tampered | Log; Closed

Current Mood: creative

Log; Closed

When; June 10th, late-afternoon to early night, AND POSTING IN THE RIGHT PLACE THE FIRST TIME
Rating; PG
Characters;

illgrowoutofit and

sitaronthewater
Summary; Mostly due to Tamaki's blind date cards, but, I mean, they were around that area anyway. And it's not like either of them needs this, they're just curious to see who turns up. Yeah. Totally.
Log;

It's not like Demyx always followed every instruction he was given, and he certainly wasn't intending on showing up to this blind date thing. He had no interest in dating, so why even bother showing up? Plus, he could see just fine. But since he hadn't read much past the title of the invite, he never noticed the little ROMANTIC OCEAN-SIDE ~~MEAL~~ ENJOYING OF EACH OTHERS' COMPANY, he honestly had no idea that he was supposed to meet his supposed date at the beach.

It was just that he was always in one of five places: his job, his apartment, the fountain, with Time Bomb in some manner, or the beach. In the summer he tended to favor the beach over the fountain, so it was really only a matter of chance that the time on the card matched the time when Demyx was there. He'd been there for over two hours anyway, playing his sitar, in his coat. His date may have gotten warning of a romantic tune on his own invite, if Tamaki was really playing (and writing) his cards right. But for now, Demyx plays.

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Neil has agonised over the mysterious card for long enough that it was actually ironic that by the day of, he'd forgotten about it entirely-- that is, until he opened one of his gaming magazines and the card fell out and fluttered to the floor.

And that is how Neil came to be running to the beach twenty minutes late, looking very unkempt despite misguided attempts to look a little nicer than usual (hey look, he's wearing a shirt that actually buttons down and doesn't have any sort of pop culture graphic on it!).

He's expecting to meet some girl who will already be upset at him for being late, but instead, all he sees is Demyx.

It seems like it'd be a shame to interrupt his playing, so for now, Neil watches.

Demyx has, by this point in his time in the City, gotten into a habit of, while immersing himself in his music, hearing people step onto the beach and talking to most everybody. It is a good thing he does, too, because otherwise Neil would be watching a long, long time. He stops playing and turns around, grinning when he sees who it is.

"Hey Neil! What're you doing here?" What Neil is wearing isn't exactly normal beach attire, but Demyx doesn't really know what normal beach attire is, especially if you look at what he's wearing. The card is at the back of his mind, mostly. He in no way associates Tamaki's event with the fact that Neil is here now, but that might partially be due to the fact he doesn't piece things together so quickly.

"Hey, man." Neil raises a hand in greeting. He takes another cursory look around, but there is no one else. "I'm s'pposed to be meeting someone here. But I'm kinda late, so maybe they left."

He's not sure if he's disappointed or relieved about that, really-- it's not like this sort of opportunity presents itself to Neil authentically very often. But he had been sort of apprehensive about the whole concept from the beginning, so maybe this is for the best. As long as whoever his date was supposed to be never found out who'd let her down. He could do without some girl resenting him.

"What was that you were playing?"

"Oh," he looked back down at his sitar, "it was just something I was messing around with. One of my own songs." He looked back up at Neil, curiously. "Who're you supposed to meet? I haven't seen anyone else today."

He rubbed the back of his head, idly. He definitely hadn't seen anyone else come onto the beach. Maybe walking by, but not onto.

"Anyone at all?" Neil pulls the card out of his pocket to double-check the date and time. Sure enough, he's got it right. So maybe his date forgot, too. That's disappointing.
He holds it up for Demyx to see, by way of explanation. "'S no big deal, but it's some game thing or whatever. This thing said to meet up with someone here." Of course, to Neil, it is a big deal, the more he thinks about it. The way he sees it, he's just been stood up. He's pretty sure he doesn't like that one bit.

"Not on the beach, no." And that card reminds him of his own. He peers at it. "Oh, yeah, I got one too- Hold on." He reaches into his pocket and pulls out an almost identical one.

"It's Tamaki's thing." He pouts a little at the next sentence. "Campbell signed me up." He stares at his own, and at Neil's. Then he looks at the time, date, location of his, and then- Oh. The pieces are coming together.

"Uh, do these look the same to you?"

Neil takes the card from Demyx's hand and compares them, turning them over several times as his eyes scan frantically from one to the other, matching the details.

"This is..." Neil gulps, shaking his head as sweat breaks out on his brow. "This has got to be some sort of mistake, right?"

He's visibly pouting, as he's looking them over.

"Uh, you don't actually wanna go on a date, do you? I mean, I'm glad that this thing is with someone I know, but- I'm not really interested in any of this kinda thing, you know?"

