#'andy knee deep in [redacted]' SENT ME

[wickedpact]

and see the thing is, because booker appears the be the oldest of the group (and also the most.... white frenchman of the group) all of the wealthy men like him (not romantically but like. in the straight rich businessmen way men would like each other.) so while nicky and joe (...and andy) are being sought after (andy’s prob doing most of the pursuing of women tho) by all these women (and the one man in nickys case) booker is sought after by their fathers/brothers/husbands to go hunting together and play croquet and discuss rich man things over drinks in the fancy sitting room (that one at least includes drinking so booker hates it the least.) however. idk i’m feeling a touch bad for mr booker here. maybe there is 1 woman who has a crush on him, maybe one of the quieter types, perhaps maybe even a *gasp* lower class woman? like rich people had like... paid servants back then? (im basing this knowledge of this era on the fact that i’ve seen most of downton abbey and i’m picturing an estate similar to that? but with. less nice rich people? idk) extra hillarious if booker is... completely unaware that this woman is Absolutely Smitten with him, the others All See it but whenever they say smth about it booker is all “nonsense! she’s just very nice that’s all :)”

god if this woman turns her attention to nicky... oh dear. i feel like nicky wouldn’t take very kindly to the woman who tried to poison andromache (“she also tried to steal my heart, nicolò, you could be angry about that too nicolò” “don’t be ridiculous yusuf, that woman could never even come near to your heart. however she came very near to poisoning andromache.”) so he’s probably pretty... cold to her (or as cold to her as he can be if she is nobility, though would nicky really care hsvdbdb) but as we know this woman does not Back Down Easily. nicky eventually will just, zone out when she starts speaking to him, and she takes it with a Very Fake Sweetness (“...sorry, what was that? i was thinking about the price of potatoes” “oh? you’re so intelligent :) i would love to hear your thoughts on the price of potatoes :)” and i can’t decide if it’s funnier if nicolò was genuinely thinking about the price of potatoes (really honestly probably not that out of character) and then just fuckin. starts a full on speech about it right there. or she asks nicolò for his thoughts and he just responds with a very quick “no :)” and then leaves the room.)

also i will only say this Once but andy will tease the boys about all the ladies lusting after them only for her to be over there knee deep in [redacted] - 2ta

joe nicky and andy: running around, having Shenanigans, desperately trying to avoid getting hit on by nobility of varying genders

booker and the lads:

if there is any goal to the con besides posing as nobility (ie. discovering information or smth) then booker is def the only one making any headway on that goal. he is absolutely socially drinking his way to that intel and loving every second of it

BOOKER AND HIS 1 ADMIRER I LOVE IT andy joe and nicky are just (largely unwillingly) participating in this bizarre love polygon and watching booker and this 1 single lady, like a maid or smth?, be heartbreakingly adorable with each other

nicky: wow i want what they have.

joe:

joe: we have been married

joe: FOR SEVEN HUNDRED YEARS,

nicky ABSOLUTELY was thinking about the price of potatoes and joke’s on that lady, bc he will spend the whole ball/event/whatever talking about the price of potatoes, and joke’s also on nicky, bc she will sit there and pretend to actually be engaged with the potato discussion the whole time

and she TOTALLY knows he hates her ass bc of the poisoning andy thing (tho she thinks its older brother (well.. younger brother) protectiveness) and shes like yeah.... this is definitely a sexy hatred.... meanwhile nicky is gayly thinking about potatoes, his husband in that new suit, and wondering what annabelle is up to at that moment. this woman just Cannot score for the life of her

re: booker i was also thinking like.... some little girl, like the daughter of one of the rich white guys hes always hanging out with, takes a liking to him, like 7 or 8 years old, and he occasionally buys her gifts, like bits of ribbon or a doll or smth.... and hes like 50% ‘man i wish i had a daughter’ and 50% ‘boy am i glad i didnt have any more kids than i did bc Dead Child Angst’‘

