[ Adrian blinks, utterly taken aback for a half-second, like he had never considered the possibility before. He stares at Marc. He considers. Very rapidly, the golden freckles across the bridge of his nose begin to glow in what can only be interpreted as a blush.
He doesn't hear anything Marc is saying after that. It's all white noise to him.
Adrian clears his throat, still clearly distracted: ] Right, yes, hot... That is — I mean you are reasonably handsome — sometimes.
[ He puts a hand over his mouth, as it has become quite suddenly necessary to physically shut himself up, and sinks back into his chair. ]
Wait... are you teasing me? Is this funny to you? Gods, I should turn you into a newt.
( on the other hand, marc's expression is carefully neutral, his gaze fixed on adrian as adrian seems to struggle to know how to react. the blink-stare-pause earns a poorly disguised (small) smile which very much confirms that yes, marc is teasing adrian, except for the part where he manages to look startled at the you are reasonably handsome.
marc had expected that adrian had either not really thought about what he was saying or he was oblivious to the implications, what he hadn't expected was any hint of — well, anything. but then, it's hardly the first time. marc is not a man known for his astuteness when it comes to interpersonal relationships or being even the slightest bit aware of what anyone else might think, particularly in relation to himself.
(does he even consider how he feels about anyone else? no. marc rarely makes the first move.)
so — surprise that segues into uncertainty ("sometimes"? he should be offended, and yet—) into an exhale of breath as he says (lies), ) I don't have a sense of humour.
[ Sometimes, like now. The slight twitch at the corner of his lips, the way his expression relaxes just a touch... Even Adrian isn't quite so oblivious as to pretend that he's unaffected. It's just that he hadn't considered — hadn't even wondered — if this sort of thing crossed Marc's mind. It was all... idle nothing.
He has to remind himself that it still hardly matters. He only knows so much about Marc, and Marc knows even less about him, and sooner or later that will change enough for Marc to realize that even their friendship isn't worth his time.
There's really no need for him to get so flustered, to entertain the idea as if it could work. ]
I see. That's probably for the best; you would be a terrible newt. [ He's still a bit embarrassed, but he exhales with a huff.
Despite his own distractions, he hasn't missed anything in Marc's expression, neither the surprise nor the uncertainty. There's a moment's hesitation again, but Adrian sits up enough to reach across the table and place his hand over Marc's, just barely touching, easy to avoid. ]
Friend coffee, my dear. As I'm sure you can tell, I'm hardly versed in courtship, and that is the least of it... I can't even touch anyone without making them ill, for heavens' sake.
[ Well, there had been Eliot, but that had gone even worse than he could have imagined. ]
(my dear slots into the same sort of place that jean-paul's perpetual mon ami had — something that registers, but only in a vague sense, with precisely zero meaning assumed — and, well, steven had gone through a 'my dear' phase, and he'd mostly meant it condescendingly. the 'courtship', though? that registers. (yes is the answer, but only because adrian's proven the point spectacularly; up until now, marc hadn't given it the slightest thought.) the light touch of adrian's hand registers, too, but marc isn't as disinclined to touch as might be expected, and he doesn't move his hand away. )
—Only because you call it courtship. ( unthinking as he tries to work out what to offer in response. it's not like marc hasn't dated — hookups and flings in his twenties punctuated by a relationship or two that hadn't gone anywhere. marlene. greer. marlene. echo. marlene again. — but something else had always been more important in one way or another. he knows he'd been a terrible partner, alternately controlling and neglectful, and marlene had forgiven him more times than he had any right to be forgiven. (jean-paul, too—.)
he waves his other hand, a dismissive motion as if to say 'you know' before wryly adding, ) None of what I've done could be called courting.
( he doesn't say that he's often been as bad a friend as he has anything else, too. there's a reason why no-one he used to be close to will talk to him these days. )
Friend, ( he mimics adrian's emphasis, ) coffee doesn't change where my bar is.
[ Adrian wrinkles his nose. ] What's wrong with 'courtship'? That's a perfectly normal thing to call it.
[ He can't tell if Marc is being pedantic again or if the term itself is antiquated. Still, he can't disagree that he finds it hard to imagine Marc doing anything that could be called courting, even if he does seem to spend all of his time in his formal wear.
Then again, maybe he's just trying to be nice. ]
Then it's settled. Friend coffee. [ He pats Marc's hand before drawing his hands back to his mug. ] I know a place that's open late so you you needn't be up before the moon. I'll send a message when I know my shifts for next week.
[ Will Marc show up several hours late again? Adrian imagines that it's likely, but he has no shortage of reading to do and a coffee shop is a pleasant enough place to do it.
Anyway, it isn't a date. Neither of them need to have expectations.
It's just — Adrian's hands tighten around his mug again. ]
This is working. Friendship, I mean. I'm not in a hurry to make a mess of it.
