A Little Bit Of Momentum

By costumevintage aka PDOTL


Danny was just putting away his gear, hair still wet from the sudden downpour that had ended practice early, when Stiles walked into his periphery. The tan boy frowned, knowing they were the only two not in the shower stalls yet and seeing the now familiar puppy-dog look on Stiles' face; eager and curious. Stiles seemed to be doing that a lot, along with following him around, making pathetic sad eyes and over-exaggerated pouts whenever he refused to answer his ridiculous questions.

Stiles was harmless really, but that didn't quell Danny's urge to punch him in his inquisitive face. Danny did not do personal conversations, especially about his sexuality, especially with Stilinski. He was out, he was confident, but talking about it was not his idea of a fun conversation.

Instead of ignoring him, Danny had learned being ignored would not stop Stiles the Spazz, he turned with a glare, lacrosse stick still in hand. "What now, Stilinski?"

Stiles jumped back to avoid the offending lacrosse stick and gave a placating grin. Kid was annoying, but he seemed to be learning how to deal with aggravated individuals. "Hey, Danny, can I ask you a question?"

He almost rolled his eyes, but refrained, instead wielding the netted stick like a spear, poking Stiles in the stomach with the butt on impulse. "Never stops you when I say no, so you might as well ask what you have to ask," Danny said, his voice conveying just how much he wished Stiles would just leave him alone. As always Stiles didn't pick up on it, or more likely chose to ignore it, and instead went off on a tangent about... well, Danny wasn't really following. Usually Stiles was to the point, but apparently this was not one of his usual questions. That only served to irritate Danny more.

"Anyway, what I'm trying to ask is, um, well, how do you- cause obviously you're gay, I mean it's not obvious if you were a stranger on the street, but, like, it's obvious to us because everyone knows, though I had no idea before you came out, that was a shocker. Me and Scott were like, "Didn't see that coming," but there's nothing wrong with that. My Uncle Ronny is gay, he lives in Minneapolis, apparently growing in the whole gay culture population according to the Daily Show, but that's the Midwest for you, it's so-"

"Stiles!" Danny interrupted, finally having enough of the senseless word-vomit spouting out of the spastic teen. A headache was starting to form around his left temple. "If you have something to ask, just spit it out, I don't need to hear your life's story."

That seemed to sober the brunette up, along with the fact that some of their teammates were already coming out of the showers. The sticky mist from the showers hovered nearby like a curtain, blocking them from view. "Okay, so I wanted to ask," at this point Stiles' cheeks turned a shade of pink, whether from embarrassment or the humidity was anyone's guess. "H-how do you know if you might have... slightly more than platonic feelings for another person of the same gender?" Stiles finally let out, looking earnest as he waited for Danny's response.

Danny furrowed his brow and squinted his brown eyes, looking at Stiles like he was an alien. "You aren't... coming onto me, are you?" Danny asked shifting away carefully. The anxiety on Stiles' face broke and he gave a soft chuckle, blinking in amazement and slight relief as the tension loosened from his shoulders.

"Uh, no, no, dude, I see you... like more of a bro than... yeah, um, thoughts on the question?" Stiles redirected, looking more hopeful than scared anymore.

"Is it Scott?" Danny asked, slowly starting to give in like he always seemed to. His relationship with Stiles lately had been turning to grudging friendship, no, more like reluctant acquaintance.

Stiles' nose wrinkled and gave him an 'are you serious?' look, "It's no one you know."

Danny relaxed a bit and turned to put his lacrosse stick away. If it wasn't someone he could picture than he could pretend this was simply hypothetical. Because really thinking of Stiles crushing on an other guy was seriously creepy. He was always panting over Lydia that it seemed laughable to picture Stiles otherwise-oriented.

Danny glanced back over, Stiles looked sincere enough. "Ok," Danny started, now honestly thinking on what advice to give. "Do you... get the "vibe.""

"Vibe?" Stiles whispered in confusion, leaning closer as Ryan passed them to his locker.

Danny took a deep breath and felt the uncomfortable feeling he got when he first came out. Bearing himself open and vulnerable to people by showing what he thought behind his jock exterior. Once had been enough, and he was glad people had accepted so easily without asking for more from him. He was Danny, the lacrosse goalie who, by the way, was gay, no biggy, two shut outs this season and counting. How do you describe to a kid you were less than fond of how it feels when you're "interested"?

"Do you get the feeling he's batting for that team?" he tried again, going with cliches to keep from feeling totally embarrassed. Stiles blinked and rested softly against the locker next to Danny's. "Well, no, but it's not him I'm trying to figure out, it's me."

And there it was, the most honest thing Stiles had yet to say to Danny. "Is that why you asked if I find you attractive?" Stiles did a weird flinching action that banged the back of his head into the lockers he was leaning on. "Again, I see you as a bro, man. And that's why I'm asking you about this thing."

"Not because I'm the only gay person you know?" Danny said with a soft frown, eyebrow arched questioningly.

"Well that too. How did you feel the first time you were like "That guy, I could totally get with him"?" Stiles asked, masking his nerves with his humor like always. Danny liked him better puppy-like.

"First, I never thought that way and second, how about you describe how you feel and I'll tell you if you're onto something or it's a some stupid boy-crush that will pass with time. Those happen more than you'd think."

The paler boy in question scratched his nose, face scrunched up in an exaggeration of deep thought. "If you're not going to take this seriously I'm not going to help," Danny finally bit out, making as if to go to the showers, even with his uniform still on.

"No, no, hold on, I'm just trying to figure out what I'm thinking. It's a tornado up in here most of the time, let me tell ya," Stiles said. Danny's hand clenched for want of his lacrosse stick at the moment.

"So, okay, when I first met him I was scared, more like terrified, of him. I was pretty sure he was a murderer. Then he tried to get me to cut his arm off. People are a lot less scary when they're dying but then he also threatened to rip my throat out with his teeth...," Stiles trailed off.

Danny stopped fidgeting and looked aghast. "The guy you're into threatened to rip your throat out with his teeth? I knew you had to be a little masochistic to like Lydia, but-"

"Hey, hey, we're still trying to decide if I like him or not, and besides, he's not as bad as he sounds now that I know him better. He has issue but that's a little complicated, so I don't really blame him-"

"If you're defending him after he almost made you cut his arm off I think you have your answer," Danny said plainly. His uniform was starting to get itchy and any moment now coach would probably be in to remind them he was locking up in five minutes.

Stiles looked torn between arguing and accepting. "Just don't do anything stupid, Stilinski," Danny said warningly. "A guy like that, you don't want to come onto him if he's not interested."

Stile nodded and started backwards towards the locker room door. "Don't worry 'bout that, I wasn't planning on it," he chuckled, raising a hand before he left the steam filled room. Danny shook his head and grudgingly pushed down the concern that welled up. Really, Stiles was barely what you would call a friend.