Fanfic: A Butterfly Flaps Its Wings, Chapter 4
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From his place near the jukebox where some random woman is attempting to chat him up, Barney’s gaze follows Robin’s progress up to the bar.
Much as he’s wanted an opening from her – figuratively and literally, what up! – the 20, as he’s called her in his mind since he first laid eyes on her, has been surrounded all night by a gaggle of females. And he knows from past experience that the group approach is rarely successful. Either you get shot down by one of her girlfriends or one of them wants you instead and the whole thing turns awkward.
Consequently, he’s spent the last hour and fifteen minutes biding his time, waiting for the opportunity to talk to her away from the others, and now that the chance has presented itself he nearly sprints across the room – in the most suave and totally not eager way possible, of course.
Barney sidles up beside her at the bar just in time to hear her request to Carl – “Dirty martini” – and he smiles inwardly at the stroke of luck as it gives him the chance to use Approach #3. “Interesting order,” he slickly remarks.
Robin turns to find Hottie in the Suit now beside her and she doesn’t even attempt to hide her amused smile. “Why?” she shots back, genuinely curious as to where he’s going with this. “There are about fifteen women in the bar drinking this very same thing right now.”
Already Barney knows from her response that he was correct earlier about her sharpness and brains and he attempts to modify his usual line accordingly. “Yes, but you drinking it is interesting to me….An order says a lot about the person.”
“Does it?” she asks.
And there’s that knowing amusement again, keeping him on his toes.
“Without question,” he replies, still attempting to stick to his usual game, if slightly refined. “Take a person who orders scotch, like myself for instance. Scotch is urbane, sophisticated, and smooth – with a great body for your tongue,” he adds with a smirk.
It’s a cheesy line but she can’t help smiling at it despite herself. With him it’s all in the charm of the delivery. He’s every bit as much fun as she suspected he’d be from her observations. But she’s not prepared to let him know that just yet so she answers with a noncommittal, “Is that right?”
“It’s accurate 83% of the time,” he states confidently as if it’s a well-known scientific fact. “Or 100% of the time in my case. Now you ordering a dirty martini, that implies – ”
“Oh I know what you’d say it implies,” she interrupts with a laugh.
That throws Barney off. She didn’t even let him finish his line – and she’s laughing. A woman’s laughter is usually a good thing but his ‘drink that you ordered’ pickup line isn’t supposed to be funny. It’s supposed to be sexy. But it’s clearly not working on this girl. “How do you know what I’d say?” he tests her.
“Because I know guys like you. I know you. I know precisely how you work. Why do you think I came over here? I was waiting for you to come hit on me. And just as I thought,” she grins boldly, “it took exactly ten seconds.”
Barney narrows his eyes at her. This girl is different. Not only is she keeping up with him – which never happens – she’s actually forcing him to keep up with her. And she’s not afraid to cut him down to size. She’s a challenge, that’s for sure. A rare intellectual challenge. And he loves a challenge. But it’s clear that no play, modified or otherwise, is going to work on her. With this woman he needs to be straightforward, just himself with nothing else put on. It’s a rarity, a slightly intimidating but tremendously exciting one.
“I apologize; the redhead over there got in my way or I would have been here sooner,” he quips, though entirely honestly in this case. “But now your wait is over; I’m here, and I have hit on you. Although you didn’t fall for my dirty martini line,” he points out since her response makes little sense if she wanted to be hit on by him.
“That’s because I’m not drunk,” she retorts. And there’s that amused little smile again that makes him want to kiss her desperately. “And I actually have a higher IQ than bra size so I doubt I’d fall for your lines anyway.”
Talk of her bra size naturally causes his eyes to drift there and the already nearly overpowering urge to kiss her rises tenfold. That’s it; he has to be with this woman. He has to experience her at least once. With that in mind, he again answers honestly. “Your IQ is impressive, but so is what’s beneath that bra….I could take both out to play tonight. That’s what I’ve been waiting for. What about you?”
“What about me?”
“You said you were waiting for me to come to you just like I was waiting to get you alone.”
She did admit that, didn’t she? But it was for the fun of it, not because she has any intention of actually sleeping with him. “My coworker just went through a breakup and I’ve been sitting here all night hearing about how Chad did her wrong.” Robin shrugs. “I got bored. My mind wandered.”
“And it wandered straight to me,” Barney smoothly fills in.
