Just had the worst week of my life, can you help? - Alistair (Fremtidsemne)

Alistair did pick up on Kevin's change in mood... But did try to brush it off as nothing serious, since the smile did return to the cheery one from just before. Not that it did anything to stop his subconscious from wondering about it, though, but at least he could focus a bit on his drink again, and on the drawing as he added another few strokes to it once in a while, letting all of his anxiety and uncertainty out on the paper instead of worrying himself into a tight little lump of uselessness.

"Your best seems to do a good job, then," he remarked, with a broader, encouraging smile as he shrugged just a little bit. "Oh... Uhm... Well, I guess it depends on what kinds of things you like to see. Place got a bit of everything. I really don't wander around much, myself... Unless my friend's dragged me there," the last thing was quickly added as he knew he was a bad liar - because he actually DID wander a lot, just not that much of his own free will... Most of his 'wandering' was looking after Ozzie when he was about to do stupid things, after all. The never-ending work of a guardian angel with an often-times blind elf, who was also quite the danger-magnet... Sigh.

"I really like the nature around here, though. I don't really... Stick around other people, much." he muttered, biting his lip and staring down into his latte. Because you're a weird freak of an angel who can't figure out even the simplest of human interaction... Really, how good of an angel is that? You're supposed to be able to communicate with humans easily, pass for a normal human being without breaking a sweat. And yet you can't figure out the simplest of things about them. Failure of an angel, if I ever saw one... he swallowed and took another sip of his drink.

Kevin listened to what Alistair said and the suggestion of going out into nature. He hummed in thought. "The nature you say? Maybe it'd be a good way to take Buttercup for a longer walk than I have in the past few weeks," he said, thinking about what would be interesting for Buttercup. At the mention of her name, the bernese mountain dog sat up beside Kevin, and he chuckled softly before gently petting her head and scratching behind her ears. "Does that sound good to you? Maybe we should see if we could find somewhere for you to take a swim?" he asked and Buttercup immediately started wagging her tail back and forth, obviously excited about the idea.

However, when Kevin looked back at Alistair he couldn't help but worry a little. The smile had faded and he didn't even look up at Kevin, much more interested in the drink in his hand. With his free hand, Kevin reached over to Alistair and gently laid it on top of the others. "Hey, are you alright?" he asked and, if Alistair allowed it, he slipped his fingers in between the angel's hand and the cup on the table, to gently hold his hand. That wasn't too gay, was it? Hopefully not. He just wanted to cheer him up! He looked so cute when he smiled, and sure, he was still cute when he didn't, but Kevin couldn't help but want to put the smile back on his lips.

On some level, Alistair probably did register the small conversation going on in front of him, between the dog and it's owner, since - for just a little while - there was a soft smile on his lips, yet his eyes were still focused on his drink... Though not really seeing it. He really should've remembered his pills. His anxiety and self-doubt - well, self-hatred was more like it - were getting to him. They had a tendency to do that when he met new people and was constantly wondering about how he must appear to the other, what a weirdo everybody would probably think he was if they... Well, if they saw the real him. The anxious little useless lump. Who took ages to decide even the smallest of things. How on earth was it ever fair that he only seemed to function normally when he had to dart off to go and save Ozzie from whatever he got himself into next time? As soon as Ozzie was out of danger again, he was back to being this helpless little angel in a world where he barely even understood anything about other people.

Lost in dark thoughts as he was, his breath even having started to speed up with the building anxiety it caused, he practically jumped in his seat when Kevin reached over and touched his hand. The shock was clear in his eyes, too, when he looked at him - really looked at him, he looked him in the eyes for the first time - before he hastily lowered his gaze again, and bit his lip, taking a few deep, calming breaths as he let the human take his hand. He even gave it a gentle, appreciative squeeze after a while. "It's... It's nothing. I'm fine." he had finally calmed down again and sent Kevin a small, nervous smile. It was obviously a lie, but he couldn't just blurt out the giant list of things that was wrong with him, either, right? This was probably where Kevin'd think he was too weird to stick around, wasn't it?

Kevin slowly became more and more worried about Alistair and it was obvious from the way Buttercup started to get uneasy. She looked back and forth between Alistair and Kevin, and while Alistair talked, she walked over to him and laid her head in his lap, the same way she would do to calm down Kevin. Of course, Kevin noticed that, and a slight smile found its way to his lips. Well, if Buttercup wanted to help him, he had to be a good guy! He looked back at Alistair, and didn't let go of his hand at all. In fact, after his hand was squeezed, Kevin took his other hand up to hold the other's hand as well.

Ever so gently, Kevin stroked Alistair's hand with his thumbs, before saying something. "Y'know, Buttercup usually isn't so affectionate with people unless she trusts them, especially not someone who she just met. So you gotta be a pretty special guy for that to happen," he said, nodding towards the dog, who was very relaxed with her head on Alistair's lap. "I think she likes you very much," he added, looking back up at the angel just as he squeezed his hand again.

