Work Text:
April 17, 2022
Damien really, really wished he hadn’t let Tommy convince him to come to this party. He was bartending at an event for creators, and Damien was the only Smosh person that didn't already have plans. And Tommy wouldn't take no for an answer, citing that Damien needed to get out more, especially since quarantine was over.
So Damien let himself get peer-pressured into a party as if he was a high schooler once more, and as soon as Damien arrived, Tommy spotted him and waved him over. They talked for a while, which was fine, but then the party started to fill up, and a crowd of people swarmed the bar wanting drinks.
Now Damien was just wandering around making small talk with people he had met once or twice at other events, or vaguely knew through work or mutual friends. It was Damien’s personal hell.
Okay, that was a little dramatic. Everyone was great and they were all in the industry in some way, so there was no shortage of things to talk about. It wasn’t like he was stuck discussing the weather or enduring the typical musings of how much the world had changed since Covid.
But still, Damien had his eye on the door, prepared to make his exit as soon as he could. He turned to see if he could spot Tommy through the hordes of people waiting on cocktails, hoping to say goodbye, when a small missile ran into him. Damien’s cup tipped over, soaking his clothes.
“Shit!” the missile exclaimed, and Damien looked up from his clothes to see a woman with shoulder length brown hair and wide hazel eyes staring up at him. “I’m so sorry, I was not paying attention!”
“It’s okay,” Damien replied quickly, a little mesmerized by how beautiful she was.
“No, it’s not, your clothes are all wet now.” She reached out her sweater-covered arm and Damien assumed she was about to try and rub his shirt with it when she aborted the motion, letting her arm drop. “Sorry, that’s…a napkin would be better.”
Damien laughed. “I’m serious, it’s okay. It's just water, so it’ll dry off quickly.”
“Oh, really?” She let out a relieved breath. “That’s good. I’m still sorry though.”
“Well, you’re very much forgiven,” Damien replied, smiling genuinely. “I’m Damien, by the way. I don’t think I’ve met you before.”
“Angela. And yeah, I don’t think so either, I’m sure I’d remember you.” Her face turned bright red at her own words, and Damien must have looked confused because she rushed to explain. “Because, um, well, your hair is very blue, and like, that’s memorable.”
A surprised laugh left Damien’s throat, and he ran his hand through his hair. “I don’t know if that’s a good thing or not.”
The newly dubbed 'Angela' covered her face with her hands, hanging her head. “I meant that to sound like more of a compliment.”
“Oh, well, thank you then.” Damien wasn’t sure if he should continue the conversation, figuring that Angela probably had places to be with how quickly she was moving earlier. He didn’t want to hold her back. “Um, anyway, nice to meet you, Angela, it was great running into you,” he teased. “And maybe we’ll run into each other again sometime.”
Angela smiled, her face still tinged pink, and she nodded. Damien took that as his cue to step away, but then her hand was resting on his forearm. “Wait, let me get you another drink. Since I spilled yours.”
Damien almost argued that it was just water, and he could literally fill it from a tap, but he found that he didn’t want to. He’d rather take the opportunity she was giving him to spend a few more minutes together. “Okay,” he said with a smile that Angela returned, and Damien knew he would likely be thinking about this woman for a long time after tonight.
They made their way over to the bar, and Damien happened to catch Tommy’s eye. His friend paused what he was doing and walked over to them, asking people at the bar to clear some space for him and Angela to walk up. “Hey, Damien, sorry, I didn’t think it would be so busy. Are you headed out?”
It wasn’t surprising that Tommy would think that, considering Damien had been planning to leave. “No, actually, I was just wondering if I could get something to drink. We can wait in line though. There’s a lot of people here.”
“They can wait,” Tommy said waving his hand through the air dismissively. “What do you want?”
“Uh, surprise me,” Damien said, trusting Tommy’s taste more than his own when it came to a good mocktail. Then he turned to Angela who was standing a step behind him, seemingly staring at Damien's shirt. He wondered if the water spot looked worse than he thought. “Do you want something?”
“Hm?” Her eyes darted up to Damien’s, before looking ahead at Tommy. “Oh, right! Yes, I’d love one. Can I get a Mai Tai?”
“Sure,” Tommy replied, turning back to the bar and getting started on their cocktails.
“I was supposed to get you something,” Angela said, shifting a little closer towards Damien as they leaned against the bar side by side.
“Perks of knowing the bartender, I can skip the line,” Damien joked with a grin.
She snorted. “How do you know the bartender?”
“We work together. At Smosh, if you’re familiar.” Most people in these circles were aware of Smosh or even watched it, but not everyone, and he didn’t want to assume.
