savetheearth | Black Coffee [closed]

Entry tags:

Black Coffee [closed]

Who: Lucas Evans and Steven Huguenot
What: NOT A DATE, THAT'S FOR SURE. Steven and Lucas meet for coffee to discuss... Whatever this is. Or was. Or what's going on.
Where: A chain coffeeshop in the city.
When: May 9th

Lucas had been sitting around in the coffee shop doing homework anxiously for an hour or so. As the scheduled meeting time neared, he even started getting a little twitchy. Of course, that could partially be because of the coffee he's been drinking. He taps his fingers on the coffee mug, having lost interest in the essay he was working on on his laptop. He checks his phone for the hundredth time, looking for a text from Steven.

He's not even late, either. He's got like ten more minutes. But it's only natural he'd be nervous, right? I mean this guy... This guy... He thinks back to the first time they talked, when he was pretty high, and winces. I mean, it made it so he didn't flip out too hard, but the impact of the moment didn't really hit him until he'd sobered up. This guy... he was kind of destined to meet him. One of those once-in-a-lifetime things that most people never really expect to experience, and he's got it. But he'd kind of already screwed it up by making such a bad impression.

He sighs and messes with his hair, again. Well, all he can do now is try to make a better second impression. He clears his throat and pages to his browser, where he's currently reading Steven's online comic.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Steven isn't going to be late, but he's cutting it close - two minutes before their meeting time, he stumbles into the coffee shop with a bag over each shoulder and his phone, an unsent 'Sorry, can't make it' text for Lucas still open on the screen, clutched in his hand. He scans for Lucas, immediately, and spots that head of wavy hair over the top of a laptop. He swallows, suddenly and intensely nervous. He shoves it away. This is a meet-and-greet thing. Nothing else. He erases the text message before he moves.

He slides between people with quiet 'excuse me's, and sets the brown flapped bag with his art supplies in it on the chair across from Lucas. "Hey," he says, with a quick smile. "Mind if I get a coffee before I sit down?" he asks, to cut off any dramatic moments here. This is not going to be a meet cute.

Edited 2014-05-10 05:06 (UTC)

Lucas watches him come, feeling totally nervous. He smooths his expression over with an easy smile, giving him a short wave. "Sure, go right ahead. I've just been doing some homework since school got out, so a few more minutes isn't gonna bother me." There's hardly a tremor in his voice, even though now that Steven is here he feels utterly put on the spot.

He definitely watches him while he gets coffee.

Steven isn't exactly cutting a cool figure as he orders coffee, light and sweet. There's some change fumbling and he nearly drops his phone on the floor, saved only by a nice lady with quick reflexes he takes a minute to chat with, drumming his fingers on the counter and letting her talk about how she lives next door to one of his teachers after she sees the logo on the tote bag still over his shoulder.

He takes his cup carefully, not wanting to spill it, and nods goodbye before he beelines it back to Lucas. He sets it down in order to slide his stuff around, and settles into the seat.

"Yo," he says, and then pulls his tote into his lap to peel out a hardcover book with a glossy cover. The Volume 1 he'd promised, just like new. "Here," he says, and offers it with both hands.

Fondness wells in his chest as he watches Steven fumble around. He knew he was kind of doomed before, but now he's sure he's fucked. He watches Steven chat with the lady, polite and gentle. He's really cute, ugh.

He takes the book with both hands, eyes wide. "This is the book? Wow, hardcover. Those are pricey!" He pages through it, eyeing the interior colors for trueness. "I already started to read it online. I got impatient. It's really good!"

Steven laughs, sheepish and embarrassed about this, coming from Lucas. He loops his fingers together around his cup, so they have something to do, and shrugs, just a little. "I did a Kickstarter," he says, "I was gonna do softcovers, but there were enough donations I decided to upgrade. So it came out much nicer."

He lifts the cup to sip at it, and sets it back down. "Thanks, though. The beginning's real rough, I had time to touch up the art, but the story kinda..." He lifts his hand, holding it flat, and rocks it back and forth. "It kinda teeters right on that 'good, but cheesy' and 'too cheesy to be good' line."

