Work Text:
Dead leaves litter the sidewalk outside of Krom’s Diner. It’s another cold, blustery Tuesday in autumn and the gray afternoon finds Fabian seated across from his best friend in a small booth tucked in the back of the diner. He and Riz are bent over their homework, solving arcane math problems. They share the same homework, yet both are absolutely silent as they solve the same equations, never looking up to see who got what on problem nine, or asking for help with converting units for problem twenty. Fabian should have asked since he was stumped on number twenty, but since he saw the way Riz’s face light up when Fabian entered the diner he can’t think of much else and has been too, well, shy to so much as glance over at the goblin. Fabian gnashes his teeth and grips his pencil tightly in his hand, frustrated that someone as amazing as himself could get so flustered around his best friend. He, Fabian Aramais Seacaster – Maximum Legend, Oracool of Dance – was clamming up around his favorite person (because he’s his best friend) just because he looked cute (no – charming) when he smiled! He decides that he’ll leave problem twenty blank if necessary and moves onto number twenty-one. As he does so, he reaches out with his other hand to grab a fry from the basket on the table between them…
Riz is kicking himself for blowing his cool from earlier. Sure, he felt a little flip of giddiness in his stomach when heard the Hangman roaring down the road as Fabian arrived. Sure, his tail swished around and ears flicked in excitement when he heard the engine of the motorcycle cut off as Fabian parked and dismounted in the parking lot. But he did get his twitching extremities under control before Fabian walked in. What Riz apparently couldn’t control was beaming and grinning like an idiot at the actual sight of the half-elf striding in like he owned the place, with his handsome smile and confident glint in his eye… Now Riz is trying to distract himself from his embarrassment by poring over his homework, but between imagining how stupid he looked and how nice Fabian looked, he can’t concentrate on the equation in front of him. He sips at his soda before he begins to chew on the straw, turning it into a mangled mess. As he stares at the numbers and letters in the book in front of him, he reaches out for a handful of fries…
Fingers brush against each other as goblin and half-elf blindly search for their snack and the rustle of paper beneath their fingers announce the empty basket. As soon as both young men realize what their fingers are touching they immediately pull back their hands. Both look across the table, meeting the gaze of the other. They blush and turn their heads away, Riz suddenly becoming very interested in the diner’s tablecloth and Fabian deciding that the napkin holder is incredibly fascinating.
“Please, take the last fry.”
“Oh. Um. You paid for them.”
“I insist.”
“Ah. Uh, alright, then. Thank you.”
Riz reaches back over and grabs the final fry and pops it in his mouth. He glances over at Fabian, but he’s still studying the napkin holder with great interest, doing whatever he can to not catch the goblin’s eye. Riz sighs a little, and stares back down at his homework.
Way to avoid looking at him, Fabian! he thinks to himself. Now he’s going to think you’re interested in mid-century tableware! He’s just your friend! Talk to him! Ask him to help you on problem twenty! Go back to normal! He jerkily moves his head back to looking ahead, but that means he’s looking at Riz and Fabian can feel himself ready to blush again.
“I’mGonnaGetMoreFries!” he blurts out, and he can feel the tension in his shoulders lighten at the sudden, brilliant excuse to leave the table. He hops out of the booth before Riz can say anything and walks (a little faster than necessary) towards the register.
Riz slowly chews the fry. It tastes terrible, all cold and rubbery – the fate of the last fry – and it sticks to his fangs. But Fabian did offer it to him and it would have been rude to refuse after he insisted, after all. Plus Fabian paid for it so it was like a gift from him and why am I thinking so hard about him offering me the last fry? Riz’s thoughts are ripped back to the present as Fabian mumbles something about fries and practically bolts from the booth. He watches his retreating back with large eyes and sighs more heavily. Would homework sessions always be like this from now on?
Fabian stands at the register, pulling out his coin purse and digging for the smaller coins.
“Another large fry, please. Hot and salty. Oh, and two more colas.”
“Oho, and how’s your date going?” the cashier asks.
“I, uh, it’s, why, who, you, no, what?” he sputters, fumbling his purse and spilling a few silver pieces onto the floor. He ducks down to collect them, and when he stands up he’s looking into the eyes of Fig Faeth.
“Fig!” he hisses. “What are you doing here?? And this is not a date!”
“It isn’t with that attitude!” she says with a smirk. “It’s veeeeery quiet over in that corner.”
“We. Are. Studying. Unlike some people, we’ve decided to continue with high school! And what are you doing here!?”
“Ah, please, you guys don’t need to study! You guys are too good. I’m surprised none of you have tried to just get a GED and be done with it!
And I’ve got a part-time job here! It’s close to Mordred and I need a couple extra GP, so I’m the cashier here on Tuesday and weekend evenings! So, large fry, two cola refills! I’ll give you the employee discount!” Fig winks at Fabian and he can feel the bardic inspiration wash over him.
“Why did you do that??” he hisses once more.
“To give you courage!” Fig reaches over and rummages through Fabian’s open coin purse and pulls out some silver and bronze pieces. She snags an extra silver piece. “And a tip! How generous of you, sir!” she says loudly. Fabian glares at her.
