RPF: "Rate The Morning Sun"
Mar. 30th, 2010 08:33 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cyusTitle: Rate The Morning Sun
Pairing: TW RPF, JB, SG, GDL
Rating: G
Length: 1700 words
Disclaimer: The events in this story are fiction, as much as the interpretation of the real people as shown in the story is a fictionalization of them and their lives. It should not be inferred that this is an attempt to represent reality.
Summary: John brings home strays, then goes out to work. That leaves Scott and whoever is camping on their sofa for the night.
Notes: Written for the RPF Carnivale originally, now reposted.
Being the one to fuck John Barrowman on a regular basis doesn't come attached to a VIP sign nor the desire to have one, necessarily. It comes with money and vacations and far more cameras than he'd ever wanted in his lifetime. Lately it comes with someone sleeping in their spare bedroom (again) and John's half-aborted night-time conversations that are surprisingly tongue-tied for someone who can't keep his mouth shut on anything otherwise until Scott tells him to go to sleep and try again in the morning.
A half-shouted goodbye has John leaving early, meetings of some kind, Scott manages a nod hello to Gavin before the door slams and the dogs squeeze out a few more high-pitched whines, then find something more entertaining for their day.
Gareth's not the first kid John has dragged home after a drunken night or week when the pressure is too high (actors, the lot of them) and Scott didn't ask, but something had happened, and he's seen it before when John's job had him on the stage and pep-talking the just-out-of-drama-school boys over heartbreak or being out of jobs for more than a year. He figures it's about a girl with Gareth, not that he knows the guy really, and just thrusts the coffee at him when, wearing jeans and the t-shirt he's slept in, Gareth hovers in the kitchen doorway.
"Remotes are on the telly, I'll be back there." Scott grabs his tea and calls for the dogs.
"Ah, I'll get going, meeting someone today. Mate's picking me up in thirty or so."
Scott nods in reply.
"We're filming again next week." Gareth stares into his coffee cup.
"If you want to stay until then, the room's there."
John has noted that on a schedule somewhere that he'd be spending the weeks back in Cardiff, but Scott has enough dates and places to remember himself to pay attention until the mad dash for clean laundry happens the night before maxing out the speed limits along the M4. Scott hums something in reply, not his scene exactly, caught them both by surprise when Doctor Who changed it all, well, surprise and delight for John, plain surprise for him, and Torchwood was promising even more if the production meetings and dinner invitations are any indication.
John brings home the strays, usually with a speech tumbling out, and Scott has long ago learned to roll with it. Gareth nods, smiles and Scott walks off to settle in for work for the day, registering the shower and Gareth in the kitchen and the door and the shouted bye over the bark of the dogs, later.
Gareth's drunk when he stumbles back in that night thirty minutes after the last pub has closed down in the neighbourhood, muttering something about godforsaken English pricks and sorry excuses for sportmanship in more expletives and less orderly language. John is still out, has called earlier that it'd be later and sorry and he'd make it up to him when he comes in.
"Need to learn my lines," Gareth says, pulling at his jacket as he leans into the doorframe, arms caught in the sleeves.
Scott pulls the spaghetti sauce off the heat and can't help the chuckle as he drags the jacket off Gareth's twisting arms and drops it over the arm of a chair. "Good luck with that tonight."
Gareth leans against the wall, arms wrapped around himself, looking out blearily, mouth moving as if to mumble but not saying anything.
"This fine by you?" Scott asks, nodding to the pots on the stove, and leaves him standing there. "Late night supper? Food?" He's worked until an hour ago, deadline on a proposal.
Gareth's eyes look drunk-wet, and he seems the messy crier, but he pulls himself together as he plops down at the kitchen counter and tucks in when Scott sets a plate down in front of him, sniffling into his spaghetti every so often with hitching breath and shaking shoulders before he catches himself. Scott isn't John or he'd know what to do with that.
