Fic: Stupid Cupid 11/42 (Xena, Cupid/Strife, NC17)
Title: Stupid Cupid
Fandom: Xena
Pairing: Cupid/Strife
Rating: NC17
Summary: An AU that sprang from a challenge posted on the AJCS list, in which Strife is the lead singer in a punk band and a teenage Cupid falls in love.
From their first kiss Cupid had been hoping against any kind of reason that things between him and Strife would turn out to be more than just a passing attraction. He was still hoping that when he woke up in Strife’s bed, but when the other boy showed up outside his school and actually asked Cupid to be his boyfriend…it was terrifying. More than terrifying, he had no idea how to act or what to do or even what exactly it meant to be somebody’s boyfriend.
Not that he could say any of that to Strife, because he’d already offered enough embarrassing information about his complete lack of experience in the dating department. He was still having trouble believing that Strife had actually showed up at his school and gone home with him to spend the whole afternoon and most of the evening just hanging out, let alone that Strife had asked Cupid to come out to the band’s show on Friday night. Okay, so maybe it wasn’t everybody’s idea of the perfect date, but Cupid didn’t mind. He loved watching Strife sing, and maybe he could talk Psyche into coming along to keep him company.
Of course that meant he had to make up with Auto, which he wasn’t really looking forward to. He had no idea what his friend’s problem was lately, but if he wanted to stay friends with Cupid he was just going to have to get over it and deal with the fact that Strife was his boyfriend now.
His boyfriend.
A crazy grin lit up his features as he walked down the hallway toward his locker, oblivious to the crowd of students around him and the song he was humming softly under his breath.
“Well, well, somebody had a good time last night.”
The sound of Psyche’s voice just made him smile more brightly, and he glanced over at his friend in time to catch her smirking at him. “You have no idea,” he said as they reached his locker. He leaned back against the cool metal and let out a sigh that anyone else would have labeled as ‘dreamy’. Psyche was kind enough not to point it out to him, though; in fact she was smiling affectionately as she watched him replaying the events of the night before in his mind. “It was amazing, Psyche. He’s so…cool. And I never expected him to be so nice.”
“So I guess you’re gonna see him again?”
“Friday night,” Cupid answered, glancing down at her long enough to grin hopefully. “The band’s playing at that new place on 56th. Wanna go?”
Psyche shrugged and glanced down the hall in the direction of her own locker, and Cupid knew without following her gaze what she was looking at. She was quiet for a long moment before she turned back to look up at him, smiling gently as she watched him frown. “Depends. Are you gonna make up with him?”
“I’m not the one that was being an asshole, you know.”
“He was just worried about you, Cupid, you know how he gets. He didn’t mean anything.”
Cupid rolled his eyes and stole a glance down the hall, just catching Auto’s eye before the other boy turned away just a little too quickly for it to be a coincidence. Finally he sighed and turned back to Psyche, trying and failing to ignore the rush of guilt that hit him whenever she got caught in the middle of one of his arguments with Auto. “Alright, alright, I’ll talk to him. But he says one thing about Strife and that’s it.”
She smiled sadly and just for a second Cupid could have sworn he was missing some major piece of the puzzle, but as soon as the thought formed her expression shifted and he was left wondering if he’d imagined it.
“You really like this guy, huh?”
“Yeah,” Cupid answered, the dreamy smile returning as he pushed himself off his locker and opened it. He tossed his books in and grabbed what he’d need for first period before turning to look at her again. “It was weird at first, you know? I mean I didn’t think it was going anywhere beyond the usual, but when he showed up here…I never thought somebody like Strife would want me for a boyfriend.”
Her eyes got a little wider at the word ‘boyfriend’, but she grinned at him and looped her arm through his to drag him down the hall. “You don’t give yourself anywhere near enough credit, Cupe. I think I even know some straight guys that would go out with you. Seriously, you’re like every gay guy’s wet dream. If you don’t believe me ask Auto.”
He blushed at the compliment, but he couldn’t quite manage to wipe the grin off his face when they finally reached Auto. The truth was that Cupid didn’t even remember anymore what he’d been so mad about in the first place; Auto had been trying to tell him how to live his life again, but that was nothing new. They had that argument at least once a month and it was usually forgotten in a day or two, but Cupid’s fight with Strife had eclipsed pretty much everything else in his life until yesterday.
