An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: The Kevin Langue Show, Video Blogging RPF Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Aaron Branch & Denny Love, Aaron Branch & Kevin Langue, Aaron Branch & Herman Wrice, Aaron Branch & Zane Helberg, Aaron Branch & Kevin Langue & Denny Love & Herman Wrice & Zane Helberg Characters: Aaron Branch, Denny Love, Herman Wrice, Zane Helberg, Kevin Langue Additional Tags: 4 Times 1 Time, Bisexual Aaron Branch, Coming Out, Pride Parades Series: Part 16 of KLS Fics Summary:
Four times Aaron's cohosts realised he was bisexual and one time they were all in the know.
In Philly, sexuality is not something you ask about.
Not that it’s not there, nor never discussed. Just, Herm and his friends don’t go asking people. There are assumptions, of course, and innuendo. Very rarely will someone volunteer this information explicitly. Instead, they’ll use the term partner, or avoid pronouns when discussing their significant other. It’s another form of code, and one that takes Herm all of college to grasp.
But, by the time he meets Aaron, he’s fluent in it.
They’re backstage at a comedy club in LA waiting for their turn on the stage. Herm’s seen Aaron around a few times. They’ve said hello in passing, but haven’t exchanged more than twenty words collectively.
Aaron’s sporting thick twists that hang above his shoulders. Herm’s never asked, but he gathers that Aaron’s a good few years younger than he is – he’s still got some chub to his cheeks, despite the gangliness in the rest of his physique.
“You good, Aaron?”
Aaron’s leg stops jiggling immediately. “Sorry. Yeah, just keyed up tonight.”
Herm eyes the green V can clasped in Aaron’s hand. He raises his brows, but doesn’t say anything other, “You’ll be fine.” Two more minutes pass. Through the curtains, the light turns on. The comedian onstage stumbles over their next sentence as they rush to wrap up.
Aaron springs to his feet. Then pivots to face Herm. “You live around here, right? Know any good K-town clubs?”
“Yeah, man. I can show you around.”
“Cool,” Aaron says, nodding with a goofy grin. Herm smiles back. He likes Aaron’s vibe. “Great! I look forward to it!”
The other comedian walks offstage. Herm gets up to shake the guy’s hand, as is the custom in these types of clubs.
Aaron’s closest to the unknown comedian, and he greets the other man with a hug. Which is odd, but maybe they’re friends? Aaron seems like a hugger.
Except when the other comedian pulls back, his hands linger on Aaron’s arms. They smile at each other for a brief moment. Their eyes are soft. Loving.
“Got to go!” Aaron breaks free and lopes onstage.
“Go kill it out there, Branch!” The other man hollers behind him. He watches Aaron’s departure for a second, before turning back. He seems startled at Herm’s presence.
“Good set, man,” Herm says, coming in to dap him up. To himself, he thinks, boyfriends?
He files the thought away.
Later, at drinks, Aaron, Herm and a few others from the comedy club squeeze themselves into a table. Aaron’s on his phone, and Herm leans over his shoulder to see him checking some pseudo-science Astrology app.
When Aaron catches him looking, he puffs out his chest. “Triple Gemini, baby!”
Herm laughs, as if that means anything to him other than, Queer-ish?
~
Kevin's first introduction to Aaron occurs just after they wrap Kevin's first ever Guess the Black Person.
“That was good, yeah?” He asks Zane, who’s hard to read when he's got a clipboard in front of him. Kevin doesn't remember getting him a clipboard. He doesn’t have the budget for that. Doesn't have the budget for the studio, either, and they need to wrap up so the next entrepreneurs can inhabit the space. Probably to film a porno.
It’s a cheap studio.
“‘Cause it felt good. Did it feel good to you?”
“Yeah, man,” Zane says, his moustache lifting with his smile. “Go hang out with your guests! And get them to come back. They were funny.”
They were funny. That's a whole other level of stress on Kevin. Getting comedians had been a good call, but were they too funny? Would Kevin pale in comparison? Should he take improv classes? All questions he wants to ask Zane, but Zane's consulting his clipboard that Kevin's starting to suspect is blank.
“Oh, you know Aaron?” Herm's asking Denny. They're standing around, jackets hanging loose from their shoulders. Kevin's glad they haven't left yet.
Denny snorts. “Yeah, I know Aaron. How do you know him?”