“Not for the reasons you think,” Robin grins. “I watched you all night,” she reveals. “I saw the way you operate. And I’ve gotta say, it’s entertaining. So….I was curious to experience it for myself. But there’s no way I’m gonna volunteer to join your three ring circus. And even if I was that naïve – and, let’s face it, that stupid – I’m not looking for a relationship or any kind of love connection.”
He respects the way she gets straight down to business so he will too. “Well then, I’ll keep it simple on all accounts: no relationship, no three ring circus, and definitely no love.” He leans in closer, setting his elbow alongside hers against the bar. “Why don’t you just come home with me tonight?” he proposes. “I’ll even drop my normal ‘sex three times before going out to dinner’ rule for you. We can stop somewhere and get a bite to eat first before I make you forget your own name.”
She shouldn’t want him as much as she does, but the reality is she’d like nothing more than to play with him tonight, rolling around in his sheets that smell as good as he does. But wanting doesn’t mean doing, not tonight anyway and not with him. “You are intriguing,” Robin allows with a soft smile that has him leaning even closer. “But I’m not having a one night stand with you.”
“Friends with benefits?” Barney tries.
Robin laughs. “We’d have to be friends first.”
He considers that for half a second. “Alright,” he decides. “Challenge accepted. So how about I let you in on the play?”
She gives him a cautiously curious look, the smile still dancing on her lips. “What does that mean?”
“Let’s be friends then. You find my ‘three ring circus’, as you put it, so entertaining. Well, I’ll let you behind the curtain, show you all my tricks, all the inner workings. You can be in on the game. You’re impressed with my work, I can tell. And I respect that.” He tilts his head in deference, straightening his tie. “I could always use another bro. It’ll actually be quite interesting to have a wingwoman for my broings on about town. What do you say?”
Now it’s Robin’s turn to consider. She ought to throw her drink in his face. At the very least she should walk away, walk out of the bar and never set eyes on him again…..But he is intriguing….Her job’s a bore, her social life is nonexistent, she barely even speaks to her family and hardly knows anyone in the city yet. Meeting this cocky, eccentric, and charming mystery man in the suit is the most interesting and exciting thing to happen to her in longer than she cares to admit.
And it’s still not like she’s going to sleep with him. But he seems like a fun person to be around. Broing about town, is that what he called it? That sort of exhilaration and fun is just what she needs in her life. Patrice wasn’t wrong; she does need to get out more often. As serious as she is about her career, work can’t be everything.
She sets her martini on the bar, extending her hand to him. “Robin Scherbatsky.”
“Barney Stinson,” he smiles, taking her hand in his and holding it longer than necessary for a simple introduction before finally letting it go.
Robin wishes she could say she felt nothing when he touched her but that would be the biggest lie she’s ever told. She’s not going to sleep with him though. She’s not. She just needs sex badly. That’s the only reason she’s picturing dragging him into the women’s room right now. But she’s cool and collected through years’ worth of practice and doesn’t let any of that inner yearning show. “So that is your real name,” she says in cheeky reply.
“I decided to use it tonight,” he grins, continually impressed by her quickness. “What about you?”
“I always use my real name.” Then she realizes that’s not entirely true. “Well…except for the once. But that’s a long story.”
Barney can smell weakness and titillation a mile away and instantly pounces on that slipped bit of information. “I like long stories, especially sexy ones that involve hot aliases.”
“Then this one will disappoint you,” she smiles. There is nothing sexy about her squeaky clean years living under her teen alias.
“Try me.”
“Uh-uh.” Robin shakes her head, quietly adding, “I never tell that story to anyone.” She picks up her drink again, taking another sip of the martini.
Barney could keep on after her but there’s something about the way she avoids eye contact, something in her entire body language of vulnerability surrounding the subject that lets him know this story – whatever it may be – really does make her uncomfortable. And though he barely knows her, already something tells him that’s the last thing he’d ever want to do. “Okay,” he backs off. “We all have our skeletons in the closet. I’ll let you keep yours,” he gently tells her.
She appreciates the way he respects her wishes, not prying any further where she’s made clear she doesn’t want anyone going. But when she looks up to meet his gaze again it’s the hint of empathy and understanding she sees in his eyes that truly surprises her. This man is fun, and charming, and unique, and incredibly hot in his tailored suit. All of that is plain to see. But this one caring look from him revealed there’s more going on beneath the surface. A lot more. And she’d like to find out what.
