original: "In All the Universe" (slash)
The promised follow-up to A Truly Blind Date (although of course, it can stand alone). It is not the first date, but I liked this better. Enjoy!
Summary: Taish and Ros may not have very much in common, but they definitely have simlar feelings when it comes to appearing in high society. And maybe a few other things.
Taish paused to straighten his hair in his locker mirror. Lees snorted, leaned over from where he was stashing his suit and pulling on his civvies and ruffled his friend’s hair with one of his big hands. Taish scowled.
Lees just laughed. “You know, you could go in suited up and he’d still think you looked great,” the large man commented.
Taish put on his glasses and flipped through the handful of shirts and ties and vests he’d hung in his locker before suiting up for work that morning. “Right,” he said, “and I’m sure that’d go over just as well with the rest of the A Deck.” He caught a glimpse of his face in the small mirror and sighed.
He was nervous. It showed. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes and let it out slowly.
His old friend was right. Ros wasn’t going to care what he wore. Probably. Maybe. They’d had a great time at dinner the other night. They’d talked for hours, gotten to know each other better than they’d managed to do in the year they’d been living together. It had felt very casual and... friendly. But tonight, Ros was taking him to Atmosphere-the fanciest, most famous restaurant on the Station. And, as such, the most famous restaurant in all of humankind. Presidents-hell, kings-dined at Atmosphere when they came to the Station.
“Oh, God,” he muttered. “I am terrified.”
Lees grinned, startling the slender engineer out of his musings with a heavy clap on the shoulder. “You should be excited!” he said, reaching past Taish to invade the privacy of his locker. He pulled out a simple, dark blue dress shirt and red tie and held them against Taish’s chest. “I haven’t even been on A Deck since commencement,” he continued, swapping the tie for a silver one. “It’s like one big, classy party up there all the time.”
Taish stared blankly at his friend. Eventually the big man noticed, meeting his gaze steadily. He offered the shirt and tie silently. Taish took another slow, deep breath before taking the shirt off its hanger and carefully pulling it on over his undershirt.
“Taish,” Lees said softly. He waited for Taish to look up before he continued. “He really likes you. Honestly, I don’t know what you were thinking trying to set us up,” he held up a hand to stop Taish’s reasoning before he could even open his mouth (they’d had this conversation yesterday. And the day before). “You don’t have anything to worry about. Just be yourself, and have fun.”
Be himself. Yeah. Taish supposed he could do that. “Have fun,” he muttered, drawing his suit jacket over his shoulders and tugging it nervously into place. “Right.” Lees shoved him gently towards the door, snapping his locker closed for him. Taish gulped. The door slid open smoothly (the engineer hopefully took that as an omen), and he headed purposefully for the A tram.
-
Ros had no idea what he’d been thinking. He tugged at the points of his vest nervously, barely resisting the compulsion to draw his grandfather’s pocket watch from it for the sixth time in half as many minutes. This was a second date. He ought to have stuck with something simple. Drinks. A movie. Anything but the A Deck. Hell, even the tram here was fancy; it was like a string of nothing but first-class dining cars and it moved twice as fast as any other tram on the Station.
But Ros had chosen Atmosphere. And really, if he thought about it, he knew why.
He’d been living with Taish for close to a year. The engineer worked long hours in the C Deck labs and outside the Station. Ros worked similar hours programming, either for work in his office or at home for entertainment. He liked programming. One of his side projects was actually what had gotten him noticed enough Earthside to be accepted into the selective staff of the Station. But all that time behind a desk meant he didn’t get out much.
He liked Taish. They’d gotten along. But it wasn’t until that ride home on the tram earlier that week that Ros had noticed all the subtle signs he’d been missing. He’d nearly made a scene banging his head on a handrail when he realized how dense he’d been.
Ros hadn’t really been with anyone for... well, longer than he liked to admit. He made the excuse that he was out of practice. But now that he’d started paying attention, and he’d been spending more time with Taish, he realized that he was truly enamored of the engineer. He wanted to be with Taish all the time, he wanted to cherish the other man. And he wanted Taish to know how special he was, how much Ros felt he’d been missing all these months.
Hence A Deck. Hence Atmosphere. Hence the nerve-wracking wait, sweaty palms and desperate hoping that he’d dressed appropriately.
For the third time since Ros had arrived, the tram sped noiselessly up the tube and slowed to a stop at the A Deck platform. For the third time since he’d arrived, Ros’s heart sped up as he watched the few handfuls of finely-dressed men and women disembark.
But this time, his heart stopped.
Taish looked... jaw-droppingly, heart-stoppingly, drool-worthily stunning. Even though his date wore a relatively plain black, well-tailored suit and tie, Ros felt underdressed as Taish approached him, adjusting his glasses on his nose and blinking perhaps a bit more often than necessary.
“Erm. Hi.”
Ros broke into a grin. “Good evening,” he replied, nervousness crushed beneath his bravado and exaggerated theatrics. “What’s a handsome gent like you doing in a pit like this?” He offered the slender engineer an arm, turning slightly towards the Promenade that led to Atmosphere.
Taish returned the smile and placed his hand on Ros’s arm graciously. “I occasionally lower myself to the level of the commonwealth,” he quipped. “You should consider yourself privileged.”
Ros’s grin softened. He glanced up at the stars through the glass ceiling of the Promenade, Earth glowing brilliantly below them. He looked back down at the man on his arm. “I do,” he said. “I certainly do.”
