❝ spring for flirting but fall for the untamed delicious wild things ❞

[medievalism]

{ an autumn mixer }

Comments

[bagelbites]

Everything Alex said made sense to Dal. It was reassuring and actually drove home that Alex did care. He didn't want to make Dal uncomfortable, but he also didn't want him thinking something was wrong or weird between them. It was very thoughtful. Dal smiled up at him and nodded in understanding. "Take as long as ya need."

Honestly, if things remained much as they were, Dal would be grateful for that. He's just happy to have Alex around. He may be blunt and sometimes a little down on himself, but he's been nothing but respectful and forthright when it mattered. That's a lot to Dal. He'd be happy enough just to have Alex as a friend, if not something else. And if they get to spend more time like this together while Alex figures himself out, that's win, too.

"Hope ya like him. He's one of my favorites."

Though he may not look it, the nature of Dal's life left him perceptive to the point of hyper-vigilance. So, of course, he notices when they've been walking a while and someone else was taking all the same twists and turns some distance behind them. Maybe Alex noticed, too, given what Dal knew about his past and all. He tucked in a little closer against Alex's side and lifted his cup before quietly muttering, "Someone's behind us."

[brokensmile]

It was not only a reassurance for Dal but for him too. There were times when he wondered if taking things too slow was a problem for him. It had been a long time since he was attracted to any one enough to consider being intimate and if he was being honest with himself the idea of intimacy scared him a little. Which was ironic considering his zero fear of just about everything else. But then he knew the fearless didn’t cross over into his personal life, love was scary and being fearless didn’t mean being stupid. He knew it was okay to want to take things slow and to be scared about it. It reminded him he was human after all.

Dal pushing into him closer alerted him to his surroundings quicker than Dal’s words. At first, he moved more in front of Dal and assessed the situation. His eyes narrowed, Who the hell are these fuckers? Not a good thought for him.

“Anyone you know?”

I think my brain is *actually* back from the war this time, so sorry.

[bagelbites]

"Mmhmm," he answered with a nod. He didn't want to draw attention to the fact that they realized they were being followed, so Dal was trying to keep himself collected and his responses subtle. But, yes, one of the group he recognized. Only one. It was someone who used to see him until Dal refused after he got too rough one too many times. There wasn't enough money for Dal to endure someone's sadism and that was that. Even he had boundaries.

"One of 'em," he added to clarify. "Too violent."

All good. RL before everything.

[brokensmile]

"Why are the violent ones always so dumb?"

Alex took the knowledge Dal knew of the violence as a sign their plans were cancelled for today. Maybe for tomorrow. Or the next day. Getting beat up again wasn't high on his list of things to do, but then he knew crap went south quickly, and there it was.

Fortunately or unfortunately, they were walking through a quieter area of the park and Alex couldn't rely on disappearing in amongst people. If he was feeling as dumb as those who thought they could attack him, Alex, could portal him and Dal out. He didn't want questions. Didn't want to freak Dal out. Didn't want to freak himself out because he had not got his ability to portal under control and lord knows where they'd end up. All of it amounted to was fight through the bullshit. The story of his life really. He gave a mental sigh and his fist curled.

"Don't get in my way once I start. Okay."