“What skeletons do you have, Barney Stinson?” she asks softly, and despite herself a tone of blatant flirtation slips into her voice. She finds herself leaning just a little closer and she knows lust very well may be written all over her face. Because she’d also like to experience the more obvious attributes hidden beneath that expensive suit. She’s not going to let herself, but she can’t help wanting it.
Barney watches the way Robin leans just a little more into him and knows he was also right earlier about the little twinkle in her: she wants sex just as much as he does; she likes it wild and kinky the same way he prefers it; and now he can tell that she even wants it with him.
The two of them could have so much fun together it’s insane. He knows he’s going to have to work for it though. But for the first time in a very long time he actually doesn’t mind. With her, he has a feeling the getting there is going to be as enjoyable, if not more so, than the actual sex with his usual conquests. And with her, when he finally does get her into bed it’s going to be off the charts explosive.
“Let’s get out of here,” he says, setting down his scotch and nodding towards the door.
Robin’s lips form that amused smile again. “I told you, I’m not going to sleep with you.”
“Not yet, anyway,” Barney maintains mischievously. “But relax; I’m just working on the ‘friends’ part of ‘friends with benefits’. I’ve watched you all night too, and not only were you bored to tears with that laugh fest you’ve been trapped in but you were also starving. And the party girls over there were only having drinks all night, nothing to eat.”
“We came straight from work. I haven’t had dinner yet,” Robin admits. She’d been wishing for a plate of appetizers for the past hour. Her stomach had growled a time or two back at the booth, but she hadn’t even realized just exactly how hungry she is until he just mentioned it now. How can he read her that well, she wonders, a bit unnerved.
“Perfect. I’ll fix that.” A thought occurs to him and he grins devilishly. “Oh ho-ho! I know just the place. But it’s in Brooklyn,” he warns, unsure if she’ll agree to go with him that far.
“I live in Brooklyn.”
“Awesome. Cause I know you’ll appreciate this…..”
As Robin grabs her purse off the bar, heading with Barney out the door, she doesn’t have any doubt at all that he’s right. The trouble is she already appreciates him way too much for her own good.
Challenge Accepted
From his place near the jukebox where some random woman is attempting to chat him up, Barney’s gaze follows Robin’s progress up to the bar.
Much as he’s wanted an opening from her – figuratively and literally, what up! – the 20, as he’s called her in his mind since he first laid eyes on her, has been surrounded all night by a gaggle of females. And he knows from past experience that the group approach is rarely successful. Either you get shot down by one of her girlfriends or one of them wants you instead and the whole thing turns awkward.
Consequently, he’s spent the last hour and fifteen minutes biding his time, waiting for the opportunity to talk to her away from the others, and now that the chance has presented itself he nearly sprints across the room – in the most suave and totally not eager way possible, of course.
Barney sidles up beside her at the bar just in time to hear her request to Carl – “Dirty martini” – and he smiles inwardly at the stroke of luck as it gives him the chance to use Approach #3. “Interesting order,” he slickly remarks.
Robin turns to find Hottie in the Suit now beside her and she doesn’t even attempt to hide her amused smile. “Why?” she shots back, genuinely curious as to where he’s going with this. “There are about fifteen women in the bar drinking this very same thing right now.”
Already Barney knows from her response that he was correct earlier about her sharpness and brains and he attempts to modify his usual line accordingly. “Yes, but you drinking it is interesting to me….An order says a lot about the person.”
“Does it?” she asks.
And there’s that knowing amusement again, keeping him on his toes.
“Without question,” he replies, still attempting to stick to his usual game, if slightly refined. “Take a person who orders scotch, like myself for instance. Scotch is urbane, sophisticated, and smooth – with a great body for your tongue,” he adds with a smirk.
It’s a cheesy line but she can’t help smiling at it despite herself. With him it’s all in the charm of the delivery. He’s every bit as much fun as she suspected he’d be from her observations. But she’s not prepared to let him know that just yet so she answers with a noncommittal, “Is that right?”
“It’s accurate 83% of the time,” he states confidently as if it’s a well-known scientific fact. “Or 100% of the time in my case. Now you ordering a dirty martini, that implies – ”
“Oh I know what you’d say it implies,” she interrupts with a laugh.
