[FIN] Impromptu Date

[insidiousEnigma]

Andre stared at the menu board like he was making the most difficult decision of his life.

Nibbling on his bottom lip and holding Akira’s hand in his left, he finally heaved a sigh. “Alright.” He glanced at the menu once more. “I’ll have a large chocolate dipped waffle cone with chocolate brownie and mint ice-cream. I want the stacking order to be chocolate, mint, chocolate.” He demonstrated with his free hand, bottom to top. “Then I’d like chocolate sauce, whipped cream, and a cherry on top.”

The girl behind the counter looked a little flustered, but he was used to that. “Actually, make that four cherries.” He smiled over at Akira. “And whatever he would like as well.”  

[Akira Midoriyama]

Akira stared at their hands, really unable to concentrate or think about anything else while Andre was holding his. It was becoming disturbingly clear just what kind of effect the other man had on him because although he expected to get used to it after maybe an hour, his heart rate was still a lot higher than normal. With his mouth as dry as it was and his body heating up like he had a fever, ice cream seemed really good about then, but he didn’t dare have any of the sugary dessert. Once he had a taste, he knew, his self-control would be out the window. As if he didn’t have enough to worry about trying to keep in Andre’s good graces.

“Heh...you know exactly what you want, don’t you?” the trainer noted, amused at the detail with which the older man recited his order. “Even the order with which they’re stacked? Is that a usual order of yours or do you change it up depending on what you feel like having at the time?”

Watching him gesture while he spoke, Akira smirked at Andre. What a mystery. He seemed so mature and elegant, but when it came to ice cream, it was like he had the appetite of a kid. Not that Akira could talk, but that hadn’t been his fault. He hadn’t discovered the true joys of ice cream (or the marvelous recipe of root beer floats) until high school. He wondered if Andre had had a similar experience.

Glancing at the girl behind the counter, he realized she looked like he felt around Andre almost all the time and he felt sorry for her. “Uh, please don’t worry about me,” he told her with a smile, waving his free hand. “I think I’ll get full just watching him trying to finish that. I’d love to see where he tries to put it all.” Nevertheless, he brought out his wallet to pay for the elaborate order. The girl deserved a large tip if she was going to fulfill something like that.  

[insidiousEnigma]

“I have a couple of favourites that I rotate through.” Andre said blithely as he snagged a rice crispy treat, a cookie, and a handful of pokemon treats to set on the counter as well. He looked almost bored while doing so but grabbed another handful of treats to join the rest. “I do like trying their new flavours though, cherry bordeaux is easily my favourite ice-cream now that they’ve introduced it.”

The man scoffed lightly at Akira’s skepticism, “Everyone always seems to wonder about my eating habits.” He shrugged as he fished out his own wallet to hand a twenty over for the extra snacks, leaving Akira to pay for the rest. “It’s not as if ice-cream is all that filling.” He most certainly wasn’t pouting.

The girl behind the counter giggled as she bagged the extra treats and handed over his mountain of an ice-cream cone, keeping her gaze averted but flushing at the bright smile she received. “Thank you very much, it looks delicious.” He nodded his head a bit before taking up his bag and promptly beginning to work on his treat.  

[Akira Midoriyama]

“I see,” Akira remarked, thoroughly amused as he watched Andre make his additional selections and pay the girl at the counter for them. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

Smiling awkwardly with a dazed sort of look on his face, Akira leaned back and watched Andre begin to eat his ice cream. "Can you blame them with your figure? It might not be filling, but there's still health issues involved. There's a reason it's not part of the typical food pyramid."

Handing over the appropriate amount for the payment of the ice cream, he replaced his wallet and smirked at the girl’s giggling, shaking his head. Andre must have gotten this sort of reaction from people wherever he went. Honestly, since he himself didn’t act much different, what made Andre keep calling him cute? Maybe he just didn’t bother telling her aloud like her told Akira, but he thought the girl at the counter to be just as cute.  

[insidiousEnigma]

Humming happily, Andre licked at the cone as he tugged Akira over towards a small table in the corner of the parlor. He set the bag neatly on the table, pushing into towards the wall to ensure there was enough room. “You’re sure you don’t want something?” He asked, chasing a stray drop of melting ice-cream with his tongue.

Not that he was self conscious about being the only one eating, but he had a feeling that Akira was holding back for some silly reason...much like he did for a lot of things. The trainer plucked a cherry from the top of his ice-cream and popping it into his mouth, chewing slowly with a small smile as the flavour spread over his tongue. “Or you can have some of mine, if you’d like.”  

