Prompt Post #1

[fantasticbeasts_kinkmeme]

 ROUND 1

FUCK IT WE'LL FIGURE OUT SPECIFICS LATER

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The Life and Times of Percival Graves, Alpha in Courting 2/?

[(Anonymous)]

Theseus will make his appearance soon! So will some back story on Newt and Thesus

Anyone that knew Percival Graves knew that keeping their distance was the optimal form of interaction for everyone involved. It was an unstated mandate* that any ambitious (or self-preserving) witch or wizard knew to follow. Percival Graves was not a friendly man, nor was he interested in small talk— in fact, he erred on the side of no talk in almost all personal matters.

Porpentina Goldstein, recently reappointed to auror and currently attempting to finagle Newt out of another sticky situation regarding magical beasts, was one of the few employees at MACUSA that did not follow the Graves Mandate. Like everything Tina did in her life, she approached Graves with a sort of stubborn determination that, for whatever reason, had not resulted in the immediate termination of her job.

This wasn’t to say that Tina wasn’t afraid of her boss; Graves had early on instilled a healthy sort of fear in her. Tina knew better than to engage in idle chit-chat with Graves, just as she knew that getting immediately to the point was the only acceptable way to deliver a report. Graves was very much the head alpha of the all alpha auror division, and Tina acted with the appropriate amount of awed respect that entailed. Still, Tina didn’t attempt to disappear as soon as she noticed Graves, and in that alone she violated the core tenant of the Graves Mandate.

Graves, on his end, didn’t generally make it a point to approach Tina unless it was to a) give her an assignment, b) quietly judge her for how she handled an assignment, or c) loudly judge her for how she handled an assignment. Every once in a blue moon Graves gave her what passed as his approval, but Tina could count those moments on one hand with room to spare.

So it was with some surprise that Tina, exercising all of her bureaucratic talent to make it seem that Newt’s acromantula wasn’t that dangerous, looked up to see Graves carving a determined path towards her desk.

Tina wondered if it was too late to hide underneath her desk. She eyed the area underneath the desk speculatively; not as much space as her desk in the Wand Permit Office, but she was certain she could fit. Maybe if she just slid slowly out of her chair…

Nope, no such luck. Graves had caught her eye and was walking faster. The office space, previously full of various MACUSA employees, began to clear out as the aurors unanimously decided to take an early lunch.

The other alpha came to a stop in front of Tina’s desk. Graves was holding a large, nicely illustrated book on magical creatures in his arms and looking at her with a slightly wild look in his eyes.

Tina slid her Newt report underneath another, non-Newt report.

“Sir?” Tina squeaked. She cleared her throat. “Uh, I mean, that is— sir?

Graves scowled at her before casting a cursory glance around the office. Aside from an ancient auror that Tina rather suspected was deaf (or blind, seeing as he hadn’t noticed Graves’ presence two desks down), they were alone in the work space. Satisfied, Graves turned his attention back to Tina.

“Is your friend here, Auror Goldstein?”

“My friend?” Tina repeated. “What friend?”

She managed to keep herself from saying “I don’t have any friends” in an effort to get out of whatever had led to Graves showing up at her desk. Not only would that be pathetic, it would also make Graves think she was up to something. Tina, thinking of the 15 pages she’d already written on Horatio the acromantula and his happy but shy disposition, wasn’t entirely sure that she wasn’t up to something.

“Yes,” Graves said, voice tight. “Your friend. The one whose presence has frequently graced our office for the past two months.”

Ah. Well, Tina thought, things weren’t looking good for Horatio.

“I’m sorry about the trouble earlier, sir,” she said, deciding to do the responsible thing and try to play off Horatio’s presence in the office as a misunderstanding. “Newt stopped by to show me something he’d found. I just screamed because it was so… exciting and—“

“That’s not what I’m here about,” Graves said, cutting her off.

“Oh.” Tina paused. “Then, uh, why are you here?”

Graves glared at her.

“Sir! Why are you here, sir?”

Graves didn’t answer immediately. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath in, then let it out. He looked very much like a man bracing himself to face some horrible death.

Finally: “What does your friend like?”