He clears his throat. "I'm glad you like it."

"If people like it, then it doesn't matter if it's a little cheesy, right?" He grins. "Plus, you've been doing it for a while, it's natural that you'd improve."

He sort of runs his finger over the rim of his coffee mug. "I like the main character a lot, but I think the girl he met at the cafe was pretty badass. I hope she figures into it more... I'm not very far along." He clears his throat.

"Anyway, um. You like your coffee sweet and light, huh?" He only takes one lump of sugar in his, a affected habit he got from his dad.

He grins back at Lucas, and turns his mug a little. "Yeah," he says, "my friends told me what was dumb, and I cleaned it up. Anyway, I don't... like coffee that much. Bad art student, I know, but it's too bitter. And I've gotta have something in the mornings, so it might as well be sweet, right?" He seems a little embarrassed about it, but whatever.

Then he hums, thoughtfully. "Ina, huh?" It's nice to hear what people like, especially because - "she's kind of my favorite now, too. Definitely my favorite to draw, but she's fun to write. She, uh... she gets plenty to do. Sooner or later." He won't tell him she disappears for a chapter - the fun of that whole thing was people thinking she'd died.

"You finish your homework yet?" he asks, eyes dragging over Lucas' things.

"Ah, my sister likes tea for that reason." He laughs. "Are art students supposed to guzzle coffee? Oh, I guess I've heard that too. You don't wear a beret, either. Definitely not the correct image for an artist."

He taps his fingers on the table. "Right, Ina. Good, I'll keep an eye on her as I read." He strokes the spine of the closed book with an outstretched finger. He really is looking forward to reading it.

The question about his homework takes him off guard. "Oh, yeah. Uh. I was just working on an essay due this coming Tuesday so I wouldn't have to worry about it over the weekend."

He waves his hand. "Tea takes way too long to make," he says, "I kinda like sleepin' in, you know?" He reaches up to ruffle comb some of the hair behind his ear. "And I look dumb in berets."

His eyes follow Lucas' finger, and he forces his eyes away, shutting them and only opening them again when he's looking down into the surface of his coffee. He can't give Lucas any hope. He looks up again, distant again.

"You work pretty hard, huh?" he asks, sounding a little impressed. "I was pretty lazy in high school..."

Edited (take your fucking vowels) 2014-05-10 06:41 (UTC)

He definitely notices the hair ruffle. He gives a brief sigh. "I guess so. You can make it overnight, too, though. My family has a hot water dispenser, so that's how they did it. Faster than making coffee, then. I guess unless you make instant."

He does see Steven avoiding looking at him. He plucks at his hair, a little frustrated. Sure, he's being a little charming... But it's not like he's not pretty charming even with people he's not attracted to.

He smiles, shyly, and this time it's a real smile. "Uh... Well, you know. It's not really that hard when you remember everything." He declines to mention that he's going to a party over the weekend and wants to feel free not to have to worry about not being hung over on Sunday.

He focuses intently on Steven, after a moment. "Tell me about what you were like in high school..." He realizes it might be a little intense. "Uh... Maybe it'll jog memories or something?"

"It doesn't steep right when I make it overnight. Coffee'll just brew on the timer thing." Steven sounds remarkably stubborn on this one point, and it shows in the frown playing at his mouth. But it fades when Lucas smiles at him, and the subtle line of his lips quirks.

"Yeah... that probably helps, doesn't it," he drawls. "Man, any time I wanna get something like that out of one of these memories, that'd be great," he continues, grumbling more quietly since they're in public.

He leans forward, chin in hand and elbow on the table. "High school, huh?" He eyes Lucas - his desperation hasn't gone unnoticed - but it can't hurt. "I worked at the grocery store bakery, and I drew through, like, all my classes..." He laughs a little. "I didn't do any sports, so most of my friends were the other, you know, nerdy people? People from the comic shop. And people I worked with. I think I was pretty, you know, normal. The city we lived in wasn't huge, but it's not exactly the boonies, so there was stuff to do. Most of them are all over, now, the only other person who came to Locke was..." He frowns. He doesn't want to wield Sam like a weapon, not least because thinking about him still hurts, still makes him so angry he wants to tear every page out of every book he sees, but if it gets Lucas to stop looking at him like he wants to crawl in his lap, then he'll do it. "Was my... boyfriend." He lifts his coffee cup to sip at it. If Lucas wants to prod, then fine, but he's not volunteering it.

