Liam waits until after the rest of the group have scattered and Matt's packing up his dice to ask, "What exactly were you planning on happening between Vax and Gilmore?"
Matt looks up from sweeping the polyhedrals into their bag. "Hmmm? Oh... well. It would have depended on what Vax was okay with. You seemed pretty chill about the whole thing." His lips quirk into a smile. "How far would you have gone?"
"That depends on what Gilmore would have offered," Liam says.
Matt stands up, and there's really not much to pick in height between them, but Liam feels like Matt's looming over him. "That depends on how seriously Vax would have taken it."
There are still other people in the studio—Ashley's laughing at something Laura just said—but Liam can't really hear them. He's focused on Matt's piercing blue gaze that seems to be boring deeply into him, and on the way Matt's tongue darts out to wet his lips.
"Vax would..." He has to swallow; his throat is dry. "Vax didn't spend the afternoon with Gilmore for nothing."
Matt cocks an eyebrow. "Oh? It wasn't just a friendly stroll around the city to catch up on the local news? Good to know."
"Gilmore—" Liam starts.
"Are you staying here all night?" Sam interrupts.
"Liam just wants to know whether Gilmore can make Vax a certain magical item," Matt says smoothly.
Sam snickers. "With the right incentive, I think Gilmore would make Vax anything."
"That's the gist of it," Matt says with a sly smile, and Liam's stomach does a backflip. "I do have to look up the rules for item crafting, though. Liam, do you want to stick around and make sure I'm doing this the way you want it?"
The sneaky, sneaky bastard. "Sure," Liam says, snagging his PHB just so it looks like he's paying attention to their cover story—and so he can hold it in front of himself. Matt's been throwing flirty looks and winks his way all session, but now that it seems to be Matt-and-Liam instead of Gilmore-and-Vax, he's not sure what to make of the way that his body is reacting. Matt picks up his DMG, a pencil, and a piece of scratch paper.
They make their way to the sofa, waving as the others leave one and two at a time. Before very long they're alone in the room. Matt is drumming his pencil against the cover of his DMG. Liam just watches the way his fingers move, flicking the pencil again and again.
Matt breaks the silence between them. "How far would you have gone?" he asks again, and this time Liam knows for sure that Matt means him and not Vax.
Liam chooses his words with care. "It's clear Gilmore has a special interest in Vax. It would hardly be fair to take advantage of that just to bend him to helping out the party. I don't think he'd be fooled if Vax weren't reasonably serious." He realizes he's still clutching his PHB and sets it aside, trying to pretend that when he tugs down the hem of his brown t-shirt it's just a casual gesture. "And I don't think we'd be welcome back at Gilmore's Glorious Goods if Vax turned around and brushed him off after giving every indication that he was... that he wanted to explore that special interest."
"I see." Matt stops drumming his pencil on his book. "So Vax was sincere about having Gilmore visit any time... day or night?"
"Yes." Liam looks down to where Matt's now twirling the pencil between his fingers instead. "And if you say 'good to know', Mercer, I swear I'm going to kill you."
Matt laughs. "Well, it is. It's always good for a DM to know what they might be able to exploit about their players' characters."
Liam feels inexplicably wounded. "Is that what this is, a chance to find something to use against me—Vax?"
"No," Matt says, and his voice shifts, and he's not quite Gilmore because they're sitting on the couch and not up at the table, there's no DM screen between them, but there's a low, insinuating tone to his voice all the same. "It's a chance to find out just how much of himself Vax would have offered to Gilmore."
This is, on some level, profoundly fucked-up; they are not their characters. This is, on some level, the opposite of a good idea. This is, on some level, something that could fuck their friendship up forever if either of them misreads the situation.
On this level, the one where Liam's sitting barely an arm's length from Matt on the couch where they do their Q&As, Matt can see that Liam's considering his response very carefully. He can't stop twirling the pencil between his fingers, waiting for Liam to tell him that he's being fucking ridiculous.
Instead, Liam reaches out and plucks the pencil from his hand, throwing it fairly accurately in the direction of the tables. "Vax thinks Gilmore drives some hard bargains, but he's noticed a crack in Gilmore's own armor, something that he could exploit if that was what he wanted to do."
"Go on," Matt says.
Liam clears his throat and runs a hand through his hair. "It's not. He's too curious to see what Gilmore's intentions are toward him to even think of using it against him."
Matt lets out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. "You should probably know that Gilmore's interest in Vax goes beyond just being friendly."
Liam chuckles. "Yeah... I was getting that impression."
The gap between them is small. Small enough that an observer, if one were there, would be hard put to say which of them leans in first.
(Spoiler: it's both of them. They mirror each other, in fact, each lifting a hand to the other's face, palm curving a little to cup the jaw. They even close their eyes at the same moment, the breath-apart moment when it's too late to turn back.
