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It all started with a meeting, didn't it?
Zuka was never a massive fan of the 'meetings'. In fact, you could say he dreaded every time he had to go. He hated how Rocket was left alone, doing hell knows what with that swordsman.. he was always sketchy to Zuka. He hated how Rocket hated him for going away for so long. He hated how he would be stressed, how he would yell at Rocket for no reason other than to eliminate the stress. He hated the meetings, he hated them, so, so, so much. Yet he was still there, waiting.
He was sitting on the edge of the bridge to the Lost temple, dangling his feet off the edge flamboyantly. He kicked his feet in the air waiting for a certain demon that resided under the lost temple bridge. It was quite odd he had a room down there but Zuka never questioned it. He didn't really want to know the answer to that question anyway. He just wanted to get this meeting over and done with. He just wanted to go back home and sleep. Then the next day he would help people in phights, sleep, and repeat till the next time.
He sighed, looking down at the water beneath him. They way it rippled with every car, truck, bus, and van that passed on the viaduct to the Lost temple. He never understood why many wanted to go there. It wasn't the prettiest place in town. It had sand that went on for miles and it was boiling hot. If you made the mistake of coming without shoes then you'd feel the after affects of that decision. There was only one major city, located in the middle of the desert. The rest was just dunes that stretched on and on and on. Not one other thing except for the cacti.
Lost in his thoughts, Zuka didn't notice the shadowy figure that crept up slowly behind him. It's imp-like tail swayed as it slowly slithered towards Zuka. It grabbed Zuka by the shoulders abruptly, making him yelp in surprise. He whipped his head around, seeing nothing. Zuka looked, his eyes darting around in the darkness. His heart was a beating a million times per second, but he quickly calmed down. He was convinced it was just his mind playing tricks on him. He shook his head, turning back to the water. That's when he saw the demon again, this time sitting next to him.
"Hiya Zukes!!" It chirped, kicking its feet that were dangling over the bridge. Zuka was startled, gasping slightly. Then his shocked face faded down to an annoyed expression, pursing his lips together and slightly gritting his teeth.
"Broker..." He sighed, standing up from the edge of the bridge. He almost lost his footing but quickly regained balance, now waiting for Broker to stand up and take him to where he needed to go for the meeting. He crossed his arm across his chest, huffing as Broker just cocked his head to the side and sneered.
"What's with the frown, Zukey? Y'not happy to see me~??" He snickered, jumping up from the floor. Something Zuka couldn't do as well as Broker could, due to his missing arm. He scoffed at this, watching as Brokers tail wagged back and forth. He had always been happier around Zuka. This was something Zuka pondered about quite often. It was a weird behavior, and unexpected. Anybody would think that he'd be happiest around Scythe, the two were basically siblings at this point. They did like everything together. But for some reason, Broker was most happiest with Zuka.
"Are you going to help me down or what?" He deadpanned, putting his arm on his waist. He just wanted to get this over and done with. He couldn't get underneath the bridge by himself, he only had one arm for swords sake. No answer came from the criminal. The two stood there in a staring competition of sorts, Broker looking more and more nervous by the second. He was basically sweating at this point, avoiding eye contact with the ex soldier. Zuka was confused, he quirked a brow to Brokers weird actions. Broker opened his mouth then quickly closed it, wanting to say something but he felt like he had a lack of words.
"I- uh, well you see..." He chuckled, fiddling with his fingers. Zuka was not amused with this whatsoever, he really wanted to go home. His patience was running thin as Broker continued to fiddle with his nails and skin, clearly fighting the urge to bite on them out of anxiety.
"Well, spit it out." He spat, looking at the criminal in anger and impatience. He did not have the time for this right now. He was tired, angry, and now impatient as Broker stumbled over his own words like a stupid, lost child.
"There is actually no meeting! I just brought you here for--"
"THERE IS NO MEETING?!" Broker was cut off by Zuka yelling at him. If he wasn't upset before he most certainly was now. He couldn't believe it, Broker took him away from his son, made him stay in the cold of the midnight for like an hour, scare the living life out of him, and made him watch as the criminal stumbled over his words for a good 5 minutes just for him to be lying?! This was horrible, no excuse could ever justify why he did this, nothing ever.
"Haha!! Let- let me finish, Zukes!! I wanted to ask you out, like just to the Jorrt food place down the road.." He said quietly, probably the most quiet he has ever spoken in his life. He was always quite the chirpy fellow, so this was extremely confusing and foreign to Zuka. That wasn't the only confusing thing, though. THE Broker just asked him out?? What the flipperysmackdowndoodle. This day was just getting weirder and weirder for the ex soldier. Honestly, right now, that wasn't so much of a bad thing as it was before.
