Who: Tyler and Caroline When: Tuesday, November 1 (Naked Time plot) Where: College bar What: Caroline hits on Tyler, ooops. Rating/Warning: Low Status: Complete
Getting drinks with Tyler after a long day of classes had sort of become a thing. Even if it took way too much for them to get drunk. But for some reason just one drink in and Caroline was feeling good. Although she had been feeling that way for a few days now. It was weird but she was liking.
“So,” Caroline said as she sipped her rum and coke. “How was your Halloween? Did you dress up as something slutty?” he was known for his lack of clothing when it came to costumes.
There really wasn’t much better than having a few drinks after class, especially with Caroline’s ability to compel free drinks out of the bartender. He was just pissed that he still hadn’t become a hybrid and thus didn’t have that ability. It was something that was needed, especially with how much his tolerance for alcohol had gone up since he turned.
“My Halloween was great,” Tyler said cheerfully. “And guys don’t have slutty costumes. They have sexy ones. And I was a sexy gladiator.” So yes, there had been a distinct lack of clothing. But it was practically criminal to keep himself covered up when he had such a great body.
“Same thing,” Caroline replied with a dramatic eye roll. “Damn,” she commented once he explained his costume. “I’m sorry I missed that.”
“Yeah, you should be,” Tyler teased. “I was hot. Girls couldn’t keep their hands off of me.” Well, in particular, one girl who was definitely not Blossom. It had been flattering at first, and then a little strange.
“Not surprised,” Caroline smirked with another sip of her drink. “I mean it is pretty hard to keep my own hands off of you,” she teased without even a hint of sarcasm in her voice. She even emphasized her point by placing her hand on Tyler’s arm.
Tyler’s eyebrows rose slightly in surprise and he took a look at her hand as if to make sure that it was actually there. “I am pretty irresistible,” Tyler said after a moment. “You get started before I showed up?” he asked, gesturing with his chin toward Caroline’s beer.
“Of course not,” Caroline protested tucking her hair behind her ear with the hand that wasn’t resting on Tyler’s arm. “You know I can’t get drunk,” she added. Well technically she could it just took a hell of a lot of alcohol. “It’s not my fault you’re so irresistable.”
Was it just him, or was Caroline sending him all kinds of signals? Ones that he hadn’t seen from her since they were in high school, which was strange. A few months ago he would have welcomed it, but not it felt wrong, especially after the talk he’d had with Blossom.
He was reading into it too much, he decided. After all, Caroline was happily with Peeta, and she and Blossom were friends too. He shifted, subtly pulling his arm out from under her hand by grabbing hold of his beer with it and taking a long drink. “No, I guess not. You just seem a little… cheerful, I guess.”
“Cheerful is my middle name,” she replied lifting the hand that had been on Tyler’s arm to pick up her own drink. “Don’t you ever miss it? Us in high school? We had so much fun.” Not that she really wanted a repeat of it. She loved Peeta and was perfectly happy where she was. But it was fun to tease and flirt a little.
Tyler snorted. It was true that Caroline was normally a cheerful person, but there was something off off about her. Something that Tyler couldn’t entirely put a name to. At least, not until she said that. He choked on his beer. “Uh, yeah,” he said, hesitantly, half convinced he was walking into some kind of trap. “I guess it was fun. Not that I’d trade what I have now for it.”
And neither would she. But she left that unsaid for the moment. “Blossom’s a lucky girl.” Even if Caroline wasn’t in a flirtatious mood she still would have said that. Tyler was a great guy, well now that he wasn’t the cocky jock she had known in high school. But Tyler was also lucky, because Blossom was pretty great too. However as good of friends as she was with Blossom, Caroline would always be loyal to Tyler.
“Yeah, I’m lucky too,” Tyler said slowly, then peered at Caroline. “Is everything okay with you and Peeta?” he asked after a moment, not sure what else to say. Caroline could be a little flirty sometimes, but this seemed like something else.
“Of course,” Caroline replied almost adding a ‘duh’. “Why wouldn’t it be?” she went with instead. Although she wasn’t at all offended. In fact she still had the same flirtatious smile on her face.
“No reason,” Tyler said. Maybe he was giving off some kind of sexy werewolf pheromone. He hadn’t dreamed of anything like that, but he’d actually taken a slight interest in biology since he and Blossom had started to date, and he’d definitely read that wolves gave off pheromones. It seemed the only way to explain both Caroline and the girl from the night before.
“Well,” he said, a little awkwardly. “Glad to hear it.”
“Speaking of, I should probably get home to him.” Flirting with Tyler was fun and all, but what she really wanted was her boyfriend. With that she downed the rest of her drink and hopped up off the stool. “See you in class.”
“Yeah,” Tyler said, not any less confused. Maybe he should talk to Blossom or Derek about whether this pheromone theory held any kind of water. It wasn’t exactly human biology, but it couldn’t be that different. “I’ll see you in class.”