At least, he hopes that it's not too bad. He likes Neil, but he really doesn't want to date anyone.

Neil looks utterly stricken, like he's just been hit by a tidal wave.

"No, dude, me neither," he's quick to insist, his tone adamant. "I'm totally not gay." Which, of course, is what he thinks Demyx means by this kinda thing. Something in his eyes looks almost scared. As far as he's concerned, this could have happened for one of two reasons. 1) There was some sort of mix-up in the matching process. 2) This Tamaki guy is somehow under the impression that Neil is into dudes. He's really, really hoping it's the first one. As for the second... Neil gulps again. He's not sure what he'd do if anyone got that idea.

And at the word that he's not into 'this kinda thing', he visibly relaxes. And then straightens up at the assertion. "What does that have to do with anything?" He asked it without thinking, before remembering terminology and implications that he'd learned about sex; the emotional, the biological aspects, and beyond. He'd learned a lot, but sometimes old habits- questioning everything, not understanding most of what was going on around him- died hard. Very, very hard.

"Oh, yeah, because we're both guys, right?" He nods to himself, certain that he'd got the answer. "I was talking about dating, though. You know. Romance."

Neil narrows his eyes and stares at Demyx hard. His mind reels, but he can't comprehend why the prospect of being matched up with a guy wouldn't be the primary concern here, for anyone. He folds the card and shoves it back into his pocket, briefly biting his lower lip in uncertainty.

"Well, yeah, obviously because we're both guys." He pauses and tries to ascertain whether Demyx is joking or not. "You're not...interested in dating? Anyone? Like, at all?" Neil has spent so much time obsessing over how to get someone to date him that this seems like an almost entirely foreign concept.

He watches him stuff the card back into his pocket and can kind of gather that he's worried about something. The staring doesn't bother him until Neil's question. Then he starts to think that something is wrong, and kind of falls over some of his words.

"I- Uh, I mean, no. But-" He remembers back to a previous conversation, at least, he's pretty sure that he remembers it correctly. "You said that that was alright. That I- wasn't dating." That he was not dating, not that he wasn't interested in dating.

Maybe that wasn't okay?

"I did?" Neil, in a bout of self-centrism and inattentiveness, didn't understand that the conversation in question was about Demyx at all, so he can't recall what he may have said, and what the implications may have been. He folds his hands behind his head and stares up at the sky, considering. Maybe he did say something like that.

"I mean it's... fine, yeah. Guess some people are like that." But he's still curious enough to be a little nosy-- he's still having a little trouble getting his mind around such a disparate point of view to his own. "Did you get hurt so bad that you swore it off, or something?"

He nods, a little unsure, and then stares intently at Neil until he stammers out an answer. And then he relaxes. "Okay, good. I don't wanna be the only one or anything." He doesn't know what he would have done if he had been. Demyx still knew that Nobodies were a little different than everybody else, even if he didn't believe that they didn't have hearts. Then he hears the question, and looks like he's considering it, as he speaks.

"Huh? Uh, no. I've never dated." That he can remember. "I'm just- I dunno. I mean, I know that most people do, but it's just never been something I thought about, I guess?"

Neil listens, quiet and contemplative. He grabs his wrist-- a nervous habit-- and tries to imagine what that might be like. Neil isn't sure if he could go a week, let alone years upon years, without worrying about how to impress any potential significant-other-to-be. Without worrying about whether he'll end up completely alone, forever.

"That sounds..." He looks Demyx in the eyes and fixes him with an inquisitive expression. "...Kinda nice."

Neil is silent for a while, but now that he's been told that it's not anything too weird, he isn't concerned about it. People are just quiet sometimes. Demyx certainly knows that he can be. But that doesn't mean that Neil's response is expected in the least. He looks shocked, as an understatement. He looks utterly bewildered, as a more accurate statement.

"Really? You think so? I don't think that anyone's ever said that before."

Neil quirks a sad smile. "Well, sure. I mean... sounds like it'd be, y'know. Sorta... peaceful."

He shoves his hands into his pockets now, and glances down at his feet briefly. "You can go back to playing or whatever, if you want. Sorry 'bout this whole thing. If I'd known--" He shrugs, and sighs. "Didn't mean to interrupt."

"Peaceful? Well, I dunno. Is being interested in dating all that- Stressful?" That probably wasn't the right word, but he doubted that peaceful was, either. It's hard to think of Nobody life as peaceful after living in the Castle That Never Was for any amount of time.

Demyx cocks his head to one side. "You don't have to leave." Maybe Stephen didn't let him listen to him practice? Demyx didn't care either way. "It's not like you were actually interrupting me. Like I said, no one's been here all day. So long as we're not dating." On anyone else, that probably would have been a joke. On Demyx, well, who knows?