“Been to a few sets with him.” Herm turns his feet outward, just enough to let Kevin into the conversation. “Hey, if you ever need another panellist, you should hit up Aaron Branch. He's pretty funny.”
“Tries to be,” Denny says, more to himself than the others. “Nah, he's good. I asked him actually – but he said he wasn't sure. Man’s a bit shy.”
This time, it's Herm who lets out a disbelieving huff. “Huh. I didn't get that impression at all. He's very loud.”
Denny shrugs. Doesn't explain further.
Kevin thinks both can be true. Maybe this mysterious Aaron is like him. Charismatic enough to hide the crippling social anxiety lying underneath.
“You should ask him again,” Kevin says to Denny. Then, more confidently, squashing down the little nagging worry that he's overstepping, “Tell him I asked, on yours and Herm’s recommendation.”
Denny cracks a toothy smile. Kevin's not sure if it's relief, but it feels like it.
“Yeah. Yeah, I'll do that.”
And, so, barely a handful of weeks later, Kevin finally meets Aaron.
“Knock, knock?” Comes an unfamiliar voice from the studio’s entrance.
Kevin glances up and snatches the glasses from his nose, shutting his laptop lid from where he's editing footage.
The man hesitates in the doorway, one hand clenched around the strap of his backpack, the other fiddling with the end of his twists.
“Hey! Aaron, right?”
At Kevin's approach, Aaron smiles. He shoves one hand in his pocket to cease the fidgeting and sticks the other hand out for Kevin to grab.
Kevin shakes it, and Aaron does a little step forward, then pauses, confused. Kevin retracts his hand hastily, and berates himself. Aaron was probably going to dap him up, and Kevin's already shown how unfamiliar he is with these little cultural quirks.
“Yo, nice studio!” Aaron says, seeming to forgive the social faux pas without bringing attention to it. He steps inside, head swivelling as he takes in the white walls. “Oh, these cameras are massive! What brand?”
Kevin rattles off the specs. He’s about to tell Aaron that he had to take out a loan for them, but thinks better of it. TMI. Aaron has only just met him.
Kevin's shoulders lose their tension as Aaron fires more questions at him, getting swept away in his easy conversation. He gets what Herm meant – Aaron doesn't seem shy at all, seems to be putting all his energy into putting Kevin at ease, even though Kevin's the host.
But, during the shoot, Kevin starts to understand Denny's view. He doesn't know if it's the group setting or the weird film environment, but Aaron's pretty quiet, though Denny makes sure to ask him a few questions directly. Kevin makes a note of that – as well as Aaron’s preference for Celsius.
The next few times Aaron comes to set, Denny and Herm start lobbing softball sexuality jokes his way, and Aaron settles. He leans into the ribbing, seeming relieved that he's found his niche.
Kevin remains overly conscious of Aaron's likes and dislikes, wanting to put him at ease like Aaron did for Kevin. By the time Aaron finally, finally agrees to be a full-time panellist, Kevin's created a mental list of Aaron's preferences: physical touch, time to push past the stutter, an unhealthy amount of caffeine, and both men and women.
~
“You’s attracted to him,” Denny accuses, giving form to the suspicion Zane had been harbouring for the past 30 minutes of the shoot.
“He's kinda hot,” Aaron admits. Aden, their fake firefighter, winks.
When they stand up for the activity round, Zane drifts closer to set.
“Choose Aaron,” he mouths to Aden. Aden nods and turns back to studying the others’ rescue attempts. Zane grins to himself, thinking already of how this will be clipped. He needs to revisit that conversation with Kevin, actually, about getting a social media person. If not full-time, maybe a couple of days a week…
He zones back in. Consults his clipboard. Checks the set. The others start jeering as Aden swoops in to save Aaron from the imaginary fire.
The moment is magical. Aden picks Aaron up as if he weighs nothing, and their cameras zero-in on Aden's flexing muscles. Brilliant!
Aaron plays into the theatrics, spreading his arms like Yeshu. Zane notes down, dramatic music!, and is pleased to see the handheld camera following them though the smoke.
He also notes, mentally rather than on paper, the way Aden touches his hand to Aaron’s head after he sets him in his chair, and the flushed giggles it encourages.
When they break, Zane corners Denny.
“Is Aaron dating anyone?”
Denny doesn't look up from his phone. “Why? Looking for your fourth wife already?” He chuckles at his own joke.
“No. Listen, I got an idea. I want your input.”
“Kev not around?” Denny asks, somewhat suspiciously. He does pocket his phone, though.