That throws Barney off. She didn’t even let him finish his line – and she’s laughing. A woman’s laughter is usually a good thing but his ‘drink that you ordered’ pickup line isn’t supposed to be funny. It’s supposed to be sexy. But it’s clearly not working on this girl. “How do you know what I’d say?” he tests her.
“Because I know guys like you. I know you. I know precisely how you work. Why do you think I came over here? I was waiting for you to come hit on me. And just as I thought,” she grins boldly, “it took exactly ten seconds.”
Barney narrows his eyes at her. This girl is different. Not only is she keeping up with him – which never happens – she’s actually forcing him to keep up with her. And she’s not afraid to cut him down to size. She’s a challenge, that’s for sure. A rare intellectual challenge. And he loves a challenge. But it’s clear that no play, modified or otherwise, is going to work on her. With this woman he needs to be straightforward, just himself with nothing else put on. It’s a rarity, a slightly intimidating but tremendously exciting one.
“I apologize; the redhead over there got in my way or I would have been here sooner,” he quips, though entirely honestly in this case. “But now your wait is over; I’m here, and I have hit on you. Although you didn’t fall for my dirty martini line,” he points out since her response makes little sense if she wanted to be hit on by him.
“That’s because I’m not drunk,” she retorts. And there’s that amused little smile again that makes him want to kiss her desperately. “And I actually have a higher IQ than bra size so I doubt I’d fall for your lines anyway.”
Talk of her bra size naturally causes his eyes to drift there and the already nearly overpowering urge to kiss her rises tenfold. That’s it; he has to be with this woman. He has to experience her at least once. With that in mind, he again answers honestly. “Your IQ is impressive, but so is what’s beneath that bra….I could take both out to play tonight. That’s what I’ve been waiting for. What about you?”
“What about me?”
“You said you were waiting for me to come to you just like I was waiting to get you alone.”
She did admit that, didn’t she? But it was for the fun of it, not because she has any intention of actually sleeping with him. “My coworker just went through a breakup and I’ve been sitting here all night hearing about how Chad did her wrong.” Robin shrugs. “I got bored. My mind wandered.”
“And it wandered straight to me,” Barney smoothly fills in.
“Not for the reasons you think,” Robin grins. “I watched you all night,” she reveals. “I saw the way you operate. And I’ve gotta say, it’s entertaining. So….I was curious to experience it for myself. But there’s no way I’m gonna volunteer to join your three ring circus. And even if I was that naïve – and, let’s face it, that stupid – I’m not looking for a relationship or any kind of love connection.”
He respects the way she gets straight down to business so he will too. “Well then, I’ll keep it simple on all accounts: no relationship, no three ring circus, and definitely no love.” He leans in closer, setting his elbow alongside hers against the bar. “Why don’t you just come home with me tonight?” he proposes. “I’ll even drop my normal ‘sex three times before going out to dinner’ rule for you. We can stop somewhere and get a bite to eat first before I make you forget your own name.”
She shouldn’t want him as much as she does, but the reality is she’d like nothing more than to play with him tonight, rolling around in his sheets that smell as good as he does. But wanting doesn’t mean doing, not tonight anyway and not with him. “You are intriguing,” Robin allows with a soft smile that has him leaning even closer. “But I’m not having a one night stand with you.”
“Friends with benefits?” Barney tries.
Robin laughs. “We’d have to be friends first.”
He considers that for half a second. “Alright,” he decides. “Challenge accepted. So how about I let you in on the play?”
She gives him a cautiously curious look, the smile still dancing on her lips. “What does that mean?”
“Let’s be friends then. You find my ‘three ring circus’, as you put it, so entertaining. Well, I’ll let you behind the curtain, show you all my tricks, all the inner workings. You can be in on the game. You’re impressed with my work, I can tell. And I respect that.” He tilts his head in deference, straightening his tie. “I could always use another bro. It’ll actually be quite interesting to have a wingwoman for my broings on about town. What do you say?”
Now it’s Robin’s turn to consider. She ought to throw her drink in his face. At the very least she should walk away, walk out of the bar and never set eyes on him again…..But he is intriguing….Her job’s a bore, her social life is nonexistent, she barely even speaks to her family and hardly knows anyone in the city yet. Meeting this cocky, eccentric, and charming mystery man in the suit is the most interesting and exciting thing to happen to her in longer than she cares to admit.
