NaNo 2013, Part 11 (mish-mash)
Masterlist
Part 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10
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"You... are married." The girl gave him a long, assessing look. "Okay."
Scott smiled sheepishly and played with his wedding ring with the nail of his thumb. He hadn't been wearing the ring for too long; this was a new experience, trying to pick up a girl when he was obviously taken already.
"Yeah. But we're, um, not exclusive."
"I'm not really into threesomes," the girl said then, looking his up and down and clearly trying to size him up. "Or women, for that matter."
"What? Oh, no," Scott said and held up his hands in a stalling gesture. "No, we're not looking to have a threesome, I was just. Um. Seeing whether you'd be interested in a night of fun."
"And you want me to believe your wife is fine with that." The girl raised her eyebrows high enough that they almost seemed to be up in her hairline.
"Husband, actually," Scott corrected with a little smile that was equal parts sheepish and fond. "Stiles is my husband."
Scott gestured to the young man sitting at another table in the pub, talking animatedly to some other woman. The girl opened her mouth, looked at Stiles and his companion, and then gave Scott a long look.
"All right... look, Scott, you're an incredibly sweet guy..."
But, Scott thought. Here comes the but. He braced himself against the rejection.
"I'm just - I don't want to get involved in any potential drama between you and your spouse," she said, her voice now softer. She glanced at the table and then looked him in the eye and oh yeah, Scott remembered now why he had asked her out in the first place. A sweet personality, that was what she certainly had. What she probably didn't have so much of was a sense of adventure or a lack of caution. It shouldn't have come as a surprise.
Scott found that he was able to give her a genuine smile despite the disappointment. He took her hand and squeezed it gently. "I understand. I'm sorry I put you in a situation like this, although I swear Stiles has no problem with any of this and you won't get into any trouble with either of us or anything. I hope we can keep working together in class despite all this."
She puffed out a light laugh. "Oh, Scott, I'm flattered more than offended, and honestly, I should have expected you two to be a couple, what with how lovey-dovey you are around campus and how happy it makes you to talk about him. It's just not what I'm looking for right now. I had a wonderful evening regardless; I'll see you in class." She gave him a smile and looked over to where Stiles was in the middle of telling his companion some tall tale or another (if not even the truth, Scott thought wryly, because their actual real lives sounded more like something out of an action flick than a normal person's life). The girl at Scott's table glanced back at him. "Take care of him, Scott. I'm not really sure why you two would even need someone other than each other, but whatever you do, don't hurt the sweetheart of the campus."
Scott smiled a little in return when she stood up and took her hand from his. "I won't. We have clear rules and he's the most important person in my life."
"Good." Her smile was sweet and infectious. She leaned in and placed a little kiss on his cheek. "Thanks for the evening. You're a good man, Scott."
Scott said his goodbyes to her and watched her leave. He didn't feel particularly crushed despite the rejection. He had been more afraid of seeing disgust and having a shouting match despite having made it very clear that he was not looking for anything more permanent than a one-night stand or a fuck-buddy (even though the term sounded too crass to his ears). He had all he could handle with the relationship he had with Stiles, he didn't need another.
The only thing was, he and Stiles weren't having sex together. It had been... odd, the few times they had tried to see whether it would work. Short answer: not really. Scott was straight (even though he could appreciate good-looking guys just as much as he could appreciate the women) and Stiles was, well, definitely not straight, but apparently for them both the whole growing-up-together thing had kind of killed any potential physical desire there might ever have been between the two of them.
On the other hand, they needed more emotional closeness than anyone could ever provide, aside from the other. Allison had given Scott one of her lingering looks and a smile and just sighed when she had tried to explain to him that yes, he might love her enough to want to marry her, but more than half his heart belonged to Stiles anyway. She didn't begrudge either of them for that. She had always been accepting of the two of them being together most of the time, practically living in each other's pocket, usually perfectly in synch.
Allison also hadn't said no to casual sex when they hadn't been together anymore and Scott and Stiles had figured out they worked out best when they could spend almost all their time together, living in the same space and breathing the same air, often with their skin touching the other's. Allison had laughed at them being consistently practically draped all over one another. She had found joy in seeing them together and seemed to be content that they had finally worked out a way to be like that.