i was also laughing my own ass off last night thinking about the Squad buying all these rich people clothes pre-con and bc nicky’s supposed to be andy’s brother and is thus prolly going to have to help her get into some of her outfits, he has to go to the fittings with her, like idk maybe andy’s pretending to be a Common Girl who just got married to some rich guy, and so the Tailor Lady/Dude at the Rich People Fashion Store(TM) gives them an afternoon of lessons on the 17 Steps On Getting Into Victorian Finery and The Fifteen Different Outfit Changes You’ll Have To Go Through Throughout the day, etc etc

and nicky’s just over here Absolutely Hating that he knows what an s curve corset is, much less how to lace one, and andy’s like ‘you think you hate knowing what it is, try wearing it, you bastard fiend’

meanwhile joe and booker are out somewhere drinking and smoking cigars and uh [checks notes]

and watching a soccer game

[captainkippen]

Better Than Okay

-- a tyrus fic

My take on the b[redacted]h scene.

After everything that happened, Cyrus had to admit he was surprised to find himself sitting on the bench with TJ. Things had been more than a little awkward between the two of them since Kira had entered (and left) the picture. Seeing her and TJ together had made Cyrus’ feelings become startlingly clear, he definitely had a crush, and then those very feelings had only proceeded to get more intense after TJ had realised what a bully Kira could be and defended Cyrus from her insults.

He hadn’t felt as unbalanced as he did since his crush on Jonah. Even though he and TJ had gone back to spending time together it felt strange, tilted sideways, and Cyrus had no idea how to behave like normal around him. He became even clumsier than usual, his rambles sometimes rushed to the point they were nonsensical because all he could focus on was the way TJ’s smile made his heart pound and there were a lot more awkward silences than before. It was weird to go from being so comfortable around somebody to actually sweating because they were sitting so close together. He had hoped TJ wouldn’t notice but…

TJ had definitely noticed.

It was Andi’s going away party. She’d been accepted to an art school out of state and while it felt sad to be parting ways it was hard to be too upset when Cyrus saw how ecstatic she was over finding a place she fit in. They would always be friends, distance didn’t change that, but it still sent a little pang of sorrow through his chest if he thought too hard about her leaving. He ought to be glad really, between his growing feelings for TJ, the drama around the couples in their friend group and Andi leaving, that so much was going on. It made it hard to focus on one emotion at a time, so he was in no way forced to dwell on the way he now second-guessed every text he and TJ exchanged, but mostly it was just overwhelming. TJ had asked him a few times over the past week if he was okay, mentioning that Cyrus was acting off, but he just let him believe that it was all because of Andi’s imminent departure.

It soon became apparent that he was not as good of a liar as he thought.

“Hey.”

A voice startled Cyrus out of his reverie. He was sat outside alone on a bench by the fire pit. Everyone else had migrated inside a little while ago to top up drinks and grab more food. Staying behind seemed like a good opportunity to get his thoughts in order. He hadn’t expected to turn around to see TJ lurking by the door.

“What are you doing out here?”

“Oh, hey,” Cyrus said in return and attempted a small smile. It probably came out looking more like a grimace than anything else. “Just… sitting. You know.”

TJ smiled back and crossed the patio to slide on to the bench next to Cyrus. For a moment, they both just sat there staring at the flames as they sputtered about in the pit, the silence felt heavy and foreboding.

“So I talked to Buffy,” TJ said.

“About what?”

“You, mostly.”

Cyrus frowned at him. “What about me?”

TJ shrugged. “I just wanted to make sure everything was okay with you. You’ve been kind of distant.”

“You could’ve just asked me that yourself.”

“Tried that,” he pointed out. “A couple of times. You just kept saying everything was fine… and like, I mean it’s clearly not is all I’m saying.”

Cyrus sighed. “When I say I’m fine I mean it.”

