This was, ideally, supposed to be quite a bit longer. But I seem to have stalled. It's for my delightful McSwain! (
inapickle) and that slinky little
iamsab. (pssst: the only good line is entirely McSwain!'s.)
*
"Only ten percent of ten percent can get away with that," Stuart said. The blond who had his hand on Stuart's thigh blinked at him.
"Get away with what?"
Stuart didn't answer him, as his attention had already re-focused on a tall fellow by the bar. The man had just licked the foam from a freshly drawn Guinness off the line of his upper lip in a way that was neither contrived nor self-conscious. As he settled his elbows on the bar, Stuart noticed his wide shoulders skimming down to narrow hips and approved of him twice in two minutes.
He gave the blond a biting, leisurely kiss of dismissal and then headed for the bar himself, ordering a Guinness of his own and giving the tall fellow a frank look of appraisal. The garish pink neon behind the bar gave the man a cadaverous look, with shadows around his long nose. It gave the wrong emphasis to his cheekbones, but made his eyes deep and hard to read.
Still.
"Looking for someone?"
"No."
"What're you here for, then?"
"I came for a beer. I hear they like to serve it in bars."
"Plenty of places to get beer. Must have had a reason to pick this one."
"Of course I did." He pointed to a chalked board that touted two for one drafts.
"Another for him," Stuart told the barkeep.
"Everybody here reminds me of somebody else." He gave his drink a lover's look before taking a long swallow. When he set his glass down, he turned his eyes to Stuart. "Generally, of someone I liked quite a bit better."
*