Mars 2112 Restaurant and Bar, NYC, Friday Evening

[selfhelphero]

Considering how much trouble Fandom had given them in getting together in the first place, Billy and Topher had agreed to have their first date away from the island, but it had been Billy's idea to get a portal to his New York, so he could show Topher some of the city (without any encounters with giant rats, he'd promised). He hadn't meant to pick a restaurant that matched the Prom theme - finding someplace where they'd have plenty of nerdy things to talk about and could avoid awkward silences had been his biggest concern.

"The menu looked pretty awesome. Kind of Asian and Indian all together," he said as they were seated. So far, so good.

[NFB! For the other fanboy!]

Comments

[selfhelphero]

Billy had a pretty goofy grin as well, so at least Topher wasn't alone. "Of course you know it's not accurate," he said, looking suitably impressed. "Can I say I'm glad we're here without it being weird?"

[dollpocalypse]

"Totally," Topher said gratefully. "I mean. Um, me too. 'Cause, like, there's the dance, except I wasn't gonna go to that, so mostly it was gonna be this or World of Warcraft and I'm already, like, level eighty and plus you're more fun."

[selfhelphero]

"You think I'm more fun than World of Warcraft?" Billy said, half joking. "I don't think I'd have gone to prom either. Dances don't usually end well for me, you know?"

[dollpocalypse]

"How do you mean?" Topher asked. Then his eyes went huge. "Wait, Kenzi and I didn't hit you with the jello that time, did we?"

[selfhelphero]

"I meant the dances at my old school kind of sucked. Lots of disappointment and getting ignored," Billy explained. "Do I want to know what you and Kenzi got up to with jello?"

[dollpocalypse]

"Quinn," Topher summarized. "Um. Sorry about the, uh. Other dances. I never used to go, before here."

[selfhelphero]

"You messed with Quinn? Really? She seems kind of scary," Billy said. "Like she knows people who could make you disappear. I have to admit, there's a lot of stuff I didn't do before here." Was that another dorky grin? Oh, yes it was.

[dollpocalypse]

Topher grinned back, but his eyes were curious, like he was missing most of the joke. "Like what?"

[selfhelphero]

Billy laughed quietly. "Like go on dates with guys. Or ask them out at all. Or go out in public with them." Unless there were costumes involved, of course.

[dollpocalypse]

"Oh," Topher said, nodding in recognition. "Um. Me neither. 'Cause no one at any of my old schools was cool, so, um, mostly I just stayed in my room outside of classes and stuff. I never, um. Like, thought about this stuff."

[selfhelphero]

"I'm glad you're thinking about it now," Billy said selfishly. He leaned a little closer across the table, and then leaned back awkwardly almost a moment later as their waiter came over to get their drink order. Hopefully his face turning red wouldn't keep the waiter from getting his Coke.

[dollpocalypse]

"Um, water," Topher told the waiter, who was now witnessing possibly the greatest concentration of fanboy blush ever to be located at a single table. Once the guy was gone, Topher went back to awkwardly starting to lean forward and then changing his mind. Several times, actually. He was a bit twitchy.

"Yeah," he said. "Um, I am too. And. Uh. That you are. Also."

[selfhelphero]

Billy blushed harder and looked down, finding the table suddenly fascinating. "I'm glad you were willing to come here with me and everything. God only knows what's happening back in town to weird out Prom, you know? It's kind of nice to be safe for once, even with how much I like the school."

[dollpocalypse]

That was one interesting table, it was true.

"Seriously," Topher agreed. "And this place is in fake space, and there's way no way that prom is in fake space, and..." He turned around, looking for something else to compliment. "TVs! No way does prom have TVs. Even if these ones have the news on, ew."

[selfhelphero]

"Hey, the news is better than the cheesy, old music that gets yanked out for dances," Billy said, turning his head to see what was on the TV and getting pale at the BREAKING NEWS headline. "Oh, you have got to be kidding me."

[dollpocalypse]

"Wha..." Topher began, squinting to read it better. "Oh. Uh. Doombots... don't sound like a good thing."

Geniusest genius ever. Obviously.

[selfhelphero]

"No, they're really not. Doctor Doom's a genius but he's kind of an evil genius. An evil scarring genius. It's...maybe not going to be as quiet of a night as I thought," Billy said, looking guilty.

[dollpocalypse]

Topher thought about that rule Tony had given him about running into dangerous situations.

Then he thought about the idea of possibly running into a dangerous situation with Billy. On a date.

Shut up, he totally didn't get chills.

"We could... like, go see, if you want?" he suggested.

[selfhelphero]

Billy couldn't help but look surprised, knowing how well Topher usually handled dangerous situations. "Really? 'Cause I was thinking they might need help and--we could just go watch and see what's going on and--I'd keep you safe, I promise."

[dollpocalypse]

...okay, that was a lie, he was getting lots of chills.

Look, he'd grown up on comic books, okay? And Billy was all... badass and protective and stuff. It was impossible not to be a little attracted to that.

"'Kay," Topher said easily. "I mean. I trust you. And stuff."

[selfhelphero]

Getting trust from Topher felt really amazing, like Billy really was some kind of hero, like he'd always dreamed of being. "We'll just go for a little while. Then we can get food and stuff, right?" Billy said, glancing around. "We'd better get out of here before the waiter comes back."

[dollpocalypse]

"Definitely," Topher agreed, pushing his chair back and standing up. "Do you know where that is?" he asked with a nod toward the TV. "We could probably get a cab or something." Because someone feared public transportation after his last trip to New York. Giant rats and everything.

[selfhelphero]

"A cab would be too slow," Billy said, getting up and leading Topher outside. "I have a better idea, but you might want to, um, hold my hand." Yeah, leading Topher towards danger wasn't really terrible scary, but holding his hand kind of was.

[dollpocalypse]

On the first date? Billy, you strumpet.

"'Kay," Topher said dubiously, reaching out for Billy's hand. And he only twitched once in the process! It was really very impressive.

[selfhelphero]

Billy grinned as he took Topher's hand and held it tightly, casting spells with the other hand. Even if they were going to be high up, he couldn't risk being seen in his street clothes, and Topher hadn't seemed to mind his costume before. Then, if Topher wasn't distracted by the spandex, he might have noticed a blue disk form under his and Billy's feet, taking them a little ways off the ground.

"Hold on, okay?" he said, before taking them up and up towards the closest spot he'd seen on the news. "I won't let you fall. You can close your eyes if you want."