Work Text:
Oh god.
He's going to be here any moment.
Robbie shifted on his feet. He does this kind of shit often, maybe its the A.D.D. Maybe it's just pre-date jitters. He'd never been out with a guy before. The thought kind of disgusted him, kind of thrilled him, but its something he wanted to try at least once before he died. And not drunk. Hell no, he had to be sober for this. Why?
...that's to be determined. What matters is he's trying something new! Huzzah! God, what if the guy shows up, and he's like...so burly and tough. Robbie has to be the stronger one, he can't handle that.
Oh, there he is. The lanky man Robbie chose to be his partner for this outing. Adam. Adam had recently moved to Omaha with his mother, and the two of them met on a dating site with a similar idea of what they were there for; just to try something out. Unbeknownst to Robbie, this was out of a failure to find a date heterosexually on Adams part. But he won't say that. That's rude.
"Adam!" He waved, finally being comfortable knowing he hadn't been catfished. That this was the same scary and lanky man he had come to find himself interested in. He was cute in the way a kicked puppy is. And honestly, he wasn't hoping for much here. Just...an expirience worth sharing.
"H. Hello." Off to a great start. "Nice to...meet you." Adam was clearly nervous. Do I have to take it up the bum now? That's...so unsanitary. "Nice to meet you too. You wanna...get something to eat, or?" This hasn't been relevant yet, but they're at a mall. Malls have food courts. Yeah. You know, dates never get easier...
"No thanks." Adam muttered. "They...have an arcade here. I'll pay." This man has a job? Man, Robbie got fired from his for stealing from the cash register.
"Sure as hell, man. Hey, are you employed?"
The two of them turn towards the direction of the arcade. "Well, no...my mother gives me allowance." At his grown age? Sorry. The man mentioned he had Aspergers once. Maybe his mom babies him. Or something. Is that common with autistic children? Robbie gets the picture. "Oh, cool. I never really, got allowance...I just had to steal shit." He laughs, and Adam smiles a little, though it seems kind of forced. "Don't steal anything while we're here." Not like Robbie was gonna anyways. He continues. "I don't think I could fight an overweight mall cop. And... neither could you." Robbie laughs. "Wasn't planning on it."
Adam ends up paying for the arcade tokens, as he said. Does this make Robbie the woman in the situation? No no nononoooo he can't be. Adam was taller, too...
Oh shit he lost Adam. Where'd he go– oh, towards the D.D.R cabinet. Robbie follows, and Adam looks behind to see Robbie tailing him. "Do you want to..." He glares at the machine. Robbie smirks. "Oh I suck at that shit, but sure." Maybe Adam will be worse. "It's not D.D.R. If you thought that. It's Pump It Up." He gets the sense Adam is about to go on a spiel.
"I like the song selection in D.D.R much more to this. And the movement. The beatmaps are notably smoother and I again prefer the song collection in D.D.R, but...this works." So he was trying to say he didn't like PIU. "Back in my hometown. We had a good D.D.R cab." He inserts a coin into the coinslot. Heh. Heh. Robbie is so fucking stupid. He keeps listening to the boy ramble about arcade stuff. "It had some of the classics. Butterfly..." He starts to list some songs Robbies never even heard of. To be honest, he thinks it's cute how invested Adam is in this. How he talks about it. Fuck, he's calling another dude cute! He's on a date with him! That's gay as fuck! This doesn't mean anything. This doesn't mean Robbie likes dudes. This is just a nice date with a nice man. This doesn't–
"Robbie?"
Oh fuck. He'd panicked so hard his head cut out Adams words. "Yeah?"
"You can pick a song."
Robbie shakes his head. "No no I'm good you can pick one– just don't pick a hard one." Adam nods, and selects a song after about a minute. Whatever it was, it left Robbie wanting to play on a hard difficulty and be a show off. But he went on the lowest one out of pure fear for his legs.
God damn, Adam was good at this...the way his legs moved. That's such a gay thing to say. Again, you're on a date with a man, Robbie. It doesn't get much gayer. The only gayer thing you could do is be a Raiders fan. Or play hockey. Hockey is pretty gay.
Afterwards, Robbie had still done pretty shitty despite being on the easiest difficulty, and Adam...wow. Near perfect. Granted Robbie caught Adam sneaking glances at him throughout the game, so maybe thats why he didn't do perfect.
"Fuck, I'm beat." Robbie says, a mother shuffling her kid away from the two of them as he swears. "Wanna get something to eat now?" Adam nods. "I'll pay–"
"NO. I'll pay."
So they go to auntie annes. Adam reluctantly gets a pretzel, and Robbie gets pretzel bites with cheese dip. They're sitting at a table, in the food court, eating, when Robbie brings something up.
"Yknow, I could've paid for the arcade." Robbie says. "You like, seem nice and everything, but I don't want to drain your wallet. I'd like, wanna drain my wallet for you instead." Not like it's going to anything but weed. Might as well spend it on someone who will appreciate it.
"Thank you. But...to tell you the truth.. I am spending the money. Because my mother gave me it." Oh, he did say it was an allowance. "For this date." Oh.
"How'd you get a mom who gives you money to go on dates with guys?" Adam recoiled at that. "Well, uh...she thinks, uh..."
He falters. "She thinks you're a uh. Girl." Oh.
"Okay. Didn't you like...show her a picture of me, so she let you out, or...?" Adam shakes his head. "She is just glad I've left the house for once." Wow. This whole situation is just...pretty odd.
"That's fine. Just– I dunno." Adam sighs, shrugging. "Can I be honest, dude?" Robbie says, and Adam hesitantly nods.
"I told you before, but I like, this is my first time ever on a date with a guy. And I dunno. Maybe I like it a lot better than with a girl because it just feels like two dudes hanging out. But also like...you're cute, man. And I don't mean to be rude but you're cute in the way a crusty eyed scrawny white dog is cute. And...fuck, I feel gay saying this, but I'd wanna do this again sometime. But. I dunno. I don't want to be the girl in this scenario. But I don't want you to be like, feminine either. Maybe we could be bros that kiss sometimes I don't fucking know. This is confusing me so hard and you're probably smarter than me so you can like..." Finally, he falters. "Figure...something out..."
Adam speaks up after the longest 3 minutes Robbie thinks he's ever lived through.
"I...I am willing. To be a bro. That kisses you. Just. Not right now. And not in public." Robbie nods. "Yeah, I didn't mean in public–" Adam cuts him off. "A relationship...scares me, to be honest. Especially with a boy who seems to be much more socially adept in ever sense of the word." This is the most articulate he's been.
"But as much as I hold no respect for those in human relationships, I, myself, can't help but...find myself interested in you. In the way you talk, in your mannerisms. And because of that, I am more...inclined to let you in. Into me." Beat. "Not like that. That disgusts me. But you can catch the feeling of what I'm saying, yes?"
Robbie nods. "Do you want to..."
"Go to mine?" Quicker than ever, huh.
"Yours...?" He asks. "My place. It's not so far from here. It's...I cleaned it cuz of this date. We can play games. Hang out. Maybe...figure this stuff out."
Adam makes eye contact for the first time since they've met.
"I'd like that."