A couple more little birthday stories...
“So when you say ‘would you like to have a bite to eat’, that entails...?”
“Eating.”
“Just eating?”
“It’s not uncommon to drink while eating. I, myself, find that food goes down a bit more smoothly with some fluid, though if we have soup we might be able to do without.”
“So just... eating and drinking?”
“Well. If there’s time between swallows, I wouldn’t mind a bit of conversation getting edged in. At a bare minimum, there’s the requirement of ordering food, you know. Unless I cooked, in which case we could do the whole thing in total silence if you wanted.”
“The whole...thing?”
“Yes. The eating. And the drinking. Unless you want soup, in which case, to reiterate, we could manage with just eating. Although I suppose even then we can’t just eat, because there’s a matter of sitting. Or if that’s too much, standing. And breathing tends to be an irritating necessity. And-“
“...”
“Wow.”
“Wow?”
“Yeah. Definitely wow.”
“Good wow?”
“No.”
“Oh-uh. Sorry, then. I’ll just-“
“No! No, I didn’t mean it like that. I mean not good wow, great wow. Amazing wow. Unbelievable wow.”
“Oh! Okay. So. That was kind of my question.”
“Um. I-maybe my brain got a little fried in there. But could you...rephrase?”
“Okay.... When you invite me to eat-is it a date?”
“From the much-better-than-good-really-amazingly-fantastic kiss, I’m guessing that a date isn’t entirely out of the question?”
“Just answer the question.”
“Well. I mean. It’s not a dried plum that helps regulate the bowels.”
“Dammit-“
“You asked.”
“Right! And you knew what I was asking. So would you stop dancing around the damn question and answer it?”
“Yes.”
“Okay.... So answer.”
“I did!”
“Fruit jokes are not-“
“Not that! I said yes!”
“You said yes you’d answer-oh. You said yes it was a date?”
“Well. No. I just said yes.”
“Jason....”
“Yes, okay?”
“Okay. So. Food. Drink. Conversation. Anything else?”
“Well. That was all I was actually asking for.”
“Hm.”
“Hm?”
“Yes.”
“I was less verifying that you were, indeed, saying ‘hm’, and more wondering as to the meaning of the ‘hm’.”
“The ‘hm’ indicated thought. And the ‘yes’ was not intended as verification.”
“Oh. Then, uh. What was the ‘yes’ meaning?”
“It was intended to answer your question.”
“Uh. Which question was that again?”
“The one where you asked me out to eat.”
And the second, a birthday gift from the future of Time Cut.
He worked furiously at the exam, filling in bubbles carefully and thoroughly. Finishing it with nearly fifteen minutes to spare, he flipped to the start of the booklet, and started checking his work-and found the questions were in a completely different order. Frantically, he started over, erasing wrong answers to replace them with right, glancing fearfully up at the clock, the second hand of which was sweeping around far faster than it should be-
“Hey.”
He couldn’t afford the time to wonder why Wally was in his biochemistry course, he had to finish the test, and-
“Hey, Robin. You awake?”
He shook off the hand on his shoulder and bit his lip, working faster, then gasped as something warm and wet touched his ear, jerking in shock and eyes flashing open-which was weird, because they’d already been open. And it was darker now than it had been before...
“You awake, Robin?”
“Did you just put your tongue in my ear?” he demanded woozily, squinting to make out his boyfriend in the gloom.
“Oh good, you’re awake.”
“I’m awake because you were sucking at my ear wax!”
“I was not sucking. You would know if I was sucking,” Wally replied with a lascivious grin. “Besides, why should you get all the ear-fun?”
Robin tried to glare at him, but kinda suspected it didn’t turn out too well. “I do not stick my tongue down your ear. I occasionally nibble on your lobes. And if you didn’t want me to, you should stop wearing earrings. And you should really stop decorating said earrings with spicy candy.”
He could feel Wally’s grin as the larger boy nuzzled his shoulder. “Who said anything about stopping?”
“Why did you wake me up at-- What time is it?”
“Eleven fifty-nine.”
“And why. did you wake me up at eleven fifty-nine?”
“So that when the clock-there. Happy Birthday, Robin! Wanna go out drinking now that it’s legal?”
“No!”
Warm arms wrapped around him, and he let Wally roll him onto his side, pulling them chest to chest and nose to nose, arms warm and comfortingly heavy on his shoulders. “Didn’t think so. Okay, then. How ‘bout we cuddle till you go back to sleep then? That way, I can give you another birthday wakeup in the morning.”