[Akira Midoriyama]

Akira nodded with a contented smile. “I’m fine, thank you. I, uh...I don’t do so well with sugar.” Unable to restrain his curiosity any longer, he decided to mention what was on his mind. “My family didn’t think a lot of things were suitable or necessary for children of our background. Cookies, ice cream, soda, and things of that nature. Um...you didn't have any restrictions of that kind when you were younger, did you?" With grandparents who made him wear such horrid headgear, he might have. Also, it would have explained why Andre had such a sweet tooth now.

His cheeks burned at the sight of the other man plucking the cherry and popping it into his mouth. Akira's own mouth pursed in mild annoyance. He better not have been doing that on purpose. "No thank you. It would kind of ruin the point of paying you back if I had some as well."  

[insidiousEnigma]

Ah, that explained quite a few things.

“No, I didn’t have to worry about those sorts of things until I was about fourteen.” He cocked his head thoughtfully, thinking back to when he was younger. “When I was very young my parents didn’t have a lot of money...but my mother would bring me candies and pastries whenever she could.” He stared off into space, his gaze distant but vaguely fond. “She liked sweets too, we’d split them when we’d walk through the park.”

He remained silent for a few moments, absently eating his ice-cream before he shook his head a bit and gave a wry smile. “My grandparents were much like your parents though. If we went out I was only allowed dessert if it was offered and only in small amounts and they never kept anything good in the house...at least when I went to live there permanently. When I visited when I was young they would have treats.” He shrugged lightly before tossing another cherry into his mouth.

Slowly but surely the ice-cream started disappearing under the others greedy tongue. “But I don’t care about you paying me back.” He groused, licking very pointedly. “If you want some, have some.”  

[Akira Midoriyama]

“Oh, yes...I forgot you were like Ryuuzaki,” he murmured, watching the expression on Andre’s face change. “Your parents weren’t the wealthy ones, but your grandparents were, right?” It was strange how there could be such a drastic difference in financial status between members of the same family, but Akira supposed that if Andre’s grandparents were miserly, they might have not considered their child or children fit to share their wealthy with. “That must have been quite a change between the lifestyle you had with your parents and the one you had with your grandparents.”

His features became solemn. “It almost feels like those with less can appreciate the things and people in their lives more than those who have a great deal and take it all for granted.” Glancing back at the ice cream, he asked, “Do sweets remind you of your mother, then, since you used to share them together?”

Akira gave Andre a peculiar look at the way the man worded his offer. "This may be news to you, Mr. Perfect, but people generally don’t just go around taking whatever they want without consequences. Thank you for the offer, though. Even if you don’t care about me paying you back, I do. It’s a matter of pride. Surely you must understand that."  

[insidiousEnigma]

“Ryuuzaki?” He questioned, unfamiliar with the name. It was probably someone from Akira’s past but he couldn’t help feel like he was missing out on something...and he hated that feeling. “Going from parents that let you do whatever you want to grandparents that are very strict and watchful was more of a shock than the difference in money.”

He remembered how furious he had been when his grandparents wouldn’t let him out of the manor the first few weeks after he’d arrived. How much he had struggled to patiently bide his time until his grandmother finally gave him permission…

“Hm...I hadn’t ever thought of it before.” He sucked a bit of whipped cream from his finger before shrugging. “I suppose my love of sweets could have something to do with my mother.” He so rarely thought of her; kept pushed to the back of his mind. “My love of sweets certainly started with her, though.”

He took a large bite of the waffle cone now that he had reached it, chewed thoughtfully, swallowed, and then nodded. “I can understand that.” He said, tone sounding vaguely...uncertain. Pride was a silly thing to get hung up over. If someone didn’t want to be repaid why waste the effort?  

[Akira Midoriyama]

"Oh, uh...my...ex...best friend," he said gradually, trying to think of how best to describe the individual he was referring to. "I met him in high school and was fascinated by how different he was from everyone else because he'd been raised a commoner before he came into money. It was only later I found out that his grandparents had been the wealthy ones and when he went to live with them, they taught him the tips and tricks of upper-class society such as how to be manipulative to get ahead." He shrugged. "He must have excelled at it, too, because he had me fooled for a long time."