That had been close. Too close for comfort, when he wasn't at home. How on earth could he have forgotten his pills? He knew things went bad if he didn't have the emergency pills with him everywhere he went. After all, he neve rknew when he'd meet someone new, and that was always the moments burdened with the most anxiety. Worrying every second what the other thought of him, of how he was probably doing everything wrong in terms of first impressions. But... This guy seemed to be different. He'd met a lot of people who'd have bailed by now, but Kevin, here... He just reached out to him and tried to calm him down again? That happened so rarely he could count the times during these past 50 years or so on his fingers.

He started, at first, when he felt the dog's head in his lap, not used to that - but when he looked down and saw that cute, furry face right there, he couldn't help but smile, reaching down the hand not currently cradled in Kevin's to give her a careful scratch behind an ear as his way of thanking her. His eyes then traveled back up to where Kevin's hands were holding his, the small smile still there when he felt the gentle strokes of his thumbs. Then his gaze traveled further north, once more settling on the bridge of Kevin's nose when he talked to him.

"Uhm... Thanks, I think?" there was just the faintest trace of the blush returning with that, though. Nope. Still no good with compliments. "Well... I like her, too. She's cute." and she got another scratch and a careful pet down the side of her neck for that. "And... I..." he sighed. "Sorry I zoned out like that. Probably broke the good mood and everything."

Kevin frowned slightly when Alistair apologised for ruining the mood, and his grip on the man's hand tightened a bit. "You did nothing of the sort, okay? I'm enjoying your company, zoning out or not," he said, offering him a soft smile. It wasn't really until then, that he suddenly realised just how long he had been holding Alistair's hand, which was probably a lot more than two men should, wow. He gave the hand a last squeeze before letting go of his hand, chuckling slightly. "Besides! Ruining my mood is almost impossible, I like being around people! Well, preferably nice people of course, but seeing as you help strangers on the street, I'm pretty confident when I say you're in that group of people."

With those words, Kevin took the last piece of his cookie and ate it, but just as he did, he realised he wanted something more to add, so he made a humming sound, holding a hand in front of his mouth so he could quickly chew it and get it down, but the crumbly goodie dried out his tongue, so he quickly took a swig from his drink to get it down. "Actually, speaking of ruining my mood! One of my old classmates actually once tried to make me mad on purpose, because he'd never seen me mad - we were like 12 or something, still silly kids, y'know? And it's not like I was bullied it was just kids testing the limits, so I don't take it too personally. Anyway, he did that ridiculous trick of putting a bucket of water up over the door before I came in - and he did this in school on the day we were taking school pictures! As he spoke, Kevin made lots of gestures with his had and eagerly told his story, animated as he always was. My mom had me dressed up in a nice white shirt, she had tried to comb my hair back and somewhat succeeded, and I was wearing my nicest shoes and pants even though they wouldn't even be in the picture. But anyway, I walked in, as he planned and got this bucket of water right down on my head, my clothes were soaked and my hair just went back to doing whatever it was doing. So, I had to borrow some stuff from P.E. to wear, my hair just kinda dried however it wanted to and my photo was taken like that," He chuckled slightly, before finishing up his story. "My classmates were so sure I'd be furious or maybe start crying, but I just found it funny. Everyone but me made such a big deal out of it, at the very least because they expected my mom to be mad at me, but she actually bought that ridiculous picture and it's on her wall to this day. Sometimes stupid things just happen, but usually, it's not terrible, and definitely not the end of the world."

Now that he was sorta out of his dark thoughts again, Alistair was only too acutely aware of them holding hands, and therefore, the tightening of Kevin's hand on his made the blush from before disappear, and that cute smile on the human's face only made it worse, so he quickly looked down into the table, with just a small, soft smile. It faded a little when Kevin let go of his hand again, and he bit his lip again, blushing even more when he said he was a nice person. Like... Okay, well, maybe he was, maybe there were a lot of people who wouldn't just go out of their way to help someone else, but... To Alistair it was just so natural. Guess it came with the whole angel territory.

But even so, Alistair was still unused to compliments, hence the deeper blush. He began drinking his latte again, then looked over at him when he began telling the story. Alistair's smile returned when he saw all the gestures and heard the enthusiasm with which Kevin told the story, and it did what Kevin had probably set out to do - those dark thoughts were certainly pushed back off into the far depths of the angel's mind, by now. Or well, most of them. This just made him hope that Kevin wouldn't ask him something about his past or childhood, because... Well... He'd never had a childhood, after all, and he was rubbish at lying. "I guess so," he said after a while, still with the soft smile on his lips, now. "At least you seem to be fine now. I'm happy I could help." and the smile, now reaching up into his eyes, almost made them sparkle a little bit.

