Hamilton's RPG Corner

Vince rubbed the glitter from his hands off on his jeans before walking over to Nate, snaking his arms around his waist from behind. Over Nate’s shoulder, he could catch a glimpse at what he was looking at. They had thrown their wardrobes together into one closet when they’d moved into the same dorm room. “What am I looking at?” Vinnie asked, teasingly biting Nate’s tense shoulder.

“Should I borrow one of your jackets?” Nate pulled a bright pink denim jacket out.

“That’s not your style.” Vince tried to catch a glimpse at Nate’s expression.

“What if I paired it with my khakis?”

Vince did not say That doesn’t go with khakis. He said: “If that’s what you want to wear…”

“I don’t know.” Nate dropped the denim jacket, which landed on the floor with a soft thud, and he let his head roll back to rest on Vinnie’s shoulder. His soft hair, which had started to curl at the nape of his neck, tickled Vince’s cheek.

“What’s wrong with what you’re wearing right now?” Vince ran his hands over Nate’s sides, smoothing out the simple gray Henley.

“I don’t- This is-“ Nate huffed. “Do we have to go?”

At this, Vince straightened, forcing Nate to do the same, and pulled his arms away from Nate’s waist. “What?” Vinnie couldn’t remember not going to Pride. His parents had taken him long before he’d even known the definition of gay, let alone that those three letters defined his sexual identity. At first, it had been a San Francisco thing, but then it turned into part of his life. Every year, just like on Christmas or his birthday or National Pancake Day, he celebrated. “Yeah, I kind of do.”

Nate turned around to face him, muscles tensed from his eyebrows to his jaw. “Why does it have to be such a big deal? Can’t we just-“

“Hide in the closet?” Vince bristled. He hadn’t minded Nate’s closeted status when they’d gotten to know each other. However, he wasn’t going to hide. Never had, never would.

“Not hide. We just… don’t have to flaunt it, you know?”

Vince blinked, then closed his eyes for a second and took a deep breath. “I’m not doing this.”

“Do what?”

“Argue with you about how straight or gay I present myself any day of the year, Pride or not. I’m going to put my sparkly sneakers on and I’m going to celebrate with my friends.” Vince pushed past Nate and pulled said sneakers from the bottom of the closet. The shoelace on the left one was even rainbow colored. Flaunting it all the way.

“That’s not what I meant.” Nate sighed, but Vince didn’t even look at him as he sat on the bed and put the shoes on. “Hey. I’m sorry. That’s not what I meant.”

“Then what did you mean?” Vince asked, his tone clipped. He yanked the shoe laces tight.

“I meant…” Nate walked over and sank to the floor in front of Vince, pulling his knees up to his chin as he looked up at his boyfriend. “I meant that I’m not sparkles and hair dye and rainbow nail polish. I don’t wear crop tops or super skinny jeans or neon tank tops. I’m not like that. That’s not… I don’t know how to do this. I don’t know how to be proud of being gay.” His voice lost volume word after word until he trailed off. His fingertips fumbled with the tips of the rainbow shoelace.

Vince sighed. “You’re such a puppy.” He scooted to the edge of the mattress and took Nate’s face in both hands, forcing him to tilt his head up and meet his gaze. “You don’t show pride by wearing as much glitter as possible. You show up. You support the community. You thank the older people for all the work they put in for years, and you promise the younger people that you’re gonna work on making their lives easier. Guess what? You can do that in jeans and a gray shirt.”

Nate closed his eyes and leaned his face into Vinnie’s touch. “I don’t think I could do this without you.”

Vince chuckled and leaned down to press a quick kiss to Nate’s lips. “Honey, without me, you’d have died from sexual frustration long ago.”

That pulled a small grin from Nate’s lips and he stuck his tongue out at Vince. “Go and get me a better shirt.”

“Yes, sir,” Vince laughed. He jumped off the bed and beelined for the closet and a plain blue T-Shirt. It had some brand logo on the right chest. More importantly, it was the exact shade as the flecks in Nate’s eyes. Those eyes of his always looked piercingly bright when Nate wore this shirt, and Vince died a little inside every time Nate wore it. “How about this one?”

“Okay.” Nate had propelled himself up from the floor and took the shirt from Vince’s hands. In one swift motion, the gray henley shirt landed on the floor. Vince didn’t even pretend to look away, his eyes drinking up every inch of bare skin.

“You know? On second thought, we could stay in for a little while longer.” Vince chuckled and poked his finger into Nate’s stomach a second before the shirt slid down to cover up all the skin.

“Haha.” Nate scrunched up his nose and grabbed Vinnie’s hand before he could take it back. Interlacing their fingers, he gave their hands a small tug, just to bring Vince a step closer. Close enough to smell the glue on his face. “If I kiss you, will I get glitter all over myself?”

“Probably.” Vince grinned, tilting his head a little.