Close, very close. He's aware of some of the flirting he's doing. The hip-swings, that's deliberate. Some of the things he says? No, he has no idea. Furtive hook-ups? You're dead on the money.
This is a great question. There's some background here.
John, back in high school, managed to keep his figure skating life and school life separate. His best friends knew that he got into figure skating in 10th grade, but for the most part people just knew that he worked out a lot and was scary-good at the rollerskating parties (they were big in the 80s). His closest friends wondered if he might be gay because he didn't have a girl friend and didn't show any interest, but they didn't know. They liked him and kept (at John's request) the figure skating under wraps.
The guys John fooled around with were the figure skaters.
For him it was a safe haven. No one cared if you were gay, half the instructors were, and compared to most of them he was still the straightest guy around. The skating club was a tight incestuous little group where within two years everyone had fooled around with everyone else. They joked and called the "Glen Ellyn Skating Club" the "Glen Ellyn Sex Club."
(By the way, John is still introduced at the regionals, sectionals, and national championships as "John Sheppard of the Glen Ellyn Skating Club from Chicago, Illinois." It makes him smile.)
The other skaters quickly discovered that while John would hook up and fool around, he wouldn't get involved in relationships or anything long term. He managed to avoid most of the drama that way. (And, oh boy, was there drama.) This was the starting point of a habit.
John's type is flamers (and borderline flamers). Which is strange since he wants to keep his own sexuality private. I think he admires guys who have the balls to be that obviously gay, but for whatever reason, that's what he likes. It's a problem because they're hard to pass off as just friends when people already know he's in a pretty gay sport.
After high school, John continued skating at more elite levels (completely hooked). Figure skating became, um, an image problem. He had a girl friend in college to throw his parents off the scent, and now he works hard to be butch and keep his sex life "low key" as he puts it. He's never had a continuous relationship with a guy for more than a month (though he's done on again, off again), largely because his type is so obvious. There are some broken hearts out there. He uses skating and his need to focus on his training as an excuse.
I hate to admit this, but, well, Rodney is totally his type and he really likes Rodney for a lot of reasons that are good reasons. It's the offer of the place to live, Rodney's total careless generousity that's caught John's eye. But in the back of John's mind he's well aware that any closeness between them can be passed off as the tight bond between skater and coach.
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branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2007-03-29 06:11 am (UTC)This is a great question. There's some background here.
John, back in high school, managed to keep his figure skating life and school life separate. His best friends knew that he got into figure skating in 10th grade, but for the most part people just knew that he worked out a lot and was scary-good at the rollerskating parties (they were big in the 80s). His closest friends wondered if he might be gay because he didn't have a girl friend and didn't show any interest, but they didn't know. They liked him and kept (at John's request) the figure skating under wraps.
The guys John fooled around with were the figure skaters.
For him it was a safe haven. No one cared if you were gay, half the instructors were, and compared to most of them he was still the straightest guy around. The skating club was a tight incestuous little group where within two years everyone had fooled around with everyone else. They joked and called the "Glen Ellyn Skating Club" the "Glen Ellyn Sex Club."
(By the way, John is still introduced at the regionals, sectionals, and national championships as "John Sheppard of the Glen Ellyn Skating Club from Chicago, Illinois." It makes him smile.)
The other skaters quickly discovered that while John would hook up and fool around, he wouldn't get involved in relationships or anything long term. He managed to avoid most of the drama that way. (And, oh boy, was there drama.) This was the starting point of a habit.
John's type is flamers (and borderline flamers). Which is strange since he wants to keep his own sexuality private. I think he admires guys who have the balls to be that obviously gay, but for whatever reason, that's what he likes. It's a problem because they're hard to pass off as just friends when people already know he's in a pretty gay sport.
After high school, John continued skating at more elite levels (completely hooked). Figure skating became, um, an image problem. He had a girl friend in college to throw his parents off the scent, and now he works hard to be butch and keep his sex life "low key" as he puts it. He's never had a continuous relationship with a guy for more than a month (though he's done on again, off again), largely because his type is so obvious. There are some broken hearts out there. He uses skating and his need to focus on his training as an excuse.
I hate to admit this, but, well, Rodney is totally his type and he really likes Rodney for a lot of reasons that are good reasons. It's the offer of the place to live, Rodney's total careless generousity that's caught John's eye. But in the back of John's mind he's well aware that any closeness between them can be passed off as the tight bond between skater and coach.
Icarus