Who: Stefan Salvatore, Agent Washington When:Morning Day after Memorial Day Where: Casa de Stefan/Lexi/Anna What: Walk of Shame Rating/Warnings: Low/None Status: Complete
The party had been a success. Stefan was pleased with the turn-out: plenty of people around to chat with, drink with, eat with. (Definitely not eat, though. Stefan was firmly back on the “vegetarian” diet.) He’d gone to bed when he thought everyone had left last night, and since his bedroom now shared a wall with Anna’s bedroom, he could hear the young woman in there with a man. Of course, Stefan was pleased. Anna deserved to be happy. He pulled some headphones on quickly, trying his best not to pry, and managed to sleep eventually.
The morning came. Stefan was up, coffee and breakfast made, and he popped about the house and yard to clean up the remnants of the party. Every bottle left aside or plate set down and forgotten reminded him just how many people had been there to celebrate with him.
He took a trash bag out to the side yard to put it in the bin, and then headed back inside. Someone was coming out of Anna’s room. Assuming it was Anna, Stefan turned into the kitchen to dish her up some breakfast. Without looking to confirm that it was his roommate, he called out to her, teasing, “hope you’re not too hungover. Someone had a good time last night.”
Wash had no idea what time he and Anna had finally gone to sleep. The two of them had been insatiable. Sweet and seemingly innocent Anna’s appetite for carnal pleasures and her stamina had downright surprised the former Marine, and pleasantly so. From the moment Anna had dragged him into her bed by the dog tags around his neck it had been a marathon of sex with only momentary pauses for light dozing before one had rolled over and roused the desire of the other enough to go another round. It had been a long time since Wash had been with someone, not since Kyu had left. By the time he had finally fallen into an exhausted sleep with Anna snuggled up next to him, their arms and legs a tangled mess among the sheets, the sun had just started to break through the night.
Wash also had no idea how long he had actually slept that morning. The sun was high in the sky when he finally blinked his way back into consciousness. Whatever hangover he may have had from drinking the previous afternoon and evening away he had slept through or had been fucked out of him. Neither of which was a bad thing.
Anna looked far too peaceful to disturb, so Wash carefully untangled himself from her and smoothed the sheets around her body. He dressed and quietly ventured out of the bedroom. He had intended to leave the house without waking anyone. He had no idea that it was late enough in the day that most people would have been up. He’d only gone a few steps beyond Anna’s bedroom door when he heard Stefan’s voice call out. Wash froze. Crap. Well, considering how close Anna and Stefan were he was going to find out eventually. May as well get it over with.
Wash cleared his throat before answering somewhat sheepishly. “Uh, yeah, I think she did.”
Stefan had already made it to the frying pan and was dishing up sausage, eggs and bacon when he heard his friend's voice coming from the hallway. His hand paused, the spoon mid-way between pan and plate. Huh. That was most certainly something he hadn't expected to hear. Stefan had seen Wash and Anna sitting together by the hot tub at one point last night, but then they were gone. Of course, he'd assumed that Wash went home with Carolina and Kanan, and that Anna had gone to bed. It wasn't until he was going to bed himself several hours later that he realized she wasn't alone in her bedroom.
Stefan finished dishing up the food, and turned to face Wash. His friend didn't look hungover, so that was a plus. Well... this was a little awkward, though, wasn't it? But it was also a good thing. Wash could certainly have gone for a night to release some tensions, and Lord knew Anna needed to blow off a little steam. Maybe an anonymous night together was what the pair each needed.
"I guess you did, too?" Stefan smirked, holding out the plate to his brother-in-arms.
Awkward was a way to describe what Wash was feeling. Awkward and…maybe a little guilty? Stefan had made a point for Wash to meet his roommates, the people who he relied on and trusted, and when Wash finally had, he’d up and slept with one of them right away. What was worse was that Stefan caught him right in the middle of his walk of shame the following day. Wash felt as though Stefan had caught him going behind his back.
That being said, Stefan seemed to be handling the discovery well enough. If he wasn’t going to freak out about it, then there was no sense in Wash doing so. Besides, Wash’s night with Anna had been good. Like really good. Something Wash had needed; and thinking back to the way Anna pulled on his dog tags and the way she had kissed him while pressing her body to his, Wash had a feeling she’d needed it too. It was good of Stefan to be such a good sport about this.
Not really realizing what Stefan meant, or that the vampire had actually heard his and Anna’s antics the night before, Wash smiled easily and took the offered plate. “Yeah,” still a little sheepish, but much more relaxed. “I did.”
