Chapter Text
“Now everybody’s gay!”
As a cloud of rainbow confetti slowly drifted down from where the canons had shot it, Gob Bluth was absolutely awestruck, which was how he usually got whenever he saw Tony do magic. This was his first time coming to one of Tony’s shows since Cinco two weeks previously. But that's what boyfriends do, right? Support each other's stuff? It felt weird using the word boyfriend without feeling the immediate need to correct it. Though, Tony probably wouldn't use that word; but, he was a week behind on the relationship. A more appropriate term would probably be friends with benefits, but the correct term didn't matter if he was only using it in his mind.
Regardless, he was pretty sure things were going well, especially since he was (almost) certain Tony had stopped taking forget-me-nows after every time they had sex, which was happening more and more frequently. It was embarrassing, every time he sees Tony his heart starts aching and his stomach starts fluttering. He thought he might be dying, though a doctor said otherwise - but the jury’s still out on science. Of course, he'd never tell Tony any of this. It was pathetic; like he was a little girl with a little dress and little pigtails. That feeling was love, but Gob had never experienced it before. He wished he could erase that feeling but even if he had some pills left, it was far too late to forget.
Tony brought the crowd to its feet, and it wasn't even gay night this time. He couldn't help smiling, but amidst the cheering ‘how-dey-do-dats’, Gob felt a twinge of envy that no one had ever been this impressed with his magic - aside from his son, or that audience who thought getting his fingers sliced off was part of his act. Those didn't really count though.
Tony didn't know he was here, and he had chosen a seat near the back to surprise him later. After a quick survey of the crowd, he clocked about four people acquainted with his family, who could potentially bring him to ruin should they discover his relationship to the ‘Gay Magician.’ He'd have to be careful, the last thing he needed was a scandal.
Later, after the show, Gob was waiting at the bar, hoping that Tony might show up there. He sipped his drink and nervously tore pieces off his napkin, the latter action was being observed by the bartender with an unimpressed glare. A sudden wave of applause broke out from behind Gob, which could only mean that Tony had made an appearance. He lowered his head and watched Tony approach the bar out of his periphery.
Tony was being nearly swarmed by fans, mostly young gays and wannabe magicians, each one thrusting items into Tony’s hands to autograph and pulling him into photos. Gob observed several men amicably grabbing Tony’s arm and laughing almost too loudly at something he said. Seeing this set off a strange pain in Gob’s chest and his throat started to constrict. His fists clenched as Tony stopped to talk with some of them, even going so far as to return their touches.
Gob was livid and he couldn’t exactly tell why. It was like how he felt when he thought Marta was cheating on him with ‘hermano’, but this time it was much worse. He shouldn’t be this jealous, it wasn’t like he and Tony were a thing, despite their frequent rendezvous. Besides, just talking to other guys shouldn’t affect him like this since Tony wasn’t even gay. Or was he? How many times does a man have to sleep with another man before he stops being straight? Nevertheless, seeing his ‘boyfriend’ flirt so blatantly with other men, whether intentional or not, upset Gob. He wanted to make a scene. To walk over there and kiss Tony, to show all the others that he belonged to him. But it was too public, and also completely irrational. Not that being rational was ever something Gob was good at.
By that point, Tony had pushed past his fans and stood at the bar right next to Gob, who quickly turned his head away as Tony ordered a drink. Yet, he couldn’t resist saying something.
“Great show out there tonight.” Gob said, unconvincingly. Though Tony didn’t seem to pick up on the tension in his voice.
“Hey, thanks man.” Tony replied, not even bothering to look at who was speaking. After a moment passed, Tony must have registered the familiar, deep voice because he whipped around suddenly -- and excitedly. “Gob? What the hell are you doing here?”
The man in question found it difficult to restrain himself under Tony’s smile, but he hardened himself and answered, “I came to see you.”
Tony’s smile fell as quickly as it had appeared when he noticed something off about Gob. “What’s wrong? Are you mad at me?”
“Don’t worry about it.” Gob dumped the money for his tab onto the counter, leaving his half finished sparkling water behind as he headed for the exit - it was shitty anyways.
Tony was hot on his heels, “Gob, wait up. Talk to me!”
He really didn’t feel like getting into this argument so publicly, so he stormed back to his limo in silence, Tony still calling after him. Not having the foresight to lock the doors after himself, Gob was forced to deal with Tony, who had climbed in through the passenger side. Gob leaned his head against the back of his seat, eyes closed tight in frustration.
“What’s your problem, Gobie?”
