Chapter Text
He spent what felt like the next several days straight nearly vibrating with anticipation for his upcoming date. But that anticipation was laced with stress; his intentions had certainly been less than platonic in nature, but did Asterius feel the same way?
To tell the truth, Theseus wasn’t entirely sure if the bull had interpreted his offer as romantic in nature or not. On one hand, he had been told by several people over the years that his crushes were massively clear, regardless of any attempts at subtlety. On the other, it wasn’t as though consuming coffee and pastries together was a particularly unusual thing for peers to do together. And he hadn’t given Asterius much of a reason to like him so far; as much as Theseus was filled to bursting with various emotions for the minotaur, Asterius’ opinion of him seemed lukewarm at best.
He texted Pirithous, who sent his congratulations and a childish reminder to bring a condom and extra lubricant--not especially useful advice, but it was as good a reassurance as any that his upcoming outing had at least the potential to be the preclude to something more. He thought of asking his Instagram followers, and then thought better of it. Even Theseus was insightful enough to realize that Asterius wouldn’t appreciate it, if he found out. At the very least, he had to make sure that he didn’t cause Asterius to like him less.
And so by that Saturday, Theseus had decided that he ought to be prepared for both a date and a not-date. And a wrestling bout, just in case Asterius changed his mind. Dressing for that would be easy enough: he would wear the same sort of colorful garb he favored while working out, taking care to select a particularly low-cut top. Everyone said that the best way to make a good impression was being yourself, yes?
(Historically, that hadn’t worked especially well for Theseus. Maybe this time things would be better.)
He arrived at the Elysian Brew early, but so did Asterius— which Theseus knew instantly, given how well Asterius stood out from a crowd. Without any time to sit by himself to prepare, Theseus was inclined to turn right back around and flee at the last moment, to send Asterius some questionable excuse for not coming and have their relationship retreat back to the familiar safety of the gym. Nothing would advance there, but neither would it regress.
He held firm. This wasn’t a match, he reminded himself. Relationships shouldn't have winners and losers. It was just an outing with Asterius, someone that he had known for years (technically) and had decided was worth pursuing a further relationship with. Someone who had already forgiven his previous transgression, and whom there was no good reason to risk offending further. Someone who was straightforward and only expected Theseus to be the same way.
Theseus had so much to gain here, so long as he was willing to make the effort to be a better man than he had in the past. The worst thing he could do was insult Asterius again, but the second worst thing he could do was flee.
Asterius looked up from his phone, and Theseus nearly jumped out of his skin. “King,” Asterius said, in his typical affect--flat, but not unkind. Though he was beginning to understand that this didn’t mean Asterius was unhappy, Theseus still couldn’t completely understand the minotaur’s moods. But hopefully... hopefully... Asterius was happy to see him!
“Bull! What a pleasure to see you here, and the very moment that I arrived!”
Asterius nodded. “I’m glad to see you as well.”
“And good morning, also! I hope you weren’t waiting long— though I doubt you were, considering that you’re so early— but just in case! I see you haven’t ordered anything, which is good, because of course I will pay. In any case—”
Asterius smiled—really smiled, this time—and suddenly Theseus began to believe that this date wasn’t destined to be a disaster.
“King. You don’t have to do all of the talking.”
From there, the conversation flowed comfortably, more than it ever had on any of Theseus’ other first dates. There were advantages, he thought, to getting involved with another person who had already seen some of your least appealing traits.
They ended up staying there for several hours. True to his word, Asterius consumed what probably added up to an entire pot of coffee and half a batch of vegan scones, a quantity which seemed suited to his size and that Theseus refused to allow him to offer to pay for. (Theseus joked that though he only had a few drinks, they were elaborate ones, and probably cost twice as much as Asterius’.)
He did end up doing most of the talking, despite Asterius’ reassurance to the contrary, but the bull never seemed to mind. Even when one of Theseus’ enthusiastic gestures led to him knocking his latte over rather spectacularly, all Asterius did was laugh and help him clean it up, rather than taking the opportunity to politely dismiss himself from the conversation.
All lovely! And not remotely romantic, to Theseus’ slight chagrin. But he needed a friend just as badly as he wanted Asterius to kiss him, so the chagrin was, truly, only slight.
After much time had passed, it was Asterius who took the initiative to begin to gather his things. “We’ve been here for quite a while, king.”
“Ah!” Theseus replied. “Well, yes, it’s very easy to lose track of time spent with a dear companion.” It was disappointing to think they’d part now, but the afternoon had gone smoothly, and that was all he could have hoped for.
Asterius nodded. “My legs are stiff. Would you be opposed to taking a walk together to continue our conversation?”
Theseus’ eyes involuntarily widened in surprise. “Are you certain? Sometimes I irritate himself with how much I’m able to talk at once, so I’m sure you’re irritated by now.”
“I’m not. I like to listen to you talk.”
His heart skipped a beat. What on earth could the bull mean by that?
