Chapter Text
James hummed to himself as he surfed the internet, eyes drifting to the notification tray every few minutes. He hoped Kaidan would be logging into their chat program soon. They hadn't had a chance to talk in almost three days. Liara and Sam, not wanting to give him time to wallow in his failed attempt at flirting, had kept him busy all weekend. To be fair, they were all done with finals, and part of that was celebrating the end of the semester. But mostly, he knew it was them trying to keep him occupied.
They'd gone to the museum, and the planetarium, and out to hear local bands play. They only let him sneak off alone to go to the gym, and at home kept him out of his room with a Lord of the Rings movie marathon and a game of Trivial Pursuit that turned into seven when their competitive streaks kicked in. James won the impromptu tournament with three victories under his belt, but it was close. When he did make it into his room, he was too tired to do more than collapse into bed and sleep.
But at last they seemed willing to trust James on his own again, and after sleeping in until almost noon, he spent most of the day playing his game again. He hadn't expected Kaidan to be around, of course, knowing he'd be at work. But now was about the time Kaidan usually turned up online, and James was all but bouncing in his seat as he waited. Not only had he missed talking to the guy, but he had some news to share.
Bloop!
"Finally," James muttered, grinning as he hit the key to talk. "Hey, K!"
"Vega, hey, how are you? Haven't seen you around. Gotta admit, I was a little worried."
"Aw, Doc and Sam kept me running around all weekend so that I couldn't 'dwell' on what happened." He laughed. "I'm okay, really." His grin widened at Kaidan's concern. "Fucking phenomenal, actually. Guess what!"
Kaidan let out a surprised laugh and obliged James' demand. "What?"
"I heard from the observatory! I got accepted! Two weeks at the end of June and another two at the start of August." The information packet had arrived with the day's mail, and James had been itching to tell someone. Liara and Sam had gone to the mall before the postal carrier showed up, and they still weren't back. He supposed he could have texted to tell them, but it wasn't as fun that way.
"Vega, that's great, congratulations!" Kaidan sounded genuinely pleased for him. "That will be an amazing experience for you!"
"Yeah," James agreed. "It's an undergrad internship style program, so it will give me a chance to make sure I really want to stay on this track when it comes time to lay out my doctorate plan. I'm really looking forward to it."
"I bet." A soft chuckle rolled through the speakers. "Glad to hear you're in better spirits than the last time we talked." James heard the catch of hesitation in Kaidan's voice, and then he asked, "Do you think you'll try again? To talk to that guy at the market?"
"Shit, I don't know," James said, leaning back in his chair as he thought it over. "I'm sure I confused the hell out of him. He probably thinks I'm a moron or something."
"I very much doubt that," Kaidan said, voice quiet and tone serious.
"Yeah, well, you've got inside information," James teased.
"Guess so," Kaidan laughed. "So, you're just gonna let it go, then?"
James' brow furrowed, and he wondered why Kaidan was pressing the issue. But then he shrugged and leaned forward again. "Dunno," he answered at last, trying to keep his voice light. "I mean, it's still pretty embarrassing to remember. I figure I'll stay away from the market for a few weeks at least. If he's there when I go back, well, I guess I'll just have to see if he says anything."
"Ah," Kaidan replied. "Okay." There was a hint of disappointment in his voice.
"You're starting to sound like Doc, K," James said.
"Sorry." Kaidan sounded like he was wincing. "I guess I was just...curious, if you were still into him or if this had soured you on the idea. Of him, of dating, I don't know. I just want to make sure you're all right."
James snorted. "It sure as hell soured me on the idea of trying to pick anyone up, that's for damn sure."
"Just gonna wait for them to come to you from now on, huh?"
"Seems like a solid plan." James smirked. "Hey, I'm okay, K, really. Like I told you before, I'm more used to not dating anyway. So this is really just status quo, yeah? Trying to be with someone right now would just be complicated anyway."
"Yeah." Kaidan went quiet again, and James' eyebrows drew down.
