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Axel pulls up to the park on his bike, slowing the engine, unmounting to lock it. He glances around, looking for perhaps a glimpse of stark white hair, but only sees the expanse of green grass and trees surrounding the entrance to the park. Was he too early?
He checks the time on his watch, it’s a few minutes to ten. Okay, maybe, he was a little bit early. But that’s better than being late. He runs a hand through his hair, mussing the thick locks. Guess he’ll just have to wait then.
He leans against his motorbike. Zellusia was quite the persistent type, insisting that Axel let him take him out on a date. Axel refused at first. “I don’t do dates.” The only reason he came to the other’s restaurant was because his friend dragged him there to eat repeatedly. Was the food good? Yes. Was the waiter nice? Yes. Maybe too nice. But Zellusia was adamant about it, insisting that he just wanted to get to know Axel better. That he wanted to be friends. Axel really didn’t understand what about him was so intriguing to the other, he rarely bothered too much with making friends or more. Greg had latched onto him, simply because he also owned a motorbike and insisted on biking to school with him every day. Somewhere along the way of giving constant homework help to Greg, they got close.
A date. He rolls the word around in his head. That’s something he’s never been on. Sure, people have confessed to him before. Girls mostly. He’s always rejected them, though. Too annoying. Too obsessive. Too much. Zellusia wasn’t that bad though. He was bubbly, almost too friendly for his own good, but you couldn’t really hate him for it. Especially when he was such a good cook. Axel shakes his head of the thought.
Stop focusing on food, Axel.
He moves his line of sight to where a white SUV is pulling into the driveway. That looks like Zellusia’s car. He shoves his hands in his pockets, almost missing them completely. Right, he forgot he switched out his leather jacket for a green bomber. It’s a Saturday, he usually would be sleeping in more, but clearly that was not the agenda today.
He takes a deep breath in, collecting his composure, before making his way down to the car, where Zellusia is already opening the trunk. He’s wearing a simple outfit, slim-cut cuffed blue jeans, and a loose white t-shirt tucked into the pants. He’s concentrating now, counting the items brought to make sure nothing’s missing, feet tapping absentmindedly against the concrete, clad in blue adidas. When he’s done, he spins around satisfied, to look for the other, but doesn’t expect to find him so close, and jumps a little, startled. “Axel!”
“Hey.” He waves.
Zellusia flashes him a grin, sunlight glinting over his eyes and making them shimmer slightly. They’re a deep blue, and Axel can’t help but stare. “I wasn’t too late, was I?”
Axel shakes his head. “I didn’t wait long.”
“Good, Good.” Zellusia pulls some things to the edge of the trunk. Two large picnic baskets, with blankets tucked under the handle, and a few pillows. “I’ve got the lunch packed in these two, do you think you’d be able to help me carry them?”
Axel nods, grabbing for the heavier one, and tucking two of the pillows under his arm, leaving one for Zel.
“I’ll take the other one,” Zel says, “It’s got drinks in it, so I don’t want it to slosh.”
“I saw a good spot over there, near the river,” Axel mentions.
“Were there any ducks?” Zellusia asks, cheerfully. Axel thinks he’s probably stifling his impulse to bounce in place at the idea, for the sake of not spilling his basket’s contents.
“Probably,” Axel answers, “Let’s go see.”
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They settle into a comfortable spot under some trees. It’s a shady area, with a good view of the riverside, where some geese and ducks have flocked to the surface of the water. Axel helps Zellusia spread out the picnic blankets, and arrange the pillows, before placing the baskets on top. Zellusia gets to work opening them up and this is when Axel has realized that Zellusia has cooked a lot. Like probably more than he can even eat today.
Zellusia notices his look, and responds easily, “It’s okay, you can take the leftovers home. I just really felt like making a lot.”
“For me?” Axel blurts out.
Zellusia just chuckles, as he pulls out the potato and egg salads. “Sure. For you.”