He thought for a minute, trying to find an appropriate reply. Finally turning his head to look at Tony. “Why were you flirting with them?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Your fans, all those young gay guys. You were laughing with them, and touching them, and flirting with them, Tony. I saw you.”
“That’s ridiculous, Gob. They admire me, so I was being polite. You would understand that if you had any fans.” This was an extremely low blow, and Tony knew that, but he had said it anyways. “I’m so sorry, that was completely uncalled for.”
He stared at Gob, hoping for a sign that they were all good, but Gob just stared out the windshield, his look slightly more devastated.
“I wouldn’t have been flirting with them anyways,” Tony continued, trying desperately to un-burn this bridge, “I’m not actually gay, remember? I don’t like guys.”
That answer was almost worse, and it made Gob cringe. His mind was whirring at intense speeds and he was trying not to let his emotions manifest into full-fledged tears or worse, a incredibly premature confession.
Tony placed a hand on Gob’s thigh, pleading, “say something, Gob,” no reply. “Are you okay?” No reply. “Why are you so worked up about this? We're just having fun, aren’t we?”
“Tony, I'm in love with you.”
Gob was mentally kicking himself for going with the latter option, with every second that Tony stayed silent his heart pounded louder and louder. But then, Tony’s mouth was on his and Tony’s hand was cupping Gob’s cheek. Gob returned the kiss, sliding his hand down to Tony’s waist.
The kissed deepened, Tony sliding his tongue along Gob’s lip, Gob opened his mouth to allow better access as he pulled their bodies closer together. He was acutely aware of how soft Tony’s lips were, yet his goatee was an ever-present reminder of the man attached to those lips. The gear shift was positioned awkwardly between them, but they didn't really care if it dug into their stomachs.
One of Tony’s hands made its way down to Gob’s crotch and Gob pulled away, heart pounding and out of breath. “What is this, Tony?” He asked after what felt like ages. “You can't say you're not gay and then pull something like that.”
“Why not? We've been doing that for the last two weeks.” Tony leaned in again to kiss Gob’s neck.
Gob gasped at the sudden stimulation, but quickly pushed Tony away. “Maybe that's not enough for me anymore.”
They sat there in the silence for a long time before Tony finally replied, “Okay.”
“Okay?”
“Yeah,” Tony elaborated, “if you were implying that you wanted to take the next step. I don't know, start dating, I guess? Then, okay, I agree.”
“Same!” Gob grinned.
“Same,” Tony smiled back. “Should I…” He trailed off, vaguely gesturing towards Gob’s neck.
Gob just replied with a frantic nod, and Tony returned to sucking his neck. Gob barely cared about the proof of this exchange that was surely forming on his skin at that moment. The gear shift was getting to be extremely annoying though, so he used one hand to press the partition button, which rolled down with an ambient buzz that reminded Gob of his bees. Tony pulled away to look at what was making the noise, and Gob took that opportunity to nod his head towards the opening. Tony got the message and climbed through the hole, falling ungracefully onto the floor of the limo, but at least Gob’s view was nice for a moment before he followed suit with a similar entrance.
They quickly returned to each other's mouths, but this time with their full range of motion restored. Gob was straddling Tony’s lap and was hunched over awkwardly, being over half a foot taller. But, with Tony’s hands traveling up and down his back, he couldn't seem to care.
Tony grabbed the lapel of Gob’s suit jacket and pulled it back, throwing it across the limo when he finally got it off. He broke apart their kiss momentarily to mention, “the suit looks nice on you, by the way.”
Gob felt warm inside, and his whole body was tingling like electricity was jolting through his limbs. Despite this, he held Tony back from leaning in and he said something he hadn't expected to say again, “do you mind if we slow down? Just sit and talk?”
“You know what? I'd like that a lot.”
So they just sat there and talked, bodies still more or less intertwined. Gob’s legs were draped across Tony’s knees and Tony's arm was around Gob’s shoulder. They stayed there whispering and laughing and sharing crazy stories for a long time. They were at last disturbed by horns honking - Gob had almost forgotten that he was parked on a major road. He pressed his lips against Tony’s lips one last time, before squeezing himself back through the partition. There was a ticket on his window, but he decided he could probably ignore it. He shifted the car into drive and pulled away from the club. Glancing in his mirror, he could see Tony in the back composing himself and moving up to a seat closer to the front.
“Do you need me to drop you off anywhere?” Gob asked.
“My place is fine,” Tony responded, leaning his arms on the open partition. “Or,” he continued, coyly, “we could go to yours, if you'd rather.”
Gob was beaming. “You got it, babe.”