Tina tried not to stare. Really, she tried. But she was pretty sure her boss had just asked what Newt liked. Newt, the force of nature responsible for the recent onslaught of the paperwork on magical beasts. Newt, who happily brought (questionable and dangerous) magical creatures into a highly secure government facility. Newt… who was an omega.

And Graves, who watched Newt anytime her friend dropped by the office. Who had, now that she thought about it, signed off on several reports that let Newt off the hook. Who was a very single alpha.

Oh, Tina thought.

“Oh,” Tina said.

Tina didn’t think it was possible, but Graves’ glare intensified.

“That is, I mean— he likes magical creatures a lot,” Tina said, trying to back track. “And cocoa. His brother always sends him cocoa as a treat.”

“Cocoa,” Graves repeated gruffly. “Of course.”

“I, uh, I think he likes chocolate in general. Sir,” Tina added, feeling braver.

Graves nodded. He shuffled the book around and— were her eyes deceiving her?— flushed. “Is there anything else I should know? Any allergies or things to avoid?”

“He doesn’t like pickles, but he eats just about anything. Really. He’s not picky”

Tina squinted at Graves. “If you don’t mind me asking, sir, it seems a lot like you’re about to court him.”

And back came the glare.

“That’s not a question, Goldstein,” Graves snapped. Then he sighed, resigned. “But yes, I do intend to court him.”

“Oh.” Tina wondered if she should give Graves the ‘if you hurt him, I’ll hurt you’ talk. She opted not to; she’d only just gotten her job back and, in all reality, the beasts Newt traveled around with were enough of a deterrent for bad behavior. “Well then, good luck.”

Graves inclined his head, clearly not appreciative of her half-hearted well-wishing. “Here,” he said, shoving the book at her. “This is for Mr. Scamander.”

As one of the closet (and few) friends Newt had, Tina was the logical choice to deliver the first courting gift. She was an alpha in Newt’s pack who had a platonic bond with him, and she tended to spend a lot of her free time with or chasing after the British wizard. At the very least, she’d run into him at some point and be able to deliver the gift.

“I’ll see that he has it, sir.” Tina waved her wand over the book, shrinking it down so that she could place it in her pocket. That done, she looked up at Graves. “Umm… I think… well, I mean—“

“Out with it, Goldstein,” Graves said. Mission accomplished, he clearly wanted to leave.

Tina felt her face turn red and she hoped, dearly, that she wasn’t about to over-step. Technically, he had started the conversation.

“If you have any other questions or you need some more advice, I don’t mind helping!” she blurted out in a rush.

There. She’d said it.

For a minute, Tina thought that Graves was about to yell at her. He sure looked like he wanted to. Then, with another, resigned sigh, Graves shook his head. “That’s all, Auror Goldstein. I trust you’ll keep this between us.”

Tina nodded. Graves straightened his coat, getting his bearings back now that his personal business had been shared with his subordinate. With a last warning glare at Tina, he spun sharply on his heel and headed towards his own office.

Tina let out of breath of relief. She slumped in her chair, suddenly tired.

“Auror Goldstein,” Graves called, halfway to his office.

Tina shot up to attention. “Yes, sir?”

Graves looked at her over his shoulder, pausing to address her. “I look forward to reading your report on the acromantula Mr. Scamander brought in earlier. I’m sure it will be exciting, as you said.” On that note, Graves continued towards his office. He didn’t bother waiting for Tina’s response.

So much for being subtle.

*— though there were rumors that several recent hires had written up a series of basic rules for a successful interaction with Graves. It was supposedly called the Graves Mandate: Your New Boss and You.

Re: The Life and Times of Percival Graves, Alpha in Courting 2/?

[(Anonymous)]

Oh my goodness, your writing style is incredible! It's really effortlessly funny, and it makes this cute story even cuter, I'm really looking forward to more!

OP/Anon

[(Anonymous)]

Hi! I'm uploading this to AO3. I posted the first, edited chapter up and I'm working on editing the second blurb that I posted yesterday.

Here's the link, if anyone wants a more typo free reading experience:http://archiveofourown.org/works/8714320/chapters/19978456