Ficorpio
Chapter 1
After dinner, Adrian Bennett sat on the couch with his glasses on, answering work emails on his laptop. At the other end of the sofa, Mason Carter hunched over his computer, editing video.
Two hours later, Adrian finally set his laptop aside and got up to stretch, arms reaching high over his head.
When he turned, he saw Mason practically trying to climb into his monitor. Adrian nudged him with the side of his foot and got a glare in return.
“What are you glaring at me for? I’m going to cut up some fruit. You want any?”
“What kind of question is that?” Mason shot back. “Do I ever say no to food?”
“Fair point.”
Adrian started slicing apples in the kitchen, hesitated for a while, then finally raised his voice and called out, “Hey, Mason. It’s Sunday tomorrow. You got plans? Can you do me a favor?”
“What kind of favor? Let me hear it before I agree.”
Mason still didn’t look away from the screen. His eyes were already burning, but he barely dared blink, afraid he’d miss a frame and throw off the edit.
“My ex-boyfriend is getting married,” Adrian said. “He sent me an invitation. I want you to come with me.”
“Oh. Sure.”
Mason answered absently, finally syncing the music and video perfectly. Only then did he blink his sore eyes and process what Adrian had actually said.
He turned, frowning. “Wait. What did you say? Your ex-girlfriend’s wedding, right? Did you misspeak, or did I hear that wrong?”
“My ex-boyfriend.”
Adrian set the plate of sliced apples down in front of him and said it as casually as if he were commenting on the weather.
“Didn’t I ever tell you I’m gay?”
Mason froze solid for a full five seconds.
“You’re kidding, right, man?”
Adrian smiled faintly, then deliberately sat down beside him, one brow lifting in amusement.
“I never told you? Then I remembered wrong. I always thought you knew.”
He popped a piece of apple into his mouth and chewed with a deliberately smug little grin.
“You’re joking, right?” Mason stared at him. “Adrian, we’ve been roommates for two years. I think of you like my brother. Don’t mess with me about something like that.”
“Why the hell would I joke about it?” Adrian said. “Of course I’m not kidding. What, are you already looking down on me?”
“No, no, no.” Mason clutched his chest dramatically, eyes wide with shock. “I’ve just never met a real gay guy in real life before. This is… kind of sudden.”
As he spoke, he kept staring at Adrian and slowly, inch by inch, slid his butt off the couch and down onto the rug.
Adrian kept eating his apple. He didn’t look directly at him, but he felt it all the same, and something in his chest sank.
Of course.
Everybody had biases about people like him. Still, he pretended not to notice and pushed the plate closer.
“Apple. Eat.”
“Oh. Thanks, but I don’t really want apple. I’m gonna get some water.”
Chapter 2
That did it. The smile on Adrian’s face went completely stiff, and irritation started rising under his skin. But he had too much self-control to make a scene. He only set the fruit plate down expressionlessly, picked up his laptop, and went back to work.
The only sign of his mood was that his typing got noticeably louder.
The room fell into a painfully awkward silence.
Mason spent a full ten minutes nursing one glass of water. Seeing Adrian’s cold expression, he started feeling guilty. Eventually he realized he really had reacted badly, so he shuffled back over, sat beside him again, slapped a hand onto his shoulder, and gave an awkward laugh.
“Hey, liking men isn’t a bad thing,” he said. “Statistically, there are fewer women than men anyway, so that’s one less rival for me. If you turn another guy gay, that’s two less rivals. Honestly, man, I should be thanking you. Real noble of you. Ha. Ha…”
That kind of bizarre logic and aggressively awkward attempt at comfort could only have come from Mason.
Adrian shot him a sidelong glance. His expression improved, but not by much.
“Are you making fun of me?”
“No! I’m complimenting you.” Mason laughed even harder out of sheer panic. “Don’t those BL fangirls always say a real man should go head-to-head with another man? Picking on girls doesn’t prove anything. Right? Ha… haha…”
“You’re saying all this because you pity me?”
“Why would I pity you?” Mason said. “You’ve got a better degree than I do, you’re taller than I am, you make more money, and your cooking is way better. What exactly would I pity you for? Yeah, I overreacted just now, but that was just, like, an animal stress response. It’s not prejudice. We’re still friends, okay? You can relax. If anyone looks down on you for this, I’ll be the first one to go after them.”
Only then did Adrian’s face soften a little. He pushed his glasses up his nose.
“Then come to the wedding with me this weekend.”
Mason gave him a sheepish grin. “I get it. You want me to pretend to be your current boyfriend so you can piss him off. But with my specs? I’m worried I’ll embarrass you.”
“You’re fine,” Adrian said. “Wash your face, do your hair, put on a suit—you’ll be more than passable. Get up early tomorrow. I’ll style you. Oh, and put on a face mask before bed tonight. Your complexion looks like you’ve worked five hundred years of night shifts.”
He snapped his laptop shut and strolled back to his room, leaving Mason alone in the living room in total disarray.
Chapter 3
Pretending to be someone’s boyfriend wasn’t exactly new territory for Mason. He’d done that for female classmates before—usually to help them scare off some annoying creep. But pretending to be another guy’s boyfriend…
Yeah. That was new.
Mason spent the entire night giving himself a psychological pep talk. Then the next morning, the moment he saw the price tag on the suit Adrian had prepared for him, he nearly developed the urge to devote his life in gratitude.
Staring at it in disbelief, he asked, “Adrian… is this rented or bought? Do I need to return it to the store tonight?”
“Bought,” Adrian said. “It’s yours. I can’t have you helping me for free.”
Mason looked at him with shining eyes. “If you ever get another side quest like this, come to me first. I guarantee mission success. Although if I may submit a request, could future rewards maybe be collectible figures or cash?”
Adrian ignored that and started tying a necktie for him. He looked at it, frowned, took it off, tried a bow tie instead, frowned again, then gave up and undid the top two buttons of Mason’s shirt.
Mason jumped and clutched his collar shut, darting backward. “Hey! What are you doing? Sexual harassment?”
“Mason, don’t flatter yourself.” Adrian reached for him again. “I’m testing looks. Besides, how many times have you wandered around this apartment in baggy shorts with everything swinging free? If I’d ever had any inappropriate thoughts about you, do you really think you’d still be happily strutting around to this day?”
That actually embarrassed Mason more than if Adrian had flirted.
Still, he muttered back, “Don’t say it like I’ve been trying to seduce you this whole time.”
As Adrian straightened his clothes, he kept up the attack.
“When we get there, follow my lead. Eat more, talk less. The second you open your mouth, people are going to realize what a hardcore shut-in nerd you are.”
“What’s wrong with being a shut-in?” Mason protested. “I’m still alive, aren’t I?”
“Right. You’re the best, happy now? But today you’re there to back me up, so you are absolutely not allowed to make me look bad.”
Mason snapped his fingers, struck a dramatic pose under his chin, and declared with absurd confidence, “Relax. I’m a top-tier pull.”
Adrian instantly looked regretful. Covering his face with one hand, he groaned, “See? Anyone who doesn’t play games has no idea what that means. At the wedding, you are definitely talking less.”
“Yeah, yeah. So?” Mason grinned. “I look especially handsome today, don’t I?”
Adrian let out a short laugh. “You clean up decent enough.”