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 Posted: Tue Jun 02, 2015 7:48 am
Arias didn't know many knights that had been around for a while, and of the ones he did know, he didn't exactly have their contact information.
Except for one.
He and Whisler had exchanged numbers, though Arias hadn't much contacted him after that…date. Thing. It wasn't intentional, he just didn't know what to say and didn't want to make a fool of himself.
A part of him was relieved when he had a genuine reason to want to talk to Nick again, but a part of him was worried all the same.
He never changed.
He had texted Nick, inviting him to his bakery and asking to borrow a bit of his time. He'd had some 'serious' questions, which he hoped translated well enough into 'I have some questions about Knight things but I can't text you them over the phone because I'm paranoid that information might get into the wrong hands'.
Now, he was just waiting in the bakery; he'd saved his lunch so he could spend it with Nick and was just cleaning behind the counter. It wasn't necessarily a slow day; there was a steady trickle of customers, but there were always a few tables open.
…And he kept looking up, hoping to see Nick's face, every time the door opened.
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Posted: Tue Jun 02, 2015 8:06 am
Finally, the door did open, and it was Nick coming inside the bakery. He couldn’t deny that he was inordinately pleased to have received the text from Arias, and those serious questions? Clearly the male was about to ask him on another date, or for some fashion tips, or just to have a grand make-out session in one of the coolers that resided in his bakery.
Oh yeah.
Of course Nick had dressed the part, getting his hair in order and even going so far as to braid it loosely—nobody wanted wisps of long blond hair in their face while kissing after all.
He cleaned up nicely, and was looking dashing and ready for some…fun. So there he went, over to the counter, grinning. “Sup, Arias. You wanted to uh…talk to me about something…serious?” He fluttered his eyelashes and looked at the brunette, with a very, very flirtatious expression. Oh yeah. He was ready for some action.
Or just ready to have another date...really, he wasn't that picky.
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Posted: Tue Jun 02, 2015 8:13 am
Arias had remembered Nick to look attractive, just…now he was really attractive. Ah, there was the guilt. He pulled away from the counter and waved over another girl to ready herself to take his place.
"Hi," he greeted Nick, flashing a quick smile as he wrung his hands together. "—I'm going to go on lunch and then, ah," he looked around at some of the empty tables, and while it was certainly more comfortable there, he didn't want anyone overhearing. "There's a table in the back we could go sit at, if you don't mind. Do you want anything?" he asked, gesturing to the food on display.
He felt a bit under-dressed and was compelled to comb his fingers through his hair and try to tidy up, but…the damage was already done, he was sure. At least he smelled like cupcakes, so that was a plus, right?
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Posted: Tue Jun 02, 2015 8:29 am
He looked nervous…and that just made him look more attractive than ever. Plus the little bits of flour he had in his hair was just…perfectly adorable. Oh he was precious. “Hey yourself. Going on lunch, hm? I would love something that you made, but make sure it’s something that you made with love, all right?”
Nick winked, beaming. A lunch date at a table in the back…with nobody to bother them…oh, oh this guy clearly had fallen so hard for him…and he was incredibly pleased at that.
Though, maybe Nick did want to ease the slight tension he felt, so he causally reached over, brushing his hand over Arias’s hair to knock out some of the flour. “Relax. I’m not going to bit you, unless of course, you ask for it.” He winked again, quite sure that his tactic had done nothing to ease any tension…well…at least he attempted to help. That was what mattered.
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Posted: Tue Jun 02, 2015 8:43 am
Arias tensed when Nick's hand came towards him; he wasn't afraid of a blow, but he didn't know what to expect.
…But it was nice, and he laughed. "Sorry, I'm a mess, aren't I? If you need to bite something, I'll get you something real quick. I don't think I'd taste very good. Oh—but this," he pulled away and moved around behind the counter quickly. It was obvious that Arias knew what he was doing while working. He kept his back to Nick, if only to give his burning cheeks a few seconds to lose their redness. He pressed the sandwiches he had made and then hastened to Nick's side, gesturing that he follow.
It escaped Arias that he was still wearing his apron, but you'd think he'd be used to people seeing him in it by now. He held open the door to the back and nodded for him to take a seat at the table in the break room. "If you need anything, let me know, I can run up and get it. I live upstairs, so if you ever need anything. Well." Was that too much information? Well, no, they were friends at least, right?
