Still playing around with the idea of putting Paul and Brian together in the same room. So ficlet!
Summary: Paul doesn’t care for Brian.
After a long day, the last thing Paul wants to see is Brian hanging out in Sonny’s living room.
He had ideas in mind for de-stressing, and they involved Sonny, privacy, and a bedroom. But Sonny isn’t alone, so that plan is obviously off the table. (For now.)
There’s something about Brian that rubs Paul the wrong way, something that annoys him in the way that Brian has spread out on the couch and made himself at home in a space that he’s very much not welcome.
Or maybe it’s the way that Brian’s too-blue eyes seem to be laughing at him over the rim of Sonny’s wineglass, as if he knows exactly what Paul is thinking.
Or it could be the way that Brian’s arm is stretched out behind Sonny on the couch, basically around Sonny’s shoulders, as if it belongs there.
Sonny shifts slightly away from Brian, smiling somewhat ruefully— guiltily?— at Paul. “Hey. You remember my friend Brian?”
Sonny can ask that with actual sincerity, because Paul has never given Brian the expected satisfaction of bringing him up to Sonny.
But yeah. He remembers Brian.
Doctor Brian, who recently returned to town and made a bee-line straight for Sonny, his old “college buddy.” Who pretended not to know Paul was a famous athlete— “You’re the model, right? For the perfume?”
Brian, who despite being a busy doctor, somehow always finds the time to hang around Sonny at Club TBD. And now, apparently, the apartment.
Brian, with his strangely perfect teeth and who uses any excuse to touch Sonny in seemingly innocent ways even when Paul is standing right there.
Brian— “sure we dated briefly, but it was nothing”— Henderson. Brian, who sure seems hung up years after the fact for it having been “nothing.”
(At least Paul has an excuse.)
“Of course,” he says politely. “Hello, Brian.”
Brian smirks, as if there’s a joke in this. “Hello, Paul.”
It’s strange that Paul doesn’t recall Brian’s name ever coming up before he was suddenly there inserting himself back into Sonny’s life. It’s also strange that he’s reappeared just as Will is finally out of the picture, gone to make a name for himself out in California.
Thought you finally had an in, huh, Brian?
It must be the wine they’re drinking that has Sonny’s cheeks so flushed.
Paul’s getting the sense that Sonny wants to keep Brian around, wants Paul to get to know him.
He doesn’t need to “get to know” Brian to know him. He recognizes Brian’s game. He’s used that game himself— with Sonny even. Paul once swept in and stole Sonny right out from under his date’s nose. He bulldozed right over that poor guy. Just as Brian thinks he’s going to bulldoze over Paul now.
That isn’t going to happen.
Paul will play nice. For now. And not just because it’s what Sonny wants. He likes the idea that his refusal to react throws Brian off center. Maybe this aggressive, direct approach has worked for him in the past, but Brian doesn’t know Paul. Not yet.
Sure, it bothers him that Sonny pretends not to notice what Brian is doing— he has to because Brian is shameless, and Sonny isn’t blind, deaf, or dumb— but Paul won’t tell Sonny how to behave or who he can be friends with. That’s not who he is. Besides, he has other ways of getting his point across.
Instead of retreating to the bedroom to give them “space” as he would for any other friend of Sonny’s, Paul sits right beside Sonny— too close, practically in Sonny’s lap— and places a firm arm around his shoulders. It’s not a possessive move. Just an assertive one. It forces Brian to shift back to avoid being nearly nose-to-nose with Paul.
He’s still smiling, still polite, just making sure that Brian knows he’s going to be included in the conversation now. He’s not going anywhere.
Paul notices with some satisfaction when Brian’s smirk falters and nearly becomes a frown before he catches himself. Paul suspects that Brian doesn’t like to appear ruffled. But Sonny ruffles Brian.
Paul can relate, obviously. He imagines that it must frustrate Brian to always be late on arrival.
He can sympathize with that, too, but Brian doesn’t know who he’s messing with. Paul isn’t Will. This isn’t a fair fight, and Brian is going to realize that soon enough.
Brian’s eyes narrow at him, as if he’s calculating his next move— his leg is still pressed against Sonny’s— and Paul smiles.
Sonny finishes his wine glass with a large gulp.
