Archive of Our Own ^beta

Another day, another adventure in the books. One sure to be published and read by all Spirou magazine fans. Be sure to file it under “Spirou and Fantasio”, nothing could have gotten done without him. They’re names meant to be said in the same breath, never separate them. Although when the magazine is only named after one of the boys, it’s often that only one is recognized. Spirou, who could forget that short, slender, but deceptively strong, man clad in a red bellboy costume. Spirou, always at your service, a man more beloved than Fantasio. But Fantasio understood that. It was Spirou who didn’t get the memo.

The two friends (and their squirrel) stopped outside of the building, some quaint looking little bar. It was like a reward after a hard (multiple) day's work, just a detour on their way back to the hotel. Nights like these, they got to settle down with some liquor and atmosphere with the locals. Even Spip got to have a drink, for the little guy was quite weak for a glass of hazelnut liquor.

“Cheers! To another adventure of Spirou and Fantasio” They both shouted as they toasted their glasses. Spirou was always a man weak to such spirits, so it was clear he didn’t intend to drink much. But Fantasio had no such weaknesses, this would be far from his only drink of the night. Laughs were shared between them, recalling the events they just survived, for this time they were entirely unscathed.

“I’m telling you! Never again am I trusting a guy in purple pants- Oh, Spip, be careful there.” Spirou chided the little squirrel, holding him back from stealing more sips of the alcohol.

“Come on, let him live a little! Come here.” Fantasio gently took the companion into his own hands, providing the creature a straw to sip from his own drink.

“You’re gonna get my squirrel drunk as a skunk!”

“He’s more like our squirrel, I’ll keep an eye on him.” The blond blend held up an ‘ok’ gesture before taking the straw away, petting Spip and holding him to his chest.

“Fine, but if he gets sick you take care of him.” The redhead rolled his eyes and smiled at his dear friend’s antics. There was no real bite to his words anyways.

“Hey! Is that Spirou?” Someone from across the room asked loudly, approaching the duo. It was a man a bit taller than Fantasio, and he was just a bit muscled.

“Uhh… yes, I am Spirou.” He answered, swiveling his chair to look at the man.

“And Fantasio!” The blonde butted in.

“It’s a real surprise to see you in a place like this” he continued, completely ignoring the other adventurer.

“A place like this…?” Spirou raised an eyebrow, looking rather confused at the stranger.

“No need to act coy, and we’re all big fans don’t worry.” He laughed at the ginger's expression.

“You and ah… your friends over there?” He glanced back at where the man came from, a table of even more men. All of them varied a bit in appearance but clearly were a group. They seemed… fun, enjoying a good laugh together.

“Yeah, you should come over to our table. It’d be an honor to meet such a legend.” The man placed a hand on Spirou’s shoulder, and it made his face… go a little red? Fantasio was getting an off vibe from this guy. Part of him hoped that the flushing of his friend's face was from the alcohol in his system.

“Haha, a legend. I wouldn’t exactly say that. And uhh… that’s nice but… I…” His eyes flitted up to the blondes, like he was looking for some kind of approval before accepting the invitation. Wasn't this bar excursion meant to be just the two of them?

“It’s alright, Spirou. It's good to talk to the fans sometimes, and I’ve got my hands full over here with this little guy.” Fantasio held up the chittering squirrel, it seems like he didn’t enjoy being called little. His friend gave back a little smile.

“I’ll be back later, ok?” The redhead assured him.

“Seeya, pal.” He smiled back, holding up one of Spip's paws to wave at him (they did not approve). Spirou left with the stranger, giving Fantasio one last wave goodbye. The blonde chuckled just a bit under his breath, taking another swig of his drink. Back to just and Fantasio, sans the Spirou. This was typical, so typical.

He sat alone for a while, now that he thought about it there were a lot of men dressed with… varying amounts of skin showing. Some with very flamboyant outfits. Not even to mention the few women here, each looking quite tough and having such short haircuts. He didn’t come here to flirt with any of them, of course. A break was in order for the fruitless girlfriend search.

“Uhm… is this seat taken?” A rather shy boy asked when Fantasio was a few drinks in.

“Knock yourself out.” He answered, glancing back at the faraway table of the tall men and Spirou. He seemed like he was enjoying himself, face still flushed. The shy stranger sat down.

“Is- is that your squirrel?” He asked while nursing his own drink slowly.

“Oh, I suppose he is. This is Spip, the world's smartest squirrel.” Fantasio praised the small animal, placing him on the table. They stumbled around just a bit, clearly intoxicated.

“Is… Spip drunk?”

“Yup. He’s got a real problem. He’ll lose his AA chip.” He joked, the young man didn’t seem to find it as funny. But he laughed regardless.

“Haha… hahah…. I hope he’s okay.” The stranger anxiously rubbed his own arm.

“He’ll bounce back. The little guy’s a fighter.” The blonde patted the squirrel's head, they hiccuped.

“Aha, that’s good to know…” He sipped his drink again. “D-Do you come to places like this often…?”

“Bars? Yeah I go out now and then.” What was with that ‘places like this’ thing again? “What about you?”