“Nah,” TJ shook his head. “You say you’re fine a lot, but I don’t think you’re telling the truth. For someone who loves to play therapist you really hate talking about your own feelings.”

They lapse into a brief silence once more before Cyrus sighs again.

“So what did Buffy say?”

“She called me an idiot.”

Cyrus huffed out a small laugh. “Anything else?”

He shook his head and turned a little more towards Cyrus. “Not really. But she did say I was blind too. It took me a little bit to figure out what she was talking about… at first, I thought she just meant it because I didn’t see how mean Kira was… but I think I’ve figured it out now.”

Cyrus’ pulse picked up and he took a deep breath in.

“Oh?”

TJ’s expression was so soft that he found he couldn’t quite meet his eye. There was a lump forming in Cyrus’ throat, his chest was coiling tighter, and he couldn’t tell if he was more scared or grateful that they were finally talking about it.

“Yeah, I’ve been thinking about it. Things have been weird between us lately. Not just because of Kira.”

Cyrus nodded and looked away.

“Is there anything you wanna tell me?” TJ asked, voice low.

The fire crackled beside them and Cyrus looked down at where their knees bumped together. Over time, coming out had become easier and easier. The first time with Buffy it had been terrifying, then with her support telling Andi had not been so hard, and with both of them to hold him up telling Jonah had been easy. In this situation, that ease was slipping away fast. The idea of telling TJ how he felt was…

He had to do it. They couldn’t go on like this.

He swallowed the lump and took another deep breath. It was a night for heavy lungs it seemed. Looking up at TJ, he fought back the wave of guilt and panic that was threatening to swallow him. This was TJ Kippen, someone he had always been able to talk to. He deserved the truth.

“TJ… I’m gay,” Cyrus said, picking at a loose thread on his pants. “And- and I guess things have been weird with us because I’ve been making them weird.”

“Did you think I would react badly?” TJ asked, hurt colouring his tone. “Because I don’t care if you’re gay, you know. Because I’m-”

Cyrus shook his head quickly, cutting him off. “No. No, it’s not that. It’s just…” He forced himself to look up and meet his gaze. “I like you, TJ. Like… more than a friend. I have feelings for you.”

TJ’s eyes widened in surprise. “You like me?”

“I’m sorry, I know it’s not-”

“No, wait!” TJ stopped him. “Don’t apologise. You really like me?”

Cyrus nodded slowly.  TJ looked stunned. But not only stunned, he looked… well, he looked relieved.

“So you don’t have a crush on Jonah, then?”

He gaped at him. “What? You thought I had a crush on Jonah?”

“Well, I just thought with you giving him the shirt and everything-”

Unable to help himself, Cyrus began to laugh.

“- and I thought you were just worried about letting me down easy or something-”

His laughter stopped abruptly. “Wait, what?”

They stared at one another.

“Why would I be letting you down?” He asked, brow furrowing in confusion.

“Uh… because I like you?” TJ said, the implied ‘duh’ dripping from his tone.

Cyrus was unsure what to say to that.

“I thought you knew that already… that’s why I didn’t get it when you thought me and Kira were a couple, I-”

He shook his head. “I definitely didn’t know that. Oh my God, we’re so stupid. Are you telling me we’ve both had feelings for each other this entire time? How did we miss that?!”

TJ leaned back against the bench looking rather like he’d been hit in the face by this revelation. “I get why Buffy called me an idiot now.”

“We’re both idiots.”

They glanced at one another. Just like that, the laughter returned. Looking at the way TJ threw his head back, Cyrus felt a million times lighter than he had done in weeks. The giggles bubbled up in his chest and spilt out into the air between them. With everything out in the open the world seemed to tilt back to the way it was meant to be.

When their laughter finally began to die down, TJ slipped his hand carefully into Cyrus’. They both looked down at their entwined fingers. They were a perfect fit.

“This okay?” TJ asked.

Cyrus beamed. “Better than okay.”

And it was.