But it had always been a temporary solution. Everyone knew that. Allison was a hunter and traveled quite a bit with her father. In addition to that, she had finally found a sweet guy on campus who she was dating. Scott had only met him two times so far, but the guy - Craig - seemed to be a genuinely nice one and smart enough to keep up with Allison. Scott hoped they could make the relationship work.
Obviously that meant that Allison didn't want to keep sleeping with Scott, though. Scott fully understood why. It just left him in a spot of trouble because, well, he did happen to like sex. However, those times when he had strongly and vehemently insisted that Stiles was just his best friend and roommate, he had always, sooner or later, been told he must have been lying and cheating on his boyfriend.
Now that they were officially married, it was at least technically supposed to be easier to pick up people they found attractive. (Well, easy as it had always been for the two of them, given their rather nerdy statuses and reputations for being more than a little out of their minds.) The first try, though, had fallen flat. For Scott, at least. Stiles seemed to be having a good time on the other side of the pub.
Scott snorted softly and took his beer in hand. He gulped down some of it and leaned back in his chair, watching the patrons in the place. It was fairly busy but all the women were there either with their boyfriends, in larger groups (and Scott certainly wasn't going to stroll up to a gaggle like that and ask one of them out or to join him at his table), or didn't pique his interest.
Scott studied Stiles and his partner at leisure. The woman he was with was plump, medium-height, with a mischievous smile and sparkling eyes. Someone Stiles had met in history class or something, Scott thought to himself, trying to remember what Stiles had told him and failing miserably. Didn't matter. In any case, she seemed to be enjoying Stiles' company. If Scott and Stiles hadn't figured out that dating other people was too risky and off the table, Scott would have cheered for the prospect of Stiles getting to know this woman better. She seemed like an intelligent, funny one, from what snippets of the conversation Scott's ears had picked up (even though he tried to avoid doing that; it was hard to ignore hearing his own name, spoken by Stiles, because well - Stiles was his world and besides, oftentimes it was a question of life and death when Stiles was calling for him so it was useful, too).
Part 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10
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"You... are married." The girl gave him a long, assessing look. "Okay."
Scott smiled sheepishly and played with his wedding ring with the nail of his thumb. He hadn't been wearing the ring for too long; this was a new experience, trying to pick up a girl when he was obviously taken already.
"Yeah. But we're, um, not exclusive."
"I'm not really into threesomes," the girl said then, looking his up and down and clearly trying to size him up. "Or women, for that matter."
"What? Oh, no," Scott said and held up his hands in a stalling gesture. "No, we're not looking to have a threesome, I was just. Um. Seeing whether you'd be interested in a night of fun."
"And you want me to believe your wife is fine with that." The girl raised her eyebrows high enough that they almost seemed to be up in her hairline.
"Husband, actually," Scott corrected with a little smile that was equal parts sheepish and fond. "Stiles is my husband."
Scott gestured to the young man sitting at another table in the pub, talking animatedly to some other woman. The girl opened her mouth, looked at Stiles and his companion, and then gave Scott a long look.
"All right... look, Scott, you're an incredibly sweet guy..."
But, Scott thought. Here comes the but. He braced himself against the rejection.
"I'm just - I don't want to get involved in any potential drama between you and your spouse," she said, her voice now softer. She glanced at the table and then looked him in the eye and oh yeah, Scott remembered now why he had asked her out in the first place. A sweet personality, that was what she certainly had. What she probably didn't have so much of was a sense of adventure or a lack of caution. It shouldn't have come as a surprise.
Scott found that he was able to give her a genuine smile despite the disappointment. He took her hand and squeezed it gently. "I understand. I'm sorry I put you in a situation like this, although I swear Stiles has no problem with any of this and you won't get into any trouble with either of us or anything. I hope we can keep working together in class despite all this."