"Had a good night then?" Scott tries for conversation and gets nothing much in return, so he shrugs and tucks into his food. He leaves Gareth with a bottle of beer in the kitchen for John to find as he makes off for bed. Not his job to be the babysitter for John's pet projects out of the deep humanity of his heart or whatnot. He's too tired and the deadline doesn't extend itself for something like that. He's used to the late nights and off-schedules, with John slinking home after one last night party or another. A bit of a funny moment two or so years before, pouring with Gavin over schedules in their kitchen when it was "you're filming Doctor Who then, you can't do that one" when it's been a job that John would have never passed up on before. Used to it, but with his own life, thanks very much, John. They are doing careers and middle-age, so traditional.
Better a drunken bloke than a cat pissing itself.
He doesn't peel himself out of the sheets just to check for that.
When the door creaks later and Lewis jumps on the bed with less grace and more enthusiasm, Scott blinks into the light coming in from the hallway.
"Only me," John whispers, then high-pitch giggles as he steps onto a squeaky toy. Scott pulls the pillow over his face. "It's been a good day! We- hey, are you listening?"
Scott manages a grunt John takes for affirmation as he keeps on talking through undressing and teeth brushing and the running water from the toilet. Scott is drifting off by then and only kicks back when cold feet press against his calves and John wraps himself around him in octopus fashion, body heat penetrating through sleepwear. A brushed kiss for a smile and sleep. As long as that still happens then, they're good.
It's Scott's alarm that wakes them before the dogs have a chance to and John cusses and waits for Scott to fumble for it, turning it off.
"Plans?" John's mutter is caught under the sheet.
Scott waits for awareness to hit him with his schedule and it inevitably does. He manages a yes before he forces himself out of bed and through his morning routine in the bathroom before he goes to put on coffee. Gareth's beer bottle from the night before is empty but still on the counter alongside the now-crusted plate. Scott dumps both in the sink before starting the coffee machine.
"Sorry for that, should've cleaned up," Gareth says from the doorway, then steps inside, jeans and t-shirt and red-rimmed rabbit eyes from too much booze and not enough sleep, sticky-looking skin.
"Feeling better?" Scott asks as he puts out cups for coffee, two for them, John will sleep a few more hours, maybe.
Gareth nods, half shrugs, and Scott wonders if he's really one of the actors and not some Welsh crew member that John's dragged here in the hopes of an off-set blowjob. "Girl dumped me," Gareth offers after the first sip of coffee.
"Ah." It'd be good to have John for this, cue the actor for the heart-to-hearts. "Sorry."
"S'okay. Wasn't good for her."
Non-committal reply for that one as Scott washes some dishes. He doesn't expect Gareth to step up close and nuzzle into his neck, late-alcohol breath and dry lips as they brush along his hairline. "Turned you gay?" Scott jokes as he turns and takes a half-step back, hands wet where they are on Gareth's chest before he drops them.
Gareth stares at him, shakes his head, steps back himself and buries his hands in the pockets of his jeans. "Sorry."
"Don't worry about it."
Gareth wobbles on the balls of his feet, as if he wants to go forward into motion, looking bedraggled and all of fifteen with all the teenage angst. John is still trying to convince him to adopt, that's where all the strays come in but no way, never. "I should get going," Gareth says, odd parody of the morning before.
"He'll hunt you down if you leave now," Scott says and pours more coffee into Gareth's barely emptied cup. Gareth catches his lips in a kiss, fingers dry as they smooth over Scott's jawline then along his shoulder down his chest, as if trying to find more familiar curves. When Gareth pulls back, sheepish and Scott has washed down the alcohol aftertaste with more coffee it's back to the silence in-between. "John's the better person for this, you know. If you want to give it a try."
"Being gay."
Scott shrugs. "Playing gay, having a good time, getting a blowjob."
"The- he's gay, the- well, he's gay for Jack. Ianto."
It takes Scott a moment. "Your-"
"Yeah."
"Doesn't mean you are."
Gareth stares at the tiles between them, laughs one of these aborted little laughs of 'give me a hug'. "No. Just lonely. And- sorry, I didn't mean to- I mean, you're probably not like that."
"Lonely?" Scott quips, then snorts at his own joke. He shrugs. Who'd turn down blowjobs? Not them.
