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They unboarded the bus and entered the mall at the food court entrance where they were met with a barrage of smells and the rumble of people talking.

"Where would you like to eat?" Wyatt asked. Personally he could settle for a burger and fries, but with all the options before him, he wasn't going to railroad Torin to that guilty-pleasure grease factory... although it was funny how unintentionally it almost mirrored their past.

"Okay, hmmm.." Wyatt looked around, before spotting an alcove with a knock-off Subway, with head-sized cookies. Overkill? Maybe.
He pointed it out to Torin, then said, "I think I'll hit up that burger place. We can meet back at that table over there?" He pointed to a small table with a divider on one side, separating it, and the others in the same row, from the flow of shopping traffic.

Not long after Torin was seated, Wyatt was coming back with his order, tray in one hand, as he came by behind Torin and have a quick kiss to the top of the other's head with an adjoining slight hair-ruffle with his free hand. There'd scarcely be time to react before Wyatt was seated, warm smile on his face.

"I'm back. Miss me?"

Oh god, Wyatt, it had only been a couple of minutes! Okay, so he was obviously being playful. He hoped Torin wasn't too distressed by it - he was trying to make him comfortable.

Wyatt reached out and straightened the out of place hair before accepting the piece of cookie. Without worrying too much about being heard over the rumble of voices in the food court, Wyatt decided it was time for some conversation.

"So, I think until I get housing and myself in order, I'm probably not going to patrol. I feel bad infringing on Paris and Chris' space."

Even if it was a really big house, "but just because I'm not, doesn't mean you shouldn't." In fact, getting out would probably be good for Torin...

Wyatt added in a little shrug, as if the small confession didn't weigh quite as heavy as it did on him, "I just don't want you to feel like I'm holding you back."

Wyatt downed a couple of fries, "I know our previous selves left behind a bunch of stuff - house listings, account information, things like that, so um...I'm hoping by November we'll have a house of our own. And I'll be back in action. With you. Figuring out not just who Wyatt and Torin are, but Hawara and Gevaudan."

Whatever strong force of emotion had brought the two this far, he definitely wanted to work of getting that back, to foster it anew. And he wanted Torin to know that. They weren't alone in this - they had one another. It's all they had, really, and each was just as lost and confused as the other. Until then, he would take Torin out on dates and stuff - reconnect. And he wanted happiness and smiles, and to...not feel so guilty. He felt like he'd dragged Torin in to this whole new order-life. If there was one thing Wyatt remembered, it was how much he himself had wanted out, for no other reason than for a better future for them, but also that he would have stayed in the dark has Wolframite ordered it. He also remembered the other as very devout, but to a cause that had been warped, distorted, until it was no longer even the faintest glimmer of what it once was. Corrupted. A cause once pure despite its dark origins, warped and shred of all purity. And neither of them could fight for what that cause had become. So...he might have dragged Torin to the light...but he also knew a purification couldn't be done unwillingly. So that, if anything, helped a little to ease the guilt. It still was there though, so he felt that Torin's every happiness was his responsibility.

But he couldn't be any happier that it was Torin who's happiness was in his hands. Torin was attractive, and even with that grumpy exterior, it just made him even cuter.

Wyatt was a take-charge kind of person when it came to planning. Paper work and setup was mechanical and comfortable, and perhaps his subconscious way of getting away from their philosophical identity crisis, but it wasn't like he was going to settle on a place without Torin's input. He'd imposed enough on his life decisions. Luckily they'd narrowed down places to only a couple.

"Okay. I'm going to see if those places are still available. If so, I'll set up time for us to visit them and see if we still like them."

Hopefully the people they were now still liked those choices.

Also, Paris and Chris were soon going to be parents - Wyatt didn't think he could handle it if for some reason he became the impromptu baby sitter, just because he was living in their house. One, Wyatt was pretty sure he had been an only child, so he had no knowledge, latent or otherwise, on how to care for a child. Two.... Okay, there was no two. But the point still stood!

"Okay. Fair enough," He then cracked a toothy, lop-sided, grin, "Maybe you just wanna see me in that uniform again?" He ducked his head a bit as he took a sip from the straw of his coke.

"Anything you want," Wyatt said warmly, "I'll do my best to provide."

It was a promise that went well beyond yards or houses.

Chatter continued throughout the meal, and they window shopped a bit before the day would eventually find them at the park, walking along the paved trail that ran along the small creek, and falling in to companionable silence. Wyatt's found his hand fidgeting - he wanted to make some sort of contact, but he found himself uncharacteristically unsure. He remembered getting to hold Torin on his lap on the bus, and how comfortable, happy, and peaceful it had made him feel.

He bit his lip for a moment, debating. Finally he let his hand slide across the dark-haired man's lower back and around to a thumb one of Torin's belt loop. Wyatt let out a deep breath and seemed to loosen up, melting and molding himself against Torin so naturally it made it easier to believe that they'd been together for longer than they could remember.

"I don't think I could do this if I didn't have you," Wyatt said in an almost-whisper.