Kevin couldn't help but smile softly too, cheeks a little warmer when Alistair said something again. Not because of what he said, but rather because of that cute smile that made his eyes light up a little and for one moment he couldn't come up with some random shit to say. No, he was just kinda looking like a lovestruck puppy - not that different from the way Buttercup was looking at him too. It didn't take long for Kevin to start rambling again, telling funny stories about himself, his brother, his friends and Buttercup. It wasn't because he just wanted to talk about himself to seem cool or something, because he was kinda the butt of all the jokes, be it he did something stupid, or someone pranked him... He just didn't mind talking for both of them. Alistair seemed shy and a little socially awkward, but not like he didn't want to hang out, so Kevin kinda hoped he'd warm up to talking a little more.

Honestly, Kevin had no sense of time whatsoever, but at one point he quickly checked his phone to see it had gotten a little later than planned, and almost all the other costumers had left by now. "Wow, it's getting a little late, I should probably head back to my hotel," he said, chuckling sheepishly, putting his phone back into his pocket, and moved to stand up. But he waited for a second to quickly ask, ""Uh, I was wondering if I could maybe have your number?" He was suddenly a lot more nervous sounding, but still friendly nonetheless. "It's fine if not of course! I just... it's been nice hanging out today."

Now that the darker moment had passed, it was oh so easy for that smile to stay on the angel’s lips, especially when Kevin kept on rambling. This was pretty much perfect for him. He was much more of a listener than a talker, anyway, and this also meant he didn’t have to worry about if he said something he shouldn’t, or not. Really, it just made everything so much easier for him when he could just come with a small comment here and there instead of trying to fill out the silence himself. Because yes, he really liked being around people, despite all his problems and worries. His mind wasn’t a nice place to be when he was all alone, after all. That’s when the self-doubt really got to him.

To be fair, Alistair had noticed how much time had passed, he just didn’t say anything - he found himself wanting to drag it out, to stay near the guy as long as he could - there was just something about him. He already relaxed a bit more around him than he did with most people. But how could he not - he had seen a little bit of one of his biggest flaws, and he hadn’t mocked him or walked away, or anything of the sorts. Of course that made him relax a little. Worry just slightly less. Not that he didn’t still worry, no, far from it. He didn’t think he’d ever stop worrying about things. It was sort of his thing to worry about every single thing.

When Kevin pointed it out, he glanced around, and - wow. Well, maybe it had gotten a bit later than he’d thought, too… Not that he minded, he had nobody to go home to, after all. Not even a pet, even though he really wanted one. He had been considering to get a pet rabbit, but then thought better of it as he’d once again reminded himself that he never knew when he’d have to dart off to go save Ozzie from whatever stupid thing he got himself into next, nor would he ever know for how long he was gone. He had tried being gone months at a time, after all… Including when those vampires had just locked both of them up… He shivered just slightly at the thought.

But his focus was quickly back on Kevin, and when the question came - at first he just looked at him, blinking a little - wow… Had he really left a good enough impression for that?? Well, it seemed like it… And slowly, the blush returned to him cheeks once more, and he smiled as he nodded. “It’s okay, I, uhm. I kinda really enjoyed it, too. It’s not… Too often someone’s this nice to me…” he admitted, smile just a little crooked. “I’d love to get to know you better.”

Oh god, Alistair was gonna be the death of Kevin, he was just so sweet and cute, and he didn't know if he wanted to pinch his cheeks or hug him to death, but it was probably both. Just... that cute blush! Thank fuck that Alistair couldn't read thoughts, because right now he was just internally screaming.

But luckily, there was no such thing, so Kevin was safe! He pulled himself out of his love-at-first-sight-thoughts and got his phone out - a galaxy note that he had recently purchased. He unlocked it, got into his contacts and went to add a new number. He then offered the phone for Alistair to put in his number, and as soon as he got it back, he nicknamed him "ali <3 <3 <3" and sent him a text saying "hi!!" before pocketing his phone. "There, I sent you a text!" he said smiling sheepishly before getting up from his chair. Buttercup immediately went over to her owner - though not without giving Alistair's hand a quick lick - and gave him her leash.

Kevin waited for Alistair to get up as well, and probably stalled a bit while overthinking if he should do what he wanted to or not.... heck, why not? Yolo and all that, right? So Kevin moved in to give Alistair a small peck on the cheek. Nothing big at all, just a sweet chaste peck on the cheek, and then he quickly pulled back. "I'll text you when I get back to the hotel," he said, with a slight blush on his cheeks, before turning on his heel and go out from the café. He was maybe a little bit nervous that Alistair wasn't... well, interested. But Kevin was kinda used to kinda crush on people that weren't interested. He just liked people, okay? Could you blame him? But at least the rejection wouldn't be face to face if he texted him, so that was nice? With that thought he went out from the café, on his way back to the hotel.