"I'm not gay," Gareth says and plays his fingers around the rim of the cup.
A dog toy squeaks from the bedroom, a dog barks, John cusses, water runs.
"You don't need to be," Scott replies, and it's too early for the pseudo-philosophical discussions and he has a project to work on that isn't the messed up kids that become actors to be other people and like to cry on John's shoulder in the cold dark nights. John, for whom acting is less a way of life and more a job that brings in cash and the option to do what he's into. There's a hefty bit of irony there. He has to submit the proposal today or the renegotiation will be a bitch, so he leaves Gareth parked on the sofa with a coffee and knocks on the bathroom door on the way to his office to tell John to get a move on.
John's the one who brings them home. He can be the one to actually have the conversations for a change. The murmur of voices picks up when Scott settles at his desk for work. He's not sure if John has anywhere to be that day, or if Gareth does for that matter, but he figures he'll be told. That's the way life works when you are living it VIP style.
Pairing: TW RPF, JB, SG, GDL
Rating: G
Length: 1700 words
Disclaimer: The events in this story are fiction, as much as the interpretation of the real people as shown in the story is a fictionalization of them and their lives. It should not be inferred that this is an attempt to represent reality.
Summary: John brings home strays, then goes out to work. That leaves Scott and whoever is camping on their sofa for the night.
Notes: Written for the RPF Carnivale originally, now reposted.
Being the one to fuck John Barrowman on a regular basis doesn't come attached to a VIP sign nor the desire to have one, necessarily. It comes with money and vacations and far more cameras than he'd ever wanted in his lifetime. Lately it comes with someone sleeping in their spare bedroom (again) and John's half-aborted night-time conversations that are surprisingly tongue-tied for someone who can't keep his mouth shut on anything otherwise until Scott tells him to go to sleep and try again in the morning.
A half-shouted goodbye has John leaving early, meetings of some kind, Scott manages a nod hello to Gavin before the door slams and the dogs squeeze out a few more high-pitched whines, then find something more entertaining for their day.
Gareth's not the first kid John has dragged home after a drunken night or week when the pressure is too high (actors, the lot of them) and Scott didn't ask, but something had happened, and he's seen it before when John's job had him on the stage and pep-talking the just-out-of-drama-school boys over heartbreak or being out of jobs for more than a year. He figures it's about a girl with Gareth, not that he knows the guy really, and just thrusts the coffee at him when, wearing jeans and the t-shirt he's slept in, Gareth hovers in the kitchen doorway.
"Remotes are on the telly, I'll be back there." Scott grabs his tea and calls for the dogs.
"Ah, I'll get going, meeting someone today. Mate's picking me up in thirty or so."
Scott nods in reply.
"We're filming again next week." Gareth stares into his coffee cup.
"If you want to stay until then, the room's there."
John has noted that on a schedule somewhere that he'd be spending the weeks back in Cardiff, but Scott has enough dates and places to remember himself to pay attention until the mad dash for clean laundry happens the night before maxing out the speed limits along the M4. Scott hums something in reply, not his scene exactly, caught them both by surprise when Doctor Who changed it all, well, surprise and delight for John, plain surprise for him, and Torchwood was promising even more if the production meetings and dinner invitations are any indication.
John brings home the strays, usually with a speech tumbling out, and Scott has long ago learned to roll with it. Gareth nods, smiles and Scott walks off to settle in for work for the day, registering the shower and Gareth in the kitchen and the door and the shouted bye over the bark of the dogs, later.
Gareth's drunk when he stumbles back in that night thirty minutes after the last pub has closed down in the neighbourhood, muttering something about godforsaken English pricks and sorry excuses for sportmanship in more expletives and less orderly language. John is still out, has called earlier that it'd be later and sorry and he'd make it up to him when he comes in.
"Need to learn my lines," Gareth says, pulling at his jacket as he leans into the doorframe, arms caught in the sleeves.
Scott pulls the spaghetti sauce off the heat and can't help the chuckle as he drags the jacket off Gareth's twisting arms and drops it over the arm of a chair. "Good luck with that tonight."