Kaidan was awfully interested in the whole situation, he realized. A tiny inkling of an idea occurred to him, and the corner of his lip twitched. "I mean, if I find somebody worth it, of course I'll try to make it work," he added, testing a hunch.
"Yeah," Kaidan said again, tone audibly lightening, "of course." He gave a short laugh. "I guess the trick is just figuring out who's worth it, huh?"
"Seems to be," James drawled, letting his smile free. Interesting, he thought.
Kaidan cleared his throat and changed the subject, and they talked for a little while longer, then Kaidan logged into the game and they ran their Jedi around a few planets. They didn't play for very long, as neither seemed much in the mood for the game that night. James was still too excited about his acceptance, and Kaidan seemed distracted. James had to admit he was growing curious about what it was that had him so preoccupied, especially given his earlier interest in James' dating life--or lack thereof, really.
He was trying to figure out how to ask without prying, or without being too obvious, when Kaidan let out a heavy sigh and said, "Well, I should probably call it a night. We have a staff meeting tomorrow morning that starts at an ungodly early hour. Falling asleep during those is generally frowned upon. But hey, you gonna be around in the evening?"
James smiled at the hopeful note in Kaidan's voice. "Should be," he answered. "Doc and I were talking about going to see the Mayan exhibit at the museum, but I'm pretty sure we'll be back by the time you're off work."
Kaidan made a funny choked off sound. "The 'Undiscovered Ancient Wonders' exhibit?" he asked. "At the Citadel Science Museum?"
"Um, yeah," James replied, surprised. His stomach did a slow flip. Uh uh, no. No way. Not after all this time. You can't be telling me... "Do you know it?"
"It's about three blocks from my office," Kaidan said, amusement coloring his voice.
"Holy shit. Are you telling me it's taken over a year for us to realize we live in the same fucking city?"
"Apparently so." Kaidan was sounding funny again. "Vega--"
"We totally have to meet up," James interrupted. It didn't matter if his suspicions about Kaidan's sudden weird behavior were right. That was a bridge he could cross later. The only thing he could really focus on was the fact that his best friend lived in the same city as he did and he was damned if he wasn't going to pounce on the chance to meet the guy.
Thankfully, Kaidan seemed to be thinking along the same lines. "Yeah," he said, clearing his throat. "Yeah. We really do. When do you--?"
"Hell, why not tomorrow?" James rushed in. He didn't want to give himself a chance to over think this and freak out about it, or build up expectations. The sooner the better, as far as he was concerned. "I'll already be by your office, right? And Doc can spend hours in the museum by herself. Maybe we can grab lunch while she gets a head start."
"I'd like that," Kaidan said, and something in his voice had James blushing. Then Kaidan sighed and added, "But the staff meeting is scheduled to go through two, and the museum closes at four. I don't want you to miss out. Boss is letting us go at four though, since we're coming in early. Maybe I could meet you at the museum then? We can go grab coffee or something."
"Okay, cool," James agreed. He tried not to think about the fact that getting coffee was pretty much universally defined as a date. "Um, how are we gonna recognize each other?" His lips tilted up into a smirk. "Want me to put a red flower in my hair or something?"
"Only if that's your style, Vega," Kaidan laughed, sounding more like himself. "Just be in front of the space flight fountain at four and I'll find you."
"Gotcha," James said. "I'll be there."
"Good. Good. Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow then. Night, Vega."
"Night, K."
Well, he thought to himself as they disconnected, tomorrow's gonna be interesting.
~~~~
The gift shop at the museum had red flowers. Fake ones, leftover merchandise from the previous exhibit tucked away in a corner behind the register. It was the bright color that caught his eye as they walked by, and James did a double take when he noticed them. He almost bought one, just to be funny, but Liara dragged him past the shop before he could suggest stopping.