Now that he and Strife had more or less figured things out he was feeling a lot more forgiving, so he met Auto’s wary expression with a slightly toned down version of the grin he’d flashed at Psyche a few minutes ago. “Look who I found,” Psyche said, glancing at Cupid long enough to smile encouragingly before she turned back to Auto. “Cupe’s going into the city tomorrow night to see War Bastards play. You wanna go check out that new club?”
Cupid watched as Auto looked from him to Psyche and then back again, obviously struggling not to say what he was thinking. After a long moment he swallowed and looked over Cupid’s shoulder, his arms crossed over his chest as he spoke. “They’re still in town? When are they going back to Detroit?”
“They’re not,” Cupid announced. “They moved here. The guys have a place in Brooklyn, I don’t know where Xena lives.”
“They…live here,” Auto said. He glanced at Psyche but she just shrugged helplessly and turned back to Cupid. “So you and this guy…”
The wattage of Cupid’s grin faded a little at the mention of his relationship with Strife. The last thing he felt like doing was listening to a lecture on relationships from a guy that couldn’t be happy with dating the coolest girl in school. “Look, Auto, I want you guys to come hang out with me on Friday, but if you’re gonna be a jerk to my boyfriend then you might as well stay home.”
He crossed his arms over his chest and stuck out his chin defiantly, waiting for Auto to say something snide about Strife or his band. The insult never came; in fact Auto didn’t say anything at all. His mouth opened as though he was going to say something, then it closed again and he looked at Psyche. Neither of them said anything, but Cupid could tell by the way they were looking at each other that he was missing something after all. Sometimes he thought his two best friends could read each other’s minds, or at least they had some silent language that no one but them understood. It had made him feel left out on more than one occasion, but until that moment he’d never felt like whatever they weren’t saying was directly related to him.
“Nobody’s being a jerk,” Psyche finally said, casting one last meaningful glance at Auto before she pasted a bright smile on her face and turned back to Cupid. “As long as you’re happy, we’re happy.”
“Yeah, sure,” Auto added when Psyche elbowed him in the ribs.
“You’re happy, right?” Psyche asked, ignoring the sound of Auto clearing his throat as she stared expectantly at Cupid.
“Are you kidding?” As soon as he thought about Strife Cupid forgot to worry about what his friends weren’t telling him, his grin returning as he remembered all the reasons he was happier than he’d ever thought he could be. Strife wanted him - just him - and he didn’t even care what the other members of the band had to say about it. Not only had he asked Cupid to come to the show that weekend, but he’d asked him to spend the weekend in the city. A whole weekend together - it seemed too good to be true, but he knew he wasn’t dreaming because he’d already gotten the third degree from his mom about why he suddenly wanted to spend so much time in the city.
He was pretty sure his dad would cover for him. He hoped so, anyway, because if he wouldn’t then Cupid was going to have to tell his mother the truth and he knew exactly what her reaction would be. Which meant he’d be grounded or something equally humiliating, and for the first time in his life he’d have to openly defy her to spend time with Strife. The weird thing was that part of him wanted to tell his mother about Strife; he wanted to tell everyone, but he knew if he did she’d overreact and the last thing he needed was to argue with her about whether or not he could go into the city to see his boyfriend. It was one thing to date a high school senior, but if Strife had to drive to Jersey to see him every weekend he’d probably get over his attraction to Cupid pretty fast.
“Earth to Cupid.” A slender hand waved back and forth in front of his eyes, and he blinked and focused on an amused-looking Psyche. “We’ll take that as a yes. You’re so far gone on this guy it’s not even funny.”
Cupid blushed but didn’t bother trying to deny it. The truth was that he was completely and thoroughly smitten with Strife, and he was pretty sure it wasn’t going away any time soon. He’d never felt that way about anyone before, not even after the first time he had sex and developed a painful crush on a guy he didn’t really know who never even spoke to him again afterwards. This was so different than any crush he’d ever had that he couldn’t even find a name for the way he felt, but he knew he’d never be able to hide it from Auto and Psyche.
“Sorry,” he said, although his unrepentant grin didn’t do much to convince them that he really was sorry. “I’ll introduce you guys on Friday. You’ll love him, he’s totally cool.”