Gareth leans against the wall, arms wrapped around himself, looking out blearily, mouth moving as if to mumble but not saying anything.
"This fine by you?" Scott asks, nodding to the pots on the stove, and leaves him standing there. "Late night supper? Food?" He's worked until an hour ago, deadline on a proposal.
Gareth's eyes look drunk-wet, and he seems the messy crier, but he pulls himself together as he plops down at the kitchen counter and tucks in when Scott sets a plate down in front of him, sniffling into his spaghetti every so often with hitching breath and shaking shoulders before he catches himself. Scott isn't John or he'd know what to do with that.
"Had a good night then?" Scott tries for conversation and gets nothing much in return, so he shrugs and tucks into his food. He leaves Gareth with a bottle of beer in the kitchen for John to find as he makes off for bed. Not his job to be the babysitter for John's pet projects out of the deep humanity of his heart or whatnot. He's too tired and the deadline doesn't extend itself for something like that. He's used to the late nights and off-schedules, with John slinking home after one last night party or another. A bit of a funny moment two or so years before, pouring with Gavin over schedules in their kitchen when it was "you're filming Doctor Who then, you can't do that one" when it's been a job that John would have never passed up on before. Used to it, but with his own life, thanks very much, John. They are doing careers and middle-age, so traditional.
Better a drunken bloke than a cat pissing itself.
He doesn't peel himself out of the sheets just to check for that.
When the door creaks later and Lewis jumps on the bed with less grace and more enthusiasm, Scott blinks into the light coming in from the hallway.
"Only me," John whispers, then high-pitch giggles as he steps onto a squeaky toy. Scott pulls the pillow over his face. "It's been a good day! We- hey, are you listening?"
Scott manages a grunt John takes for affirmation as he keeps on talking through undressing and teeth brushing and the running water from the toilet. Scott is drifting off by then and only kicks back when cold feet press against his calves and John wraps himself around him in octopus fashion, body heat penetrating through sleepwear. A brushed kiss for a smile and sleep. As long as that still happens then, they're good.
It's Scott's alarm that wakes them before the dogs have a chance to and John cusses and waits for Scott to fumble for it, turning it off.
"Plans?" John's mutter is caught under the sheet.
Scott waits for awareness to hit him with his schedule and it inevitably does. He manages a yes before he forces himself out of bed and through his morning routine in the bathroom before he goes to put on coffee. Gareth's beer bottle from the night before is empty but still on the counter alongside the now-crusted plate. Scott dumps both in the sink before starting the coffee machine.
"Sorry for that, should've cleaned up," Gareth says from the doorway, then steps inside, jeans and t-shirt and red-rimmed rabbit eyes from too much booze and not enough sleep, sticky-looking skin.
"Feeling better?" Scott asks as he puts out cups for coffee, two for them, John will sleep a few more hours, maybe.
Gareth nods, half shrugs, and Scott wonders if he's really one of the actors and not some Welsh crew member that John's dragged here in the hopes of an off-set blowjob. "Girl dumped me," Gareth offers after the first sip of coffee.
"Ah." It'd be good to have John for this, cue the actor for the heart-to-hearts. "Sorry."
"S'okay. Wasn't good for her."
Non-committal reply for that one as Scott washes some dishes. He doesn't expect Gareth to step up close and nuzzle into his neck, late-alcohol breath and dry lips as they brush along his hairline. "Turned you gay?" Scott jokes as he turns and takes a half-step back, hands wet where they are on Gareth's chest before he drops them.
Gareth stares at him, shakes his head, steps back himself and buries his hands in the pockets of his jeans. "Sorry."
"Don't worry about it."
Gareth wobbles on the balls of his feet, as if he wants to go forward into motion, looking bedraggled and all of fifteen with all the teenage angst. John is still trying to convince him to adopt, that's where all the strays come in but no way, never. "I should get going," Gareth says, odd parody of the morning before.
