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Jesper is only running about fifteen minutes late, and while that isn't bad by his standards, the man who's waiting for him might not be too happy. He hopes Nina warned his mystery date about Jesper's proclivity for lateness. He hopes whoever his date is realizes that fifteen minutes is actually quite impressive. If it is an issue, well… they just aren't meant to be.
So Jesper is only fifteen minutes late, maybe sixteen, but he's not worried about it. It's not like he wanted to go on this blind date in the first place, anyways. Him going at all should be good enough. Still, Jesper finds himself trying to think of a good excuse to give as he walks into the little cafe. Something simple and not too dramatic that his date would easily accept. But not something boring or lame, because Jesper still wants to seem exciting.
Maybe traffic, he thinks as he looks around the occupied tables, caused by a car accident? But not a bad accident that would cause a lot of fuss in the news.
The cafe is almost completely full due to the lunchtime rush, and Jesper has to do a second pass over all the customers before he spots him. The man who must be his date.
He's stuffed up far into the corner of a little table in the back of the cafe with his nose buried deep in a chemistry textbook. One of the very few clues Nina gave him about this mystery date was that they share a science class together. (Though, Jesper vaguely recalls her saying it was biology, but he supposes his date could be in both courses.) And, while he thinks it's a bit weird the man brought school work to a date, Jesper can't say he doesn't appreciate the help with identifying him.
He's cute, too, which Nina had also promised. Gorgeous, even, to the point that Jesper feels Nina undersold this man by a wide margin. Soft curls that frame his face perfectly; a sort of honey brown that's just dark enough to make his pale skin seem all the more paler with bits of sun-bleached, golden highlights that make him seem ethereal. Dark splatters of freckles and eyelashes so long Jesper can see them from far away. Perhaps the cutest nose Jesper's ever seen, too, though he's never paid attention to noses before. The man only gets cuter the closer he gets, and for the first time since Nina suggested the idea of a blind date, Jesper feels excited about it.
He really, really hopes he didn't mess this date up by being late.
"Hey," Jesper says with a bright grin as he slides into the seat across from the man. His head snaps up fast, eyes wide in shock and oh fuck. Those obnoxiously long lashes are framing the most gorgeous pair of eyes. Soft honey brown to match his soft, gold tinged hair with a little bit of green that's hard to catch but impossible to miss. This man really is quite pretty. Unfairly so.
"Um, hello," Jesper's date says, his voice soft and no less pretty than the rest of him. He sounds confused though, and Jesper hopes he hadn't thought the date was canceled due to those fifteen minutes. Luckily, he doesn't tell Jesper to leave, or pack his own things up either, which is a good sign. The man just stares at him and blinks hard a couple times as if trying to focus his vision or make sense of Jesper's presence. That, paired with how close he had the book to his face, Jesper wonders if the man should be wearing glasses.
"Sorry I'm so late. This old lady fell outside my apartment and I wanted to wait with her until the ambulance came to make sure she was okay." Jesper gives an apologetic smile, and hopes so damn hard that the man believes it. He probably shouldn't have gone with something so honorable, since that'll be hard to keep up as a permanent personality trait, but it seems to do the trick for now. His date's eyes go even wider and the worry on his face lets Jesper know he's succeeded in making a good impression.
"Is she?"
"Hm? Oh, yeah she's fine. Just shook up, y'know? Anyways," Jesper holds his hand out over the table, "I don't know if Nina told you my name, but I'm Jesper."
The man looks at his hand in shock for a few seconds before reaching out to shake it. "...Wylan?"
"Are you sure," Jesper asks with a smirk. His date, Wylan, huffs and slumps back in his chair.
"I'm sure."
"Well, Wyyylan, would you like a coffee or tea? My treat, since I was late." Jesper stands again and takes off his jacket to hang over the back of the chair before waiting for Wylan's order.
"Late?"
"Did you lose track of time?" What a waste of an excuse if he hadn't even noticed. Jesper waves a hand in the air before Wylan can respond. "Doesn't matter, I guess. What'll you have?"
"Um…" Wylan glances around the cafe quickly, looking anxious and still a bit confused. "Tea is fine?"
"Of course! Tea and pie it is! Coming right up, darling!" Jesper winks and then grins at the blush that takes over Wylan's face. Too fucking cute.