He listens quietly, nodding at appropriate points and pursing his lips. "Ahhh, yeah. There are guys like that in my school too." He grins. "People are always asking them to draw stuff. I bet that gets old."

He freezes up, face impassive, at the mention of his friends leaving, and his boyfriend. He bites his lip, considering his tactics from here. I mean, they're not together. Steven said he just got out of a relationship. He clears his throat. "That must be rough, then. You said you guys broke up." He takes a sip of coffee, pretending to be unconcerned. "I mean, do you guys at least go to different schools?"

Steven pulls a face as he lowers the mug. "You bet it does," he says, "these days I just hand them a business card." It's a little smug at the end.

He drops the smirk as he thinks about Sam, eyes flickering down again. "We moved here together - had an apartment. He worked, instead of going to school. I do both, my parents... can't pay for me." He shrugs. "Just after midterms he sat me down and told me he was leaving as soon as he got his stuff into storage. So, yeah. I guess that was... rough." He tilts the cup around, watching the coffee slosh against the walls. "I dunno where he is now. I think he left Locke." He looks up, forcing something bright up. "But I'm not totally alone here, I've got friends at school and work. It could be worse. And now I've got a whole club of people to talk to on our secret internet, right?"

Lucas chuckles. "That's pretty cool." He wonders if it would be weird to buy art from him someday.

He's not exactly happy to hear about it... It sounds pretty natural, really. He's actually a little jealous to hear that he was... well, allowed to date someone in high school. That he was allowed to move in with him at a young age. That's the kind of thing Lucas knows he can't do, at least not until he gets some distance from his dad. Maybe never, if he aims for higher office.

Hell, if his dad got some national attention... He might even have to worry about people paying attention to him now. But he washes the bitterness away with coffee. "Yeah. Sorry. Did anything happen, or was it just a natural thing?" He smooths his hair down and back from his forehead. "Sorry if it's weird of me to ask about... I'm sure most of your friends were around when it happened and all..."

Steven rubs at his nose. "Thanks," he says. "If you want one, I can give it to you."

Then he taps his fingers on the table, ignoring his coffee momentarily. "It's fine. We were... totally convinced we were gonna be together forever. We weren't, you know, the kind of couple who just liked the same stuff. He played guitar and was on the track team, he just liked my comics, too. So when I was talking about moving, he told me he wanted out of where he'd grown up, so he'd come with me, and we'd make something for ourselves. And it made more sense to have a roommate, anyway."

He reaches up to comb his hair back from his face, taking the chance to think. "We weren't really ready for being one of those... adult relationships. Living with somebody shows you exactly how annoying they are, you know? I was working a lot, and school was killing me, and he had work, too. It was tough, but I thought it was getting better. And he just... wanted out. To see the world, or just to stop trying with me, hell if I know. He got a taste of freedom and had to keep going, and it wasn't like I could stop him..." He sounds a little bitter as he continues, and he leans up from the table, crossing his arms low over his chest. He looks up, abruptly. "Your turn."

"A business card or a commission?" He taps his fingers on the book with a crook of a smile on his face.

He nods. He's seen that kind of thing happen a lot in school. Honestly, he hadn't really thought of himself as someone who was ready for a real relationship. He'd sort of given up hope of the possibility, at least until he bolted from the state. At college, he could probably do whatever he wanted. He's about to answer, to try to say something to soothe the pain Steven obviously still feels, but he's caught off guard by the question to him.

"Me...? Oh. Uh. Well..." He bites his lip. "I mean, I'm still in high school, so..." He sighs. "And since I can't really come out, you know... I haven't ever had a serious boyfriend. Or even a not serious boyfriend." He doesn't really feel like much of a catch at the moment, either, inexperienced high school kid that he is.

