[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.

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[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.]

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[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?

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[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.]

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[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.

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[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.

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[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.]

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[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?

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[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.]

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[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...

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[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.]

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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.]

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[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!]

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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.]

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[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?

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[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?

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[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.

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Barron, she broke up with you and she's now in another dimension... [Prefect reached forward, not touching Barron, but letting his hand hover uncertainly over the other man's elbow, acting like he respected Barron's space or whatever.] Once you graduate, and go back? Whatever happens with her will happen, no matter what goes on here, but once you graduate you probably won't want to work her or lie to her, so... who knows how you'd get her back?

[Prefect was... feeling far less than honest right now, but he felt like he was making headway in the direction of Barron's pants.] What I'm saying is, the situation back home is complicated whether we do this or not, so why give up something that you want to do? What will be will be, Barron, you might as well enjoy yourself while it's all unfolding. [He tilted his head slightly, and smiled his MOST ATTRACTIVE SMILE. Come on Barron, take the bait...]

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[sharpememory]

She might change her mind. [Barron really believed that too. He just needed to get Cassel to stop sticking his nose where it didn't belong. That said, what Prefect said struck close to home. A little too close.] You can't know that. What if she wants to get back together with me because I won't work her or lie to her? What then?

[Despite the smile, which Barron admits is really most attractive, what's going on at home is still too fresh for him to get over being angry at what Prefect said.] I don't know why you're saying all this. You're supposed to give me warden advice. There are worse things that I could do than getting back together with Daneca.

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[Every single instinct Prefect has is to fight reason tooth and claw and try to redirect the conversation back towards sex, but... there's something deeper than those instincts that hasn't quite been driven out by the flood. He might not be feeling particularly nice or professional, but he is still overinvested as hell in Barron, and he doesn't want him hurt.] That's what I'm saying, Comrade, I don't know it. Neither of us do, but when you get back to your own world, you'll be going back a different man. Maybe that'll change everything for her, maybe it'll change everything for you, or maybe it won't be enough to change the things you've done. I don't think it would be bad for you to get back with her, Comrade, but I do think that there's no getting away from the fact that it'll be complicated...

[And now he does touch Barron's elbow, very lightly, nonthreateningly.] ...But while you're here... Comrade, I really don't think that you'll help yourself by fixating on a girl who you might not see again for months or years, and who when you do meet again, everything could be different with. This isn't about wanting to make out with you, it's about the reasons you have for wanting to change, and it's about... not wanting you to get hurt if you get back home and everything is different between the two of you.

[Pause]

Although we should still make out.

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[sharpememory]

[Barron had to acknowledge the truth of that. No matter what way he played it, it was inevitably going to be a bit of a mess when he got back. Not to mention that he could hardly just trust on Cassel to disappear and make things that bit easier.] I suppose you're right. Although I have to wonder when you got so good at advice. Is that a new thing?

[That rambling? Might be due to the fact that Prefect's touching his elbow. It's making it a bit difficult to think properly.] If we make out, won't it be awkward later?

[It probably would be. Barron was finding that he didn't care as much as he thought he would have.]

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Oh, I've always been this good at advice, you're just very headstrong, Comrade...

[Aka: Amazing at not listening to his good advice. But this is looking promising. Prefect glides a little closer, the hand on Barron's elbow stroking up his bicep.]

I think if we get the making out out of the way, then things will probably be less awkward. Because we'll have cleared the air, you know?

[Closer, closerrrr... come on Barron, let's make out now.]

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[sharpememory]

I am a bit, aren't I? [Barron considers this. An interesting thought, but probably a true one. But if you were born a worker, you kind of had to be.]

[And wow, stroking. Barron looks from Prefect's hand back to his face. He smiles, just a bit.]

Clearing the air could help a bit. Besides, what's the harm in it? [Barron shrugged, then leaned closer to Prefect.]

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Just a bit. But I like you anyway.

[And taking that leaning in as an invitation, Prefect lets the hand on Barron's bicep slide around his back, and moves in to initiate making out.

Because Barron's right. There is no harm in it.]

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[sharpememory]

[Barron leans that little bit even further forward. Commence making out. It's far less salty than the last time they did it, despite having less atmosphere around. Barron doesn't mind. He pulls Prefect closer, starting to get into it. Yep, there's no way that either of them are going to end up regretting this tomorrow.]

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[Why would they regret it? It's not like they're under the influence of alcohol and a flood or anything! And Prefect... has a whole new appreciation for being pulled closer to people. He leans a little of his weight against Barron's chest while the kiss goes on, before breaking away for a moment.]

Ah, Comrade, should we just grab a couple of bottles and head back to your cabin?

[It feels like that's what they should do to him. Standing up for this is turning out to be a lot of work...]