"I didn't ask for-... uh, okay…" Wylan's confusion is ever growing, but Jesper does his best to ignore it as he heads to the counter to order. Maybe Nina told him not to expect Jesper to be so chivalrous? But then who would agree to a blind date with an asshole? And with how breathtaking he is, it's hard to believe this would be Wylan's first date ever and thus make him unaware of how dates go.
He must have actually thought the date was canceled, Jesper decides, and hasn't gotten back into a date kind of mindset.
"One tea," Jesper says as carefully sets the cup down in front of Wylan. "And one apple pie!"
"Oh, thank you." Wylan still sounds shocked and confused, as if he didn't fully expect Jesper to get him anything. He narrows his eyes at the cup before hesitantly checking the tab of the tea bag for the flavor and makes a little satisfied noise. He looks a tad wary to drink it, though, and frowns at the cup before finally taking a sip.
Jesper settles back in his chair with his own coffee and slice of pie. It's a bit of a struggle to fit everything on the table, considering all of the school supplies Wylan has laid out. Jesper is, once again, caught on the thought that it's weird for him to have brought them at all.
"Have a big test coming up?" He supposes he can put up with a one-sided study date if that's the case. He can't really ask anyone to disrupt their studies for one date with a stranger.
"Uhhh… no, not really, it's… uh," Wylan looks at his books and back up at Jesper anxiously before it finally seems to hit him that they're on a date and his things are still in the way. "Oh, sorry," Wylan says quickly and starts stacking his papers and textbooks to make more room. "Um, I didn't expect-"
"Yeah, no, it's totally fine." Totally weird, but again, Jesper won't hate on him for studying.
Wylan nods, looking like he doesn't believe Jesper's words. Still looking confused.
Jesper decides to switch things up in hopes it'll help get the Date Mood goin'. "Y'know, Nina said you were cute but I feel like she downplayed it too much."
"Nina…? oh.. uh, thank you? You are- too. Also cute, I mean. Or- handsome." Wylan scrunches his face up, likely in embarrassment over his stumbling words.
"You probably have the prettiest eyes I've ever seen," Jesper says, simply because he's absolutely loving how easy it is to get Wylan to blush and lose composure.
Those pretty eyes widen again and instead of replying, Wylan lifts his tea to take a sip. Probably just to hide behind the rim of the glass, as if that'll do much.
"So, um, what're you studying?" Wylan asks once he sets his cup down. Jesper's amusement dies almost instantly. So much for flirting, he thinks.
"I'm not," he says, and hopes it's not a dealbreaker. Nina wouldn't set Jesper up with someone if she knew they were only looking for a partner who's equally as studious, someone with the same life goals and scholarly drive. But, if she didn't know…
"Oh," Wylan nods, and thankfully doesn't look upset. Unfortunately, his next question is an excited, "when did you graduate?"
Jesper is almost offended at the insinuation that he looks old enough to be a college graduate. Even more than that, though, is shame. Almost rare and always short-lived, but excruciating for the duration of it's appearance.
"I didn't," Jesper admits, not bothering to hide the way he physically cringes, "dropped out last year."
"Oh!" For what it's worth, Wylan does seem to look guilty over his line of questioning. "Sorry! l shouldn't have assumed. You just- you made me nervous and I didn't know what else to say and-"
"It's okay," Jesper says with a laugh. "I guess it's good to know I make you nervous, at least."
"That's… a good thing?"
"Depends. It's not good if I make you nervous in an uncomfortable way, but-"
"No, no," Wylan says, his cheeks glowing a bright red. "Not uncomfortable at all."
Jesper smirks and leans back in his chair. "Then yes, it's a good thing."
Wylan just stares for a moment as he, too, leans back in his chair; not quite matching Jesper's casual body language but making an attempt to. He stares for a moment longer, eyes drooping a bit, looking more feline than owlish as he looks Jesper over. Then he smiles softly, satisfied, and Jesper thinks, Finally. Now it's a proper date.
Wylan is… not what Jesper would have expected. Especially not when Nina of all people is the one who picked him out. She knows Jesper's type well, and Wylan doesn't exactly fit it.
