Benjy can't stop staring at the bartender. He knows he's being weird, but he can't help it. The man is slouching slightly as he effortlessly pulls pints, a tea towel slung over his shoulder. He has the hint of a smirk on his face, secretly listening in on the couple's argument in front of him. When he straightens up to pass the drinks over, Benjy almost drools. He's obscenely tall, probably has a good four inches on Benjy's 6 foot, and as his shirt shifts, Benjy can see a slip of tanned, muscular neck. The man is full of intriguing juxtapositions; a mess of cute caramel curls contrasting with sharply shaved sides, gorgeous high cheekbones and full lips cut through with vicious scars from eyebrow to lip.
"A word of advice,"
Benjy turns to find another beautiful man leaning against the bar, head cocked, dark hair tumbling over his shoulder. He feels like an overly cooked jacket potato. Why is everyone here so bloody attractive?
"He doesn't appreciate people staring," the man continues.
"What?" Benjy blurts out.
"Remus." The man nods over at the bartender, "he doesn't like people to stare at his scars."
"I promise I wasn't." Benjy almost feels like he needs to address this man as 'Sir', he speaks with such confidence and authority, chastising him like a school teacher.
"He might be ridiculously attractive but he's pretty self-conscious. He doesn't like being the center of attention, he prefers to fade into the background."
"Oh yeah?" Benjy prompts, curious to learn more. He knows it's a long shot, but he hasn't met anyone he's been remotely interested in for months and he might as well seize the moment. What was it his fortune cookie said? You miss one hundred percent of the shots you don't take. Golden advice.
"Yeah, he likes it better that way. He's very observational, you see, very smart. He likes watching everyone else, learning little quirks, working out all the tiny connections between the people who come into the bar."
The man looks Benjy up and down and Benjy feels judged and a little turned on.
"He'd figure you out straight away."
"I didn't mean to be rude. Looking at him, I mean."
"No of course not, you were just ogling." The man raises an eyebrow.
Benjy's eyes go wide.
"Not disrespectfully, I promise." Again, something about this man makes him feel like he's speaking to a stern dad before taking his daughter to prom.
"He's not a one night stand type of guy, I'm afraid. He doesn't do the whole fuck and chuck thing, so if that's what you're after you might as well forget it."
"I'm- I'm not. It wouldn't be like that."
"He doesn't go for grand gestures, expensive restaurants, endless bouquets of flowers. He appreciates men who are thoughtful, who remember and barely even tease him for having three sugars in his morning tea."
Benjy makes a mental note, just in case. The man continues.
"And he might be pretty but he's not a wilting flower. He's got a brilliant mind and a wicked sense of humor. The mouth of a sailor. He doesn't like being told what to do." The man pauses for a second, shrugs, "switches but prefers to top."
Benjy almost spits out the mouthful of beer he just took. "Good to know," he chokes out.
"Cuddle him after, though. He needs to be taken care of, too."
Benjy wonders who this man is. He seems protective, like a leather jacket wearing boss he needs to defeat before being given the honour of asking Remus out. He wants to impress him, he wants to be found worthy.
"Don't worry, I'd take very good care of him." It's meant to sound sincere but accidentally sounds letchy and Benjy cringes. Hot men make him nervous. The man frowns at this and Benjy scrambles to fix it. "I mean, I would respect him and treat him well." Sir, he adds, silently.
"Good. Where would you take him on your first date?"
Benjy thinks for a moment.
"Probably to the farmers market," he can't be accused of being a sex pest on a hypothetical day date, "we could get food and I'd buy him flowers-"
"What did I say about flowers earlier?" The man interjects.
"Nothing over the top, don't worry, just a small bunch, something local, something wild and beautiful like him." The man's silent approval urges him on. "And then we could stroll around the lake, sit and watch the ducks-"
"Would you feed them bread?" He looks at Benjy sternly.
This feels like a weirdly specific test and Benjy hesitates.
