looked happy in the picture, but he had been in a mood that day, he remembered as much, rather clearly. But his attention was taken by the sounds of Charlie, Scotia and Sven returning to the room.

His eyes moved back and forth between the adults, all looking more serious now than they had when they’d left him. It was strange how daunting it all felt. Jensen himself was 22 years old by this point but somehow, looking around the room made him feel as though he was still a child, humbly in front of them as nothing more. Ultimately his unsurety found him looking up at Scotia, who had come to stand by his side. There was a fight or flight level of trust with which Jensen regraded his biological father, so he chose Scotia to ask, “What’s going on?”

Only after he spoke, he glanced briefly at Sven and realized that his dads were oddly flanking him. He couldn’t understand their somewhat defensive stature, and so he finally turned his gaze to Charlie, who was now across from him. Jensen was disappointed to be incapable of drawing any answers from the men’s faces but it was Scotia who finally put an end to the silence. 

“Jensen, you wanted to know why Charlie has pictures of you from when you were young and he’s brought you here because we’re all involved in the answer, alright?” the man began, his voice having dropped into a patient and somewhat protective tone while singularly addressing his son. “Your father and I never told you completely how we met or how we found our way to each other because it was something that caused some discourse in the family. But you need to know if you want to understand those photos.” 

Scotia paused to allow Jensen a moment to process what he’d said so far, but the younger man only seemed more flustered as the lack of questions answered already. “So what happened?” Jensen questioned around the room, glancing from one man to the other again until his eyes found and settled on Sven, the most straight forward and no-bullshit of his parents. 

“What are you guys being so cryptic about? Whatever it is, I can handle it, dad,” Jensen insisted to Sven, his voice always tugging in a very particular inflection whenever he addressed the older man as his father. Echoes of the voice of a loving and excitable child always shone through uniquely in the way Jensen said the word “dad,” and recently, with their relationship on the mend, such touches in his vernacular seemed more pronounced.

@imbloodbuzz

[thefallons]

interlude | scotia&charlie butterfly effect au

When Charlie Vogel heard a slight knock on his office door, he didn’t expect to turn away from his bookshelf to see Scotia Fallon-Vogel. They shared a name but no relation, not for 13 years at least.

Even now the aftershocks of that which transpired in the past ran deep, especially when Scotia wouldn’t take his eyes from Charlie’s and vice versa.

Scotia was the one to speak after several tense moments, ones in which he had likely expected Charlie to invite him in or ask him to leave. But the younger man did neither, feet planted to the ground to keep himself from being swept up in a storm the way he had been the last time he’d seen Scotia. 

“Sven is helping Jens pack his things.” Of course, it was the end of term, and Sven and Scotia had always been caring enough parents to help their son home, to welcome him back with open arms. “But I wanted to come see you.”

Now, why did he have to go and say that? Surely Scotia would have known how uncomfortable a visit like this would turn out, that it would have been easier for everyone involved if he simply skipped over it. But the Scotia he knew was rarely one to avoid a hard conversation and Charlie was almost sure it would be their downfall today. 

Scotia cut straight to the chase and Charlie was grateful for the lack of small talk, “You’ve been keeping an eye on Jens these last few years, I know you have. He talks about you all the time.” Scotia took a breath, pushing himself on. 

“He’s 16, just about an adult now...still, I don’t trust a lot of people with him,” he cleared his throat, “But I trust you.”

As Scotia shifted at the door, Charlie noticed a glint off the watch on his wrist- an overindulgent gift from his husband no doubt. 

Charlie strained to remember if there was a single time, long ago, that he had seen Scotia wearing a watch, let alone one heavy enough to weigh down his conscience. There wasn’t but he shook his head clear of the thought anyway. 

“I couldn’t be here for him but you were and that means a lot to me, to-” Scotia seemed to choke on a word in his throat and Charlie wondered if it was his brother’s name. Scotia took a breath, “I just wanted to say thanks.”

Charlie nodded but Scotia didn’t leave room for him to respond verbally. 

“You...don’t have to say anything. Or even give me a conversation. I just owe you a lot more than I could tell you. That’s all.” Scotia took a pause and once more they were caught gazing at one another, like 13 years of explanations attempting to tumble out all at once. 

But it was Scotia who eventually stepped back. “I should go help the boys pack. Take care, Charlie.”

And like that, he was gone and the oxygen returned within the four walls of the office. He was always too good at a quick, cauterized goodbye and Charlie wasn’t sure whether to be appreciative or disconcerted. 

[thefallons]

breathe me | scotia&sven (butterfly effect au)

Scotia’s clothes were strewn across the floor. Not because he was in bed, inhaling the scent of his husband’s raw desire, but because Sven had swiped a suitcase off the bed, onto the floor just moments ago. The thump of the suitcase to the ground coincided with Scotia’s back to the mattress and his lips were instantly too numb from Sven’s for him to care what happened to his worldly possessions. 

Scotia’s fingers tugged at Sven’s shirt, his belt, all of it with the same desperation that Sven’s eyes held. He could hear Sven’s voice echoing in his mind, “What would you like me to do? I’ll do it. I don't want to be without you.”

Scotia’s breath shook as he felt lips just below his now bare collar bone. “Lower,” he gasped, his fingers threading into Sven’s hair, tugging in the direction of his request. “Lower- right there, fuck-”

Scotia’s body writhed against Sven’s but the older man’s chest pressed down against his own, grounding him. He wasn’t sure if he was the one who sought out Sven’s hand to hold or the other way around but Scotia felt his pulse between their palms just as Sven lowered his lips to his husband’s left hand.

This was the man he fell in love with, and Sven was ever so talented at reminding him. The man who caressed down his ribs, down his stomach, whispering to him how perfect he was, how utterly beautiful. 

As Sven pushed into him, Scotia cried out, blinded by the gripping mix of pain and pleasure he had by now associated closely with Sven’s devotion. 

It was only Sven’s whispers against his ear that served as his saving grace, tethering him back to this earth: “I love you, I love you so.” 

Scotia would never stop hearing those words from Sven and he knew it. No matter how high or low they traveled, he would always come back to life from Sven’s touch and his voice, if only long enough to breathe back, “I love you more.”

@imbloodbuzz