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To say that Flambae is nervous would be an understatement.
He’s sitting in Alice’s apartment in front of her vanity, applying kohl to his eyes for the fourth time.
“Why are you so nervous?” She says from where she’s lounging on her bed, tapping against her phone with her acrylics. “ It’s just his mom.”
His hands shake as he rips a makeup wipe out of its package to clean the imperfect mess off his face, getting ready to try to do his makeup for the fifth time.
“Yes, Alice. I’m just meeting his only living relative. Totally no fucking pressure at all.” His friend looks up to see him furiously rubbing the makeup from his eyes and decides to go help him out.
“Gimme the fucking eyeliner.” She snatches the stick out of his hands and motions for him to turn in his chair to face her.
“I just - “
“Close your damn eyes.” His eyes snap shut.
“I just don’t want to fuck this up.” He can feel Alice grip the side of his face to tilt his head back before he feels the eyeliner touch his lids.
“You won’t.” She says softly, setting the pencil down on the vanity with a clack. He feels her finger start to dab the makeup gently across his lid.
Even though he’s pretty confident that Alice wouldn’t lie to him, he can’t help but feel anxious. He’s meeting Robert’s mom. It’s the first night that she’ll be back in LA after her international flight and she invited them out to dinner. Together.
And he’s going as Nasir, not Flambae. He wasn’t even sure there was a difference between him and his alias; the line having been blurred long ago.
As long as he was Flambae - as long as he was Chad, the name he picked to further distance himself from his past - then no one would be able to see Nasir. They wouldn’t see his anxiety, his insecurities. They wouldn’t see the boy from Herat who ran away from home with his two sisters for a better life.
Robert’s mom is going to see him, and he’s so fucking worried he’ll ruin it.
“What if she doesn’t -” He feels Alice tap against his cheek with her pointy nails, the sensation making him flinch.
‘I’m gonna stop you right there. Mainly because I need you to open your eyes, but also because you're spiraling.”
He opens his eyes as she turns the swivel chair he’s sitting in back towards the mirror. Alice did an amazing job like always with his eyeliner; the dark kohl was placed just on his upper lids and blended up and out. The smoky look makes the bright orange amber of his eyes stand out even more. He had trimmed his light beard to sit neatly upon his face, hair blown out into soft, silky waves - the dark strands framing his face.
“You think it’s too much?”
“Nah,” She crosses her arms and leans against Nasir’s shoulders, “I think Mr. Dispatcher’s gonna lose his mind.”
Speaking of the man, he feels his phone vibrate against where it sits on the vanity. He knows it’s Robert letting him know the reservation details but he feels too sick to his stomach to check his phone.
“I know that it’s hard to tell your anxiety that everything will be fine, but everything will be fine. Robert’s gonna be there the whole time and that little twunk loves you, babe.”
Nasir thinks for a second. “You’re right; I should tell him I’m sick.”
“Girl that is not what I fucking said.” Alice smacks his shoulder. “ C’mon stand up, let me see the fit you got on.”
Standing up and straightening his collar as much as he can, he moves in front of his oldest friend and watches as she eyes him up and down.
He knows he looks good - he picked out a burgundy dress shirt and tucked it into highwaisted dress pants. The shirt’s first few buttons are undone revealing a gold chain against his chest. Nasir fidgets with his shirt.
“You think I should button it up all the way?” He asks nervously.
“I think,” She picks up his black blazer from where he had tossed it on her bed earlier, “That you should do what makes you the most comfortable. Which is usually being yourself.” She holds the jacket open for him as he threads his arms through.
He knows that she’s right; He just has to keep reminding himself that everything will be fine.
Robert will be there. It’s just dinner. He’ll be fine. He tells himself that all the way to his car, and all the way to the restaurant.
He’s sitting in his car staring off into space, trying to get his heart-rate to calm down, when a figure comes up to his car and taps on the window.
Robert looks unfairly good in a suit and tie and Nasir wants to sob. The other man is dressed in a light blue suit with a black shirt and a matching pale blue tie. He can tell that Robert tried to comb his hair back a bit, but pieces of his auburn hair escaped the mouse he must’ve used, and they lay over his forehead in curled pieces.
Nasir takes a deep breath and opens his car door.
“Thank god, I was worried I’d have to eat all this expensive food by myself.” Robert jokes and slides his hands into his pockets. He rakes his eyes shamelessly over his partner’s body. “You look amazing.”
Nasir lets out a breath he wasn’t aware he was holding, blush staining his face. “Yeah, you look ok, I guess.”
“Wow.” Robert laughs as he reaches up to slide a hand down his partner's neck, toying with the gold chain around his neck. “Just ok? I even did my hair, you dick.”