"Erm, yes? From the organic bakery stall?" He looks to the man for his grade and sees disappointment in his eyes.
"Bread has little nutritional value and can harm ducklings' growth, you know." The man states solemnly. "You should feed them oats or bird seed instead."
"Oh, yes, sorry, I did read that online once."
"Remus would know that, so probably worth remembering."
"Thanks?" Benjy stammers.
"So what next? You've grabbed some food, given him a limp bundle of flowers to awkwardly carry ‘round the park, thrown some seeds at the ducks, and then?"
"And then, if it was feeling right, I would ask if I could kiss him." For a second Benjy's eyes wander away from the intense man in front of him and back to the dreamy bartender who he realises is watching them talk with a curious expression on his face.
"How would you know if it was feeling right?" The man asks, eyes narrow, snapping Benjy's attention back to him. It feels like the final hurdle and Benjy is determined to prove himself.
"Well, I think if things felt easy, natural. If we kept touching each other, accidentally and deliberately, if we found ourselves moving closer, if he kept looking at my mouth,"
Benjy feels rather than sees the bartender - Remus, he reminds himself - make his way over to them, and abruptly stops talking, his cheeks flushing.
"Serious." The bartender says, clicking his tongue and Benjy doesn't know what he should be serious about. Turning, he realises that Remus' eyes are fixed on the man in front of him. "Stop teasing the poor bloke."
His voice is deep and rough with a soft West country lilt. Benjy could bathe in it.
"What?" The man responds cheekily, his eyes glittering. "I just wanted to make sure he was good enough for you."
"You are ridiculous," Remus says and rolls his eyes.
"No, I'm serious." The man throws back, wiggling his eyebrows, making Remus huff.
"I'm so sorry," he turns to Benjy, "he's not pimping me out, I swear. Not that you would know it, but I am, in fact, in a committed relationship."
"One would say, a serious relationship," the other man quips, arms folded and a smug look on his face.
"Fucking hell, do you never tire of that joke?" Remus throws back, but he’s holding back a grin and Benjy is very confused. Maybe his friend hates his boyfriend and is trying to fob him off to someone new? He'd take it, honestly, but Remus isn't looking at him, he's looking at the other man with a fondly exasperated expression.
"Once again, I'm sorry. Let me get you a drink to apologise. He's an idiot. In fact, serious here will get you a drink to apologise. And may I direct you to an alternative, more attractive, single man?" Remus moves out of the way and inclines his head towards a red headed man sitting on a stall on the other side of the bar. He must have been hidden by the couple who ordered earlier.
As Benjy looks over, the man raises his head and he finds himself staring at striking green eyes and a flush of freckles over pink cheeks. Oh. This is a very beautiful bar indeed.
Benjy bids a distracted farewell to the dark haired man and follows Remus happily over to the redhead who introduces himself as Fabian, falling quickly into easy conversation, shoulders brushing as they lean in closer throughout the evening, Benjy watching Fabian's eyes on his mouth as he tells stories of his family and teases him for his aperol spritz.
Later, as the bell for last orders goes and they get up to leave together, he glances around to find his coat. Turning towards the open storage room door, Benjy can see a flash of dark hair and a scarred tanned hand with a thick silver ring on its fourth finger. The sound of deep murmuring and soft laughter trickles out into the bar.
"Oh, they are always like that," Fabian chuckles, "Sirius can barely wait ‘til closing. He gets bored and starts being a nuisance. Remus would kick him out, but it's his bar after all."
Benjy lets out a breath he didn't know he was holding and looks at Fabian, at his kind face and unruly hair. He smiles. Maybe Sirius was fucking with him, but he's more than happy with who he's fucking tonight.
What? So he wasn't completely honest about his intentions. The ducks will be there some day.
But for now he grins and takes Fabian's hand, dragging him purposefully into the night. And Fabian doesn't mind at all.