“I don't know, but it's about Aaron. You think he'd go on a dating show?”
Denny's face lights up at the concept. His dark lips split wide. “Oh, man, that's brilliant.”
That's all the encouragement Zane needs to spin his idea out into fruition. “I'm thinking of stepping way up from that other dating show you helped us out with. Bigger budget. Bigger set. Bigger pool of candidates.”
Denny's nodding along. “Bachelor style? Roses?”
“Oh, we gotta have roses! But I want the full panel involved so maybe we do a blindfold round.”
“What, like we choose for him or he chooses based off sound?”
“Not sure yet. We'll have to discuss it, see which one works better. What's his type?”
“He’d never admit it but he likes his Asian women. I think he feels a kinship with them, being beige himself. She’s gotta be funny, but I feel like that's a given for any of us. All his last girlfriends have had long dark hair – I don't think he likes blondes.”
Zane jots this down. “And for men?”
Denny bursts out laughing. The doubled-over, hands on knees type. “You are looking for a fourth! I knew it!”
Zane rolls his eyes but allows a grin. “Maybe I'll add myself as a candidate.”
Denny chuckles, straightens, and starts walking away. “Aint no way you're blending in.”
Zane furrows his brows. He's hardly blonde.
But then he spots Kevin, coming in with lunch, and Zane races to his side. He launches into his pitch, getting more excited and more sure that this is a great idea and that he should see if Aden's willing to come back and that they should end the season like this. Kevin nods along until:
“Is Aaron, like, out out?”
That stops Zane. He cocks his head. Thinks about it.
Huh. He doesn't recall Aaron ever explicitly putting it into words. But he doesn't seem shy about it either. Especially not after today.
Though, what if that's how he wants it? Not labelling himself to the public? Is it insensitive to even ask?
The logistics makes Zane’s head hurt.
“What about Denny? Do you think he'd be down for a dating video?”
~
“Hey, happy pride month, man.”
Denny swivels, ignoring Andy's protests as he tries to clip the microphone to Denny's denim jacket.
Zane's walked in, sunglasses resting on his forehead, and he's dapping up Aaron. Aaron doesn't seem fazed by the comment, which is normal, but Zane sounds almost sincere.
Which is bullshit. Zane's sneaky like that – his most cutting jokes always start with sincerity.
He can see why Zane's said it, though. He clocked it from the moment Aaron stepped into set – Denny registering his entrance the way he's always subconsciously searched for him. Today, after some good-natured harassment over Aaron's recent clothing choices, he's opted for something almost conservative by his standards. Light blue jeans that teeter on baggy, his usual Ticklé cap, and a dark green T-shirt.
With a rainbow stripe on its cuffed sleeves.
Zane's punchline never comes. Kevin wanders over, pushes Aaron with a lazy hand so the man stumbles slightly. It's done without any real force – Aaron only stumbles because he wants to, because it lets him propel back into Kevin's hand.
“You ever been to the parade?” Kevin asks
Another jab without heat. Is Denny losing his touch? Have they transformed to a different kind of humour?
“The one on the Boulevard? Like, once with my ex a couple of years back.”
Denny squeezes in between Kevin and Aaron. Excuses his sudden presence by grabbing Aaron’s cap and putting it on top of his own, as if he's only here to annoy him. “What, with Abby? That your idea of a date?”
Aaron swipes a hand at Denny's head. Denny sticks his hand in Aaron’s face.
“No, not Abby,” Aaron huffs. He goes up on his tiptoes and Denny matches him.
“A couple means two, Aaron.”
“I know that, dawg!” Aaron jumps. Denny ducks; comes around the other side of him. Hilarious, that Aaron thought he'd beat Denny in a fight.
“You didn't date any other girls in 2024!”
Aaron’s head jerks backwards with a little snort. “You keep a list of my partners?” He makes another grab for his cap. Denny swats Aaron's hand away and then takes the cap, squashing it firmly down on Aaron’s head.
“There hasn't been that many.” He flicks the cap. Aaron rubs it as if it had hurt, which it hadn't. Denny made sure of that.
“Well, you're wrong.”
“Which girlfriend am I missing?”
Something flickers in Aaron's expression. Amusement to something akin to confusion.
There's a beat.
Herm, in the background, looks up from his phone, mouth twisted in the amused way it does when he doesn't understand Denny's antics. Zane's eyebrows are raised at Denny, mouth parting with a wet pop as if he's just realised something. Kevin, too, looks at Denny, then at Aaron, then at the ground when he spots Denny watching him from the corner of his vision.
