my lady, the tiger

20 + 63 for herongraystairs

Teacher AU + Mistaken for a Couple

“I confiscated that off a student,” Tessa said handing the piece of paper to Jem.

“What am I looking at?” he asked.

“I think it’s a list of reasons why my third period think you and I are dating,” she said.

“Ah. The sophomore music students think I’m gay and have been banging Will in the practice rooms after rehearsal,” Jem said handing the paper back to her.

“Who is banging me?” Will asked sitting down with a bag of carry out and sliding Tessa a cup of coffee he’d picked up on his way back.

“I am,” Jem said. “Or so my vocal class seems to think.”

“So are we cheating or is it some kind of complicated arrangement because my seniors are trying to make me promise that I’ll invite them to the summer wedding that I am undoubtedly planning with this one,” Will said pointing at Tessa.

“I’m not getting married in summer, too hot,” she said without missing a beat. She stole a slice of cucumber out of his salad and then went back to her book.

“If they have enough time for this, then I think we should be assigning more homework,” Jem said glancing back at the list which claimed that Tessa and his morning carpool and matching coffee cups were proof that they were living together.

“Fuck no. If I assign more homework then I have to grade more homework. Let them have their imagined soap opera. Hell, I’ll come by the practice rooms after rehearsal to drop off that new ministry grading thing just to add a little more fuel to the fire,” Will said.

“Do not encourage the children’s discussions of your imaginary sex life, Mr. Herondale,” Tessa said.

“Last year, I had a pair of girls call me ‘the hot teacher’ to my face. I’d much rather they ship me with someone over the age of 25 then develop creepy crushes,” he said. “Bring on the gay rumours and the imaginary wedding planning!”

“You are the hot teacher, deal with it,” Tessa said helping herself to another cucumber and then pushing back from the table, “I have grading to do before sixth starts,” she turned to Jem, “Can I get a ride home with you?”

“Always,” Jem said.

Jem was sometimes a little disappointed that his reality of his love life didn’t line up with the rumour mill’s imagination.

Jem/Tessa 16

Remember my Jem and Tessa Childhood friends AU? This fits into that.

“So does that mean French people kiss differently from the rest of us?” Jem asked with a laugh. He lay on his back and looked up at the clouds. They had found a rooftop where they could lay out a quilt she had borrowed from her aunt and stare up at the sky without anyone bothering them.

“I suppose so though I don’t know how much one can trust Nate on matters of culture,” she said.

“So how does one kiss with one’s tongue then?” Jem asked with a laugh as he rolled over to prop himself up on his elbows and look at her.

“I certainly don’t know. I haven’t kissed anyone at all,” Tessa said looking away from him.

“Neither have I,” he said.

She looked back at him and he expression was serious before she leaned in. They were both lying on their stomach and he could feel the gravel of the flat roof below the blankets. She was still holding her book as she got closer. The world narrowed down to her.

She pressed her lips to his. Warm and soft. They held still for a moment then she smiled and Jem felt her lips move. He had closed his eyes and he opened them to find her blushing.

“Now we can both say we’ve been kissed,” she said dropping her attention back down to her page.

“I think we need to test the French way too,” he said though he had no idea where the bravado it took to say those words came from.

She giggled and turned back to him. She was blushing even harder and he didn’t think he was any less pink. It didn’t stop them. She opened her mouth and then thought better of it. The little frown line between her eyebrows was adorable. He hadn’t ever noticed that she was adorable before. How had he failed to notice that she was pretty before this moment?

Her mouth touched his and she had bit lip when she was nervous and this time it was wet against his. He started to open his mouth but wasn’t sure what he was meant to do. Her tongue touched his lower lip and he startled and they fell away laughing again.

“Come here, we can do better than that,” he said once the giggling had stopped and she leaned back in, still smiling though not blushing as hard.

This time he touched her cheek with his fingers and kissed her first. Just his mouth on hers but this time he moved instead of standing like a statue. She matched him, pressing in and moving her lips against his as fireworks went off in his head.

Her tongue touched his and he shivered but didn’t pull back this time. He pulled her closer and she opened her mouth to him with a soft sigh. The awkwardness fell away. Jem was sure it was elegant or the kind of things people would write poetry about but it was wonderful. It was wonderful to have her so close. It was wonderful to know what she tasted like and to be able to touch her hair.

When they pulled away after what felt like forever and not nearly long enough all at once, she looked at him differently. He laughed and kissed her again, soft and fast.

“You know, nice girls aren’t meant to kiss boys on rooftops,” she said.

“Oh, where is the kissing meant to happen? I am quite open to trying other locations. The park? Your kitchen? A hansom cab? Perhaps the public library or the museum or in lobby of the Ritz among all those people in fur coats,” he suggested.

“I don’t think they’re meant to kiss boys in those places either,” she said.

“But we could if you wanted to,” Jem said with a smile and she grinned back before blushing and hiding behind her hair.

“Maybe not the Ritz,” she said. He pushed back her hair and she took the invitation to kiss him again.

Jessa 23

“You have got to be kidding me,” she said to the blank screen. Tessa held her phone in both hands as though if she prayed, she could change the call she had just gotten. That was ridiculous but anxiety made it seem like a horror story instead of a minor inconvenience. Outside the snow was falling and indoor everything was warm and quiet and cozy.

“What was the call about?” he asked and her heart seized up. He came to lean against the window beside her, his shoulder against the frame as he looked out past her at the swirling white. He was drawn in long sharp angles and wore a lot of plain clothes. Black and gray and white. The shirt was charcoal and hung just close enough to make it impossible to look at him without thinking about the shape of his chest but not so close to make it seem intentional. He was beautiful and it was utterly unintentional.

“Everyone else is staying in town,” she said.

“The storm is worse than expected?” he asked.

“Apparently,” she said.

“Do you want to go jump on all the beds?” he asked.

Keep reading

21 for the ficlet prompt!

Have some fluffy all-human Heronstairs in response to this prompt

Star Gazing

They climbed up a snaking path that led the way to the top of the bluffs. It wasn’t a wide paved space with a railing and benches like the spot down to the west where they could pick out the lights of everyone else who had come out to see the meteor shower that night. This was a small clearing that broke off down to the water in a sheer drop. They were higher than everyone else. They were at the top of the world here. Jem inched a little closer to the edge and Will grabbed his arm and pulled him back.

“There are loose rocks and I don’t know where they are in the dark,” Will told him. They retreated to a patch of grass just outside the trees and spread out the blanket. Jem laid down immediately and looked up. Will was opening up his bag of snacks but he stopped and came to join him.

He lay down so their shoulders touched and their heads were close together and Jem shifted his head so that he could feel Will’s curls against his temple. The sky was a tapestry. Clear and bright and full of stars. When he saw the first one fall he reached out to grab Will’s wrist to point it out.

“If it’s a meteor shower do you get a wish?” Will asked in a tone of voice that made it sound like he truly cared about the semantics of wish granting. Jem was about to answer him but Will distracted him by adjusting their hands so that he could hold on. Jem squeezed his hand in encouragement but didn’t look at him. Looking at him would be too much.

“Only on the first one,” Jem said as though he was sure of the rules. Will pointed out another squeezing Jem’s hand to get his attention while he pointed. Jem missed the meteor entirely. He had to gather his attention back together before he could ask, “What would you wish for?”

“If you tell it won’t come true,” Will told him sounding indignant that he would even suggest breaking such a sacred magic as wishing on stars. Jem laughed and looked for another. He held onto Will’s hand, this little tether to the thing that hovered just outside the normal lines of their friendship.

(the rest is on AO3)