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"I'm not blushing," he argued, but he proceeded to only flush warmer under Ian's touch. Shiloh inwardly chided himself, Ian was right after all, he'd give it away far before Ian if he continued like this. He just couldn't help it, it was the same reason that he'd repeated in his head a thousand times - he'd never done this before. So everything was new and embarrassing and wonderful all at the same time and the crux of his swirling emotions came out in the pallor of his face. Just glancing at Ian, and thinking of him, his lips against his, was enough to make his cheeks start to warm.

Like everything else, it was something he’d get used to, and get over. Someday he’d work up the courage to tell the world about them, but as he had just barely managed to tell himself, he was asking Ian for time, which graciously the Mist Hunter gave. He smiled as Ian stepped out into the hallway, and settled in beside him as they walked towards the cafeteria. Just because they were being quiet about it, didn’t mean they couldn’t be a little close, Shiloh reasoned. No one would notice.

“Cookies?” he asked, not remembering his promise at first. But when he did, grinned, shaking a finger at Ian. “No, no, you owe me a party.”

“I’m pretty sure you said party,” Shiloh laughed. “But I guess dancing is fine too… Your party decorating skills sound a little scary.”

He smirked at Ian, skipping a few steps ahead of him and into the cafeteria. He was starving, enough so that even MREs looked edible. The choices were the same as always, and he grabbed a couple bags for the two of them, before tugging Ian towards one of the tables.

“No cookies,” he said, sadly holding up the MREs. “We do have some uh… Fortified pastry, though, if you’re feeling adventurous.”

“I’m just saying, I don’t know if toilet paper streamers are going to cut it,” Shiloh teased. “Plus what about booze? Pretty sure you owe me a bottle.”

He really was only teasing, though after several months dry on Deus, he was about ready for a night of actual relaxing and drinking, preferably somewhere as far from the beach as possible. But with portals and power down, there didn’t seem to be much hope of picking up any new supplies, and Shiloh didn’t have much to offer in the way of bartering.

Slipping into the seat across from Ian, Shiloh opened his packet, and stared at its contents miserably. He didn’t know how the unidentifiable substance inside could even be classified as food. Growing up on a farm, he was used to everything homemade, rich and delicious. In comparison, this was an insult to his taste buds.

“I hear you,” Shiloh agreed, suddenly not as starving as he had thought he was. “Heck, I’d take cafeteria slop over this.”

Fun night. Fun night. Shiloh grabbed the remaining bottle of water, and downed a large swig of it, wishing it was something stronger as he swallowed the heat threatening to rise in his cheeks again.

It wasn't his fault, before Ian he'd never had someone to think embarrassing thoughts about. Sure he'd thought about things before, but they'd never been tied to a particular person, and definitely not someone who had the power to turn his thoughts into something fully realized. He totally blamed Ian.

"Dinner... Dinner sounds great."

Shiloh coughed a little bit, nodding his head once he caught his breath.

"Fine, fine," he assured Ian, setting his water down on the table. It was no longer a viable source of hiding his emotions, it had betrayed him. But when Shiloh met Ian's gaze, the Mist hunter's smile eased his worries, and Shiloh smiled back.

"Just caught me a little off guard, that's all. I've never been on a uh, well, you know."

That's what dinner would be, wouldn't it? A 'you know', a date. They were trying things out and that was something people did, to get to know each other. Did that make this lunch a date? Shiloh stared at the MRE's packets bleakly, once again losing himself in thought. He was pretty sure he'd never thought things over so hard in his life, and he vastly preferred his oblivious state of mind. Alcohol would definitely help with that.

"If, uh, you know anyone who has some, I'm sure I could try and find something to trade... Oh! Do you think people would trade runes for some?"

"No, no," Shiloh said quickly, "I'm not, honest. I'm looking forward to it a lot, really."

He was telling the truth, and the earnest look on his face only further cemented the sincerity of his words. Despite that, he couldn't help but glance around carefully when Ian said the word aloud, no matter how much he'd lowered his voice. He sighed softly as soon as he noticed himself doing it, it was a stupid thing to do. Even if he wasn't ready, it was unlikely anyone on Deus cared about his dating life nor would it have any factor on his standing here. He had to keep reminding himself that Deus wasn't home, Deus wasn't home.

"Well, beer's good too, nothing wrong with that," Shiloh chuckled, tucking away his anxieties. His eyes had lit up when Ian mentioned movies, and he leaned forward, excited. "Do you think we could catch a movie? I haven't been to one in forever, and I used to go see them all the time... I wonder if there are any good scary ones out..."

He trailed off, and smiled back at Ian. "Yeah, that sounds like it would be nice."

Ian leaned back, and Shiloh mimicked him, stretching a little before sitting back up and poking idly at his MRE packet. He nodded at Ian.

"Mhm, something like that. Little stones that you have to carve. There is a lot of research on them in my division, so I figured it would be a good idea to check out it out, maybe learn something. I got a few of them but I only really need to charge my phone, so there's still about, uh, six or seven left. Do you think anyone would be interested?"

Shiloh inhaled, and nodded, Ian was right, and he trusted him. His eyes widened a little when he felt Ian’s food nudge against his leg, and he shot Ian a pointed look but by then his mind had been taken off his thoughts, and Shiloh’s face relaxed into an easy smile.

“Okay,” he said, still smiling. “Relaxed. Promise.”

His expression lit up again when Ian agreed to a movie, Shiloh didn’t even know what would be out by the time that they got there, but it didn’t matter – he was excited all the same. Dinner and a movie and all the date things he’d dreamed of doing. Glancing across the table at Ian, he knew he’d be happy to share those moments with him. He couldn’t wait.

“Sounds great, and yeah, in the meantime, we can bargain for some temporary entertainment.”

Shiloh didn’t know anyone off the top of his head, but he was sure there had to be someone. He could always advertise on twitter, now that his phone was charged. Watching as Ian pushed away his MRE, Shiloh stared at his own despondently.

“Yeah, but I’m not sure this is even food,” he sighed, poking at the glop in front of him. “I think I’ve got some peanut butter, if you don’t mind sharing those crackers.”

“Yeah, definitely not food.” He pushed his chair back as well, and gathered up all the packets except the one he’d opened, and carried them back to where he’d grabbed them. They didn’t want them, but maybe someone else would, and even if it was total crap, Shiloh didn’t want to waste precious food. After all, it might be all they had; if the portals didn’t come back soon everyone’s stores were sure to run out.

“Crackers it is,” he said, and made his way back to Ian, picking up his open packet of… Stuff. He’d already opened it, so he couldn’t exactly put it back. Deciding to bring it with him, he closed the packet carefully, figuring maybe they could dip the crackers in it or something. At the very least, he could probably use it as a doorstop.

“Lead the way,” he grinned.