"I mean, I've-" he suddenly doesn't feel proud about the amount of play he gets at parties and sometimes school. It's nice when it's happening, but... That's not what he wants from Steven. "I've, you know... been with guys. Just... On the down low, I guess." He winces. Lame.

"Business card," Steven says, with an amused edge to it. He wiggles a little. "Commissions are on hold until school's over," he says, gesturing to his bag. "Too much to do. This is the first time I've been out of the studio for fun in days."

He settles, to watch Lucas talk. He's intent as Lucas hems and haws his way into talking about it, and there's a certain sadness in the way his mouth moves before he speaks again. "That sucks," he says, frank. "I dunno - what I would've done, if I'd had to hide all through high school, after I figured out why hot nerd girls weren't my type." A beat. "It makes the whole dudes in spandex thing seem so much more obvious..."

He bites his lip. "You've got time, provided we don't get crushed by giant stone snakes, or abducted by aliens, or whatever." He's itching to say - something about safety. "Just... be careful, would you?" That wasn't too preachy, right? God, he hopes not. But when he was Lucas' age, he'd have been far more willing to do risky stuff.

He smirks. "Sure, give over. I'll treasure it." He's quietly pleased that Steven considers hanging out with him fun. The way he talked about it on the network, it seemed kind of like a chore. That's something, at least.

"Yeah. It's, uh. Well, I mean, I think most everyone at school knows, you know? But like... The other gay guys are, uh, not willing to tag into a family like mine. And have to deal with all that crap. And some of them are willing to say so in so many words." He gives a wincing little smile. "That wasn't fun."

The spandex thing catches him a little off guard. "Hah. Yeah I think a lot of people feel that way. You ever read Kavalier and Clay? I thought it was pretty good." He brushes his hand over his eyebrows, then smooths one down with a thumb.

"Yeah, I've got time. I just... wish it didn't have to take so much of it, you know..." He pauses, mind shaping his lips around the beginning to the words 'I'm lonely,' but that sounds even more pathetic. He's not... a loser. He's really popular. Pretty much everyone likes him. Lots of people come to him for advice, even. It's just that when he needs some... He kind of has nowhere to go.

Steven's mini-lecture catches him off guard. He blinks. "Uh. No, I am! I'm... I'm pretty careful. I, uh..." He pats the pocket of his bag that he keeps condoms in. Not that he uses them as often as he should, but he usually allows himself a pass given that his stock-in-trade is blowjobs. Probably not the brightest idea, given all he knows about STI statistics, but, well. He'd never go bareback, that's for sure. "I'm fine. I get tested under a fake name at the free clinic when I feel shaky. And I keep condoms on me."

"You're worth sneaking around for," Steven says, with an intensity that surprises him. "If that... was what you needed." He pulls back, faltering a little. Shit. But he doesn't really regret saying it.

Instead, he carries on. "Yeah, I, uh, I read it," Steven says, and his voice gets a little tight at the thought of Sammy. "It's a good book," he agrees, his hand tightening into a fist where it lays on the table. He wonders, idly, if Clay felt like Lucas looks, even though he's trying to seem unaffected.

Clearing his throat to cut the awkwardness, Steven leans over to fish the black-and-silver case he keeps his business card in out of his bag, cutting it open with a snap, and hands one over. They're simple cards - black, with fairly bright purple lines along the top, and then his name, his school, his number, and his email address - the professional one. Along the back is a QR code, with a caption: Scan this to read Orpheus Contract!.

He blushes hard, despite himself. He covers his face. "Well, I wish there was a guy like you at my high school," he says, but what he really wishes is that the guy Steven is would take a chance and be with him. Not just a couple of times, either.

He smiles. "Yeah uh. I just... I really liked reading it. It meant a lot to me." He fidgets a little bit, swallowing. The shit that Sammy had to go through was a lot like the shit he has to go through, only he didn't have to hide all the time, from everybody. He too has to deal with rejection and suspicion from the people he loves and respects the most. But... He looks aside. "Anyhow..."