//Out

Alistair just kept smiling, the same soft, gentle smile as all the others had been, as he type din his number to Kevin. He nodded slightly when he could feel the slight vibration from his phone in his pocket, just about when Kevin told him he’d sent him a text. Not that he had too high hopes yet that this was something that would last - he had only just met the guy after all, and he’d already seen some of what was wrong with him. It was probably just out of pity… Trying to seem like he was interested as so many others had done. Sigh.

But to his shock, Alistair suddenly felt that quick peck on his cheek, and he instantly looked back up at Kevin - well, his nose - and felt the familiar heat in his face that told him he was rapidly nearing a tomato red hue. Damn. Well, that said something else than his dark-ish thoughts had! “A-alright,” he stammered, biting his lip as he looked after Kevin’s retreating figure. Wow… Was he for real? Alistair hadn’t ever encountered such a sweet human before… With a small grin that widened, he slowly gathered his stuff and went back home, eagerly awaiting Kevin’s text message.

////////////

About a week later, and tons of text messages, Alistair was getting ready to go hang out with Kevin again. He was incredibly nervous, though - thoughts getting to him again, thinking he maybe hadn’t been as sweet as he’d thought he’d been. Maybe it had just been that first meeting. Maybe it’d just fall apart as many of his other relations with people did. But he also, deep down, hoped that this could be something lasting… Or, well. As lasting as things could ever get between a human and an angel. The few human friendships he’d had before, he’d had to break off after a decade… Or people tended to notice his lack of any aging. Being basically immortal - if he didn’t do anything stupid, that was - could be rather lonely, after all. He felt sorry for the ones that had lived thousands of years. How many people they must’ve had to say goodbye to…

He sighed as he corrected his clothes - no jacket today as the late spring weather had finally settled in, and quickly ran a brush through his long hair, before he grabbed his bag - this time making sure he had his pills - and then went out the door of his apartment, off to find the little spot in the park they’d agreed to meet up. The exact same spot they’d met the first time, it just seemed like a logical place to start. So, after fifteen or twenty minutes, Alistair was there… Ten minutes early. He would rather be a little early than a little late, after all. And so he sat down at the nearby bench and pulled out his drawing pad, to work on his newest drawing as he waited.

// Outfit

Kevin was honestly a little stressed out. He had tried his damned best on taming his curly hair, but no matter what he did, it just stuck up in whatever direction it wanted to. Which, granted, didn't bother him normally! But now that he was going on a kinda-date with Alistair he just wanted to make up for how tired he looked - but no, his hair wanted to look like he just woke up and rolled out of bed. He let out a frustrated groan as he for the third time that day made his hair wet in the sink, before combing through it. No, that wouldn't look perfectly nice, but at least his curls would go in the direction he wanted it to, and then could smack a hat on top of it to make it look like it was planned. Perfect!

He took a quick look in the mirror of his overall appearance, and if you ignored that the bags under his eyes were slightly darker than usual, and he might've lost a little weight, he actually looked pretty decent if he was to say so himself! And Alistair probably wouldn't realise he had lost weight, because he didn't look thinner per say. His ribs were just more pronounced and the same went for his spine, but neither of them were visible soo... that just left the bags under his eyes to be obvious, and hopefully, Alistair would just assume he had been up playing video games late as usual and not ask about it. He hadn't really told the man why he was in Gaia, just that he knew some people there.

With a deep breath through his nose, Kevin walked out from his hotel bathroom and called Buttercup over. She was wearing her harness already, so he just had to clip the leash on it, before they could get out from the hotel and on their way to the park. Luckily it wasn't far away, so soon, Kevin could see Alistair in the distance, and with a quick look at his clock, he was relieved to see he was two minutes early, which meant that he wasn't late, Alistair was early!
"Hey, I hope you haven't been waiting for too long," he said when he was close enough for Alistair to hear him, with a bright smile on his lips as always.

//Outfit

Alistair had done his very best to keep from getting tied all up in a little ball of anxiety. The medicine helped, of course it did, but it could only do so much if he didn’t keep up with the mental exercises his psychiatrist told him to do daily. And… Well… It could be very difficult to do them every single day with having to dart off to help Ozzie every now and then. Slowly he was actually starting to get fed up with the kid… Not that he actually wanted to admit it to himself, since he was his mission. But with the numerous ways in which Ozzie had slowly changed over the past… Almost year by now, well… They were slowly slipping apart. The elf was changing way too much, in the wrong direction. It was like he didn’t even know him anymore…

He sighed to himself as he added another line to his drawing, but was pretty soon hoisted out of the sad thoughts as he heard the voice of his by now - yes, already - favorite human. He looked up from his drawing, and true enough, there was Kevin and Buttercup, walking over towards him. A small but happy smile lit up Alistair’s face, as he quickly packed away his drawing gear - down next to the food he’d cooked for their little picnic of a… Sorta date. He’d told Kevin he’d just buy them something, but then he’d thought better of it and made something himself, since he did enjoy cooking. Not that he’d told him about that little detail.