[ Regardless of what his feelings might be, he's most certainly not ready to unpack them. There's very little that Adrian is truly afraid of, often to his peril, but the idea of raising the stakes of a friendship into romance, so that it has just that much further to fall when it falls apart — that is both novel and terrifying. ]
( it's punctuated by a flicker of his expression, like he wants to be offended by the insinuation that he won't be awake at regular people-and-business hours before shifting, quite quickly, into resignation at the fact that adrian's right. he might be awake in the early afternoon, but if he can stick to routine and if he can manage a semi-reasonable amount of sleep, then— no. it'll be evening.
still— ) I have an alarm clock, Adrian.
( —so why had he been late? don't ask that question. (will he be late? also yes. but it's nothing personal, okay.)
he considers that more-or-less his cue to leave, and he moves to stand, his coffee still almost entirely untouched. through habit, he make his way towards the window rather than the door, only pausing when adrian finishes speaking. he doesn't turn towards adrian, but he looks over his shoulder enough that he can catch the shape of him in his periphery.
reese had shared some of the conversation marlene had with her, but only after also sharing what she thought of marlene — rude, lacking in manners, unfair — but reese lacked context. lacked understanding. it was nice of her, but unfortunately none of it — none of marc — was quite that simple.
as marlene had said: marc saves people, but not himself and not the people closest to him. eventually, too, the horror outpaces the excitement, and there's no room in anyone's life for him once it gets to that. he doesn't disagree. he disagrees less with jean-paul's assertion, but jean-paul had always seen him most clearly. he won't stop. it's not for lack of want. he's tried, here and there over the years, and always ended up right back where he started.
so, adrian says this — friendship — is working, that he's in no hurry to ruin it, and all marc can think is that adrian hardly needs to be worried about what he'll do. marc tends to do a good enough job of that all by himself.
but unlike adrian, he doesn't differentiate between friendship and romance. he's just as skilled at ending both, it hardly matters what is what. )
[ Adrian huffs. He's not going to start calling it dating. That's so much worse. Marc can use whatever novel turns of phrase that he sees fit.
I have an alarm clock, Marc says, and Adrian is tempted to ask him what a man who allegedly doesn't sleep needs with an alarm clock, but he's caught up by the underlying meaning. The willingness to go out of his way for — for something as mundane as coffee, that he doesn't even have strong feelings about. (It's not for the coffee.)
Perhaps he should consider that a mundane act among friends, but he shakes his head, his gaze still downcast toward his lukewarm coffee. ] You're too sweet by far... And quite grumpy enough, even when you have slept.
[ It's lighthearted teasing, without any heat behind it. He finally lets go of the cup and stands up to see Marc to the... window. Adrian considers asking about the door, and decides against it almost immediately. There are some things one just has to accept about Marc Spector and one of them is, apparently, that he is a ridiculous man. ]
Do take care. [ He says, as Marc slips out into the night.
He won't, Adrian knows — but if Marc can assume that Adrian won't ruin this, Adrian can hope that it's a quiet night, just this once. Just for tonight. ]
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He doesn't hear anything Marc is saying after that. It's all white noise to him.
Adrian clears his throat, still clearly distracted: ] Right, yes, hot... That is — I mean you are reasonably handsome — sometimes.
[ He puts a hand over his mouth, as it has become quite suddenly necessary to physically shut himself up, and sinks back into his chair. ]
Wait... are you teasing me? Is this funny to you? Gods, I should turn you into a newt.
[ He cannot, in fact, turn Marc into a newt. ]
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marc had expected that adrian had either not really thought about what he was saying or he was oblivious to the implications, what he hadn't expected was any hint of — well, anything. but then, it's hardly the first time. marc is not a man known for his astuteness when it comes to interpersonal relationships or being even the slightest bit aware of what anyone else might think, particularly in relation to himself.
(does he even consider how he feels about anyone else? no. marc rarely makes the first move.)
so — surprise that segues into uncertainty ("sometimes"? he should be offended, and yet—) into an exhale of breath as he says (lies), ) I don't have a sense of humour.
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He has to remind himself that it still hardly matters. He only knows so much about Marc, and Marc knows even less about him, and sooner or later that will change enough for Marc to realize that even their friendship isn't worth his time.
There's really no need for him to get so flustered, to entertain the idea as if it could work. ]
I see. That's probably for the best; you would be a terrible newt. [ He's still a bit embarrassed, but he exhales with a huff.
Despite his own distractions, he hasn't missed anything in Marc's expression, neither the surprise nor the uncertainty. There's a moment's hesitation again, but Adrian sits up enough to reach across the table and place his hand over Marc's, just barely touching, easy to avoid. ]
Friend coffee, my dear. As I'm sure you can tell, I'm hardly versed in courtship, and that is the least of it... I can't even touch anyone without making them ill, for heavens' sake.