He takes the card and looks at it. "Wow, that's really nice. I should get some of these for when I start interviewing for colleges..." He muses, lips pursed. "You're a real professional, huh?" He gives Steven an openly admiring look.

"You might find one! He might just be hiding in the comic shop," Steven says, as Lucas takes the card, and pushes back in his chair. He plucks up his mug and cradles it in his palms, and looks a little embarrassed as Lucas compliments him.

"I had to have something for cons," he says, "I kinda want to change it up again, try and get some art on it. Maybe the - whatever hero they were. Kamen Rider W? As long as it looks cool." He doesn't remember, not yet.

Lucas resist the urge to say 'Is that where you've been all this time?' The truth of the matter is that he doesn't want another person. He wants to know everything about Steven, he wants to love him like Philip loved Shotaro. It's not like the possibility isn't there... But it's not coming as fast as he'd like.

He smirks as an echo vibrates through him. "Ah... Omae no tsumi wo kazoero. Er. Count up your sins. I think Shotaro really wanted W to be cool, too. That catchphrase. I don't remember what it looked like either. But it was green and black and purple... I remember seeing the hands." He looks at his own hands, as if to relive the memory. "What do you know? Let's uh... Let's compare notes?"

The echo pulses back, and Steven shuts his eyes. Then, in a flurry of movement, he rustles around for his sketchbook and a pencil.

He sketches as he talks, reliving the knowledge. "One side... green. One side... black. With purple. And a scarf," he says. "And... antenna." The sketch is messy, but certainly the rough design of the green-and-purple form in his memory. He looks up, coming down from his rush. "Sorry, I... Sorry. Got carried away," he says, with a sheepish sort of smile.

He watches Steven draw, the skill and speed of his hands exhilarating to see. The sketch is quick and dirty, but definitely parsable. In fact, as he looks at it...

This time, the distance in his eyes as he gets an echo is wiped away by an anxious smile, trying to hide the coldness he felt in Philip's mind in the memory. It wasn't... coldness, maybe, so much as complete emotional apathy. The only feelings that burned bright in this memory of Philip were curiosity and amusement. He feels strangely hollow.

But it's weird he's been silent so long. "No! I mean, no, yeah, that was cool. I like watching you do your thing, it's pretty impressive, you know?" He leans his head on his hands, flirty. If that was the kind of echo he was going to be getting, maybe he should focus on something else for a while. Then again, it felt like Philip didn't know Shotaro very well yet. It felt like he barely knew himself, barely had an identity at all.

Steven's pencil hovers in midair as he watches Lucas' face change. When Lucas doesn't volunteer anything, just compliments him, he looks back down, adjusting the design across W's chest. But if Lucas doesn't want to share something, Steven can't - and won't - make him. He looks back, smiling a little at Lucas' bare coquettishness.

"Thanks," he says, and and there's clear gratitude in it. "It helps get the idea out." He wonders what Lucas saw, again, and watches him as he nonetheless continues. "And they say people... forget, sometimes. I'd hate that... remembering stuff and then not. So I draw it." He'd left the rest of the sketches he'd done at home, unwilling to have them in his portfolio at school, but now he wishes he hadn't. It'd be a better distraction. "I can show you the ones I've got next time, huh?"

He nods. "I bet. I wish I could. Even if I write something down, that just means it's in my head twice. Though that sometimes helps me organize things." He smooths his fingers through his hair.

He considers... "Oh yeah... People forget that they were ever on the network. Do they forget the people they met, though? Or just... the network stuff." He wonders if Steven will remember him, even if he doesn't remember Philip.

Next time is a good phrase. Next time is something he can hold on to. "Maybe next time I'll meet you at your place."

"I guess remembering everything's not all good, huh," Steven muses, quietly. Idly, he settles his hand once more against the table, since he's feeling an annoying urge to muss Lucas' hair.

"I don't know," he says, "I guess I'll ask next time I'm looking for things worth watching." The Network is kind of like Facebook, in that regard. Lots of shares from people who don't know what's worth sharing. Not that he hates it that much, really, it's a nice reminder they're all human.

