Chapter Text
"Wait, when did you-," Hen paused mid-sentence.
If you ask Eddie, he would describe the following scene as weirdly formed fingers imitating peace signs, which she repeatedly smashed together.
He didn't know what the hell the gestures meant.
And she found herself compelled to use words.
"You know... when did you have intercourse the last time?" she surrendered with her hands in the air, giving up the idea of communicating only with them.
Karen clicked her tongue in annoyance and gave her wife a sidelong glance.
"Hen, baby. First of all, Eddie isn't a lesbian," obviously he wouldn't know what scissoring is, "Second of all, that's not something you ask."
"Come on, don't pretend you don't wanna know," Hen argued with a pout.
Yeah, maybe it was a bad idea to drink wine with the girls on a Friday evening. But it also felt nice to be included, to get outside the house, and to take time with friends besides Buck. Denny and Chris were friends for years; they played video games in another room with Mara, and he enjoyed the feeling of having him close by, without giving him the impression that he was a control freak.
The intercourse question humored him. Maybe because he was slightly drunk. Probably because he was hella drunk.
Although he preferred to keep this part of his life private, he was not ashamed of his reality. Or better said, he knew he didn't need to be ashamed in front of them, at least. Because one thing Eddie had learned since working more closely with Hen was that while she was excellent at teasing, her specialty lay in empathy.
So he just chuckled and answered honestly.
"It's okay, Karen. I guess the last time was when I was with Marisol."
The following gasp was loud.
"That was, what, 2 years ago? Haven't you had at least some hookups?" Hen asked with a raised eyebrow, not believing him.
"Nope, never. I was with Shannon, Ana, Marisol, and that's where my sexual history ends."
Maybe a bit too honest, but it was just the truth.
"Oh my god, Eddie, you were only with 3 women-"
Eddie immediately interrupted her: "I had Chris when I was 19, and he's been my priority ever since. Yeah, I dated, but nothing more got further than with them."
"I mean, that's fine, but aren't you like... pent up?" Hen hesitantly asked, getting surprised with an even more unexpected answer.
"Sex isn't that important to me."
Yeah, sure.
"Said no man, ever," she noted dryly.
"Hey, ace men exist!" Karen contradicted her while softly ramming an elbow into her ribs for being too tactless.
"Owch... fair point," she agreed, annoyingly rubbing her soon-to-be bruise.
Eddie, however, watched the scene in confusion.
"Ace? What's that supposed to mean?"
Being a sports ace? Or an ace in a deck of cards? Neither made sense.
"Forget it, not that important, we're just joking," Karen stated while waving it off.
"No, I wanna know," Eddie insisted.
Karen gave Hen a look that amounted to a command. 'Explain. It. Probably.' She sighed, too drunk to hold a sexuality lecture, but okay, here we go.
"Ace in like asexual. If you experience little to no sexual attraction to other people."
"I think the fact that I was married and have a son disproves this theory," Eddie argued and chuckled, sipping a bit from his wine glass.
"Not really," Karen shrugged.
"Yeah, first of all, asexuality is a spectrum. While others have no desire for sexual intimacy, others only have these feelings under certain conditions for a person with whom they experience a strong bond," Hen tried to explain it with the little knowledge she achieved through various Netflix series. Some better than others.
"Isn't that normal...?" Eddie asked, not getting it.
"Say this to Buck 1.0," Hen laughed.
"Was he really that bad?"
He had heard many stories about his best friend before Abby Clark, and all of these stories sounded pathetic. Knowing Buck, seeing Buck developing into the man he is today, seeing what he's gone through in the last 8 years – him once being sex addicted was one of the seemingly harmless stories.
"We have to thank God he hadn't figured out he's bi at the time; he would have jumped you on the first day."
An unnecessary comment that made him choke on his wine, much to Karen's amusement. Just an example, it was just an example.
"Back to the point. Not everyone who's ace despises sex at all. While you can be sex repulsive, others still sleep with romantic partners to please their needs or to have a child. Plenty of different ways asexual people decide to live," Hen elaborated.
"And what does any of that have to do with me?"
"It doesn't have to. But maybe it can. Top three things I don't want to ask my coworkers, but do you like sex?"
Risky question, but worth a shot, she believed.
"I'm good at it," he answered shortly without much thinking.
"That wasn't the question."
"I mean, yes, of course, I think so? It's just part of a relationship."
"But you don't crave it?"
Craving sex? Do people crave doing it? Probably.
"Not really. Is that bad?" he frowned.
"No, honey, of course not," Karen quickly responded, sensing his insecurity, "But maybe you should research and think about it. You being queer could be a possibility."
Him being what again now? Obviously, he knew what queer meant, but he was straight after all. Straights can't be queer, right?
"Wait, why are we suddenly talking about me being queer?"
"Because ace people can be part of the queer community, but-"
"I don't want that," he suddenly burst out, with more harshness behind as intended.
"Ouch," Hen voiced, not really hurt, but more caught off guard.
It's not like he would hold anything against queer people. He, personally, definitely was simply straight. At least that's what he always believed. And he didn't need to voice any of this, because the panic flooded his face.
"Eddie, we don't say that you're queer. Or ace. None of our business anyway. Just think about it. And talk with Buck about it," Karen suggested in an attempt to calm him down.
"Why should I?"
"Because he knows a lot of random shit. Probably read every LGBTQA article he could find on the whole internet after he came out. Ask him about asexuality, and he starts a lecture about sea stars," Hen encouraged her wife.
"Only a recommendation. You can also forget about this all and go your way. Just seems like there might be something behind," she added.
And Eddie knew she was right. What they said sounded reasonable. Although he didn't know if they were on the right track.
Talking, however, with Buck about it... he didn't know if he was brave enough for this step. He didn't know why the thought of talking with him about it intimidated him so much.
He didn't know anything. Besides:
Eddie isn't a lesbian. Maybe something else.