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 Posted: Mon May 10, 2010 11:43 am
This was not subterfuge, this was just being careful.
Andrea waited outside Vines of Florence, the Italian restaurant he had gone to for his birthday with his friends, for Ladon to arrive. He had asked him to join him for lunch here, just the two of them, with the secret intent of this being an experimental date. But of course he had not said anything about the date part to the other boy, for fear that he would be rejected. Ladon seemed a delicate thing to handle, so easily embarrassed, and Andrea feared that he might drive his friend away if he was not too careful.
Still, though, something about Ladon's occasionally prickly attitude failed to turn Andrea away. He figured that this was important! and wanted to get to know his friend better to see what else he was like, if he opened up at all if he was not ... getting stuck dancing with an overenthusiastic Nora or something.
The sophomore was dressed up, but not too much, wearing dark jeans and a nice t-shirt, and one of his blazers over it because the weather had decided to take a chilly (or at least breezy) turn for May. He had both hands in his pocket, but pulled one out along with his cell phone to check the time. In his nervousness, Andrea had gotten here about twenty minutes early, so of course he would have to wait. So far, it was still early.
He took a deep breath to calm himself down a little, and leaned back against the front wall of the restaurant. This was just hanging out with Ladon, getting to know him a little better and all. Andrea would just be insisting on picking up the check after they ate. Because this restaurant was good, but a bit expensive for the average high-schooler, and Andrea had all that birthday money....
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Posted: Mon May 10, 2010 4:38 pm
If it was a time and place to meet up, Ladon was there. He liked having friends, what he considered a boom to a lifetime of being excluded, and he was up for seeing Andrea again. Since he had been down in the dumps, he hadn’t been the life of the party during his birthday, and he also had to cancel two more dance lessons with nothing more than he just wasn’t able. He used his sick excuses, but really, who could dance when you felt bad?
Since he was feeling better, he hoped to make up for his less than chipper attitude before, and he was also appreciating company more and more. He had already been seeing Tate a lot just to have someone to hang around with, but he felt he was being a burden on her for being so emotional and also not being there to make her happy. Right now, he needed time to relax, not think of the Negaverse, and LIVE just a little bit. When Andrea offered to eat out at the same restaurant, he was happy to meet up with him. Since Andrea knew about his secret hobbies, he didn’t feel like he’d have to exhaust himself putting up a façade, and they hadn’t talked in a while.
Being prompt, he arrived 5 minutes early, and was surprised to see Andrea already there. Ladon was wearing black pants with a white dress shirt, and a black jacket. He tied a short, blue ribbon into a bow that was about his collar, substituting a tie. He got cold easily, and he prepared to wear something that was nice enough for the restaurant without being too dressed up. Still, he still felt a little chill, but he shook it off, walking up to him. “Hello. I didn’t think you’d be here. Hope you weren’t waiting too long.” He smiled, feeling proud of himself for managing to come all the way here, alone, in the dark. He seemed to be recovering.
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Posted: Thu May 13, 2010 8:10 pm
His friend's avoidance had been troubling, as well, especially with how Ladon had missed several dance lessons, too. Of course, the sophomore had few chances to really talk with him since they had no classes in common, which did not help matters. Hopefully Ladon would be willing to open up and talk about it at least a little bit - Andrea was willing to listen, and, well, it seemed to him like Ladon had quite a bit pent up.
Andrea smiled as his friend approached, and waved off his concerns with a gesture before offering a handshake in greeting.
"It's fine, I wasn't here long, and the fresh air feels kind of nice," he told Ladon. "And of course I'd be here, I invited you out." Andrea put a hand to his heart. "I am a man of my word." Then he gestured to his own neck and nodded to the other boy, adding, "I like the bow.
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Posted: Thu May 13, 2010 9:22 pm
There would have been plenty of reasons that Andrea wouldn’t show up. He could have changed his mind, found out he had better things to do, or decided just to set him up to pay back for taking advantage of his free dance lessons by postponing all the time. Ladon had been left alone on the curb before, eagerly waiting for someone he would not meet that day, feeling tricked and betrayed. Just because Andrea set up the meeting didn’t mean he had to show up at all, and while Andrea had shown himself to be a kind person, Ladon just kept expecting it to be all a show leading up to some moment where he would be turned upon. Why anyone bothered with him was anyone’s guess, and he still remembered their not-so-nice first meeting.
