[closed]

[schild]

Who: Ryan Brown and Bertholdt Fubar
What: Coffee and talking and totally not a date!
Where: A coffee shop by the fire station. Very romantic.
When: August 8.

[ Dressed in a polo shirt and jeans (yeah that's how he rolls,) Ryan waits outside the coffee shop, as one does with these things. He figures he'll pay for lunch, since he's the one who invited Bertholdt out of the blue. He's had an echo since then, though, and it's different-- but it sounds a lot like Bertholdt's. Maybe they can make some sense out of it.

And maybe Ryan just wants to meet the guy he's essentially been skyping with for the past week or so. That could be it too. Plus, this place is kinda nice. The food is okay and they make great smoothies. ]

Comments

[schild]

Maybe not... but I'm gonna.

[ There goes Ryan holding Bertholdt's hand again. ]

You're stuck with me, Bertl.

[toobig]

We're... we're friends, of course we'll... stick together.

[Something about all of this is making him feel so warm and overwhelmed... flustered isn't even the term for it, it's such a strong feeling. He barely notices the sudden rush of sweat on his skin before--]

[His face and neck heat up, his hand too beneath Ryan's, before the slick sheen of sweat evaporates into a rapid burst of steam off his skin. It rolls off of him and dissipates into the air before anyone around them notices. It leaves him with his head spinning, bringing his free hand up to rest against his forehead, leaning over the table, and the air around them heated a like a sauna.]

W-wha....

[schild]

Woah! [ Ryan tries not to look too startled but that-- well, wow. Did Bertl just shoot off steam? The air around them definitely got warmer. ]

You didn't even heal on that one! [ Ryan's more impressed than anything, the loser. ]

[toobig]

D-did I...?

[Woah, his head is still spinning a little, and he presses both hands to his face then--- His skin is unusually dry, baby soft and warm.]

Why though...?

[schild]

Can you do it again? Your skin's all dry.

[ Guess who's bringing a hand to touch your face, Bertl. Ryan's gonna stroke that cheek a little but, just to feel for steam? Maybe? ]

[toobig]

[He lets him, blinking the last bit of the daze away.]

I'm... not all sweaty anymore...?

That's... a first. I-- I don't even know how I did it.

[schild]

Did you... steam it away?

[ That's adorable. Ryan only does boring stuff like healing his wounds. Bertl actually heats up till it evaporates. ]

[toobig]

I guess so...

[Now he's looking around. No one seems to have notice, no awkward glances in their direction or murmuring. That's a relief, in the very least.]

It made my head spin...

[schild]

You feeling okay?

[ Now would be a good time to draw his hand back, huh... too bad he's not gonna. ]

[toobig]

Yeah... it's not bad now.

I guess... I released so much heat it went to my head.

[Like a volcano. He scratches the back of his neck, barely noticing Ryan's hand on his face. It's... comforting...]

Or something?

[schild]

That's as good a theory as any.

[ Well, now Ryan does pull back. Gosh, that was cute though. In fact, he'll say it. It's time to take that stupid leap. ]

That was pretty cute, though.

[toobig]

[He finally starts blushing again at his words, and he's sweating already, looking down sheepishly.]

Cute...? I...

[schild]

Uh, I mean...

[ Is that being too forward...? ]

Sweating was always a problem, right? Maybe this is your body's way of... regulating it. Must be an echo.

[toobig]

[He's fidgeting again, but he can't help the tiny smile on his lips now. Ryan thinks he's cute, even if it's just because of a weird Echo thing.]

I've... o-only had memories before now. Nothing, uh, like this...

[schild]

[ Oh, he thinks you're cute for a lot of reasons. But none of them are stuff he'd admit on their first meeting!!! That would be too cute!! Too childish!! ]

First time for everything. Maybe you'll get healing soon too.

[toobig]

[You're already holding hands, might as well MAKEOUT talk attraction.]

Maybe... that'll... definitely make it that we were the same, uh, kind of thing...

[schild]

[ Well maybe Ryan'll test the waters by stroking said hand.... ]

Yeah, I hope so. If we got similar echoes and powers, we could work this out together, y'know?

[toobig]

Right... It's, uh, not as --scary if it's both of us.

[Bertholdt watches him do it, finally finishing up his coffee.]

[schild]

Right. We'll do it together.

[ Yeah Bertholdt is definitely not minding the stroking. So is he okay with this...? Ryan doesn't like to assume-- he's usually the one being hit on, not the other way around. ]

So hey, uh... would you like to go out sometime?

[toobig]

G-go out...?

[Like-- go out go out? If he hadn't already let off his steam, that would have done it.]

Y-you want t-to, uh-- w-with me?

[schild]

I know it's, uh, sudden. I mean this is our first time meeting in person, but... I'd like to get to know you better? Even though it feels like I already do. Or maybe because of that, I think.

[ Plus you're a tall, hot dude and Ryan likes tall hot dudes so really. What's not to love. ]

[toobig]

[It takes him a moment to respond, having so much trouble collecting his words, before he finally nods, meeting his gaze shyly.]

I... I'd like that too, Ryan.

[schild]

Yeah? [ So much relief spills into that one word that Ryan might actually steam up too, if he could. ]

Cool. [ Ryan definitely squeezes Bertl's hand, looking over to him with a smile. ] Great.

[toobig]

[He returns it, even if he's still so shy about all of this.]

So...

[schild]

So we're dating.

[ He smiles. I swear Ryan isn't normally shy about this stuff, there's just something about Bertl that feels special. ]

I guess that makes this our first date.