[ Well, there had been Eliot, but that had gone even worse than he could have imagined. ]
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—Only because you call it courtship. ( unthinking as he tries to work out what to offer in response. it's not like marc hasn't dated — hookups and flings in his twenties punctuated by a relationship or two that hadn't gone anywhere. marlene. greer. marlene. echo. marlene again. — but something else had always been more important in one way or another. he knows he'd been a terrible partner, alternately controlling and neglectful, and marlene had forgiven him more times than he had any right to be forgiven. (jean-paul, too—.)
he waves his other hand, a dismissive motion as if to say 'you know' before wryly adding, ) None of what I've done could be called courting.
( he doesn't say that he's often been as bad a friend as he has anything else, too. there's a reason why no-one he used to be close to will talk to him these days. )
Friend, ( he mimics adrian's emphasis, ) coffee doesn't change where my bar is.
( the ground. )
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[ He can't tell if Marc is being pedantic again or if the term itself is antiquated. Still, he can't disagree that he finds it hard to imagine Marc doing anything that could be called courting, even if he does seem to spend all of his time in his formal wear.
Then again, maybe he's just trying to be nice. ]
Then it's settled. Friend coffee. [ He pats Marc's hand before drawing his hands back to his mug. ] I know a place that's open late so you you needn't be up before the moon. I'll send a message when I know my shifts for next week.
[ Will Marc show up several hours late again? Adrian imagines that it's likely, but he has no shortage of reading to do and a coffee shop is a pleasant enough place to do it.
Anyway, it isn't a date. Neither of them need to have expectations.
It's just — Adrian's hands tighten around his mug again. ]
This is working. Friendship, I mean. I'm not in a hurry to make a mess of it.
[ Regardless of what his feelings might be, he's most certainly not ready to unpack them. There's very little that Adrian is truly afraid of, often to his peril, but the idea of raising the stakes of a friendship into romance, so that it has just that much further to fall when it falls apart — that is both novel and terrifying. ]
no subject
( it's punctuated by a flicker of his expression, like he wants to be offended by the insinuation that he won't be awake at regular people-and-business hours before shifting, quite quickly, into resignation at the fact that adrian's right. he might be awake in the early afternoon, but if he can stick to routine and if he can manage a semi-reasonable amount of sleep, then— no. it'll be evening.
still— ) I have an alarm clock, Adrian.
( —so why had he been late? don't ask that question. (will he be late? also yes. but it's nothing personal, okay.)
he considers that more-or-less his cue to leave, and he moves to stand, his coffee still almost entirely untouched. through habit, he make his way towards the window rather than the door, only pausing when adrian finishes speaking. he doesn't turn towards adrian, but he looks over his shoulder enough that he can catch the shape of him in his periphery.
reese had shared some of the conversation marlene had with her, but only after also sharing what she thought of marlene — rude, lacking in manners, unfair — but reese lacked context. lacked understanding. it was nice of her, but unfortunately none of it — none of marc — was quite that simple.
as marlene had said: marc saves people, but not himself and not the people closest to him. eventually, too, the horror outpaces the excitement, and there's no room in anyone's life for him once it gets to that. he doesn't disagree. he disagrees less with jean-paul's assertion, but jean-paul had always seen him most clearly. he won't stop. it's not for lack of want. he's tried, here and there over the years, and always ended up right back where he started.
so, adrian says this — friendship — is working, that he's in no hurry to ruin it, and all marc can think is that adrian hardly needs to be worried about what he'll do. marc tends to do a good enough job of that all by himself.
but unlike adrian, he doesn't differentiate between friendship and romance. he's just as skilled at ending both, it hardly matters what is what. )
You won't. Thank you for the coffee.
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I have an alarm clock, Marc says, and Adrian is tempted to ask him what a man who allegedly doesn't sleep needs with an alarm clock, but he's caught up by the underlying meaning. The willingness to go out of his way for — for something as mundane as coffee, that he doesn't even have strong feelings about. (It's not for the coffee.)
Perhaps he should consider that a mundane act among friends, but he shakes his head, his gaze still downcast toward his lukewarm coffee. ] You're too sweet by far... And quite grumpy enough, even when you have slept.
[ It's lighthearted teasing, without any heat behind it. He finally lets go of the cup and stands up to see Marc to the... window. Adrian considers asking about the door, and decides against it almost immediately. There are some things one just has to accept about Marc Spector and one of them is, apparently, that he is a ridiculous man. ]
Do take care. [ He says, as Marc slips out into the night.
He won't, Adrian knows — but if Marc can assume that Adrian won't ruin this, Adrian can hope that it's a quiet night, just this once. Just for tonight. ]