“Oh, did you? Who’re you trying to impress; I’m sure your mom already knows you dress like a loser half the time.” Robert rolls his eyes fondly.
“In case you didn’t get my text - which I’m not sure if you did since you didn’t answer me - there’s a dress code at this fancy place.”
Oh shit, he didn’t even check.
“Oh, fuck, I’m sorry I didn’t even - shit - do I look ok?”
Robert hums a little, putting on a show of walking around him slowly. “I don’t know…I think you could’ve worn tighter pants, but that’s just me.”
“You fucking perv, I’m being serious!” Nasir turns around and shoves Robert's chest a little harder than he needs to.
“I meant what I said earlier.” Robert grabs onto his arm and pulls him close. “ You look incredible.” He punctuates it by leaning up on his toes to press a kiss against Nasir’s cheek - He can smell the cologne he bought Robert when they first started going out; the smell of patchouli and amber calming his racing thoughts.
He lets out a shaky breath as his hand comes up to rest against Robert’s lower back. “So, where is she?”
“Hmm?” Robert is too busy pressing another kiss lower, right under his ear. “She’s checking in for us; told her we’d meet her at the door.”
“Before or after she catches us fucking in the parking lot?” Robert huffs before moving away from the very warm body in front of him.
“Alright, alright, let’s go then.” Robert reaches down to thread their fingers together. “Killjoy.”
"Keep it in your pants, Bob-bob.” He pauses their journey to the front door, tugging Robert with him. “Wait, shit, what’s her name?”
“Ah, Sun-Yi. I think she kept ‘Robertson’ after the divorce, though.”
“People do that?” Nasir questions. He figured people had divorces because they couldn’t stand who they married.
“Some people, yeah. I think she had so many jobs in LA at the time that it would’ve been a pain in the ass to update them all, so she kept it.”
“What does she do for work?” Robert squeezes his hand as they near the entrance, hearing the anxiety creeping into Nasir’s voice.
“Why don’t you save the questions for dinner; it’ll give you two something to talk about.” Robert says.
Before he can answer, the door to the restaurant opens and reveals a short Korean woman dressed in a white turtleneck sweater and a long pleated skirt. Her auburn hair is shortly cropped above her shoulders, tucked behind ears with diamond earrings in them. Her brown eyes are looking at Robert with love, before she lightly slaps him in the arm with a manicured hand.
“Robert! Where have you been?” She says to her son in Korean.
“Sorry, sorry. Hope you weren't waiting long.” Robert says to her in her native language. Nasir has to resist the urge to swoon; Korean in Robert’s deep baritone should be illegal.
His mom makes a non-committal noise and waves him off before turning her attention to Nasir.
“Ah! He’s handsome!” She says to him and based on Robert’s blush whatever she said must’ve been good.
“Mom, this is my partner - Nasir. ” Robert motions to him with his free hand. The nerves are back full force and he has to try really hard to control the flames threatening to lift off of his hands. Robert squeezes his hand again.
“ Nasir! Good to meet you. You want to have a drink? I need a drink after that flight; American Airlines is terrible.” She has the same kind smile that Robert has, her soft voice accented. “Come, table was ready ten minutes ago.” She shoots a scalding look at her son before leading them inside.
“Technically, I was here on time.” Robert tries to defend himself, but his mother wasn’t having it.
“I don’t want excuses, Robert, I want wine.”
Nasir learns that Robert’s mom is an interior decorator, a famous one, apparently. And she’s funny - she’s cracking jokes along with her son, their wit almost exactly the same. She keeps ordering bottles of Soju - when Sun-Yi found out that Nasir had never tried the drink, she was hell-bent on ordering all the flavors they sold. No matter the flavor, the drinks were sweet and easy to drink, and Nasir was quickly feeling his body temperature rise.
“Yeah, Soju does that to people.” Robert says to him when he brings it up. “Sorry, I should’ve mentioned it. I didn’t realize it would affect your powers, are you ok? Do you need to step outside?”
“No, no.” His heart flutters at Robert’s concern, but he doesn’t want to ruin the night. “I’m fine, I just need to switch to water I think.”
Nasir hardly drinks anymore; alcohol and his powers never end well. Robert’s mom was so excited for the Soju that he couldn’t say no to her, and then one bottle led to four.
He reaches forward for his glass of water and flinches when he sees flames flick off his fingers. Nasir yanks his hand back from the table in alarm and ends up knocking over the bottle of soju left on the table.
“Shit, sorry! “Nasir stands, reaching for a napkin to soak up the spill.
