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

[medievalism]

{ an autumn mixer }

Comments

[bagelbites]

At some point. Dal's not in any hurry to label things. Even if they end up being friends after all these dates of theirs, he'll have no complaints. Alex is fun to spend time with and Dal appreciates how earnest Alex has been with him since the start. If this is all that happens, Dal's made a friend and that's nothing for him to laugh at.

"I don't mine 'em." His parents weren't the sort of people who ever used endearments with each other. He's honestly surprised they didn't address each other as 'Mr. Kang' and 'Judge Kang.' They may have even had separate beds in their bedroom. He's not sure he can recall ever seeing it. They were never affectionate. So there's a small part of Dal that's longed for that: affection, someone to call him cute pet names, all that warm stuff.

"Ever had one before?"

[brokensmile]

"I think I'm more likely to give pet names than to be given a pet name. Baby is kinda a given for just about everyone and I've been called that before. I don't really care either way, I guess."

He couldn't remember the last time anyone called him by a pet name. And he came to the conclusion it didn't bother him. He put it down to the fact he was getting used to his new name and he actually didn't think he'd be having a conversation with anyone about pet names, especially someone he'd be interested in. He thought it'd be a while before he even be in this kind of situation. But he was there and his expression soften little as he looked at Dal, realising, it was a good conversation to have with someone he liked.

now that my brain seems to have come back from the war

[bagelbites]

"I like the way it sounds in Korean better," he added a bit more quietly, looking down at the cup in his hand. "It's, um... It draws a line between what's real and what's work, if that makes sense." While Dal didn't make money with his thrilling conversation, most of his clients didn't want to question what he was calling them. They certainly weren't interested in a language lesson, however brief.

That's also why he liked Alex calling him 'pussy cat.' It's not the sort of nickname anyone else called him.

Looking back up from his drink, Dal smiled a little shyly. "As long as ya don't mind, I wanna call ya that." As long as Alex didn't mind. The last thing he wanted was to make things awkward or uncomfortable. He had very little doubt Alex would be upfront if it did bother him.

"Do ya really not know Klimt? He's real famous for his Golden Phase. He, he used real thin sheets of hammered gold in his work from that period. It's real pretty, you'll see!"

Welcome back from the war. Throws victory party.

[brokensmile]

"Yeah, it makes sense. You can tell me if anything I do reminds you to much of work. You know, some trigger things, and I'll avoid doing them if possible. I'm interested in you, but not because of your profession, and yeah, things are slow moving but that has nothing to do with your profession either. I just need time to sort out what I am feeling here with you."

He knows he mentioned the slow moving before. The time spent with Dal has given him a chance to reintegrate himself back into something normal...almost normal. The months he spent in rehabilitation to recover took him away from anything too personal and going slow after the intense time of avoiding bounty hunters and recovering was a nice change of pace he needed.

"You know I'm going to let you call me anything you want to call me. How am I supposed to say no to you? And no, don't know Klimt. Art was never part of my need to know, until now. You'll have to tell me all about it."

[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."