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"Questioning everything is a good way to learn new things," Jordan said, and sipped his coffee, thinking over what Rep had said. "Tracey chose you. He must have had a reason for it. You could ask him what he found in you that he wanted to be your partner."

"Who determines what's best for people?" he asked. "And why is it a bad thing to have challenges? If you'd taken the path of least resistance all the way, you wouldn't be here. You must want to stand up to it and fight it in some way. That's not the easy path." The debate was giving him a bit more insight into Rep's thoughts, the structure of the other man's unexamined assumptions. It explained a fair amount about why the guy behaved the way he did.

The corner of his mouth curled up in a smile that threatened to become a smirk. "So what exactly defines men acting like homos? Or women acting like guys?"

"Other people? That seems pretty vague," Jordan said. "And there is a difference between what other people think you should do and what's best for you. I'm sure you've figured that one out." He leaned his elbows on the table. "You knew you were wasting your life, so you chose to do something else. Sounds like a good decision to me, and nobody told you that that was what you were supposed to do, or that that was what was best for you. You thought about what you wanted to do and did it."

"You seem to have some pretty stereotypical views on what men and women are like," he observed. "Not everybody is the same." That was going to be an uphill battle. "And how do you know you've never met a homo? Seeing as how you have a pretty low opinion of them, maybe they just never told you."

"It's something to think about, anyway. Everyone here is here because they were offered a choice and they decided that that was the best choice for themselves. Nobody was forced into coming here. We are what we are by our own free will." That could be extrapolated into other situations as well, but Jordan left that point unspoken. Rep would figure it out on his own, or not.

"People who are similar tend to hang out together," he pointed out. "So you've seen the same kinds of people all your life. As you just said, people are different here." He took a mouthful of coffee and continued, "I lived in a college town near the coast, so all sorts of people passed through. I guess I'm a little more used to people with a wide range of differences."

He managed not to outright laugh, but he couldn't contain a smirk. "I'd say the attitude might be a turnoff."

Jordan shrugged. "At least here you don't have to pretend to ignore the things most people can't see. If nothing else, that's a plus. Also, being paid to hit things. And set them on fire." He looked far too pleased with that thought for a few moments. He might not have been a particularly destructive person in his previous life, but there was a certain amount of satisfaction in blunt-force problem solving.

He did laugh at the last statement this time. "Man, you talk like women and gay people are a different species or something. I know for a fact you've talked to a gay guy since you got here, man. Possibly also a lesbian, but I don't know that one for sure."

Jordan grinned. "Would you believe I'd been in all of one fight my whole life before I got here? Feels natural, though." He absently stroked the band of Ferros's ring with his thumb; the dragon whuffed drowsily at him and subsided once more. "Someone's getting some sleep, anyway," he remarked, looking down at the ring with a wry smile. "Brat."

The expression on Rep's face made him laugh. "No, Jerry's straight," he corrected. "If socially awkward. He was with Candace." He left the rest of that particular past tense out; Rep didn't need to know. "I got details I could have done without hearing, dude." He shook his head, then hid his smirk behind his coffee cup. This was actually pretty hilarious.

"Well, I've had almost a year to improve," Jordan said. "And Ferros helped. I hear it's harder if your weapon's not cooperating." Robert was probably an example of that particular situation. "You'll be learning runic weaponry as well at some point," he added as an aside. "If Tracey's possessive, you might need to talk that over with him."

"I don't particularly want to know about my friends' sex lives, is all, beyond knowing they've got someone." He shrugged. "Jerry's a good guy. Weird sometimes, and right now he's got problems he's dealing with, but he's a good friend."

He snickered quietly at Rep's attempt at guessing who the ninja homo could possibly be. "Probably not. Don't think Leon swings that way, but you never know." He briefly debated drawing it out further, letting Rep flail around and guess, but the guy would probably start getting pissed at having information withheld before too long, and that'd undo whatever good the conversation had done. "No, dude, you're talking to him."

"The chain I used on the yeti is an example," Jordan explained. "Ferros gets grumpy if I use anything other than him, but some situations just require a different tool."

He couldn't help smirking at the absolutely stunned look on Rep's face - every bit as satisfying as anticipated - but when Rep asked the same thing Robert had, he shook his head, sobering. "Not kidding," he said, and caught Rep's eye, giving him a steady, even look. "It's not something you can tell by looking. Or behavior. Has nothing to do with anything other than who I end up dating, and that means jack s**t to you, as you're straight and I'm not interested. Doesn't change a thing." He smiled again. "Seriously, dude. Talking weapons, fighting for your life against horrible monsters, magic portals to anywhere on Earth and some places that aren't, and you're freaked out by the gay guy?"