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"I wouldn't peg you for a dragon."

He watched the man tense up and then the inevitable, crestfallen look that crossed his face. For the love of...

"Oh god, Tris... I just keep messing up, don't I?"

He paused, looking almost mortified as he realized he'd clipped the man's name, further digging himself into his own grave. "Tristan. I'm sorry - Tristan. I can't... apparently I can't function like a proper human being tonight, hahaha."

The laughter that came out of him was forced and nervous at best, the fingers around the cup making a noticeable dent in its side from all of the pressure being applied by his grip.

"I just mean, like, you know, Dragonheart? Pete's Dragon? The good kind of dragon??" Eyes searched the other man's face for any sort of ease. "I know they get a bad rap, most of the time but I also feel like we don't give them a chance, in theory."

Oh god, was he really sitting there, defending the honor of mythical beasts that didn't exist anyways?

Hands left the tea as his eyes closed, gesturing a soft okay, okay, wait a minute pose. "It doesn't matter. I'm probably closer to being more of a dog than anything else in the world. Doesn't know any better, trusts too many people, would wait on them forever. Misplaced loyalty is a specialty of mine."

Thoughts of Amber flickered across his mind and he mentally chided himself. It was growing dark, in Daniel's mind, and he knew he needed to return to looking for silver linings before the darkness consumed him and he found himself in one of his hated moods.

"Pretty Argos of me, I know, but it's kind of my M.O., I guess."

For once in his life, Danny couldn't wait to close up shop. Maybe he'd gotten in over his head with this friend thing. Maybe he wasn't supposed to have any. Maybe it was too complicated to deal with.

C'mon, Danny, hang in there!

"I'd make a Harry Potter reference but I'm scared that'll just kill things entirely. I love the concept of the bird, but..." His expression looked hesitant to even say anything else, "...I love the idea of starting things fresh and new even more. Everyone deserves a second chance."

Fingers prying his off of the cup caught him off guard and he offered a returning, hesitant smile, abandoning the drink as he found himself flustered at the compliment.

A Pegasus? Daniel's eyebrow quirked at the thought, enjoying the refreshing opinion of something out of the ordinary. Yet, before he could comment, talk of beasts and mythology waned as Tristan made his own point from Danny's last statement.

It was a serious conversation, but not something Danny was willing to shy away from. If anything, he felt that he had a foot to stand on in it, seeing as his own life had been spared and been given a second chance, when he probably hadn't deserved the opportunity.

"That's why we can have assurance that the universe knows what it's doing." his voice started off rather quiet, "You and I may not think someone deserves a chance... but it's a good thing that it's in the hands of something unbiased, right?"

Green eyes met with green eyes, the smile growing warm as his voice normalized in volume. "Everyone is capable of change. We may not be able to see it, ourselves, but it's there. I'm sure of it."

While Danny hadn't the faintest clue what his new friend was saying, the fact he seemed comfortable in the foreign tongue put the blonde man at ease in the moment. The empty sound the cup made as it touched on the table brought a swelling of pride to his chest - clearly the other man had enjoyed his tea enough to drink it all!

As the cup spun, the barista glanced towards the clock. Time had managed to pass them by without them realizing, though he was well aware that as the evening grew later, Tristan probably had other plans to attend to.

For whatever reason, the idea of allowing him to slip away was almost panic-inducing. It could very well be the last time the man decided to bother coming into The Sugar Cube - and then what? Danny would be forced to go back to pining over daydreams of actually going out into the world and having his own adventures, as opposed to the ones he read about others having in his stories.

Eyes dropped from the clock onto the arrangement of bulletins posted along the glass of the building's side, notices he'd allowed others to post for advertisement purposes. It was hard for Danny to say no, especially when various bands and programs were prepared to plead for a spot.

"You know, I'm not sure I did."

Keeping his tone confident, his gaze slid back towards Tristan, the smile crooking up higher on one side of his face. "It'd probably be best if we tried this again, maybe give me time to better prepare myself with some questions?"

A single finger gestured out towards one of the larger posters. He hadn't even thought about attending, but considering present company...

"One of the universities is putting on an art exhibit. I think a lot of the pieces will feature photography, actually."

He paused, mustering up the courage.

"Maybe we could go check it out together?"

The other man appeared startled by his statement. Good. Maybe for once, Daniel wasn't as predictable as he assumed he looked.

Waiting on a response felt like a lifetime and he could already feel his heart twist around when Tristan started off his answer with "I don't..."

Finishing his thought, Danny was able to exhale, releasing the trapped air inside of his lungs as the smile continued to grow on his face. He wanted to go. It wasn't like, a huge imposition, right? He'd have said no if he hadn't wanted to attend something like that, wouldn't he? Surely if he'd thought it was a dumb idea, he would have declined...

"I've got a car," he heard his voice offering almost instantly. Danny bit the inside of his cheek at just how quickly he'd responded back to Tristan's reply. He needed to scale back the excitement, he needed to play it cool. Tristan didn't need to know just how horrible he was at this talking-with-others thing. Or at least, he didn't need to know the extent of how much he sucked at it.

