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 Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2015 3:39 pm
Arias wasn't even sure why he was here. A part of him wanted nothing to do with Whisler—or whoever he was when he was powered down. Though it had been a while since he had last actually seen the male, the sting of defeat and embarrassment was still fresh on his mind, even more so because he actually hadn't improved—at all.
He had tried to come up with excuses for why he couldn't meet the male at the designated time and place, but every excuse was so bad that he knew he couldn't ever lie through it. Or maybe it was just so hard to show up because a part of Arias wanted to be there, and he was afraid of that.
He had nothing to show for his time; though he had trained and tried to be better, he hadn't succeeded. But thankfully, he was just normal civilian, Arias, and it was probably really unlikely that he was going to have to worry about this guy trying to punch him.
He hoped.
Arias had arrived early, just in case; usually he might have turned down the offer for sweets given that he could just go back his own, but…
But he wanted to give Nick a chance.
Or maybe just talk to him without all those fists flying.
…Not that fists were really the first thing he thought of when he remembered their encounter, but…
Arias just sighed, ashamed of himself and fraught with nerves; he shifted positions and rubbed at the bridge of his nose before he caved and pulled out his cell phone. He scrolled through texts, checked for missed calls, and tried to keep himself calm; he didn't want to look like being here was making him nervous, but he'd never agreed to get coffee with a guy, and quite honestly he had no idea what he was getting himself into.
Especially with Nick.
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Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2015 4:09 pm
Nick had been hiding in the back of the coffee shop for the last few minutes. He had realized when he was about halfway to the store…that he had absolutely no idea what Newgrange looked like when he wasn’t all New and Grange-y. So…of course, the best plan was to not let him come over of his own free will…since he obviously knew what Nick looked like…but to wait…and hide…and at five minutes past the time they were to meet….
He called him. With as much force as a phone could produce.
After a moment, he heard it…a song that did not fit the person holding the phone…but then again, at the same time…boy did it ever. It was some opening number from a dumb kids show or something, something very happy…and it was clear that the one holding the phone that was playing the little diddy had the volume up completely.
The blonde sauntered over, running a finger down the brunette’s back and finally holding out a hand. “Hello. I’m Nick.”
Suave. Perfect. That’s so Nicky.
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Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2015 4:19 pm
Arias had not even had time to answer the phone before someone was touching him; he had recognized Nick's contact information when the phone rang, so he should have expected some scheme. He'd been here early, not wanting to keep Nick waiting, and now he was back to feeling silly about ever having shown up at all.
He'd stiffened immediately and turned to look at the male. Almost warily he looked to the hand, and it took great effort to extend his own.
"So you've said," he replied uncertainly, and then finally gripped the blonde's hand. "And I'm Arias. Sorry about that," he said, and was already hastily shoving his phone away. He wasn't the most technically savvy person, and he didn't seem to mind the tune because his sister picked it out. And set up his whole phone. He was lucky he even knew how to text.
"The whole…rain checking thing. And keeping you waiting, here. Sorry," he said, and the more he spoke, the more flustered he was getting. His face was heating up and he wanted to kick himself, very hard. "—How have you been?" he asked, hardly managing not to blurt it out; he was just so nervous about an awkward silence that words were just slipping out.
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Posted: Sat Jan 24, 2015 7:02 pm
Nick just laughed. “Aren’t you just the cutest, Arias. I’m sad it took so long to get the rain check, but hey. I’m happy we’re here now. Nice and warm in this cozy little coffee shop.” He winked and took a seat, stretching. “I have a confession to make though, I really am not a fan of coffee at all.”
The blonde gave a yawn and laughed again. “Anyway, so…what’s up with you? It’s nice to see you like this. All…nice and normal looking and handsome and such.” He winked. “Anyway.”
He sat back in his chair and waited for the other male to speak. It was so much fun to play with him…but he really was enjoying himself. Never before had he been able to mess with someone like this before and get such a rise out of them.
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Posted: Sat Jan 24, 2015 8:17 pm
Arias' ears were burning again, and though he followed Nick to take a seat with him, he was wondering what he was doing now more than ever. It was nearly socially crippling to be in a position where he just didn't know what to say, but Arias was simultaneously flattered and horrified at Nick's words.
He couldn't tell if he was teasing and just didn't want to make a fool of himself.
