Chapter Text
Richard Small had been at the party for two hours and had yet to spot a single man who may be anything other than straight. He was pretending to be tipsy, although he was still on his first cup of beer, but no one had propositioned him. Well, two or three women, but that rather defeated the purpose. He'd told them with a charming smile that he was too drunk for that, and went back to lurking. It was, however, almost time to give it up for the night. It was only Friday- there would be more parties tomorrow.
John had already had several beers and was feeling rather good about the world. He'd come to the party, knowing a few people, though they'd all mostly drifted off on their own. He contemplated his empty cup and decided that yes, it might be time for another beer.
As he was looking for his coat, Richard noticed a vaguely familiar face walking a bit unsteadily towards the tacky keg. He knew this kid. Jim or James or... John. Yes, his name was John. Smart, quiet in class, and shoved nice and deep in the closet. Pretty cute, as well, a little short but he had nice eyes and hair and he was quite fit. And drunk. Or, drunk enough. Richard stood.
John had to wait in the rather ridiculous line to actually get to the beer, but eventually he did, turning and taking a few steps away so he'd not be in the way of the alcohol. He liked parties. It was easy to talk to people, including strangers, though he didn't make it a habit of going to parties every week. Though he always did have a good time when he did.
As Richard sidled over to 'John,' he strategized. What would work on a man like this? What would he need to be? Would he respond best to confidence, or shyness, or something 'genuine?' Or would he just have to walk up and proposition him? Maybe John let loose on his quest for Narnia when he'd had a few. He eyed him as he approached. He took a sip of his beer. John was looking at his cup, smiling happily around at the party, enjoying it. Ah.
John drank from the cup, glancing around and spotting someone he vaguely recognized. Someone he knew he'd seen in classes but had never really talked to. Richard, he eventually remembered. One of the guys in class that, when they chose to speak, did so with the air of knowing they were correct. He was coming closer, though John was unsure if it was because he was looking at him, or because of the keg.
Recognition. Richard closed the rest of the distance between them, his most charming smile on his face, eyes locked on John and on no one else. Flirty and confident and complimentary and nonthreatening, that was the way to go for this John person. Leaning close to John's ear under the pretense of being heard over the music, he said, "Hey, John. Good to see you."
He hadn't realized that Richard even knew who he was, though he wasn't displeased by it. He knew Richard was a senior, one of those guys that always seemed to have people flocking around him between classes. How someone came to know everyone on a campus was mystifying to him. "Good to see you, too. Been here long?"
Richard made a face. "Too long. Was just on my way out—thought there was no one interesting here. But then I saw you." He grinned and took a fake sip from his cup.
Well that was flattering. John smiled. "I lost the couple people I know somewhere in the mass a while ago," he said, taking a real sip from his cup.
"Well, take my word for it that there's no one here worth replacing your mates with." He let his eyes go slowly, obviously, and appreciatively from John's shoes to his eyes. He smiled again. "You go to Cambridge, obviously. What college are you in?"
John Watson was certainly not a stranger to the art of flirtation, and while it caught him off guard that Richard was flirting with him the advances were not unwelcome. He was tall, dark haired, and overall charming. But, John had never flirted with a man before. He could admit, a bit reluctantly, that he had admired a few from afar, but he'd never flirted with them. "Christ's College," he answered automatically, taking a moment to look Richard over in return, though trying to be a bit more discrete about it.
Richard noticed and made it clear that he noticed. He cocked his head, making the smile a bit slyer. "You must be... bright."
"Should hope so. Would be good of them to not let complete idiots in here." He was certain he was not reading the signs wrong. He shifted his weight, tilting just the slightest bit closer to Richard.
Richard didn't find it funny, but he laughed anyway.
John's smile widened just a bit. "So what about you? Came here alone?"
He considered his answer. Came here with a girl and got dumped? Came here with a guy and got dumped? Came here with friends and got ditched, like John? "Like you," he said. "Had some mates but they left." He raised his eyebrows in mock-worry. "If some stranger roofied my drink, they could drag me off and there would be no one to protect me."
"Suppose it's a good thing we found each other then," John said, taking another sip.
"Suppose so." He smiled crookedly.
Someone turned the music up and several people cheered in appreciation. John glanced towards the source of the noise and looked back to Richard. "We're hitting the very drunken stage of the party, now."
"We do appear to be," he agreed. Now, how to get John home with him? Bluntly asking, insinuation... "Might be a good time to leave. You know, before the roofies and the dragging off happen."