Her mouth dropped open. “Oh my god, yes, I know Smosh! I work with Chanse McCrary, he just shot a scene the other day, and I also know Patrick McDonald. We host a podcast together,” she exclaimed.
“Oh, no way!” he replied, a lightbulb switching on in his brain. “You’re Angela Giarratana, aren’t you? I’ve listened to the podcast before. You’re really talented.”
And so were the people she kept company with. Patrick was a great coworker and a better friend, and he'd heard that Chanse had killed his first shoot. They hadn't filmed anything together directly, but his performance had been good enough to travel through the grapevine in the office.
Damien couldn’t believe he’d never actually seen a picture of Angela before, having only heard her voice. Now he wished Patrick would have introduced them at some point, because Angela…well, she was even better in person.
Her face lit up. “Aww, thanks! Now I feel bad, because I don’t think I’ve actually watched any of your stuff before. But Patrick has talked about you, I think, if you’re the voice actor?”
Now Damien was beaming. He tried to tamp down on his smile, so he didn't look as insanely happy as he felt. “Mmhm. TV's Damien Haas at your service,” he joked, earning himself a giggle.
“Small world, huh?” Angela remarked, and Damien nodded his head, just as Tommy appeared in front of them, setting the drinks down.
“Mint mojito for Damien, and Mai Tai for…?”
“Angela,” she supplied her name.
“Nice to meet you, I’m Tommy. I’m glad Damien found someone to talk to. He usually doesn’t stay long enough at these things.”
“And yet you still drag me to them,” Damien complained lightheartedly.
“I’d be a bad friend if I let you stay holed up in your house with your cats all the time," he said with a laugh. "And I'd love to stay and chat, but as you can see the masses are calling."
"Yeah, of course. See you later. And thanks for the drinks, Tommy!" Damien replied, as his friend turned to wait on the next customer.
“He seems great,” Angela said to Damien, and then took a sip of her drink, making a satisfied noise in the back of her throat. “Damn, this is really good."
Damien tried his and nodded in agreement. “Yeah, Tommy’s a great bartender."
"Wanna try mine?" Angela asked, holding out her drink to him.
"Oh, thanks, but I don't drink," Damien said shaking his head with a smile.
Angela glanced down at the beverage in his hand skeptically, making Damien chuckle at her expression. "This mojito is virgin," he explained. "Tommy knows I don't drink alcohol."
"Oh! I'm sorry, you totally could have told me you didn't drink when I pressed you about getting one with me. I could've had a soda or something," she told him, looking nervously at her own drink.
Damien smiled, amused and also appreciative of her consideration. "Angela, you didn't peer pressure me, you offered to get me something. And I promise it doesn't bug me at all for you to drink, it's just a personal preference."
She seemed to relax at his words. "Oh, good. Well, in that case, you're missing out," she teased, taking a long sip from her drink.
She easily drew another laugh from him, and he shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe a little, but Tommy's nice enough to make non-alcoholic versions of all the fancy cocktails he makes up. Otherwise I'm happy with a basic mocktail like this." He lifted his mojito up, offering it to Angela like she'd done. "Here, you can try mine if you want. I promise it's good, even if it's missing the rum."
She leaned forward, a small smile on her face as she placed her lips on the rim of the glass, sipping from it while it was still held in Damien's hand. He'd expected her to take it from him, not do that, but he definitely wasn't complaining.
Angela licked her lips, making Damien's mouth go dry. "Mm, yeah, that is good. But I gotta say, I am still partial to the rum," she replied taking another drink from her Mai Tai and smiling up at him.
There was a short lull in the conversation where Damien had to jumpstart his brain and try to stop thinking about her lips, before Angela changed the subject smoothly.“So, voice acting? That’s really cool. What kinds of stuff have you done?”
Damien shrugged, always feeling a little bashful when talking about his work. Even if there was a part of him that wanted to impress the woman in front of him. He wished that Shez was already announced so he could tell her about that, since it was a significantly bigger role than anything else he'd done.
“Of the stuff that’s out and been announced? A lot of little things, but mostly video games, like Fortnight. And I've done some additional voices in animated kids' shows. Clarence, We Bare Bears, stuff like that.
Her mouth dropped open anyway, and Damien was starting to realize that was one of her default reactions. “You’re on We Bare Bears?”
“Yeah,” he said, glad that something in his repertoire had impressed her. “I take it you're a fan?”
“I fucking love that show.”
Maybe he actually had a chance at coming across as somewhat cool in this conversation. “Me too! I've always felt like it's a show that everyone should watch, regardless of age."
Angela nodded. "Yes, exactly!"
