FNL

Aleksandr saw his mate blinking at him and smiled at the fact that he had surprised Lev. He couldn't help the burst of affection that enveloped him every time he looked at Lev. The restless energy that came with it made Aleksandr want to reach out and touch his mate, hold him in his arms, squeeze him, maybe even bite him all over his body and leave hickeys on him. A sign of his mark. 

But he couldn't. Not yet. 

Because, as easy as it had been for Aleksandr to accept his mate, he understood that the same had not been the case for Leo. 

He knew that his mate was not there yet, not in the same headspace and that it might take him a little longer to catch up. Rationally, he knew that it wasn't about him and Lev just needed some time. He accepted and respected that. But the wolf in him wasn't that rational. He was howling inside at the prospect of having to wait to touch his mate. 

Aleksandr wouldn't forget his boundaries though. He couldn't bear if he hurt Lev and he wanted Lev to feel comfortable around him. His gut was telling him that they wouldn't be able to move forward otherwise. And Aleksandr couldn't have that. 

With Lev, he wanted everything.  

Leo's voice cleared the thoughts in his head, "You're really persistent in knowing that, aren't you?"

"Da." Yes.

His mate stood up suddenly, "C'mon, I'll show you. It's about time to set-up anyway." 

"Set up what?" 

Lev just smiled in response. 

When they had paid and reached his car, Lev turned to Aleksandr, "Can I drive?"

Aleksandr had a second of doubt, "Can you drive?"

Lev just crosses his arms and narrowed his eyes at him, "Rude. I wouldn't ask if I couldn't."

Fair enough. He dropped the keys in his mate's hands and settled in as Lev moved to the driver's seat. 

**^^**

The car came to a halt at some planet in the milky way because Aleksandr was sure his soul had left this planet, this universe ever since Lev had pedaled the accelerator. He had vague memory of reminding Lev to pay attention to the brake as well from time to time but that could just have been his imagination at this point. And this was when he had braved years of his father's brutal, harsh, cold-weathered training to be a good alpha for his pack. Somehow Leo had managed to zap all his awareness away with this...experience. 

"Here we are. C'mon, I'll introduce you to everyone." Leo sounded excited and not at all frazzled, unlike Aleksandr. 

"Right behind you." Aleksandr murmured, inhaling deep breaths.

When his sense returned to normal, he looked around and noticed that they were in front of a bar called The Wolfhound. Huh. Mixed scents of humans and wolves lingered in the air and Aleksandr's senses alerted. He moved closer to Leo as a precaution. And as a move to establish unspoken territory. 

Mine. 

The pub was quite spacious and indie looking with black chalkboard walls filled with the menus written in big, swirling letters in different colors of chalk. The right side of the bar boasted of an impressive collection of alcohol ranging from different brands of beer, vodka and whiskeys ranging from the Irish Guinness to the Russian Nastoiki and predictably, had bar stools rooted for single customers. 

The left wall, however, had booth tables and chairs pushed against it with dull overhead lighting to set a mystical atmosphere while mini tables loitered in the mid section, probably for couples on dates. The tables cut off to provide space for a set of musical instruments that almost certainly looked like a band as it included a mic in the center followed by expensive drums and keyboard and what looked like a huge upright guitar, a bass probably. By the looks of people milling about there, it seemed they were about to start playing as well. The whole bar had a rustic sort of vibe going that, Aleksandr imagined, helped in making the patrons feel comfortable and easily drunk. 

Friday evening had already set in as numerous people, mostly university students, were hogging the attention of the bartenders. Aleksandr looked around, shocked at himself for getting Lev out of his sight. 

There, leaning on the counter, he found his mate chatting amicably with an older bartender.  Aleksandr didn't particularly like seeing Lev laughing with someone other than him but he resisted the urge to interrupt. This was obviously a place Lev frequently visited and Aleksandr wanted to absorb all aspects of Lev's life. 

Deliberately slowly, he moved towards his mate, noticing his casual stance and the fact that the older guy was human. He couldn't however, stop himself from crossing Lev's personal space and standing extremely close to him. The hairs on his arms rose in close proximity of his mate. Lev's scent instantly soothed his wolf and him and Aleksandr calmed down enough to speak, "Aren't you going to introduce me?"

"Oh, Aleksandr, this is the bar's owner Mikael." Lev gestured toward the guy with an easy smile, salt and pepper hair and beard and a stout body. 

"Mikael, this is, uhh, my friend. Aleksandr. It's his first time here." Lev continued. 

"Welcome! You couldn't have chosen a better day. FNL is our busiest night, thanks to Lev here." Mikael grinned at Aleksandr. 

 He blinked at his mate and then looked at Mikael again, "What do you mean?"

"Oh, you didn't tell him?" Mikael said directly to Lev, ignoring Aleksandr. 

"Tell me what?" He was starting to get annoyed as he looked at Lev. 

His mate just grinned at him, not at all bothered by his temper. Which just turned Aleksandr on, like an idiot. 

What was it about Lev challenging him and not backing down from him that made his head downstairs perk up?!

The guys at the front must have finished setting up the mic because suddenly a voice boomed, "We're ready for you, Leo." 

A round of applause followed the announcement and his mate said, "Wait and watch."

Author's Note: 

So you all must have guessed what FNL is by now. It's simply, 'Friday Night Live' music nights. 

Any guesses or suggestions for which song Lev would play? Tell me in comments.

Thank you! Happy reading!

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