John nodded. "Do want to avoid that."
He drained his cup and tossed it in the bin. "Might be safer if you come with me."
"Those campus safety emails do say not to walk alone at night," John agreed easily.
God did Richard like them easy. "Good. Then come back to mine. We can," he searched for the word, "protect each other."
John was not a fool, even when drinking. He knew what Richard was insinuating. If he'd been sober, he might have hesitated. He might have reminded himself that he really had never talked to Richard before that night. And he might have reminded himself that he wasn't exactly clear on what he wanted, whether it be men, women, or both. However, he wasn't sober, and in his current state he figured going with Richard would go a long way towards cementing if he was into men or not. He finished his beer and tossed the cup aside. "Sounds good."
Richard took John's hand and led him away from the party, where it was quieter. It was safe, because everyone here was too drunk to remember and report. He tugged John in closer and kissed him. Good to know in advance what to expect. "I won't tell if you won't," he whispered teasingly against John's lips.
Alright. John certainly liked kissing men. "Who would I tell?"
As they kissed, Richard sized him up. Decent kisser, obviously experienced but not with men. Possibly even new. Richard hoped he'd be willing to bottom. Not much point in picking him up, otherwise. Instead of answering, Richard just shot him a mischievous smile and tugged him in the direction of his dorm.
John followed willingly.
The party was close, so it wasn't a long walk. Or, rather, a stumble punctuated with sloppy kisses. Richard kept them to the less-beaten path so no one would see him bringing a man home. Couldn't have people thinking he was gay. Distracted by John's throat, into which he had shoved his tongue, Richard did not immediately notice that his room was occupied.
"Kindly get the fuck out," was the first thing Victor said to Richard, not even opening his eyes from where he was reclined on what was presumably his bed. There was a man between his legs.
John, suitably distracted by this, pulled back, eyes automatically taking in the scene. Obviously, seeing a man with his cock hanging out begged attention, but it was the man on his knees that really made John pause. He was slender, with dark hair and eyes that seemed to pierce right through him.
Victor jerked his hips pointedly and Sherlock rolled his eyes and went back to his task, undisturbed by the company.
Richard, however, immediately started arguing with his roommate. He also appeared unbothered by the fact that there was a dick being sucked on.
"You were supposed to go to his," he complained, gesturing at Sherlock. "Do you always have to bring him here?"
"Sebastian doesn't like it," Victor answered, not interested in the argument.
"Since when do you care what Sebastian likes?" Richard snapped.
"Since he threatened to up his prices," Victor replied condescendingly. "No one wants that."
"Fucking junkie bringing random men back to-"
"You're telling me about random men?"
Sherlock ignored all of this and simply kept up his slow bob.
John's attention was more focused on the man on the floor, who was sucking someone off and looking utterly bored by it. And the man who was being sucked off didn't even seem invested enough to stop arguing. "We can go to mine," John interrupted. "I can text my roommate. He'd be fine with leaving."
Richard glanced at him. He couldn't control that environment like he could control this one.
"I won't tell him who I'm bringing back," John offered. "I can say a woman from the party."
Sherlock pulled off with a popping noise to say in a singsong voice, "Oh, but think of all the people who will see you and Dick Small on the way, John!"
"It's Richard," Richard snapped.
"Have we met?" John didn't recognize the man on the floor, but he had met a lot of people over the past three years.
"If we'd met, you'd remember me," Sherlock said simply. "We passed each other once two years ago, you were talking to someone and they used your name." He wet his lips and dived back onto Victor.
Richard rolled his eyes. "Freak," he muttered.
"Hey," Victor said firmly.
"And you remember?" John asked, even though Sherlock had clearly gone back to the task at hand.
Sherlock hummed an affirmative and Victor groaned.
"He remembers things," Richard explained. He rubbed his face. "Look, John, not tonight, okay?"
"I don't care if you do it here," Victor said, sounding a bit breathless now. "We'll be gone soon anyway."
"Well, why have me when you can lie back and watch your own, personal porn?" John joked, shooting the pair a glance before looking back up at Richard. "Sure, it's fine. Another time."
Sherlock snorted a laugh. Victor flicked his forehead. Richard glared at them both then patted John's shoulder. "Sorry, man. Was looking forward to it."
"Not like I don't see you every week. You know where to find me." He looked back towards the pair. "Enjoy," he said cheerily, and left.
Sherlock had to pull off to laugh, as John closed the door behind himself.