“Not at all,” he said as he stood back up. He bit his lip and considered for a second or two, but then took a step closer and pulled Kevin into a soft and warm hug. Then he let go of him again, and stood there, slightly awkwardly, brushing a hand through his hair and reaching down the other one to gently pet Buttercup on her head, as his greeting to her. “Souhm. Did you bring a blanket like we talked about?” that’d what they’d talked about yesterday after all… Kevin would bring the blanket, Alistair would bring the food. And he’d also brought them something to drink. Non-alcoholic stuff of course, since alcohol and his pills… Well, that wasn’t a good cocktail.

Kevin's smile widened a little bit when Alistair moved over to hug him, and he quickly put his arms around the taller man. He had felt tired and a little down most of the time he had been in Gaia, but Alistair had brightened his mood a little. Kevin had cried a lot in his hotel room, hiding from the rest of the world, so no one would be worried, but every time he got a text from Alistair, it pulled a small smile from his lips and it made his heart flutter a little. They hadn't known each other for long, but he had quickly grown dependant on the other's texts and the endearing awkwardness that came with them.

Maybe that was why it felt like way too soon that they pulled back, but he did so nonetheless and chuckled a little when Alistair was being a little awkward, and tried to play it off by saying hi to Buttercup - who of course sniffed his hand and licked it as soon as he came close enough. The service dog seemed to like Alistair just as much as Kevin did, maybe even more. She had never been this interested in someone she didn't know that well!

"Yeah, of course," Kevin replied cheerily, lifting his filled-to-the-brim messenger bag slightly from his hip to show where it was. He had been a little miffed when Alistair insisted to buy the food for their little date, Kevin wanted to at least split the expenses, but after discussing it for a bit, he had let the angel do it, if nothing else, then just to please him. "Are you ready to go?"

Oh thank God he hadn’t misinterpreted things too much… At least that was what he got from how quickly the hug was returned. He had tried being too quick with the hugs before… And it was never a good feeling when the hug wasn’t returned. But this - this hug was perfect. Well, perhaps it could have lasted a bit longer, but he didn’t want to step over any boundaries. It was short, warm, sweet, and made sure the small smile was still on his lips afterwards, even if he still felt a little awkward. Kevin’s laugh was enough to bring forth a faint blush, too. Because yeah… He probably did look stupid, didn’t he? Getting all flustered just over a hug… He was a grown man and here he was, getting all nervous just about meeting the human again. Argh!

At least Buttercup was so much easier to read than people, and his smile widened when she licked his hand. She really was one of the sweetest, most well-behaved dogs he had ever met. Of course, dogs like her were supposed to be well-behaved and all, but still. She was just incredibly cute… As was her owner.

Speaking of Kevin, he looked back at him - his nose - again when he answered, before his gaze quickly flickered to the bag, and then back to his face again. “Nice,” he said, the smile still there. “Iuhm. I wasn’t sure what kind of food you like, so… There’s like… 4 different things to choose from…” again, the awkwardness was very apparent, in the way he fidgeted with the strap on his bag. He nodded as his answer to the human’s question, before asking, “Souhm. Any place in particular, in here, you want to go? I was thinking of the edge of the park leading into the forest. There’s usually less people there ‘cause they don’t want all the shade. And uhm. I was thinking, Buttercup might prefer the shade to the sun.” he did himself, too - mainly because he got pretty easily sunburnt.

Kevin didn't know if he liked the blush or not - because on one hand, Alistair looked absolutely adorable, but on the other, he couldn't help but feel like he had stepped a line with something. Maybe he should tone it down? He didn't want to scare the man off ahead of time. Right now he needed some sort of ordinariness in his life, and Alistair was more or less that. Not that he was using him of course! He was a nice guy, and Kevin genuinely wanted his company and friendship, it was just that it had come at just the right time.

"Don't worry about it, I eat just about anything," he said, fiddling with Buttercup's leash a little. With a soft smile, he listened to what Alistair said - where they could sit and have their picnic. "Yeah, that sound perfect. This warm weather can really heat up her fur, so I bought a bowl and some ice cold water too." he explained, petting her head a little. It was no surprise that Kevin took better care of Buttercup than himself - he loved her too much to not care! But it might also be slightly selfish of him to say so, because he was often a victim of the sun too - except he didn't just get burns, he got more freckles too. And honestly? He didn't like it. They were just everywhere, and he looked stupid. "So, uh, lead the way, my friend! he then added, grinning wide.