So, Stefan was pleased. At first. Seeing the smile on his friend's face was nice, actually. Stefan knew that Wash had been suffering a bit lately, and he knew how much he needed to relax and let loose. Anna needed it, too--she had finals coming up, and had been working herself a bit crazy.
But as Stefan was digging in the drawer for a fork, he thought more about it. Wash and Anna. They might make a good match--though, Stefan wasn't exactly a matchmaker. If this was more for them than just a one time thing, hopefully something good would come from it. Anna deserved to have a good man in her life. Not like the last couple.
Stefan knew how fast and hard Anna fell for people. And he was incredibly protective of the redhead. He turned back to Wash, offering the fork. His face had fallen considerably. "...she's a really sweet girl," he said, softly.
Yes, Wash had been suffering, perhaps a bit more than he had been letting on to Stefan and the others. Wash always played his cards closed to the vest, it was another trait he shared with Carolina. He hadn’t talked much about his Dreams recently, how he had thought they were over when he and the Reds and Blues infiltrated Command and how for the first time since the Dreams had started he had finally been in control. He had succeeded in his plan to bring down the Project, utterly destroying it from within. It had cost his Dream Self his life, but Wash had been so desperate that it hadn’t seem to matter. Finally he did what he should have done the moment Epsilon had been implanted in him and released all the pain and memory stored within it. Now that he had, he was finished, able to join those who had died before him, and be reunited with his squad - his family. He’d believed it was over.
It hadn’t worked out that way. The Dreams had started again. He’d been made to survive against his will, his plan a failure, and ultimately ended up in a UNSC prison, the only Freelancer left alive to pay for the crimes of the Project. Epsilon, lurking and whispering at the back of his mind, made it impossible at times for Wash to distinguish his Dreams from his reality. They were too close at times, bleeding into one another as Wash continued to struggle to put the jumbled mess he called a memory back in order. It was better than it had been at first, but the slip-ups were still there.
He kept all this to himself. He had spent most of his life keeping the private things private, he wasn’t even sure how to ask for help. He only mentioned a few things to Carolina in an effort - sometimes in vain - to get her to tell him where she was in the Dreams. He did so to prepare. He knew what was in store for her, and he wanted to be ready to pull her out when it happened.
The rest he kept within and attempted to drown with alcohol. Perhaps that was what Stefan had noticed: how Wash drank more now than he used to in an attempt to self medicate his own PTSD in order to fight for everyone else around him. Wash refused to be useless, he refused to let them down as he had let down his squad.
With all that hanging on his shoulders, the human contact Anna had provided him had been a welcome release - something Wash had desperately needed. Something life affirming, something that had made him feel fucking normal, if even for a few hours.
Wash hesitated. Stefan’s voice had changed, and Wash had a pretty good idea what was coming next. It was all over Stefan’s face. Wash wasn’t exactly a good first choice for Stefan’s good friend. But, it hadn’t just been about the sex and the need for a release. Wash genuinely liked Anna, that was what had made their time together good and not just a session of marathon fucking.
He looked at the fork in Stefan’s hand, but didn’t take it. Steel grey eyes moved back up towards his friends. “I know she is,” he answered carefully. “And I know she means a lot to you. If I’ve crossed a line, I’m sorry.”
Anna and Wash were both adults, they could make these decisions on their own. And Stefan was glad that they'd had time together. They both deserved it, probably even needed it. Stefan shook his head, still holding the fork out to his friend. "No line's been crossed. She does mean a lot to me, but that's not what I--" He frowned, sighed, tried to come up with the words, but failed.
"Look, you're my best friend, and Anna's like a little sister to me. While I'm glad that you two..." That came out wrong, too. Stefan briefly paused again. He didn't want to assume what happened in the bedroom (though he heard enough that his assumptions were probably a pretty safe bet) and talking about it was a little awkward. That was private between Wash and Anna. How was he supposed to describe Anna's penchant for falling hard and fast? He wanted to share his fear that one or both of them was going to be hurt by this situation. "She's sensitive. A night with Anna might mean more to Anna than it does to you."
Wash furrowed his brows tightly. It wasn’t like Stefan to stumble over what it was he wanted to say. Slowly a picture started to come together, not a terribly clear picture, but a picture nonetheless. Stefan was worried about what this one night stand would mean for Anna, that maybe Wash would hurt her and that put Stefan in an incredibly awkward position.
Wash couldn’t say that Stefan was wrong, either. He didn’t exactly have the best track records when it came to relationships, and Stefan knew that. Stefan was the only person who knew the truth about Wash’s break-up with Kyu, why he had done it, the stupidity behind it and how much it hurt.
