𝙸 𝙲𝚊𝚗'𝚝 𝙲𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚜

𝚂𝟸𝙴𝟿: 𝙿𝚎𝚛𝚌𝚢 𝙰𝚌𝚌𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚃𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚠𝚜 𝚊 𝚁𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚛

Loosely inspired by Community S2E15: "Early 21st Century Romanticism." Most of this plot is original and based on common tropes.

Percy POV

They say you should know better than to make a deal with the devil, but some devils live among us in disguise.

One devil, in particular, goes by the alias Sherman Yang, and he never forgets the score, even when the first point was scored all the way back in August.

It's February now, and just when Percy least expects it, Sherman corners him in the men's bathroom and reminds him of this favor that Percy owes him.

"Remember my hot tub party?" he says.

Percy remembers the hot tub party. How could he forget? That night was magical.

And Percy supposes that it was nice of Sherman to end his hot tub party the way he did, so he hears him out.

A couple of days later, it's Super Bowl Sunday, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are playing the Kansas City Chiefs. Percy's never really been into watching football games, but he appreciates the culture. There's this exhilarating feeling that comes with watching your favorite team score a touchdown alongside friends. Plus, the snacks are great, and Sherman says he'll provide plenty.

Is Percy actually going to watch the Super Bowl with friends? It's hard to say. He and Sherman aren't exactly close. Sherman's the event planner for the Mars coed fraternity, and Percy's always made a point to steer clear of Greek life because where there are frat boys, someone always gets hurt. God, he can't have some Title IX incident happening in his apartment. Hopefully, Sherman understands that this is for him and Percy only. Sherman's actually into football, so the best-case scenario is Sherman sitting and watching the game quietly on the 30-inch television Percy won in a raffle.

But that would be too easy. No, Sherman likes to make things difficult. Of course, he would invite someone to watch the game with him.

"Hey, Sherman," Percy greets. "Hey... Will..."

Since when did Will Solace get into football? Percy doesn't want to assume things about him just because he's into guys.

Percy assumes things about Will because Percy's into guys.

Surprised?

Percy thinks the idea of coming out is stupid, so he never did it. He just cracks a ton of jokes and enters every conversation like everyone knows he's bi, which is a lot easier than coming out to every single person he meets.

"Hey there, Jackson," says Sherman. "Hope you don't mind I brought Solace here along. I saw him wandering outside the fraternity house, just aching to go to a party. Weren't you, buddy?"

Will crinkles his nose to keep his mask from falling. "I, uh-"

"That's the spirit!" says Sherman. "You got the pregame set up, or should I log into my ESPN+ account?" Sherman barges in and sets his grocery bags down on Percy's folding table. Then, he picks the remote up off the coffee table and starts pushing buttons. "You don't mind if I sit here, do you?" he asks, taking a seat in Percy's favorite chair.

Percy's a good host. "Not at all."

"Where should I put the bean dip?" Will asks.

"Put the bean dip on the table so we can eat while we watch. You boys are gonna love my famous bean dip!" Sherman roars.

Will pulls a bag of tortilla chips out of one of the Safeway bags.

"Oh, wow, you guys got the kind shaped like little bowls," Percy comments. "You're not messing around."