Monday May 5th 2008
Who: Roger and Dante What: Finding someone a man Where: A gay bar When: Monday Night Rating: R
Like with most everything else Roger ever did with Dante, he did not have a choice in the evening's events. Dante had come back from dinner, informed Roger they were going out that night and then proceeded to rummage through his clothing. Of course Roger had planned on spending the evening with Wes, either hanging out at his place or talking to him online or some such thing. But going out seemed nice, especially since Dante had been the one proposing it. Roger was curious as to what it was the golem did in his spare time. Roger wondered if he simply walked around cursing at people and shoving them aside. He had been positively bowled over when his roommate stated flatly that they were going to a gay bar.
"We're not going to beat up trannies, are we?" Roger asked skeptically.
"No."
"Alright..." He paused, thinking some more as he pulled on one of Dante's sweaters. It was very comfortable, though a little big on Roger. This must have been something Erin picked out because this was certainly not Dante's style. And it smelled very clean, something Roger hadn't done. Was Dante doing laundry now? Strange. "We're not going to protest, are we? Because you remember I'm gay?"
"No," Dante said irritably. "We're not going to cause trouble, get in a fight or otherwise raise some kind of sutuation. Ok?"
"Alright..." Still, Roger was skeptical, and rightfully so. Dante had a girlfriend, Roger was with Wesley. If Dante wanted to go dancing they would have gone to a regular club, and he didn't seem the type to be a fan of Brittany Spears and Cher. So what the hell was he up to? But Roger knew better then to push Dante for an answer. Instead he just enjoyed the ride on the back of the bike (despite how weird it was to cling to Dante) and decided that he would enjoy the night.
After getting a few beers and finding a spot along the back wall, Roger stood next to Dante and looked out over the crowd. Dante was doing the same, only he seemed to be searching for something specific. After another few moments in silence, Roger finally decided he was sick of just standing around. Plus his beer was finished so he had nothing to do anymore. "Okay, why are we here?" he demanded, shouting over the thumping bass of Beyonce blaring over the stereo system. Dante snorted impatiently. "We're looking for a guy," he said simply.
Roger furrowed his brow. "For you?"
"No, retard!" Now Dante turned to speak with his roommate, annoyed but deciding that now was a good a time as any to get his motives out there. "We're finding Lloyd a guy."
Roger blanched. "What?!?" he cried out.
"He whines too much. And I think if he got laid more he wouldn't be so... emo. It's annoying." Polishing off his Heiniken, Dante wiped his mouth on the back of his hand and scouted the terrain again.
"Does Lloyd know about this??"
"Course not. He'd get all whiny and shit at me and tell me not to."
"So..." Running a hand over his face, Roger tried to wrap his mind around what the hell Dante was doing. "So you're gonna try and find him a man."
"Not try. Do. This place is fucking packed, can't imagine one of 'em won't wanna fuck Lloyd. I mean he's got a job. YOu guys like that kind of thing, right?"
Again, Roger's mind tried wrapping around the words Dante was saying. You guys... meaning gays. "Um.... I guess?" he offered. He hadn't been man shopping in, well, ever. "So if you're gonna find Lloyd a man-"
"We," the burly man corrected.
"We?! Why do I have to be a part of this?!?"
"Because you know what's attractive in a guy." It was genius, at least Dante had thought so. Roger could scope out who was worth talking to, and Dante would do the talking. He could be pretty convincing when he wanted to be. Damn convincing.
"But... I don't know what Lloyd thinks is attractive in a guy."
Dante shrugged. "Well you know when a guy's not nasty. You seem to have decent taste."
Scoffing, Roger rolled his eyes. "Yeah, okay. I've only ever had one successful boyfriend." Dante's response was a noncommittal shrug, his eyes scanning the crowd. A surprised grin popped onto Roger's face. "Oh my God! You think Wesley's cute!"
His enthusiasm was met with a dark leer. "You are walking a daaangerous line, Bates."
With a supressed grin, Roger shrugged, sipping the last drops in his empty beer bottle. "Sorry..." He frowned. "You don't have a last name, huh." Dante grunted in response. Roger giggled. "Kinda like Cher."