Fig leaves the glowering half-elf at the register and turns around to the back of the counter where she fills up two glasses of cola. She returns with the drinks and places them in front of Fabian.
“Fries’ll be out in a couple minutes. Here, have a couple extra straws. Seems our little rogue friend has chewed his up into a couple pieces.”
Fabian snatches the drinks off the counter and heads back over to the table where he puts them down with more force than intended, sloshing a bit of sticky soda onto the table. Riz yelps and quickly grabs for napkins to soak up the liquid.
“Sorry,” Fabian mutters. He glances over at Riz’s empty glass and – Fig was right – notices the completely chewed-up straw that leans limply inside the cup. I wonder what’s got The Ball so worked up? He wonders. Before he can ask anything, though, a server (not Fig, thankfully) comes by with the fries and sets it down between the two of them.
“Enjoy while they’re hot!” she says with a smile and walks away.
Riz watches Fabian walk to the register, place his order, and then fumble and blush at what the cashier says. Riz isn’t able to see the cashier or hear what is being said, but there’s something about Fabian’s reaction that doesn’t sit well with him. He chalks it up to Fabian’s usual charisma and seeming inexhaustible need to flirt with anyone he meets, but that just makes him feel worse than he had before and it’s frustrating not understanding why. He slurps down the last of his drink and then begins to absent-mindedly bite and chew at the straw once again, until he bites clear through and gets his own tongue. He pushes the glass away and goes back to his homework, circling back to nasty old problem nine. Fabian arrives with new drinks, splashing the table with a little soda and causing Riz to fear for the safety of his books and homework. As Riz finishes mopping up the spilled drink, a cute half-elf with curly blonde hair comes by with their fries. Even though Riz has no interest in her, he can tell that she’s good-looking. No wonder Fabian was making a fool of himself at the register. Riz sighs for a third time and grabs a handful of fries, shoving them in his mouth and ignoring the burn on the roof of his mouth. The more Riz thinks about Fabian fumbling at the register and how cute the server was, the more he simultaneously feels relief and disappointment. Relief that if Fabian’s flirting with the cashier, then obviously he’s not noticing Riz grinning like an idiot at the sight of him. Or at least not picking up on what it could mean. …And disappointment because of course Fabian’s interested in her. Why would Fabian be interested in a puny, nerdy, little goblin who’s not even a girl. Riz knows Fabian would never flirt with him if he were the cashier. The only way Riz would make Fabian fumble with his coin purse would be if he threatened to bite him out of the blue.
Fabian barely bothers to eat the fries – he always buys them for Riz to eat, anyway, since he knows how hungry the goblin always is – and once again tries to focus on homework, but the voice of Fig keeps echoing in his mind: date. How’s your date going? Date… Date… date… Frustrated, he reaches for some fries, but his fingers find nothing in the basket but the greasy paper. He looks up to see that once again, all the fries are gone. He looks up further, ready to ask if Riz wants more, when the shocked look on the rogue’s face catches him off-guard. Riz is staring at the basket, mouth slightly open and an unreadable expression in his eyes. Fabian looks down at the basket, and based on the look on Riz’s face he wonders if he’s going to see someone’s fried, severed finger in there or something. But no, no finger. Just a single fry and something written in black pen on the paper underneath.
He likes you.
Fabian’s heart leaps in his chest. Fig! He looks back up at Riz and he moves his eyes and they meet Fabian’s and what am I supposed to do now???
“What… What is this? Some dumb joke?” Riz says with a waver in his voice.
“I… I uh… I don’t… I have nothing to do with this…” Fabian mumbles.
“...oh…” More pain in Riz’s heart. He breaks eye contact with Fabian and bitterly turns his head to the side. He was hoping, deep down, that it was true. That it wasn’t a joke. But Fabian’s mumbling and denying everything and it must be some dumb joke at my expense and see, this is why I don’t mess with love or romance, I never understood it anyway. I was just confused, that’s all-
“I have nothing to do with this but… it’s true.”
Fabian’s words cut through the spiral.
“It’s true. I like you. You, uh, you looked so charming when you smiled at me when I came in that I can't stop thinking about you.”
Riz jerks his head back up to look Fabian in the eye.
“...what?”
“And I like you more than as a friend – I want to clear that up right now – I like-like you and I want to go on dates with you. Because my feelings for you… are not a joke.” He says the last sentence loud enough for the cashier to hear.
Before Riz has a chance to process everything, Fabian’s standing up and leaning over the table, his hands on either side of Riz’s textbook. “Riz, screw the homework. I want to go on a date with you right now. Let’s go see a movie. Or go bowling. Or hang out at the mall. We can just drive around, so long as it’s just me and you.”
“You like me… more than a friend. More than a best friend?”
“More than a best friend, even.”
Riz looks over at the dirty basket and the message written in there.
He likes you.
“I like you more than a best friend, too.” Riz scoops his homework and book into his briefcase and slides out of the booth. “Let’s go on that date,” he says. “I’ve always wanted to try bowling.”
Fabian grins. “I’ll buy us some fries when we get there.”