Work Text:
One cold, rainy evening, outside their apartment block, Kai Smith was waiting for his date, Zane Julien.
The blond stepped out of the main doors a few minutes later, nervously playing with the hem of his shirt nervously.
“Is this okay?” Zane asked nervously.
“You look great, let’s go.” Kai said, smiling as the two made their way down the street.
As they did, the clouds that had been hanging in the sky all day started to become dark and stormy.
“And here we are!” Kai announced as they reached a Korean restaurant which had a wooden exterior and doors, located in a small cluster of restaurants and a convenience store at the end of the street.
“Korean?” Zane questioned as they both stepped inside the restaurant.
“Is that okay? We have a lot of Chinese and Italian with the others so I figured a different taste would be a nice change. We can go somewhere else if you don’t like it-” Kai rambled.
“Kai, it’s fine - I like Korean.” Zane reassured him as a member of the waitstaff showed them to a table and handed them a menu each.
They, mostly Kai, chatted about everything and nothing as they read over what was on offer.
Their night, which had started out fine, only fell apart from there, unfortunately.
A waiter had been carrying a tray laden with glasses on his way toward the water station, likely hoping to refill it but on his way there, his foot caught on someone’s bag and he went sprawling to the floor and the tray crashed to the ground.
The glasses shattered upon impact.
The sound made Zane jump and left tension high-strung in his shoulders.
“Zane, it’s okay, it’s just some cups.” Kai said, purposefully not calling the cups, glasses. Some of the tension bled out of Zane’s shoulders but not much.
“Just some cups.” Zane echoed.
“Do you know what you’re going to get?” Kai asked, trying to move the conversation on.
Zane picked his menu up again from where it was now on the table after he dropped when he had jumped.
“I’m not sure. What are you getting?” Zane asked.
“Vegetarian bibimbap, I think,” Before he could say anything, Kai added. “Bibimbap are usually pretty good no matter where you go or which you get.”
“I might get the beef one.” Zane said as he added his order to the paper docket which already had Kai’s.
Before they had a chance to call a waiter, a lady in the restaurant’s uniform approached their table with a water pitcher.
“Water?” she asked before both nodded the affirmative and she started to pour said liquid first into Kai’s glass.
When she got to Zane’s, she unfortunately over-compensated and water splashed over the edge and some got onto Zane.
The blond had gone incredibly tense and pale, even more so than his usual shade.
“It’s okay, really.” Kai said for Zane.
The water hurried off thoroughly embarrassed.
“Why dont we take a rain check on this dinner? Let’s go back to my apartment and we can watch a movie or something,” With that, the brunet led them both out of the restaurant and they started down the street.
The clouds had just started dumping their water on them albeit lightly at that point.
“Sorry tonight went like that.” Kai apologized after they had entered the apartment block and had started their ascent of the stairs.
Zane didn’t say anything.
They finally reached Kai’s apartment and the brunet opened the door to his (and Nya’s) apartment as easily as if it was already unlocked which it was actually.
After they had stepped inside and the door shut once again, Kai told Zane “Pick a movie, I’ll be back in a but.” before he dissappeared into the kitchen.
“Kai?” Nya asked, confusion in her voice, as she stood by the sink.
“Didn’t go too well.” Kai told his sister before he mouthed ‘movie’, knowing full well that Zane could hear them.
“Ah, enjoy your night then.” Nya had a strange look in her eye as she spoke. “Lloyd’s at Jay’s, if you were wondering.” she added.
“Thought so.” Kai said before he left the kitchen, grabbing the purple throw from where it sat over the back of a stool, and returned to the living room.
“Picked a movie?” he asked as he took a seat on the sofa next to Zane.
The blond nodded and handed him the remote.
“The Karate Kid? Interesting choice,” Kai said as he pressed play on the remote.
‘You can change it’ Zane signed in ASL.
“No! It’s fine, I like the Karate Kid.” Kai assured him.
The following morning (they had both fallen asleep while watching the movie).
“Thank you, Kai.” Zane thanked before he left.
“No problem. See you at school.” Kai said before Zane left for his own apartment.
When the brunet entered the living room, where Nya was seated on the floor, doing something .
“You two are good for each other.” Nya said.
“You really think so?” Kai asked.
“I don’t think so, I know so.” Nya said before she got up and left to get something from her room.