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“Are you sure they’re going to like me?” Jack knows he’s asked this question many, many times over the past few days, but he needs to make sure. Being with adults – even Aster’s friends – is not exactly his comfort zone. He’d much rather be at the kid table in life, free of responsibilities.
And what if Aster’s friends are all the same brooding artsy type that Aster is? Jack likes it on Aster, but he’s not sure he can handle more than just the one.
“Mate, they’ve been buggin me to meet you just as much as you’ve been buggin me to see ‘em. ‘Course they’re gonna like you.”
Jack blushes from where he’s sitting cross-legged on the bed, watching Aster get dressed. Though Jack’s an early riser, he tends to leave the actual getting ready portion of the morning until Aster’s process is well under way.
The Aussie’s in the midst of lotioning his arms, spreading moisturizer across the warmth of his skin and spread of his tattoos. He looks over, bright green eyes assessing Jack’s face, and the white-haired boy looks askance, caught oogling once again.
“I’m just saying, I don’t want to make a bad impression on your friends. They’re important to you.”
Aster climbs onto the bed, cupping Jack’s jaw in with his index finger and thumb. He makes him look up at him, verdant eyes meeting oceanic blue, locked together in a warm embrace.
“And you’re important to me too, snowflake. Don’t downplay that.”
Jack blushes again, lips parted as if in anticipation of a kiss. “O-okay…”
Aster smiles, self-assuredly. “Good. We’re in agreement then. You’re important, they’re important, everyone’s important, so it’ll all be fine.”
Jack smiles at that, reassured, and hops off the bed. He’s wearing torn black skinny jeans, bright blue Converse, and one of Aster’s old letterman’s jackets from his rugby days over a simple white t-shirt. The dark grey and bright yellow stand out against his normal color palette of white and blue, but Aster has reassured him several times that it looks perfectly fine on him, and between the two of them, Aster’s the expert in color theory, so it all works out.
Aster, dressed in simple black jeans (without tears thank you very much), a pink and white pinstriped short-sleeve button down shirt, grey cardigan, and black boots, follows Jack out of the bedroom and into the rest of the apartment.
+
They meet outside Always Sunny, their favorite place to meet up outside of The Guardian on the edge of town. Aster didn’t want Jack meeting the others while they were drunk, and Jack isn’t technically old enough to enter a bar in America, so he had to think fast and arrange alternative plans beside their usual meet up spot.
Sandy had agreed first, always amicable and down to hang out in the real world, when he’s not locked away in his sound proof studio filming. Then Tooth had swanned in with her excitement, as per usual, and North had finished off the group chat with a gif from a movie at least 10 years old, complete with sunglasses fading into the frame and everything.
Aster couldn’t stand the man.
He walks with his hand in Jack’s, though they’re both tucked into his cardigan pocket to shield their knuckles from the autumn wind. Aster doesn’t do well with the cold, while Jack seems to come alive every autumnal equinox. It’s a compromise that led to them remaining where they currently live in the US, though every summer and winter there’s debates about where they should relocate to — once things are serious enough, of course.
( sometimes they find themselves in the midst of an argument, having invaded each other’s personal space, before they realize they’re arguing in a hypothetical future of togetherness that does not exist yet )
It’s easy enough to pick out the trio waiting for them by the hostess booth. North stands easily head and shoulders above the crowd, waving enthusiastically as they approach. Aster mutters something under his breath about needless holiday cheer in October, but returns the wave.
“Holy shit,” Jack gasps, looking up at the tattooed man dressed in a jovial predominantly red ensemble. The man looks like Santa Claus, if Santa had a six pack and full tattoo sleeves visible through the rolled up portion of his shirt sleeves. The long white beard and boisterous greeting overwhelms Jack, and he almost takes a step behind Aster as they approach.
“North’s not the one to worry about,” Aster mutters as they approach.
As the crowd parts, letting them meet up with the other two, Sandy and Tooth come into view. Sandy wears his usual graphic t-shirt beneath a slouchy sweater, jeans and Converse on in a style similar enough to Jack’s. He stands at least a foot shorter than Jack, which means this man is downright tiny. He gives a harmless, sleepy wave as they approach, but is overwhelmed by a colorful blur who swarms into Aster.
“Oh look at you, aren’t you two just the cutest! Wearing the letterman’s jacket and everything, aren’t you ever the sappy one. Don’t be shy, Bunny, introduce us properly.” The colorful blur comes to a stop in the form of a dark skinned woman wearing a stunning blue and green chiffon saree, complete with intricate golden jewelry about her wrists and neck. She conducts herself with grace and excitement, two things Jack didn’t think were previously possible.
At least, they certainly weren’t when he tried them.
“There he is!” North chimes in, and before Aster can get a word in edgewise, Jack’s being scooped up into thick inked arms. Two quick but extravagant kisses are pressed to his cheeks before he’s dropped back to his feet on the sidewalk. People are staring as they go by, and Jack chuckles, reaching up to wipe his cheeks free of…whatever that was.
