metalogs | (closed) | good old fashioned romance

Entry tags:

(closed) | good old fashioned romance

Who: Balthier

portolan and David

helpdesk_hero
What: a series of dates following the Love Potion #9 event
When: Feb 9, 12
Where: Central City
Content Warnings: N/A

Tabbard Winery

[ The Tabbard Winery sits in an old 19th-century building in Central City. The walls are rich wooden panels imported from Europe and the furniture is heavily tufted leather. Oil paintings and chandeliers decorate the space, punctuated with antiques and exquisite plants. It reminds Balthier of some of the modern luxury spaces at home, and he remembered that David mentioned an affinity for wood panels.

He's seated in a big leather chair in a back corner near a multi-paned window that looks onto a snowy patio. He's dressed more modestly today -- an admittedly pirate-esque white shirt and fitted black pants.

He doesn't quite have the habit of checking his phone obsessively yet, but he's doing the mental equivalent, spinning the ring on his little finger. While he has his gaze fixed on a painting across the room, his head tilts involuntarily every time he hears the door open.

Scions he's giddy and nervous as a schoolboy. He chooses a bottle of wine, though he doesn't recognize the makes or locations. He asks for something full-body, for David's coffee tastes. Given three options, he chooses the one that has a ship on the label. Everyone here seems to think that's what pirate means. He finds that amusing. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[He feels dear in this moment. Really dear. With the kiss started his hands come up to cup Balthier's face. And you know what, he thought he liked the feel of the extra side burns. They were wonderful under his hands.

He wanted this, though, the feeling of the kiss lingering on his lips. It was warmer than sipping at a good spirit, just moving through his blood like being by a campfire, or basking in the sun. And when it ends he can't help but chuckle in delight.]

I think, my light, you are a bit of luck I hadn't expected to find.

[ Balthier lets out a surprised but contented sound as David's hands come around his face. A similar warmth spreads through him, deep and slow, continuing to grow even after the kiss ends. Being called "my light" does get a flutter of heat though. ]

The secret to being a truly excellent pirate is being open to the wonders you didn't plan for.

That world is filled with so many wonders that we never plan for. Sometimes it's a friend bringing you a cup of something warm to drink when you need it, sometimes it's a beautiful sunset, and sometimes it's a wonderful sky pirate who comes into your life and makes you feel like something precious, without seeming to try.

[Then he smiles and pulls back just a little from the kiss, his hands moving to rest on Balthier's leg.]

By the way? Love the pants and sweater. Especially the sweater.

Sometimes it's completely botching a spell and having a beautiful glowing man tend to your very sad head, and him still agreeing to let you take him flying over the city. I promise it's not anywhere near so effortless as it looks, though I'm pleased my efforts are having the intended effect. I enjoy putting the effort in.

[ Okay the hand is hot. Maybe because everything else has him so relaxed. He raises an eyebrow at the compliment. ]

Oh? I shall make a note.

[He wants to run outside and laugh and tell everyone that this beautiful man wanted him. For now he just smiles.]

I hope you do. Then again, there hasn't been a thing you've worn that I haven't loved. Even if Bart did make fun of the coat. You're a dapper man, and I imagine that will only continue to be true.

[He finally lifts his hands away, moving to refill their glasses.]

Another toast? To the beautiful wonder we find before us?

[ Balthier would be charmed if he did, honestly, but happier to have him here with him. ]

I've set the bar high for myself, it seems.

[ He's pleased David likes his style. It will be fun, continuing to impress him that way. And maybe repeat the sweater.

He takes the glass, tapping it to David's. ]

To starting something wonderful with someone wonderful.

[Don't worry, he'll find a way to radiate it at his friends soon anyway.]

Well then, clear it. I think we both know you're capable of it.

[Something wonderful. Someone wonderful. David just offers the warmest of smiles before sipping his drink, though his eyes were left on Balthier as he drinks.]

[ Balthier laughs at David's challenge. ]

I suppose I asked for that one.

[ He sips his drink as well, enjoying the attention of David's gaze. ]

Alright, we've finished our play, but I'm loathe to let you go just yet. Shall I put on more tea?

Of course, I'd like that. We can do more instruction, or whatever else you want. But first...

[Balthier, I'm sorry but you have just the smallest bead of wine left on your lips. So David leans in to kiss him again, and if there is maybe just the tiniest flash of tongue over Balthier's lips to get that taste, well, don't let your brain fry. David pulls back, looking very satisfied with himself before he finishes his wine.]

There, that's much better.

