Gerry was laying on a couch. It was important for him to be laying, because standing put him in danger of falling over. Laying was safe, and it was easy to continue drinking from the bottle of vodka he was holding. He was almost at the point of drunkenness where he could ignore what an embarrassing cliche he was being - almost.
He had music playing quite loudly, which was very normal for him. The others had each complained vaguely, apparently citing sleeping habits or some normal-person shit, but they weren't here. That was why he felt comfortable switching up his usual Swedish metal for more poignant Swedish pop. And singing along.
Even drunk, his grasp of key and timing was exceptional. His stony voice added a pleasing texture to the tune, and he was secretly quite proud of his vocal ability.
With his eyes closed and his head fuzzy and trying to focus on the words of the song, as well as the volume of the music, it was at least an entire verse before he realized that he had been wrong to think everyone else had gone out. He opened his eyes again after the verse ended.
Martin was standing over him, his mouth something between a smile and a gape.
Gerry was startled, but took another drink from his vodka bottle in an effort to seem nonchalant.
"I didn't know you liked ABBA," Martin said, speaking just over the music.
"OF COURSE I DO, I'VE GOT A HEART DON'T I?" Gerry yelled, far louder than necessary. His volume moderation was completely gone, lost in the same warm haze that took his joint pain but not his thoughts of Jon. He was failing at nonchalance.
Then Jon's boyfriend did something he did not expect. The man knelt down like he was trying to speak to a very small child, but instead of saying anything, he leaned forward right into Gerry's face and kissed him.
It was sloppier than he might have expected from Martin, who seemed to be effortlessly put together with his sweater vests and his perfectly timed cups of tea. There was a strong taste on his tongue, and Gerry realized he wasn't the only one entertaining a bottle tonight.
Gerry's initial shock lasted a second, and his shock at realizing he was more than okay with this strange turn of events lasted another second. Just as Martin was about to pull away and no doubt go attempt to sulk about "oh what an awful mistake", Gerry started kissing him back. His free hand slid around Martin's neck, brushing into his shagging hair, pressing lightly against him as if to hold him in place. His other hand placed the bottle safely on the floor.
This continued for several immensely pleasant moments, until they both heard a door close. Jon and Oliver stood there, both looking incredibly amused at the situation.
Jon looked at Martin with an uncharacteristic grin on his face. "Well it took you long enough, you've been going on about him for weeks."
Martin's face became quite red, and he looked down from Jon's gaze. He mumbled something Gerry could not quite hear, and his hands fell into his lap as he sat on the floor.
Gerry, on the other hand, was shocked. "I'm sorry, what?" Realization slammed down upon him. Martin hadn't been drinking because he was upset about Jon's date, he had been engaging liquid courage in order to come onto Gerry? He looked back and forth between the Archivist and his boyfriend, emotions fluctuating from surprise to accusatory to barely-concealed delight.
Martin was a little embarrassed, but beneath his mask of shame Gerry could see a tiny smile. It reminded him of the way Martin looked when he was savoring a perfectly brewed cup of tea. He was clearly quite pleased with himself. And why not? His clever plan had certainly worked.
Oliver, who stood next to Jon as they had walked in, laughed musically and said, "What are we going to do with you adorable nerds?"