"You want me to hit you with this bottle? Cuz I'll do it. I'll knock your ass out."
"No you won't," Roger said simply, and they both knew he was right. There was no way Dante would intentionally hurt Roger. Still, that didn't mean he was gonna put up with getting picked on. "You want another beer?" he asked Roger.
"Yeah. But first tell me how you plan to find this guy for Lloyd. He's not even here, how do you plan on getting people interested? Or, are you just gonna grab a few and bring them home so he can pick?"
Tugging Roger's sleeve, Dante made his way to the bar, depositing his empty beer bottle onto a random table. "Got a photo," he said matter of factly. "Gonna pimp him out, give 'em his number, let 'em call."
"Oh, God, you're gonna give his phone number to stangers?" Roger sighed heavily. The fact that Dante had a photo of Lloyd went unquestions for the moment. "Dante..."
"You got a better idea?"
"Why not collect their numbers?"
"Because he will throw them away." Oh, Dante had thought this through. It really was a brilliant plan. Nevermind that his last brilliant plan had sunk. "He'll see all these numbers and say something dumb and dramatic like 'Oh, I guess I'm so pathetic I need other people to find men for me', then toss them out and sit around moping and stuffing his face. But if there are men seeking him out, he might like the sound of one and not be such a little bitch." Nodding his own approval, Dante shoved his way past a few delicate bois to get his way to the bar. "Two Sam Adams," he barked to the man behind the counter. He got a narrow gaze and two beers in return. Dropping a ten onto the counter, he handed his roommate the beer bottles, roughly grabbed him by the shoulders and steered him into the middle of the dance floor. Roger gave the people he bumped into an apologetic smile, doing his best not to knock them over despite Dante's lack of concern for both his and everyone else's wellbeing.
"This is never going to work!" Roger shouted, handing Dante his beer once they'd found a spot amidst the dancers.
"Like fuck it won't," Dante shouted back. "Now go find me a guy!"
"But I don't... this is..." Shoiulders slumping, Roger sighed in defeat and looked around the place, swaying with the crowd so as not to just be some lump among the dancers. There was a sea of men in here, a huge variety, from bears to bois, tops and bottoms, femmes and frat boys. Roger had no idea what kind of person Lloyd might be interested in. He thought about Garret, since obviously he was Lloyd's type since they'd almost gotten married. Garret was tall, and had a nice smile, was muscular and handsome. So.... Roger looked Dante up and down. Aside from the smile, Dante was a good match.
Obviously, Dante realized what Roger was doing and gave him the death look. With another giggle, the half demon set abnout his mission again. "That one," he said finally, stepping closer to Dante so he wouldn't have to yell. "Tall guy with blonde hair, looks kind of like Brad Pitt in Troy."
Turning to look, Dante gave the guy a once-over. "Okay," he said, leaving ROger alone on the floor. Pushing carelessly past most of the men, Dante walked right up the the guy Roger pointed out. ROger watched from a few yards back, curious as to what Dante was doing but also a little impressed at his brazen confidence. He didn't think he could ever just walk up to someone like that.
Blonde guy noticed Dante approaching him, and smiled an intrigued little grin. "Need something?" he asked coyly.
Pulling out his cell phone, Dante scrolled through hius photos until he came to the one he'd managed to snap of Lloyd in the halls yesterday. "Would you fuck this guy?" he asked plainly, holding the phone up so blondie could see. The guy looked at Dante as though he'd lost his mind, chuckled a little, then looked at the phone. "Hell yes I would," he replied smoothly.
Fishing a scrap of paper from his pocket, Dante handed it to the guy. "Here. Call him." With nothing more to say, he walked away and headed back to ROger, who was trying to decide if he should be creacking up or totally embarassed for poor Lloyd. "So this is your plan?" Roger wanted to know once Dante was bneside him again. "Just walk up ti strangers and hand out his number?"
"Pretty much," Dante confessed, taking a swig of beer.
Roger shook his head. "This is such a bad idea. I feel like I need to be stopping you."