The instant the napkin reaches the alcohol, however, the flames on his hand cause the tablecloth to ignite.
Robert’s mom shoots out of her chair in surprise as the table engulfs in flame with a shout. Robert’s quickly out of his chair - yanking the flaming cloth onto the ground to stomp out the fire.
Nasir’s in shock, frozen in place as he watches his partner put out the fire he started. He stares down at his hands; heat waves rolling off of them as he feels his stomach churn. His mother' voice is in his head before he can stop it -
You always ruin everything, Nasir! Why can you never control yourself?
“I -“ Nasir looks up to see the other guests in the dining room have stopped to look at him, disgust clear on their faces. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to -“
“It’s ok!” Robert says, giving one last stomp to the now charred and smoking tablecloth. “Everything’s fine! Nothing to see here.” The other guests quickly move on, the dining room erupting in conversation once again.
“I’m sorry.” Nasir says, voice uncharacteristically quiet and broken as he apologizes to Robert and Sun-Yi. “I’m sorry, I’ll just -“
Nasir’s out the front door before either of them get the chance to stop him.
…
Nasir’s practically running out of the restaurant and the minute he’s outside in the cool night air he lets out a sigh of relief at the temperature shift. He can feel the heat still rolling off his body, the urge to fully engulf himself in his fire slowly becoming harder to ignore.
He can’t flame on outside, though, he’s not wearing his flame-retardant suit - He’d singe the outfit he’s wearing right off his body.
With a frustrated sigh, he sits down on the curb of the sidewalk and puts his face in his hands.
‘Well, the other shoe dropped.’ He thinks lly to himself. The night was going so well and he had to go and ruin it. Like he always does.
He hears footsteps come up from behind him and he flicks the flames threatening to climb up his arm out into the night.
“I know I ruined everything, so just let me know how much the damage was and I’ll pay for it. We’ll add this place to the list of ones I’m banned from, huh Robbo?” The laugh he lets out is pained, tears threatening to fall down his face.
“I don’t think anything was ruined.” It’s not Robert’s voice, and Nasir turns to see Sun-Yi standing on the sidewalk with a sad smile on her face.
“I should apologize,” She starts, walking over and sitting down next to him, tucking her long skirt under herself. “I shouldn’t have been so…insistent that you drink with us. I can be a little, ah, intense.”
He looks at her and all he sees are Robert’s kind doe eyes; the same exact look he’s seen before. Not one of pity, but of genuine concern for him.
“I hope you’re doing ok, now?” She asks, tilting her head slightly.
Nasir tries everything he can not to cry in front of this kind woman, but he feels the walls around his heart crumbling.
“I didn’t mean to ruin your dinner. I can pay you for it, if that would help?” He manages to offer, voice shaking.
“No, no paying.” She seems offended that he would even offer. “The food wasn’t even that good; American Korean barbecue isn’t the same as traditional Korean one. So don’t even try, mister flame man.”
“Would’ve been nice to know we were walking out on our bill before I paid it, Mom.” Robert complains, finally joining the two outside.
Sun-Yi turns to look at her son with a scandalized look on her face. “Why would we not pay? My poor son can’t buy me dinner every once in a while?”
“Your poor son is poor, Mom. English in front of my boyfriend, please.”
“Sorry, sorry.” Sun-Yi takes a look at Nasir's confused expression and lays a hand on his shoulder. “We should go to Robert’s apartment, I want to see how he decorated the furniture I ordered for him. My decorating skills didn’t get passed down, I fear.” She goes to stand; Robert has a hand on her arm to support her. “Just your fathers' stubbornness.” She says to Robert.
Robert sighs exasperated but fond, before reaching down to offer a hand to Nasir. “ Mom wants to call an Uber; doesn’t want you driving. I’m afraid it’s hard to argue with her when she’s right.”
“Something you two have in common.” Nasir feels the weight lift off his chest slightly - they were joking with each other. Everything would be ok. He watches Sun-Yi step away from them to call the ride for the three of them.
“It’s hard being right all the time.” Robert reaches for Nasir’s hands, and the man gladly gives them to him. “You alright? That was a lot in there.”
Nasir turns to look at Sun-Yi, who was looking at the two of them with a soft smile. She winks at him before turning her back to them, walking farther down the sidewalk as she talks on the phone, giving the couple some space.
“Yeah.” Nasir says, a different kind of warmth filling him. “I’m alright.”
“Good.” Robert leans up on his toes to peck him on the lips. “You’ll let me know if that changes?”
Nasir doubts it will - doubts he’ll feel anything but alright around the two Robertsons, but he nods to his partner regardless.
“I promise.” He whispers, leaning down to capture his lips in a searing kiss.