Hue In My World (Indian BL)

8.2. Our 1st Date.... I mean "Hangout"

Soon Dhiraj and Nakul reached a fancy Italian restaurant whose name Nakul concluded he could never possibly pronounce.

"I hope you like Italian food." Dhiraj let out a smirk, in hopes that Nakul would be at least a bit impressed by the extravagance of their "hangout" so far.

But a simple-minded Nakul didn't understand the motive after that remark. He simply replied, "I've never really tried much. Except for pizza and pasta maybe......"

"Oh. that's fine. We can always try out new stuff" Giving Nakul a quick wink, Dhiraj got out of his car.

And a dumbfounded Nakul could only think: from where does he bring so much cockiness?

The restaurant was on the topmost floor. Dhiraj had already made reservations for them. Soon they reached the top floor and Nakul resisted his urge to run towards the window and have a look through the humongous glass windows. He concluded it would look too child-like and he already fulfilled his quota of "child-like-behavior" for the day. The movie, the fanboying, the jumping into Dhiraj's arms and the......nuzzling of Dhiraj. Nakul spaced out as he recalled that.

The waiter placing plates in front of him snapped him back into reality. What the fuck was I thinking about? Nakul cursed himself in his mind.

[A/N: About your soon-to-be honey?!]

He felt somewhat embarrassed as he recalled the touch. Soon his eyes met Dhiraj's and he saw the other man smiling at him. Smug face. He ignored Dhiraj's smile and took a look at the menu. He understood not even a single word.

Shortly the dinner was served. Dhiraj had placed the order since Nakul seemed confused looking at the menu. A part of Nakul felt out of place and soon his anxiety creeped on to his face. Dhiraj took notice of it. He extended his hand to hold Nakul's palm placed on the table.

Giving it a slight squeeze, he reassured Nakul," Hey, you will like it here. Trust me"

Even though Nakul was always suspicious about the motives of the man in front of him, he couldn't deny that he did feel a tint of comfort in Dhiraj's smile. He couldn't ignore the fact that, despite being practically strangers, he could just.....relax around this man.

That confused him even more. Why did he feel that way?

Pushing those thoughts aside, he pressed a small smile on his lips indicating that he'll be fine to Dhiraj. He took the 1st bite of the food and surprisingly, it was somewhat to his liking. It was a bit bland. But that was probably because his taste buds were used to eating spicy- tangy food.

They enjoyed their meal, having small talks in between. Towards the end of the meal Dhiraj casually asked Nakul,

"You won't mind getting a glass of wine, right?"

"I've never really tried much wine. But yeah. I guess." Nakul let out a small chuckle, somewhat embarrassed.

"You don't drink?"

"Just occasionally."

[A/N: Drinking isn't a common practice in India. Some people don't prefer to do it. That's why Dhiraj asked Nakul before offering him wine.]

Dhiraj opened the sparkling bottle of wine, the waiter had brought them and poured a cup for Nakul. Accepting it, Nakul took a sip savoring the taste.

"This is really sweet. But I like it." Nakul concluded.

Phew. Thank God he likes it. Dhiraj let out a mental sigh.

Nakul took his time relishing the taste and soon his eyes started to wander around. The place seemed to have quieted down a bit. Soft music playing in the background and the city view outside. He had a good evening. He soon asked for a refill and Dhiraj was more than happy that Nakul was finally relaxing.