Stressful? Yes, it definitely is. But Neil only shrugs noncommittally. He isn't sure if he's said something wrong in assuming as much.

"Well, I did kinda trade work shifts to go to this thing, so I don't exactly have stuff to do." Neil presses his lips together and shrugs again. There are gaming consoles at home, but music is just as good. "Not dating works. I can just listen, if you don't care."

Demyx doesn't know Neil all that well yet, so he takes his shrug to mean 'I don't know'. So it was kind of the same for him, he guesses.

"Oh, wow, really? Where do you even work?" He just grins in response. "Yeah, sure. Hey, you've been to Time Bomb's concerts, you have any requests from the set?"

"Oh, it's this cafe place. I mostly do inventory and set tables and stuff." He smiles, and tries to recall song titles. "I've only been to one gig, but you guys are awesome. Play whatever you want, I guess."

"Oh. That's pretty cool. Do you work with Stephen? He works in a restaurant, right?"

He tilts his head for a moment, deciding to play 'whatever', which, for Demyx, just means playing whatever comes out. He's playing softly; music is very important, but if he can fight while playing, he can converse while playing.

"Nah, 's a different place. Kind of a... fancy, frilly sorta deal. But they hired me, so. Can't complain."

Neil settles in to listen, a great deal more focused and attentive than usual. He watches carefully, as though he might be tested on this later. And his shoulders, which have been high and tense for some time now, finally relax.

"Oh. Weird. You don't have to do anything fancy for it, though, right?"

Demyx isn't the best at reading people, but he can tell when someone's interested and involved in the music. He may not be playing, but his demeanor is worth taking note of.

"Well, I had to learn how to fold cloth napkins all fancy. And I have to remember what order to put the silverware in. But that's about it."

He's quiet for a moment, still just watching, taking silent notes in his head.

"How long did it take you to learn how to play that thing?"

"Huh. Yeah, that doesn't sound too bad."

Demyx just continues playing until the melody runs out, and then he starts a new one. Sometimes it won't last long, and other times, it will last for a few minutes.

"My sitar?" No, duh, Demyx. "A year or two. Y'know. To play it well, not just playing it in the first place."

Neil considers that, and decides it doesn't sound too bad. A year or two is kind of a long time, but it's not too terribly long.

"My sister used to play bass guitar. Sometimes when she wasn't around I'd pick it up, to see if I could just..." He trails off, and sighs. "I wasn't ever any good."

"Well, how long did you try it out for?" I mean, as long as they're talking about time already.

Neil considers that-- it didn't have a gameplay clock like a console game, but he's pretty sure he can guess. "I'd say I put in around 20 or so hours of play time, total."

"Well, do you like the bass? Or any other instrument?"

He smiles solemnly. "Yeah, the bass is nice. Like the way it sounds, and how it's like... like a foundation, kind of like a pulse." And usually Neil doesn't get this introspective and descriptive, but his tone says clearly that he puts a lot of stock into what he's saying. "More 'n that though. I always wanted to perform, I guess. Y'know, for people. I'm... good with that kind of thing."

He grins at the description. "Yeah, I guess it kinda is. The drums, too, they keep the beat usually. I know what you mean, though." Demyx will always want to talk about music. This is an awesome conversation, and he can kind of almost tell that Neil's different than he usually is.

"Performing's pretty cool, yeah. Even though some of the fans are weird." And all over Curt, literally. "Don't you have stage fright, though?"

"Nah, see, that's the thing. You'd think so, but I totally don't. I'm not good with people, usually. But when I'm on stage or in front of people or whatever, and I know what I'm doing, or have a like script or something, it's totally different." He smiles, reminiscing about something, then shakes his head. "Not that I get to do that much."

He pauses his playing, in between melodies, for a minute or so.

"I know what you mean. It's a whole different thing when you're playing. How many times've you done it?"

He shakes his head. "Not many times. I mean, a small part in the school musical one year-- my sister made me do it, don't tell anyone-- then... back-up vocals for Stephen's old band if somebody couldn't make it to practice or whatever, karaoke one time... that's about it."

"Well, maybe you should try bass again." He shrugs and resumes the playing.

"You like it. You should be able to pick it up, right? We've got some basses and practice rooms and books for learning the basics in the store."

"Y-yeah? Really?" Neil seems cheered and hopeful about this. "Maybe I'll stop by sometime? I mean, I always kinda wanted to try again."

"Yeah, totally! Come by when I'm there, I'll help you out."

"I'll... yeah, I'll do that. Thanks, man."

"Yeah, no problem." He grins again, continuing to play.

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