Surely it was Asterius’ nature to be kind in this way, and Theseus ought not to mistake it for a personal fondness for him. The longer they stayed together like this, the easier it became for Theseus to convince himself it was turning into something more intimate. He shouldn’t assume.
As always, Theseus’ passions won out over any good sense he might have. “Then no, I wouldn’t be the least bit opposed! In fact, I was hoping that I might join you in a pleasant bout of light cardio!”
“It would be cardio for you to keep up with me, yes,” Asterius said, snorting.
Theseus slammed his hands on the table, very nearly knocking over a second latte. This— this was comfortable. He could do this. “You’ll eat those words,” he said, grinning.
The Elysian Brew was located in a quaint little shopping center with residential streets nearby, and the pair of them ended up strolling through some of those streets. Asterius’ natural walking pace was quick, even though he seemed to be consciously slowing down for Theseus’ sake, and the effort of keeping up made it difficult to continue the conversation on anything but a very shallow level. Theseus managed to babble on about some changes to his training plan, but the conflicting emotions in his heart still hadn’t settled.
Things seemed to be going well— and that was why he ought to stop them now, before the relationship progressed further. Before Asterius had a chance to grow tired and frustrated about how Theseus fell in love too hard, too fast. His memories of Asterius had always been good; Asterius deserved to have good memories of him, too.
“I’ve taken up too much of your time. My apologies,” Asterius said, apropos of nothing.
“No!” Theseus said. “Not at all! You have nothing to apologize for.”
“You aren’t paying attention, not really. Even though you’re talking to me.”
“I...” Asterius was right, of course, though he didn’t seem to understand Theseus’ reasons for his mind being elsewhere. “It’s not like that.”
“It’s fine.”
“In fact, I should be the one allowing you to leave! I was the one who dragged you here on this date in the first place!”
If Asterius noticed that Theseus, his mouth moving more quickly than his brain, called this a date, he didn’t say anything about it. “I wanted to come.”
“You don’t understand—I brought you here for my own selfish reasons.”
“Drinking coffee? Talking? That’s not selfish, king.”
“But—”
“Not like trying to get a chance to fight someone to relive your high school nostalgia.”
“But—!”
“You seem to have given up on that. I’m glad.”
Asterius was a bull of few words, but he was always so open with his emotions when it mattered. Nothing like Theseus, who always spoke his fleeting thoughts on impulse but feared any real discussion of the things that mattered. With Asterius, not being clear about his intentions felt dishonest, and trying to maintain the delicate balance of dating without dating seemed almost cruel. The bull deserved the same honesty he always offered Theseus.
Theseus looked down, watching his feet for a moment. “I would still face you in honorable combat, if you so desired. But it’s true, I no longer wish to have you as a rival. That was a childish delusion, to think that I ought to preserve the antagonism we had when we were young, rather than... something more.”
Asterius grunted in agreement.
Was that a good sign? It seemed likely, and perhaps what he’d already said was enough to get his point across. But if his intention was honesty, it would be better to say everything.
“Which is to say, I would like something more. Than this. Not that I don’t like this, because I do, very much,” Theseus said, barely stopping to breathe. Asterius was too kind, too understanding. He would understand this, too, even if he didn’t reciprocate. “That is—! I have, in our recent weeks of getting to know one another, developed a significant infatuation with you. And you deserve to know that!”
Asterius paused for what felt like an eternity. “I already knew,” he finally answered.
“Ah.”
Yes, right. It wouldn’t have been the first time he’d gotten that sort of reaction to a confession. “It’s obvious, isn’t it,” Theseus said, chuckling weakly.
“You were persistent in talking to me. You took what you thought was a negative opinion about you to heart. And you called me illuminating, once.”
“Most people would come to that conclusion, eh?” Theseus hung his head, defeated. So Asterius had known after all. But wait— that meant that Asterius had known, and had still accepted his invitation.
Asterius nodded. “I was keeping a close eye on you as well, because I’m also developing an infatuation.”
“Are you!”
“When we were young, I despised you. I thought you were too confident. Spoiled by your success. I longed to defeat you.” Asterius shook his head. “But I don’t like to dwell on the past. I was going through difficulties unrelated to you, then. Now my life is better, and I’m glad you’ve returned now, so that I can appreciate you properly.”
That didn’t sound like any sort of love confession that Theseus had ever heard, but it was so very Asterius that Theseus scarcely minded.
“...king?” Asterius asked, confused. Theseus realized only then that he’d been standing there, speechless and gawking.
“So... uh,” he finally managed. Quite eloquent of him.
“So. We should do this again sometime. Preferably soon.”
Theseus nodded, his mind and heart racing. If he’d expected anything, it was that Asterius would politely acknowledge his feelings and decline, or perhaps be so surprised by them that he’d ask to consider them and answer later. For the bull to accept and return his affection was more than he’d ever dreamed of, and Theseus was unsure how to proceed. “We should!” he managed to answer, finally.
Theseus offered Asterius his hand. They would make an odd couple, he thought as the bull accepted it, but neither of them had any particular interest in appearing normal. Maybe this would be just what they both needed.