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Crowds, he’d never liked crowds much. The noise he could handle, the loud voices as well but the sweating bodies pressing against his, that, was always uncomfortable. Rick said he should get out more, socialize, try and find someone so here he was, trying. He'd spent the last two hours talking to random strangers for the set time of ten minutes. Some were fun, some weird, some downright scary, a few rare ones, charming.
The actual speed-dating was over and people were now hanging out freely, gathering in small clusters, hitting on each other, joking around, trying to make something out of this rather awkward meeting place.
Shane was stuck trying to look interested in whatever the skinny guy with a love for indoor decoration and intricate china patterns was trying to tell him. Hard to achieve when the very idea of a homely husband in an apron revulsed him and he could just imagine this guy doing exactly that. So Shane zoned out pretty quickly.
The moment his vision became blurry with lack of interest didn't really register with him. That moment where he actually stopped listening to the other man and let himself get wrapped up in his own head seemed to stretch to no end, leaving him unable to point it out clearly.
His thoughts snapping back to the here and there, well, that's a moment he could remember very acutely.
“Alright, alright, Lily , think yer momma's lookin’ fer ya over there.”
Shane looked behind the guy he'd been talking to and who was currently walking away, muttering a ‘Jerk.’ as he went. In his place, one of the other men he'd met during this god-awful speed-dating thing. He'd liked him alright even though it hadn't taken him more than a few seconds to recognize the kind of man he could be. He'd decided to quiet the voice in his head that told him to drop it, that there was no way this guy could ever be a good match for him. He'd come here decidedly open-minded and he was going to stay that way.
Looking at the guy's stance, one hand pressed against the counter Shane was leaning on, head tilted and expectant, Shane smiled as well before he arched an eyebrow at the grin the man sent his way. “Merle, right?”
The crooked grin stretching the other man's pale lips only seemed to get bigger and Shane couldn't help but think the man was pleased he remembered. And he, in turn, was glad to see such an honest reaction to it.
“That's right,” he answered simply, some kind of pride coloring his voice.
“Care to tell me what that was about?” Shane asked, his eyes looking briefly through the crowd to shoot an apologetic look at the guy, Eric (?), who'd just been so rudely dismissed.
“Just thought ya weren't lookin’ too subjugated by the guy ‘s all,” Merle said, the words seemingly too big in his mouth what with his Southern accent so thick, but the shit-eating grin was still firmly set on his face and Shane couldn't be sure if he was charmed by the man's confidence or downright irritated.
“Oh yeah? And something made ya think I'd be more into...you?” Shane answered and even he, heard the slight flirtation in his voice. Charmed then. Interesting.
Merle was looking right into his eyes, intensely, like he was trying to decide something and only Shane's eyes held the clue he needed to make his call. The few seconds he took to make up his mind allowed Shane to realize just how... blue his eyes were. Pretty.
“Thought we kinda hit it off over there,” he said finally, hand pointing vaguely at the tables they'd been sitting at and off. Shane thought he looked nervous for a second there but the other man shook it off quickly. “Apart from ya bein’ from a family a piggies and all, that is.”
“And you being a famous Sunday tank boy, huh,” Shane took the bait with a wink and Merle let out a small laugh. Shane asked his heart to please stop fluttering but there was no stopping it. Shit.
“Told ya, that was a long time ago, ‘m a new man now. No more o'that.” Merle smiled again, “Gimme yer hand, surgeon.” he asked out of the blue and Shane raised another of his questioning eyebrows.
“C'mon, hold yer hand out. I don't bite.” Merle shuffled from one foot to the other and Shane took pity on him only to be even more surprised when the man pressed a piece of folded paper in his hand.
He opened the note and found it held a telephone number, scribbled messily, the handwriting all crooked and spidery and he smiled, bright.
“Ya can do whatever ya want with it but huh…I'd like it if ya used it. Y’know, I ain't a real piece o'cake or nuthin’ but I...I could see ya again, if ya wanted.”
Merle's shuffling wasn't stopping and the stutters in his words, the way he was asking, managing to sound and say how unsure he was while still keeping his towering stance, not letting the outside world know this part of him...all that had Shane nodding before he even took any time to think it over.
The guy was fun, Shane was already a fan of his sharp comebacks and he had to admit he was handsome. The intertwined air of military conduct that came from years in service and the never relenting current of backwood Georgian bravado - charming in such an untraditional way that told Shane just a bit of what this man’s life could have looked like up to this point.
Merle's smile came back, vibrant from Shane's agreement and he reached a hand out. He patted at Shane's bicep clumsily but the glimmer in his eye was unmistakable.
“Good, I'll wait fer yer call then, Delicious.” Merle winked and just like that, turned around and made his way out, leaving a blushing Shane to fumble around his pockets for his wallet. He slipped Merle's number in it as soon as he found it and decided to take his leave as well. He'd found what he came looking for, after all. He hoped so, at least.