Couple 1
All of his life, Greg Lestrade has been told he's an attractive boy or man. He's never been one keen on his own looks, but the compliments have helped boost in confidence in more ways than one. But he's never really been a man to act on it. If a woman flirts with him in a bar, he doesn't automatically want to go home with her. He has more morals than that, yet he's still had problems with jealous girlfriends because girls flirt with him.
Well, not just girlfriends anymore.
Mycroft will claim day and night that he's not a jealous person. He's never really needed to be; well, not until Greg came along. He's jealous of Greg alone for many reasons; his heart, his traits, his looks, even. And he's even more jealous of the women that flirt with Greg. Even though Mycroft has nothing to worry about, of course.
One evening they go to a bar because Greg wants to watch a match. He meets a few mates there, John one, and it's just a guys' night out. It's not often they have these, but when they have a guys' night out, Mycroft isn't really Greg's boyfriend, he's just another one of the guys. Not in a mean way, it's not like Greg treats him differently or is a jerk to him or something, it's just that Greg and Mycroft are not ones for public displays of affection so in public, if it's not a date, they really are just like two great friends.
So they're at the bar watching the match and around the other side of the bar, there's a group of lovely ladies watching them. John notices and he nudges Greg's shoulder.
"Look at those girls," John says.
"Oh, yeah," Greg laughs.
"They're staring at us."
"So?"
John shrugs and goes back to watching the TV.
Near the end of the match, the group of men are no longer paying attention because their team is losing horribly. The girls are watching them and eventually get up to go to their side of the table. Once there, the head girl taps Greg's shoulder.
Greg turns around. "Oh, hello," he says.
"Hi," she reaches her hand out. "Mindy."
"Hello, Mindy. Greg," he shakes her hand.
By now each man has turned around, including Mycroft.
"What are you boys up to?" Mindy asks.
"Just a guys' night," Greg replies. "You ladies?"
"Girls' night," Mindy smiles at each of them, but mostly Greg.
Mycroft watches Mindy's smile turn seductive, then looks at Greg for his response. Almost zero response.
"You guys up to anything after the match?"
"Not really," Greg replies.
"You want to…hang with us?" she asks. She's flirting so hard and it's so obvious. Mycroft rolls his eyes. She continues, "We could all go to my place."
"No thanks, not for me," Greg says.
"That's too bad because," Mindy touches Greg's knee, "We could have our own little party."
John watches Mindy touch Greg, then he looks at Mycroft. Mycroft looks angry, his cheeks are red. Greg's not even so much as blushing at her touch.
"No, thank you," Greg says.
Mycroft wants to reach out and touch Greg, to claim him as his own, but he doesn't. He quietly waits.
"Too bad," Mindy says. "Here's my number if you change your mind," she says while handing Greg a napkin.
"Thanks," Greg says, putting the napkin on the bar behind him. He downs the last of his beer, looks at Mycroft, and says, "Ready?"
Mycroft nods. Greg hops off his stool, takes Mycroft's hand, and pulls him out of the bar. Mindy looks shocked the whole time.
Once out into the street, Greg pulls Mycroft closer to him. Mycroft tries to resist but loses.
"Jealous?" Greg asks.
"Me? No."
"Yes, you are. You were angry at the girl flirting with me."
"Angry, yes. I'd only have been jealous had you flirted back."
"I handled that very nicely, didn't I?"
"You were very polite."
"Besides, she looked like your brother."
"She did, didn't she?"
They walk further away from the bar when Greg suddenly turns around. "We should keep an eye on John," he says. Mycroft laughs and pulls him down the road towards home.
Couple 2
Both John and Sherlock have lived their lives being chased. Well, more Sherlock than John if you'd believe it. There was always one classmate that liked Sherlock, and once he turned fifteen or so there was always that one perverted teacher. John has been chased, but he did go through an awkward stage of being caught between short and tall, skinny and fat. Those years were dreadful, but apart from that he's always been interested and girls (or boys) have always been interested back.
John lived most of his adult life with women. There were a few men here and there, and of course he's head over heels for Sherlock, but he primary stuck with women for the reason that he was more confident with women. Often with men he feels smaller and weaker, but with women he feels bigger and stronger. With women he feels more confident.
And John is a flirt. Big time. Like, no really throw any woman out there and he will do his best to make her feel special. Because he gets that, the need to make women feel special. He once told Harry she didn't deserve the women she got because she didn't make them feel special, but John had that gift. And he uses it. All the time. To any woman.
Sometimes this is the reason Sherlock hates going out with John. He understands that John likes both men and women, and it's a bit difficult for Sherlock to know that he can be left by John for any person on Earth, given they're the correct age. John has a wider range of what he will and won't date, and that kills Sherlock. Especially since John can leave him for women.
This reason is that Sherlock is a smart man. He's a logical man. But when his brain gets meddled by John he turns stupid, and by his logic if John leaves him for a woman it's for the ultimate reason: Sherlock is a man. You cannot get any polar opposite than gender. Get it? If John leaves Sherlock for a woman, Sherlock will know for a fact that he's not good enough because he doesn't have breasts (well, technically), or a vagina, or ovaries, but instead he's got a flat chest, a penis, and an Adam's Apple. Get it? You just can't get more opposite than gender.
So, yeah, Sherlock hates going place with John because John will go out of his way to flirt with women.
Yesterday they went to Starbucks and John talked to a woman at the bar for seven minutes about nothing, according to Sherlock.
The day before they went to a bloody crime scene and John volunteered to take the new girl under his wing; not that he even should have, he's not a part of the unit!