“If you like him that’s good enough for me,” Psyche answered, her amused grin laced with affection as she shook her head at Cupid. “Now come on or we’re gonna be late for homeroom.”
Cupid fell into step next to Psyche and launched into an animated description of what Strife had told him about the new club they were going to. He was so engrossed in their plans for the weekend that he didn’t notice that Auto wasn’t even listening to him as he trailed behind his friends. Psyche glanced over her shoulder at her boyfriend once or twice, but Cupid was too excited to care what Auto’s problem was. He was pretty sure Auto was just worried that Cupid was making more out of his relationship with Strife than it really was, but as soon as his friends met his boyfriend he knew they’d see that what he and Strife had was real.
~
He was trying. He was trying really, really hard, but no matter what Strife did he couldn’t get Cupid out of his head long enough to focus on the sound check. He was sure the rest of the band was ready to kill him, they were all sick of listening to him stumble over the words to the new song Xena had written and he couldn’t really blame them. He was pretty sure the crazy grin he had no prayer of stifling wasn’t helping his cause, but there was nothing he could do about it.
Cupid was just…there, even though he was an hour and a half away in some depressing little town in Jersey. It didn’t matter that Strife hadn’t seen him for two days, because Cupid would be there that night, right in the very club they were playing. He was going to be in the audience, standing close to the stage and looking up at Strife with that sexy half-grin he got whenever he was thinking real hard about something good. With any luck at all he’d be wearing leather, and after the show Strife would get to take him home and peel it off him.
And that wasn’t even the best part, because somehow God or whoever was in charge of this stuff had decided to give Strife a break for the first time in his life. He wasn’t even sure why he’d asked Cupid to spend the whole weekend with him, but he’d never expected the answer he got. Somehow, by some miracle he wouldn’t let himself question in case he jinxed it, Cupid had smiled and told him ‘sure’. Just like that, like it was no big deal at all. They’d been sitting at his mom’s kitchen table eating dinner like some kind of weird version of a happy suburban couple when the question just tumbled out of Strife’s mouth, and Cupid hadn’t even thought about it before he said yes.
So he was spending the whole weekend with his new boyfriend, and the weird thing was that it wasn’t even just about sex. Sure, he was looking forward to that part, but most of the time when he thought about the upcoming weekend he was thinking about the questions he wanted to ask Cupid. They’d spent a few hours together at Cupid’s house, and almost the entire time all they’d done was talk. First in Cupid’s room, then in his kitchen and finally they’d moved to the den to flip through the cable stations and talk some more. Strife couldn’t even remember all the things they’d talked about; mostly stories about growing up, and it turned out they had a lot more in common than Strife had ever expected them to.
They’d both more or less grown up without a full-time father; granted, Cupid’s dad was just a train ride away, whereas Strife didn’t even know his father. Their mothers were as different as night and day, but in a way they still had a lot of the same problems with them. Then there was the whole messy and awkward coming out process, although Cupid’s dad and his boyfriend were around to give him more advice than Strife ever got. He’d asked his uncle a few questions, but he’d moved to New York by the time Strife was really starting to figure things out so it wasn’t the same as having him right on the next block.
It felt good to tell Cupid stuff about his life and know that he understood where Strife was coming from, and even though he wasn’t sure how Cupid understood he wasn’t about to question it. He was just going to enjoy it for as long as it lasted, and hope that Herc and Iolaus would come around eventually. So far they hadn’t said much, but Iolaus had been giving him funny looks ever since he walked in on Cupid and Strife in the shower, and Herc looked like he was about three seconds away from losing it and beating the shit out of him for screwing up the song he was supposed to have learned a week ago.
“Dude,” Herc’s voice jolted Strife out of his reverie, making him lose his place as the rest of the band stopped playing in the middle of the song. “You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me.”
“What?” Strife asked, letting go of the mic stand as he turned to face Hercules.
“You just sang the first verse twice. Would you pull your head out of your ass long enough to get through this song?”
“So he’s having an off day, give the guy a break.”
