TO BECOME A HERO IS TO KILL ONE ;

send me five times kissed for a drabble about fives times our muses kissed

Their first kiss is entirely unexpected, truthfully. Graves had considered it, in the past, and it seemed a thought closer and closer to the forefront of his mind the more time together they spent, but he never saw himself actually acting on those thoughts.

All Lucas had done was ask if he was alright and wanted to be left alone.

Percival had been having a less-than-tolerable day, people coming and going with varying levels of babying him. Like they all thought he would break if they weren’t so infuriatingly nice and trying to do everything for him. Even Tina was guilty of the worrying, and Graves wasn’t sure what about today it was that was making everyone else crazy, but they were wearing down the last shreds of his considerable patience.

Then Lucas came in, and he seemed to be the only one acting normally. It was a blessing in disguise, and something about that moment struck the director as a I need to do this thing, and next thing they knew he had pressed a very grateful kiss to the young man’s mouth. It must have seemed more purposeful than that though, and Lucas stumbled out an apology about needing to go before leaving his office. 

Graves didn’t try to stop him.

                                                                                                   After that, Percival was admittedly a little more pulled together, forcibly composed around his younger coworker to prevent another surprise that might possibly ruin one of few good relationships left in his life. Lucas was a good friend, and he was happy to be able to claim that much as it was, it would be ridiculous to spoil that with any real attempt at some sort of office romance, and downright stupid he had done anything at all.

That thinking somehow didn’t stop him completely though, and it felt sort of like the rather desperate clawing inside his chest was looking for any excuse to kiss Lucas again. There was an opportunity, technically, when they had gone undercover ( the entire situation was uncomfortable, though the posing as father and son certainly helped in making sure he maintained a safe distance ) and he had fallen asleep while they were trying to suss out what was going on. 

Graves had been asleep, for a little bit, but habit had him stirring when warmth finds its way around him. By the time he’s been kissed on the temple he realises Lucas is trying to take care of him, but desire for opportunity was beaten by a need for rest, and the young Auror didn’t get any acknowledgement beyond a quiet whuff of breath as Percival settled back to sleep.

The next kiss is much a reverse of the situation, though Graves makes sure that Lucas at least ended up actually in bed. It was much more difficult to leave the brief affection at that, and he only lingers long enough to make sure the other is properly asleep before quietly going back to work.

                                                                                                  It’s not until much later that Percival realises how deep into this situation he is. Another night of drinking with his Aurors, everyone not on duty getting a chance to relax and breathe, and it somehow ends up just the two of them again. Wouldn’t have mattered one lick before, but it felt like every time they were really alone together, that everything got more tangled up. Not that Graves pulled away at all, enjoying the happiness of being in each other’s company, but the longer the night went and the more they had to drink, the less rational he stayed.

There’s a surprising comfort, when the pair are making their way to his house, and Graves is more aware than he wants to be about it being a bad idea to invite Lucas in for some water or something before the boy goes home, but that hesitance vanished when Lucas stepped through the door and straight into a kiss. It’s sloppy and slow, and he can taste the beer the other had been drinking, and he wouldn’t trade it for the world.  The door swung shut without much thought from the director, and he decided he would cling to this for as long as he could.

                                                                                                 The next morning is decidedly less pleasant when he first wakes, aches in worse injuries flaring up and an unknown touch to his face earning a tight hand around someone’s wrist before he’s fully awake and freezes at seeing who’s face is over his. It’s with sickening horror he realises that he had very nearly hurt Lucas, again, for his efforts in trying to wake Percival up. 

He was already trying to form an apology when any attempt at speaking is cut off by a very firm kiss, and the older man hesitated before crumbling into the affection, grip on Lucas’s wrist going slack. He closed his eyes tight against relieved tears, almost insistent on returning the gesture and pulling Lucas closer.

If anyone would be able to chase his pain away, Lucas could.

                                                                                                 Everything relaxes, after that one morning. Percival doesn’t feel like he’s slowly losing his mind about overstepping his boundaries, and Lucas even sometimes calls him by name ( though he’s rather used to hearing boss from him now ) when they’re having conversations. It was easier, actually, dealing with his professional sphere than even before meeting Lucas. 

And despite the policy they both have (had) about office romances ( or public displays of having one ), Graves received permission to show his affections, so long as he didn’t get overly sappy or physical about it when they were at work. 

For a short while, that simply meant lingering touches whenever he had an excuse to be close enough to Lucas, whether that was on the shoulder or along his waist or tracing the other’s jaw. It wasn’t until after he saw that some were trying to flirt their way closer to Lucas that he got possessive in his actions, and cavalier though they may have seemed from the outside, Graves made sure that his little displays became very clear.