"Well, uhm," he began, as though it were some detailed, well thought out statement, "There's not much 'up' with me, I'm sorry. I think you'd find me incredibly boring. I work at a bakery and spend a lot of my time there. I power up sometimes." He didn't add that he hadn't gotten stronger or that he still didn't feel like he knew what he was doing. "I have a little sister, she's a senshi. A chibi. So I suppose I've been worrying about her. She's mad at me, now, because I hid her pen. But she just doesn't always think before acting and I couldn't stand the thought of her getting hurt, so—"
He bit his cheek, sharply, and immediately shut up. It might have been his body's way of telling his mind to hush because even if Nick was making him awkward as well, he was making it worse by rambling. Sheepishly, he cleared his throat and added, "You look nice, too. But we didn't have to get coffee if you didn't want it. —Why did you even offer?"
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Posted: Sat Jan 24, 2015 8:45 pm
Nick nodded, seeming…or pretending to seem interested as the male spoke…though when he mentioned he worked at a bakery…well. Now that sounded fun. Like. A lot of fun. A bakery…
“Do you own the bakery? Or do you know if the owner is hiring? I love cooking, and honestly, baking isn’t my strongest asset, but I would love to start learning how to perfect the skills I have in it.” The part about his sister, blah blah blah, family blah.
Who really cared? He sure didn’t. He couldn’t see his family now even if he wanted to…which, wasn’t much of a terrible issue to tell the truth.
“And I wanted to meet you here because it seemed like a good place. Nice and quiet where we could really talk and become friends, Arias. Because I’d like to be friends. It’s not often I get to meet someone my age who you know…is like…well. Like me. You know? Plus you’re a guy, and that adds like, forty thousand points. I need more guy friends.”
Especially attractive guy friends.
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Posted: Sat Jan 24, 2015 9:11 pm
His heart was pounding, but something about the way Nick was talking was relaxing him, and Arias found himself breathing in a slow, even breath and actually getting comfortable in his seat. "Guy friends sounds nice."
He certainly didn't have enough of them that he knew to be powered, and it was nice to know someone as strong as Nick. He didn't think he would have to worry about Nick—except maybe that he was going to catch Mono or something.
"But, I do. Own the bakery, that is. Sort of. Co-own, but it's a branch, we have two so far and are talking about opening up a third—A&H Bakeries? It's been working out pretty well so far. But I manage one, so if you wanted to drop by—I teach a class on Thursday? And I might be able to make some time to do some one-on-one teaching if you're more comfortable with that?" He seemed so much more comfortable when talking about baking; he just opened up and seemed much more confident. "I like baking, though. And I've got a ton of recipes that are pretty easy for beginners, so if you cook already you should have no time picking it up. Once you get comfortable with the basics, baking is easy. Most of it feels like taking an old recipe and trying something new."
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Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2015 5:56 pm
Nick nodded. “I’d love to come by sometime, yeah. That sounds great. Meanwhile…I guess I’ll just keep on washing dishes at the place I’m at…I just want to cook, you know? I love cooking. I love mixing flavors and seeing people’s faces light up when they take a bite…”
He paused for a long moment, then grinned. “How about you come over to my place sometime…give me some…you know, one on one teaching, and then I’ll cook us the best damn dinner you’ve ever tasted? Sound like a pretty fair deal? I personally think it is, but I might be a bit biased.”
This was nice. Friends was nice. Of course…it could always turn into more as time went on…but this guy. He felt like he could get along well with this guy. This guy was a keeper…plus…the whole…thing with the powered up and saving people. That was a keeper too.
“If you wanted sometime, we could spar again. I’ll go easier on you, I promise, sorry that I was such a massive d**k last time…I had literally just had my a** handed to me and I was just eager to repay the favor…it didn’t matter who I repaid it to either, so…sorry pal.”
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Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2015 6:11 pm
Arias debated the offer for a few seconds; on one hand, getting out and doing something new was part of his New Years Resolution (for the fourth time in a row). Maybe this year would be the one that he actually managed to follow through.
And Nick seemed to be making an effort to apologize for the sparring, but the moment he brought it up, Arias shifted positions and shrugged, and his eyes went straight to the table. "Well," he started, as if he was prepared to defend how poorly he had done that day. He could understand being frustrated, but being reminded that he 'had his a** handed to him' wasn't something he accepted easily. It made him unhappy, and he wanted to reject the offer for help on the basis that he didn't want to screw up their next sparring so badly that Nick would laugh at him. Or worse, just kick his a** again.