Strife’s eyebrows shot up in surprise at the source of the defense; he’d expect it from Xena, they were cousins after all and she usually took his side over Hercules’. He’d never expected to hear Iolaus standing up for him, though, at least not when it came to a choice between him and Hercules. Evidently Hercules wasn’t expecting it either, because he turned away from Strife as soon as Iolaus opened his mouth.
“What the fuck, man? Don’t tell me he’s not pissing you off. He’s fucked up every single song we’ve done today. We’ve got a show in like six hours, and I’m not gonna stand here and look like a moron because he can’t remember the words to the goddamn songs.”
“So we don’t do the new song, what’s the big deal?” Iolaus asked. Strife couldn’t help grinning as he watched his friends facing off for the first time he could remember; Iolaus had followed Hercules blindly since they first started hanging out in junior high, and Strife was starting to think he was never going to get over his hero worship of his best friend. He knew how fast things could get ugly where Hercules was concerned, though, so he took a step forward.
As soon as he moved Xena was next to him, gripping his arm firmly and hauling him backwards. “Let’s take ten,” she announced in a tone that told them all that it wasn’t a suggestion. “If we don’t do the new song tonight we don’t do it. Fighting about it’s not gonna solve anything.”
Hercules kept staring at his best friend for another long moment, and Strife could tell Iolaus was getting close to backing down. Just when Strife thought things might get ugly Hercules muttered something under his breath and turned on his heel, storming off the stage and disappearing through the door that led to the back of the club. As soon as he was gone Iolaus’ shoulders sagged and he let out a deep breath. “What the fuck’s his problem?” he said under his breath, barely loud enough for Strife and Xena to catch.
“Fuck if I know,” Strife answered cheerfully. “Sorry, man. Ya gotta admit, though, that was pretty fuckin’ cool. Herc looked like his head was gonna explode.”
Iolaus laughed nervously and stole another glance at the door Hercules had disappeared through. “Yeah. I haven’t seen him that pissed in a long time.”
“He’ll get over it,” Xena said. “He’s probably just nervous about tonight or something.”
“Herc nervous? Yer kidding, right?” Strife laughed at the thought, his good mood refusing to die in spite of their friend’s outburst. “He’s pissed at me, an’ he can go fuck himself.”
“What’s he pissed at you for? No way,” Xena said, her eyes wide with a mixture of amusement and indignation when she realized what he meant. “You mean you found him and you didn’t tell me? I can’t believe you.”
“What? I’m s’posedta call ya and give ya a play by play?”
“Well I don’t need the details, but you could have told me you guys made up. I mean if it wasn’t for me you’d still be moping around like you lost your best friend. I guess I should have figured it out from the way you’ve been grinning like an idiot all day. I thought you were just stoned.”
Strife laughed again as he realized how he must have looked all day if Xena thought he was high. “Where the fuck would we get the cash ta get stoned? Can’t a guy just be in a good mood?”
“Not after the way you’ve been dragging around lately.” Xena’s indignant expression faded into an affectionate grin, and she slung an arm around her cousin’s shoulders and dragged him off the stage. “Seriously, Strife, I’m happy for you. Cupid seems like a really nice guy.”
“It’s not like I asked him ta marry me,” Strife grumbled, although he couldn’t quite stifle the grin that tugged at the corners of his mouth. “He’s just comin’ ta hear the show.”
He left out the part about Cupid spending the weekend with him, figuring it would be best to break the news of their status as a couple as slowly as possible. Not that Xena would care, but he wasn’t sure how Iolaus felt about it and he already knew how Hercules was going to take it. If he was this pissed just because Strife drove down to Jersey to see Cupid he was going to freak when Cupid showed up at the club. Maybe when he saw Cupid in their apartment again his head really would explode; he’d have to find a new guitarist, but it would solve a couple other problems.
He shrugged at the thought and told himself it was Hercules’ problem, and if he didn’t like it that was too bad. They’d known each other since before Strife even figured out he was gay, and even though Herc had never been exactly comfortable with it he’d never held it against Strife. So he’d get over it when he realized Strife wasn’t about to leave the band just because he was dating Cupid. Their relationship wouldn’t change his life at all, it just meant he’d have a little less time to hang out and watch Herc and Iolaus try to pick up women. They wouldn’t miss him anyway, so it should work out fine for everyone. Hercules was a pretty smart guy - stubborn, sure, but he wasn’t dumb - and he’d see soon enough that nothing was going to change.