"...Or maybe I just have awful taste in men," he continued, his gaze raising to rest on Andre. "You remind me an awful lot of him. Only worse." And by 'worse' he meant more dangerously irresistible. But either Andre would realize that or he didn't need to know.

"Ah...they let you do whatever you want?" Akira asked, shocked at the mere concept. He had been under the impression that parents existed precisely to prevent one from doing whatever they wanted. "Actually...I was thinking about the money as well, but mostly about how your parents were compared to how your grandparents were. Not necessarily with how much they let you do, but...how much affection they showed you, I suppose? Like it doesn't sound like your grandparents would have ever done what your mother did."

It surprised him that Andre hadn’t wondered about his love of sweets having to do with his mother. Akira was constantly reminded of how his older sister had started his love of music, so he automatically thought of her any time he composed music or heard a song he especially enjoyed.

“Do you? You don’t sound like it,” he answered, somewhat amused by the uncertainty of Andre’s reply.  

[insidiousEnigma]

Andre smiled behind the cone at Akira’s little quip. He was most assuredly worse than this Ryuuzaki...but he wasn’t sure if the other knew to what extent. He simply made a soft noise of understanding, but otherwise didn’t comment.

“Affection?” His eyebrows furrowed ever so slightly. “When I was young my parents were very attentive. My father was a little distant but as I was told by my Aunt, that had much to do with how he was raised.” He couldn’t blame his father for not knowing how to be affectionate when he knew what his grandparents were like. “But my mother was always there.” He said fondly before frowning lightly. “As I grew older though they became more and more distant, by the time Zacharie was born I saw them maybe three times a week...and that even stopped after they hired a nanny.”

It had been a fairly confusing time for him. He had missed his mother deeply but at the same time he had started to notice just how detached he as becoming, how little he really cared about most things. “So I suppose I was used to it by the time I left for Grande Isle.”

He shrugged and then laughed. “I'm fairly certain I understand what you mean.”  

[Akira Midoriyama]

“Ah...your father sounds like my mother,” he commented thoughtfully. “But...why did they get more distant, if you don’t mind me asking? Do you know or did you just not see them after a while?” Frowning, he added, “I would have thought that with a new, second child they would have found more reason to be parental; not hire someone to raise their kid for them Is...that why you left?"  

[insidiousEnigma]

“They were progressing in their field,” Andre said, tone matter-of-fact. “They were finally making money and doing what they wanted and I suppose they just...forgot about me...us, rather.” He thought of those brief few weeks after they had brought Zacharie home.

He hadn't even known his mother was pregnant.

“I don't resent them for leaving me...but I could never forgive them for what they did to Zacharie.” He shook his head before falling silent to finish off his ice-cream, licking his fingers clean once the last bite had been popped into his mouth. “Mmn…” He puzzled over what to tell Akira as he stared out the window across the room. “I was going to take Zacharie and go stay with our grandparents...only they caught me before I could leave and I had to leave him behind.”  

[Akira Midoriyama]

“I see,” Akira replied, studying the pattern of the waffle cone that Andre was eating. “I’m...so sorry to hear that. Whether or not it’s true, it’s not fair that they allowed their own child to feel that way.” Propping his elbow up on the table, he rested his chin in his palm. “Maybe they wanted to be more successful so that they could better support you and your brother. Did you think of it that way?

“I hear that parents with full-time jobs often regret not being able to spend time with their kids, but if yours were poorer and then suddenly had the opportunity to make more money so you could have a better future, wouldn’t they? It might have just been a different form of their love, since not everyone speaks the same love languages.”

His brows furrowed at the mention of having to leave Zacharie behind. “That’s odd...if you were caught, why would they allow you to go if you had to leave your brother behind? Wouldn’t they have normally tried to keep you both?”

Leaning closer to Andre, he smirked and licked his lips. “You know, after watching you eat that, maybe I am craving a little taste."  

[insidiousEnigma]

“That's what my mother would tell me.” Andre nodded, clasping his hands together but grimacing when they stuck together with residual sugar. “The way they acted didn't bother me too much.” Which was true. “I just…” He trailed off. How did one explain the situation? “Perhaps when you meet Zacharie you could talk to him about it.” He said after a while with a slight shrug and a small frown. “We had very, very different experiences with our parents.”

And with that he dropped the subject; besides this new opportunity was much more interesting.

He smiled lightly, an eyebrow raised. “Oh really?” He gave a soft huff of a laugh and leaned forward as well. “Please, feel free.”