"Anyway, enough about me, what about you? Besides the podcast, what do you do?” Damien asked, craving more details about her.
Angela brushed a curl out of her face as she let out a breath. "God, a lot. Maybe too much, if I'm being honest. I can be a bit of a workaholic. I’m in a sketch group, Moon Goon, with Chanse, and I do a lot of other live theater and improv. And I take a bunch of classes in my free time. It pays off, though, because I got to be in a StarKid production recently!”
“Oh, wow, that’s so cool! I knew you were a great comedian, but I didn’t know you were a singer too.” Something they actually had in common, which Damien filed away for later.
Angela blushed again, and Damien really wanted to keep making her do that.
Eventually, they moved away from the bar and found a quieter area to talk, and conversation flowed better than Damien had ever been used to when first meeting someone. Maybe it was because they had a lot of musical theater stories to swap, or maybe Angela was just that easy to talk to.
“Tommy mentioned you have cats—are you strictly a cat person?” Angela asked, changing topics and sipping on her drink.
Damien moved his hand in a so-so motion as he nodded. “Kinda. I love dogs too, but I got a cat years ago and fell absolutely in love. Now I’ve got my two girls, Zelda and Freyja.”
He couldn’t help but smile when talking about them, and he definitely wanted to pull out a picture of them, but not everyone wanted to see pictures of cats. “What about you? The way you said that makes it sound like you’re a dog person.”
She nodded, giggling. “I've had cats that I loved, but I'm one hundred percent more of a dog person. Right now I just have one, though. He’s a chihuahua named Spork, and I originally fostered him during the pandemic along with like ten other dogs.”
Damien blinked in surprise. “Goddamn, that’s a lot. You just saw everything going to shit for the humans and thought ‘time to save the dogs’?”
That was the first time Damien made her really laugh. It was loud and full of joy, and he realized that was even better than making her blush. He took every chance he could to get her to do that over and over again.
He wasn’t disappointed, because Angela got more and more tipsy as the night went on, going back to the bar to try different cocktails, which made her laugh become more and more present in the conversation.
And Damien didn't miss the way Tommy's eyebrow raised whenever he saw them, gaze honed in on Angela's hand gripping the sides of Damien's shirt to not lose him in the crowd, or resting on his arm as she leaned across him and the bar to order drinks from Tommy.
Casual moments of touch, although it felt intimate to Damien considering he typically didn't enjoy physical contact from people he didn't know well. Something Tommy definitely knew, and would for sure bring up later.
As the night went on, and more people trickled out of the party, the quiet room they'd found became empty save for themselves. And Angela took the opportunity of privacy to grab onto Damien’s now dry shirt and pull him down into an absolutely breathtaking kiss.
Damien's surprise (and enjoyment) let him get lost in the feeling of her lips for several seconds, kissing back and tasting the sharpness of alcohol and oranges. He pulled her closer to him on instinct, carding his fingers through her soft, fluffy hair.
Kissing her was like a dream that Damien didn't want to ever end. Her mouth moved against his perfectly, and her lips parted for a moment, just long enough for a breathy sigh to escape her throat.
It was only then that he realized maybe she’d actually been flirting with him the whole night, and that maybe he’d actually been successful at flirting with her.
Then his common sense came back to him, and Damien gently pulled away. Well, more like gently pushed Angela away by the shoulders, because her grip was strong, which made her narrow her eyes at him in annoyance when they broke apart.
"Why'd you stop? It was just getting good."
Damien was inclined to agree. But still…
“Believe me, I would love to keep kissing you,” Damien explained, a little out of breath and definitely dazed. “But you’re pretty drunk and I feel like I’d be taking advantage of that.”
“You aren’t,” she argued, but her words were slightly slurred. “I wanted to kiss you hours ago. You’re a good kisser. And you’re hot.”
That made Damien blush, but he stayed firm. “Oh, um, thank you. You’re very pretty too." An understatement, but Damien didn't want to scare her away by saying he thought she was the most beautiful person in existence. He'd thought that the first moment he saw her, which was unusual for him, and getting to know her just solidified that thought. And every part of Damien knew he wanted to know her more.
"But how about you give me your number, and I’ll call you. And you can see if you end up changing your mind when you’re sober.” He really hoped she wouldn’t, but he couldn’t quite believe that she’d be this into him if she were sober. From his perspective, Angela was way out of his league.
She sighed but released her grip on his shirt, and Damien found that he missed the contact. “Fine. Not really fair to kiss a girl like that and then cut it short, but whatever," Angela grumbled. "Gimme your phone.”