"Persuasion, With Advantage", Liam/Matt, NC-17, post-ep-13, 1/3
Matt looks up from sweeping the polyhedrals into their bag. "Hmmm? Oh... well. It would have depended on what Vax was okay with. You seemed pretty chill about the whole thing." His lips quirk into a smile. "How far would you have gone?"
"That depends on what Gilmore would have offered," Liam says.
Matt stands up, and there's really not much to pick in height between them, but Liam feels like Matt's looming over him. "That depends on how seriously Vax would have taken it."
There are still other people in the studio—Ashley's laughing at something Laura just said—but Liam can't really hear them. He's focused on Matt's piercing blue gaze that seems to be boring deeply into him, and on the way Matt's tongue darts out to wet his lips.
"Vax would..." He has to swallow; his throat is dry. "Vax didn't spend the afternoon with Gilmore for nothing."
Matt cocks an eyebrow. "Oh? It wasn't just a friendly stroll around the city to catch up on the local news? Good to know."
"Gilmore—" Liam starts.
"Are you staying here all night?" Sam interrupts.
"Liam just wants to know whether Gilmore can make Vax a certain magical item," Matt says smoothly.
Sam snickers. "With the right incentive, I think Gilmore would make Vax anything."
"That's the gist of it," Matt says with a sly smile, and Liam's stomach does a backflip. "I do have to look up the rules for item crafting, though. Liam, do you want to stick around and make sure I'm doing this the way you want it?"
The sneaky, sneaky bastard. "Sure," Liam says, snagging his PHB just so it looks like he's paying attention to their cover story—and so he can hold it in front of himself. Matt's been throwing flirty looks and winks his way all session, but now that it seems to be Matt-and-Liam instead of Gilmore-and-Vax, he's not sure what to make of the way that his body is reacting. Matt picks up his DMG, a pencil, and a piece of scratch paper.
They make their way to the sofa, waving as the others leave one and two at a time. Before very long they're alone in the room. Matt is drumming his pencil against the cover of his DMG. Liam just watches the way his fingers move, flicking the pencil again and again.
Matt breaks the silence between them. "How far would you have gone?" he asks again, and this time Liam knows for sure that Matt means him and not Vax.
Liam chooses his words with care. "It's clear Gilmore has a special interest in Vax. It would hardly be fair to take advantage of that just to bend him to helping out the party. I don't think he'd be fooled if Vax weren't reasonably serious." He realizes he's still clutching his PHB and sets it aside, trying to pretend that when he tugs down the hem of his brown t-shirt it's just a casual gesture. "And I don't think we'd be welcome back at Gilmore's Glorious Goods if Vax turned around and brushed him off after giving every indication that he was... that he wanted to explore that special interest."
"I see." Matt stops drumming his pencil on his book. "So Vax was sincere about having Gilmore visit any time... day or night?"
"Yes." Liam looks down to where Matt's now twirling the pencil between his fingers instead. "And if you say 'good to know', Mercer, I swear I'm going to kill you."
Matt laughs. "Well, it is. It's always good for a DM to know what they might be able to exploit about their players' characters."
Liam feels inexplicably wounded. "Is that what this is, a chance to find something to use against me—Vax?"
"No," Matt says, and his voice shifts, and he's not quite Gilmore because they're sitting on the couch and not up at the table, there's no DM screen between them, but there's a low, insinuating tone to his voice all the same. "It's a chance to find out just how much of himself Vax would have offered to Gilmore."
This is, on some level, profoundly fucked-up; they are not their characters. This is, on some level, the opposite of a good idea. This is, on some level, something that could fuck their friendship up forever if either of them misreads the situation.
On this level, the one where Liam's sitting barely an arm's length from Matt on the couch where they do their Q&As, Matt can see that Liam's considering his response very carefully. He can't stop twirling the pencil between his fingers, waiting for Liam to tell him that he's being fucking ridiculous.
Instead, Liam reaches out and plucks the pencil from his hand, throwing it fairly accurately in the direction of the tables. "Vax thinks Gilmore drives some hard bargains, but he's noticed a crack in Gilmore's own armor, something that he could exploit if that was what he wanted to do."
"Go on," Matt says.
Liam clears his throat and runs a hand through his hair. "It's not. He's too curious to see what Gilmore's intentions are toward him to even think of using it against him."
Matt lets out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. "You should probably know that Gilmore's interest in Vax goes beyond just being friendly."
Liam chuckles. "Yeah... I was getting that impression."
The gap between them is small. Small enough that an observer, if one were there, would be hard put to say which of them leans in first.
(Spoiler: it's both of them. They mirror each other, in fact, each lifting a hand to the other's face, palm curving a little to cup the jaw. They even close their eyes at the same moment, the breath-apart moment when it's too late to turn back.
Spoiler: neither of them want to turn back.)