Spoiler Alert (Spoiler Alert #1)(27)
When she’d written the story, she’d figured returning to modern AUs might take her a month or two after their date. Until thoughts of the actor himself no longer interfered with thoughts about the character he played. Until she could separate the two more effectively in her mind once more. Until he was no longer so much of a real person to her, but simply the physical vessel in which her chosen hero lived and loved.
Now she was wondering whether she might have to switch her OTP permanently. To Cyprian and Cassia, maybe, forever stuck on that damn island and pining for one another. Or Cupid and Psyche, torn apart by the machinations of Venus and Jupiter.
But she wasn’t ejecting herself from her favorite fandom without good reason. Contemplating her other options could wait until after a second date, at least.
Idly, she checked the other stories posted under the Aeneas’s Angry Boner Week tag, and she had to laugh. Almost everyone else on their server had gone full throttle on the modern AUs, and she should have known.
Her recent online activities really had spawned countless fics. Aeneas’s angry boners these past several days all seemed to be occurring in the presence of a Lavinia he’d met on Twitter, a Lavinia he’d saved from internet bullies, a Lavinia with whom he fell in love and lust over the course of a single, fateful dinner.
In the stories, he dispatched countless rude paparazzi, a dozen jealous Didos, and battalions of sneering fanboys, and then—his blood still hot from anger—saw Lavinia in the candlelight, eyes wide, mouth an O of shock and confusion and—
Well. Virgil’s Aeneas might have ascended to the realm of the gods after death because of his dauntless piety, but in this week’s fics, Little Aeneas had risen to turgid heights for decidedly different reasons.
Reading those fics was hot. Undeniably hot. Also uncomfortable in an entirely new way. At one point, she had to start skimming sex scenes, instead of lingering happily over them as she usually did, because it was Marcus in her head. Marcus on the page. Marcus making her ache.
After leaving her kudos and comments, she was eager to log out of AO3 and turn to the Lavineas server instead. And once more, she ignored BAWN’s DMs, delaying what she needed to do and say.
Not much recent activity in the group threads. So far, they didn’t appear to have spotted any photos of her date with Marcus on Twitter or Insta, but that was only a matter of time. And if the server’s response to his public dinner invitation was any guide, she needed to prepare herself for one hell of an uproar.
Can you BELIEVE IT???!!! Mrs. Pius Aeneas had virtually screeched Wednesday night on her brand-new OMFG MC-R ASKED OUT A FAN chat thread, linking to the relevant tweets.
LaviniaIsMyGoddessAndSavior responded with an endless stream of heart-eyes and streaming-tears emojis, too emotional for mere words.
I TOLD YOU he was really a nice guy. I TOLD YOU! TopMeAeneas crowed. The way he defended her, I just— Her subsequent legs-spread, crotch-up gif said it all, really.
Did you see that awful thread? It really was kind of him, LavineasOTP wrote. That poor woman.
April had winced at LavineasOTP’s post. Taken off her glasses and rubbed her eyes, wondering if she’d made a terrible mistake.
Pity. Shit, she despised pity, and the last thing she wanted to be was that poor woman.
Then Book!AeneasWouldNever, largely absent from the server for a few days, had interjected. Why does everyone assume he asked her out of kindness alone? I mean, look at her. She’s pretty, and obviously very talented.
His comment had changed the tenor of the thread, which—after a flurry of posts agreeing with his take—had then shifted to speculation as to what the date might entail.
April had been tempted to post endless heart-eyes and streaming-tear emojis herself.
Instead, she’d simply DMed BAWN one last time before bed. Thank you. Just . . . thank you.
For what? he’d immediately responded, but she was too tired to explain.
We can talk about it this weekend. I have some things I need to tell you. For now, though, I have to get some sleep. If I don’t hear from you before then, have a safe trip home, okay? xx
The blinking dots had flashed and flashed. Okay. Sweet dreams, Ulsie. I’ll be back in your time zone soon.
They both lived in California. She knew that much.
She also knew he traveled a lot for work, something else they’d had in common until now. She got the sense he was a consultant of some sort, although she didn’t know for sure. In recent months, they’d both mentioned evaluating their career paths and their next professional steps. Finally, she knew he was a he, unlike the vast majority of Lavineas fans in their group.
As soon as he’d helped set up the server, in fact, he’d explicitly informed everyone, concerned they’d feel misled or uncomfortable if they found out later.
If my presence here ever makes any of you feel unsafe in any way, please tell me, and I’ll immediately bow out, he’d written. P.S. As a cishet guy, there are certain threads that may not be as applicable to me, so please forgive me for sitting them out.
Via DM, he’d said a bit more to April last year. If you notice me being inadvertently creepy or offensive in any way, please, PLEASE let me know. I might not see it.
She’d agreed, but so far, she hadn’t had to intervene. Not once. Other than the prompt way he bowed out of conversations about the hotness and fuckability of various actors, his maleness didn’t seem to influence his interactions on the server much.