Eliot

[fawnthefae]

 Fin was supposed to be taking him to meet a friend, but when he'd gotten a job at the last minute, he'd insisted Fawn Go without him.

"Eliot's nice," his brother had said. "You'll like him, Fawn. Trust me."

And so Fawn had set off to the bar. It was nearly closing time and he moved through the dwindling crowd, heading towards the bar. He was the spitting image of Fin, a bit slighter, his hair much longer. He also dressed far more casually than Fin, favouring tunics over robes.

Nervous, he took a seat at the bar and looked around.

Comments

[eliot_thespectacular]

"Oh! Well..." Eliot considered this for a moment. "Christians, hell, or Christmas trees?"

[fawnthefae]

"...Yes," Fawn replied, since he knew nothing of any of those things. "...But especially the trees. I like trees."

[eliot_thespectacular]

"I'll start with that then," Eliot said with a smile. "Because I like them, too. You know trees that are green all year round and shaped like this?" He gestured with his hands. "There's a religious holiday where everyone decorates a tree like that with shiny baubles and lights and then put presents under it all brightly wrapped and then you open them together. And it honestly has nothing to do with the religious thing it's supposed to celebrate, it's just an excuse for presents and lights."

[fawnthefae]

"Sounds bright. ...Um, pretty," Fawn smiled. "Will they do that on the ship? I'd like bright trees to look at, I think."

[eliot_thespectacular]

“I… don’t know actually,” Eliot said. “But with so many of the crew from earth I’m guessing a lot of people celebrate Christmas. So maybe! And like I said I do like trees. And you said your celebration is soon?”

[fawnthefae]

"Yes, I think. Time is hard to track here," Fawn admitted.

[eliot_thespectacular]

"How do you think it might go here?" Eliot asked. He thought it better to shift the conversation back to Fawn rather than going more into Christianity, or hell. That was not exactly a topic of conversation suitable for a first date - not that that was what this was, but even a first friend date.

[fawnthefae]

"Well, usually we make the drinks, and then all drink, with friends and kin, and it's a party. But, um, here it might have to be more private, I guess," Fawn admitted, wilting a little.

[eliot_thespectacular]

"It can be nice to be with friends," Eliot said pleasantly. He missed Margo so much.

He leaned over and sniffed at a flower he recognized, and gestured to Fawn. "Here, smell this. It's lilac."

[fawnthefae]

Fawn moved closer, sniffing curiously and smiling.

"It smells like the nice bath things Fin get... I mean, um, got. He was given them, but I sometimes borrow," he admitted with an impish grin.

[eliot_thespectacular]

"As well you should," said Eliot. "I am very fond of smelling good. Here, can you tell?" He tilted his head and gestured for Fawn to have a sniff of his neck. He had a light cologne that smelled of black tea and lavender.

[fawnthefae]

Fawn leaned in and sniffed.

"That is very pretty," he smiled, letting his own scent free in return- Not really thinking about the effect it had on humans.

[eliot_thespectacular]

"Thank you," said Eliot softly, and suddenly found himself exceedingly charmed by that smile. "You smell good, too. I think I'd just as soon spend time with you than the flowers."

He was flirting. It wasn't strange that he should be attracted to Fawn, right? After all, he'd been attracted to Fin and they were twins. And they were different, certainly, but it wasn't as if Eliot had known Fin that long or that well...

[fawnthefae]

Fawn looked touched by that, and smiled even brighter.

"We can be flowers ourselves, blooming," he decided. Kissed by light, fed by earth."

[eliot_thespectacular]

"You certainly could," Eliot teased. "What a beautiful smile. Kissed by light indeed."

[fawnthefae]

Fawn went a bit pink at that, ducking his head.

"You say nice things," he replied quietly, a tiny smile on his lips.

[eliot_thespectacular]

"Oh, well um." Eliot wasn't entirely sure how to respond to that. "I think you're very nice."

[fawnthefae]

Fawn made a happy sound, almost birdlike and very sharp.

"I am nice," he agreed, oblivious to the fact that wasn't how he ought to respond.

[eliot_thespectacular]

"Nice and also terribly pretty," Eliot said. "Like the flowers." And then leaned in and kissed Fawn's cheek.

[fawnthefae]

Fawn looked startled, then blushed again. John was the only person he'd ever really kissed or been kissed by, and he still wasn't sure he knew how to react to such things.

"I... Thank you," he said, stumbling over his words a little.

[eliot_thespectacular]

Eliot immediately got a little flustered at Fawn's reaction. "I'm sorry," he said immediately. "I was just - is it okay that I was flirting? I can... not."

[fawnthefae]

"I- No, it's fine. I just- I don't kiss much," he admitted awkwardly. "There is John, and we kiss often, but... Well... Um, mostly it's just been him. I do not indulge like my brother."

[eliot_thespectacular]

The choice of the word "indulge" Eliot actually found kind of charming, given what he knew about Fin. Even if Fin hadn't wanted to indulge with him. Well. It was complicated, clearly.

"Oh, you ah, have a boyfriend?" Eliot asked, trying his very best to simply sound curious and not awkward.

[fawnthefae]

"Yes, he is male and we are friends," Fawn said looking pleased that he knew that boy and male were similar things. "He wishes to wed me, but Fin doesn't think I should, and... Well..."

Fawn paused, trying to form his feelings into words Eliot would know, aware his own language was obscure.

"At first that was... Big happy. Exciting, yes? Then- Velofess. ....Um- Like when your stomach is bubbles? But bad ones. Bad bubbles. I felt scared. I like John, he is kind to me, but I am free. I'm wild, as Fin says."

[eliot_thespectacular]

It took Eliot a moment to even translate all of that to consider how to respond, which wasn't entirely clear anyway. One thing he didn't want to do was try to define boyfriend, because well, labels sucked anyway. And "he wishes to wed me" seemed pretty clear. Well, so much for was this a date. He might have wondered why Fin failed to mention that his brother too was unavailable, but then... why did he even think this was a setup in the first place?

But then again, what about all that "I am free" stuff? So much for knowing how to respond.

"Commitment can be really scary," he finally settled on. That seemed like a good response.