He's gorgeous, yes, and Jesper loves gorgeous people. But he's calm, save for when Jesper flirts a bit too hard and he gets all fidgety and tongue twisted. He doesn't speak too much, which is fine since Jesper is more than capable of speaking enough for the both of them. Jesper loves back and forth conversations, though, especially on a date where you are supposed to be learning about each other. Wylan, unfortunately, doesn't seem keen on talking in depth about anything that has to do with himself.
He makes some comments every now and then, but really only when Jesper presses for it. Mostly, Wylan just sits there taking tiny bites of his pie and watching Jesper with those pretty doe eyes of his. He nods and hums and blinks slow like a cat when Jesper's telling random stories. He blinks fast and ducks his head and blushes so bright when Jesper says something flirtatious and mildly suggestive.
Wylan is not at all like the loud, exciting and wild people Jesper's usually attracted to. There's no hint of adventure inside of him, and usually Jesper would find that boring.
But Wylan is… bizarrely interesting.
Bizarrely, because the very few comments and clues he gives that let Jesper know a little bit about him are so goddamn strange. The more he says, the more desperate Jesper is to know every single thing about him.
Like how he does have a driver's license but never properly took the test. When Jesper asked what he meant by never taking the test , expecting Wylan to fully explain how he got a license without it, Wylan only shrugged and said, "Just never took it," before asking Jesper a new question about himself and moving the conversation along.
Or how he's mildly allergic to citrus but still eats it regularly. "All it does is make my throat and tongue numb if I eat a lot so it's not that bad," He had said, but that still sounds pretty bad in Jesper's opinion.
Or how he convinced (bribed) one of the professors of a class meant for medical students to let him join in on a viewing of a live autopsy simply because the picture diagrams in his textbooks weren't "Interesting enough" and he couldn't find any good quality videos online.
"Oh," Wylan says when Jesper uses a cheap pickup line about chemistry, unable to let the chance go to waste while the books are laying right there, "I'm not actually in that class, I just like to sneak in sometimes."
And Jesper has soooo many questions in his head just from that one statement that he can't pick a single one to voice. Like, did you purposely ignore my pickup line or are you that oblivious to them? And, why would you sneak into a chemistry class? For fun? Or, why would you do work for a chemistry class you're not even a part of? Or, are you actually a student at all or do you just sneak into every class? Who the hell does that?
"It's a hobby, I guess," Wylan says when Jesper looks at him like he's insane without saying anything for a little too long. He doesn't clarify if Chemistry is the hobby, or if Sneaking into university classes is. He only shrugs when Jesper asks, which he takes as meaning both. It certainly seems to be a running theme, with the autopsy viewing he wasn't meant to be at 'n all.
And he doesn't need glasses, Jesper learns soon after that. Which is good, really, because glasses would only make him cuter and that would surely give Jesper a heart attack. He's too cute as is.
He makes a teasing comment about Wylan all but smashing his nose against the textbook while reading, and how he should probably look into getting an eye exam, and Wylan tenses up.
"I don't need glasses," Wylan says stiffly, and unsuccessfully tries to hide behind his cup again. He seems to go through at least six different emotions, none looking too positive, in the span of four seconds before clearing his throat and saying, in almost a whisper, "I can't read."
"Oh… dyslexia?" Jesper asks, matching his quiet tone since, judging by the whispering, it seems to be something Wylan's not too eager for other people to overhear. After staring in silence again, his wide eyes making it seem like he's trying to see into Jesper's soul, Wylan gives a short nod. "So, then why- uh… They have online textbooks, y'know? Audiobook versions."
"Ugh," Wylan scoffs, and flops back against his chair. His initial reaction to the subject, which Jesper could only accurately place an anxious irritation and maybe fear in those four seconds, dulls down to a simple annoyance; less at Jesper's questions and more at the topic of textbooks- both physical and audio. "Usually I only use it for the diagrams. The professor is thorough and I have no trouble memorizing what he says, but I missed the last lecture. And the audio books are as expensive as the physical copies. They won't give me a free copy unless I'm actually in the class."
"How'd you get that, then," Jesper asks, nodding towards the textbook.
Wylan looks away and bites his cheek before giving a tiny shrug. "They won't miss it."
"You-" Jesper lets out a startled laugh which causes Wylan to look more flustered than all the flirting combined. "Let me get this straight," Jesper says while crossing his arms on the table and leaning closer, "Not only do you sneak into a class you're not even enrolled in, for fun, I assume, but you stole an expensive textbook for said class, so you could do work that won't be graded or count towards your university career at all?"