There are two big containers, and he has two long toasted baguettes to accompany them, cut into slices. There are more salads, a pasta salad in small jars, a cucumber salad with blackberries, and a medley of fruits, fresh strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, oranges, and honeydew melon balls, drizzled with an orange honey syrup and garnished with mint.
He sets those to the side, before pulling out the other items, fried chicken bites with honey mustard for dipping, sweet potato fries, and golden corn fritters. He’s also made dessert, a full batch of extra-thick raspberry crumble bars.
“It all looks really good,” Axel compliments, and he can see the way Zellusia’s face beams at that, as he pulls out the lemon-infused iced tea to pour him a drink.
He hands the glass to Axel who politely thanks him, before taking a sip. It’s pleasantly refreshing, the taste of lemon blending well with the tea, with a hint of mint.
“I’ll make you a plate.” Zellusia arranges things prettily on a plate, egg salad on a baguette slice, a scoop of potato salad, a bit of cucumber salad, along with some fried chicken, fries, and fritters. “Tell me if you want seconds,” he says, handing the plate to Axel and arranging the jars of pasta salad around the big bowl of fruits on the tablecloth.
“This should be enough.” It really should be, Zellusia wasn’t skimping when he made his plate, and he needs to leave room for dessert later.
Zellusia makes his own plate and sets it aside, to pour a glass of tea for himself. He lets out a relaxed breath, deep and weighty as though he had been holding it in, before drinking.
Axel isn’t sure what to say. He’s never been one for small talk. But the aura is relaxing enough, being out in nature. It’s a sunny day, with cool weather. Perfect for a picnic.
He’s just placed a spoonful of potato salad into his mouth, when he hears a click, and looks up, to see Zellusia snap a photo of them, smile wide, a peace sign next to his face. He goes back to his original position to take a few pictures of the picnic setup, swaying slightly in his seat as he looks through them and applies filters giddily. Axel hears his phone beep a few seconds later, and glances to see a notification from Zellusia’s Instagram account.
Zel’s quiet however, and puts away his phone, to start eating as well, still smiling slightly to himself. Axel finds himself finding the behavior a bit cute. The other is clearly trying hard to make it not seem like it’s a big deal. He’s failing though, and notices Axel’s pointed smirk, as he bites into a sweet potato fry, almost choking and gulping it down quickly.
“I-I just wanted a picture.” He awkwardly fiddles with one of the braids in his hair that falls in front of his ear, smoothing it between his fingers. “To commemorate the occasion. Or whatever.” He takes another sip from his glass, avoiding eye contact.
Axel laughs lightly, popping a piece of chicken into his mouth. “Sure. Not because it’s a date or anything,” he teases.
Zel pouts childishly, crossing his arms. “It is a date though,” he protests.
This amuses Axel and he clamps his lips together to stifle a laugh. He doesn’t respond with anything other than an acquiesced nod, taking a bite of the baguette.
They eat mostly in silence together, interrupted by the occasional chirping of a bird, or squirrel getting close enough to curiously look at all the food but run away before Zellusia has a chance to offer it a berry. Axel checks his phone, midway through tasting the pasta salad, and there’s a barrage of texts from his friend, Greg, asking how the date is going. He deletes all his notifications and goes back to his food. Greg will figure it out later anyways.
He doesn’t realize that Zellusia has been edging closer, moving from being across him to being almost directly next to him, until Zel pulls the plate of raspberry crumble bars closer to them. Zellusia is close enough that if he just leaned his head, just a bit, it would fit perfectly against Axel’s shoulder, and there’s a slight buzz in the air, as though that’s exactly what Zellusia’s itching to do, and Axel even anticipates it, but… he doesn’t.
Axel sets down his jar of pasta to ask him if he wants to. He’s not usually the touchy type, but for some reason, it feels like it would be too mean to reject Zel. He’s just too sweet. He'll allow it if it's him.
Before he has a chance to speak, Zellusia breaks the silence. “Do you want to try the crumble bars now? I made them fresh this morning.”
“Yeah,” Axel says, and he’s about to reach for one before Zellusia stops his hand.
