Who: Gareth Visser & Billy Kaplan What: Billy finds out something new about Grizz When: 25th Oct Where: Their apartment Rating/Warnings: G | None Status: Log | Complete
Billy scratched his hand through his hair and shuffled into the kitchen of the apartment he shared with Grizz. It was just after ten, and normally he’d have been summoned by the smell of cooking, as that was what usually happened at the weekends. Cooking and coffee and then Grizz was standing in the kitchen with his hair tied back and a bright grin on his face, ready to tease Billy about the fact that he was, without a shadow of a doubt, not a morning person. And then Billy would grunt something at him and grumble into the coffee passed into his hands and by the time he’d finished the first cup and was onto his second he was something approaching human.
But that morning, as in, the morning he walked into the kitchen and saw someone that wasn’t Grizz, Billy sort of froze and stared. He hadn’t had enough coffee to deal with a stranger in his kitchen, let alone an attractive stranger wearing a shirt that was just-on-this-side of too tight. He was tall and dark haired with a tiny bit of scruff on his jaw which was clearly just from having stayed here the night before.
Billy even took a moment to check that he was, in fact, in the correct apartment and when it became clear that he was, he was even more confused.
“Uh...”
“Morning,” Generically-Hot-Guy #3 said, two coffees already on the counter, “you must be Billy?”
Billy blinked dumbly, then nodded. Sort of.
“Grizz said you were pretty non-verbal before coffee, hang on.”
A third mug was pulled out and fresh coffee poured into it, and GHG#3 held it out to Billy, who took it suspiciously. “Grizz is just in the shower, or he was, he oughta be out soon, we didn’t wake you or anything, right?”
“Uh...”
When Grizz had left home for college he had made himself a promise which was that he was going to live his best gay life in whatever shape or form that took and so far? He hadn't done, well, anything. He'd looked, admired, but that was about it. That was literally no different from what he'd been doing back home. A bad day had culminated in him having a little bit too much to drink and making some questionable choices, one of which was taking an absolute stranger home with the intent of doing all the things but then when it came down to it he'd freaked and worked out that actually one night stands were not his preferred way of exploring his sexuality.
Thankfully the guy he'd picked was not only hot but also super nice so he'd been really good about the whole thing and they'd just slept.
Morning rolled around pretty quickly and whilst the guy whose name he found out was Mitch busied himself with grabbing coffee Grizz had ducked into the shower which was definitely needed, to wash away the crap of the day before and just take a moment to reflect on how close he'd come to making a horrible mistake. Clad in loose sweat pants and not a whole lot else Grizz wandered out of the bathroom rubbing at his hair with a towel though immediately came to an abrupt halt when the sight of Billy and Mitch meeting one another unfolded in front of him.
Well, shit.
Still, Grizz was Grizz, so he just approached and greeted them both. "Morning."
When confronted with GHG#3 who was definitely hot in his kitchen, the last thing Billy needed was Grizz in those sweatpants and bare feet and bare chest. Honestly, the world hated him and he hadn’t had coffee - he had it in his hands but he hadn’t actually started drinking it yet - so he rectified that immediately by ducking his head, hoping it hit the flush on his cheeks and just rapidly sipping at his too-hot drink.
“Morning,” Mitch said with a grin, pushing the coffee over the counter towards Grizz. “Feel better after a shower?”
Billy swallowed, flexed his fingers around the cup and wished the world would swallow him whole. Would it look weird if he turned around and went back into his room and pretended this didn’t happen? Why was this guy in the kitchen anyway? Why had he slept over? He hadn’t been on the couch, which meant he had to have been in Grizz’s room. Why? What was going on? And why did the universe hate him so much that he was cursed with two hot men before coffee?
"Yeah, tons," Grizz said with a nod of his head as he wandered up and took the coffee, taking a slow sip as he dropped the towel to around his shoulders totally ignoring and forgetting just how messy towel drying could be on his hair. He knew without looking at Billy that the other man had a lot of questions which was understandable, it wasn't like Grizz was openly advertising the fact he was gay and trying to explore what that meant.
Honestly he didn't feel like he needed to.
"We didn't wake you, right?" He asked, looking over at Billy. "It was super late when we got in."
Billy's mouth moved like a fish out of water for a moment before he shook his head. "No- uh- I didn't- I didn't hear you guys come in or..." he waved his hand, "do anything."
He swallowed, sipped his coffee and was about to say something else, or so he thought, when GHG#3 opened his mouth.
"That's good, 'cause I definitely knocked at least two things over when we came in." He grinned a little, "Wasn't exactly paying attention to where I was going."
He winked at Grizz, and Billy had never felt more like trying to murder someone with his eyes.
"Huh. Well. Uh- yea-"
Mitch's eyebrow lifted and he looked over at Grizz again. "Did we break him?"
Grizz at least had the decency to flush with colour and duck his head where he was making rather meaningful eye contact with the contents of his mug though at Mitch's question he did look up, hand rubbing through his hair.
"Uh, you mind if Billy and I talk alone for a moment, Mitch?"
He knew Billy's behaviour was as a direct result of the fact that not only Mitch was a stranger but he was also a guy and it wasn't like they'd had that conversation.
