|
  |
They've signed the lease and moved in though only the bedrooms are furnished to one degree or another and a couch and table in the living room for them to sit on. Teddy comes out of the bathroom with just a towel wrapped around his waist. Hair still damp and with some drops of water still on him, he's squeaky clean from the shower as he walks into the kitchen to open the fridge.
*
Billy stares. He can't not stare. He stares *hard* because that's one tall glass of lemonade right there and he's *thirsty* all of a sudden. He might even lick his lips a little bit. It might be that Billy has a thing for blond jocks. In general and in specific. But he didn't really expect a damp and shiny one to walk around with NO CLOTHES ON. He coughs, "How's the hot water? Not sure if the water heater is good or bad, these kinds of things you never can really know until you actually try it out… I'm planning on making cheeseburger macaroni if you want. Its like one of three things I can cook that don't make you barf."
*
Teddy looks over at Billy then grins. "Oh, it works great. Didn't even start to get cool and I took my time so there's plenty left if you want to take one." Opening the fridge, he pulls out a bottle of Coke. "That sounds good. I love cheeseburgers and I love macaroni. And I'm hungry too so yeah, love some. Need any help?"
*
For a serious moment, Billy considers various spells: make the towel invisible? Freeze time? There's various options that he could take advantage of here, but no! That would be taking advantage. So he blushes at having thought about it anyways. "I'm clean. I'm a long shower before bed short shower after waking up sort: the primary purpose of the latter is to prepare the hair for the Process by which it can be made cool." He rises, and approaches the kitchen, trying not to look like he's counting Teddy's abs. "I'm *always* hungry." he admits, reaching out to open the refridgerator and lightly maybe brush a shouler against Teddy's in an entirely innocent (hah) fashion, "I don't need help, its super easy. Season and brown meat, make mac'n'cheese just like on the box with a bit extra milk and butter, mix in. It needs more moisture for the meat otherwise its overly dry."
*
Teddy doesn't seem to mind being brushed against or think it unusual in the narrow kitchen. Opening a drawer, he roots around for the bottle opener. Fruitlessly as they don't have one yet. "Damn." Poor planning but not unsolvable. Placing the bottle cap carefully against the edge of the counter, he gives it a rap and it comes off. "Want one?"
*
Reaching out, bands of force open up multiple cupboards and the fridge at once, and out comes margerine, milk, hamburger, and a box of mac'n'cheese. He glances at Teddy and grins, "Sure. But we need to start making a list of stuff we need. If we go to the department store without a plan and a budget we'll end up blowing a budget and forgetting half of what we need. My parents' loan is only enough to cover the basics if we splurge at all." He's totally watching Teddy's chest and arms out of the corner of his eyes, though.
*
Teddy watches the sorcerer's apprentice do his thing. "Be careful about cleaning the apartment that way." he says and grins as he slides the open bottle over to Billy. Getting another from the fridge, he opens it the same way and takes a swig. Taking hold of the towel with his free hand, he pauses a moment then tugs it off to reveal a pair of red gym shorts with a white stripe down the side of each leg. He starts toweling down his hair further.
*
The milk falls and is only captured from spilling ALL over the floor by quick telekinetics, gaping at Teddy's…. shorts. "Why did you have a towel wrapped around your waist if you had shorts on?!" he exclaims, as a sudden certain breathlessness becomes his norm, a slight tremble to his hand that holds the milk up and moves to set the half gallen container on the counter. A flick of the wrist, an he defies convention or warning and a towel sails over and begins mopping it up. Yes, its totally gratorious use of magic, but he's going to be a god one day so he's allowed. He looks flabbergasted and embarassed all at once but his eyes are decidedly looking down where something ISN'T on display as he thought it'd be.
*
"What?" Teddy asks, distracted by the falling milk. "Oh. Because I didn't a moment ago. I don't wear shorts in the shower." Obviously. "But my hair was dripping and the rest of me was mostly dry so…" Being a shapeshifter has its benefits even if he won't be a god one day.
*
"You… didn't a moment ago?" Billy is confused by this, "Wait, does this mean those aren't… *real*? So your clothes aren't *real clothes* they're like *you* so you're like actually *naked* all the time?!?!" Billy is wide eyed and looking shocked, scandalized, and frankly, turned on, by what it means if Teddy's clothes are shapeshifted. He's gaping and wide-eyed for th emoment, though.
*
"Saves a lot on buying clothes." Teddy answers with a grin. "Though I do have some. After all, my mom bought a bunch for me over the years and did the wash so I couldn't have /no/ clothes at all. She just thought I had boring taste and wore the same thing a lot once they were clean. I'd put them in the hamper every day as if I wore them."
*
"That's… that's…!" Billy splutters, blushing all the more, turning, his face towards the pan, where he empties hamburger into and grabs a wooden spoon to start breaking it up even as seasoning salt floats down. No! Not looking at Teddy now! "I can't decide if that's awesome or horrible or if you're awesome or horrible. I never have any idea what to think about you, you jerk."
*
Teddy can't help but laugh. "Don't be silly. You can't see anything so what's it matter whether it's real cloth or me? There's no real difference." Hooking a finger in a leg, he tugs it away a bit. Still, he's not oblivious and the reason for Billy's reaction are pretty obvious so he gets serious. "Yeah, it's kind of weird to be living in the same place when we're…" Whatever they are.
*
"When we're?" asks Billy, rudely refusing to let that drop off into uncertainty. Be continues flushing and breaking up the hamburger, "And there is a difference. In one you have clothes. In another you are mimicing clothes. So at any moment you could just decide not to have any clothes at all." BUt ooooh does his head tilt and eye the hooking finger. The evil, evil, tempting hooking finger.