He was antsy the entire time they walked through the museum, barely stopping to look at any of the displays. Liara kept shooting him exasperated looks. The fifth time he checked the clock on his phone, she let out an audible groan. "Are you sure about this? I mean, I know you think you know him, but--"
"I'll be fine," he argued, not for the first time. Sam was picking Liara up at three forty-five, and James was going to take her car home. "It's not like I can't take care of myself if by some long shot he turns out to be a creep." He raised an eyebrow and flexed his arm slightly, drawing a blush from Liara.
"All right, all right. I am just still not convinced it's a good idea."
James was well aware of that. When he'd told her and Sam about it the night before, Liara had spent a good hour trying to talk him out of it. It had only been Sam's intervention that caused her to concede. She'd pointed out that they were meeting in the open, in a very public place, and made James promise to charge his cell phone and keep it within easy reach. That mollified Liara a little.
"It will be fine," he assured her again. "I know you're worried, but can't you just be happy I'm finally getting to meet him in person? You're the one who's always saying he can't really be my friend if I've never met him."
"Yes, but I didn't mean--" She fell silent at his glare and shook her head. "Oh very well. Just promise me you'll be careful."
"You know I will," he said, wrapping her up in a hug and giving her a tight squeeze. She squeaked in surprise and he kissed the top of her head. "Now come on, I know you want to see this exhibit."
He should have known she wouldn't let it drop completely, though. As they left the museum to meet Sam, Liara hung back by the fountain and bit her lip. "Are you sure you don't want me to stick around? Just so you have someone else with you?"
"Yes," James said, torn between amusement and annoyance. "Look, I won't go anywhere with him that's not public, and if anything seems the slightest bit hinky I'll bug out, okay?"
"Okay," she sighed. "If you're sure."
"I am."
She eyed the fountain again as James leaned up against it, a small frown on her face. "How is he even supposed to know who you are?"
James thought she was just thinking out loud at this point, but he went ahead and answered anyway. "There aren't that many people out here, Doc. He'll probably just look for the guy who seems to be waiting for someone. Besides," he grinned and gestured at his chest, "that's what the shirt is for. Should help him out."
He'd figured it was better to be safe than sorry, so he had decided to wear a Star Wars shirt for the meeting. Just a plain black t-shirt, with the Jedi emblem across the front. He suspected that would serve as well as a nametag for Kaidan. Liara tilted her head and examined his shirt, nodding with an absent air as her lips pursed in thought.
"I see," she said. "You know, the iconography in that franchise really is quite interesting. I bet one could make a fascinating study on comparing it to images and designs from real cultures around the world. Try to draw up a chart of all of the influences and what it means as to where they appear in the fictional univer--"
"Doc," James interrupted. She blinked and shot him a sheepish grin. James was used to her tangents though, so he just smiled back and pointed to the circular drive in front of the courtyard. "Your ride's here."
"Oh!" She turned her head in time to see Sam pull up and lean across the front seat to wave at them out the window. "Well," Liara said, hesitating, "I suppose I should go, then."
"Yes," James agreed, giving her a gentle push, "you should. Go on, now." He waved back at Sam and then settled against the edge of the fountain. Liara shot him one last worried look but then nodded and gave him a quick hug before darting over to Sam's car. James waved again and watched them go, trying to ignore the nerves stirring up in his stomach.
It would be fine, he knew it would. Just a pair of friends getting together to do something new. No big deal at all, really. Except that it was. He thought maybe it might be a huge deal, in fact. He closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths to calm himself. Leaning back, he let the warmth of the afternoon sunshine settle over him, just enough heat to make the occasional splash of water from the fountain welcome.
"Cool shirt," said a familiar voice. "I mean, it's no red flower, but still pretty nice."
James let out a low chuckle and opened his eyes, already preparing a wise crack in response. The words died on his tongue as he saw the man in front of him though. It was the guy from the market. But he'd mentioned the red flower, which meant...James sucked in a sharp breath and felt a flush suffuse his face.
The other guy had obviously anticipated the reaction. He already had both hands up in a placating gesture. "Don't freak out, okay. Please. Vega--James--I can explain." He made a face and shrugged his shoulders. "Well, sort of."
