Connor tried to think that the ONLY reason he allowed Barney to our him shot glass after shot glass full of whatever the hell he was drinking was because he was Irish, and that's what Irishmen do. It totally wasn't because Connor was finding Barney extremely attractive and impossible to turn down. Not at all.
"Holy shit! You do not have a life size Storm Trooper!" Connor nearly fell out of his chair out of excitement.
Barney smirked. "Why, yes, I do."
"That's the coolest fucking thing I've ever seen!"
That's the moment Barney really fell in love. No female he had ever taken back to the apartment had loved the storm trooper – or even liked it. Several were even freaked out by it, enough to send them running. But here was a person so different from the rest – and so much better.
Connor and Barney talked for a while. Eventually Barney dropped his pick-up act, Connor forgot to act uninterested, and they just talked.
"So," Barney said, "does you r brother always hook up with strange women?"
Connor thought about it. "Pretty much, aye."
Barney laughed. "That used to be me, you know."
Connor looked startled. "You haven't always been gay?"
Barney looked confused. "You have?"
"Well… yea. I mean, as far back as I can remember."
"Wow. I mean…. being gay is, I guess, pretty recent for me."
Connor raised an eyebrow. "How recent?"
"Like… you're-the-first-guy-I've-hit-on recent."
Connor whistled. "Wow."
"Yea, so, how am I doing?"
Connor really didn't want to answer that honestly, so he settled for a disinterested "Eh."
They talked some more. Barney forgot to refill their glasses; they just sat and talked. And eventually, they forgot to keep talking.
Connor realized, in the absence of talking, that he was staring intently into Barney's eyes, and that Barney was staring intently back. And though there was a counter in between them, both of them were leaning towards each other, leaving only a few inches distance.
"Damn it," Connor said aloud, and grabbing the front of Barney's suit, he pulled him forward until their lips met.
"I changed my mind," Connor said. "For your first time hitting on a guy, you're doing a damn good job."