Fandom: Xena
Pairing: Cupid/Strife
Rating: NC17
Summary: An AU that sprang from a challenge posted on the AJCS list, in which Strife is the lead singer in a punk band and a teenage Cupid falls in love.
From their first kiss Cupid had been hoping against any kind of reason that things between him and Strife would turn out to be more than just a passing attraction. He was still hoping that when he woke up in Strife’s bed, but when the other boy showed up outside his school and actually asked Cupid to be his boyfriend…it was terrifying. More than terrifying, he had no idea how to act or what to do or even what exactly it meant to be somebody’s boyfriend.
Not that he could say any of that to Strife, because he’d already offered enough embarrassing information about his complete lack of experience in the dating department. He was still having trouble believing that Strife had actually showed up at his school and gone home with him to spend the whole afternoon and most of the evening just hanging out, let alone that Strife had asked Cupid to come out to the band’s show on Friday night. Okay, so maybe it wasn’t everybody’s idea of the perfect date, but Cupid didn’t mind. He loved watching Strife sing, and maybe he could talk Psyche into coming along to keep him company.
Of course that meant he had to make up with Auto, which he wasn’t really looking forward to. He had no idea what his friend’s problem was lately, but if he wanted to stay friends with Cupid he was just going to have to get over it and deal with the fact that Strife was his boyfriend now.
His boyfriend.
A crazy grin lit up his features as he walked down the hallway toward his locker, oblivious to the crowd of students around him and the song he was humming softly under his breath.
“Well, well, somebody had a good time last night.”
The sound of Psyche’s voice just made him smile more brightly, and he glanced over at his friend in time to catch her smirking at him. “You have no idea,” he said as they reached his locker. He leaned back against the cool metal and let out a sigh that anyone else would have labeled as ‘dreamy’. Psyche was kind enough not to point it out to him, though; in fact she was smiling affectionately as she watched him replaying the events of the night before in his mind. “It was amazing, Psyche. He’s so…cool. And I never expected him to be so nice.”
“So I guess you’re gonna see him again?”
“Friday night,” Cupid answered, glancing down at her long enough to grin hopefully. “The band’s playing at that new place on 56th. Wanna go?”
Psyche shrugged and glanced down the hall in the direction of her own locker, and Cupid knew without following her gaze what she was looking at. She was quiet for a long moment before she turned back to look up at him, smiling gently as she watched him frown. “Depends. Are you gonna make up with him?”
“I’m not the one that was being an asshole, you know.”
“He was just worried about you, Cupid, you know how he gets. He didn’t mean anything.”
Cupid rolled his eyes and stole a glance down the hall, just catching Auto’s eye before the other boy turned away just a little too quickly for it to be a coincidence. Finally he sighed and turned back to Psyche, trying and failing to ignore the rush of guilt that hit him whenever she got caught in the middle of one of his arguments with Auto. “Alright, alright, I’ll talk to him. But he says one thing about Strife and that’s it.”
She smiled sadly and just for a second Cupid could have sworn he was missing some major piece of the puzzle, but as soon as the thought formed her expression shifted and he was left wondering if he’d imagined it.
“You really like this guy, huh?”
“Yeah,” Cupid answered, the dreamy smile returning as he pushed himself off his locker and opened it. He tossed his books in and grabbed what he’d need for first period before turning to look at her again. “It was weird at first, you know? I mean I didn’t think it was going anywhere beyond the usual, but when he showed up here…I never thought somebody like Strife would want me for a boyfriend.”
Her eyes got a little wider at the word ‘boyfriend’, but she grinned at him and looped her arm through his to drag him down the hall. “You don’t give yourself anywhere near enough credit, Cupe. I think I even know some straight guys that would go out with you. Seriously, you’re like every gay guy’s wet dream. If you don’t believe me ask Auto.”
He blushed at the compliment, but he couldn’t quite manage to wipe the grin off his face when they finally reached Auto. The truth was that Cupid didn’t even remember anymore what he’d been so mad about in the first place; Auto had been trying to tell him how to live his life again, but that was nothing new. They had that argument at least once a month and it was usually forgotten in a day or two, but Cupid’s fight with Strife had eclipsed pretty much everything else in his life until yesterday.