Alright. Alright. Get your act together - he's just being kind and all, just like the first time you met him. He's probably not laughing at you. Probably. Kind people like him rarely laugh at others, but with others, right? Right? He tried convincing himself not to worry, but really, the thoughts didn't stop - so he pushed them to the back of his mind instead. Let them become insignificant murmurs instead, as he focused on the cute guy and his adorable dog. isntead

"Ah. Cool. Good to know," he said, with another lsightly awkward chuckle, but his smile got a bit less nervous, more genuine, especially when he agreed that it'd be a good spot. The blush stayed, however, mostly due to the cute grin that followed, and the simple thing with Kevin calling him his friend. Alistair didn't have many friends... And a lot of them gave up on him because of his illness. So that someone like Kevin, who had already seen him being halfway to an anxiety attack, still chose to call him friend? That was a huge thing to him, and though the blush was, indeed, still there, his smile widened into a proper grin before he showed the way over to the part of the park he'd talked about.

He waited for Kevin to get out the blankets, then helped him put them down... And sat down as he started fishing out the food and drink he'd brought. "Souhm. I couldn't decide with what they had in the stores, soah... Uh... I sorta cooked, myself." he then admitted, as he started pulling out stuff. A small tart (perfect for two) with leeks and bacon, some barbeque chicken skewers, potato salad, and for dessert, a small, cute victoria sponge cake for each of them, just a little bit bigger than a large muffin. And then he'd brought some good, non-alcoholic pear cider along to accompany it all. "... I hope you'll like it..."

Kevin was a little grateful that Alistair was helping him because as much as he hated to admit it, his leg was sore from walking so much all the time and he had a few blisters from the prosthetic, so he wasn't the most mobile right now. But it went pretty painless and soon the two of them were sitting on the blankets. While Alistair talked again, Kevin was pulling out two bowls - one that was already filled with dog food, and another that was empty, after which he pulled out a bottle of ice cold water.

But while he worked, Kevin kept an eye on what Alistair pulled out and mother of Moses, he hadn't eaten anything that exciting in years. "Holy shi- you made this? It looks amazing!" The excitement was apparent as he quickly moved closer to Alistair to get a better look at what the absolute angel had made for them! "Are you kidding me? Of course I'll like it! I might not look like it, but I eat just about anything, and if this is not all gone before the day is over, I'm either about to die from being too stuffed, or I'm already dead from a food-orgasm," he said, finally tearing his eyes away from the food to look back up at Alistair with a dorky grin.

It wasn't long until Kevin couldn't help himself from digging into the meal, obviously very pleased with what he had been given, from the sounds of pure delight he made every now and then when he was tasting something new. And of course, he couldn't not share a little bit with Buttercup. Not at all because he didn't like it, but because he was weak and she just had to look at him with her big brown eyes for him to give in. Naturally, he didn't give her anything she couldn't eat. But somehow, a piece of chicken from the skewers, with the barbeque and any spices wiped off, or a piece of potato here and there, somehow made it's way to her bowl.

Alistair smiled softly when he saw Kevin put out the things for Buttercup - she really was a lovely dog, and he liked seeing just how close they were, how much he cared for her. Things like that always gave him that nice, warm feeling inside. But then his focus was back on pulling out the food and drink, and then the single-use plates and utensils.

Of course, Kevin's excited exclamation resulted in - yes - yet another small blush, and shy smile, looking down at the plates as he set it out for them. "It's really nothing that special..." he tried to brush it off, shrugging slightly. He liked cooking, after all - cooked for himself at least twice a day, if he wasn't out on 'Ozzie business', anyway. That could take up entire days, sometimes. "I just... Well. Iuhm. I've never...." he scratched his neck a little awkwardly, and took a deep breath to steady himself, he didn't know why it was so hard to admit. "... Never been on, uhm... Something like this. A date, I guess. I just wanted to make something simple but good..." because yeah, he might be over 50, but he hadn't ever been on a date. Heck, he'd also been a virgin up until what... A month or two ago?

"But I'm happy you like it," he then said with a slight chuckle to his voice, hearing all the sounds coming from the cutie right next to him. His smile only widened when he saw Buttercup devour what she was given, too, and he reached over to gently - almost carefully, as to not disturb her eating too much - scratch behind her ear. "You like it too, huh, girl?" But then his attention was back on Kevin again, as he leant back and ate a little himself. "Souhm... How've you been? A bit better than last I saw you, I hope?"