"Yeah," he said, even against his better judgment. It was exactly what he had not wanted to say, so that it slipped out left him even more flustered and he wanted to knock his head against the table.
…But that would probably make him look even more pathetic, so rather than correct himself he just went with it.
"Sure, we could spar again some time. That sounds fine."
…Well, no, it sounded like it was going to hurt, and he was just going to worry himself sick and make a fool of himself and Nick would just laugh again and he'd go home with bruises on his flesh dark enough to match the bruises on his ego.
"I mean, I get it. I don't blame you, it's fine."
Arias' lips pursed just a bit; it shouldn't have been so easy to forgive him, but Arias couldn't stay mad at someone. Nick had apologized, so wasn't that enough? And he had invited him over to dinner—as an apology, of course, Arias was certain it was nothing more. It would be rude to be a sore loser and not be grateful, so…
His eyes lifted from the table and he tried to look like he was a good sport, but even just talking about sparring left him worried and he was already twiddling his thumbs under the table.
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Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2015 6:23 pm
Nick smiled brightly. “Cool. Then…I’ll call you later? You can come over on…Friday if you’re free? We can bake dessert together and then you can eat my wonderful food and we can even play video games or watch a movie or something if you’d like…because…I know I’d like to.”
His foot ever so subtly found Arias’s under the table and nudged it. Oh maybe the guy would turn red. That was so adorable when that happened.
Maybe after the movie was on and they were nibbling on whatever delicious thing they had created together, he would be able to put the sweet moves on Arias, drawing him close, running his fingers through that wonderful chocolate brown head of hair…
The smile on Nick’s face only grew has he thought about it all, and he rubbed his foot a little bit up Arias’s ankle. “I think that’s a pretty good idea…don’t you?”
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Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2015 6:35 pm
When Nick's foot first bumped into his, Arias chalked it up to an accident. And then it started moving up his leg instinct kicked in and he promptly crossed his legs to move them out of Nick's way. While he was trying to tell himself it was an accident, his ears were burning at the thought that Nick was not only inviting him to dinner and…games? A movie? Dinner and an event? That almost sounded like—
"It's a date," he said—and only then promptly flushed.
That was absolutley not want he wanted to say, and he looked horrified that those words had come out of his mouth. "—No, I mean, what's the date. That's what I was supposed to say—when is that? Because, you know, I'm busy. Very busy schedule."
…Which he could easily adjust given a few days notice, because aside from the bakery and the unscheduled powering up, he really didn't have that much that he was obligated to.
He was a terrible liar, even when not rushing to cover up some embarrassing slip. He looked almost desperately at Nicolae, brows knit and lips pursed and red.
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Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2015 6:54 pm
Nick blinked and finally grinned. “Well, Arias. If you were paying attention to what I was saying, Ii did say for this coming Friday, you know, like a few days from now…but if you’re not…you’ll just have to text me later, because I totally have to run.”
He stood up and stretched, then took a few steps towards both Arias, and the door.
When he was right beside the other male, he swooped down, kissing his cheek. “Hell yeah it’s a date, you silly guy, you. Who wouldn’t want to go on a date with you. Now. I’ll see you Friday night, unless you tell me otherwise. Stay sweet, Mr. Baker.”
The blonde straightened up again and left the coffee shop, fully satisfied that he had done above and beyond his job of tormenting the brunette. And he got a date out of it, because he could already see that Arias was not one of those types to say no.
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Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2015 7:06 pm
'Horrified' did not begin to cover Arias' emotions. He stared blankly at where Nick had been, and by the tiem he even realized what had happened and jerked his head towards where he had disappeared to, there was no one there.
Nick was gone, and Arias had no idea what he was supposed to do now that he had agreed to a date?
…Seriously?
He should have had coffee before they're coffee date—no, Arias, it was not a date; he should have kicked himself for even thinking of that word. He should have had coffee before they're coffee rendezvous just so he would have been awake enough not to say something incredibly stupid.
He flopped his head on the table and groaned.
…There wasn’t much time between now and Friday, and he had a feeling he needed to prepare.
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