But Andrea was here, even early, and was in high spirits, causing Ladon to tell himself once again that he was not being set up. The compliment to his ribbon only made him feel twice as embarrassed, one part for being complimented at all and the other for being self conscious about his tie and guilty for thinking the worst of his friend. “Thanks.” Is that want really Andrea thought about it? He consciously touched the ribbon, gripping it before releasing. Knowing once compliment deserved on in return, he looked Andrea over. "You look nice too." Nice was a safe description. Handsome, pretty, or cute were all words he learned never to say to a guy unless you wanted to get punched or looked at funny.
“It is nice out. I’m glad spring is coming. I hated being kept indoors.” Even though now he was a bit spooked about being outside. He still felt the hairs raise at the back of his neck and a sense of ever-present paranoia. “Should we go inside?” He gestured to the door, hoping that Andrea didn’t want to stay outside for ever and was ready to go in. Ladon had walked all the way here by himself. It didn't mean he wanted to stick around outside in the dark when there was a nice, bright place nearby.
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Posted: Thu May 13, 2010 9:50 pm
"Thanks," Andrea replied, fidgeting his jacket a little. "And sure, let's head on in." He went to get the door and held it for the older boy .... If two guys went on a date, who did the door holding? Andrea figured it should be him, since he was the one paying, and maybe if they did this again or something, he could defer to Ladon? Or just whoever got to the door first....
Once they were both inside, the hostess glanced over both boys and inquired without pause, "Table for two for lunch? Do you guys want to sit by the window?"
"Either way's fine with me," Andrea told her with a light shrug, and glanced to Ladon to see what he thought.
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Posted: Thu May 13, 2010 10:05 pm
He took no notice of the door being held for no other reason than to be polite, and he thanked Andrea as he entered the restaurant. When they were looked over, he was a bit more aware that they were students. Two kids, especially guys, did not usually show up to eat at this type of restaurant. Fast food joints were expected to be their hangouts for a bite to eat, but he wasn’t one for greasy, quickly prepared food. He only hoped the staff would not be keeping an eye on them as if they were up to no good. It wasn't like they were going to steal the silverware of ditch before paying. It seemed they were okay, and given their choice of where to sit.
“Can we be next to the window, just because it’s nice outside?” he asked, not sure if there was one open even if it was offered to them as an option. He didn’t want to be any trouble, but he liked the option of looking outside if he wanted instead of just being able to see what other tables were doing. With the way conversations usually went for him, he usually planned on looking away from time to time, and looking out a window seemed more polite than looking at some married couple in the next table over.
Without much pause, they were ushered to their seats in a table by the windows, and then had a menu set down for each of them. Giving time to decide, the waiter left and Ladon felt relieved in not having someone hovering around them. When it got a bit quiet, he decided to start. “It’s nice to sit down. I really didn’t get to have a chance to talk to you for a while. Sorry about having to postpone all those lessons. If I’m bothering you with them, just tell me.” It was best to get this out while he could. He felt bad for taking up Andrea’s time with scheduled lessons he didn’t show up for.
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Posted: Tue May 18, 2010 4:20 pm
Andrea settled into his seat and flipped open the menu, but did not look at it just yet in favor of paying attention to Ladon. "Don't worry about it," he assured the other boy. "I've been scheduling our lessons around my regular dance lessons and my work nights, so they were never interfering with anything to begin with.
"Have you been feeling better, at least?" he then asked, looking a bit concerned. "I mean, you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."
Then, to give Ladon a chance to respond (or not), Andrea glanced down at the menu page, studying the list of different pastas. For some reason, he really had a hankering for something with white wine sauce....
"Oh, lunch is my treat, too, so don't worry about that." He looked up and smiled quickly at the other boy before returning his gaze to the menu. He dearly hoped Ladon would not protest.
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Posted: Tue May 18, 2010 8:14 pm
Not wanting to block himself from view just yet, Ladon moved the menu down to rest against the side of the table, the bottom of the menu resting on his lap as he read. Not familiar with much of what was on the menu, even though he had seen it once before, he had to read it over carefully to see what he might want. Something in a creamy sauce sounded good right about now.
While he read, he sank a little in his seat, something that would make his mother bark to sit straight if she had been around. It was a general avoidance about his life and why he was neglecting a lot of appointments lately, and he felt too tired and frail to lie to his friends and handle the guilt afterward. “I’ve just been a bit under the weather and a lot to stress that I have to work through. I’m fine. Its just that I need some time to work through a few things.” He scanned the words of the menu, but hadn’t absorbed anything he read, having to go back and read them again as his mind bubbled with a lot of issues that were constantly nipping at him for attention, shouting at him to be addressed and be given answers he didn’t have.
