smackenzie (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
smackenzie) wrote2010-11-11 01:31 pm
smackenzie) wrote2010-11-11 01:31 pm
Entry tags:
ten (jared)
And besides, he was hungry, and in a lot of situations, food trumped all.
Jensen looked a little surprised at his offer, but then shrugged and said agreeably "Yeah, sure, I could eat. Do you know anywhere to go, or should we just wing it?"
"Uh." Jared thought. He realized they couldn't go that far for lunch because eventually Beth and Aldis would have to take him home, but he'd noted some places to eat on the drive over and while Beth was trying to find a parking spot, so they could probably just walk in any direction and find something.
He looked around for Aldis or Beth, couldn't see either of them, and then decided he'd just call them in a little while to see if they were ready to leave. He had a sneaking suspicion that the answer would be "No".
He and Jensen left the gallery and wandered up the street, stopping when Jensen pointed to a restaurant called Mad Donna's and laughed.
"Donna's my mom's name," he said. "Let's go there."
The place was reasonably full but they ended up outside on the patio, and for a couple of minutes neither of them said anything as they looked over the menu.
"Cap'n Crunch french toast," Jared said, amazed and interested. He'd get a side of cheese grits and stuff his face and then he wouldn't be hungry until dinner. And if he was lucky, Aldis would make him dinner and he wouldn't even have to cook. He wasn't going to get anything done today besides eat, was he.
Well, he was ok with that.
Jensen ordered the huevos rancheros and a giant coffee - "My morning caffeine's wearing off," he explained - and they started chatting like they hadn't just met twenty minutes ago. Jensen was an aspiring singer-songwriter as well as a barista, he liked classic noir movies, old westerns, Monty Python, murder mysteries, Star Wars but not really Star Trek, the Terminator movies, pretty much everything Jack White had ever done, rugby, Dave Eggers, William Gibson (from just the past ten or twelve years, though, not the early cyberpunk stuff), way too many bands and musicians to list, Tex-Mex ("I'm sure you're surprised," he said, grinning), sushi, football, and the kinds of books Jared considered snobby intellectual lit, although Jensen himself didn't seem to be much of a snob.
And when Jared suggested he read The Dresden Files - which came out "You should totally read Jim Butcher, I think you'd really like him" - Jensen said he had.
Jensen talked about his music and Jared talked about his dogs and his bikes, and they both talked a little bit about home and their meals and the weather and their phones (Jensen's rang once, Jared's twice) and a random but generally light collection of subjects. Jared liked to think he was easy to talk to, but he'd tried to chat with people who had all the interest and conversational skills of a blueberry muffin, so he was well aware that it took two to talk. And talking to Jensen was ridiculously easy.
Jared's first phone call was from Beth, wondering where he was. He thought it would be rude to take the call, but Jensen told him not to worry, what if it was an emergency?
"It's not an emergency," Jared said, "it's just Beth."
She wanted to know where he was, he told her, she said she and Aldis had gone to a friend's house to hang out and see the girl's photos, did he want to come over? He said no, he was still eating. (Which wasn't totally a lie - after all, he could still have dessert.)
"Give us a call when you're done," she told him, and then demanded "How did you do that?" of someone on her end of the phone, and hung up.
"My ride home," he explained to Jensen. "They haven't left me yet."
Jensen's one phone call was a friend of his, who was apparently calling to get the dirt on whatever he'd done the night before. His end of the conversation was very short - "I had a really good time, can I tell you about it later?" - and then because Jared must have looked very convincingly confused, he said "I went on a first date last night. My friend set us up - she just wanted to know how it went."
"How did it go?"
"We ate sushi and went bowling. It was fun. And then one of my date's friends called to make sure I wasn't a serial killer."
"Was she worried that you were?" Jared found that a little hard to believe.
"He, actually. The friend was. The date, not so much."
Jared noted the "he" and opted not to say anything. If Jensen was gay, that was his own business. He was still a pretty cool guy.
Jared's second phone call was from Aldis, begging Jared to come rescue him from hipsters and photographers. Jared said maybe later. He was enjoying himself.
After a couple of hours he and Jensen realized they were probably monopolizing the table, so they paid the bill and left. But instead of heading right back to the gallery and wherever Jensen had parked his car, they wandered around for a little while until they found an ice cream shop, and because Jared was a bottomless pit they stopped for ice cream.
"This is kinda like a date," Jared commented, as they sat outside with their cones. "I mean. Um."
Jensen laughed. "It's ok. It is, a little bit. Does that mean I'm going to get a goodnight kiss?" He grinned. Jared could tell he was teasing.
Their conversation moved onto cars, the weirdest ice cream flavors either of them had ever had, and the Civil War. (Jared brought up The Killer Angels.) They eventually made their way back to the gallery and then around the block to Jensen's car.