Kevin stopped eating for a minute to listen a bit more carefully to what Alistair told him. That this was his first actual date. First of all, that was adorable! Second of all, Alistair called it a date! Which meant that he had a chance! Kevin moved in closer to Alistair while adjusting his position, although not a whole lot closer. Just a slight bit more close than what two heterosexual guys would sit. "I hope it's a good first date then. And the food is amazing, so I'd say that so far it's been a success on your part," he said, grinning slightly.

Buttercup looked up from her food, when Alistair reached his hand over to her and leaned into his touch in contentment. Honestly, that was one of the reasons as to why Kevin was so relaxed around Alistair. Sure, he liked most people right away and was pretty comfortable when socializing, but Buttercup's trust really meant something to him. So when she liked someone, he immediately was that much more interested in that person!
"Well, my clothes are dry and I'm not cold anymore, so I would say that's a vast improvement," he said, chuckling slightly. "Jokes aside though, yeah, I am, mostly thanks to you. It's been nice to have a cute guy to text back and forth with." He added 'cute guy' mostly in hopes of seeing Alistair blush again. He was just so adorable! And besides, it was true, all of it. He felt better from texting someone, and that someone was a very cute guy. "What about you?"

"Well, uhm. With... With you here, I doubt it could ever really turn out all that bad..." he muttered, smiling softly while looking down at his lap. Not quite brave or confident enough to look at Kevin while he said it. "And thanks..." so the almost three hour sin the kitchen had been worth it. Phew. Good. He'd been so damn nervous. Well, not that he wasn't, now... He was just nervous about other things than the food, right now. Like whether or not it was too cliché, what he'd just said. It was, wasn't it? It sounded like something from a romantic movie or something...

But the dog, she was easy to be around. Well. compared to other people, Kevin was, too, but animals were just always that bit easier. Less complex, more honest. He really appreciated that. And he couldn't help but chuckle softly when she leaned into his hand, and he gave her an extra good scratch for that.

Alistair looked over at Kevin when he spoke again, though, just the softest smile on his lips. Until, as Kevin had hoped, another blush did indeed appear, and he bit his lip as he looked back down, but he was smiling just a little bit, too. It was still so weird for him, to be called that... Well, anything positive, really. Sure, Ozzie used to tell him he was a sweet guy, too, but he'd also been calling him annoying and telling him to stay away sometimes when he came running because there'd been that danger sense telling him something was wrong...

But Kevin. Kevin var just so nice and sweet, hadn't said even one bad word about him so far! That had to be a record. That he'd known someone more than a week or two without them at least calling him weird. "Oh, uhm. I guess it's just the usual, for me. Work and volunteering, all that. Though, uhm. I've... Really enjoyed texting with you, too..." he carefully inched his hand closer to Kevin's, but didn't dare to take a hold of it just yet. Because... What if he didn't want to hold hands? Then he'd ruined this. No, better wait and see what happened.

Now it was for once Kevin's turn to blush a little, but even so, the soft smile turned into a dorky grin and he moved to sit a little bit closer to his date. He just felt comfortable around Alistair and already he wanted to be close to him, in a way he rarely wanted to be with an almost-stranger! But then again, was Alistair really an almost-stranger? They had been pretty efficient with their texting, and Kevin felt like he had known Alistair for far longer than a week! Sure, the man still had his secrets and private life, and so did Kevin, but even so, Alistair already felt like a close friend - although more likely one, who could definitely turn into something more.

And oh god, the man was too sweet. Kevin was usually a guy who could be pretty oblivious but by some extreme luck, he actually saw that Alistair had moved his hand closer! Did he want to hold hands? Kevin looked down at their hands first, then back up at his date, before he moved his hand to gently rest on top of Alistair's, before gently wrapping his fingers around it, still sitting with a soft blush on his cheeks. He then returned back to eating - although he did so with only one hand, as he didn't want to let go of the other's hand.

"You know, uhm, I have to get back home to London soon, but I was thinking that maybe - if you want to of course - we could continue doing this? I have a car, so getting here isn't a problem, but-uh, I might need somewhere to stay if we do that, because it's a kinda long ride - not that it's not worth it! And, of course, I can stay over at a hotel if you prefer that, but yeah, uhm, I would really love to go out with you again, if you don't mind the distance and my rambling." It was quite obvious that he was nervous, but it was for a good reason! They hadn't talked a lot about distance, and now that it was established that this was a date-date, he thought it would be a good time to talk about it.

At first, Alistair was certain that it had indeed been way too cliché what he'd said, or that he'd said something he shouldn't, when he noticed that blush, but those worries were put to rest again as soon as he saw the grin, and he smiled softly in return. He really should just learn to relax a little and not over-analyze every single thing... But, well, that was easier said than done. Even on his medication. He really didn't mind how close they were sitting now, either, and the small smile brightened just a little when he felt Kevin's hand take his - as he gave a small, careful squeeze in return. That had, after all, been what he'd wanted to.... He just never dared to take the initiative.