Stepping close to Roger and putting a hand on his waist to bring him closer (that dude in the dreadlocks was lookin' at Dante like was gettin' ideas), the golem smirked his trademark smirk. "You couldn't stop me if you wanted to." And they both knew he was right.
Roger shivered at Dante's commanding yet featherlight touch. Being in their room alone was one thing, but here in public, amongst other living beings... it truly struck Roger how alive the other man was. Something ROger had created, a part of him, was standing before him, flesh and blood (he assumed) and thinking its own personal and sometimes warped thoughts. "What are you...?" he asked, in regards to the unexpected closeness.
"You get to be my date tonight. Ain't you just lucky as shit."
Taking a long drink, Roger swallowed his ber down, glad for the mind numbness that would soon follow. "Ain't I just," he remarked dryly.
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Roger was by no means a lightweight drinker. But tonight, to say that he was just "drunk" was like saying the A bomb was just "pretty bad". By the end of the night Roger was feeling fine and having a great time with Dante, and even thought this crazy scheme of finding Lloyd a man was kind of hilarious. Oh yeah, that level of drunk. He couldn't get over how stupidly confident Dante was, how he wopuld just walk up to whoever Roger told him to and just ask them their opinions on the shrink, then either dish out a number or, if the person was disinterested, walk away. Even when people were rude, or looked at Dante as though he were the scum of the Earth, or that he was an asshole, he just shrugged and moved on (though some particularly nasty people got a sneer and a shove). It was incredible to watch him work. Roger could not imagine being so uncaring of what other people thought of him. Was this what had been hiding in his psyche for thirteen years?
Dante came back from another run, frowning. "I'm out of paper," he said, obviously annoyed.
"Lloyd'sa poplarguy," Roger slurred, sitting at a table now because standing was proving difficult.
"Will be, by tomorrow." Dante grinned, satisfied. Let's see that demon whine now.
"Ahm, like, jealous," Roger admitted out of the blue. When Dante gave him a look, he went on to explain. "Yer all like... you jus' walk up there an' be all 'Hey, how's it goin, here's a phone number' an' walk off. That's fukkin sick, man."
God, Roger was funny when he was drunk. And cute. But Dante would not admit to the "cute" part, cuz it seemed incestuous even though there was nothing sexual in the cuteness at all. "You could be like that," he pointed out.
"Nah," he grunted, with an exaggerated hand wave. "I'd fuckin' die of shame, trying to do somethin' like that. People'd laugh in my face. Plus, y'know, Wes an' all."
"You don't gotta sleep with 'em," Dante replied, taking the beer bottle from Roger's hands and polishing it off. "And Wesley ain't here."
"I can't just flirt with some guy! It'd be like cheating!"
"Yeah, right, sure would. Cuz Wesley would never flirt with nobody else."
"No he would, he-" Roger paused, the lightbulb finally clicking on. "Hey yeah, he does! And he's not off sleeping with people or anything. It's just... flirting." His drunk mind was comprehending things his sober mind could not- flirting was meaninglss. Normally, to him, flirting was very meaningful. There was no sense hitting on someone if you wanted nothing to come of it. But inhebriated, all bets were off. Everything seemed like a good idea. Pulling himself up to his feet, Roger swayed a little before he steadied, looking around. "I'm gonna do it," he declared, pounding a hand on the table and rattling the seven empty Sam Adams bottles (and two whiskey sours glasses). "I'm gonna go flirt n' shit. Fuck yeah."
"Go get 'em, tiger," Dante said with a half reserved grimmace. It was like having a gay brother. You didn't agree with their lifestyle, didn't like it, but you wanted them to be happy so you encouraged them anyway. Dante watched Roger disappear into a sea of writhing gay men and wished, for a brief second, that Wesley was here. He liked Wesley, and if The Boyfriend was here Roger would not feel the need to try and find his confidence. And therefore, Dante wouldn't have to try and keep the man out of trouble. Staying out of trouble wasn't one of his strong suits.