"He'll hunt you down if you leave now," Scott says and pours more coffee into Gareth's barely emptied cup. Gareth catches his lips in a kiss, fingers dry as they smooth over Scott's jawline then along his shoulder down his chest, as if trying to find more familiar curves. When Gareth pulls back, sheepish and Scott has washed down the alcohol aftertaste with more coffee it's back to the silence in-between. "John's the better person for this, you know. If you want to give it a try."
"Being gay."
Scott shrugs. "Playing gay, having a good time, getting a blowjob."
"The- he's gay, the- well, he's gay for Jack. Ianto."
It takes Scott a moment. "Your-"
"Yeah."
"Doesn't mean you are."
Gareth stares at the tiles between them, laughs one of these aborted little laughs of 'give me a hug'. "No. Just lonely. And- sorry, I didn't mean to- I mean, you're probably not like that."
"Lonely?" Scott quips, then snorts at his own joke. He shrugs. Who'd turn down blowjobs? Not them.
"I'm not gay," Gareth says and plays his fingers around the rim of the cup.
A dog toy squeaks from the bedroom, a dog barks, John cusses, water runs.
"You don't need to be," Scott replies, and it's too early for the pseudo-philosophical discussions and he has a project to work on that isn't the messed up kids that become actors to be other people and like to cry on John's shoulder in the cold dark nights. John, for whom acting is less a way of life and more a job that brings in cash and the option to do what he's into. There's a hefty bit of irony there. He has to submit the proposal today or the renegotiation will be a bitch, so he leaves Gareth parked on the sofa with a coffee and knocks on the bathroom door on the way to his office to tell John to get a move on.
John's the one who brings them home. He can be the one to actually have the conversations for a change. The murmur of voices picks up when Scott settles at his desk for work. He's not sure if John has anywhere to be that day, or if Gareth does for that matter, but he figures he'll be told. That's the way life works when you are living it VIP style.
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no subject
Date: 2010-03-30 11:01 am (UTC)the 'bringing home strays' thing is so perfect and this: messed up kids that become actors to be other people and like to cry on John's shoulder in the cold dark nights. John, for whom acting is less a way of life and more a job that brings in cash and the option to do what he's into. oh so much this
no subject
Date: 2010-04-04 12:11 pm (UTC)If I'm honest
Date: 2010-03-30 11:12 am (UTC)Thanks as always for sharing your talent with us!
cheers!
Re: If I'm honest
Date: 2010-03-30 11:11 pm (UTC)THERE IS TOP GEAR RPF!!
WHERE???????!!!!!! I MUST HAVE THIS!
TG RPF
Date: 2010-03-31 08:44 am (UTC)http://www.angelfire.com/oh4/homeofthegoddess/MoreSlashings.html
The top two stories are my first foray into TGS.
I get my reading-on here:
http://community.livejournal.com/topgearslash/
But you have to friend 'em to read--it's worth it!
Cheers!
Re: If I'm honest
Date: 2010-04-04 12:14 pm (UTC)Re: If Im honest
Date: 2010-04-04 07:30 pm (UTC)Re: If Im honest
Date: 2010-04-07 11:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-03-30 01:40 pm (UTC)Or, you know, he loves him like life itself.
I adore the way you write Scott. And JB. And poor Gareth. Please, never stop.
Renee
no subject
Date: 2010-04-04 12:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-03-30 02:46 pm (UTC)And Gareth. Oh, Gareth.
Totally one of my favorites.
no subject
Date: 2010-04-04 12:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-03-30 05:33 pm (UTC)Because I don't usually read them, you see. But...like I told her, it's YOU. Makes a difference, that.
*grumbles* Loved it to pieces. Absolutely. ;D
no subject
Date: 2010-04-04 12:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-03-30 11:43 pm (UTC)Yes. This, because that's how it is.
