Big Book of Rythna One Shots

No I'm Asking for THE Date, Not FOR a Date, I Swear... (S)

TW: Food mention

Streams of bodies hardly fluid in moving flooded the open spaced food court. Chilled spring air brought more masses into the overpriced mall than it typically would, forcing those in lines to let people dip in between to pass.Food service workers rushed in the background. Each cashier distracting customers with a chipper smile and over practiced lines.

Rythian's neck grew stiffer the longer he held his tense position. Crowds naturally triggered his petrified state, and with the constant bumping of bags and elbows into his sides, his held in scream crept closer to escaping. He had lost his hunger the minute he entered the lineup, forcing disgust to his stomach, feigning hate at every menu item.

A headphone cord tangled arm gave Rythian's side a gentle shake with a peppy attitude to match. "So if we get the combo, we can save like, seven bucks!"

The agreement Rythian grumbled out, undefinable by tone and lack of words, was yet an answer translated to one of agreeance through Lalna's ears. "Yeah! Okay, so, I want extra cheese on mine, and you wanted bacon on your burger right? Might get that on mine too..."

Rambling words were sucked in with the murmur of the crowd, still stealing Rythian's unwilling attention. One lumbering step forward and their position in line increased, yet the distance seemed the same. "And let's try to find a decent sized table, this project is going to take ages!"

"Why didn't we go somewhere, quieter?" Holding the bridge of his nose, Rythian's senses were bombarded as another perfume doused shopper bumped into him. "How can we even construct this here?"

Fiddling with the headphone jack between his fingers, pretending to plug himself in repeatedly trumped his need to answer. "Mm, well..." Lalna's voice matched his overdone step forward, "Mall means free wifi, craft store in the place if we need supplies, made for us food when we need it.Name me a place better than here!"

Rythian pulled at the sterling chain necklace hidden under the zipper of his dark hoodie. "The library, your house, somewhere with less people..." His head pounded under the building stress. His anxieties played with his thoughts, already coming to worst case scenarios before they even pulled out their books to start.

"Oh come on Rythian! Once we get some food into you, you'll see how I'm right."

Finally becoming the next in line, Lalna pulled out his wallet, whispering his order before repeating it after he received a corporate greeting. "Hi! I'd like combo two with cheese and make my drink a large."

The teen matching their age behind the register nodded, punching in the order. "And anything for yourself?" Her address to Rythian came close to missing the target. His lowered head to avoid public conversation muffled his hearing.

His eyes shot up, realizing the question wasn't directed to Lalna. "Oh! Ah, the same thing as him but, bacon for me..." Rythian's voice drifted as his eyes met the ground again, concentrating more on how he had to retie his runners than the conversation in front of him.

A repeated punch in and the order was taken. "Alright, and are you two together?"

The question sent a shock across Rythian's mind, delaying any reaction beyond a breathy stutter. His arm practically yanked out of its socket as it was drug to a lower altitude, forcing to link with Lalna's tense one. Rythian could feel the brief catch between Lalna's lint pill dotted sweater and the sleeve of his hoodie as it was pushed up to find his hand. He never thought his hands could feel so sweaty.

"We are together!" Lalna's rounded giggle bounced against his cheeks. The growing smile on his face met with a polite nod from the server, entering in more buttons as Lalna's short fingers pressed tighter into Rythian's knuckles.

A short hum checking over the number gave Rythian more time to stare at the floor, putting no energy into hiding the red on his face. "Alright, cash, debit or credit?"

"Debit!" Lalna's body sprung with his words as he plucked out his card. "A good man always pays for the meal!"

Rythian ignored how his shoe instinctively twisted on its toe. Waiting on Lalna to put in his code turned into a game of shaking back his sleeves to cover up to his fingers again, failing twice and only pulling out more of the fabric's elasticity.

As Lalna stepped back with the receipt in hand, watching the kitchen staff flutter about, his arm shot up. His smile pushed at his eyes as he looked up to see how his arm had been twisted into an awkward loop with the taller teen.

"I hate how loud you can be sometimes." Rythian's voice fell as heavy as a secret, though still strikingly obvious to the two of them.

Lalna twirled his hair in brief thought, "No, never heard you say that before." His mischievous giggle flared Rythian's need to pull his hood over his head and hide more efficiently. "And I mean, why wouldn't you want people to know that we're totally dating?"

Rythian rolled his eyes in exhaustion, forcing down a grin as he received a hip chuck to push out an answer. "Totally."

Credit to IdlePace on tumblr dot com