Wash let out a breath. He wasn’t all that sure what last night had meant either. He had figured it had been a one time thing for both himself and Anna, a chance to let out some steam and just be with another person. He hadn’t expected it to be anything more than that. He also didn’t like the idea of Anna becoming attached to him because he’d shown her a little affection (well, a lot of affection, if you thought about what they'd been doing). She had no idea what she was getting herself involved with when it came to him and the last thing Wash wanted to do was hurt her. She deserved better than that. She deserved better than him.
He took the offered fork and sat down with his plate, but did not eat. He didn’t really have much of an appetite. “I like Anna. I really do. I don’t regret spending the night with her, but I understand why you want to protect her from me. I’m not really much good for her, i know and I don’t to hurt her anymore than you want her to get hurt. I’ll talk to her, I promise.”
Stefan hadn't assumed that Wash was a “love ‘em and leave ‘em” kind. On the contrary, Stefan knew that Wash was thoughtful and considerate, most importantly loyal. He was the kind of guy who would take care of a girl he was seeing.
But he wasn't seeing Anna. And that made things complicated.
Stefan frowned again, pulling out the chair kitty corner to where Wash was sitting, and slid into it. “I don't want to protect her from you. That's not what I was trying to say.”
He picked at the corner of a cloth napkin left on the table, and felt a wave of hunger wash over him. After forcing it back, he added, “I'm trying to protect you. I should have warned you about her.”
“Protect...me?” Wash hadn’t expected that and he wasn’t sure how to react to it either, so he just kind of stared at Stefan with a clear lack of understanding. He also wasn’t used to people protecting him. People had helped him, sure. Hell, Gale had pulled Wash’s ass from the fire more than once, but no one had outright protected him before. He was the one who usually did the protecting, who stepped in to help, who tried to keep those around him safe. Wash’s stomach tied itself into a knot, not unlike the one he’d felt when Stefan had once told him not to worry. He seriously hoped that this wouldn’t result in him getting shot in the knee again.
“Why?” Was the only thing he could think of to say in response.
“Because… I don't want you to have to have that talk with her. I really didn't expect this to happen.” Stefan leaned back in his chair and looked over at his friend. “I mean, it's great. You're both great. You both deserve great people. I just don't want to see either of you get hurt.” Stefan felt really bad that he was raining on Wash's parade this way. His friend was probably in a great mood this morning, and Stefan ruined it.
“I'm sorry, man.” He said, and pulled himself out of the chair. “You want some coffee?”
The knot in Wash’s stomach tightened. He hadn’t expected this to happen, either. It just kind of...did. He didn’t know what he was supposed to do. Any move he made at this point could potentially be a bad one. He watched Stefan get up from his chair and move to get the coffee pot. He was silent, thinking and wishing that if Epsilon was going to whisper at him, the least the damn ghost could do was tell him something he could use. After everything he had done, after spending the last year trying to get his life back together, when it was all said and done, he was still nothing but a mess. An aimless, hopeless, useless mess. He needed a drink, but he didn’t think he could convince Stefan to spike the coffee.
“I should still talk to her,” he said quietly. “See what she thinks. If she has fallen for me…” Well, what was he going to do? Tell her not to? Push her away like he did Kyu? Kyu hadn’t deserved that and neither did Anna. She deserved better than that. She deserved better period. God knew she could certainly do better than a broken-down marine. “I’ll talk to her. I’ll figure it out.”
Fortunately (and unfortunately, maybe?) the coffee was already made. All Stefan had to do was pour them each a full mug of the stuff. It didn't take much time or effort, and didn't keep his hands busy for long. Keeping his hands busy would probably keep (his mind off the hunger) his fool trap shut. He felt like he'd done both Wash and Anna a disservice by saying anything this morning, when he should have just given Wash a high-five and left it at that. Thankfully Anna hadn't stirred yet. She was still asleep in her bedroom, as far as Stefan could tell. And she could stay that way at least until Wash left for the day.
"That's the best thing to do," Stefan said, nodding. He was going to... pull his nose out of this. He didn't want to make the matter worse. It was up to Wash and Anna now to figure things out between them. At least Wash knew now that Anna was likely to be clingy. Emotionally involved. Stefan had never known her to have a one night stand because of how intimate she became with the guys she went out with. And he couldn't imagine Wash would be an exception. "I'm sure you two crazy cats will work things out." He set the mug down in front of his friend.