…Why didn't he just take him upstairs? If this was such a serious talk, wouldn't that have been safest?
Arias could have kicked himself; this was not well thought out at all.
"—So, uhm. I mean. How's it been?" he asked; he set the plate on the table and opened the fridge in back. "Can I get you a drink, or…?"
They had a range of soda and bottle water; nothing fancy, but they were all cold and that's all that mattered to Arias. He grabbed a bottle of water for himself and then looked to Nick expectantly before blurting, "I'm bad at this, sorry."
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Posted: Tue Jun 02, 2015 8:57 am
Nick just could not keep the grin off of his face, in fact, his face was starting to ache a little…but this guy was just so…precious it was impossible not to smile.
“Well, all right…but Arias, if you’re so worried about this being a series of serious questions…why don’t we just go upstairs if you live there? I mean…someone could walk in on us if we’re here…” Nick looked down at the sandwich and lifted half of it up, taking a large bite. Oh. Well, the guy could make a mean sandwich, that was for sure.
After swallowing the bite he laughed. “I’ll have a soda, and before this gets any more awkward for you, Arias. My answer is yes. I’ll go out with you again, I think you’re a great guy, and I had a lot of fun on our last date, so quit being so nervous.”
Arias really looked like he was going to pop some sort of blood vessel with his worrying, and honestly, Nick really didn’t want to have to clean that mess up. “Don’t apologize, you’re just embarrassed…and I get it. I’m perfection, you’re right to be embarrassed, but I like you, so you shouldn’t be.”
His grin grew. “So, now we start kissing, right?”
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Posted: Tue Jun 02, 2015 9:07 am
Arias stared for a second and then all that red he worked so hard to keep out of his face was back. "I—That's not…what? I wasn't, you know—I wasn't—"
…His head was swimming. Arias grabbed Nick a soda and then just flopped down in the seat across from him and frantically tried to explain. Because—on one hand, yes, another date sounded very nice, but on the other hand, that was not what he had hoped to have answered, and—Arias had never asked a person out in his life, but he'd like to think that if he was going to he could have been more romantic than doing it in a breakroom.
"—Look," he started, building up a bit of confidence. "I think you're a great guy. You're very interesting, and I'm sure you don't need anyone to tell you how attractive you are. In fact, I'm sure people still tell you that all the time. I just—I'd like to date, don't get me wrong. It's not the sort of thing I've ever really done. Much less with a guy. And while I'm interested," Arias didn't know his own words could hurt so much; it was like a stinging in his gut, and a strange…relief? Like some building pressure was escaping, and…
…It was almost reassuring, so he continued, "And, while I'm interested, I don't know how these things work. I've played with the idea, at best, I don't know how to commit to it. And this isn't the sort of thing I've ever spoken to anyone about, okay? I don't—nobody knows. I don't know how to tell them. And until I find someone that really might be considering settling down with me or living the rest of my life with me, I don't want them to know. I'm not going to tell them."
Truth be told, he couldn’t handle a rejection from his family, so having someone who was going to stay with him for the rest of his life and love him and be his family was necessary if he was going to have to risk losing the rest of his.
So all of this was just going to be his dirty little secret until he couldn’t hold it anymore.
…Except, he was rambling, to someone he only slightly knew, and none of this was even why he'd texted Nick in the first place.
Arias seemed to snap himself out of his thoughts and looked like he'd blanked—like he'd completely forgotten where he left off.
"And," he said slowly, trying to pick back up. "…While I hadn't…meant to give you the impression I was asking you on another date, I. Well, I'd like that. If I haven't made such a fool of myself that you'd be ashamed to spent another moment in my presence. And if I haven't scared you off with my closetedness."
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Posted: Tue Jun 02, 2015 9:21 am
Nick listened to Arias’s whole ramblings and felt a twinge of pity for the other male. That must be terrible…not being able to express who you were out of fear of rejection…he was damn lucky he didn’t have to deal with that, no, he had no problem being exactly who he was, and doing it with a finesse that nobody could match.