Now that he and Strife had more or less figured things out he was feeling a lot more forgiving, so he met Auto’s wary expression with a slightly toned down version of the grin he’d flashed at Psyche a few minutes ago. “Look who I found,” Psyche said, glancing at Cupid long enough to smile encouragingly before she turned back to Auto. “Cupe’s going into the city tomorrow night to see War Bastards play. You wanna go check out that new club?”
Cupid watched as Auto looked from him to Psyche and then back again, obviously struggling not to say what he was thinking. After a long moment he swallowed and looked over Cupid’s shoulder, his arms crossed over his chest as he spoke. “They’re still in town? When are they going back to Detroit?”
“They’re not,” Cupid announced. “They moved here. The guys have a place in Brooklyn, I don’t know where Xena lives.”
“They…live here,” Auto said. He glanced at Psyche but she just shrugged helplessly and turned back to Cupid. “So you and this guy…”
The wattage of Cupid’s grin faded a little at the mention of his relationship with Strife. The last thing he felt like doing was listening to a lecture on relationships from a guy that couldn’t be happy with dating the coolest girl in school. “Look, Auto, I want you guys to come hang out with me on Friday, but if you’re gonna be a jerk to my boyfriend then you might as well stay home.”
He crossed his arms over his chest and stuck out his chin defiantly, waiting for Auto to say something snide about Strife or his band. The insult never came; in fact Auto didn’t say anything at all. His mouth opened as though he was going to say something, then it closed again and he looked at Psyche. Neither of them said anything, but Cupid could tell by the way they were looking at each other that he was missing something after all. Sometimes he thought his two best friends could read each other’s minds, or at least they had some silent language that no one but them understood. It had made him feel left out on more than one occasion, but until that moment he’d never felt like whatever they weren’t saying was directly related to him.
“Nobody’s being a jerk,” Psyche finally said, casting one last meaningful glance at Auto before she pasted a bright smile on her face and turned back to Cupid. “As long as you’re happy, we’re happy.”
“Yeah, sure,” Auto added when Psyche elbowed him in the ribs.
“You’re happy, right?” Psyche asked, ignoring the sound of Auto clearing his throat as she stared expectantly at Cupid.
“Are you kidding?” As soon as he thought about Strife Cupid forgot to worry about what his friends weren’t telling him, his grin returning as he remembered all the reasons he was happier than he’d ever thought he could be. Strife wanted him - just him - and he didn’t even care what the other members of the band had to say about it. Not only had he asked Cupid to come to the show that weekend, but he’d asked him to spend the weekend in the city. A whole weekend together - it seemed too good to be true, but he knew he wasn’t dreaming because he’d already gotten the third degree from his mom about why he suddenly wanted to spend so much time in the city.
He was pretty sure his dad would cover for him. He hoped so, anyway, because if he wouldn’t then Cupid was going to have to tell his mother the truth and he knew exactly what her reaction would be. Which meant he’d be grounded or something equally humiliating, and for the first time in his life he’d have to openly defy her to spend time with Strife. The weird thing was that part of him wanted to tell his mother about Strife; he wanted to tell everyone, but he knew if he did she’d overreact and the last thing he needed was to argue with her about whether or not he could go into the city to see his boyfriend. It was one thing to date a high school senior, but if Strife had to drive to Jersey to see him every weekend he’d probably get over his attraction to Cupid pretty fast.
“Earth to Cupid.” A slender hand waved back and forth in front of his eyes, and he blinked and focused on an amused-looking Psyche. “We’ll take that as a yes. You’re so far gone on this guy it’s not even funny.”
Cupid blushed but didn’t bother trying to deny it. The truth was that he was completely and thoroughly smitten with Strife, and he was pretty sure it wasn’t going away any time soon. He’d never felt that way about anyone before, not even after the first time he had sex and developed a painful crush on a guy he didn’t really know who never even spoke to him again afterwards. This was so different than any crush he’d ever had that he couldn’t even find a name for the way he felt, but he knew he’d never be able to hide it from Auto and Psyche.
“Sorry,” he said, although his unrepentant grin didn’t do much to convince them that he really was sorry. “I’ll introduce you guys on Friday. You’ll love him, he’s totally cool.”