OMG How sad am I that every time I read this and Gareth kisses him, I'm all, "go Scott! Do it! Hit that!" and he never does. *pout*
no subject
Date: 2010-04-04 12:24 pm (UTC)And true, he never does. Shit, I still have that closet story on my harddrive somewhere.
no subject
Date: 2010-08-06 01:11 pm (UTC)For example, John & Scott, in my world, (which is all in my head, by the way -- tourists not allowed) they're a monogamous, committed couple. There are no random blowjobs from disenchanted young actors or fangirls or boys. There are no strays brought home except poor, child-substitute doggies. So, anyway........
But after reading your other stuff, I figured, what the heck. Am I glad I did! Your tale is so believable, so natural, so normal. (I'm really quite new to the slash realm of literature, and to the entire LGBT world as a whole. When you say "They are healthy gay men", does that mean that the behaviours in your stories are the norm for gay men? That the stereotype 'none of them can keep it in their pants' is true? My God, how disillusioning, says I, the formerly-blissfully-ignorant idiot.
I guess it's like Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, and the Easter Bunny -- somebody's gonna out the truth sooner or later -- SMASH!!!!! illusion shattered.
However, my foolish angst aside, I really, really enjoyed looking -- stalker-peeping!! -- into their lives, and like Captain Jack says, "...I wouldn't have missed it for the world." Well done, truly well done. Thank you for sharing!!!
no subject
Date: 2010-08-06 03:38 pm (UTC)First off, glad you enjoyed the story, I quite appreciate that.
If you're curious about more Torchwood RPF but don't know where to start and would hate to sift through stuff, I can direct you here: http://neifile7.livejournal.com/25356.html There is also some conversation there about what RPF is and isn't, what reasons people have to write it or not to write it, so it may be quite interesting for you to read, given you seem a bit on the fence about it.
The bottomline is that RPF, like any other fiction, is just that: fiction. It doesn't attempt to imply anything about the relationship of the people I'm writing about, nor is it necessarily trying to be a "correct" representation of that particular relationship.
This ties into the second part of your comment regarding my off-hand comment up there in reply to
Yet, a great great number of relationships are not 100% exclusive, are not 100% monogamous, with both partners agreeing to that arrangement. Monogamy and exclusivity is not the only REAL and TRUE option and just because people are not exclusive doesn't mean that there isn't deep commitment and love for each other. This goes for homosexual and heterosexual as well as pansexual or whatnot relationships alike. There are so many ways people can live their relationships aside from the dichotomy of monogamy vs. cheating. Especially if you are new to LGBT fiction and possibly LGBT and non-sold-by-the-media-as-ideal lifestyle, relationships and sexualities, I'd urge you to check out Dan Savage and his blog Savage Love as well as the weekly podcast. It's edcuational, occasionally, it's fun, and I think it gives a good insight of how diverse relationships can be, how diverse things are that make people happy and how diverse ideas of commitment and the practical execution of commitment in a relationship can be. http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/SavageLove
So what I described in the story is not a 'this is what gay men are like' but a 'this is what gay or straight men or women can be like, this is one possible arrangement of extra-marital sex that doesn't undermine the affection and love and commitment partners feel for one another, because it is an arrangement both are happy with'. Gay men can be monogamous as much as straight men or gay and straight women or bisexuals of either gender or everything else that exists inbetween can be monogamous, but just like everyone else gay men can also live in relationships of love and commitment that are not exclusive, they can enjoy handjobs or blowjobs on the side and still love their partner the same, and as much as everyone else gay men might also cheat on their partners.
no subject
Date: 2010-08-07 02:12 am (UTC)You're right. After cleaning my rose-coloured glasses and removing my blinders, and then looking around at the world without them, it would seem that I have really limited my knowledge to accepting only what matched with my ideal world. Apparently instead of 'no tourists allowed' I need to change it to 'visitor's invited'.
I think it was the finality of the words, the totality that they encompassed, that ALL gay men were like this. Not that they -- John and Scott -- were like that, which is obviously quite 'acceptable' -- I'm not judging them by their actions -- it was the feeling that there was no hope for monogamy among gay men, no faith in their partner being enough for a gay man.