She puffed out a light laugh. "Oh, Scott, I'm flattered more than offended, and honestly, I should have expected you two to be a couple, what with how lovey-dovey you are around campus and how happy it makes you to talk about him. It's just not what I'm looking for right now. I had a wonderful evening regardless; I'll see you in class." She gave him a smile and looked over to where Stiles was in the middle of telling his companion some tall tale or another (if not even the truth, Scott thought wryly, because their actual real lives sounded more like something out of an action flick than a normal person's life). The girl at Scott's table glanced back at him. "Take care of him, Scott. I'm not really sure why you two would even need someone other than each other, but whatever you do, don't hurt the sweetheart of the campus."
Scott smiled a little in return when she stood up and took her hand from his. "I won't. We have clear rules and he's the most important person in my life."
"Good." Her smile was sweet and infectious. She leaned in and placed a little kiss on his cheek. "Thanks for the evening. You're a good man, Scott."
Scott said his goodbyes to her and watched her leave. He didn't feel particularly crushed despite the rejection. He had been more afraid of seeing disgust and having a shouting match despite having made it very clear that he was not looking for anything more permanent than a one-night stand or a fuck-buddy (even though the term sounded too crass to his ears). He had all he could handle with the relationship he had with Stiles, he didn't need another.
The only thing was, he and Stiles weren't having sex together. It had been... odd, the few times they had tried to see whether it would work. Short answer: not really. Scott was straight (even though he could appreciate good-looking guys just as much as he could appreciate the women) and Stiles was, well, definitely not straight, but apparently for them both the whole growing-up-together thing had kind of killed any potential physical desire there might ever have been between the two of them.
On the other hand, they needed more emotional closeness than anyone could ever provide, aside from the other. Allison had given Scott one of her lingering looks and a smile and just sighed when she had tried to explain to him that yes, he might love her enough to want to marry her, but more than half his heart belonged to Stiles anyway. She didn't begrudge either of them for that. She had always been accepting of the two of them being together most of the time, practically living in each other's pocket, usually perfectly in synch.
Allison also hadn't said no to casual sex when they hadn't been together anymore and Scott and Stiles had figured out they worked out best when they could spend almost all their time together, living in the same space and breathing the same air, often with their skin touching the other's. Allison had laughed at them being consistently practically draped all over one another. She had found joy in seeing them together and seemed to be content that they had finally worked out a way to be like that.
But it had always been a temporary solution. Everyone knew that. Allison was a hunter and traveled quite a bit with her father. In addition to that, she had finally found a sweet guy on campus who she was dating. Scott had only met him two times so far, but the guy - Craig - seemed to be a genuinely nice one and smart enough to keep up with Allison. Scott hoped they could make the relationship work.
Obviously that meant that Allison didn't want to keep sleeping with Scott, though. Scott fully understood why. It just left him in a spot of trouble because, well, he did happen to like sex. However, those times when he had strongly and vehemently insisted that Stiles was just his best friend and roommate, he had always, sooner or later, been told he must have been lying and cheating on his boyfriend.
Now that they were officially married, it was at least technically supposed to be easier to pick up people they found attractive. (Well, easy as it had always been for the two of them, given their rather nerdy statuses and reputations for being more than a little out of their minds.) The first try, though, had fallen flat. For Scott, at least. Stiles seemed to be having a good time on the other side of the pub.
Scott snorted softly and took his beer in hand. He gulped down some of it and leaned back in his chair, watching the patrons in the place. It was fairly busy but all the women were there either with their boyfriends, in larger groups (and Scott certainly wasn't going to stroll up to a gaggle like that and ask one of them out or to join him at his table), or didn't pique his interest.
Scott studied Stiles and his partner at leisure. The woman he was with was plump, medium-height, with a mischievous smile and sparkling eyes. Someone Stiles had met in history class or something, Scott thought to himself, trying to remember what Stiles had told him and failing miserably. Didn't matter. In any case, she seemed to be enjoying Stiles' company. If Scott and Stiles hadn't figured out that dating other people was too risky and off the table, Scott would have cheered for the prospect of Stiles getting to know this woman better. She seemed like an intelligent, funny one, from what snippets of the conversation Scott's ears had picked up (even though he tried to avoid doing that; it was hard to ignore hearing his own name, spoken by Stiles, because well - Stiles was his world and besides, oftentimes it was a question of life and death when Stiles was calling for him so it was useful, too).