“If you like him that’s good enough for me,” Psyche answered, her amused grin laced with affection as she shook her head at Cupid. “Now come on or we’re gonna be late for homeroom.”
Cupid fell into step next to Psyche and launched into an animated description of what Strife had told him about the new club they were going to. He was so engrossed in their plans for the weekend that he didn’t notice that Auto wasn’t even listening to him as he trailed behind his friends. Psyche glanced over her shoulder at her boyfriend once or twice, but Cupid was too excited to care what Auto’s problem was. He was pretty sure Auto was just worried that Cupid was making more out of his relationship with Strife than it really was, but as soon as his friends met his boyfriend he knew they’d see that what he and Strife had was real.
~
He was trying. He was trying really, really hard, but no matter what Strife did he couldn’t get Cupid out of his head long enough to focus on the sound check. He was sure the rest of the band was ready to kill him, they were all sick of listening to him stumble over the words to the new song Xena had written and he couldn’t really blame them. He was pretty sure the crazy grin he had no prayer of stifling wasn’t helping his cause, but there was nothing he could do about it.
Cupid was just…there, even though he was an hour and a half away in some depressing little town in Jersey. It didn’t matter that Strife hadn’t seen him for two days, because Cupid would be there that night, right in the very club they were playing. He was going to be in the audience, standing close to the stage and looking up at Strife with that sexy half-grin he got whenever he was thinking real hard about something good. With any luck at all he’d be wearing leather, and after the show Strife would get to take him home and peel it off him.
And that wasn’t even the best part, because somehow God or whoever was in charge of this stuff had decided to give Strife a break for the first time in his life. He wasn’t even sure why he’d asked Cupid to spend the whole weekend with him, but he’d never expected the answer he got. Somehow, by some miracle he wouldn’t let himself question in case he jinxed it, Cupid had smiled and told him ‘sure’. Just like that, like it was no big deal at all. They’d been sitting at his mom’s kitchen table eating dinner like some kind of weird version of a happy suburban couple when the question just tumbled out of Strife’s mouth, and Cupid hadn’t even thought about it before he said yes.
So he was spending the whole weekend with his new boyfriend, and the weird thing was that it wasn’t even just about sex. Sure, he was looking forward to that part, but most of the time when he thought about the upcoming weekend he was thinking about the questions he wanted to ask Cupid. They’d spent a few hours together at Cupid’s house, and almost the entire time all they’d done was talk. First in Cupid’s room, then in his kitchen and finally they’d moved to the den to flip through the cable stations and talk some more. Strife couldn’t even remember all the things they’d talked about; mostly stories about growing up, and it turned out they had a lot more in common than Strife had ever expected them to.
They’d both more or less grown up without a full-time father; granted, Cupid’s dad was just a train ride away, whereas Strife didn’t even know his father. Their mothers were as different as night and day, but in a way they still had a lot of the same problems with them. Then there was the whole messy and awkward coming out process, although Cupid’s dad and his boyfriend were around to give him more advice than Strife ever got. He’d asked his uncle a few questions, but he’d moved to New York by the time Strife was really starting to figure things out so it wasn’t the same as having him right on the next block.
It felt good to tell Cupid stuff about his life and know that he understood where Strife was coming from, and even though he wasn’t sure how Cupid understood he wasn’t about to question it. He was just going to enjoy it for as long as it lasted, and hope that Herc and Iolaus would come around eventually. So far they hadn’t said much, but Iolaus had been giving him funny looks ever since he walked in on Cupid and Strife in the shower, and Herc looked like he was about three seconds away from losing it and beating the shit out of him for screwing up the song he was supposed to have learned a week ago.
“Dude,” Herc’s voice jolted Strife out of his reverie, making him lose his place as the rest of the band stopped playing in the middle of the song. “You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me.”
“What?” Strife asked, letting go of the mic stand as he turned to face Hercules.
“You just sang the first verse twice. Would you pull your head out of your ass long enough to get through this song?”
“So he’s having an off day, give the guy a break.”
Strife’s eyebrows shot up in surprise at the source of the defense; he’d expect it from Xena, they were cousins after all and she usually took his side over Hercules’. He’d never expected to hear Iolaus standing up for him, though, at least not when it came to a choice between him and Hercules. Evidently Hercules wasn’t expecting it either, because he turned away from Strife as soon as Iolaus opened his mouth.