Pulling his phone from his pocket, he shot a quick text to Erin. Maybe she had decided to stick around in his room and keep his mouse occupied. Maybe she'd be naked when he got back. An enticing thought, though kind of futile since there was no way he could let Roger sleep out in the common room tonight. Actually, he wasn't sure how he was gonna get the guy home. The potential for Roger falling off the back of Jessica was quite considerable. Erin could still be naked, though. And if Roger passed out once they got home... A catlike smile spread over Dante's lips, just as his phone buzzed with a return message from Erin. For awhile he simply texted back and forth, ignoring the gazes from some of the more effeminate men and focusing on his phone. It seemed that, if he was lucky, the ice demon would indeed be sans pajamas when he finally got there. As he finished typing out c if rog gets lucky and hit send, the thought occurred to him that maybe he should be on the lookout for where it was the blonde had gone off to. Currently he was at the bar, placing money down and taking a sip from yet another Sam Adams. His eyes scanned the crowd, finally settling on someone over in the corner. Dante groaned. Naturally, in his special way, Roger had set his eyes on the only straight guy in the bar.
From Roger's point of view, the brooding, stunning gentleman standing alone was probably nervous as hell. His eyes kept looking around, sipping his drink and fidgeting. So with a smooth saunter and a smile, he made his way to the sexy guy. It was just flirting so it didn't matter. In fact, Wesley would probably have encouraged him to go over there and chat the guy up. Besides, it would be fun. "Hey," he said (well slurred a bit), eyeing the stranger up and down.
The guy along the wall shifted away from Roger, crossing his arms. "Hi," he said briskly, eyes scanning back over the crowd.
"This your first time?"
"Look I'm not interested, pal. I got a girlfriend."
Roger giggled a little, confused. A girlfriend? How ridiculous. "Then why are you at a gay bar?" he grinned.
"Back off fruitcake!" The guy shoved Roger back, making the half demon stumble a few steps.
"What... you-"
"Beat it, fag!"
This wasn't happening. Roger managed to catch his balance, staring at the man who'd shoved him. What had he done wrong? His drunk mind tried to figure out what he'd said wrong, why this guy looked so freaked out and angry, why he looked ready to shove Roger again. Just as the guy stepped forward, a large figure stepped between him and Roger. The half demon swayed on his feet, taking a moment to realize that the huge mass in front of him was Dante.
"Back the fuck off him," Dante said darkly, eyes narrowed.
"Who the fuck are you, his boyfriend?" the guy spat.
"No. I'm his bodyguard." With an expertly delivered punch, Dante knocked the guy flat on his ass, a stunned hush falling over the crowd before the hooting and cheering began. Mouth hanging open, Roger was only aware that he was being tugged, then dragged out of the place. The cool air of the night hit him hard, refreshing and jarring. Dante was holding his wrist tightly, forcibly dragging him outside.
"You..." As they stood beside Jessica, his head spinning and vision blurred, Roger tugged his wrist from the bulkier man's grasp, swaying on his feet. "You hit that guy."
"I hit a lot of guys."
"Yeah but you hit that guy. For me."
Dante grunted, stradling the bike. "We gotta go. Before the cops get here."
Roger didn't budge. "Dante you HIT somebody. For me."
"Would you get on the fucking bike? We gotta go."
"You never do anything to help me. Anything." Running a hand through his hair, Roger looked up to laugh at the sky. "You hurt me. You always hurt me and you take from me and you make my life impossible and you... you're..." Hands dropping, he just stared at the man, really looked him over. "You protected me."
Dante blinked, obviously not as impressed with this revelation. "Yeah."
"Yeah?!" He was incredulous. Just yeah? Dante didn't really understand this revelation. He didn't understand how horrible things had been before, how every moment was terrifying, how just the man's name made Roger's stomach sick. "What do you mean, yeah?? This is... you don't..."
Sitting upright, Dante crossed his arms over his chest, frowning. "What the fuck do you think I'm here for?" he asked shortly. "I always protect you."
"OH, ha! That's a laugh! Since when?"
"Since always. What the fuck do you think I was always keepin' you away from those guys at the gym for? Why do you think I always tried to stop Wesley from talking to you?"