And it’s still not like she’s going to sleep with him. But he seems like a fun person to be around. Broing about town, is that what he called it? That sort of exhilaration and fun is just what she needs in her life. Patrice wasn’t wrong; she does need to get out more often. As serious as she is about her career, work can’t be everything.
She sets her martini on the bar, extending her hand to him. “Robin Scherbatsky.”
“Barney Stinson,” he smiles, taking her hand in his and holding it longer than necessary for a simple introduction before finally letting it go.
Robin wishes she could say she felt nothing when he touched her but that would be the biggest lie she’s ever told. She’s not going to sleep with him though. She’s not. She just needs sex badly. That’s the only reason she’s picturing dragging him into the women’s room right now. But she’s cool and collected through years’ worth of practice and doesn’t let any of that inner yearning show. “So that is your real name,” she says in cheeky reply.
“I decided to use it tonight,” he grins, continually impressed by her quickness. “What about you?”
“I always use my real name.” Then she realizes that’s not entirely true. “Well…except for the once. But that’s a long story.”
Barney can smell weakness and titillation a mile away and instantly pounces on that slipped bit of information. “I like long stories, especially sexy ones that involve hot aliases.”
“Then this one will disappoint you,” she smiles. There is nothing sexy about her squeaky clean years living under her teen alias.
“Try me.”
“Uh-uh.” Robin shakes her head, quietly adding, “I never tell that story to anyone.” She picks up her drink again, taking another sip of the martini.
Barney could keep on after her but there’s something about the way she avoids eye contact, something in her entire body language of vulnerability surrounding the subject that lets him know this story – whatever it may be – really does make her uncomfortable. And though he barely knows her, already something tells him that’s the last thing he’d ever want to do. “Okay,” he backs off. “We all have our skeletons in the closet. I’ll let you keep yours,” he gently tells her.
She appreciates the way he respects her wishes, not prying any further where she’s made clear she doesn’t want anyone going. But when she looks up to meet his gaze again it’s the hint of empathy and understanding she sees in his eyes that truly surprises her. This man is fun, and charming, and unique, and incredibly hot in his tailored suit. All of that is plain to see. But this one caring look from him revealed there’s more going on beneath the surface. A lot more. And she’d like to find out what.
“What skeletons do you have, Barney Stinson?” she asks softly, and despite herself a tone of blatant flirtation slips into her voice. She finds herself leaning just a little closer and she knows lust very well may be written all over her face. Because she’d also like to experience the more obvious attributes hidden beneath that expensive suit. She’s not going to let herself, but she can’t help wanting it.
Barney watches the way Robin leans just a little more into him and knows he was also right earlier about the little twinkle in her: she wants sex just as much as he does; she likes it wild and kinky the same way he prefers it; and now he can tell that she even wants it with him.
The two of them could have so much fun together it’s insane. He knows he’s going to have to work for it though. But for the first time in a very long time he actually doesn’t mind. With her, he has a feeling the getting there is going to be as enjoyable, if not more so, than the actual sex with his usual conquests. And with her, when he finally does get her into bed it’s going to be off the charts explosive.
“Let’s get out of here,” he says, setting down his scotch and nodding towards the door.
Robin’s lips form that amused smile again. “I told you, I’m not going to sleep with you.”
“Not yet, anyway,” Barney maintains mischievously. “But relax; I’m just working on the ‘friends’ part of ‘friends with benefits’. I’ve watched you all night too, and not only were you bored to tears with that laugh fest you’ve been trapped in but you were also starving. And the party girls over there were only having drinks all night, nothing to eat.”
“We came straight from work. I haven’t had dinner yet,” Robin admits. She’d been wishing for a plate of appetizers for the past hour. Her stomach had growled a time or two back at the booth, but she hadn’t even realized just exactly how hungry she is until he just mentioned it now. How can he read her that well, she wonders, a bit unnerved.
“Perfect. I’ll fix that.” A thought occurs to him and he grins devilishly. “Oh ho-ho! I know just the place. But it’s in Brooklyn,” he warns, unsure if she’ll agree to go with him that far.
“I live in Brooklyn.”
“Awesome. Cause I know you’ll appreciate this…..”
As Robin grabs her purse off the bar, heading with Barney out the door, she doesn’t have any doubt at all that he’s right. The trouble is she already appreciates him way too much for her own good.