“This is my first time. I-It was my friend's idea. They’re all more experienced with this sort of thing.” He rubbed his hands together as he spoke. Fantasio briefly wondered why the younger man even chose to come up to him of all people.

“Ah, so you came to a more experienced looking guy for advice. Haha, I see.” He stated proudly.

“I came to you because you uh… looked kinda sexy.” The younger man stated rather bluntly.

“I… wha?” Fantasio was stunned for a moment. He’s never had another man call him sexy before, or to his face at least.

“I-I’m sorry, I’m coming on too strong aren't I? Eurgh…” They chastised themself, putting their face in their hands. The blonde patted his back gently with awkward hands.

“No, I just didn’t expect it. And I’m sure you’re a good guy. I'm just… not interested.” He gave a wide smile in a poor attempt to quell the boy's worries, but that didn’t work too well.

“You don’t have to comfort me… this is… part of the process I guess. H-Have a good night, sir” And with that, the stranger left. Leaving a very confused Fantasio and drunk Spip behind. What was with this place? He glanced around the room at the other people, taking notice of… what he neglected to realize this whole time. All these men in flamboyant outfits, the rather gruff looking women…

“This is a gay bar…” Fantasio mumbled to himself…

Then he ordered another drink.

At this point Fantasio was just as drunk as the squirrel. He normally never succumbed to intoxication until he was… probably a bottle in. And when he’s drunk, it hits hard. He hit his forehead on the table.

“Spip are you seeing this!? Of all the places we could’ve gone. A gay bar!” He ranted at the squirrel. “And I’ve only been hit on once!”

The journalist turned to check on Spirou again. He was still laughing and talking with that group of men, probably all flirting with him. He looked rather small amongst them, seeing as they were all big strong attractive men… Was Spirou even gay? He looked to be enjoying the attention at least, being eyed up like a delicious quiche.

Suddenly, Fantasio would give anything to be at that table. Another set of adoring eyes on the redhead, he was a very desirable man. So it was no wonder that men immediately flocked to him, with those luscious ginger locks of hair, pretty eyes, and thin waist that made you just want to hold him closer. And that bellboy uniform, (although Spirou looked beautiful in any outfit) was the icing on the cake! Just a wink and a cheeky little smirk would be enough to send anyone's heart fluttering, Fantasio was no exception.

That does it, he can’t stand to watch this anymore. To watch all those men get to flatter his Spirou when they probably didn’t even realize how lucky they were to be able to do so. He didn’t need all those randos to tell him how heroic, and brave, and handsome he was. He had a Fantasio to come home to eeeevery night! And his Fantasio was more than willing to sing his praises.

The adventurer stood up harshly, snatching Spip and throwing him over his shoulder like a feathered boa. The pet squirrel only hiccuped and let it happen, deciding to nap off the liquor as a furry accessory. He approached the table keeping Spirou as their center of attention, their king. All of the men looked a bit confused at the… angry looking man?

“Hic- Spirou, we’re going now- hic! Come on.” He slurred out as he tugged on his friend’s sleeve, ignoring the glares.

“Fantasio! I leave you and Spip alone for-“ Spirou glanced up at the clock, eyes widening realizing just how late it had gotten. “Oh Goodness. We really do need to get going. Ah… it was nice talking to all of you but we’ve got a flight to catch tomorrow."

The ex-bellhop said his goodbyes to the (now mildly annoyed the object of their affections was leaving) group of men, wrapping his arm around Fantasio's waist and leading him out of the building.

“I thought you said you were watching Spip.” He questioned.

“I wasss… I promise- hic… get off our backs.” The blonde said as they stumbled outside. The night air was cold, but didn’t quell the heat in his chest and face.

“Fine, have fun with a hangover. I’ll get us a taxi-“ was all Spirou could get out before, with all the strength Fantasio could muster, he was pushed into the brick wall of the bar.

“Ow! What's gotten into y- MMPH!?” He was interrupted again, but this time with a pair of lips against his. The blonde man practically smashed their mouths together in a very uncoordinated kiss. But to his surprise, Spirou kissed back, if only for a moment. That was very short lived when he, very clumsily, tried to introduce tongue into the matter and his head was promptly pried away from his friends face.

“Now isn’t the time for that…” Spirou explained, “You’re… really drunk right now. You don’t actually…”

“I don’t care, hic- they don’t deserve you, Sssspirou… you’re better than them… yyyou… you don’t need those other guys.” Fantasio murmured, trying to wrap his arms around the other man

“I didn’t say I did.” He calmly responded.

“It’s.. hic- it’s supposed to be Spirou and Fffantasiooo… it’s just us… ok?” The redhead allowed his friend to hug him. “Nobody… hic- Nobody else…”

“…You don’t have to be jealous. You’re a good guy, Fantasio. I bet next time there would be Ah… a ton of people wanting you to sit at their table. People your type.” He pet the back of the other's head.

“You’re my type…” He whispered against Spirous neck.

“… Let’s get you to bed, buddy…” The adventurer finally pushed him off himself without much issue “And, you look better in any color but green.”

He just didn’t get it, huh?