“Eating.”
“Just eating?”
“It’s not uncommon to drink while eating. I, myself, find that food goes down a bit more smoothly with some fluid, though if we have soup we might be able to do without.”
“So just... eating and drinking?”
“Well. If there’s time between swallows, I wouldn’t mind a bit of conversation getting edged in. At a bare minimum, there’s the requirement of ordering food, you know. Unless I cooked, in which case we could do the whole thing in total silence if you wanted.”
“The whole...thing?”
“Yes. The eating. And the drinking. Unless you want soup, in which case, to reiterate, we could manage with just eating. Although I suppose even then we can’t just eat, because there’s a matter of sitting. Or if that’s too much, standing. And breathing tends to be an irritating necessity. And-“
“...”
“Wow.”
“Wow?”
“Yeah. Definitely wow.”
“Good wow?”
“No.”
“Oh-uh. Sorry, then. I’ll just-“
“No! No, I didn’t mean it like that. I mean not good wow, great wow. Amazing wow. Unbelievable wow.”
“Oh! Okay. So. That was kind of my question.”
“Um. I-maybe my brain got a little fried in there. But could you...rephrase?”
“Okay.... When you invite me to eat-is it a date?”
“From the much-better-than-good-really-amazingly-fantastic kiss, I’m guessing that a date isn’t entirely out of the question?”
“Just answer the question.”
“Well. I mean. It’s not a dried plum that helps regulate the bowels.”
“Dammit-“
“You asked.”
“Right! And you knew what I was asking. So would you stop dancing around the damn question and answer it?”
“Yes.”
“Okay.... So answer.”
“I did!”
“Fruit jokes are not-“
“Not that! I said yes!”
“You said yes you’d answer-oh. You said yes it was a date?”
“Well. No. I just said yes.”
“Jason....”
“Yes, okay?”
“Okay. So. Food. Drink. Conversation. Anything else?”
“Well. That was all I was actually asking for.”
“Hm.”
“Hm?”
“Yes.”
“I was less verifying that you were, indeed, saying ‘hm’, and more wondering as to the meaning of the ‘hm’.”
“The ‘hm’ indicated thought. And the ‘yes’ was not intended as verification.”
“Oh. Then, uh. What was the ‘yes’ meaning?”
“It was intended to answer your question.”
“Uh. Which question was that again?”
“The one where you asked me out to eat.”
And the second, a birthday gift from the future of Time Cut.
He worked furiously at the exam, filling in bubbles carefully and thoroughly. Finishing it with nearly fifteen minutes to spare, he flipped to the start of the booklet, and started checking his work-and found the questions were in a completely different order. Frantically, he started over, erasing wrong answers to replace them with right, glancing fearfully up at the clock, the second hand of which was sweeping around far faster than it should be-
“Hey.”
He couldn’t afford the time to wonder why Wally was in his biochemistry course, he had to finish the test, and-
“Hey, Robin. You awake?”
He shook off the hand on his shoulder and bit his lip, working faster, then gasped as something warm and wet touched his ear, jerking in shock and eyes flashing open-which was weird, because they’d already been open. And it was darker now than it had been before...
“You awake, Robin?”
“Did you just put your tongue in my ear?” he demanded woozily, squinting to make out his boyfriend in the gloom.
“Oh good, you’re awake.”
“I’m awake because you were sucking at my ear wax!”
“I was not sucking. You would know if I was sucking,” Wally replied with a lascivious grin. “Besides, why should you get all the ear-fun?”
Robin tried to glare at him, but kinda suspected it didn’t turn out too well. “I do not stick my tongue down your ear. I occasionally nibble on your lobes. And if you didn’t want me to, you should stop wearing earrings. And you should really stop decorating said earrings with spicy candy.”
He could feel Wally’s grin as the larger boy nuzzled his shoulder. “Who said anything about stopping?”
“Why did you wake me up at-- What time is it?”
“Eleven fifty-nine.”
“And why. did you wake me up at eleven fifty-nine?”
“So that when the clock-there. Happy Birthday, Robin! Wanna go out drinking now that it’s legal?”
“No!”
Warm arms wrapped around him, and he let Wally roll him onto his side, pulling them chest to chest and nose to nose, arms warm and comfortingly heavy on his shoulders. “Didn’t think so. Okay, then. How ‘bout we cuddle till you go back to sleep then? That way, I can give you another birthday wakeup in the morning.”