Re: John and Troy
"Mm, we'll see," John replied noncommittally. No point in showing all his cards when he didn't need to. He did chuckle at Troy's assessment. The man had no idea how weird it could really be. "That's weird enough for me. Trust me, the sons of the basketball coaches at home were not very inclined to get chummy. Girls like Alexis wouldn't have noticed if I was gone."
John grinned. "Man, I wish I could introduce you to my mom and best friend at home, just to see their faces when you say hugging is for girls. Of course, we'd have to keep Sean away so he wouldn't fry them when they tried to hurt you for it."
He let Troy talk much like he would have with Brian. It was easier to figure out what was going on with people if he didn't talk too much. "We're talking because our friends are worried about how you reacted and seem to think talking to me will help. And if you don't believe me, the look your husband's giving us right now should confirm it. But, I'll let you in on a secret, it's never rational. If emotions were rational, we'd never be taken surprise by people like Brian and Sean. And, maybe what happened didn't mean anything that way, but in a way it did because it was that first test of friendship. One we both failed," he added with a smirk because they had both been dicks, to borrow Brian's word, about how they handled the aftermath. "Still, it sounds to me like you're using it as a reason to hide the fact you cared. And, if you keep that up, I'm not only going to hug you, I'm going to make Brian's day and kiss you, too.
"Of course, then Sean will hurt me and Derek will hurt him and then the three of us would have to go on the run from Sam and Callen. So, really, we're probably safer if we just agree to skip that part."