Usually, when Dominic asked people out, or tried to express interest in them — especially after a conversation that felt as easy and as life-affirming as breathing — the other person didn’t look so stricken!
But then, Gavin was shy. That much was obvious. It had taken how many brief little moments of conversation before they ended up using names, before Gavin even seemed to try on a little reciprocal flirting.
Still, he made that precious, cautious, offer, which was more than Dominic had ever expected, and by which he was somewhat... moved? Gavin was clearly someone who took so much care of his words and his place in the world. Not everyone with sometimes-sad eyes would ever take this much care. It was really something.
“I can’t believe you asked me out before I could actually ask you,” Dominic had to say, he just had to, and he smiled. “I love a coffee place, especially for a date. What are you doing when you finish work?”
Because Gavin had been so careful to be non-committal with his phrasing, Dominic had to be the one to use more clear language. He understood why anyone would linguistically offer someone an out or the chance to set the terms of a conversation or a plan, especially when they were motivated by vulnerability. And because Gavin had ventured out there with concrete plans, Dominic was absolutely not going to leave him hanging with ambiguity.
no subject
Usually, when Dominic asked people out, or tried to express interest in them — especially after a conversation that felt as easy and as life-affirming as breathing — the other person didn’t look so stricken!
But then, Gavin was shy. That much was obvious. It had taken how many brief little moments of conversation before they ended up using names, before Gavin even seemed to try on a little reciprocal flirting.
Still, he made that precious, cautious, offer, which was more than Dominic had ever expected, and by which he was somewhat... moved? Gavin was clearly someone who took so much care of his words and his place in the world. Not everyone with sometimes-sad eyes would ever take this much care. It was really something.
“I can’t believe you asked me out before I could actually ask you,” Dominic had to say, he just had to, and he smiled. “I love a coffee place, especially for a date. What are you doing when you finish work?”
Because Gavin had been so careful to be non-committal with his phrasing, Dominic had to be the one to use more clear language. He understood why anyone would linguistically offer someone an out or the chance to set the terms of a conversation or a plan, especially when they were motivated by vulnerability. And because Gavin had ventured out there with concrete plans, Dominic was absolutely not going to leave him hanging with ambiguity.