His hands gripped around the menu, breaking away from pretending to read. “You- You really don’t have to. It just seems wrong. You seem so busy with work and dance lessons and working around my shaky schedule to give me free lessons, and then invite me to your party which I wasn’t very cheerful at, and now you take me here – really, if anything, I should pay to make up for everything.” He did have a job, even if he barely made anything. He did have some money he saved on the side from patrolling.
Fingers gripped and played with the corners of his menu as he looked at the salt shaker, his glass of water, then to look at the back of Andrea’s menu. “You’re too nice.”
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Posted: Thu May 20, 2010 1:33 pm
Andrea nodded sympathetically, glancing over at Ladon. He could understand stress, especially with the end of the school year coming up. And there were always all sorts of other things going on that could throw someone for a loop, especially in high school. ... And especially with monsters of all sorts running all over the city, he thought, reaching up with one hand to absently rub his fingertips gingerly over the scars he had gotten from the monster dog. They stood out a bit, the healed skin still noticeably paler than Andrea's naturally tanned tone.
He offered a smile at Ladon's protests, though. "No, it's fine. Dance has been a lot more relaxed after the recital performance to give us all a break for a few weeks, and uh." He swallowed. "I dunno if you heard about what happened at TGI Thaidays last month, but they're still working through some of that, fixing some things, so they've called me off of work a couple times."
It was decidedly a bad idea to think about the whole giant cockroach incident when he was at a restaurant, and Andrea's skin prickled a little as he glanced around the dining room of Vines of Florence, noting the visible exits, and the layout of the tables in case they did get attacked by something. Then he forced himself to look back to the menu, but unrolled the fabric napkin at his place setting, allowing his silverware to clink to the tabletop, and fiddled a little with the fork to vent his nervousness.
"Really, though, it's fine. I have some birthday money, I needed to relax, and it sounds like you really could use a break, too, so if I can make us both happy for a little bit, it's money well-spent, promise."
... ... ... That didn't sound too gay, did it? Andrea pointedly scrutinized the list of seafood dishes as he awaited his friend's response.
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Posted: Thu May 20, 2010 10:19 pm
The last part sounded nothing more than a friendly gesture from a very considerate person, and it made Ladon have even greater difficulty reading when he thought of how generous and kind Andrea was being for someone he didn’t know as well. Was this how Andrea treated all his friends? If so, it would explain Nora, as the girl seemed to be the type that would shower someone with attention and cheer even if they were strangers, as she had done exactly that during their dance lesson together. Still, Nora wasn’t here, this wasn’t a big get together with friends, friends who would make him nervous because he wouldn’t know anyone, and was just between them. It put the pressure off, and he willed himself to be good company so that Andrea’s night wasn’t ruined and he would later regret his decision in taking him along.
Since he had done enough talking about himself, he took what he knew and worked his rusty conversation skills. “I heard that some bug monster tore the place apart. That’s really horrible. I didn’t know you worked there. I hope you still can keep your job.” It would be bad to become unemployed because of construction and health issues at a restaurant, but then again, Andrea was still at school. He could venture a guess in saying he probably didn’t have too many bills to pay if he paid any at all.
“It’s good that they give you a break after big performances. You deserve it. It was a great performance, but are you still stressed out over something else?” What did Andrea need a break from other than the problem with his job? He hoped nothing too serious.
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Posted: Mon May 24, 2010 2:12 pm
The younger boy shrugged a little, glancing out the window momentarily. "I just work as a host, like, two or three nights a week," he said. "I was just lucky enough to be there when that monster came."
A moment later, though, he looked up and smiled a little. "I'm fine, though. Managed to get out of that one with just some creepy nightmares." The grin faltered slightly. "Just, you know, with all the news and stuff, right with finals coming up and all, makes things a little more stressful."
Andrea shut his menu and set it out of the way on the table, then refolded his napkin. "Let's not talk about that anymore, though. I just want to relax for a day, and catch up with a friend."
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Posted: Mon May 24, 2010 5:43 pm
Agreeing, he glanced at his menu before shutting it, curling his fingers around the edges and letting his fingers pick at the corners. Just as soon as he started to think of relaxing topics not dealing with school, work, or monsters, he found he had little to say. He knew very little about Andrea aside from the fact that he was good at dancing, worked, and have perky friends. He also had a strange habit of studying under unsanitary bleachers. Aside from that, he was at a loss of what else to say. Everything in Ladon’s life was stressful, which meant they were not an option to bring up, and the rest was just to messy and personal that he didn’t want to bring it out in the open, much less to be talked about with someone else. As each second passed by in silence, he felt a building pressure to say something, and he knew that if he didn’t think of anything quickly, he would spout out the first stupid idea he had.
