fandomtownies | The Perk, Thursday afternoon

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The Perk, Thursday afternoon

It was a dreary sort of day today. The sort of day that was probably best spent inside but Stark was trying his best not to stay inside and isolated this winter
, no matter how tempting it was, so he made his way over to the Perk at some point in the afternoon.

Watching the rain through the window was nearly as cozy here as it would be in his own apartment (minus the blankets, of course) and he took a seat with a good view of the outdoors once he'd ordered his pistachio latte.

If nothing else he could watch and listen to the rain along with the usual coffee shop activities. The sound of raindrops was almost soothing.

[library is closed so classes can be in here most of the day so this is verrrry open]

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Travis was . . . not at all doing his best not to stay inside and isolated this winter. He was, in fact, mostly staying inside and isolated this winter. But he did have a dog who needed walking on the regular, and the weather right now reminded him of home, so he was feeling vaguely nostalgic and social when he took Probie out for some exercise today. Might as well stop in for some overpriced coffee, right?

"Stark!" He favored the man with a smile. "How've you been?"

Stark stood up quickly, smiling back. "Travis! Hello! I've been... good. And you? I missed you, this weekend."

"Yeah, I've been --" Travis sighed. "-- Hiding." He was morally opposed to lying and bad at it besides, so as usual, he didn't bother trying. "Basically. Hiding, yeah." He shrugged. "You know, holidays, winter. . . . Glad you're alright, though. What was going on this weekend?"

"Winter is hard," Stark said softly. "For a lot of people. I'm sorry. And i understand hiding. Are you alright?"

"And... Summer gave me a party. And a birthday."

"I missed your birthday?!" Well shit, now he felt like an ass. "I'm sorry. I would have dragged myself out if I'd known. And I'm fine, I just." He shook his head. "Mom kicked Dad out. I've been fielding a lot of calls."

"You didn't know," Stark said. Which made him feel better about not having seen Travis that night. "Neither did I. It was a surprise."

"I'm sorry, about your parents. Would you like to sit?"

He was still standing awkwardly next to the chair he'd just vacated.

"On the upside, now they're not lying to each other."

He was starting to see the point of lying, though.

"Yeah, let's, uh. Let's sit." Travis slouched into the free chair. Probie, who was sticking close to his leg, looked between him and Stark, trying to decide whose feet to sit on when they were settled.

"That's... good?" Stark said hesitantly before sliding back into his own seat.

"Hello, Probie," he said sounding much more sure of himself. "Good girl." She was! Even if she hadn't done anything praiseworthy at the moment.

"Do you need to go back home?" That was directed at Travis again, of course.

"That'd probably just mean they'd be yelling at me in person," Travis said. "Right now they're only yelling at me over FaceTime." He took a long sip of his coffee. "It's probably better if I stick around here for a bit. Until they settle in at least. That's what I'm going to keep telling myself when I feel guilty, anyway. Which . . . is most of the time."

Probie decided to sprawl herself out under the table so she could put her butt on Travis's foot and her head on Stark's.

"I'm sorry you're being yelled at. You don't... he was the one who was lying." And he'd been kind of a jerk. "Your mother too? I liked her."

Stark gave Probie a fond glance before looking back over at Travis. "Can I help at all? With... anything?"

"She's mad," Travis said, a little helplessly. "At kind of everything right now. I get that. I mean, she thought they were . . . not necessarily happy, I guess, but okay. And then she found out it was all a lie. Meanwhile, Dad's -- I mean, he's sad, and he's pissed at me, but he's also just -- so happy. He's finally feeling full, romantic and -- and sexual love for the first time in his life."

Travis was happy for him but so pissed still, too. And jealous and so many other things he wasn't even sure he could put words to. So yeah, hiding in the station and aggressively working out had been about his entire speed for the last several weeks.

"She's hurt," Stark said quietly. He laid a hand down on the table. He'd like to actually reach out for Travis but he wasn't sure if that would be welcome or not. Someday maybe he'd have a better grasp of what was being too boyfriend-y.

"And it's hard, it's very hard, seeing other people so happy when you aren't. But you know that." They both knew that.

"I've missed seeing you. Not just on Saturday."

"Yeah." Travis gave him a small, awkward smile. "I'm not used to having to drag myself out when there aren't, like, fires and adrenaline rushes happening all the time."

"It has been quiet here, on the island."

Maybe a hockey rink could randomly appear with a flaming zamboni.

"I could...I could drag you out, if you wanted? Just so you remember to see people who aren't Probie. Or come to see you... or...I don't know. I don't want you to be lonely. It's hard, being lonely."

"I haven't been lonely." It was hard to be lonely when you kept getting phone calls and video calls from your family so they could yell about each other. Annoyed, yes. Overwhelmed, for sure. But lonely?

. . . Well, not in a way he would admit to himself, anyway.

"But I never mind when you come visit, you know."

"You haven't?" Stark asked. "Well, you have Probie. To keep you company." And screaming parents.

"I...I wasn't sure," Stark admitted. "I don't want to impose or bother you. And i...I thought maybe you hadn't come on purpose this weekend."

Travis winced. "I don't do that," he said. "Just . . . stop talking to people." If anything, he hung on too long.

"Sorry," Stark said quickly. "Sorry. I didn't mean to... I just worry." All the time. About so many things. Like saying the wrong thing, for example!

"I would like to come visit...or you could. Both of you," he clarified with a nod in the dog's direction. "I haven't really seen you since Christmas."

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that." Travis ran his hand through his hair. "I'm surprised you put up with me."

Stark leaned in closer. "I care about you," he said simply. "Sometimes I'm not good at seeing people either. Or talking. Or getting out."

Travis nodded. "You get it." He smiled softly. "Thanks. You know I care about you too."

You did know that by now, right, Stark? Because he'd said it a few times now and all.

Stark nodded.

"Sometimes it's easier to hide away." Or run off to space.

"I'm glad you're not hiding right now. And I do know. I just... need reminding sometimes."

"Sometimes?" Travis teased, nudging Stark with the foot not currently serving as a seat for Probie. "You've had a lot of people disappear on you. I get that. I will do my best to warn you if I need to leave, okay?"

"I've left too," Stark admitted. "But I've gone back."

Eventually.

"Thank you."

He was going to just go ahead and reach for Travis's hand now.

"Would you like to...to do something later?"

Later later or in 5 minutes later. Stark wasn't picky.

"One of the nurses told me you're allowed to celebrate your birthday for the whole week."

Travis laughed. "You're allowed to celebrate it as long as you want," he said. "Yeah, let's . . . hang out."

Had he taught Stark how to "Netflix and chill" yet?

"It's my first birthday," Stark said, flashing a grin now. "I want to make sure I do it correctly."

And no, Stark had not had 'Netflix and Chill' explained to him yet. Someone had been slacking.

Travis should probably get on that. But -- really, they'd decided not to be exclusive, right? (Wait, had they decided that? How did none of their clarifying conversations ever actually clarify anything?) He wasn't the only one who could be getting on this!

"Well, I can at least give you my perspective on it. Them. How I like to do them. Birthdays. I mean."

He coughed.

"We could watch a movie, maybe."

They hadn't not decided that? They'd mostly agreed they weren't in love and that they were very good friends who sometimes slept together. And nobody else had really expressed an interest.

"I'd like that. I don't know enough about birthdays. And I do like movies. What do you do for yours?"

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The Perk, Thursday afternoon

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