"Surely you've had hobbies before," Wylan says defensively.
"Yeah, outside of school."
"Well. Maybe you should go off and do one of them so I can get back to mine."
"Woah, hold on now," Jesper sits up straight again, suddenly worried he's ruined the date, "That wasn't me making fun of you, I swear. Sorry, I just- never met anyone who snuck into classes for fun. Or stole books, for that matter. It's kinda cute, though."
"...Cute?" Wylan doesn't completely relax, but he looks far less irritated. Just cautious now, maybe. His lips twitch, like he's trying to fight a smile, and that pretty blush starts to come back.
"Yeah, like… cute 'n nerdy."
"......Nerdy," he deadpans, but then his smile grows from a twitch into something sturdy and amused. "You have a weird way of flirting."
"Is it working," Jesper asks with a wide grin. Wylan bites his bottom lip and looks away, which Jesper thinks means Absolutely.
"Y'know," Jesper says, and Wylan looks at him out of the corner of his eyes, "the online textbooks are easy to steal, too. I could show you, if you want."
"Really?" Wylan looks at him directly, eyes wide and eager. It causes Jesper's heart to skip, that hopeful light in his eyes, and he just barely manages a nod.
"It's um- We'd need a laptop, so not right now."
"Oh," Wylan sighs. The light dims a bit at the disappointment over not being able to continue his studying right this very moment.
And perhaps that's why Jesper feels the need to come up with a quicker solution. Something that would bring the light back, something that would cause Wylan to look at him like he held the very stars in his hands and was offering them up for Wylan to take his pick. Jesper would very much prefer it if Wylan would look at him like that over a much more exciting reason and not Chemistry, or school work in general, but he'll accept this for now.
"I could… I could read it for you? The textbook. If you want, just until we get you that online version and-"
Wylan lurches to the side to get the book out of the stack before Jesper can even finish. He looks positively ecstatic as he flips it open to find the page he was last at.
"I only missed one chapter," he says in a rush, "and there's really not that much reading so it shouldn't take too long."
Jesper nods, a bit stunned, and quickly starts moving their empty plates and cups to the side, stacking them to make room for all of Wylan's papers once again.
And that's how Jesper ends up having a two-sided study date for the first time in a year. For a class he's not even in. A class his date isn't even in. It feels a bit pointless, but Jesper can't find it in himself to care. Not when Wylan looks so grateful, so happy as Jesper quietly reads the little passages to him. It helps that Jesper doesn't have to do any work or worry about explaining things or asking someone else to explain for him. Though Wylan still explains quite a bit of his work unprompted, as if he can't help speaking about it while he has someone willing to listen.
Jesper wouldn't mind doing this again, actually. Maybe at one of their own places, instead of a crowded cafe. Or at a park; a picnic slash study date would be rather nice.
Once Wylan finishes the last of what he was working on and closes the book with a deep, satisfied sigh, Jesper opens his mouth to ask about a second date.
"Do you want more coffee," Wylan asks before Jesper gets a word out.
"I- oh, yeah, that'd be nice," he says. Wylan smiles at him, so sweetly, and pushes his chair back to stand and head to the counter.
Jesper just sits there in a daze for a moment. This was… not at all what he expected for a blind date. Or any date at all. He's unbelievably glad that he agreed to it, though. Wylan is strange and quiet and a bit too eager to do school work that's not actually for school, but Jesper finds it all so endearing.
While he has a moment alone, Jesper digs his phone out of the pocket of his jacket to send Nina a thank you!!!!!!! text. Once the screen lights up, however, he pauses.
There are five missed calls, all from Nina, and four texts. Maybe she was overly curious to hear how the date was going?
Without checking the texts, Jesper calls her back.
"Where the hell are you," she asks as soon as she picks up on the second ring, sounding a mix of worried and pissed.
"With Wylan?"
"Who the fuck is Wylan ?"
Jesper physically recoils in shock, his head practically spinning in confusion. "Wh- the date! The blind date you sent me on!"
"You mean the date you didn't show up to?!"
"I'm literally here right now," Jesper says a bit too loud, causing multiple other people around him to look over. He can't be bothered to adjust his voice, though; he's far too confused with what's going on to care.