Jack looks over to Aster but sees him in the middle of a conversation with the colorful woman – the only woman, come to think of it, in the friend group – and he clears his throat a little bit as he reaches for Aster’s hand again.
“So. Jack. Bunny here tells me you are quite the figure skater, is that so?”
“H-how do you know my name?”
“Oh, Sandy here tracked you down online, he’s way better with the tech stuff than either Tooth or I — this is how we saw the videos! And you are very good, very beautiful to watch.”
Jack blushes at the praise, and feels a tug on his sleeve. He looks down at the shorter man – Sandy, it must be – who shows him his own YouTube channel with a thumbs up. He looks pleased with his own work and with Jack’s performance, and Jack’s blush deepens.
“It’s nothing serious, just a fun way to spend the summer. Trying to keep cool and all that,” he says with a laugh, while trying to remember the brief overview Aster had given him of all his friends.
Nicholas St. North: owns The North Pole, a year-round Christmas shop featuring hand-painted miniatures of just about anything anyone could ever want, and host of the local ice sculpture competition in Burgess. Biggest fan of Christmas Aster’s ever come across, which sparks a rivalry between the two.
Titania “Tooth” Kaur: a dental hygienist at Smile Wide, the family dentistry located on main street. Goes crazy for anything to do with dental hygiene as well as children, ideally mixing the two together. Aster once gifted her a clay model of a toddler’s skull, complete with the adult teeth layered in the skull itself – she’d kissed him on the mouth and that had been that.
Sandy: an ASMR YouTuber who would never be recognized by his face or voice, only his hands and the dreamy soundscapes they weave. Selectively mute, Sandy rarely speaks unless it’s in one-on-one conversations and he feels really well and truly comfortable with both the person he’s speaking with and the subject matter. Aster’s been friends with him for years and he only heard his voice for the first time about two months before Jack and Aster became serious.
It’s a lot of information, and he takes it all in as North signals to the hostess that their party has arrived and they’re ready to be seated. Somehow he and Aster are able to sit next to each other, with North at the head of the table, Tooth directly across from Jack, and Sandy across from Aster.
He has little time to get comfortable before Tooth leans forward, sticking a hand out for him to shake. He numbly accepts the gesture, surprised by her forwardness, and is rewarded with a brilliant smile that does little to put him at ease.
“Titania, but you can call me Tooth. And you’re Jack — Bunny here’s told us so much about you, but you only made it official recently, right?”
“Tooth, come off it mate, let ‘im breathe –”
“I am letting him breathe, it’s not like I’ve got my fingers in his mouth!”
Aster rolls his eyes but they’re saved by their waitress comes up to their table, introducing herself as Piper and taking their drink orders. Everyone but Jack gets some form of brunch approved alcohol – Jack sticks with a pumpkin spice hot chocolate.
“What, not into drinking? Is fine, I suppose, everyone has their own things –” North begins, but Sandy cuts in with a gentle touch to North’s forearm, before signing something that Jack does not understand, though North’s resulting bellowing laughter makes him want to crawl beneath the table and hide there until the meal is done.
“What did he say?” Jack whispers, and it’s Tooth who leans over to reply.
“Just a joke about your age. How old are you, by the way? Bunny’s been cagey about the details, but you’ve proven so good for him already, we just had to meet you! Though I’m beginning to suspect why we couldn’t meet at The Guardian,” she says with a slightly less erratic smile.
Jack feels a little comforted by that one, and remembers that she does work with kids for a living.
“I’m old enough,” he replies, taking a sip of his water. “Just, not old enough to drink in the States, is all.”
The trio laughs – Sandy shooting a smile towards Jack, ringed with mirth, though no sound escapes parted lips – and Jack feels a comforting hand placed on his thigh beneath the table. He looks up as Aster’s clenched jaw and puts his hand on his in return, rubbing his thumb over his knuckles.
“Alright, if you’re done making fun, I don’t suppose we could actually skip to the part where you lot try to seem like respectable people he’d like to be around?” Aster cuts in, green eyes cold.
That look gets Jack to stop in his tracks immediately, but North doesn’t seem to have the same reservations.
“Look at you, always so nervous – of course he likes us, you like us, don’t you Jack?”
“Uh, jury’s still out,” he replies, and Aster makes a so there motion with his hands.
Tooth and North clamor to defend their behavior to Aster, but it’s Sandy who catches Jack’s attention. He writes something down on his phone and then hands it over to Jack for him to read.
It’s nice to meet you formally. I do ASMR videos and don’t really talk a whole lot. But I like your style, and thanks for putting up with them. Believe it or not, they’re nervous too :-)
Jack blinks before writing back:
thanks, aster told me about the videos – that seems really cool! we should hang out some time, go over youtube stuff
He hands the phone back to Sandy, who accepts it with a grin.
Maybe everything would be alright.