Summary: Taish and Ros may not have very much in common, but they definitely have simlar feelings when it comes to appearing in high society. And maybe a few other things.
Taish paused to straighten his hair in his locker mirror. Lees snorted, leaned over from where he was stashing his suit and pulling on his civvies and ruffled his friend’s hair with one of his big hands. Taish scowled.
Lees just laughed. “You know, you could go in suited up and he’d still think you looked great,” the large man commented.
Taish put on his glasses and flipped through the handful of shirts and ties and vests he’d hung in his locker before suiting up for work that morning. “Right,” he said, “and I’m sure that’d go over just as well with the rest of the A Deck.” He caught a glimpse of his face in the small mirror and sighed.
He was nervous. It showed. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes and let it out slowly.
His old friend was right. Ros wasn’t going to care what he wore. Probably. Maybe. They’d had a great time at dinner the other night. They’d talked for hours, gotten to know each other better than they’d managed to do in the year they’d been living together. It had felt very casual and... friendly. But tonight, Ros was taking him to Atmosphere-the fanciest, most famous restaurant on the Station. And, as such, the most famous restaurant in all of humankind. Presidents-hell, kings-dined at Atmosphere when they came to the Station.
“Oh, God,” he muttered. “I am terrified.”
Lees grinned, startling the slender engineer out of his musings with a heavy clap on the shoulder. “You should be excited!” he said, reaching past Taish to invade the privacy of his locker. He pulled out a simple, dark blue dress shirt and red tie and held them against Taish’s chest. “I haven’t even been on A Deck since commencement,” he continued, swapping the tie for a silver one. “It’s like one big, classy party up there all the time.”
Taish stared blankly at his friend. Eventually the big man noticed, meeting his gaze steadily. He offered the shirt and tie silently. Taish took another slow, deep breath before taking the shirt off its hanger and carefully pulling it on over his undershirt.
“Taish,” Lees said softly. He waited for Taish to look up before he continued. “He really likes you. Honestly, I don’t know what you were thinking trying to set us up,” he held up a hand to stop Taish’s reasoning before he could even open his mouth (they’d had this conversation yesterday. And the day before). “You don’t have anything to worry about. Just be yourself, and have fun.”
Be himself. Yeah. Taish supposed he could do that. “Have fun,” he muttered, drawing his suit jacket over his shoulders and tugging it nervously into place. “Right.” Lees shoved him gently towards the door, snapping his locker closed for him. Taish gulped. The door slid open smoothly (the engineer hopefully took that as an omen), and he headed purposefully for the A tram.
-
Ros had no idea what he’d been thinking. He tugged at the points of his vest nervously, barely resisting the compulsion to draw his grandfather’s pocket watch from it for the sixth time in half as many minutes. This was a second date. He ought to have stuck with something simple. Drinks. A movie. Anything but the A Deck. Hell, even the tram here was fancy; it was like a string of nothing but first-class dining cars and it moved twice as fast as any other tram on the Station.
But Ros had chosen Atmosphere. And really, if he thought about it, he knew why.
He’d been living with Taish for close to a year. The engineer worked long hours in the C Deck labs and outside the Station. Ros worked similar hours programming, either for work in his office or at home for entertainment. He liked programming. One of his side projects was actually what had gotten him noticed enough Earthside to be accepted into the selective staff of the Station. But all that time behind a desk meant he didn’t get out much.
He liked Taish. They’d gotten along. But it wasn’t until that ride home on the tram earlier that week that Ros had noticed all the subtle signs he’d been missing. He’d nearly made a scene banging his head on a handrail when he realized how dense he’d been.
Ros hadn’t really been with anyone for... well, longer than he liked to admit. He made the excuse that he was out of practice. But now that he’d started paying attention, and he’d been spending more time with Taish, he realized that he was truly enamored of the engineer. He wanted to be with Taish all the time, he wanted to cherish the other man. And he wanted Taish to know how special he was, how much Ros felt he’d been missing all these months.
Hence A Deck. Hence Atmosphere. Hence the nerve-wracking wait, sweaty palms and desperate hoping that he’d dressed appropriately.
For the third time since Ros had arrived, the tram sped noiselessly up the tube and slowed to a stop at the A Deck platform. For the third time since he’d arrived, Ros’s heart sped up as he watched the few handfuls of finely-dressed men and women disembark.
But this time, his heart stopped.
Taish looked... jaw-droppingly, heart-stoppingly, drool-worthily stunning. Even though his date wore a relatively plain black, well-tailored suit and tie, Ros felt underdressed as Taish approached him, adjusting his glasses on his nose and blinking perhaps a bit more often than necessary.
“Erm. Hi.”
Ros broke into a grin. “Good evening,” he replied, nervousness crushed beneath his bravado and exaggerated theatrics. “What’s a handsome gent like you doing in a pit like this?” He offered the slender engineer an arm, turning slightly towards the Promenade that led to Atmosphere.
Taish returned the smile and placed his hand on Ros’s arm graciously. “I occasionally lower myself to the level of the commonwealth,” he quipped. “You should consider yourself privileged.”
Ros’s grin softened. He glanced up at the stars through the glass ceiling of the Promenade, Earth glowing brilliantly below them. He looked back down at the man on his arm. “I do,” he said. “I certainly do.”