When the other male mentioned scaring him off, the blonde shook his head, reaching out and taking Arias’s hand, giving it a light squeeze. “You couldn’t scare me off in a million years. I’m actually really honored you told all this to me, I feel kind of special…like we’re connected now, you know?” He picked up the hand he was holding and brought it to his lips, gently kissing the back of it.
“I like you a lot, Arias, I’m not going to lie, and I would love to go on another date with you and see where things go, but I do need to let you know that I flirt like the devil. That’s just how I am, and I don’t want you to end up getting hurt by my promiscuous tendencies…so if you have an issue with me flirting with everyone that is under the age of forty and over the age of eighteen and is breathing, now is really the time to tell me…”
He didn’t want to scare Arias off…but he didn’t want to end up breaking his heart down the line by not warning him either.
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Posted: Tue Jun 02, 2015 9:42 am
For a second, Arias faltered. All of this was still…new to him, but here was Nick, playing a role he didn't expect him to play, and—well, never mind the fact that Arias still wasn't sure what was supposed to come of this, but it was just…nice.
Having someone to confide in. He had friends—it wasn't like there weren't people he didn't trust. He just…didn't have as much to lose by telling Nick (and to be honest, how was Nick going to judge him? He seemed so easy going).
"…I guess it sort of depends on what you mean by flirting. I wouldn't care if you…I mean." He wasn't really upset by the idea, necessarily; his heart was pounding so loudly in his head that he probably wasn't thinking too hardly about it, and admittedly he didn't want to scare Nick off.
"…Do whatever makes you happy?" he suggested. "I mean. I know we're different, you and I. It wouldn’t surprise me if you got bored of me after the novelty of my awkwardness wears off." Or maybe he'd get more comfortable with it, who knows. "I mean—I don't…want to go into something expecting a fling, I don't know if I could do that. I don't know."
But he didn't want to say no. He had one foot in the door, so why not just go that last little bit? If it didn't work, it didn't work, but he couldn't just keep being a chicken.
"At the very least, I'd…" he faltered and then nodded. "I'd be in. I'd like to get more comfortable with everything. Learn. Maybe if I hang out with you more, you'll rub off on me."
He was quiet for a second and then added, "Just, not too much rubbing. Please."
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Posted: Tue Jun 02, 2015 9:54 am
Nick kept his hold on Arias’s hand, secretly glad the other male hadn’t pulled away when he had mentioned his flirting chronic flirting problem. “Well, I’m not asking for this to be a fling, I don’t want that from you…” He gave a slight grin at the ‘rubbing’ statement and laughed. “Well, I’ll only rub when you say I can rub, how about that, my little éclair.”
He supposed that they were sort of dating now. Cool. He could deal with that, yes indeed he could deal with that.
“So…what did you really call me here to ask about? I think I derailed whatever you were going to say…but I really don’t mind that in the slightest.”
No, not at all. Arias’s hand was so soft, and he figured he could really get used to holding it. How nice.
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Posted: Tue Jun 02, 2015 11:23 am
There was a wave of nervousness sloshing about in Arias' stomach, but it wasn't all bad anxiety. There was excitement, and hope, and curiosity. This was different—but not in the bad way. And maybe that meant there was some hope for him, yet.
He didn't pull away from Nick's grip on his hand (to be honest, he liked it too much, even if the tickling in his stomach made him want to get up and walk in circles and go lock himself back in the closet until his giddiness wore down.
"I…actually…can't really remember right now."
It was something about Knights…something…
The thought was elusive and slipped from his reaches. His smile grew a bit as he looked back to Nick's face. "…Though, all things considered, I think we can put off that discussion for later. Now…now, all I can think about is asking questions about you. It kind of seems more important to get to know each other a little better. And—" Now there was a slight lump in his throat, but if they were dating…he was going to have to figure out how to get rid of that. "—Whatever we don't get to during lunch, we can…cover over dinner?"
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Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2015 6:13 pm
Nick just beamed, squeezing the hand he was holding just slightly. If Arias wasn’t going to pull away, he sure as hell wasn’t. “Well, then of course we can talk about your other question later, that’s not an issue…and hell, I’ll stay in the bakery until it closes, if you’d like, I’m great at talking about myself.”
He took another bite of his sandwich and simply watched Arias, quite happy with how this day had turned out…as good, if not better than he had hoped.
It was just…great to be there…and he hoped that they would have many more wonderful dates together.
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