"Because you're an asshole, I don't know! I don't know why you do this shit to me! Because Wesley is wonderful and all those other guys could have been too if you'd just-"
"Oh, wake the fuck up, Roger!" the golem snapped. "You remember that guy from the gym, the one that you thought looked like fuckin', what the hell'd you call it, a Greek God? Remember that one? And you were gonna kiss him in the fuckin' locker room cuz you two were always alone on Tuesdays. He was fucking married, idiot. He woulda kicked your ass and left you to bleed out on the tiles. The guy was an asshole. You got the worst possible taste in men. Case and point, you picked the only straight guy in the place! Didn't you notice his girlfriend hangin' round him all night, or that he kept sayin' how he didn't wanna be here? Guy was anxious as fuck and you walked right into the lion's den."
As a matter of fact, Roger hadn't noticed any of those things. Of course, he hadn't noticed the guy until just a moment before speaking to him, so how would he have known? But Dante had noticed. Dante had seen him, known he was Roger's type, checked him out, and all of this without knowing whether or not Roger would ever talk to him. And as soon as shit had gone down, and the guy got rough, Dante had been there. Right there. He'd swooped in like a valiant knight and come to the rescue. Even half drunk, in his hazy brain, Roger knew this was big. "Oh my God," he said softly, stepping forward to put a hand on Jessica's handlebars. "You've... I didn't..." Part of him wanted to apologize, but then Dante had much more to apologize for. But he needed to say something. It felt like his chest was swelling up, ready to burst. He couldn't believe how he had never seen before that, in his own fucked up way, Dante was trying to help. He was selfish and stupid and arrogant and thoughtless, yes, but mostly he just tried to help. Like a little bully trying to watch out for his kid brother. "I think... I love you, Dante."
The former alter stared at Roger a moment, his expression unreadable. Then finally he snorted, quite derisively. "Right. Get on the fucking bike."
"No, I mean it. I do. I mean... I wouldn't put up with you if I didn't, right? I mean you're a dick and stuff, but..." Falling forward, Roger grabbed hold of Jessica to keep from faceplanting in the parking lot. Dante put an arm around the man's ribs, just in case. Taking a deep breath, the half demon steadied himself, laughing. "Fuck I'm drunk. This is gonna suck tomorrow."
"Uh huh. Think you can hold on long enough to ride?"
"I dunno. Fuck. Maybe." Lifting his head, he peered up at Dante, at the eerily familiar blue eyes. "I do."
"Great. Let's go."
"I mean, I love you Dante. I do." He reached up to touch Dante's face, missing a few times but eventually his fingers managed to find stubble. "You're like... I never wanted you. At all. But you're here and you're real and you... I'm..." He smiled fondly, and drunkly. "You're like a kid I never wanted. And I love you." Slipping his arms around the other man, Roger hugged Dante's ribcage tightly.
Every muscle in Dante's body was tensed. What was he supposed to say? This was one of those things he'd never thought would happen, and yet here it was happening. It wasn't real. It couldn't be. Roger was drunk and he'd forget by morning and then things would go back to normal. "Come on, cupcake. Get on the bike."
"Do you believe me?" he mumbled.
"Nope."
"But..." With considerable effort, Roger lifted his head from Dante's chest to look at him. "This is important. I know you said you love me, and I didn't care or anything but I get it now. There is no me without you. You have to believe me."
"Tell you what. I'm gonna act like you ain't even talking to me right now. We're gonna go home, an' you're gonna go to sleep and tomorrow we're gonna act like this never happened."
"But I'm still gonna... whoa... gonna mean it tomorrow." Swaying as he stood, Roger swung his leg over the back of the bike, arms still tight around Dante. He didn't know if he could hold on the entire ride home, but he also didn't have much choice. At least Dante was comfortable, and he felt safe. Even drunk, he realize how messed up it was to feel safe in the man's presence.
"Then I'll deal with it tomorrow." Revving his engine, Dante took off slowly from the parking lot, trying not to jerk around too much to keep Roger from falling off. He didn't think that when morning came the half demon would remember any of this, and even if he did he wouldn't actually mean what he'd said.
Still... that annoying glimmer of hope in the back of Dante's kind refused to go away.