"Kaidan?" James managed to choke out at last. But he didn't need the nod that Kaidan gave him. He could see an ID badge clipped to his belt: Alliance Data Solutions. Kaidan Alenko, IT Manager. James closed his eyes again and rubbed at the back of his neck. This had just gotten surreal. How the hell was Kaidan the guy from the market? "Okay," he said, opening his eyes again. He hopped up to sit on the edge of the fountain and gestured for Kaidan to do the same. "Explanation would be good."
Kaidan let out a heavy sigh and moved to sit beside James, running a hand through his hair before he leaned forward, elbows on his knees. He gave James a sidelong look and appeared to be trying to decide where to start. James struggled to keep his breathing even and tried not to notice how good Kaidan smelled.
"I didn't know," Kaidan said. "Who you were at the market. I mean, I'd noticed you before, of course." The corners of his lips twitched up. "You're, uh, kind of hard to miss." James let out a grunt and Kaidan chuckled, shaking his head. "But you were always with that girl with the blue hair, I kind of figured you two were, you know."
"That's Doc--Liara," James managed.
Kaidan nodded. "I figured as much after Saturday. Like I said, I didn't know. Not until you told me about what happened."
"You mean the most awkward failure of a pickup attempt in history?" James snorted.
"Heh, it wasn't that bad, James," Kaidan said, leaning slightly to bump his shoulder into James' before moving back into his own space. He glanced down at his hands, smiling. "It certainly got my attention."
"So you figured it out when I told you," James mused, and Kaidan nodded. James frowned, recalling the conversation. Kaidan had gone silent after James had told him. Then he'd seemed about to say something, when..."And you didn't get a chance to say anything because Liara and Sam came in and dragged me out to dinner."
"Exactly," Kaidan agreed. "Though maybe that's for the best. I have no idea how that would have gone. I started thinking maybe I shouldn't say anything, you were so obviously embarrassed, but..." he shook his head and glanced over at James, one eyebrow raised. "Well, that just didn't sit right with me. And," he took a deep breath and looked away again, "It didn't take very long for me to realize I wanted you to know."
James' breath caught. "Yeah?"
"Yeah." Kaidan shot him a look that had James feeling much warmer all of a sudden. "Your roommate was right, you know, I was checking you out." He shifted, pulling up one leg underneath him as he turned his whole body to face James. "So, the real question is, what now? I mean, we're in this weird limbo where we know each other but we don't. And you've got a lot going on right now, I don't want to distract you from that. Are we just friends still, or do you want to try for something more? Or..." he paused and swallowed, "...has it just gotten too weird now?"
James' eyes went round as he realized what Kaidan was saying. If he wanted, they could just cut ties, forget any of it ever happened. Kaidan would just...walk away. He shook his head back and forth, reaching out to put a hand on Kaidan's knee without really thinking about it, only barely registering Kaidan's intake of breath at the touch. "No, I don't--I don't want that. It's weird, yeah, but not--just." He sighed in frustration, pulling his hand back and rubbing his hands over his face. "Hell, K, you're my best friend. We'll figure this out, okay?"
"Okay," Kaidan said, a small smile playing over his lips.
"Fuck," James muttered. "I've thought about suggesting we figure out a way to meet up a hundred times, at least, but I never thought this was how it would go." He shook his head again, slowly this time. "It's not what I expected at all." Shooting Kaidan a sideways glance, he smiled and added, "You're not what I expected."
"You're not exactly what I was expecting either, James." Kaidan laughed and shook his own head, a warm smile settling on his face as he watched James.
His eyes were expectant, and James thought a little hopeful, too. They were a rich brown, a little darker than James' own eyes, and he had to pull his gaze away, realizing how easy it would be to get lost in them. He glanced up at Kaidan's hair, smiling to see it mussed a bit, unlike how neat it had been at the market. No doubt the running his hands through it was a nervous habit, just like he’d pictured--at least he’d gotten one thing right about Kaidan. Even having a better idea of what to expect, had he been as keyed up about their meeting as James had been all day?
