[26] - [Video]

[sharpememory]

[Barron: hit by the honesty bomb. He's sitting on his bed, writing in his diary journal.]

So, guys. I basically disappeared off the barge. [He pauses to scribble something out in the journal.] Which isn't that abnormal, but it was weird. I spent a while at home not remembering being here at all. My brother turned out to be a total asshole who was willing to turn us over to the Feds, so he got taken out by my other brother. Who then got all into my business and made the hot high school girl I was really into break up with me.

[Barron sighs, making a face.] It's not like I'm that much older than her, but whatever. It's a little ridiculous. I mean, even my Mom is getting together with a guy. Who's totally the head of a mob family, but what are you gonna do? [Barron shrugs.] It's not like the connections would do us any harm.

[He stops scribbling in his journal.] Then I was back here, remembering being here from before and the new stuff that I'd done at home. I guess I asked the Admiral if I could go home the right amount of times or something. [A pause.] It was better than being here, even with all the drama going down.

Comments

[sharpememory]

I did not see that one coming. Not that I would have, considering the whole memory deal.

Come on. She's really mature for her age and is graduating really soon. I'm only three years older than her.

[buywithme]

Hey, he was your brother. I understand the desire to be blindly loyal to someone you look up too.

No Comrade, it's weird. You're a grown man, and a worker, and you shouldn't be getting her involved in that. Anyway, she's back home, and you're here now, so you just forget all about her, and we should go get a drink together.

[sharpememory]

I don't know if I'd call myself blindly loyal. Mostly.

Whoa, no way. When I say I was into her, I'm not kidding. We're basically meant for each other.

[buywithme]

[SIGH]

Comrade, do you have any idea how many people I've thought were perfect for me? But she clearly doesn't feel the same way, or nothing Cassel could have done would have broken the two of you up.

Come on, let's go for a drink and you can begin to deal with your heartbreak...

[sharpememory]

I didn't know you'd dated anyone ever.

My heart isn't broken. It's not over until it's over. I just need to work out a way to get Cassel to leave it be.

[buywithme]

You don't need to date someone to think that you're in love with them.

And it's completely over. Come on, let's go mak--

Let's go drown your sorrows.

[sharpememory]

I guess that's true.

Sure thing! I'll just head up to the pub. It's better to drink with you than by myself, which I happen to do often.

SPAM?

[buywithme]

Barron, never drink alone. I will always be around, wanting to get drunk with you. It's basically my job to get drunk with you. It's all I want to do in life right now.

You. Me. Drunk. That's the new endgame.

I'll see you in a few minutes.

Y YES [Spam]

[sharpememory]

[Barron doesn't even reply, he just cruises right up to the pub. He doesn't mind being on the barge that much at the moment. He gets there a bit early and waits outside, gloved hands in his pockets.]

[Spam]

[buywithme]

[He doesn't have to wait long. Prefect's there in a few minutes, mildly irritated by the fact that Barron has decided to have a crush on some girl, but not particularly deterred, since she clearly dumped him before he got back.

He hurries his pace as he sees Barron up ahead of him, and claps a (carefully gloved) hand around the other man's shoulders, pulling him forward into a manly, one armed hug, which is very un-Prefect-like.]

Barron! It's great having you back. I was worried about you.

[He holds the hug a moment longer than is polite. Testing the waters for how Barron feels about close contact with him.]

[Spam]

[sharpememory]

[Barron's smiling and doesn't push Prefect off when Prefect hugs him, but that honesty is still in place.]

Prefect! This is really uncomfortable. [Barron doesn't sound overly bothered, though. He expects that Prefect has forgotten about the glove boundaries again.]

I would have been worried about you too, if I'd remembered being on the barge. [Barron smiled.] Story of my life, right?

[Spam]

[buywithme]

[Prefect pulls away, and gives a sheepish laugh, still staying kind of close enough to Barron that he's inside the other man's personal bubble.] Sorry, I've just really missed you a lot, you know? I was worried about being re-assigned to some other inmate while you were gone...

You remember me now, Comrade that's what matters. [He unlocks the pub, and steps inside, letting Barron walk past him towards the beer.]

[Spam]

[sharpememory]

I wouldn't have liked it if you were reassigned, even if you have suddenly gotten into the habit of standing way too close to me. [Barron doesn't move away though, until he can walk past Prefect and into the pub. He makes a beeline for the alcohol, of course.]

Ah, drinking. I'm so glad that you don't have any wardenly scruples against it.

[Spam]

[buywithme]

[Damn it Barron, you are just Mr. Mixed Signals today. One minute it's all 'I'm glad you're still my warden' and the next it's 'you're standing too close to me'. Prefect frowns irritably, before quickly covering it up, and going to grab a bottle of liquor. They were going to get really drunk, really fast, and then they were going to make out. That was how this was going to go down, damn it.]

Well, I guess you'll just have to let me know how close I'm allowed to get, won't you? [He replied, with what he hoped was a smooth smile, pouring them out two shots and pushing both towards Barron, before pouring two more out for himself.]

Here's to making better memories together, now that you're back.