Mitch's eyebrows both lifted but he shrugged, taking his coffee off the counter. "Sure thing, G," he said, moving past Grizz a lot closer than he needed to - if you were to ask Billy - and squeezing Grizz's upper arm as he passed.
Once he'd disappeared, Billy felt the muscles in his face finally relaxing , though embarrassment started crawling down his spine when it was just him and Grizz in the open plan kitchen-lounge and he shrugged his shoulders.
"It's okay, you- uh- you guys probably have-" he waved his other hand, "I- can get get outta the house in like ten minutes, I just have to finish this and get dressed."
"Yeah, that's not a thing that's gonna be happening," Grizz said with a shake of his head as he rubbed a hand through his hair. "So I didn't mean for this to happen, you know, for you to wake up to some random guy in the kitchen. I was really drunk last night and not making the best of decisions."
Not that his sexuality was a point of confusion for Grizz, he knew he was gay, that wasn't even a question for him, but how he chose to explore that seemed to be the sticking point.
"I mean I know we've never really talked about-"
"So you got drunk and decided to try sleeping with a dude? That's one hell of a set of beer goggles, man." Billy shrugged, because yeah, sometimes when people were drunk and - as Grizz said - making bad decisions they tried things they might not normally and being with a guy might have been Grizz's drunken mistake?
Seemed like it.
"At least you bought him here rather than went back to his."
"Uh, no," Grizz said with a shake of his head. "I didn't need beer googles for that to happen. I mean, I guess I never felt the need to say it because it's not like you have to come out if you're straight so why should it be any different if you're gay?"
But he had in essence just come out to Billy.
Billy's cup slipped from his fingers but as it did, his powers reacted instinctively and caught it in the air before it hit the ground. He looked down at it and held his hand out, and it - very wobblily - floated back up into his hand/
"You're- uh- you- so that's the kind of- I mean, that's a good type of guy to have a type thing for."
...What the fuck, Kaplan.
Grizz had started to move when the cup slipped but then Billy's powers kicked in and he arched his eyebrows at the impressive display of control Billy had because apparently he was better when he wasn't thinking about it.
"Yeah, I mean, I left my home town vowing I'd live my best gay life in college so..."
"I mean, I guess making out with a hot guy in a dark club and bringing him home is part of the whole- best gay life thing." He swallowed and waved a hand. "I can- I can definitely get outta your hair. He's- you- yeah- um-"
Grizz was definitely relieved that was all he'd done because having his first time with a guy while drunk? Not ideal, at all. It might sound stupid and kind of girly but he definitely wanted that to mean something.
"We okay?" He asked, genuinely concerned.
"Why wouldn't we be okay?" Billy asked, "It'd be super hypocritical of me not to be okay with you being into guys considering I'm also into guys." He was rambling, but he couldn't stop himself. "It's okay, you don't have to tell anyone you don't want to tell and more than that it's your best gay life isn't it? And they- I mean it's important that you do what's right for you and who's right for you and I mean he's good looking if that's what- no, I mean, he's everyone's type-"
"I just-" Grizz began before he realised that Billy was caught in a ramble loop and so he stepped up, gently placing his hand over Billy's mouth followed by a soft smile. "I know I never actually came out to you so this is a shock so I didn't want it to be an issue between us. I just never thought I needed to because it's not like straight people need to announce their sexuality to the world."
Billy went quiet as Grizz's hand rested on his mouth and he stilled. His whole brain ground to a halt, fritzing all over again and he just shrugged, trying to look totally calm and cool and collected which he definitely wasn't. His breath stuttered a little against the warmth of Grizz's fingers under his nose.
It was a good thing that he was living his best gay life, he was old enough to go the bars and clubs and meet all the hot, gay singles in their area and have a great gay romance and then Billy would have to move out and find somewhere new to live and try and find new friends.
"Yeah- no, I get it. It's not a big deal or anything. I'm glad you're, y'know- happy and stuff." He said, mumbling behind Grizz's palm.
"Billy," Grizz said with a shake of his head. "It's not like he's my boyfriend or anything. He's a guy I drunkenly made out with, not exactly a fairytale romance." He waited until he was sort of certain that Billy wasn't caught in a ramble loop and then and only then did he remove his hand.
He shrugged his shoulders a moment later. "And besides, we're checking out that arcade later, right?"
"Doesn't have to start with riding in on a white horse to be a fairytale romance," Billy pointed out with a wrinkle of his nose. His face felt cold where Grizz's hand had been, prickles spreading across his face.
He nodded, "Yeah, yeah we are. If you still wanna, that is."
Grizz nodded. "Yeah, of course I do." He bit his lower lip and worried it for a moment. "Just lemme-" He jerked his thumb over his shoulder in the direction of his bedroom. "Get this awkward morning after thing out of the way."
Billy's eyes dropped to Grizz's lips and then he nodded, "Sure, I- I gotta finish your awkward morning after's coffee anyway."
That same mouth that Billy was watching tugged into a grin and Grizz's eyes softened in the corners as warmth filled the depths of his dark eyes. "Alright. I'll be right back."
"I'll... probably still be here," Billy admitted, saluting Grizz with the cup and holding it with both hands as he lifted it to his lips again to drink it. "With my coffee."
Grizz gave a parting laugh as he turned to head into his bedroom to try and sort through this morning and go separate ways with Mitch.