"I mean, if you wanted a ride and all, I don't mind picking you up?"

He'd done it!

He'd done it!!


"That's great!"

Okay, Danny, chill - clearing his throat, he shook his head and laughed under his breath at himself. Glancing back towards the poster, the large, bolded print was backwards but the yadnuS dna yadrutaS was easy enough to interpret. "It looks like it's going on all next weekend. Is there a day that works better for you?"

He could certainly convince one of his employees to cover his shift - a little extra money and a rare request from Daniel McKay seemed to go a long way, after all.

"Oh!"

Hands flew down into his apron pockets, the barista clearly searching for something among whatever clutter he kept close to his person. Out finally came a cell phone, fingers nearly fumbling with it as he slid the screen open, punching a few buttons into the contact section.

"If you put in your number, I can text you for the address?"

Offering the phone to the other man, Daniel went into work-mode and lifted both cups from the table as he slid his way from out of the booth. "Do you want a refill, for the road?"

Pausing, he winced as he put two and two together and realized the road probably meant the bus stop, blocks away near the mall's entrance. "Or a ride home, rather? I've got twenty minutes or so before closing, but I don't mind dropping you off, if you don't mind waiting."

"It's no trouble at all."

The cups were disposed of while he fished out a rag from behind the counter. It was easier, keeping himself distracted with busy work to prevent his hands from fidgeting. The counter was wiped clean for the umpteenth time that evening, the clock behind the counter quickly ticking by the minutes. "That's what friends are for, right?"

Forward? Maybe. Confident? A little bit. He'd made it this far and Tristan hadn't run for the hills - as long as he didn't bail, come the weekend, Danny was growing more excited at the prospect of having someone else in his life to talk with that wasn't on The Sugar Cube's payroll.

Remembering his phone was still in the other man's possession, he took a few steps over in his direction, hand extending out. "I'm just going to reserve my right to make an official guess on your favorite sweet until next weekend, then. Saturday, ten o'clock?"

Pocketing his phone, he grinned at his companion. Secretly, Danny was more than glad to take the other man home - it meant having someone else to walk out to his car with. Closing at the shop had never been the same, ever since the mugger had left him for dead that one, fateful night the prior spring.

Things had never been the same since, but Danny couldn't help but wonder if maybe it had been a blessing in disguise. Amber had left during the entire commotion (and the whole pesky coma thing), proving to Daniel that she had most definitely not been The One. So, while walking out at night by his lonesome still gave him chills, there was the brief silver lining that perhaps, just perhaps, that horrible stranger had done him a favor by knocking him out as hard as she had.

Sliding behind the counter, he opened the display in preparation to start breaking down the desserts, to store them for the following day.

"I'm excited too." Came the happy chirp in response, until he paused and realized what he'd said.

Crap - Tristan hadn't said he was excited, had he? Overeager, Danny, you were being overeager!

"I mean, I'm sure it'll be fun. I haven't seen an art exhibit in a while."

"It'll take just a few minutes," Danny assured him, noting the way Tristan was idly standing around and looking anxious, "I'll wrap things up a little bit early - I have a feeling that you're the last soul to wander in here for the evening."

The machines had already been wiped down, the equipment he'd used for their tea being just as easy to re-clean. If there was one thing Daniel couldn't stand, it was disorganization behind his counter space. Utensils found their appropriate homes, trays and cups were stacked without flaw and the only lingering offender for the evening were the cookies and cakes in need of refrigeration.

As he cleared out the first shelf and brought the tray up to roll a fine sheet of plastic wrap across it, his gaze avoided the brunette's as Tristan seemed to feel the need to humor what he'd said in error. Excited. He was excited too.

"You don't need to pretend otherwise."

"Yeah, okay."

He slipped into the back room, over sized tray in hand, where it was stored away in the small walk-in cooler. The icy temperature did little to combat the warm heat rising to his ears and cheeks - c'mon, Danny, this isn't difficult. The man's willing to be your friend, so behave yourself!

The second tray was finished quicker than the first, the sweets more hurriedly added to the tray as opposed to his normal, delicate way of arranging things. Maybe it was excitement, maybe it was nerves, but either way, the opening shift might have raised an eyebrow at the unusual way their boss had attended to his normally immaculate tray.

All in all, it took him ten minutes to finish his closing tasks. Keys were retrieved and the men were ushered out, the overhead lights switched off and leaving them to the mercy of the giant street lamps dotting across the parking lot.

Ol' Bess still lingered by her lonesome, the beat up Honda a welcoming sight to tired eyes.

Gesturing towards the car, hands moved up to nervously fidget with his tie as long legs made their way towards the vehicle. Danny was nervous - but he was always nervous now, walking out to his car in the darkness of the evening.

Forcing out a curt laugh, eyes continued to scan their general surroundings, suspicion resting in their green color. "Sorry, I know Bess isn't much for rides, but she's been a faithful friend since high school."