[ Oh his brain is very fried. He has half a mind to kiss back, to let his hands run over that beautiful body, but he's also enjoying this dance too much to rush the steps. ]

People always assume I'm the tease, but I think I'm very much going to be outdone.

[ Is the tea now an excuse to calm down for a minute? Yes. He rises from the couch, taking their cups to rinse as he puts the kettle back on. And if this gives David an excellent view of his ass, where the pants are tight before they billow out, well, he's not stopping anyone from looking. ]

Do you have any other suggestions for the evening, or shall I throw out ideas? Also, if I'm not mistaken, I saw dessert in one of those containers. Shall I get the clean plates?

I try not to tease. But that? That was just too much for me to pass up. ANd you taste beautiful.

[Of course, he was beautiful, so he thinks the comment is appropriate. But he sets his empty wine glass aside and starts to reseal all of the small boxes of food.]

So, the restaurant didn't have desserts. Most of the Chinese take out restaurants don't have that sort of stuff. So I ordered from a real Chinese restaurant, and got some traditional egg pudding. That one I ordered on my own. Though if you ever go to a traditional Chinese restaurant, they have so many types of tea you might want to explore, and milk teas. But this stuff we're trying to day? It's an Americanized Chinese food. It's not as reflective of the actual taste or foods as you might get in a sit down restaurant.

[ Balthier brings the steaming cups back and stacks the used plates. As much as he was bright up an aristocrat, he’s lived a long time as the only permanent crew on a small ship. He’s never been above chores. It’s a trait he likes in others, too. ]

I’m assuming with that sort of diversity in the cuisine there’s either an issue with palettes not aligning, or a history of immigration with lack of access to the full range of ingredients from home. Regardless I’m always happy to hear there’s more tea to sample.

[Good thing he's got a willing to do chores mindset. Refusing to pull his own weight would be an immediate turn off for David. He believed in people sharing burdens, not putting it all on one person.]

You're completely right on both fronts. Some of take out Chinese cuisine was not even made by people of Chinese descent. It's truly interesting, to watch the way that cuisine works.

[He shifts how he's sitting on the couch so he can watch the other man, taking his cup of tea and curling his hands around it even as he easily curls his legs under himself to sit on them. The man was insanely flexible like that.]

There are some people that put forth that America doesn't have much of a history of cuisine, but it's so wrong. There's going to be so much for you to explore if you stay in one of the cities. AS for tea, I encourage you to search online. There is a whole industry focused on custom tea blends, or just selling all sorts of teas from all over the world. Some even do this really cool thing where they send you, once a month, a box of different loose leaf or satchels, one meant for sampling each day.

[ Balthier clears the dirty dishes to the sink and trash to the appropriate receptacle as they talk. ]

A lot to learn on cuisine and geography, I think. I'm certainly leaning toward a city -- guild told me today it's looking like Excelsior is going to have a better job fit for me, but they're still working out details. I know they're normal here, but gods I never expected to have a job.

[ He returns to the coffee table to pick up his tea, settling back in against the arm of the couch so he can look at David. He drapes his leg so that a small part of them is still touching. ]

As for the tea, the mystery box sounds very much in my tastes, but I'll admit, I'm reluctant to give up walking into a shop or market and smelling my tea before I buy it.

[Never expecting a job was fair. And David couldn't help but smile at his boyfriend ~~the word made him so giddy~~ as he moved about and talked about a job. One that would keep David relatively close to him.

When Balthier sits David has to snicker briefly because his mind is going 'bi people can't sit in normal ways' and it's amusing to him.]

I hope the work they're helping you set up is something that will suit your more free spirit.

[He moves carefully to let his leg rest more fully against Balthier's.]

See, you could do both. One as a little gift to work on when you consider it, and the other for when you want something real. But I respect your choices. I can be like that with coffee.

[ Please explain that joke to him sometime. He will protest and then realize it's true. ]

They've been more accommodating than I expected. I was looking at art dealing or acquisitions traditional and non [ he 100% means stealing ] but given my need to study the last 500 years of Earthen art history and my glorious countenance, I may take over an existing shop. Someone was retiring -- would give me an established client list. I think it's about as free as I'm going to get if I want things like an apartment and a budget for my tastes.

[ He mostly wants that. It's easier to want it with the promise of seeing David regularly. But if acquisitions occasionally take him galavanting around the country or globe, he's not going to complain.

He smiles at David adjusting to touch him more fully. His mind replays the conversation about wanting to be his and to have him, and he has the urge to grab David and kiss him again. He smiles into his tea, just enjoying the wanting and being wanted. ]

You still owe me a coffee tasting at some point.