He thinks. "As long as it's... after the end of the month, and before middle of June," he says, wondering if that's going to surprise Lucas. "I gotta go home that weekend," he explains, "my sisters are graduating."

He swallows. "It's not, really. It's not even mostly good, sometimes." Sometimes, all he can think of is every disappointed look his father has ever vaulted his way. From the surprised glare of a man just hearing his 11-year-old son likes to watch American Idol, to the dismayed glance of a man watching his 15-year-old son looking too entertained by a men's cologne commercial.

He gives Steven a distantly hungry look, "I, uh... I guess I just feel like it would be nice not to forget you, even if we're not partners anymore."

He looks away, smoothing his hair back and down. "Uh, oh, sure cool. Are they older or younger?" He keeps averting his gaze, nervous as all hell.

"I'll leave notes to myself," he says, his voice and brow firm. His eyes are very serious. "Even if I forget. You'll be... in my notes," he finishes, lamely. He sets his pencil down to take a sip of coffee, as a distraction.

He puts it back down after, like, three sips. "Younger," he says, "twins. We live in Pennsylvania." Will offering more information help? What happened to wanting to be a little hands-off with this high school kid? He was younger than his sisters, dammit!

He gives a shy, flushing smile. "Good. I'll leave myself notes too." He wants to take a selfie with him and make it his phone background but that would probably be a bit much.

"Oh, okay." It is probably a little weird to Steven that he's younger than his little sisters... "I have two older sisters. They're both in their early twenties." Maybe the fact that he grew up with two sisters older than Steven would set his mind at ease. "I hear you lose your echoes if you leave town. So I'm sure you won't miss me."

'If I read something, it's in my mind twice'. Steven wonders if that counts the same when you don't remember the first time.

He looks up his coffee. "Figures," he says, "there was no way you didn't have older sisters... unless I guess you had older brothers. But sisters are scarier." He cracks a smile. "I'm sure you'll text me anyway," he says, eyes knowing.

"Haha, is it that obvious?" He grins. "They did kind of spoil me, just a little. I guess I got paid back by being their toy when I was a baby."

"Oh yeah! I will totally text you." He mimes texting. "Dear Steven, remember me? I'm a special friend of yours from town, and I have a surprise when you get back. The surprise is echoes."

"Better that than getting to be their beloved big brother," this is said with appropriate little-girl voice, "and then turn into 'that nerdy brother of mine'." He pulls a face.

Then he rolls his eyes. "You say special friend and you're gonna get texts from my sisters," he says, "or my friends, they signed me up for some nerdy dating site last month..." He clears his throat. "A-anyway, don't ruin the surprise by telling me what it is, the hell kind of guy are you?" He's laughing now.

"I dunno, it would be kind of fun to be looked up to." Not that he's exactly a good role-model. Not that he wants to try to be, either.

"Haha, you let them read your texts? You're whipped, for an older brother." He raises his eyebrows. "A nerd dating site? Do you not want to date outside your type, or do they just expect you not to want to? And I won't ruin the surprise, that was just me clarifying it!!"

"Up until they stop," Steven complains, leaning down against the table.

"You say 'let' like I have a choice," he admits. "If I look away for two seconds, somebody's reading my texts." He shakes his head. "This site was awful. I didn't know 'queer nerds' meant so many weird douchebags..." He did, a little, but still. "I think they thought it'd get me out of my no-dating zone. I think it shoved me further in."

"Aw. I'm sure they still think you're okay, or they'll start to think you're cool again someday soon." He pats him on the shoulder consolingly.

"Haha, no privacy, huh. That sucks. I wouldn't get away with half this shit if my mom snooped. She keeps up on me, but she doesn't snoop."

He listens to the sad, sad, dating woes and purses his lips curiously. "Well, maybe you just need... to find someone who isn't a nerd?" He shrugs, the picture of innocence. "I'm sure you'll be fine. You seem okay on your own, anyway, right?" He wonders if Steven has the same hollow feeling in the pit of his stomach that he has...

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Black Coffee [closed]

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

nsfw text!

after jovan's police chief dick saga i don't think talking about bjs is that worrying

just bein cautious

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject