Rex didn’t necessarily consider himself to be gay. Sure, he’d bang a guy if he was hot. But then again, he’d bang anyone that he found hot. So no, he wouldn’t call himself gay. That didn’t mean that he didn’t feel really, really gay around certain guys. There had been many times when he’d seen a dude go past and he couldn’t help but at least say ‘god damn’. At first, it had unsettled him a little. He wasn’t sure if he liked the idea of liking men. But thankfully it hadn’t taken him too long to get over himself. It was great, now that he’d come to terms with it.

He wouldn’t say he had a type, per se. As long as a person scratched that itch in his brain well enough, he’d flirt. Hell, sometimes he’d flirt even if they didn’t scratch any of those itches. Though, to be fair, he’d been trying to do less of that lately. Apparently it was a dick move to flirt with people you wouldn’t actually want to be involved with, or something along those lines. He couldn’t remember. He’d tuned out when he’d been scolded for it.

Whatever his type was, whether or not he was consciously aware of it, seemed to be perfectly embodied by him. He was, for a lack of a better word, very, very hot. Rex had noticed. More than just noticed, actually. He’d spent a good amount of time this week just pondering him. He’d been a little caught off guard when Cecil had introduced him to the team.

He wasn’t used to getting additions to the Guardians that weren’t old, irritating or unappealing to him, so his surprise when he came around and they were in fact not old, not super irritating and they did appeal to Rex was monumental. When Cecil had mentioned a new person being put on the team, Rex had been expecting it to be a drag. It would just be another person to tolerate around the base.

He’d been wrong. Very wrong. As soon as Cecil left, Rex had started flirting with him. He didn’t even give the guy time to settle into his new living quarters. No, Rex had to make an impression. One that would last. The same impression that swept countless people off of their feet and into his bed.

His usual routine, much to his dismay, had not worked on him. Rex had flirted with him relentlessly, taking every chance he got to check him out, or compliment him, or slip in pick up lines and innuendos into their conversations. Speaking of those conversations, they were fleeting. He didn’t seem to like him very much.

Of course, Rex knew that there was a certain demographic of people that didn’t really dig his straight forward, brazen attitude. But he’d been hoping that he wasn’t a part of that demographic, and he’d be a little more receptive.

It was a temporary setback, though. It was nothing that Rex couldn’t fix—or at least try to fix. He’d just have to find another way to grab his attention, and hold onto it. Rex didn’t mind a little bit of a chase. Sure, if he really didn’t like it, he’d quit it, but until they explicitly told him to screw off and shove his flirting up where the sun don’t shine, he was going to keep plotting and scheming to figure out how to win him over.

Rex did have an idea of what he could try, though. Was it a good idea? No. Not at all, actually. He probably should have picked an idea that was less likely to get his nose broken, but where’s the fun in that? Besides, if he did punch him in the face, at least Rex could say that he touched him. That would be great. A small victory, but a victory nonetheless.

He’d been lounging around in the common room, waiting patiently for him to come out of his quarters. He knew he would, eventually. Even he had to come out to stretch his legs or grab something from the kitchen. And Rex intended on being there when it happened.

So when he eventually emerged from his room, Rex had to bite back a grin and pay attention to his phone, acting like he didn’t notice him walking past to go to the kitchen. He gave it a few seconds before getting up, trotting over to stand by the doorway of the kitchen, blocking his potential path back to their room.

“God, I was thinking you might’ve died in there,” Rex said, putting on his best smug, anger inducing tone. He was good at it. So good at it that he did it unintentionally sometimes, but still. “I thought it was starting to stink, but I guess that must’ve just been you. I’m surprised that Cecil let you stay here, honestly. You probably don’t qualify to be here. Unlike me, of course. I’m much better suited for this gig than you are.”

Was taunting your teammate an intelligent decision? Not at all, no. But if Rex could goad him into getting physical, or at least get into some kind of verbal argument, he’d be happy. It would mean that he’d get acknowledged.

He wasn’t sure why he wanted his attention so bad. He could’ve gotten plenty of other dudes to lend him their time if he went out and flirted at a gay bar for a little while. He didn’t need to be begging for scraps of attention like this. But god, he wanted it badly. He wanted him badly.