“What the fuck, man? Don’t tell me he’s not pissing you off. He’s fucked up every single song we’ve done today. We’ve got a show in like six hours, and I’m not gonna stand here and look like a moron because he can’t remember the words to the goddamn songs.”
“So we don’t do the new song, what’s the big deal?” Iolaus asked. Strife couldn’t help grinning as he watched his friends facing off for the first time he could remember; Iolaus had followed Hercules blindly since they first started hanging out in junior high, and Strife was starting to think he was never going to get over his hero worship of his best friend. He knew how fast things could get ugly where Hercules was concerned, though, so he took a step forward.
As soon as he moved Xena was next to him, gripping his arm firmly and hauling him backwards. “Let’s take ten,” she announced in a tone that told them all that it wasn’t a suggestion. “If we don’t do the new song tonight we don’t do it. Fighting about it’s not gonna solve anything.”
Hercules kept staring at his best friend for another long moment, and Strife could tell Iolaus was getting close to backing down. Just when Strife thought things might get ugly Hercules muttered something under his breath and turned on his heel, storming off the stage and disappearing through the door that led to the back of the club. As soon as he was gone Iolaus’ shoulders sagged and he let out a deep breath. “What the fuck’s his problem?” he said under his breath, barely loud enough for Strife and Xena to catch.
“Fuck if I know,” Strife answered cheerfully. “Sorry, man. Ya gotta admit, though, that was pretty fuckin’ cool. Herc looked like his head was gonna explode.”
Iolaus laughed nervously and stole another glance at the door Hercules had disappeared through. “Yeah. I haven’t seen him that pissed in a long time.”
“He’ll get over it,” Xena said. “He’s probably just nervous about tonight or something.”
“Herc nervous? Yer kidding, right?” Strife laughed at the thought, his good mood refusing to die in spite of their friend’s outburst. “He’s pissed at me, an’ he can go fuck himself.”
“What’s he pissed at you for? No way,” Xena said, her eyes wide with a mixture of amusement and indignation when she realized what he meant. “You mean you found him and you didn’t tell me? I can’t believe you.”
“What? I’m s’posedta call ya and give ya a play by play?”
“Well I don’t need the details, but you could have told me you guys made up. I mean if it wasn’t for me you’d still be moping around like you lost your best friend. I guess I should have figured it out from the way you’ve been grinning like an idiot all day. I thought you were just stoned.”
Strife laughed again as he realized how he must have looked all day if Xena thought he was high. “Where the fuck would we get the cash ta get stoned? Can’t a guy just be in a good mood?”
“Not after the way you’ve been dragging around lately.” Xena’s indignant expression faded into an affectionate grin, and she slung an arm around her cousin’s shoulders and dragged him off the stage. “Seriously, Strife, I’m happy for you. Cupid seems like a really nice guy.”
“It’s not like I asked him ta marry me,” Strife grumbled, although he couldn’t quite stifle the grin that tugged at the corners of his mouth. “He’s just comin’ ta hear the show.”
He left out the part about Cupid spending the weekend with him, figuring it would be best to break the news of their status as a couple as slowly as possible. Not that Xena would care, but he wasn’t sure how Iolaus felt about it and he already knew how Hercules was going to take it. If he was this pissed just because Strife drove down to Jersey to see Cupid he was going to freak when Cupid showed up at the club. Maybe when he saw Cupid in their apartment again his head really would explode; he’d have to find a new guitarist, but it would solve a couple other problems.
He shrugged at the thought and told himself it was Hercules’ problem, and if he didn’t like it that was too bad. They’d known each other since before Strife even figured out he was gay, and even though Herc had never been exactly comfortable with it he’d never held it against Strife. So he’d get over it when he realized Strife wasn’t about to leave the band just because he was dating Cupid. Their relationship wouldn’t change his life at all, it just meant he’d have a little less time to hang out and watch Herc and Iolaus try to pick up women. They wouldn’t miss him anyway, so it should work out fine for everyone. Hercules was a pretty smart guy - stubborn, sure, but he wasn’t dumb - and he’d see soon enough that nothing was going to change.