*
"When we're." Teddy repeats and shrugs. "I don't know. Friends, yeah. Though that wouldn't be weird. Not boyfriends. That wouldn't be weird either. Are we dating?"
*
"Do you want to be?" counters Billy without looking over there. He flicks a hand, a little pot comes out, fills with water and floats over to the over, and then he begins boiling water. "And what's the difference between dating and boyfriends? If boyfriends wouldn't be weird and if it is weird then we're not that so we're not dating?" He wrinkles his nose: the course of this conversation is not going into a positive direction!
*
"Do /you/ want to be?" Teddy returns. Two can play that game. "Boyfriends is the result of dating. Dating is still testing and the closest we've come to a date is fighting bad guys together. I don't think that counts."
*
Billy glares at Teddy a moment, then shrugs, "I don't care about labels, I don't know that they're meaningful at all." he replies right back, looking back to the browning hamburger, stirring it actively until he realizes this is a lot more work then it needs to be: he just holds his hand over it and its steadily stirred without making a spoon dirty. "I want to know if it pains you not to touch me, or if instead pains you for me to touch you. I know I think of you every night and everytime I look at you its all I can do not to touch you."
*
"No, of course it doesn't bother me if you touch me. I like it." Teddy sighs and leans back against the counter. "Look, I don't know what to do, okay? I mean, do we do the same thing that a boy and girl do? Who pays for dinner?"
*
"That doesn't answer my question. I was asking about you touching me." points out Billy: the original question was about touching *him*, after all. He shrugs, and as water boils, adds macaroni. "I think mostly we do the same thing as a boy and a girl do, except where its stupid. Since we're already sharing our rent and bills, I figure we take turns paying for dinner. I don't see how its particularly any different. If I liked girls, I'd try to make them smile. I'd try to impress them. I'd try to interest them. I'd try to find an excuse to touch them at every opportunity. What's different? Only thing that seems different is the last one, where we can't do that in public."
*
"Yes, I want to." Teddy says straight out. "And it's probably a bad idea to do that cause it would be very easy to not stop unless you told me to." That Billy would tell him to is the part in doubt. "And I don't know if we're ready for that."
*
Billy hesitates, glancing sideways at Teddy, and furrows his brow. Finally he shakes his head slowly, "I can tell you absolutely it is not a bad idea. I feel there's this wall between us. I want to break it down. If you want to break it down you don't show it at all. How much touching… well that depends on what we're ready for. But friends just shake hands and arm hug and clap eachother on the back. If you're interested in more, you find more reasons to touch. I'm not suggesting we run over to your room and like you know, do it…." Blushing intensifies, "But outside of that time you kissed me…" Billy's eyes narrows: he's still not really counting that. "…you never touch me. The thing that leads from this whole just friends thing into something else is this need to touch eachother, I think. I know the two girls I dated, I touched them at every chance. And most weren't even something that would get us in trouble. An arm, an elbow, the small of one's back." Billy shrugs again, "A little can go a long way towards … breaking down the wall."
*
"Then you've dated more people than me." Teddy notes. "And I didn't go out of my way to touch them since I didn't want to." Sighing, he tosses the towel across a shoulder. "Why don't I bring my television out to the living room and we can watch a movie tonight. There must be something good on. We can get some beer, make some popcorn…"
*
"I didn't have *sex* with any girls." notes Billy dryly, "I just played a part so people would stop beating me up. It didn't work out especially well." he admits, wincing. Billy's severe abuse in high school is a … touchy subject for him. Especially as it crisscrosses timezones so to speak. "But okay." Pause, "Don't put on a shirt." he blurts out quickly, blushing a moment and *not* looking, even as he starts finalizing the cheeseburger macaroni, "Don't forget we have dinner to eat. Then popcorn."He pauses, wincing, "I don't understand why people like beer. It tastes so *bad*."
*
Teddy laughs, his good humor restored. "Okay, I won't. So long as you take yours off. But if you don't like beer, I won't go get some. They taste different though so you might just not have had one you like."
*
"No one wants to look at *my* chest, I'm skinny." complains Billy, even though really, he's not. He's slender, but he's fit. Still, the ask is …. nice. So he can't help but grin. Spinning his hand, he finishes dinner, grabs a couple bowls, and fills them up with spoons, "I haven't tried this beer you have so I'll try it, maybe I'll like it." Leaving plates on the counter for a moment, he hesitates, *blushing*, and tugs his shirt off. He's been shirtless before but never to be *looked at*. He's not shy: and he's got nothing to be shy for. His skin is lighter then Teddy's, his form slighter, but he's tightly packed. "Go get whatever you're getting."
*
"I'll get a couple different kinds." Teddy says, watching Billy closely and smiling at the blushing. It's cute. Taking a swig of his soda, he sets it on the counter then puts the towel next to it. His skin shifts and flows as he stands there until he's in sneakers, jeans, shirt and jacket. "Wish I could make money this easy." he says and gives Billy a quick grin. "Back soon." Turning, he heads into his room quick to get his wallet then leaves the apartment.
*
You live with a reality altering mage. If Billy wanted to make money… but that would be against the Second Law of Magic. Actually making money. "You could make money that way in so many ways. You're so good looking it makes my toes hurt. I'm not even sure if that's what you really look like or if you decided one day to look like the perfect guy and woosh, there you are." He waves a moment, still flushed and trying not to make eye-contact because he's embarassed and a bit on the insecure side of things, his hands go over dinner and he murmurs, "Stay fresh. Stayfresh. STAYFRESH." And a little bit of a stasis bubble envelops the meals. Its super minor magic, just keeping things hot and warm and tasty while Billy goes and has private time.