Work Text:
“What can I get you?” the tall waiter asks, smiling.
“Beer for me,” Kyle says, looking at the half-empty bar,
“A coke for me, thank you,” Levi says.
“Okay,” the waiter nods, smiling at Levi again. “I’ll be right back.”
“Oh my god, he’s so totally into you." Kyle snorts. " It must be weird to be recognized everywhere. Aren’t you uncomfortable?”
“Not really. There’s a moment when you get used to it. It’s like gradual but once it’s part of your life, you just… you live with it and in general, everybody is nice to me so I’m not uncomfortable. Plus, I refuse to stay at home like I’ve done something wrong, you know? I try to have a normal life… obviously, there are places where I can’t go without security but restaurants… places like this… that’s not part of the list. People are usually quite respectful."
Kyle nods. “I get that but I’m not sure if I could be so cool about it. A part of me wants to… I don’t know… have a career and have fans and all that, obviously, but the other part… the other part just wants to make a living doing what I like, you know?”
Then, the waiter approaches their table, leaving the drinks, with another big smile for Levi before leaving them alone again.
Kyle shakes his head, smiling but doesn’t say anything.
“Don’t worry, he’s not my type at all. My type is sitting next to me right now, making me feel like a teenager again.”
Kyle laughs, shaking his head. “You’re kidding, right?”
“Why would I? I’m dead serious. But I guess I shouldn’t have said that.”
“You’re five years older than me.” Kyle knows Levi has had many boyfriends and must have a lot of experience. “You can’t possibly be nervous”. Not to mention the fact that they see each other at work every day.
“Age has nothing to with it. And besides, I’ve been working non-stop for a year and a half… Believe me, it’s been ages since I went on a date.”
“So, this is a date?” Kyle licks his lips.
Levi snorts. “At least I’d put in that category, yeah… but if you don’t want it to be... Then, it doesn’t have to be. I don’t want you to feel—” Levi raises his eyebrows expectantly.
“No, it’s not that I don’t want it to be… but when you suggested coming here after work, I thought maybe you just wanted to talk about the show—Maybe discuss what we’re filming next week.” It’s true that the way Levi was looking at him when he said that, felt different and even his voice sounded different but Kyle refused to assume something that makes no sense in his brain.
“I guess... Yeah, you’re right. I wasn’t sure how to ask you out. I just... I really wanted to be alone with you but shit, I’m out of practice—I’m sorry.”
Kyle shakes his head and bites his lips. “No need to apologize. It’s just…" Kyle snorts, "it’s kind of weird.” Especially coming from somebody who gives such a different impression. "But it's fine."
“Good-weird or bad-weird?” Levi raises his eyebrows.
“Good-weird but mostly, kind-of-surprised-weird.”
“Surprised?” Levi runs a hand through his hair before grabbing the glass in front of him to have a sip. “Really?”
“Oh yeah," Kyle nods, "kind of.”
“I mean, I don’t know but I’d never have thought you could be out of practice.” Kyle smiles.
“Believe me, work has taken over my life and I haven’t had time to socialize. Well, there was this time a friend got me a blind date and it was a total disaster, so I told myself ‘never again’.”
“So me being here…” Kyle opens his arms wide.
“What?” Levi raises his eyebrows.
“Have you dated people you work with before? I mean, I guess you must have.” Doing what Levi does for a living, that's quite usual according to what he sees in social media.
Levi smiles. He likes how straightforward Kyle is.
“You always say what you’re thinking, right?”
“Pretty much, yeah. It’s one of my most defining qualities.”
“That’s good, really. People around me have a tendency to say whatever they think I wanna hear, you know? Sometimes it can be good but most of the time, it’s just really… tiring and fucking boring. And then, there’s also my agent, who I love, but she went through blackmail with another client and she’s become a little paranoid since then. She’s always giving me a discourse about being careful with who I date like I haven’t been in this business longer than she has, you know?”
“I guess she really cares about you.”
“Yeah, she does. I know she just worries and wants to protect me but I think by now I’m getting better at judging people. And god knows my love life has been non-existent for a long time.”
And to answer your question," Levi continues, "yeah, I've been working since I was very young and it’s easier to meet people at work but most of the time it was just a one-date thing.”
“You realize that what you just said might make me wonder if being here is actually a good idea…” Kyle raises his eyebrows, biting his lips.
“Well, you asked me and I was being honest. The past is the past and it has nothing to do with you. I really… I really like you.”
Kyle snorts and smiles, looking to the left behind Levi.
“Okay, I admit it. That reaction… not the one I’m used to…” Levi says obviously surprised and kind of embarrassed.
“Oh hell, no, sorry. I just… I got distracted… that wasn’t about you…” Kyle stops talking as he gets distracted again.
Levi snorts, looking around them. “What’s going on?” Kyle frowns.
Kyle licks his lips. “It just… don’t turn around, okay? There are two girls at the table at the back and they were talking about you. They are huge fans apparently. They think you’re really hot and the one with the pink t-shirt was telling the other one that she should ask you for a picture and tell you that it’s her birthday. Then, the one with the green dress told her she was crazy… that she’d die if she met you… basically, that she wouldn’t be able to say a word to you. Then she challenged her friend to ask you herself but the friend said that she would probably be speechless too and also that she was afraid that they would bother you in your free time. And then, she decided to simply take a picture of you… which must be a terrible picture of your back,” Kyle laughs briefly. “They’re funny.”
“How…?” Levi raises his eyebrows obviously confused. “I mean…”
“Oh… yeah... Sign language. They’re deaf. That's how—”
“Wait, you speak sign language?” Levi had no idea—but then again, he barely knows a few things about Kyle’s career and nothing about his personal life.
“Yes, not as perfectly as my parents and my older brother but yeah, my level is quite decent,” Kyle nods.
“You’re full of surprises.”
“Well, my younger brother is deaf and I learned after I was adopted. So, you know… for me, it’s nothing extraordinary or whatever…”
Levi bites his lip.
“Well, I think it’s cool. And useful. Now I must take a photo with them.”
“What?” Kyle raises both eyebrows. “You’re going to—”
“Yeah, why not? There’s nobody else here.” Levi shrugs. “Come with me—I need an interpreter, right? And someone to take the photo…”
“They can probably read your lips… but fine…” Kyle nods, smiling. The truth is that he’s been in a few shows but he’s never worked with a star like Levi before and he had never seen him as a distant person on the set but he’s never seen him around fans, so this whole thing is certainly a new side of him—his celebrity side… but also, his human side.
(To be continued)