“Let me!” he chirps, and Axel suddenly focuses on the fact that Zellusia’s touching him. It’s not an uncomfortable feeling. It’s not bad. It’s just new.
Zel’s hands are dainty, with long, slender fingers that wrap around the back of Axel’s hand, and really soft. The touch stirs a strange feeling in Axel’s chest, one of warmth, but before he has time to really process it, the feeling is gone, as Zellusia lets go to pick up a bar.
Zellusia smiles as he guides the raspberry bar to Axel’s lips, and he accepts the bite, the gooeyness of the berry filling melding deliciously into the oat crumble. Although, he’d like to say he focused on the taste more, his focus was more on Zellusia. Axel’s never realized exactly how blue his eyes were, especially this close. They almost look unreal, glittering in the sun.
He finishes the bar quickly, and Zellusia is about to get one for himself, but Axel beats him to it this time. “No, let me ,” he mimics, picking up another bar to feed Zel too.
Zellusia tries to hide his smile with a hand, his cheeks heating up at Axel’s offer. He didn’t expect reciprocation . Axel raises an eyebrow as if to question if Zel will agree.
Zellusia moves his hands, leaving them fisted in his lap to still his nervous jitters, and opens his mouth obediently. Axel feeds him the crumble bar, reaching out a hand to smooth over the snowy waves of Zel’s hair, pulled back in a ponytail, and he can swear that Zellusia practically melts into the touch, his own pulse quickening at the sight.
There’s a pause as Zellusia finishes it, one where they stare into each other’s eyes, and Zellusia reaches up to press the palm of his hand against Axel’s and pull it down to caress his cheek, and now he’s leaning in, and Axel’s not ready, he’s not ready, not ready for a kiss, not ready for what’s to come, and Zellusia presses their foreheads together.
To smile.
He pulls back after that, as if the moment never happened and asks Axel if he’s full for now. Axel nods, blinking his eyes as if he had just imagined it, and licks his lips, suddenly feeling like his mouth is all too dry. Zellusia’s hand is still holding his, pressed into the blanket.
“Do you want to go feed the ducks?”
“I think you do,” Axel replies playfully.
“That’s right, I do.” Zellusia stands up, to tug lightly at Axel’s arm. “Come with me.”
Axel finds that he can’t resist the other’s earnest look and gives in easily.
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Zellusia makes Axel hold the bag of oats while he tosses some onto the water surface gleefully, that the ducks and geese flock to, lapping up the food from the water. Zellusia’s left hand is clasped within Axel’s right as he feeds them. This gives Axel plenty of time to look at the scenery, smell the breeze, look at Zellusia, look at their intertwined hands…
“Pretty,” he mumbles to himself, eyes pointed towards where their hands are connected, fingers grasping at Zel’s slim wrist and Zellusia turns his head at the mention.
“Hm? Pretty what?”
“Uh-” Axel wracks his brain for a good response. Pretty hands. No, he can’t say that, that’d be weird. He glances at the bracelet adorning the other’s wrist, a simple black corded one with white beads. “Pretty bracelet?” he tries.
Zellusia giggles. It’s so obvious Axel’s nervous, but Zellusia goes along with it anyways. “I made it myself,” he hums. “Do you want one?”
Axel lets out a panicked laugh, short and a bit too loud. “Hah! Um. No. I don’t need one, I barely wear anything but a watch anyways.”
Zellusia gives him an unconvinced smile. “Yep,” he affirms. “I’ll make you one.”
“You really don’t have to-” Axel starts, but Zellusia shushes him with a finger to his lips. Sufficiently quieted, Zellusia leans into Axel, shoving his shoulder against the other.
“I’m making it,” he repeats firmly, squeezing their hands together. “So…” he starts, changing the subject slightly. “Was today fun?”
Axel blinks. He hadn’t even realized it properly earlier, but he did really enjoy today. It was fun. “Yeah, actually. It was.” He smiles softly, looking out into the distance at the water. “I wouldn’t be opposed to doing this type of thing again.” He swallows. “Dates.”
Zellusia is delighted. “With me?”
“Yeah,” he agrees, “With you.”