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Light classical music played in the small but extravagant, well lit restaurant. Silverware clinked and the other guests talked politely at their tables. Near poked at his salad. Matt played with his straw wrapper.
Mello spoke.
"You know, the origins of Valentine's day were much more bloody than you'd imagine."
"Oh yes,” Near added immediately, “I've read that it was less a celebration of love and more of fertility- hours of wild sex and whipping specially chosen women with the hides of recently slain animals."
"Goddamn it, can we have one night out, please? Just one?" Matt complained from the other side of the table. He was wearing nice clothes for once- a suit- as were Mello and Near. (Near thought his own was too fitted, but Mello had checked and told him it was perfect, he just wasn't used to it.)
“I thought we talked about this,” he went on in this boring manner. “We were going to be normal, just for a couple hours, and have a nice night out.”
Mello made a pouting face. It was more of a slight frown, but if you knew him (and Near did), you knew that particular expression could only mean he was pouting.
"What's wrong with a little dinner conversation? I liked where that was headed."
"Of course you did, but I don't want to hear about slaying animals, Mello."
"..Goats for fertility, dogs for good luck." Near added.
"Near!" Matt groaned. The people nearby stared at them, murmuring at the odd trio, and Matt pulled a face at them until they looked away.
Near and Mello were still talking.
"Was it just goats and dogs, or anything else?"
"Just the two as far as I know, but I'm sure there were some more creative men who went for cows and the like."
"Interesting. Why not a wolf or something, to prove your hunting prowess?"
"The animals were sacrifices, not trophies. The whipping was meant to make women more fertile."
"Huh. I would have done a wolf."
"Mello, you're gay. Why would you participate in something like-"
"Excuse me!" The waiter said loudly.
Near looked up. The man laden with food was also in a black suit, but his was genuinely too small, and it made him look like a stressed and suffocating penguin. The carnation in his lapel was cartoonishly wilted even though it was the beginning of the night.
“Why are you interrupting me?” Near asked drily. “Interrupting isn’t polite.”
Mello snickered, taking a sip of water to hide it. The waiter silently put their food in front of them, as well as in front of the empty seat from where Matt had escaped the conversation at some point before excuse me. Somehow, Near had barely noticed.
Mello pulled his phone out to check, but they both knew that Matt had just given up on them and gone home to work on a new video game he was into. Sure enough, he had simply texted Mello: “bye have fun”. Near probably should have been bothered, but he had been friends with Matt for too long to be annoyed by things like this.
Besides, now that he and the waiter were gone, they could discuss goat sacrifice and the like with minimal judgement (a few tables nearby seemed to think they were talking too loudly, but it mattered little to Near, and even less so to Mello).
They talked and poked fun at some restaurant goers for a while. (“Did you see that waiter’s flower?” Mello asked him with a sparkle in his eye; “I thought you would never ask,” Near answered. That made Mello laugh. He loved making Mello laugh.) Near ate a few bites of his food, but it wasn’t that good. Truthfully, he would have preferred to stay home in his pajamas and eat a granola bar.
What made the night worth it was spending time with Mello (who looked rather disinterested by his own plate, and ended up pulling a new chocolate bar from his breast pocket and snapping off a piece in spite of the looks people shot him). Near admired his friend’s bright eyes and laughing mouth. It was enjoyable to bask in one another's company. By the end of their night, he understood the appeal of going to a nice restaurant. It was warm and beautiful in here, although the waitstaff was rather ill-mannered.
They left after not so long, having mostly just poked at the fancy food. Mello paid with several crisp twenty dollar bills. Near had no idea how he earned the money, and wasn’t about to ask. They made their way into the dark night. It was a short walk to Matt and Mello’s apartment, and besides, Matt had taken the car.
Snow swirled all around them in the air, and crunched beneath their fancy shoes. Wind bellowed, and snow crunched, but the two men were silent, and that made the night feel especially quiet. Somehow, Near didn’t feel cold. His face and fingers were slightly numb, but he felt alive, like you do after running for a long time. Bright and alive and slightly out of breath.
Near reached for Mello’s hand and casually threaded their fingers together.
“It’s icy,” he said matter-of-factly when Mello stared at him. "I might slip."
“..Not really,” Mello said, but their hands stayed together.
“No,” Near admitted. “Not really.”
They walked hand in hand down the street.