Author's Note:
Hi again!
This is a very short story that features a few side characters from my other stories. As always, I write everything to stand on its own. This isn't Marvel, no need to do any homework to understand or enjoy it :).
No content warnings this time, just a cute couple who love each other (and a friend).
Ira
"I have a question for you," I said as soon as I walked in the door. It was Ben's apartment, but that never stopped me from barging in like I owned the place. Benji sometimes acted annoyed when I did that, but he's the one that gave me the key in the first place.
Ben glanced up from where he sat at the kitchen table typing away on his laptop. He was, as always, working diligently on whatever it was that he had to do to make his coffee shop run smoothly. The place had been a diner owned by his grandfather at one point, then his parents switched it to a coffee shop before there were any Starbucks brave enough to infiltrate our small town in the nineties. We eventually had six or more corporate coffee brands of varying popularity around town, but Steamed was the local favorite thanks in no small part to the hard work Ben put into overhauling it. His parents had finally fully retired the year before, leaving the reins fully in Ben's perfectly capable hands.
"Give me ten minutes and you can ask me," he said.
Fair enough. I chose to steal a beer from his fridge and sit across from him to pretend to scroll on my phone. Really, though, I wanted a chance to admire his serious businessman face. Ben was already more beautiful than any other person, place, or work of art in the entire world, but there was something extra appealing about his no nonsense professional mode. I loved watching him work the rush in his shop, charming customers and disarming any frustrations with his sharp wit and handsome smile.
He had his locs down that night, a little unusual for him. He normally kept them tied loosely behind his head while he worked to keep them out of his face. The silver beads on the ends of a few of them lightly brushed his shoulders as he worked. His delicate features were set in stern lines of concentration, with his perfect, soft lips caught in his teeth as he pondered through whatever problem he was undoubtedly solving.
"I know you're staring at me," he said without looking up.
"Hm, ok," I said. I didn't stop though. Ben worked a little while longer before he looked up at me with a little crooked smile and closed his computer.
"Ok, I'm officially done for the night. What did you want to ask me?"
I paused for a moment now that I was on the precipice. Benji's dark eyes were on me and my breath was a little hard to catch. Oh, well. He had heard crazier things from me before.
"So, you know how after we dated that first time and after we hated each other for a while," I started.
"I never hated you," Ben interrupted. "Did you hate me?"
"No," I admitted. "I just hated your boyfriends."
"Well, that's not news. Go on," he snickered.
"Right, so after we got over being weird and started talking again, you know, when you weren't dating," I kept on. Ben arched an eyebrow at me and rested his chin on one hand. He knew I was feeling awkward and he was absolutely not going to help me. "When we were, like, you know, just fuckbuddies."
"Uh huh," Ben said slowly. He was already laughing at me. That helped. I liked it when he laughed even if it was at my expense. "I remember. Was there something else?"
"So, yeah, you know how we had that rule?" I said. Ben raised both eyebrows and waited for me to elaborate. Yeah, ok. That was vague. We had a handful of rules back then. "That either of us could always ask for whatever we were interested in, and the other could always veto, no harm, no foul on either side? That rule?"
"Sure, I remember that rule," Ben said and chuckled.
"So, some good stuff came from that, yeah?" I pressed on.
"Hmm, this sounds like you want something," Ben said. He had that little smirk on his face. The one he wore when he knew he had the upper hand. Which, to be honest, he should have known he always had the upper hand. I was his dog in every possible way.
"I just want to
ask
," I stressed. "But only if that rule still applies. No harm, no foul?"
"No damages, no birds," Benji giggled, echoing what he used to reply when we were barely more than kids. "Ask away. Worst thing I'll say is no."
"Have you ever considered trying a threesome?"
...
Ben
Ira surprised me with that one. I could see the fear in his face. He thought I would be offended or worse, he worried I might feel hurt. That might have been the case with anyone but Ira. That man had come back to me too many times for me to doubt him. Through all our dumb fights and youthful mistakes, he still chose me at every turn. Even when I was out looking for a serious partner in every corner but his, he was there to support me and happy to take the scraps I offered him in between. I knew I was more than enough for him.
But this was an intriguing proposition. A threesome? There was definitely something more to it that Ira hadn't gotten brave enough to say yet. He had some kind of itch that he wanted to scratch and, as always, he felt safe to try it with me.
"I haven't ever thought about it," I said carefully, "But I could be persuaded."
Ira breathed out a sigh of relief and lit up with a happy grin. That face, just so handsome. He was painfully pale, with icy blond hair and the palest gray eyes. There were times I could swear he glowed in the dark. I just loved the way he wore his emotions so openly. I had always been guarded, but Ira lived loud.
"Walk me through this. Tell me what appeals to you," I requested. Ira giggled nervously and looked around the room for a few minutes as he worked through how to explain what he wanted. I relented in playing ice king and reached for his hand to squeeze it. He melted into that brief contact, grateful for the comfort.
"So, I had a threesome once, um, a long time ago," he winced and looked up at me to see if that would upset me. I had no idea why he suddenly thought I was a prude. The things we had done to each other over the years could fill a really raunchy book.
"Uh huh, I'm surprised it was just one," I said and squeezed his hand again.
"Well, I didn't like it very much," he said in explanation. "I didn't really know the guys and I didn't trust them enough to really get what I wanted from it."
"Ok, and what did you really want?" I prompted.