Clearly, and like the twit that I am, I read far, far too much into those few words. For that I do sincerely apologize. I recently retired from a job in which it seemed de rigueur to sleep around with as many co-workers as possible. Didn't matter if they were married, or not, had children, or not, that marriages and relationships were destroyed, that harrassment charges were filed, or not, that the workplace became uncomfortable for some, a hellhole for others, and a battleground for others beyond that. Rank didn't matter, shift didn't matter, post didn't matter. You learned early on if so and so were on shift together at a certain time, you avoided the staff breakroom, or other areas where determined bodies had found minute blind spots in camera coverage. I learned very, very early on in my life that it was far, far safer to be an observer not a participant in many things, and so I sat back and just observed for those 16+ years.
I guess all that sheltered observation has left me with the intense desire to believe that at least some aspect of "being in love" (as Prince Charles once quite infamously said 'whatever that means') included monogamy to the person chosen for that time period.
Now, having read part two, I also realize that my rose-coloured brain has confused consensual non-monogamy with cheating. It never occurred to me, clearly based on these past 16+ yrs of observing my fellow employees, that there was a difference -- well truthfully, that there was such a thing as "consensual non-monogamy".
How very curious, and also very enlightening. I understand that this is going to need/require/take/demand a lot more thought on my part. I will indeed spend time with the web sites you've recommended, and I thank you very much for them. I really do appreciate your taking time to help me better understand (or should that be to comprehend) that not all sexual activities outside of a relationship constitute cheating on a partner/spouse/loved one, or that 'committed' does NOT equate to 'dead'!
Well, I think I'm going to go watch my two favourite white knights remove their suits of shiny armour -- very slowly, naturally -- and become just men.
no subject
Date: 2010-08-06 03:38 pm (UTC)As for John and Scott in particular, I don't know what kind of arrangement they have, they may be 100% exclusive, but judging from John's comments in the past they haven't necessarily always been exclusive (he made comments about how a handjob or how a mistake you make doesn't necessarily mean the end for a relationship that you've built up over years and years, because why would you throw all that away for that kind moment and mistake). There is certainly speculation that John in particular has had extensive sex outside the relationship at some point in his life. And from there you can go on speculating (and that's where some of the fascination with RPF comes in for me), they both were in their 20s in the 80s when HIV and AIDS were huge, how did that influence who they had sex with and how they had sex (cruising in parks, bathhouses or only sex within steady relationships), how did John's reluctance to come out and live as a gay man influence how he approached sex in or outside of relationships. But they are just that, speculations. We don't know ultimately, but we can write stories that show different variations of it.
I very much see them as very committed to each other, very loving, but are they monogamous? Who knows? And if they aren't, that's a) their thing and b) it's nothing that is inherently bad. I don't believe in monogamy being the one standard that everyone has to aspire to reach and that everything else constitutes a failure somehow, but it's a personal choice and a personal arrangement that is entirely independent of sex, gender, sexual orientation or otherwise preference, and if monogamy and exclusivity is what you need from a relationship that's fine, but not everyone does.
To come back around to my comment about, 'they are healthy gay men,' what I meant with it is that they are men who are adults with a sex drive and they'll notice someone good looking and to be entirely honest, not many guys I know would turn down blowjobs but you know, some of them would and do because in the relationship they have they might have agreed not to have sex with people outside of it.
So bottomline, sex outside the relationship doesn't automatically mean the relationship is lacking in commitment, people do still find people attractive and hot and sexy and desire them even when they are in a relationship with someone and it doesn't mean their relationship is somehow broken, and it's down to the couple to figure out how a relationship works for them and what they need from it and what they might need or want outside of it to live a happy and a fulfilled life.
As usual with RPF, it's all speculation, and yeah, fiction, a bit of a plsyground to explore these things if you will, without intending to imply anything about John and Scott and what's really going on in their relationship because I think they are very careful to keep that private. And then of course there's the stories in John's autobiographies that show extensive flirtation and if I remember correctly John does share his own views of flirting and what goes and doesn't go and what he is comfortable with in a chapter in 'I Am What I Am'.
But well, RPF is fascinating because you can play with different versions of who they are, and can try to make them work, and it's fun. And well, they're sexy.