He'd much rather be going to a food place than to another one of them meetings, that's for sure. "Fine, but you're paying." Zuka dismissed, waiting for Broker to lead the way. The young criminal's pupils dilated so much Zuka assumed his entire eye was black. Almost toppling him over, Zuka was thrown into a hug by Broker who was still extremely giddy from excitement. His imp tail wagged uncontrollably, but was quickly ruined by Zuka pushing him off.
"Don't get too close," he snarled. Broker kept that signature smile on, though, something Zuka may or may not have adored behind closed doors. In honesty, Zuka pushed Broker off because he was getting way too flushed for comfort. He never truly showed emotion like the sigma lone wolf he is, so he didn't want to be made fun of by the Broker out of all people. If it was Scythe, that's fine, Medkit, that guy was too tired to care, but Broker? Might as well kill him now. Broker was like the number one gossiper ever. He served cunt all the time, even as a boy. Which Zuka was some what doubting anyway. He thought about the criminal way too much for his own liking.
Keeping silent, he urged Broker in the way of Jorrt Place. Hopefully he'd just be able to eat and then go home. He didn't want to be upset at his son all over again. Like he always is. Broker took his hand swiftly and started dragging him down the bridge. The sidewalk wasn't too big so Zukas arm was outstretched behind him, causing a slight pain in his shoulder. Nothing he hadn't experienced already though. A slight blush dusted his face when Broker took his hand, not anything he'd admit, but it was nice to hold hands.
Broker wasn't any different, either. His face was red hot from holding the ex-soldiers defined hand. he wasn't even sure it was possible to have hands as strong as his, apparently it was, and Zuka was living proof. Broker was ecstatic Zuka wanted to come with him. He had booked a reservation so it'd be weird to go alone. Or he could ask Scythe, however then people would just think they were dating; to which they were not at all. He still wouldn't mind going with Scythe, but he sure did preference it with Zuka by his side instead of her.
They eventually arrived after a long way of arm-pulling. The Jorrt Place, specialized in Asian spicy foods. Which was pretty awesome sauce. His demon tail flicked in anticipation, waiting to enjoy some of his favourite foods with his favourite person. He lead Zuka inside and got them to their table that had his name on it. It was decorated with a white table cloth, rose-themed plates and utensils (the knives and forks have little roses on the handles!), two candles on either side of the table, and a clear vase filled 1/3 the way with water and full of pink tulips.
Quite romantic for a causual dinner, but who was Zuka to complain? he was being catered for and that's all that matters. Possibly some other things too, but he'd rather keep those in the closet for now. He sat down on the opposing side of Broker, staring anywhere but his eyes. It was awkward for a little bit. The duo had nothing to break the thick silence. Broker eavesdropped on other peoples conversations, mostly Exorspaces, it was quite concerning. Zuka just looked outside the window next to them. He was always a fan of night time, probably the comfort of darkness or something. He's so emo.
"So, airline food amirite guys?" Broker chuckled, making Zuka draw his eyes back to Brokers face. He had a 'what the hell is wrong with you' look on his face. Broker saw this and awkwardly chuckled. It was clear neither of them knew how to start a conversation and they'd be here for a while in silence. The tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife and it'd slide through like refrigerated butter. They were both looking into each others eyes, no words being exchanged between the two. Brokers joke actually sucked ass, if it even was a joke, anyway.
Zuka was about to open his mouth and say something, but he was cut off by the waiter coming up and asking their order. Zuka had been here multiple times before, so he asked for his usual.
"I'll have a bowl of Thai laksa, thanks." He thanked the waiter in a very formal manner, lightly bowing his head for whatever reason. Broker looked at him with a smile, in a desperate like manner. He decided to order something Thai as well, it could possibly be a conversation starter because he had no conversation skills.
"And I'll have some pad see ew, thank you's!" Broker smiled brightly, fondling with the chains on his wrists. His tail whipped back and forth in glee as the waiter walked away. He was familiar with pad see ew, as Scythe had made it before. It was pretty good when she made it so he had very high expectations for what was to come. He'd act like Gordon Ramsey, taste testing it like he was some rich guy. He knew he had to start a conversation somehow, he just didn't know how. He started with what Scythe told him last night.