He didn't really notice it himself, but eventually, he wound up looking more at Kevin than he did on the food he was eating, the softest smile there all along. He'd never met another guy this sweet before... Normally, he wasn't the big texter, either, but with Kevin... It had just felt sorta natural? Like, he really wanted to get to know the guy better. And he really hoped he could at least get a really good friend out of this - if not something more. He could definitely see Kevin fit into his future, anyway.

"Oh. Uhm, well, it's really no problem, I-I mean... I have a small terrace house here in town, so it's really no problem to have you stay over! I, well, I also have a garden souhm, if you're too tired to take Buttercup for a walk, there's at least that for her, too..." halfway through his answer he'd started blushing again... Damn. But, well, it was just the thought of having Kevin over that did that... Like, to be alone with him somewhere private. It was that thought that got to him. "... I don't mind anything about you," he suddenly blurted out at the end, and promptly looked off to the other side as his cheeks burned. Oh bugger. I said too much, didn't I? That was way too direct, wasn't it?!

Kevin could feel the small butterflies begin to take flight in his stomach when Alistair agreed they could keep going on dates, and he let out a nervous but also relieved chuckle, as Alistair said he could stay over and told him about his place. He bit his lower lip nervously -still smiling of course! - and nodded as Alistair was talking, moving to sit a tiny bit closer yet again, now sitting so their legs were touching, and Kevin had to turn his body a little more toward his date, so their shoulders weren't awkwardly bumping together. His food was now long forgotten, as he was so much more occupied by Alistair and his endearing smile.

But then the man looked away, and Kevin's smile faded a little bit. Did he think he had done something wrong maybe? He had kinda realised by now that Alistair seemed to think the worst of himself, and Kevin tried to compensate by telling him he was great just the way he was. But this time, maybe he should do something he couldn't do over text? He inhaled deeply and put aside his food, before leaning in to kiss the cheek that Alistair had turned to him, ever so gently. "You're not too shabby either," he muttered while reaching up to Alistair's chin with his free hand, to - once again - gently urge him to look at him. And when he did, Kevin leaned in to place another soft kiss, this time to Alistair's lips. It was sweet, innocent and soft, with no rushing or motives behind it but to calm his date.

It didn't last long though, because soon Kevin was pulling back, with his cheeks now being a lot redder than before, as he looked up at Alistair. "I hope that wasn't too direct," he said, chuckling softly. "I've just... really enjoyed having you the past few weeks, it honestly means the world to me. And if you want, maybe we could go on a few more dates and just... bsee where it takes us?" He was a little hopeful that Alistair was starting to feel something too, and that maybe - just maybe - he wanted to not just keep going on dates but wanted something more too.

Alright, that chuckle was just so damn endearing, though... How on earth had he been lucky enough to stumble upon such a cute guy? And even one that didn't - so far - mind all of his insecurities, all of his awkwardness, his anxiety? Even in his texts, he was sure it'd been clear whenever he was the least bit stressed out by some form of anxiety... And then, of course, the two days where he'd had the 3-4 hour long breaks from texting because of... Well, Ozzie, to be completely honest - as the only deviation from otherwise responding within like... 10 minutes of every text he got. Usually he took like an hour to think about what to send, but he hadn't with Kevin... It just... Seemed so much more natural, all communication with him? Maybe just because he seemed so chill and relaxed.

He didn't mind them sitting this close, not at all... Not with the feelings that were already blooming in his chest. Maybe he was just too quick to get crushes on people, but really... He'd never felt so accepted, so quickly, before... It just felt... Right. So their close proximity made him smile, again... Well, until he looked away, indeed thinking he'd just stepped over some boundary, that he was definitely going too fast with this... But apparently not. He froze in sheer surprise when Kevin kissed his cheek, and just moved with the hand when it steered him to look at Kevin again. Of course, it wasn't really eye contact, but rather looking right between Kevin's eyes instead, but still, that - probably adorable - blush was back... And when their lips met, the angel automatically closed his eyes, and returned it. In reality he had probably wanted to kiss him for the past few minutes, at least, but just not dared take the initiative. And oh boy. Even though it was short, it was still... Yet another perfect thing.

There was no verbal answer, but a gentle headshake, and a small, happy smile. Okay, but Kevin was pretty darn adorable when he blushed, too. "I'd... I'd love that," he finally managed to say, after swallowing a little, his voice just a little thick with emotion. "I.. I mean... I... Yeah, I really like you, so... Souhm... I'd hate for things to... To have to end." he said, looking down at their hands and giving Kevin's another soft squeeze. "I've... Enjoyed the past week way more than... Well, sorta all of my life up until now, I think..." he said, pretty brutally honest. Because he really couldn't think of any time he'd enjoyed himself as much as he had in this small time he'd known Kevin.