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George absentmindedly accepted his hot tea from the barista, murmuring a quick, 'thank you' with an automated smile as he then walked over to an empty table. The café he had visited wasn't so busy, even on a bright Valentine's Day afternoon. It never really was busy , sometimes a steady flow of customers coming in and leaving. But as for the diner section, there were never more than a handful of people there at a time- a perfectly peaceful atmosphere.
George wasn't so big on the whole 'Valentine's Day' thing, probably part of the reason why he hadn't had one in quite a while. Plus he also wasn't one to just put himself out there, purposely looking for a Valentine or a partner in general. Maybe sharing that with his best friends wasn't the best idea for him however.
Now, as steam arose from the tea mug, George waited for his 'date' to walk in any moment now. His two close friends had suggested that he tried going on a complete blind date with one of their non mutual friends. Of course the Brit was hesitant at first, saying he'd 'think about it'. But as the day got closer and closer, a few days ago, he decided to take up the offer. If anything, it was a good excuse to meet someone new. And who knew- if it went well, maybe there would be a second date.
But for the moment, all he knew about the person was more of his physical description. Somewhat fluffy brunett hair, blue eyes, standing around five foot ten or eleven. He was told that his date would be a guy, and one with a good sense of humour, which he was curious to experience. The mystery guy would also be wearing a purple top that day.
"Hi, I saw you over at the counter," a man spoke, purposely keeping himself at a small distance from the second seat, "sorry if this is abrupt, but do you mind if I maybe join you?"
George was snapped out of his thoughts, looking over towards the source. There, stood a man, perfectly fitting the description, albeit his shirt that was more violet. George could tell from the shade of blue being more visual to him. He found the stance and question a little off for someone that was going to be joining him for his blind date already, but he figured the guy was just trying to be polite. He gave a light smile at that, nodding his head once. "Yeah, I was hoping you would."
The man gave an interested look, the corner of his lips curving a bit at the statement. "I'm glad to hear. Wouldn't miss this opportunity for anything." With that, he took a seat, setting the cup he had in his hand, George barely seeming to notice it while being too distracted with the man himself, down onto the table top.
"Wow, are you always this 'charming'?" George hummed, mostly sarcastic though it luckily came out a tad playful as he had hoped it would. He sat his elbow on the table, the side of his head resting on his fist. The tea below him was still cooling down, giving him time to focus his attention on the other, dark eyes meeting contrasting crystals.
Maybe that was a bit cliché, comparing the other's eyes to such a thing, but he truly thought they fit the description: bright, lively, the glow in blueish gray eyes visible when in the perfect angle. It was hard to not keep eye contact.
"You can say that," Karl chuckled, quite a contagious sound causing George to crack a smile, "Only when I see someone as eye-catching as you are." The man calmly spoke, sipping from the warm cup he had picked up before setting it down again. "My name's Karl by the way."
"Karl?" George questioned, more so trying out the name.
"Yeah," the man responded, giving a nod, "spelt with a 'K' and everything."
"Well, Karl-Spelt-With-A-K, I'm George- with a 'G'," was his casual attempt at some humor, surprising him slightly when hearing another round of giggles.
It really was quite a contagious sound. One he figured would never lose the affect that it had.
"It's nice to meet you George- with a G.. Still waiting for your tea to cool down?"
"Yeah," the man in question responded, "I make hot tea back at home. But there, I usually have something that can occupy my time while it cools down."
"Ah, well, we can keep talking while it does that." Karl rotated his cup gradually in his hands, eyes still trained on the other. "What do you usually do while waiting for your drinks to cool down? Anything in particular you like to do in general?"
"I usually game a bit," George answered with a small shrug. "Maybe go on Twitter or TikTok- stuff like that."
Karl seemed to instantly be enthusiastic about what he had heard, specifically the first mention. "That's cool! What games do you like playing?"
"Uhm, there's quite a lot. But I guess I play a lot of Minecraft.. Geoguesser.. A bit of Valorant.." George had his head tilted up a little, fingers lightly tapping on the edge of the table in thought of what games he usually liked playing. There were plenty of them, sure, but saying them on the spot proved to be more difficult.
"I play that one too," Karl fortunately spoke soon after, "Well, as well as minecraft, roblox, and a whole bunch of other stuff. But I've been playing Valorant a lot more lately."
"Really?" George smiled, hands now going to the mug that held his tea, "Maybe we can play together sometime." He went to take a tiny sip, the taste very flavourful though temperature still on the steaming side.
"Yeah, that'd be great. When do you think you'll be free?
"How about.. this weekend? Maybe Saturday at around four?"
Just as he was about to agree, something flashed in Karl's expression. Like a thought that was just realized, changing his plans abruptly. "Uhm, maybe sometime next week will be better. I can't really log on to my account at the moment."
George grew curious at the statement, trying another small sip before officially setting down the tea mug to cool off some more. "Why? Is your account temporarily banned or something?"
It was said more as a joke than anything, though still believing it as a possibility. Maybe some dent in the guidelines or a little argument that went a tad too far. Whatever his thoughts were, they did not prepare him for what he was about to hear.
"I, uh.. said that I would pour gasoline on someone's family and some other things. But-"
Karl was ready to go into a series of explanations on why he would possibly ever be making such a threat and that he meant no genuine harm with it. But before he could spill over any words, he was cut off by an abrupt sound of laughter. He simply stared at the other, the man's eyes crinkled to match a bright smile. All of it. If only the man knew Karl thought his laughter was just as contagious.
"What?? Oh my god -" The Brit questioned in pure amusement.
Karl found himself beginning to smile once more, partially hiding it with another sip of his beverage. "I mean," he then offered, setting his cup back down, "maybe we can properly hang out sometime. I can watch you play instead?"
George took a moment to think before going to answer. "I'm not that good, but– same time and date at my place? I can give you my address."
"Yeah, that'd be great!" Karl agreed, hastily handing his phone over that had a notes page opened. "You can type it in here."
George took the phone carefully, typing in the letters and numbers to the correct destination. "It can be our official second date," he said afterwards, handing the phone back.
Karl accepted the phone back, glancing at the added address as well as a phone number that was placed down with a 'George' beside it before turning the device off. All the while having a chuckle, eyes moving back towards George. "I mean, I guess you can call this a date."
"I guess," George repeated in a slight murmur, fairly confused, "I mean, it was a set blind date and all."
"Huh? What blind date?"
That question now threw everything off. What blind date? The little puzzle pieces of things that were a little off about their encounter started to gradually gather in George's mind, reaching into his pocket to pull out his own phone. He was going to text his friend that had set up the whole date only to see an unread notification already there.
1 hour ago: hey, the guy that youre supposed to meet up with cant make it today, but was wondering if you were free this weekend?
Oh. He had no clue how he hadn't read that prior to even leaving the house.
"I was supposed to be meeting someone here this afternoon for a blind date. You almost perfectly matched the description, I just thought– I thought you were him."
"Oh," Karl noted, taking in the information that was given, "well.. does that mean Saturday's off?" he then asked, a saddened look in his eye though his lips still gave an understanding smile.
George faintly frowned, looking back down at the message. He took a moment before starting to type something, turning the phone off and placing it back in his pocket afterwards.
"Four o' clock right? I'll still be available."
Once again, that lively look returned to Karl's face, George going to match it with his own.
"Alright then," Karl beamed, George's tea finally at a temperature where both men could enjoy their drinks with the company of each other, "I'll definitely be there."