Work Text:
Stiles orders gnocchi di patate dello chef with salsa pesto and Jackson orders fritura mista di pesce with calamari, gamberi e moscardini and vegetables, and some bottle of wine that Stiles has never heard about.
As soon as the menu is out of the way, Stiles looks around him once again. The huge Christmas tree in the corner with the bright lights looks amazing and the whole restaurant is decorated with different Christmas ornamentation and candles that truly make the atmosphere festive and warm.
He should feel comfortable and ready to enjoy the night but it feels strange being in a place like this. He looks at Jackson and his expensive dark blue suit and perfect haircut and the whole surrealistic picture is complete.
“Are you okay?” Jackson’s voice startles him.
“Yeah, why? Don’t I look okay?”
“You were staring. I was starting to think that I have something on my face…”
“No. It’s not you. It’s me. Okay, maybe it’s you… and me… but mostly me.”
“Stiles?” Jackson raises his eyebrows, obviously confused.
Stiles snorts, “I mean… it’s okay… I talk too much if you haven’t noticed.”
“Not tonight. You haven’t said much since you arrived. Are you sure you wanna be here?”
“Yes,” Stiles says probably too fast. “I do… This isn’t my usual scene, I guess...”
“And you think it’s mine...” It’s a statement but it sounds more like a question.
“Well, you fit right in.”
Jackson licks his lips and smiles. “Maybe I do but I assure you, this is not something I usually do voluntarily… it’s always for work.”
Stiles doesn’t answer and there’s a silence between them.
“You’re doing it again…” Jackson snorts. “The staring thing…”
“Sorry,” Stiles says looking around them. “I’m just…” Stiles licks his lips. “I’m sure you hear this quite often but yeah, your eyes are so damn blue…” Stiles shakes his head. “You’re the most beautiful man I’ve ever seen… and you know everything about the train… you know I’ve liked you for a long time, so, excuse me if being here and having you right in front of me looking like a million bucks feels absolutely weird and I get distracted… which by the way, is something that happens to me a lot anyway...”
At that moment the waiter decides to arrive and interrupt them with their orders and both of them decide to focus on their food and start eating.
“You know, what you said… that’s not true,” Jackson says, avoiding Stiles’ gaze,
“You’ll have to be more specific…” Stiles says after one more mouthful of his pasta.
“That word you used… beautiful... I don’t think that anybody has ever used it before,” Jackson says before taking a sip of wine.
“You’re kidding, right?” Stiles frowns.
“No. I mean, I’ve heard many other words... expressions… but not that one.” Jackson
For a moment, Stiles wonders if he should push for more details than Jackson is offering because he’s curious. He wants to know as many things about Jackson and his life as he can but he doesn’t want to scare him away and he certainly wants a second date… which isn’t going to happen if he ruins this one.
“Do you always do that?”
“Do what exactly?”
“Come on… you know… slip a date proposal on a train… is that your usual M.O.?”
“Oh that… No… First time. I told you I don’t do dates, didn’t I?”
“Yeah, you did. In the most annoying way that you could manage, actually… but then again, you’re here… and I’m here… so, I don’t know, what made you change your mind? I hope this isn’t some twisted kind of apology dinner...”
“No, I don’t usually do apologies either. Plus, it was your mostly your fault, remember?”
“Oh yeah, how could I forget… You’re perfect and you make no mistakes even if this time, you were totally wrong about me.”
“No, I wasn’t wrong. You were following me and that’s a fact.”
“Yeah, and it’s also a fact that you could have killed me.”
“Oh my god, I just left you unconscious… if I had wanted to kill you—”
“Right, you’re a killing machine and I’d be dead… how could I forget that? Jesus… okay, since it’s not in your plans to ever apologize for what you did, at least answer my question…”
“What was the question again?” Jackson frowns.
“I asked you what made you change your mind? Like… why are we here?”
“Oh that… “ Jackson nods. “My boss, I guess—”
“Your boss?” Stiles raises his eyebrows.
“Yeah… but he’s more like a friend… a good friend… but he’s my boss too.”
“He must be very convincing… what did he say? Or is that too private for a first date?”
“No. He said that since you already know what I do for a living, I already got that out of the way… basically suggested to give you a chance.”
“Okay, so you asked me to come because you don’t have to lie about your job? That’s the reason you’ve invited me to dinner?”
“Well, that’s one important reason but it’s not the only reason.”
“What’s the other reason?”
Jackson snorts. “Can’t we just have dinner and not talk about this?” Jackson looks at hits plate, moving the food around with the fork, clearly avoiding Stiles’ curious eyes.
“Yeah, we could but the thing is that after what happened… after what you said... it wouldn’t be very fair, don’t you think? Just because you passed me a note saying that you wanted to see me, it doesn’t really explain anything. And it’s probably been stated too many times for your own good and your ego that I find myself so attracted to you that I ended up being considered a threat to the nation… and so, you know… I’d like to know what I’m doing here exactly…”
“I think you already know… so, why are you asking me that?”
“No, if I knew I wouldn’t be asking you. And you already said that you don't do apologies... so yeah, what else did your boss say that made this,” Stiles points at his food and the restaurant, “happen?”
“God, you’re so fucking persistent…” Jackson shakes his head.
“Yeah, that’s one of my most popular virtues… it should be on your file...” Stiles nods, smiling.
“Fine… whatever…” Jackson waves his arms. “I guess he made me realize that I should be more open to attachments—?
“Attachments?” Stiles raises his eyebrows, grinning.
“Yeah… he’s English... he loves these words… I don’t know…” Jackson shakes his head. “He thinks I don’t do dates because I don’t want a relationship… and he thinks I don’t want a relationship because I don’t want anybody to worry about what my job involves… more often than not...”
“So, he’s right? You think that a relationship would make your work more complicated?”
(To be continued... whenever I manage to finish it...)