I like this fic a lot . Largely because it finally got Prosper and Jordan together. It took me a while to get the ending right, but I think it's pretty cool.

Ray belongs to Seirei...and everyone else is mine.

"Hey, blondie? Those lovely manicured nails of yours are kind of being murdered ruthlessly," Rayce commented, gesturing towards the older man's hand when he noticed what the tiny ball of fluff was doing. The flying squirrel Prosper had decided to keep as a pet a couple of weeks back had apparently caught sight of the aforementioned nails and came to the conclusion that they would be a tasty treat, if his gnawing on them meant anything.

"Hm? ...Oh." Prosper frowned down at Rylan, gently pulling the sqirrel away from his hand and setting it down on his shoulder. Rather than be downtrodden at the movement, the creature scampered around to play in his master's ponytail. It wasn't unusual, and normally, it would have brought a smile to the blonde's face; he was staring at a spot on the wall rather intently, though, which meant he was deep in thought about something. "I'll have you know they're not manicured," he added as an afterthought, only to go back to glaring.

"I hate to say this, but you have yet to master the ability to set things on fire with your mind." Rayce leaned over to nudge the older man's shoulder lightly, grinning. "And you shouldn't have to put so much thought into whatever it is that's occupying you. You should just get it over with," he said in a slightly more sober manner, knowing precisely what Prosper was thinking about despite his vague wording. It wasn't as if the subject was particularly difficult to identify, after all; the tension between the blonde and his best friend had grown intolerably thick over the past few weeks, for reasons neither wanted to admit to.

An idea suddenly struck Rayce, though--he turned so he was facing Prosper, smiling faintly. "Mrr, blondie, deal with me for a moment here--I've just had an epiphany."

Prosper arched an eyebrow, though he tried not to start laughing as Rylan climbed up onto the top of his head. The squirrel began frolicking, for lack of better term, and it tickled a little. "I suppose I'll listen to you, since I have nothing better to do...but if you bore me, I'll introduce Rylan to that mess you call hair. He'd love trying to groom it."

"My tarantulas never try to groom me," the nymph replied with a grimace, not liking the idea of some rodent-like thing crawling around on his persona. "And my hair is awesome...but anyway! I actually took theatre for a semester until the teacher kicked me out--little known fact, really, but that's not important..." He trailed off, smiling fondly at memories only he knew about.

His original goal came back to mind after a few moments, and he perked up again. "Anyway, I remember this. Pretend that everything that's happened from Jordan's revival-bit to now is a really odd monologue, okay? And you're the character in it. Are you pretending?"

Whatever he had expected, that wasn't it. The blonde didn't even bother to hide his surprise, though, because it was rather difficult to predict anything Rayce would end up thinking. "Okay, I'm pretending. I just have to ignore all that background noise that would be the rest of you...what shall I pretend now?"

"Mostly listen, for now anyway. You know how the typical monologue has at least a little bit of exposition in it, right?" Rayce waited for the older man to nod before continuing. "Exposition is nice and all, but we don't want it--what's gone on between you and Jordan since he's been back, up until a few weeks ago, is the exposition. That's a little bit too much, blondie."

"I think I see what you're getting at," Prosper mused, though he knew better than to rain on Rayce's parade--if he really did know what was coming up, it would probably make a lot of sense, and having a little sense forced on him would help. Besides, the nymph would freak if he tried to draw his own conclusions.

"I'd be surprised if you didn't...anyway. These few weeks? That's the rising action. One day, you wake up and realize just how molestable Jordan is; it doesn't matter how long you've known it, but that's when you really start to notice. Things change after that, because he also detects that same quality in you, but neither of you want to say anything about it. That's where the blocks come in...since this would require mind-reading, and I can't do that yet, what would some of these blocks be?" Rayce leaned forward slightly, resting his head on his hands. His eyes were focused on the squirrel playing around on Prosper's head, though he was inwardly cheering at his ability to relate the subject to something Prosper and Jordan actually stood a chance at understanding.

Silence followed for a few moments as the blonde contemplated the question. "For starters...fear, I suppose."

"Fear's good," Rayce said, nodding. "You didn't know if you really were catching signs of something, or if you were just being hopeful, right?"