Maybe so, James thought, giving Kaidan a once over. The hair was the only thing about him that wasn’t neatly in place, which suggested its current state wasn’t normal for him. He seemed otherwise well put-together. He wore a blue sweater-vest over a crisp white dress shirt, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows in deference to the warm weather. His dark grey slacks were neatly pressed, and he had on a pair of stylish slip-on black dress shoes.
James met Kaidan's eyes again and he swallowed before looking away. He could feel the heat creeping back up in his face, and pooling in other areas as well. Up until that moment, he wouldn't have thought he would go for such a conservative look. But on Kaidan, it worked. Very well. He cleared his throat and turned back, forcing himself to meet and hold Kaidan's eyes, trying to ignore what the sight of Kaidan's smirk did to his stomach.
"So," he said. "If I had managed to ask you out on Saturday, you'd have said...?"
Kaidan laughed, rich and deep, and low. James had to close his eyes, it was almost too much. He knew that laugh, had heard it countless times over the last year. There was no reason it should be affecting him so much. But somehow, in person, it was just so much more. He felt Kaidan's hand cover his own, and opened his eyes again. "I'd have said yes," Kaidan whispered.
"Okay," James breathed, nodding to himself. "Okay." He cleared his throat and asked, "So, do you want to go get a drink or something?"
Kaidan's smirk softened to a more gentle smile and he tilted his head, giving James a close look. "You sure? I meant it, I don't want to be a distraction for you."
"I've always got time for you, K, you know that," James said, letting his own smile form. "Besides," he turned his hand over so it was palm to palm with Kaidan's, lacing their fingers together and giving a brief squeeze. "Like I said, I've just been holding out for someone who's worth it."
Now Kaidan was the one who had to look away, and James saw a blush creeping up his neck. "There's a bar around the corner that's not bad," he said after a moment. "They've got decent food, too."
"Sounds good to me," James agreed, sliding off the fountain and tugging Kaidan down with him. "Lead the way."
They started walking, fingers still linked together, and James was glad when Kaidan made no move to pull his hand back. He tried not to dwell on how right it felt. He suspected not rushing in to this was going to be a hell of a challenge. But he thought he and Kaidan were up to it. An idea occurred to him and he let out a loud laugh. Kaidan paused and turned to him, eyebrows raised in question.
"What?"
James waved his free hand in the air, trying to dismiss Kaidan's concern. "It's nothing. I just realized that I can't wait to tell Doc about this. She spent most of the day trying to convince me that it was a terrible idea to meet up with someone I only knew from online."
"But," Kaidan's brow furrowed. "Isn't she the one who was pushing you to ask out a complete stranger at the market?"
"Exactly!" James crowed. He laughed again, and Kaidan joined in. "Shit," James said, "her face when I introduce you is going to be priceless."
"Already talking about introducing me to your roommates, huh?" Kaidan teased.
"Only if you want to," James replied, turning serious again.
"I'd like that, I think," Kaidan said with a shy smile. He squeezed James' hand. "I think I owe her some thanks. If you'd never approached me in the market..." he trailed off. "Well, who knows when we would have gotten to meet?"
James took a step closer to him, reaching up to cup Kaidan's cheek. "Aw, we'd have figured it out sooner or later."
"Yeah, I guess you're right," Kaidan agreed, something sparking in his eyes.
He leaned forward and James didn't even think about it, he just leaned in too, their lips meeting in a kiss. It was a short kiss, just a peck, really, but it set James' blood singing. When he pulled back and met Kaidan's eyes, he thought he wasn't the only one left wanting more.
"Come on," he breathed, dropping his hand from Kaidan's face. "I think I could use that drink." He shot Kaidan a weighted look. "And then..."
"Yeah," Kaidan grinned. "And then." He started moving again, walking fast and pulling James along in his wake.
So much for not rushing in, James thought with a chuckle. But then again, he met Kaidan's eyes when he glanced back and winked at him, maybe we've already waited long enough to find each other.
The End