[Spam]

[sharpememory]

Oh, I will. [Barron said, with his continuing easy sense of honesty. It wasn't Prefect's fault that he didn't know what normal social functioning was. It was just one of the things about Prefect that Barron was starting to get used to. Just like how Prefect grabbed a bottle instead of a glass. That was something that Barron really liked about him.]

[Just like those double shots. Ah, did warden and inmate socializing get any better than this?] Memories that I might even remember, but probably won't.

[With that, Barron downed his two shots, one after the other.]

[Spam]

[buywithme]

[The moment the first glass was empty, Prefect was reaching across to top it up.

Get Barron drunk. Make out with him.

That was still the plan of action here.] So, speaking of things that you don't remember, I was thinking about that post you made, a few weeks ago? Where you said you weren't attracted to men?

[And he topped up the second shot glass again, before glancing up at Barron innocently.] I was just wondering how you could be sure of that, with a memory like yours?

[Spam]

[sharpememory]

[Glass empty, now full? Must drink immediately! Which Barron does. He's not really keeping an eye on whether Prefect's keeping pace with him.]

I wasn't being very honest in that post. I was confused. [Barron looks wistfully at his glass.] That was before I went home, though. I feel like things are clearer now. I can remember most of it. Enough to know.

[Honest Barron is honest. Ah, flood. The things you do.]

[Spam]

[buywithme]

[Prefect should probably try to catch Barron up a little, or this 'getting a possibly straight guy drunk' thing would be a little creepy. He drinks his first two shots, then fills all four of their glasses up again, and drinks his second two shots.] So you were lying about not being attracted to men? And confused by your attraction to them?

[Prefect might be inching slightly closer to Barron now, his head slightly ducked, so that he can make eye contact.]

I know you went home and got yourself a girlfriend, but the evidence while you were here was pretty conclusive...

[Spam]

[sharpememory]

Yeah, I think that's it. [Barron's slowing down on his drinking now, because wow, that many shots is starting to go straight to his head.]

[He's also oblivious to Prefect's inching closer. That eye contact, why, they're having a deep and meaningful!]

I guess it isn't one or the other though, right? People can be both. Maybe I'm both. [Barron looked at his drink speculatively. It didn't have any answers in particular.]

[Spam]

[buywithme]

I don't see why you shouldn't be both. I mean, it makes sense to me that you'd be that way...

[Still inching closer and closer, so now he's gazing into Barron's eyes, smiling serenely, only a few inches away.] Men and women, your home and the Barge, some girl and... some guy.

[Some guy. LIKE HIM. Prefect smiles languidly, the hints are getting increasingly heavy handed here.]

[Spam]

[sharpememory]

Yeah, I think it does make a lot of sense. [Barron's pretty pleased with himself. What a good thing to discover.]

[And even Barron in his growing less than sober state got a fair idea of where that hint was heading. And wow, Prefect. Suddenly you are very, very close. Barron's urge to escape: rising. Time to avoid this awkward, awkward conversation without being dishonest.] Do you want to play pool?

[Time to start walking towards the pool table!]

[Spam]

[buywithme]

Pool. Sure. [Prefect sighs, and pushes himself away from the bar to follow Barron towards the pool table. He grabs a stick up idly, and taps Barron lightly on the small of his back with it.]

Don't act so nervous about this. I mean, it's obvious that you started questioning your sexuality because you had a thing for me. I don't know what you had written in your journals about it, but apparently it was enough to tip Phillip off to it.

[And now he's just going to lounge against the pool table a bit, all sexy like.] So how about instead of playing pool, we just make out for a while?

[SMOOTH.]

[Spam]

[sharpememory]

Don't tap me with that. These things were really slippery the other day. Someone could get hurt. [Barron paused. Thinking.] If there was any innuendo in what I said just then, it was really, really accidental.

[He listens to what Prefect says about the journals, which is true enough. Even the Philip bit.] Well, I can't deny that. If Philip picked it up, it must have been really obvious. Which it was.

[Barron pauses to lean on his pool cue, giving Prefect a speculative look. Make out, you say?] Really? You want to do that? Like in the pirate port?

[Spam]

[buywithme]

[This seemed promising. Prefect lowered his pool cue and inched closer to Barron.] You're not at your sharpest today, Sharpe. Yes I want to do that. I mean, we've kind of already done it once, like you said, in the pirate port? Only this time, we wouldn't have to be lying in a soggy boat pretending that we hated each other.

[Prefect raised his eyebrows, inching back into Barron's personal space. Hopefully now that the Make out agenda was on the table, Barron wouldn't feel the need to go running from him doing this...] So, what do you think? I mean, maybe the port did just temporarily turn you gay. This'd be a pretty conclusive way to find out?

[Spam]

[sharpememory]

[Barron didn't step back. He held his ground, looking at Prefect speculatively. He did have rather fond memories of the pirate port.] Well, I have to say that the pretending that we hated each other was half the fun.

[Barron sighs though, putting his cue back down onto the pool table. This isn't the type of conversation that he'd be having if he was anything less than honest.] Normally, I would have been all over that. But the situation at home makes this really complicated.