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Who: Chase and Norman Where: The ballroom When: late afternoon
Chase had no idea where he was. it was lovely wherever it was, but it was not where he’d gone to sleep. He was amused at how damn elegant the whole hotel was, and he’d wandered around it for a while, taking it all in, perfectly put together and feeling like he could belong in a place like this. Just so long as Antonio didn’t get his eyes on it. Then it would be some awful throwback porn set. But Chase pushed that out of his mind, wandering through the ball room, taking in the chandeliers and the sloping ceilings.
Norman was still exploring. He’d taken to carrying his bag with him, just in case anyone wanted to play an impromptu game of Magic or get started on a Dungeons & Dragons campaign. He wandered into the ballroom, grinning a little at how big, how grandiose the whole thing was. “Wow,” He said, grinning more when his voice echoed a little. Eyes shifting from the ceiling straight ahead of him, he saw a form not too far away and headed closer to it. “Hi there!”
Chase heard the echo turning back. He was dressed impeccably, nice clothes that he’d dropped a good bit of his paycheck on, hands tucked into his pockets. “Hey there,” he answered quietly so his voice didn’t echo.
And Norman was dressed in his navy blue cape. And light jeans and worn in sneakers and a gray tshirt with holes in it. But he didn’t really care. He jogged over to the new person and held his hand out with a grin. “I’m Norman! We haven’t met yet.”
Chase found himself staring at the kid wondering if that was what he’d looked like when he was younger. Not the cape. Why was he in a cape? After a moment he held his hand out as well taking the younger guy’s. “Chase. And no. I haven’t met anyone here yet. Are there others?”
“Oh yeah, there are others. It’d be pretty lame if there weren’t, right?” He asked, smiling a little bit. “Nice to meet you, Chase. You look pretty fancy. Are you an actor or something?” Maybe he’d seen him in one of the many, many movies Norman had watched if he was an actor. Because actors wore fancy clothes, right? And Chase’s clothes were pretty fancy.
“Well yeah, but I guess...I think I thought I was dreaming.” Which might still be the case considering the cape Norman had on. Actor. Funny question. “Something like that,” he wound up saying with a small smile.
“Oh, well cool! Maybe I’ve seen some of your stuff.” Norman smiled again and looked around the ballroom for another long moment. “Like out of a different time, huh? Crazy. This whole place is, really.”
Chase ran his hand over the back of his neck. “Probably not. Maybe.” Everyone had their thing and the guy was wearing a cape. Maybe he was gay. Or at least liked guys. Or just dabbled in gay porn. Chase wasn’t about to guess. “It is. What else is there? That I haven’t seen yet?”
“Well, this place is huge. Lots of floors, everything spread out. Not sure what you have seen yet, but there’s a pretty cool bar area. Good place to play Magic. Do you play Magic?” This was starting to become a go-to question but it seemed to be working well in the way of ice-breakers here.
“I have no idea what Magic is, so no,” Chase said. That sounded like a sex thing. Maybe it was a sex thing. Maybe the kid had seen his movies. “Why are you wearing a cape?” Chase wound up asking, hoping that might tie into the Magic thing and something might make sense. soon.
“Magic the Gathering, it’s a card game. An awesome card game. I could teach you if you want.” He was used to this question, but he hadn’t had it here yet and that in itself had been kind of refreshing. But at least the way Chase asked it wasn’t ‘Why the fuck are you wearing that, you weirdo?’ because that got old real fast. “Same reason you wear a watch or a bracelet or something. I just like it.”
“Well, no I wear a watch or a bracelet because it goes with the outfit,” Chase said. “I don’t think I own anything a cape would go with.” He smiled a little and shook his head. “I’m not usually one for games. Though I was starting to wonder if it was a sex thing.”
“You’d be surprised, a lot can go with a cape,” He said, but he trailed off when Chase added that extra bit. That bit that had him blushed pretty heavily. “A what? A..no, it’s...No, it’s just a regular card game. You play, there’s like...different colors you play. You have 20 life...It’s a normal card thing…” He yammered.
“Definitely not a sex thing,” Chase said, thinking that blush suited Norman. It was probably how he got girls. Or guys. Again Chase wasn’t sure on the preference.
His cheeks grew hotter again at the sheer mention of a possible sex thing. “Yeah, no, not...not a sex thing. Just a...card game thing,” He said, really at a loss for what to say or how to even pick back up from this conversation now. Should he just….turn around and go? But that would be so weird.
Chase studied Normal as he blushed again and nodded. “That’s how you get the girls right? Or guys, no judgement. Though if it’s guys you might have seen my movies.” He crossed his arms over his chest and nodded. “It’s adorable, the blush and all. I’m guessing it works wonders?”