A week before that, John flirted with a woman on the tube talking about dogs, for Christ's sake.
Hell, John has even tried being nicer to Molly and actually does flirt with her, which is hell no not ok to Sherlock. Especially because it happens pretty damn often.
So Sherlock brings it up in bed one morning. It's bothering him that much.
"I don't like when you flirt," he says.
John's fingers stop playing with his. "What?"
"I don't like when you pay attention to women."
John scowls. He looks confused even though Sherlock can't see him. "Why?"
"Because you are mine."
"It's harmless flirting, Sherlock. It's—"
"I still don't like it."
"I don't like when you keep heads in the fridge but I seem to recall opening the vegetable drawer to a fresh one yesterday."
"That's different, I don't want to take the heads home to have sex with them."
"I don't want to have sex with women I talk to, Sherlock," John's defensive now.
"Of course you do, that's why you flirt. That's why you look at their lips and breast and arses."
"That's not true, Sherlock. I do not want to sleep with women. Those women. Any women. Anybody else."
"Then why do you do it? Why do you flirt?"
"Because I know that it's nice for someone to notice you. It's nice to have that stranger on the street or the tube make you feel special."
"It would be nice for someone to notice you," Sherlock murmurs against his own arm.
"What does that mean?" John asks. "Are you saying I don't notice you?"
"Yes. That's exactly it. I don't like when you pay attention to them and not me. It makes me feel like you want them and not me."
John sits up and half hovers over Sherlock. He takes Sherlock's face in his hand. "Sweetie, that's ridiculous. You see, I actually have to try to flirt with women. But you…I tell you how brilliant you are every single moment and it's not difficult, it's easy. Even the first time you deduced me I wanted to say it was amazing because it was and it was so easy for me to say," John leans down and kisses Sherlock twice. "I'm sorry I don't make you feel special."
"It's not that I want you to make me feel special, John."
"What is it then?"
"I want you to stop flirting."
John agrees to try but of course quitting cold turkey is difficult to do, especially when you've spent almost your whole life trying to be kind to strangers. But he does try and Sherlock appreciates that.
Couple 3
Sebastian's always been told he's an attractive man and that's worked to his advantage a lot. It's always been easy for him to pick a girl up and sleep with her, it's been easy to get girlfriends and dates. Since Jim's his first boyfriend he's never worried about the men, well until he does get together with Jim. Jim opened up a whole new world, a whole new gender for him to have sex with.
And Sebastian flirts a lot. He has it down to an art form. He can look at someone and know in seconds that he'll take them home that night. Not that he's had much luck with the men (Jim's the only man he will ever be with) but the sentiment is still there.
On Sebastian's nights out alone he likes to go to bars to 'practice' picking people up. He does it for fun, he likes to be a tease. Just the once does he actually go home with someone (that wasn't good, was it?) so it really is just practice. Jim knows he does it.
Sebastian walks through their front door smelling like beer and someone else. Jim doesn't like it.
"Who'd you pick up tonight?" Jim asks.
"Just some bloke."
"A man?"
"Yes."
"Wow," Jim stretches out on the couch and scowls at the TV.
"Jealous?"
"Of course not."
Sebastian goes to the couch and falls on Jim. "You are, huh?"
"I am not. Get off, you smell awful. I can smell him on you."
Sebastian kisses and nuzzles Jim's cheek. "It was fun. He was nice. He was really pretty, to be honest. Just pretty. Not like you."
"What does that mean?"
"You're not pretty."
"What does that mean?"
"It means you actually look manly, he didn't."
"I'm not sure I like that anyway."
"Why? It's a compliment. If I wanted a womanly man, I'd get a woman."
"I don't want you to 'get' anyone."
Sebastian laughs and kisses Jim's ear. "You are jealous."
Jim pushes Sebastian off him and walks towards their bedroom. "You're such a whore, Sebastian," Jim says before disappearing into their bedroom.
Once there, he goes to his closet to change into sleep wear. Sebastian follows. He stands in the doorway of Jim's closet, leaned against the doorframe, and waits.
Finally he asks. "What's the matter?"
"What is the matter? Are you serious? You go out to pick people up because it's fun, and you ask what the matter with me is?"
"It is fun, that's all it is. It's a game, Jim."
"What happens when it's not a game anymore, Seb? What happens when you do go home with someone else?" Jim pushes past Sebastian and goes back to their bed. He lays on his side facing away from Sebastian.
"I'd never do that," Sebastian says while falling onto his side of the bed.
"How do I know that?"
"Because this ring," Sebastian holds his hand up. "It reminds me that you're here waiting for me."
Jim turns over onto his back and looks at Sebastian's hand. "I didn't know you wore it out."
"I always wear it out."
"And people still flirt with you?"
"Rings don't matter to people, Jim. But it matters to me." Sebastian turns onto his side and pulls Jim close to him. "I love you, ok? I wouldn't do anything to hurt you, even though I don't think anything would ever really hurt you."
"For the record, it wouldn't hurt me, but I appreciate the sentiment."
A year later is when Sebastian hurts Jim by sleeping with someone else, but after they get back together that time Sebastian stops going to bars to play his game. He knows by then that it's stupid and unnecessary, and that he does love Jim too much.
*So this is a chapter about each regular man with the opposite sex, except Sebastian because I think he'd just do anyone. I actually write notes about what each chapter would be like and this one says: "Couple 1: Women flirt with Greg a lot. Couple 2: John flirts with women a lot. Couple 3: Sebastian flirts with everyone because he's a whore." I think I was drunk when I wrote that note (Which is funny because I don't drink…) Ha. So thank you for reading, please review!
