Joel

[nola_steve]

Backdated to V-Day 

It was Valentine's Day, which he remembered pretty much only because he'd made heart-shaped pancakes for anyone who'd wanted them that morning. Otherwise? For Steve, it was just a day like any other.

It wasn't that he turned his nose up at commercial holidays. He was a straight-up sucker for Christmas. It was just...this was a day all about romantic love, and that was a bug that had never managed to bite, no matter how many friends tried to set him up. So he wasn't exactly paying attention to what was going on around him until he headed into the campus cafe to grab lunch and realized the entire place was packed.

Also? They'd gone out of their way to make it look cozy and romantic, with candles flickering at each table.

"...huh," Steve said, looking around for somewhere to sit. He'd already gotten his food ordered and had his sweet tea in hand, but there didn't appear to be a single clear table in the place.

Before he could turn back and cancel his order (maybe try somewhere a little less quaint?), one of the waitresses caught his eye. "We're asking people to double up tables, if they don't mind," she explained, making a sheepish face. "We already got a few people to agree. Here," she added, grabbing a chair at a small two-seater table. A vaguely familiar young man sat in the other seat. "Sit here."

Steve stepped forward, then cocked his head as the man looked at him. "You sure you don't mind?" he asked with a friendly-yet-rueful smile.

Comments

[nola_buckybarnes]

Joel was idly scrolling through his phone as he waited for his order to come in. "Not at all," he said without looking up. No skin off his nose to share—it wasn't like he didn't sit shoulder to shoulder with all these students in class anyway.

[nola_steve]

Sounded good enough for him. "Thanks," he said, sliding into the empty seat. Part of him wished he'd thought to bring a book with him. Something to keep him occupied while he waited.

[nola_buckybarnes]

Joel glanced up then—and promptly dropped his phone in surprise. He did a little one-man game of hot potato with it before he managed to get a firm hold on it again before it hit the floor. Come to think of it, just letting it fall would have been a lot less attention-getting and humiliating, in front of the person whose attention and pity he wanted the least.

Smooth, Joel.

[nola_steve]

Steve looked over, startled by the sudden movement. He offered a smile, though. "Butterfingers?" he asked. "That's why I had to go back to the little old man phones. Big ones just kept slipping like soap through my fingers."

[nola_buckybarnes]

"Heh, yeah," Joel said, slightly shaky, but he smiled weakly. "I'd switch, but I'm sort of addicted to my data plan."

Addicted to a lot of things, like Prof. Williams' classes, the kindness in his eyes.

[nola_steve]

"I hear you," he said, though Steve was the farthest thing possible to addicted to his phone. He used it to text with friends and family and sometimes to order dinner--that's about it. "Can't live without the snapping and the chatting."

His grin grew, a dimple flashing.

[nola_buckybarnes]

The dimple. Joel definitely should have made his excuses and left when he saw the dimple.

But instead he said, "Well, I didn't think you were an old man before you said that, but." And it came out as easily as anything, like he'd been joking with the professor all year.

[nola_steve]

He laughed. "Oh no, you saw through my cunning disguise," he joked. Something about the easy banter felt warm, familiar. He liked it. "What's your name, whippersnapper?"

[nola_buckybarnes]

He thought about lying. It'd be easy to get away with—he wasn't in any of Williams' classes, officially, and wasn't going to be in the future. This was a huge campus with thousands of students, so it also wasn't like there was going to be any followup on it.

But the jig was up, wasn't it? They were talking. This was their second face-to-face conversation. Was it likely Joel would be able to melt into the background and go unnoticed again? His stomach twisted at the idea of all those classes he'd no longer be able to attend, just to make sure Williams was okay.

"Joel," he said. It might as well be the truth.

[nola_steve]

"It's nice to meet you, Joel," he said. "I'm Steve."

Then he paused, studying Joel. "Though, I admit, I feel like maybe we've run into each other before."

[nola_buckybarnes]

Half-truths were always easier to sell than a full lie. "The new coffee place," Joel said, more easily now that he was more prepared. "I handed you napkins on the opening day."

[nola_steve]

"You're right," he said, placing the face the moment Joel sparked his memory. "Of course. Sorry I didn't remember," Steve added, contrite. "Most of that night was a blur of muffins and avoiding stepping on people."

[nola_buckybarnes]

"It's fine," Joel assured him. "Why would you need to remember?" He was glad Williams hadn't—it had bought him a few more weeks of sneaking into classes. "All I was doing was waiting in line."

[nola_steve]

"Maybe so, but I promise I'll remember you now. I can also promise to stop talking your ear off and let you get back to your phone, if you'd like." Not everyone liked to chat up strangers as much as Steve did.

[nola_buckybarnes]

Of course he'd remember. Williams seemed like the type of person who'd remember a face, and keep his promises, and be there for you when you're feeling down, and—

Enough, Joel.

"It's okay," he said, setting his phone aside. "Just dumb social media. Mostly Valentine's stuff, which—" He gestured at the simple paper heart decorations that peppered the cafe. "There's already lots of that."

[nola_steve]

"That's true enough," he said with a laugh. "There're enough hearts to pave the way to Rome. Do you celebrate?"

[nola_buckybarnes]

"Not usually," Joel answered, which wasn't a lie, exactly. He didn't want to get into the whole I'm going to hang out with the girl I'm seeing casually and I'll give her some candy and she'll maybe teach me another new and interesting way to bone with the man he had a crush on, maybe, or at least was fixated on, certainly. "Do you?"

[nola_steve]

"Only in a roundabout sort of way. I have a bunch of brothers and sisters," he explained. "So heart-shaped pancakes and maybe some of Grandma Josie's fudge tonight, but that's about the end of it."

[nola_buckybarnes]

The thought of Williams being so...domestic made Joe's heart constrict a little. "That sounds really nice, though—I bet they look forward to it." The idea of a family member bothering to make a fuss, even a small one, over a B-list holiday was sweet, actually. That's now how things were done in his childhood home.

[nola_steve]

"It's tradition by now--I've been doing it since we were kids, one way or another. I feel like the world needs those, you know?" he added, tilting his head slightly. "Traditions. They don't have to be old, and they don't have to be restrictive, but the little things that let us tell each other hey, you matter....those are important." He studied Joel, caught briefly by those pretty dark eyes. Which was a completely inappropriate thought to have, but, well. No denying he'd had it. "What about you? Any traditions?"

[nola_buckybarnes]

There was something about the way Williams looked at him, so earnest, that sparked something deep inside Joel. It felt like recognition, but what he was saying wasn't familiar to Joel at all. Yearning, maybe? "My grandparents give me a gift card to Kohls on my birthday and Christmas," he finally said. "Does that count?"

[nola_steve]

"If it makes you happy, that counts."

Funny, that he wanted to think this guy he didn't know was happy.

[nola_buckybarnes]

Joel looked a little confused, like he's never considered it that way. "I mean, it's useful? I buy clothes with it, which I need. So I guess that's close enough."

[nola_steve]

"Who else do you have around here? Good friends? A partner? I'm being nosy," he admitted, "and you can tell me to buzz off."

[nola_buckybarnes]

"It's okay," he said. It didn't feel nosy. In a way, he felt like he knew Professor Williams, as creepy as that might seem. "I'm not from here, so I just have friends. My dorm roommate. And I date, but it's casual. It's not bad." Though after hearing about the professor lovingly making heart-shaped pancakes for his siblings, it sort of seemed superficial in contrast.