Bent Part 2

[concupiscence66]

Title:  Bent
Author:  Concupid
Rating:  PG-13
Warnings:  mild violence, language
Pairing: Howard/Vince
Summary:  Naboo has all the answers, sort of.  Howard hasn’t quite got the hang of the gender swap.

Comments

[bluestocking79]

“Looks like you guys are going off script. Too bad. I was looking forward to the crimping episode.”

Ahahahaha. Perfect. Perfect! Your Naboo is so wonderfully... Naboo. Including his easy "yeah" to the question of whether he's high. ;)

This is just so INTERESTING, and so totally unlike any other genderswap, and it just promises to continue to develop into this incredibly intriguing story! I can't wait to see what the Road Trip aspect adds to things... especially with promised stops at the Path of Sorrow and the Mountains of Lost Dreams, yikes.

Their dynamic keeps shifting in all sorts of subtle and unexpected ways, more rapidly than they can really keep up, so they're all kinds of off-balance, especially since the switching has brought the sexual tension between them out into the open. Feminine!Howard is really fascinating to me: more openly insecure, more vulnerable, more questioning, and totally confused by how he's lost the ability to steer their (increasingly sexy and confusing) interactions. And masculine!Vince... well, he's just making my heart hurt more and more, even though he's quite an aggressive dick, because it's impossible not to think about where he observed that behavior, how he picked up those ideas--where and how he developed his understanding that this is how a men behave and treat other people. Howard hasn't put that together yet of course, but he has picked up on the fact that this is... basically the opposite of what he'd expect, especially from Vince, so it'll be interesting to see if/when he makes that connection. One interesting wrinkle, though, is that the aggressiveness also makes Vince much more direct about his attraction to Howard than he normally is or would be. Instead of primping and flirting and coyly hinting, he's just GOING for it.

The haircut is electric in that sizzling awareness of each other, and Howard's million questions when they finally kiss break my heart a bit--especially the one about whether it counts as his first kiss. (Poor Howard!) But it's wonderful continuity there in maintaining this as an alternate reality, where they haven't kissed on the roof, and this is a new thing between them. And kudos for the additional bit of continuity about Methuselah being Dennis's girlfriend here--because they're not married yet!

Anyway. Continuing to love this. And can't wait to see where it all goes on the road...