For someone who was so obviously disconnected with the world, the nymph was rather good at putting the pieces together. "...But now I know that I'm not imagining things," Prosper replied, absently reaching up to get the squirrel off his head. He stroked Rylan's soft fur gently as he thought, though the creature was perfectly content with the action for the moment. "So that would lead to the next block...which I believe belongs to Jordan. Then there's one we both share...the inability to actually get up the strength to say what needs to be said."

"Much as I'd like to say 'no guts, no glory' and leave it at that, it probably wouldn't work. You know he won't reject you, but there's always that little shadow of doubt in the back of your mind...and in any given monologue, the character either gets what they want, or they're turned down. We both know what the ending is going to be, and this monologue needs neither exposition nor more rising action. It needs a conclusion, and I do believe you're the one charged with making sure we get one." Rayce's words practically dared the other to challenge him, though it never happened--not that he imagined it would, to be honest.

Instead, Prosper stood up with a halfway determined expression in place. He handed Rylan over to the younger man, ignoring the curious look he got. "Would you put him back in his cage, please? Gotta take care of things," he explained, smiling faintly but looking more nervous than anything.

"Break a leg," Rayce chirped as the blonde walked out of the room, only to stare intently at the thing in his hand. It was looking back at him without ever blinking, which was kind of creepy as it's eyes were huge and rather vacant-looking. "...Yeah, you're horrifying and you know it. Let's go put you away..."

--

"Jordan...we--what're you doing?" Prosper sent his best friend an odd look, as the man was sprawled out on the floor with one arm stretched under the bed, as if he were trying to grasp at something scant inches out of his reach.

"Thar be pants down here," Jordan replied, glaring at the object that dared defy his attempts to capture it. "And I want them, because I have no idea how they got down there, nor who they belong to." He pulled his arm back and sat up, leaning against the bed with a huff.

The blonde just shook his head with mild amusement and moved to take a seat next to the younger man, leaning his head against his shoulder. "I'll get them out for you in a moment," he said, glad that his shapeshifting abilities could prove to be helpful at least once.

The pair sat in silence for a few minutes, and it was the most comfortable they had been together in weeks. That might have been because, deep down, Jordan knew what was about to be said, but it was nice regardless of the butterflies flapping frantically in the older man's stomach.

Finally, Prosper took a shuddering breath and focused on the far wall rather than the person at his side. "We've been so stupid," he said softly, trying not to worry when he felt Jordan tense up.

"That's an understatement," the other replied after a slight pause, wrapping an arm around the shapeshifter's waist. "And for so long, too..."

"I'm going to make things right..." The blonde sat up a little straighter and convinced himself to meet Jordan's gaze. "I love you." There was nothing theatrical or dramatic with the confession; it was a simple truth.

"I can't even start to describe how long I've waited to hear that," Jordan said, letting out a breath he didn't know he had been holding. A relieved smile spread across his features, and he tilted Prosper's chin up to kiss him softly. "Love you too, kitten..."

The older man buried his face in the crook of the other's neck, clutching at his shirt tightly. "Why did we put ourselves through all this crap?" He sounded entirely bemused, but the question had most definately been on both their minds for a long time.

"Cowardice...you know, I spent the second half of our junior year trying to get up the courage to ask you out. I almost did on Valentine's Day..." Jordan smiled faintly, recalling the day with little fondness. "But whatsherface inturrupted me."

Prosper sat up once more, looking more than just a little surprised. "I didn't know that..."

"Let's not talk about it," the younger man said, his smile widening a little more. "Clearly, it's an obstacle we got over...though I can recall quite clearly the numerous times I swore to myself that I'd kiss you, and we both know that I'm a man of my word..."

"'Days like these are far too rare to cheapen with heavy handed words'," Prosper quoted, only to chuckle shortly afterwards and twine his hands through his best friend's--no, boyfriend's--hair. "Yes...I should help you make an honest man of yourself, shouldn't I?"

--

Quite some time later, when the pair stumbled through the living room and into the kitchen, with mussed hair and a far-too-giddy appearance, there were several reactions. Osiris just kind of smiled to himself, glad that they had gotten over whatever barriers had been in the way, while Alex and Rayce proceeded to swear violently and then refuse to give Ray his hard earned winnings. He couldn't fight them both off, right?

As it turned out, they were wrong. Very wrong. Thirty bucks was on the line here, and he wanted his money.

And, upon finding out that their personal lives had been used as a form of entertainment, Prosper and Jordan couldn't find it in themselves to be all that angry. Wonder why?