Last night, the two went through conversation starters in an effort to aid Broker. Scythe knew danm well he was extremely awkward, and without these conversation starters he'd just go on a tangent about corruption and the government and how nothing is real ect, ect. Scythe hated hearing that, so she'd assume Zuka would hate it ten times more. Not only because its annoying, but because its Broker. He always has a way to add in his arms and flail them around uncontrollably. She recalled multiple times where she got hit by them. Now he had to use that information, now.
"You like Thai food?" He asked, referring to the option Zuka chose.
"Yeah, I come here a lot and I've always gravitated towards the Thai options for whatever reason. I like laksa the most, but, I've had pad see ew and it's not too bad. I just need a bit more of a kick in my food you know?" He chuckled for the first time this dinner, enjoying his time with Broker. Embarrassing, he knew. He was actually enjoying himself with Broker. He didn't really speak with people as much as he wanted to because of his job. Anyone he sees just wanted to go to the phighting arena, never anything to do with Zuka himself. Even Rocket didn't ask how he was, he just barged in, pushed past Zuka, and slammed the door to his room. Just like any other moody adult, right? But right now, he was enjoying his time with Broker. Even if they were just talking about Thai food and not anything crazy or important. Though, if he wanted to, he could probably wriggle some tea out of Broker.
"Yeah, I get it. Scythe makes some pretty good pad see ew though. You should uh, come over and try it some time." He blushed, looking to the side. He was sure he looked stupid in front of Zuka right now. Blushing because he invited him to come to Lost temple for pad see ew? It was more embarrassing than anything.
Before Zuka could speak, the waiter came back with their foods. Zuka had his laksa soup and Broker had his abundance of pad see ew noodles. Broker was extremely excited to try his, and said thank you quickly before starting to chomp down. Zuka was watching in mixed awe-disgust. How could he fit so much in his mouth at one time without choking (gulp) on all that pad see ew?? He was unsure Broker could even swallow it.
He stopped his pondering about Broker for a second and went to drink his soup. It wasn't boiling hot, which Zuka liked. He took his spoon and scooped up a fair amount of soup in it. It was one of those special spoons. They were meant for soup, so it was nice to be able to drink a lot without the shallowness of regular metal spoons. He sipped the soup from above the bowl so none fell on the table. It was exactly how he remembered. For the first time anyone has seen, Zuka smiled. He smiled wide, joyously, even. For whatever reason, he smiled. He hadn't done this all the other times he's ordered laksa, so he wasn't quite sure why it was happening now. Not too long after, he realised he had been staring at Broker. Broker was staring at him back, too.
"Sorry," Zuka apologized. Broker just chuckled and leaned over the table. His hand landed on Zuka's cheek, caressing it gently. Turns out Zuka just had some soup still on his face. Which made Broker laugh a little bit more. He retracted back onto his own seat and smiled.
"It's alright, pretty boy. You just had some food still on your face, haha!!" He smiled. Zuka never found himself smiling at someone else, but here he was, with a smile that would shock the whole restaurant.
"Whatcha' smiling at, Zukes?" Broker purred, picking up his chopsticks and expertly grabbing some more pad see ew. Zuka was already blushing like a mad man, so now it looked like he was actually red. He tried to divert the situation away from himself, mainly because it was quite embarrassing.
"Oh nothing, that pad see ew looks really good is all." Zuka chuckled, pointing to Brokers abundance of noodles. Broker chuckled, knowing he was telling lies but decided to stay silent about it. Instead, he had an extremely mischievous plan up his sleeve.
"Would you like to try it?" Broker asked, holding some up with his chopsticks. He thought this would be the joke fo the century, plus some other add on's that come with it. It would be a great story to tell to anybody.
Zuka shrugged, "sure." Unsure of Brokers evil master plan. Pad see ew noodles often started as two separate noodles, but either got stuck or morphed together into one. In his chopstick, he had one of those noodles, he held up one of the ends to Zuka, and took the other in his mouth. Zuka was confused, but just assumed they were two separate noodles.
They both started eating the noodles, bring it closer and closer into their mouths. Zuka enjoyed the pleasant taste in his mouth. He thought about how Scythes pad see ew couldve gone. Broker was more focused on the fact the noodle was getting closer to the end. He smirked but attempted to hide it as the noodle reached its end. Zuka realized too late, and their lips touched. Broker was bending over the table trying to reach Zukas lips. He bit the noodle off and pulled away, swallowing the noodle in his mouth while staring Zuka directly in the eyes. The ex-soldier was blushing like he never had before.
Maybe these meetings weren't so bad after all.