Page 85 of The Menagerie

Heiscapable of having a friendly conversation, as long as he gets something in his ass first—Don’t ever get a tattoo on your hips, man. Shit’s fucking painful. Yes, way more painful than the ribs, Saint Mary.

And in turn, Rowan tells Mal as much about himself. As a middle child of six, Rowan’s never really liked being in the spotlight. He doesn’t tend to offer up much information about himself unless there’s a specific goal in mind, but with Mal, it’s effortless.

As easy as when he used to have meaningless conversations with his brother Jay in their childhood bedroom, passing a joint back and forth. But now it’s meaningful conversations with Mal in Sheila’s diner, passing whatever dessert Sheila whipped up that day back and forth.

He tells Mal about how he became a paramedic—how he loves helping people and making a difference, even though his job can be stressful and mentally draining at times.

He tells Mal more about his siblings—Aubrey and Jay and Clara and Rory and Marc, each with their own set of quirks that are as frustrating as they are endearing.

He tells Mal about how he wants his next apartment to have a balcony so he can grow tomatoes—Theyaregood, what the hell do you mean you don’t like them?

He doesn’t tell Mal that he’s clinically depressed. As much as he wants to let Mal into his life, some things aren’t meant to be shared casually over strawberry shortcake.

SOMEWHERE INbetween the second and third sessions—Rowan absolutely doesnotknow the exact day without looking back at the message—they’ve started texting more. Not reallyHey, how was your daytype things,but little things. Mostly kink-related things, but conversations nonetheless. That first week alone, they talked four times, on and off for several hours throughout each day.

And it made him so fucking glad and honest-to-God giddythat he wonders if he reallyisa teenager with his first crush and not a twenty-seven-year-old man with a membership to a sex dungeon.

Don’t get him wrong, Rowan knows he’s being an idiot—expecting somethingmoreto come of his conversations with Mal, which would theoretically then bleed into his scenes with him. It’s beyond wishful thinking, and pretty dishonest if he’s being frank. Because he’s wanting something more than what Mal wants to give him, more than what they’ve established they’re going to give to each other.

Every time Rowan had a friends-with-benefits situation when he was younger, Aubrey had always warned him that it would end badly, that someone would catch feelings and shit would get awkward and one or both of them would get hurt.

Clearly, he hasn’t learned from his big sister’s advice.

He should nip this shit in the bud and probably go out and fuck some other people to get over his hang-up on Mal. But… he doesn’twant to. And that is what scares him more than anything. The fact that his notoriously high libido is satisfied with only one hookup per week is astonishing, even with his usual daily jerk-off sessions still intact. There’s something there about quality over quantity, but Rowan doesn’t want to let himself think about that for too long.

But as well as things are going, there’s one frustrating caveat to all of this. To the texting and whole “getting to know one another” thing that still keeps Mal out of arm’s reach. It’s that for the most part—when they’re not within the confines of the diner—Mal really only seems to want to talk about sex. And look, if that’s all Mal is willing to talk about? Rowan’s gonna talk about sex. A lot.

On a random Tuesday afternoon, he texts him the first thing that pops into his head.

[RC]What’s your favorite position?

[MS]prison guard

His response is immediate. He knows Mal works from home, but it’s still a pleasant surprise that he’s paying him the attention he should be paying to Excel spreadsheets.

[RC]???

[RC]Never heard of that

[MS]you did it last week

[MS]prison-guard-07.gif

The gif of straight-up porn catches Rowan off guard, though it really shouldn’t given who he’s talking to. But now that he sees it, Rowan does remember it well. Mal on his knees with Rowan fucking into him from behind, holding his arms tight to his lower back as if he were in handcuffs. It was hot as shit, and Mal definitely seemed to enjoy it.

[RC]Ah, gotcha

[MS]or on my knees with my face pressed into the bed

[MS]like riding a lot too

[MS]my actual favorite though is missionary while i’m gettin choked

[RC]Too bad we can’t do your actual favorite

Rowan’s not expecting a reply to that.

[MS]yeah

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