“Denzel…” Herm says, still sitting.
Aaron giggles. It's stilted; unconfident. “Are you being serious?”
Slowly, very slowly as if preparing to be hastily corrected, Denny forms his next sentence:
“...You had a boyfriend?”
Another laugh, as if this is some big joke and not a huge revelation. “Yeah, dawg.”
Denny feels his face changing. Is overly aware of his own lack of comprehension. Feels, quiet strongly, that he does not want to have this conversation in front of the others. That, suddenly and urgently, he needs to be alone with Aaron.
But this doesn't seem to be news to anyone except Denny.
“You've dated men.” This, he says as a statement. He's no more sure of it, though.
“Yes.” Aaron has lost the humourous tint to his voice. “Denny–”
“Okay,” Denny says, because it hits him that he hasn't said that yet. “Okay, cool. When did– I mean, okay.” He feels dumb, repeating himself like this. Like Aaron. Like the words are tripping in his brain.
“Can you guys give us a minute?”
Denny wants to protest. It shouldn't be Aaron saying this. Aaron shouldn't be trying to make Denny comfortable.
The others file out.
“Aaron.”
He wants to– he doesn't–
He reaches for Aaron. Clasps his bony shoulders. Squeezes them, thinks about berating him to eat more protein, thinks about recommending a protein shake, remembers Aaron doesn't like shakes and prefers protein bars, thinks about hitting a pub with Aaron and forcing him to eat a Tomahawk steak, thinks about how he cares so much about his best friend but not enough to have noticed this.
He crushes Aaron against himself. His hands slide around Aaron’s back and locks him into place. To his credit, Aaron doesn't hesitate in returning the embrace.
“Jesus Christ, Aaron,” he mumbled into cloth, one annoyingly damp eye examining the pastel rainbow stripe. “You gotta tell me these things.”
“I did!” Aaron insists, and then he laughs. “Well, I thought I had made it obvious.”
“Clearly I'm an idiot.” Denny huffs. Still doesn't let Aaron go. Remembers, vividly, the hundreds of jokes he had made. Feels a cold wash of regret; of guilt. Was it his fault that Aaron hadn’t told him? “I'm sorry. Fucking hell, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry.”
“For what?”
Now, Denny does pull back. Arms on Aaron's shoulders, he frowns at his friend's face. It's open and trusting and genuinely confused. It's infuriating.
“Slap me.”
“What?”
“Slap me.” Denny steps backwards and gestures at his cheek. “Come on, go ahead.”
“I'm not gonna slap you, dude. That's too kinky, even for me.”
Denny doesn't rise to the joke-bait. “Tickle me, then.” He raises his arms to a T. “Seriously, I deserve it.”
Aaron pushes his arms down. “Another time. What's gotten into you? You met Mark!”
Denny did meet Mark. Mark, who, for a few months in 2024, was seemingly always at Aaron's place. Denny just assumed he was couch surfing. Not that he was staying the night in that way.
A lot of pieces fall into place. Or, rather, not like a puzzle, but a painting that he previously studied with a blindfold on. He blinks at the shift in light.
Reconsiders the disorganised piles of clothes that had been littered around Aaron's apartment. Mark’s dishes always in the sink, amplifying Aaron’s usual mess.
“You have terrible taste in men.”
Aaron lunges for Denny's armpits.
~
“You guys look ridiculous,” Aaron says after a full minute of laughter. His sides hurt from the residual chuckles that ripple out of him every time he spots another ridiculous and garish piece of his friends’ outfits.
“Don’t be homophobic, A Boogie,” Denny scolds from behind his rainbow-rimmed sunglasses.
“Just trying to blend in,” Zane says, and at least his fit seems satirical. He’s chalked his moustache rainbow, for fuck’s sake.
Herm is more lowkey, thank God, holding a small hand-waiver flag while dressing in his usual laidback attire.
Kevin and Denny are the boldest of the bunch, looking as if a rainbow had vomited them onto the sidewalks of WeHo.
“What do you mean?” Kevin cries, then struts forward. “Hurry up, I don’t wanna miss the music!”
Aaron rolls his eyes, but lets Kevin link their arms together. Denny, the organiser of their pride entourage, joins him on the other side, and Zane and Herm travel behind them, their rainbows unremarked amidst this parade of colour.
