The Unfolding of Waylon Smithers

by ChequeRoot

Sometimes, to help someone you wind up hurting them. Waylon Smithers has spent his life in the lithe shadow of C. M. Burns. While Smithers is mostly happy with that, Burns is not. Burns wants an equal, a peer. He's willing to send Smithers away, and give him a chance to become such. Will Smithers return, or has Burns single-handedly destroyed what fragile relationship they had?

26. Deleted Scene 6: Keith likes older men?

Author's Note:

A brief scene with a reference to Smithers' temporary beau, Keith.

There were originally a lot more scenes with Keith, but we're back to the "less is more" theory. And so, here's a snippet that didn't make it.

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Smithers felt invigorated. He'd had a great time with Keith last night. While it was just a getting-to-know-you thing, he'd had a fun time. Keith was younger than he was by an appreciable amount, and Smithers found, unexpectedly, that he liked that.

There was something to say about being the so-called "older man." Being around Keith had made him feel in charge, and desirable. Neither were sensations he was particularly familiar with. For someone who was apparently gay-gone-straight, Keith had gotten surprisingly flirty as the night wore on. At one point he'd even gone so far as to refer to Smithers as "silver fox."

Smithers had laughed that off. "My hair started turning grey in my twenties. I'm not that old, really!"