He unlocked it with shaky fingers, missing the feeling of her hair, and passed it over to her. She added her number to his contacts, and when she returned the phone to him, he sent her a text so that she’d have his number. The message read: “This is Damien—I hope you still remember me tomorrow, because I won't forget you anytime soon!"
He was mostly joking about her forgetting, considering he doubted she was anywhere near drunk enough to lose memory. But he really didn’t know what her tolerance was.
He definitely wasn't joking about not forgetting her, though.
She looked down at her phone, read the text, and looked back at him, reaching a hand up to run through his hair, a soft grin on her face. “I told you, the blue is memorable.”
Yeah, he was pretty much a goner. Damien smiled again and ducked his head down, his eyes catching the time on his phone screen. It was getting pretty close to midnight. And he had an audition the next morning. He’d never wanted to stay this late at any party, so he hadn’t thought to watch the clock.
“Dammit. I have an early morning, I’ve actually gotta get going. Do you have a ride home?” Damien asked her.
She nodded. “Uber.”
Damien hesitated for a moment and then decided to fuck it. He wanted to spend as much time with her as possible if she’d let him. “Do you want me to give you a ride? It’s totally fine if you’re not comfortable with that, though.”
Angela lifted an eyebrow and smiled. “I’d probably go home with you tonight if you’d let me, so yeah, a ride would be fine.”
Yet again Damien’s face heated up at the implication, and he tripped over his next words, telling her that he just had to say goodbye to Tommy before they could leave.
She gave him a shit-eating grin at his reaction and nodded, leaning up against a wall to wait for him. Damien could feel her eyes on his back as he walked towards the bar.
Tommy was packing up the alcohol and mixers, and only a few people were still hovering around the bar. He looked up, raising his eyebrows when he saw Damien.
“You’re still here? I figured you'd left when you hadn't been back for a drink in a while.”
“I lost track of time, but I do have to go now. Thanks for inviting me, I had a great time,” Damien told his friend, meaning it more earnestly than he probably ever had in the past when he’d been dragged to a party.
“You're welcome," Tommy said with a sly smile. "You actually seemed to enjoy the company this time."
Damien hoped he didn't blush too much, trying to sound casually oblivious to what Tommy was implying. He didn't quite know why, but he wanted his moment with Angela to just be between them for now. “Angela, yeah. She’s a fun person.”
“Oh, really? How much fun?” he asked in a suggestive tone.
“A lot of fun. Very sweet, too,” he replied as neutrally as possible, and then quickly made his exit before Tommy could wear him down or call out the double meaning. After all, Damien could still taste the sweetness of Angela's lips and latest cocktail on his tongue. “I’ll see you in a couple days!”
“Bye, Damien,” Tommy said, waving a dish towel as Damien walked away.
Angela was waiting in the same place for him, biting at her thumbnail, but she stopped when she spotted Damien, her face lighting up.
“Ready to go?” she asked, stepping closer until there was barely any space between them.
Because of their height difference, he had to tilt his head down quite a bit to meet her eyes, but it was absolutely worth it. They were a wonderful hazel, similar to his, and so bright and full of warmth. He could probably stare at them forever, but he unfortunately had responsibilities.
“Ready if you are.”
She nodded easily, starting towards the doors leading to the parking lot, and Damien trailed after her.
Her trust in him was sweet, but a little disconcerting. It made him wonder if she was usually this trusting of people she met at parties and events.
When they made it to his car, he paused before unlocking it. “Are you sure you’re good letting me drive you?” he asked, wanting to make sure that she wouldn’t start freaking out as the alcohol wore off.
Angela gave him a flat look over the hood of his car. “Damien, Patrick has talked about you before and he clearly loves you. And so does that bartender, Tommy. Plus, talking to you for three minutes anyone could tell you’re not the kind of person to tie up a girl in his basement.”
He grinned, because she left a great opening, and he wanted to hear her laugh at least one more time. “Well, maybe if it was consensual.”
Angela covered her face and just as he’d hoped, she laughed.
She climbed into the car as soon as it was open, and only a few minutes into the drive, Angela was dozing in the passenger seat, head lolling to the side. It was amusing, and Damien was glad he’d had the foresight to have her put her address into GPS. He tapped Angela’s shoulder lightly to wake her up when they arrived at her apartment building.
“Oh, we’re here?” she asked, groggy like she'd been pulled from a deep sleep, even though she’d only been out for approximately fifteen minutes.
“Mmhm. Come on, I’ll walk you to the door.” He was pretty sure she’d be a little unsteady on her feet, and sure enough, she leaned against his arm for support a few times as they climbed up a few flights of stairs.
“You sure you don’t wanna come in?” she asked with a teasing grin, leaning against her now open doorway.
Damien chuckled. “Angela, you just passed out in my car, we are not hooking up.”