"Yeah, well, that doesn't matter because you were supposed to be there two hours ago and Kuwei already left."
"Who's Kuwei? I thought Wylan was my date?"
"Who! The hell! Is Wylan!? I don't know any Wylans! Jesper, seriously. If you didn't want to go on the date, you could have just told me. You don't have to stand him up like that."
"Wh- I-..." Jesper opens and closes his mouth wordlessly before snapping his head around to the counter, where Wylan's waiting for their drinks. He's staring at Jesper, probably having heard his loud voice like the rest of the cafe. He looks a bit worried, but still manages to give one of his sweet smiles to the employee when she hands him two mugs.
"Nina," Jesper whispers aggressively, "I got here two hours ago for the date. I thought it was supposed to be with Wylan and I've been with him this whole time. I swear I didn't mean to stand your friend up!"
"Got where ," she asks, sounding more frustrated than angry now, and perhaps as confused as Jesper is, too.
"The cafe- uhhh, Oasis something?"
"Jesper," Nina says in a dead tone, "I said the cafe on third. Dessert Oasis is on fourth."
"Is everything okay," Wylan asks just as soon as understanding of his mistake fully hits Jesper. He just stands there holding both mugs, as if unsure whether or not he's allowed to sit back down while Jesper's on the phone and visibly upset.
"Jesper?" Nina calls out when he takes too long to respond. "Should I ask Kuwei if he wants to reschedule?"
"Uhhh…" Jesper's brain freezes for a moment.
Does he feel terrible for accidentally blowing this guy off on what was supposed to be a first date? Yeah, definitely. Does he want to go on another date with anyone other than Wylan now? Ummmmmm. Not at all. "I'll call you back later-"
"Jes- No, Jesper, hold o-"
"Bye, Neens, love you!" He hangs up and turns his phone back off before holding a hand out for the coffee Wylan got him. "Thanks, darling."
"Yeah…" Wylan's voice is soft in a distant way, and he still stands there for a couple seconds longer before slowly sitting back down. Even though he's glad to have found out about his mistake, Jesper regrets calling Nina. Wylan is back to being as quiet as he was at the start of their.. not- date, and he looks twice as anxious.
"Do you, um… have any other reading you need help with? Oor… uh," Jesper grasps for reasons to continue sitting here with Wylan, but it's a struggle. Simply just wanting to hang out might not be a good enough reason, but he wishes it were. Without the thought of this being a date, Jesper's not really sure what to do or how to act. He probably can't ask Wylan for a second date now, either, considering they've never actually had a first.
Wylan bites the inside of his cheek before shaking his head no.
"Right… that's good, I guess. Being all caught up, y'know? Gets rid of stress and-"
"Are you in a relationship," Wylan blurts out, cutting off Jesper's painful attempt at conversation.
"Wha- no, I'm not-"
"Okay, well, I'm pretty sure I heard you say something about a date to whoever you were talking to and-"
"I swear I'm-"
"-I don't think your partner would appreciate it if they knew you were going up to random strangers to flirt and- and make eyes at them and buying them tea and pie and- just… doing whatever it is you're trying to do with me. Either way, if that's what this is, I'm not interested." Wylan's tone started off vaguely frustrated, perhaps hurt and confused, but he quickly works himself up into anger over thinking Jesper might be some sort of unfaithful jackass. He exhales in one aggressive huff when he finishes, like it took all of his effort to force those words out without stopping and he hadn't thought to breathe.
The first thing that Jesper realizes, is that that's exactly what this situation has been for Wylan. He had been so caught up in the fact that he stood his actual date up, that he forgot to think about how this must look to Wylan.
Some random stranger, just showing up in the middle of his studying and buying him food and flirting and - Shit, no wonder he looked so goddamn confused at first.
The second thing Jesper realizes is that Wylan just let him.
He could have told Jesper to leave him alone. Could have told him that he wasn't going to accept food and drink from a stranger and that he was busy and didn't want to be distracted. But he didn't. He just put his things away and let Jesper sit and talk for over an hour. Without a single complaint.
"Well?" Wylan snaps angrily, but he can't quite seem to look mad. He just seems… disappointed.
"Why didn't you tell me to leave," Jesper asks. "When I first sat down, I mean."