"Do you want to maybe hang out again some time?" Jensen asked, much to Jared's relief. He'd been trying to figure out how he could pursue a friendship with someone he knew was gay, without sounding like he was interested in a relationship. He'd decided it wasn't any different from pursuing a friendship with any other guy - he'd done it with Misha - but then Jensen beat him to the punch anyway. "I know a good coffeeshop."
"Yeah, that'd be cool. And now I can ask this without sounding like I'm asking you out - the Belcourt's showing a bunch of spaghetti westerns next week, and I can't get anyone to go with me. Nobody wants to see The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly or Fistful of Dollars. I don't get it."
"I'm not sure what nights I'm working, but I've gotta be free for at least one movie." He dug his car keys out of his pocket. "I, uh, I haven't met a lot people since I moved here," he said, looking at his hands and suddenly sounding a little shy. "I mean people I could be friends with, not networking contacts or coworkers. I really - I'm glad we met."
"Me too." Jared couldn't help grinning. Jensen's sudden shyness was actually kind of cute, because he hadn't been at all quiet at any previous point in the afternoon. They'd started talking and just hadn't stopped. "I'm just glad there was someone besides me at the art show who didn't really want to be there."
"It was the big blinking sign over my head, wasn't it."
"Dead giveaway."
Jensen unlocked his car. "I'll call you when - shit, I didn't get your number."
So they exchanged phone numbers, said goodbye again, and Jensen got in his car and pulled away.
"Huh," Jared said to himself. "I made a friend. Cool."
He called Aldis, Aldis asked where he'd been, he said he made a friend, Aldis tried to grill him, Jared said "Just tell me where you are", and Aldis gave him directions, saying he was really ready to get out of this house already.
In the car on the way home, Beth chattered about the art show and the girl whose house they'd gone to and the neighborhood was really cool and she kind of wanted to move out here - Aldis turned in his seat and shook his head at Jared, a gesture Jared knew meant "No fucking way", although Jared had to admit, parts of the area were kinda cute - and Aldis asked about this total stranger who was apparently more interesting to Jared than people he already knew. And Jared told him.
"If I didn't know better," Beth mused, "I'd think you had a crush on this guy."
Which was exactly what Aldis told Katie at work the next day.
"Now will you stop insinuating about me and Mike?" Tom said, aggrieved.
"'Insinuating'?" Katie repeated. "That's a big word for you, Tom."
"Fuck off."
words: 1490
total words: 17,739
(mad donna's, the ice cream shop, the belcourt)
Jensen looked a little surprised at his offer, but then shrugged and said agreeably "Yeah, sure, I could eat. Do you know anywhere to go, or should we just wing it?"
"Uh." Jared thought. He realized they couldn't go that far for lunch because eventually Beth and Aldis would have to take him home, but he'd noted some places to eat on the drive over and while Beth was trying to find a parking spot, so they could probably just walk in any direction and find something.
He looked around for Aldis or Beth, couldn't see either of them, and then decided he'd just call them in a little while to see if they were ready to leave. He had a sneaking suspicion that the answer would be "No".
He and Jensen left the gallery and wandered up the street, stopping when Jensen pointed to a restaurant called Mad Donna's and laughed.
"Donna's my mom's name," he said. "Let's go there."
The place was reasonably full but they ended up outside on the patio, and for a couple of minutes neither of them said anything as they looked over the menu.
"Cap'n Crunch french toast," Jared said, amazed and interested. He'd get a side of cheese grits and stuff his face and then he wouldn't be hungry until dinner. And if he was lucky, Aldis would make him dinner and he wouldn't even have to cook. He wasn't going to get anything done today besides eat, was he.
Well, he was ok with that.
Jensen ordered the huevos rancheros and a giant coffee - "My morning caffeine's wearing off," he explained - and they started chatting like they hadn't just met twenty minutes ago. Jensen was an aspiring singer-songwriter as well as a barista, he liked classic noir movies, old westerns, Monty Python, murder mysteries, Star Wars but not really Star Trek, the Terminator movies, pretty much everything Jack White had ever done, rugby, Dave Eggers, William Gibson (from just the past ten or twelve years, though, not the early cyberpunk stuff), way too many bands and musicians to list, Tex-Mex ("I'm sure you're surprised," he said, grinning), sushi, football, and the kinds of books Jared considered snobby intellectual lit, although Jensen himself didn't seem to be much of a snob.
And when Jared suggested he read The Dresden Files - which came out "You should totally read Jim Butcher, I think you'd really like him" - Jensen said he had.
Jensen talked about his music and Jared talked about his dogs and his bikes, and they both talked a little bit about home and their meals and the weather and their phones (Jensen's rang once, Jared's twice) and a random but generally light collection of subjects. Jared liked to think he was easy to talk to, but he'd tried to chat with people who had all the interest and conversational skills of a blueberry muffin, so he was well aware that it took two to talk. And talking to Jensen was ridiculously easy.