She gestured with her hand waving away the concern. “You’re exaggerating, I didn’t pass out, I just took a little nap.”
He full on laughed at that and after a moment of hesitation, leaned down to kiss her cheek. Angela's skin was warm under his lips, and the chaste kiss felt even more intimate than when they made out earlier.
“I had a great time with you tonight. I’ll call you tomorrow, promise,” he said once he pulled away, enjoying the redness of her cheeks. He wasn't sure if it was the alcohol or if she was blushing because of him, but either way it was adorable.
She smiled up at him, eyes tired but earnest when she said, “You’d better.”
Damien smiled back and waved, taking a few steps backwards towards the top of the staircase, watching as she disappeared inside her apartment.
The smile stayed on his face the whole way back to his car, and he couldn't even tamp it down on the drive home. Damien had never felt this way about someone so soon after meeting them. Not even on actual dates.
But there was just something special about Angela, and it made him fall asleep to thoughts of her smile and laugh dancing in his head.
~~~~~
Damien’s alarm went off much too soon, but he dragged himself out of bed for the fucking audition. It lasted until nearly 11 AM, and he tried to give it his all, but he knew at least twenty percent of his attention was on the previous night.
He made it home and wondered if it was too early to call Angela, considering she could still be sleeping off a hangover. Or if it would make him seem overly eager by calling right away. His biggest worry was scaring her off, because even though she seemed really into him last night, things could have changed.
But he really wanted to talk to her. And if Angela didn’t actually like him now that she was sober, then he’d rather know as soon as possible. Rip it off like a Band-Aid.
So, Damien found her contact, took a deep breath, and dialed. He held his breath as he lifted the phone to his ear.
Angela answered on the first ring with a simple, “Hello?”
Well, at least he didn’t wake her up.
“Um, hey, Angela, this is Damien from the party last night,” he introduced himself hesitantly, not sure if she had saved his contact.
“Oh my god,” she replied. “I can’t believe you actually called me.”
Damien blinked. “Did you not want me to?” he asked slowly, not sure how to decipher that phrase. Maybe his worries were founded, and all she actually wanted was a hookup. Not…whatever Damien was realizing he wanted.
“No!” she shouted quickly. “No, that’s not what I meant! I just…I can’t believe you would want to call me. I’m so sorry about last night, I woke up this morning so embarrassed. I shouldn’t have come onto you so strongly! I promise I don’t normally act like that,” Angela rambled.
Damien felt a smile cover his face and he let out his breath in a sigh of relief. “It’s okay, don’t be embarrassed. I didn’t mind.”
“Are you sure?” she asked disbelievingly.
“Mmhm. I mean, why would I mind a beautiful woman kissing me and calling me hot? That doesn’t happen every day,” Damien teased, but he was completely serious.
She giggled, sounding more settled now. “Really? I find that hard to believe.”
“I’m a socially awkward anime nerd, I’m not exactly the most sought-after demographic,” Damien deadpanned.
“You’re cute, sweet, talented, and smart. I can’t believe someone hasn’t snatched you up yet. But don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining.”
“Oh, um, thank you,” Damien replied, as flustered as he had been the night before at her quick response. Maybe even more. He hadn’t been complimented like that in a long time, and she was fully sober now and saying it.
“No, thank you for being so awesome last night,” she said. “I wouldn’t have regretted anything, but still. It might not have been the best idea.”
“You don’t have to thank me. You were drunk, I would’ve been a terrible person to take advantage of that.”
“Well, either way, I haven’t changed my mind now that I am sober. I still really like you.”
And didn’t that just make Damien’s heart soar?
“I really like you too,” Damien said, smiling even though she couldn’t see his face. “Are you free sometime this week? We could go out to eat or get coffee or something.”
Angela told him to wait while she checked her calendar, and he did easily, enjoying the way she hummed as a way to fill the silence while searching her schedule.
“I can meet tomorrow for lunch at like one o'clock for about an hour," she eventually decided. "Does that work for you? Because if not, I'm kind of booked for a while except in the late evenings.”
Damien nodded, and then remembered he had to actually reply. “Yeah, I’d love to, one works." At least he hoped it did, considering he hadn't checked his schedule. But he'd make it work regardless. "Where do you wanna go?”
“Do you like Italian?”
Even if Damien wasn't already biased due to being half Italian, the Italian-American women he was talking to would make his answer a resounding 'yes'. “Who doesn’t?”
“Monsters. I know the best place, I’ll text you the address, and we can meet there?”
Damien's face was starting to hurt from how much he'd been smiling lately. He wouldn’t trade it for the world though. “It’s a date.”