“Ah..” He glanced at the closed menu, at the people at other tables, and then at the window. Nothing stressful, and not with school or work. If he knew about what Andrea’s other hobbies were, he might have something more to talk about, but they rarely said much during dance lessons, and he hadn’t been available with all his excuses to talk in the hallways much. In short, he really didn’t know Andrea that much.
“..so summer is coming soon. Have anything planned?” Summer was relaxing after all, and it was the season to indulge in your hobbies. Maybe he’d have more to talk about through this. If not, well, there was always the weather.
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Posted: Tue May 25, 2010 5:13 pm
"Nothing really," he admitted with a small shrug. "I'll work more, if I can get the hours, I think, to get a bit more money to put away for ... stuff." Andrea realized he was not really sure what, if anything, he needed to save up for when he was sixteen. With finals looming in the next few weeks, college seemed about as remote as Neptune.
"We might go visit my uncle and aunt and my cousin for a few weeks," he added. "But that'd be late this summer, if we end up going. I think my mom has some business stuff to do first." Andrea shrugged. His mother traveled a fair amount, and the boy hoped to be able to go with her some time or another to someplace interesting if he could tag along, but it was never convenient, certainly not during the school year. But the trips back to Italy were fun, too, and he had not seen his mother's family since last summer, so he supposed he could settle for that.
"I dunno yet, though. What about you? Any long-term sewing projects or anything since you won't have school to bog you down for a few months?" He gave Ladon another smile, then turned to look up at the waiter who approached their table and introduced himself while pouring glasses of ice water for them. Andrea thanked him, and then looked back to his friend, giving the other boy an inquisitive look meant to ask if he was ready to order yet.
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Posted: Tue May 25, 2010 8:50 pm
Looking up, Ladon noticed the waiter waiting on him, having taken the hint that Andrea wanted Ladon to go first. Even though he knew what he wanted, he still looked at his menu and pointed as he asked for the Chicken Primavera, and once the waiter commented on his excellent selection (something Ladon was sure he said to everyone), Ladon passed off the menu. Once orders were taken, the waiter tucked the menus under his arm and whisked off to the kitchens.
Picking back on their conversation, one that Ladon was glad he hadn’t killed yet, he though about summer. “I usually spend a lot of time outdoors. I like sewing, but that’s when it’s too late outside, too hot, or raining. It’s for when I can’t go out at all. I usually spend my summer training for track. I like running, and summer is the best time since there is lots of free time and the weather is nice. At least in the morning and the evening. I also like hiking, and I go camping once in a while just for the fun of it. Not far, and it’s nothing like scaling mountains, but going into the woods. There are plenty of paths here and on the outskirts of town. I’ve been to a few.” He knew he would be going out camping for his birthday as he usually would, simply because he didn’t like the idea of a party no one went to or entertaining a group of people who expected something out of him. Summer was a time he could go out on his own and spend hours just exhausting himself. It also gave him a chance to explore all the corners of the city, leaving early in the morning when it was still cool outside and running until it was too hot. Then he could eat somewhere new and return back home when it got cool again. He felt accomplished after those sort of days.
“Aside from working, are you going to spend time doing anything else? Do you like spending time outside, or are you more of a winter person?” Winter, for Ladon, was bad. Poor weather and freezing temperatures meant he could barely go anywhere, and it got dark too early. It made running nearly impossible, and forget about camping!
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Posted: Sun May 30, 2010 12:26 am
Andrea nodded as he listened to Ladon talk about his summers, resting his elbows on the table a little now that there was more space with the menus gone. He did some jogging occasionally when it was nice out, but he always thought he was pretty picky about what weather he considered "nice".
"I haven't really explored the outskirts of the city," he admitted. "And I don't think I've ever been camping. Always been pretty busy with dance, to be honest, and my mom travels a lot for work now that I'm old enough to keep track of my siblings." Andrea considered a moment, then added with a smile, "Do you think maybe you could show me some of the paths you've found on the outskirts sometime? You have me curious now. I mean, I might have a bit of trouble keeping up since I'm not a runner, but I'm in shape and all."
He paused a moment to consider his friend's questions. "I guess I'll probably get out and do some stuff outside. If I go to my uncle's, I'll be outside a lot for sure."
Pursing his lips a little, Andrea glanced upwards and let out a soft, "Hmmm...." Then, "I think I like summer better at my uncle's, and winter better here. Mostly I guess because all my dance classes and performances are indoors, so it doesn't really matter what the weather's like."
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