Jared's first phone call was from Beth, wondering where he was. He thought it would be rude to take the call, but Jensen told him not to worry, what if it was an emergency?
"It's not an emergency," Jared said, "it's just Beth."
She wanted to know where he was, he told her, she said she and Aldis had gone to a friend's house to hang out and see the girl's photos, did he want to come over? He said no, he was still eating. (Which wasn't totally a lie - after all, he could still have dessert.)
"Give us a call when you're done," she told him, and then demanded "How did you do that?" of someone on her end of the phone, and hung up.
"My ride home," he explained to Jensen. "They haven't left me yet."
Jensen's one phone call was a friend of his, who was apparently calling to get the dirt on whatever he'd done the night before. His end of the conversation was very short - "I had a really good time, can I tell you about it later?" - and then because Jared must have looked very convincingly confused, he said "I went on a first date last night. My friend set us up - she just wanted to know how it went."
"How did it go?"
"We ate sushi and went bowling. It was fun. And then one of my date's friends called to make sure I wasn't a serial killer."
"Was she worried that you were?" Jared found that a little hard to believe.
"He, actually. The friend was. The date, not so much."
Jared noted the "he" and opted not to say anything. If Jensen was gay, that was his own business. He was still a pretty cool guy.
Jared's second phone call was from Aldis, begging Jared to come rescue him from hipsters and photographers. Jared said maybe later. He was enjoying himself.
After a couple of hours he and Jensen realized they were probably monopolizing the table, so they paid the bill and left. But instead of heading right back to the gallery and wherever Jensen had parked his car, they wandered around for a little while until they found an ice cream shop, and because Jared was a bottomless pit they stopped for ice cream.
"This is kinda like a date," Jared commented, as they sat outside with their cones. "I mean. Um."
Jensen laughed. "It's ok. It is, a little bit. Does that mean I'm going to get a goodnight kiss?" He grinned. Jared could tell he was teasing.
Their conversation moved onto cars, the weirdest ice cream flavors either of them had ever had, and the Civil War. (Jared brought up The Killer Angels.) They eventually made their way back to the gallery and then around the block to Jensen's car.
"Do you want to maybe hang out again some time?" Jensen asked, much to Jared's relief. He'd been trying to figure out how he could pursue a friendship with someone he knew was gay, without sounding like he was interested in a relationship. He'd decided it wasn't any different from pursuing a friendship with any other guy - he'd done it with Misha - but then Jensen beat him to the punch anyway. "I know a good coffeeshop."
"Yeah, that'd be cool. And now I can ask this without sounding like I'm asking you out - the Belcourt's showing a bunch of spaghetti westerns next week, and I can't get anyone to go with me. Nobody wants to see The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly or Fistful of Dollars. I don't get it."
"I'm not sure what nights I'm working, but I've gotta be free for at least one movie." He dug his car keys out of his pocket. "I, uh, I haven't met a lot people since I moved here," he said, looking at his hands and suddenly sounding a little shy. "I mean people I could be friends with, not networking contacts or coworkers. I really - I'm glad we met."
"Me too." Jared couldn't help grinning. Jensen's sudden shyness was actually kind of cute, because he hadn't been at all quiet at any previous point in the afternoon. They'd started talking and just hadn't stopped. "I'm just glad there was someone besides me at the art show who didn't really want to be there."
"It was the big blinking sign over my head, wasn't it."
"Dead giveaway."
Jensen unlocked his car. "I'll call you when - shit, I didn't get your number."
So they exchanged phone numbers, said goodbye again, and Jensen got in his car and pulled away.
"Huh," Jared said to himself. "I made a friend. Cool."
He called Aldis, Aldis asked where he'd been, he said he made a friend, Aldis tried to grill him, Jared said "Just tell me where you are", and Aldis gave him directions, saying he was really ready to get out of this house already.
In the car on the way home, Beth chattered about the art show and the girl whose house they'd gone to and the neighborhood was really cool and she kind of wanted to move out here - Aldis turned in his seat and shook his head at Jared, a gesture Jared knew meant "No fucking way", although Jared had to admit, parts of the area were kinda cute - and Aldis asked about this total stranger who was apparently more interesting to Jared than people he already knew. And Jared told him.
"If I didn't know better," Beth mused, "I'd think you had a crush on this guy."
Which was exactly what Aldis told Katie at work the next day.
"Now will you stop insinuating about me and Mike?" Tom said, aggrieved.
"'Insinuating'?" Katie repeated. "That's a big word for you, Tom."
"Fuck off."
words: 1490
total words: 17,739
(mad donna's, the ice cream shop, the belcourt)