Sheason and Cass were walking along the busy sidewalk. The sun may have set, but the vibrant neon signs all around them reflected off every surface, and a rainbow haze of bright, multicolored light seemed to blanket this unnamed city.

"... look, all ah'm sayin' is that ah get it, y'know?" Cass said to him as the pair made their way through the crowds. "It's a lot to take in, realizin' yer a fictional character an' all. Ah'm havin' t'deal with it, too. If ye need to talk 'bout it, I'm here f'you, a'right? Yer always here for me, so ah'm gonna return th' favor."

"Okay, look, just... drop it for now, alright?" Sheason grunted out, before sighing heavily. "I mean, I appreciate that you're trying to help. I do, I really do. But I told you before: I'm... I am not interested in talking about it. At least, not right now."

"Dude, th' fuck is this, man?" Cass asked. "Some kinda bad joke where th' punchline is machismo? What're you tryin' t'prove, an' t'who?"

Sheason didn't say anything at first. His gaze was fixed ahead, trying to ignore the fact that the crowd all around him was indistinct and out of focus; no one even had any faces. They were all just a blur. It was an illusion, meant to make the world around them feel more alive than it really was.

None of this was real.

"Look, we can... we'll talk about it later, alright? I promise. I just..." Sheason sighed heavily. He swallowed hard, trying to wash away the horrible dry sensation. "I'm not in the mood."

"Right, fine, suit yerself, ya stubborn asshole..." Cass rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Look, if y'don't wanna talk 'bout it, then maybe we can at least find a decent distraction. Y'wanna hit up a club, r'somethin'?"

"Yeah, sounds fun," Sheason shrugged. "What about the Five Star Saloon? I'm pretty sure it's karaoke night. Either that, or it's the weekly viewing party for RuPauls Drag Race. I can never really keep track."

"Wait..." Cass stopped in her tracks, furrowing her brow. "Hang on, isn't Five Star that gay bar over'n West Street?" Sheason nodded, and that just seemed to make Cass even more confused. "Okay, ah gotta ask: how th' hell do y'know where all th' gay joints are?"

Sheason looked at Cass curiously for a few seconds, trying (and failing) to hide an amused expression.

"Have we never... has this never actually come up? Because this, I am willing to talk about." He gestured back and forth between the two of them. "You do realize that the two of us are both bisexual, right? It's not just you that's bi."

Cass blinked in confusion several times before her eyes went as wide as pie plates.

"Wait, yer WHAT?!" she shouted so loud, her voice echoed off the buildings around them for several seconds.

"Yeah. Honestly, I thought you would've picked up on that when we went looking for Arcade at the Dude Ranch, back in Vegas." Sheason said, vaguely gesturing over his shoulder with a thumb. "Both of us were ogling everybody that night, remember?" He let out a soft chuckle. "I mean, the mojito's they made were good, but they weren't that strong."

"But... hang on," Cass said, waving her hands. "This is big news! This shit changes everythin'! Ah'm just tryin' t'wrap m'head 'round this... if yer bi, then how come y'never went after Arcade?"

"Oh, so just 'cuz I like both ladies and dudes, I've gotta throw myself at the only other guy I know confirmed to like dick? C'mon, that's just silly" Sheason laughed, unable to hold back a smirk. "In all seriousness, don't get me wrong. He's a good looking guy, and he's fun to flirt with. It was great fun, finally meeting someone I could quote Top Gun with, y'know? But..." Sheason grimaced, looking for the words, until he finally shrugged. "He's just not my type. Plus, he waited until right before Hoover Dam to make a move, and that's just bad form."

"What d'ya mean he's not yer type?" Cass asked; Sheason coughed, scratching the back of his head nervously.

"Alright, let me spell it out for you..." he chuckled. "Arcade and I? We're both Tops. If he and I got together... it would be... awkward. We can't both be the dominant one."

Cass considered this for a moment. She furrowed her brow and scratched her chin, deep in concentration, trying to work it out.

"Are you sure?" she finally asked. "I mean, y'saw the way he went all hot n'bothered when Chris showed up..."

"Well... yeah?" Sheason said, obviously confused. "That's because damn near everyone got to pull the reaction to the 'Hi, I'm Captain Jack Harkness' gag when Chris showed up. The whole point of that joke was that he's supposed to have that sheer animal magnetism that makes everybody suddenly Horny On Main."

"Well, I didn't," Cass said, matter-of-factly, before adding under her breath: "At least, not at first..."

"That's because you like to play hard to get for your first impressions," he shot her a smirk.

Cass opened her mouth and raised a finger as if to argue, but quickly shut it after having a moment to think.

"... okay, yeah, that's fair."

"Besides," Sheason said. "I remember you telling me about that time you two fooled around. And if that is anything to go on, Chris' sexuality is just 'Yes,' so I don't think Arcade being a Top would pose much of a problem to that fuckin' Switch."

"Alright, but ahm still curious: how do you know 'bout Arcade's preferences, if th' two've you never got t'gether?"

"Alright, fine, for fuck sake," Sheason laughed, shaking his head. "I am not definitely, absolutely, 100%, completely sure, alright? I never got around to just flat-out asking, because I figured that would be rude, y'know? Either way, the Arcade Issue doesn't matter, because the big deal breaker for me was that he didn't make the first move until the absolute last minute, and we both knew nothing could come of it."

"So, what? Y'tellin' me that you – of all people - would never make th' first move?" Cass asked, as the two of them finally started walking again. "Like, ever?"

"I didn't with you," he shrugged.

"Yeah, but, again, we ain't talkin' 'bout me," she said. "Why wouldn't you make th' first move?"

Sheason sighed heavily.

"Because, the first – and, so far, only – time I ever did that was when I got together with Tuera. I didn't wait for her; I just took the plunge and fell head-first down that fuckin' rabbit hole. And as you can imagine, that fucked me up for life." He paused for a moment, and then added: "Basically, every single one of my weird hangups I have about relationships can be traced either directly or indirectly to my time with her. It may have been pretty short, but it cast a long shadow..." He shrugged again. "Such is the folly of youth."

"Well, ah s'pose that kinda makes sense," Cass said, tipping her hat back. "She was th' one that got away, after all."

"I wish people would stop calling her that..." Sheason muttered under his breath. He reached out and draped his arm around her shoulder, pulling her close as the two of them walked. "Okay, so: now you're all caught up to speed. I say the two of us head out, we go and we have some fun, and then we find us a tasty snack that'll appeal to both our tastes. Whadda ya say? Sound like a plan?" Sheason held out his fist, and Cass grinned, giving him a top-bottom-knuckles fistbump.

"Fuckin' a! Tonight's gonna be a right laugh, innit?" Cass laughed, wrapping her arm around Sheason's waist. The two of them continued to walk down the sidewalk... but then Cass spoke up again. "Although... ah can't help shakin' th' feelin' we're forgettin' something..." She scratched the back of her head, knocking her hat forward slightly, before snapping her fingers. "Wait, weren't we supposed t'be answerin' some questions'r somethin' like that?"

Sheason briefly glanced over at the 4th wall.

"Yeah, I think we got that covered."


You do know that wasn't the question I was planning on answering this time, right?


"That's your problem," Sheason said aloud. Cass reached over and lightly batted him across the chest.

"Hey, c'mon, play nice. He's doin' his best..."