The question clearly catches Wylan off guard, and his eyes go wide.
"I- Well, I… you're… cute. And you seemed nice, so…" Wylan's cheeks go that lovely shade of pink again, and he looks away. Possibly he's embarrassed about allowing a stranger to bother him because he thought he was cute. Or, just embarrassed about admitting to it.
"Nina-" Jesper starts, thinking that the possibility of a second first date might still be well within his reach if only he could explain the situation, but Wylan interrupts him again.
"Is that your girlfriend?"
Jesper snorts and ignores Wylan's glare to continue trying to explain. "Nooo. Not my girlfriend. She's just a friend. Who tried setting me up on a blind date that was supposed to be today but I got the location wrong. Was in too much of a rush to pay attention to street signs, I guess."
"Oh," Wylan sighs out, and quickly relaxes back against his chair. "So… Earlier, when you said you were late-"
Jesper groans and tilts his head back. "I was only like ten minutes late, which isn't even that bad."
"Technically, you didn't show up at all, which is pretty bad," Wylan says with a teasing smile. It drops almost instantly, though, and he looks down to frown at his cup of tea. "So you… you only came over because you thought your friend set you up with me?"
"Well, yeah-"
"Oh," Wylan sighs out again, sounding almost heartbroken. "Sorry. You probably expected someone better and instead you got stuck reading a chemistry textbook."
"That's…" Technically true, but technically false. Jesper had been a bit confused at first, expecting someone different. But he can't imagine that the right person would have been someone better. And he absolutely did not expect to help this Better Someone study , but he'd do it all over again if Wylan would give him the chance. "They wouldn't have been better," he says, trying to sound as genuine as he can so there's no room for Wylan to doubt him.
Wylan scoffs, a tiny little self depreciative noise. "Would you have put up with me if you knew from the start I wasn't your date?"
Jesper opens and shuts his mouth, unsure of how to answer. Yes, he wants to say, And I still want to stay, to start over and try again if you'd let me. But he's not entirely sure. He had been at least a tiny bit annoyed with Wylan having brought study materials. And frustrated that Wylan didn't seem to care about putting in effort when it came to conversation. If it were anyone else, Jesper might have come up with a reason to cut the date short.
But Wylan is bizarrely interesting. There's no wild adventure in him that Jesper normally craves in people, none that he can see, at least. None that Wylan hinted at. But he didn't hint at much, and Jesper so desperately wants to know more. (Not to mention the fact that he interrupted the man while he was in the middle of studying. Hardly a setting to talk about adventures and wild life stories.)
"Good luck with your actual date," Wylan says when Jesper takes too long to answer. He stuffs his study materials in a crossbody bag and stands to leave. "I'm sure whoever it is will gladly give you a second chance."
"Wait-" Jesper calls out, rushing to collect his jacket and follow Wylan out of the cafe. He feels sort of bad about leaving their full mugs on the table instead of bringing them back to the counter like he should, but Wylan is surprisingly fast and he doesn't want to waste the time. "Can you slow down a minute? Jesus, how are you so fast with those little legs?"
"So far I'm nerdy and short. You're very good at this."
"Don't forget cute," Jesper adds. Wylan shoots him a glare from over his shoulder before picking up his pace. "Please, can you- oof!" Wylan stops abruptly, causing Jesper to slam into his back. He impulsively grabs Wylan's waist to stop him from falling forward and, shockingly, Wylan doesn't brush his hands off or scold him for it.
Jesper doesn't let go himself in fear of Wylan running off again. Instead, he uses his hold to turn him around so they're face to face. Quickly, before Wylan can step out of reach, Jesper brings his hands up to place on his shoulders.
"Don't you have a date to apologize to," Wylan asks sourly. He clenches his jaw before putting on a guarded, faux-neutral expression.
"Why are you mad at me?" Jesper feels so incredibly at a loss of what to do. He had been so sure that if he just explained, Wylan would be happy and give Jesper a chance at a real date. But instead he's running away and acting like Jesper is the one who's uninterested.
"I'm not mad, I'm just-'
"You're mad," Jesper says. "What did I do?"
"You didn't do anything."
"So then why won't you just let me explain?"
"You did explain. And it's fine. Really. I'm sorry you missed your date and got stuck with me. I should have said something to at least let you know I wasn't the right person. Asked why you sat down with me or something."
