lepidopterologist

"Perhaps, but I think you're lovely, and I have it on very good authority that I'm brilliant," Q grinned, all boyish charm for a moment.

"Q - "

He was going to regret this. But it had to be better than turning himself in knots.

He reached across the table again and grabbed Q's hand. "I think you're lovely, too. I don't expect anything, not at all, but it's true."

The fact that Q seemed startled really spoke volumes. The boffin was bright, but absolutely shit at reading people sometimes.

"Oh. ...Oh," he said, his brain slowly making sense of it all. It was shocking, but... Nice, in a way. Harry was handsome after all, and Q had grown fond of him very quickly. He was certainly less likely to wound his heart than Bond was... But oh, for all he was very fond of Harry, tempted by him even, he knew there was no way he could just let go of his feelings for Bond.

"Well, this is all shaping up to be terribly complicated, isn't it?" he said softly, giving Harry's hand a squeeze and letting the touch linger.

The reaction certainly could have been far worse, and Harry felt himself relax a little.

"I'm sorry for that," he said gently. "I don't mean to complicate things further for you. I just didn't want to mislead you."

"No, it's... I'd be lying if I said I wasn't interested, or if I said I wasn't curious. However, I'd also be a liar if I didn't admit that Bond has quite a hold on me right now. ...I'm also- Oh, Harry, I'm not sure I'm someone you want to get tangled up with. I'm an odd mess of a man," Q admitted, suddenly looking almost ashamed as he let go of the other man's hand. "Honestly, you should probably be warning Bond away from me."

"We all are," said Harry, counting Bond in that as well. "I think that's why we're so comfortable." And why the only men he'd truly had feelings for in the past decades, unrequited as it had been, were always more of the same.

And he felt surprise as well to hear Q confess his interest, impractical as it was. He'd meant it when he said he hadn't expected anything. He was, after all, far too old for Q.

"Damaged attracts damaged?" Q asked with a soft chuckle and a smile, his expression softening again.

"Something like that," Harry agreed with a soft smile of his own. He was glad he was sitting across the table, lest he do something very stupid, like try to kiss him, but couldn't stop himself from stretching out his hand a bit again, to brush his fingers against Q's. "But I think I have more years of baggage than you deserve."

Bond chose that moment to come back with Jack. The pup heeled well and when Bond released the leash, Jack went to Harry. Which meant Bond looked at Harry first. And the fact that he was holding Q's hand.

"Am I interrupting?" he asked dryly, his mouth a tight line. That he was jealous was no secret, but usually he had a better poker face.

Bond could be very hard to read, but Q could read that just fine. He should have pulled his hand away- But didn't. He wasn't going to push Harry away just because Bond was sulking.

"No, we're just chatting," the boffin replied mildly.

Harry was rather shocked when Q didn't pull away from him when Bond walked in. He offered Q a little smile, and then pulled his hand away himself, reaching down with it to pet Jack. "Would you like some tea?" he asked.

Yes, the jealousy was more than obvious.

Harry couldn't help but think that if this was the moment that pushed the two of them together, he was going to be extremely annoyed with himself.

For a moment Bond felt foolish in his jealousy. Q was so placid and Harry consumately polite. There were a hundred reasons why they could have been sitting like that. Just because Bond was shit at offering comfort it didn't mean there was anything going on...

"Something stronger, I think," he said and brushed past the pair so he could take a bottle he'd pinched from the hotel.

"Ah yes, is it noon already?" Q drawled, shaking his head. "When was the last time you put something green inside you, James? How do you function on nothing but scotch and sex?"

And Bond had definitely been having sex in that odd city that had popped up a few weeks back. Q could always tell.

"I was going to offer to cook," Harry said to Q. For you, he didn't add. "Perhaps James should join us."

"Prolytic enzymes don't agree with me, Q," Bond reminded him, then looked to Harry. "But I could eat something."

He was still clipped, smarting from the intimacy he was well aware of between the pair. Where he found himself working so hard to forge some sort of trust between he and Q, it simply came naturally to Harry.

"I have't forgot, James. Though I wonder if Madeleine has," the boffin said, needling the double-o just a little before turning his attention to Harry with a smile. "I think dinner sounds lovely, Harry. Thank you."

Harry knew that he had no right to be cross at Bond for interrupting. It was his house, after all. But he couldn't help but think that even if he thought it couldn't go anywhere, he and Q had been having a... moment, and he wanted to go back to it. Especially if he kept smiling at him like that.

"Perhaps we could drink after food," he added. At this point he rather wanted one himself.

Too late for that suggestion. Bond had already poured a measure, swallowed it, and poured another. He might need five or six more if he had to keep watching Q smile so fondly at Harry while delivering barbs to Bond.

"I think Jack needs to eat before any of us," he said. "I'm going to feed the pup and get out of the way if you're going to cook, Harry. I'd hate to be underfoot," he said with a slightly bitter note.

Q sighed a little at that, then looked down at the table. "I should return to mine and feed the cats. When I get back I'll lend you a hand, Harry," he offered.

Harry looked at both of them, and suddenly realized that this was far more complicated than he was equipped to deal with. Perhaps when Q returned, Harry should tell him that he could if he preferred pretend that Harry had never said anything to him. Though the thought also made him a bit sad.

"I'll be right here," he said.

Bond fed the pup and lingered to pet him a bit. It wasn't until Q was gone that he moved back to talk to Harry.

"The two of you are awfully close," he remarked.

"Yes," was all Harry said, as he began to chop an onion he'd brought back from the kitchen earlier.

Bond saw no reason to be coy.

"Are you fucking him?"

Harry's back was to Bond since he was chopping the onions, and his back visibly stiffened.

He set down the knife and turned slowly towards Bond.

His mouth was set in a straight line. "I might have expected more of you than that kind of rude crassness."

"If you expected more I'm sure you're sorely disappointed," Bond replied coolly. "And since you didn't answer, I'll assume the answer is yes."

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