Oh my god what was happening what was happening what was happening??? Norman was not ready for this. “It’s...what? I’m sorry...I don’t understand…” He sort of understood and he definitely knew that this was not a conversation he ever had with anyone, girls or guys. And then a little key part of what Chase said filtered in. What did he mean, about those movies? Seeing those movies of his if he was into guys. “I don’t get...people, girls or guys…” He ended up saying.
“Well for starters you might need to figure out the preference.” Chase, nodded towards a table and sat, motioning for Norman to sit with him. “So tell me that first, which one is it?” Then he could work from there. Norman was adorable in his own way so there was no point in not helping him out a little. Just a small push.
Why was this happening? What was going on? Norman trotted along behind Chase, feeling extremely lost and very uncomfortable but a lot like he couldn’t turn down the offer to sit with Chase. “Uhm…” The easy answer was probably girls. The honest answer? Norman didn’t really know who he was interested in and so he just looked back at Chase and shrugged. “...I don’t know.”
Chase considered that then nodded. “I’m not surprised. I couldn’t get a vibe.” He was usually pretty good with his vibes. “So we’ll say we’re still figuring that out. Well the blush is what’s going to get them. So don’t right that. It suits you.” And there were plenty of people out there who loved a cute and innocent looking guy like this one.
He felt like every answer he was going to give was going to be ‘I don’t know’. This guy was on a totally different level than he was and Norman was so unprepared to be here right now. Out of habit, he reached into his pocket and pulled out his d20, rolling it between his fingers for the comfort it brought. “Thanks, I guess...I...we really don’t have to talk about this.”
Chase just smiled, propping his chin in one hand. “Who else are you going to talk to about it?” he asked since that was the case with most people. “So there’s no crush in your life, no one you’re interested in?”
“I...wouldn’t?” Norman said, voice getting higher than he wanted it to. He cleared his throat and ran his free hand through his hair, glancing back at him. “I mean, sure. Xena, Warrior Princess. Wonder Woman….Still wish I could be as cool as Malcolm from Firefly…”
“That’s not good. You should always have someone to talk to.” Chase sounded nice about it though, understanding and obviously offering to be that person. He tilted his head a little. “As cool as Malcolm or with someone as cool as him?” he asked.
He blushed again at the thought, because he never really had given this much thought. He’d had a mini crush on Wynona back home but she hadn’t returned that crush and he pushed it away so that now they were just friends. But since then he hadn’t thought about it and hadn’t ever thought he’d need to get in this deep with a stranger about it. “I really don’t know, Chase. I’m sorry. I’m...I don’t have an answer for all of this,” He said, feeling more helpless than he wanted to. Why couldn’t they just play Magic?
Chase watched the kid for a long moment then reached out and patted his hand. “That’s fine you know. Just when you’re ready. You’ll kill ‘um.”
Norman exhaled a breath he wasn’t aware he was holding and then nodded a little bit, looking back up at Chase. “Do you always ask this to people you’ve just met?”
Chase shrugged a little with a smile. “I like to help. Think of myself of my own version of cupid. Plus you’re cute and cute people deserve other cute people.”
He was...cute, what? This guy thought he was cute? That was just crazy pants. And it made him blush again, this time a big, dorky grin spreading across his face. “Don’t hear that very often. It’s kinda nice!”
Chase leaned back in his chair with a smile. “You don’t? That’s a shame. You are. Especially when you blush.”
Norman hadn’t felt this big, warm rush of fuzzy feelings before. It felt nice to hear that, to know that someone else felt he was cute and wanted him to get what he wanted. Whatever that was. And he was always a fan of saying nice things to people who said nice things to you because that, too, was something Norman didn’t get very often and he wanted to show that it wasn’t lost on him. “Well...thank you very much! You are a very snazzy dresser and a very nice person. I’m glad I’ve met you.”
Chase chuckled a little and nodded. “Thank you. I appreciate it. I try to do what I can. It was nice to meet you as well. Hopefully I’ll see you again soon?”
Norman nodded. “Yeah, definitely. And if you ever want to learn to play the card game, Magic, I have a lot of stuff here and would love to teach you,” He said smiling a little more as he stood up with his bag in hand. “Think I’ll head back and order some food. Oh, don’t try looking for a kitchen. Haven’t found it yet. You just sort of..order room service and it shows up. So just, a heads up.”
Chase nodded. “I kind of get the feeling you’d do better with me teaching you things,” he suggested gently, but didn’t push it. It was just a gentle flirt of sorts. He didn’t really spend time getting into relationships.
Eep.. Yup, time for Norman to go. Go back to his room and think. “Uh..yeah, I’ll..think on it. Gonna go now, talk to you later, bye,” He said, rambling again as he started toward the exit of the room with an awkward wave and a flap of his cape behind him when he finally turned away.