"That's not your fault-"
"And it's yours?"
"Yes!" Jesper throws his hands up in frustration. Wylan takes the opportunity to step back but, thankfully, doesn't book it down the street. "I'm the one who was late and didn't bother reading the stupid street signs! And I could have asked Nina for a description of my date but I didn't because she said he was cute and I thought that was good enough."
"So, you're only interested in me because I'm cute?" Wylan crosses his arms over his chest and glares. It causes Jesper to laugh in disbelief and fond amusement at his determination to continue arguing about this. Which then causes Wylan to glare harder.
"Wylan. Wylan," Jesper grabs ahold of his shoulders once more and shakes him gently. "I sat by you thinking you must have been my date since you were the cutest person in that whole cafe- In this whole city, I'm certain. But, I stayed because I liked you. You and your weird, vague facts and- Okay, I do think it's a little creepy that you bribed your way into seeing an autopsy and I don't understand taking advanced chemistry courses for fun, but you're interesting. And I would love it if you would go on a second date with me so I can learn more about you."
"....." Wylan stares up at Jesper with those wide, insanely gorgeous eyes of his. He's perhaps redder than ever, and Jesper can so vividly imagine steam coming out of his ears. "I- A first date, you mean," He asks awkwardly, and Jesper can he's struggling with being asked out at all. Which is preposterous, considering 'The cutest person in the whole city' thing, and surely, surely he has an obnoxiously long list of suitors constantly asking him out and just all around dying for his attention.
Jesper knows that maybe he's being a bit dramatic, but the fact that he's the one causing this gorgeous, strange yet captivating man to blush and trip over his words is doing wonders for his ego.
"A first date," Jesper agrees with an eager nod, "Please."
Wylan goes a few shades darker and takes a deep breath before saying, "Okay."
Jesper sighs heavily in relief. "Perfect. Perfect. What are your thoughts on a picnic date? You can bring your stolen books and I'll read to you again."
Wylan turns his head to hide his small smile, tucking it against his shoulder and subsequently Jesper's wrist. It drives him crazy, feeling Wylan's lips against his skin, even if it's the skin of his arm.
"A picnic would be nice," he says softly, and looks up at Jesper out of the corners of his eyes.
And- oh, he must know what he's doing, Jesper decides. Wylan seems almost a professional at playing up his (apparently faux-) shyness. At using it as a weapon, as a trap.
Jesper falls into it willingly. He might have fallen into it accidentally, earlier, and even after struggling to climb out he's just dived right back in. And the fall is wonderful, Jesper thinks. Even if he hasn't hit the bottom, he just knows whatever is waiting there must be as bizarrely interesting and captivating and wonderful as everything else about Wylan; his accidental Better Date.
What isn't wonderful, however, is the woman barreling down the sidewalk, narrow eyes set on Jesper.
"Jesper!" Nina shouts.
"Oh, shit," he says, and uselessly thinks about going back in time to slap some sense into himself before he gave Nina his location.
"What's-" Wylan turns his head around to look at Nina, now but a block away and no doubt ready to smack some sense into Jesper herself. For standing up his intended date, for hanging up on her (his biggest offense,) and then shutting his phone off completely so she couldn't send another dozen texts full of complaints.
"Is now a good time for that first date," Jesper asks in a rush.
Wylan blinks in shock and opens his mouth wordlessly a few times before saying, "Y-yeah, you can- um. Come to mine for- for the audiobook thing?"
"Perfect," Jesper says, and grabs ahold of Wylan's hand before taking off down the street, away from Nina.
"Jesper Llewellyn Fahey, stop running," Nina shouts, but it's no use. Wylan runs shockingly fast, and Jesper has no trouble keeping up as they turn down the next street.
Just to be nice, and also maybe to lessen her rage the next time they see each other, Jesper turns his phone back on once they reach Wylan's dorm. He allows her to call and warn him against hanging up on her ever again for a solid five minutes. Then, just to get it over with, he tells Nina that No, he does not want her to ask her friend to reschedule.
And, then , just because he can tell Wylan is listening while pretending he's not and Jesper wants to see him blush again, he tells Nina he's quite taken with his accidental date, and has a feeling he won't be available for anyone else anytime soon. Or, hopefully, ever.