[Keep doing this and he'll happily talk about it, probably while chuckling.]

Sounds like a nice fit. If you ever need someone to consult to confirm the art isn't forged, let me know. I can play an art historian well enough, and mostly it's a simple psychometric check.

[Yes, he does owe that doesn't he?]

I'll look into a place that does Turkish style coffee. Really traditional. I think it would please you more.

I may take you up, at least until my eye is up to speed. I have a handle on materiality and process, but I don't have the mental library of movements and which materials existed with which styles to consult with yet. Also more than happy to show of my beautiful, brilliant boyfriend.

[ Boyfriend still feels a bit clumsy to him, but the my doesn't. ]

So far your read of me has been excellent. I look forward to it.

Well, I'm glad to provide my own eye to help you, if you should ask. Helping small business owners is a thing that I should do. It's good to support people like that. Local economies and the like.

[That's going to prompt him looking into places for them to go together in Excelsior in the future.]

For now, I mostly want to find and do things here, while we're still here to enjoy it. But I fear I'll be quite busy soon.

I think that sounds wise to make the most of Central City while we're still here. I'd like to see a few of the museums.

Also, David, I am thrilled to see you as often as you're willing, but I'm a patient and I hope understanding man. If you need to take care of other things, I'll be alright. And I promise I won't disappear.

[ It's easier to feel patient with the commitment of future dates, of asking to call each other theirs, of speaking easily of a future that involves seeing the other. He doesn't want to see David any less, but he also wants this to be sustainable. ]

You want to go to museums? Dear lord if you keep talking like that I might truly fall fully in love with you. Please spare my heart from racing that far that fast when I am so recently burned.

[He... doesn't buy the line about not disappearing. He won't do it by choice perhaps. But that doesn't mean he won't.]

I will try and not plan out too far in advance because I have no clue what contract talks and onboarding and trying to find a residence and Alliance onboarding is going to be like. Which is rude because I want to make more set plans for you. I just want to keep hearing your voice and reading your words to.

[ That's the dream, isn't it? It's so early and yet, Balthier thinks -- hopes -- with the right care, it could grow there. Maybe that's foolish. He's been cast away when in love before. But no one else has asked to lay claim quite like this. No one else has been brilliant and sweet and thoughtful and kind. Maybe David is wiser, to be wary of a disappearance that isn't either of their choice. But maybe Balthier is wiser, to try to hold off the expectations of past disappointments.

He rubs the leg that is touching his. ]

I'm afraid I can't do anything about you finding me unbelievably attractive. It's just who I am.

I suppose I'll probably have similar schedule restrictions -- who knows, the guild is inconsistent in some of it's practices and I'm certainly not culturally primed for them. David I cannot tell you how unappealing looking at apartments that aren't rooms on ships is to me.

But so long as we're both here, it should be easy enough to see one another. If nothing else, I, Balthier, technical prodigy, know how to use a cell phone now. And I know how to deliver letters. I'm a real sage for the ages.

[David's fear of loss comes just from experience, and with time he might find it soothed. But time was something that came upon people slowly, and that had to be carefully cultivated.]

Trust me, I find it unappealing for other reasons. Maybe the Guilds will go a bit with what the ImPort Earth's government did with new people and assign them homes. I started like that. A four bedroom forced living experience, until Josh bought a house and brought me along for the ride.

I have to warn you, sooner or later Josh will want to meet you, and he'll probably trot out the scariest shovel talk you've ever received.

[David laughs at the idea of Balthier as a sage for the ages.]

My mind has three connotations for sage. One is an herb. The second is an old person who has studied tons and is all dusty and wrinkly. The third has a technopathic woman I look up to quite a bit with a sharper wit and more sarcasm than the two of us combined. None fit you.

If I had the Strahl here, I'd offer to take you with me until you found something more suitable. I know that doesn't really help the given situation, but, I would.

The only piece of joining the Society I'm questioning is who I might end up housed with. Maybe I really will turn villain.

[ He doesn't press for more details about Josh, but he registers the name has come up before, and that he's important to David. ]

I have no idea what a shovel talk is, but I'm hoping anything that's just talk I can handle.

[ And at David's rejection of the term... ]

Oh? Well what title would fit me better then?

Joining you on the Strahl at this point would definitely be more than I think my heart could handle right now. But I doubt influences like you might get with assigned housing would really drive you to crime. I lived for a while with not one, but two supervillains. I came out fine.

[And he has faith in Balthier. Not to mention faith in his own influence on the man.]

I think I would call you a treasure. And a scholar. And a charmer.

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