Who: Cate Adler, Kent Brightstar, Tony W What: First date When: Saturday, March 23, 2019 | evening Where: Italian restaurant in Laramie Warnings: Polyamory, some language, sex talk
Cate was rushing out the house so much getting ready that she wasn't sure if she was nervous or excited or just the weirdest combination of both. A week ago, she'd have called it weird and crazy without question, but she'd seen enough of both Kent and Tony over the week—particularly the evening they'd spent in the infirmary—that it had all settled into a rather warm, comfortable place in her chest. They were both, in essentials, the same as ever...but with new benefits. Tonight was still a pretty important and momentous thing, though, and she was determined to treat it as such. It wasn't every day you had your first date with two guys together.
She'd found the perfect outfit at the back of her closet, which she'd bought for a party just before graduation and had only worn the once. She felt cute in it, and she thought Kent and Tony would like it, so it was the best of both worlds. Plus, it wasn't like she had an excuse to wear skirts like this very often otherwise; the bar was strictly a jeans and t-shirt sort of establishment, and the rest of the time she was at home in yoga pants. Hair and makeup was her usual routine, though she tossed on a necklace almost as an afterthought. Some relatively comfortable shoes, and then she was done.
And in perfect time, too. Dad was working late, Mom had stuck around the bar to help a little through the evening rush, and so she had the house to herself as she shot off a text and then waited for her ride to arrive.
Her ride, in the form of two extremely good-looking men (if Tony did say so himself), arrived on her doorstep just a few minutes later. Tony was still fussing with his hair, running his hand through the ends to get them perfectly tousled. "How's that?" he asked Kent, turning his head from side to side. "Hot, right?"
"You're just looking for an excuse for us to play with your hair," Kent accused him with absolutely no heat whatsoever. Well, no. There was heat. There was definitely heat. This was just the good kind. Not the kind that made shimmers off the skin or indicated incandescent rage. He mentally digressed and tossed a grin in Tony's direction before activating the door rune with the slide of his thumb. "But, yes, very hot."
Cate was already on her feet when the doorbell sounded, because she'd tried to sit but had far too much energy for it. When she pulled the door open, a wide grin already on her face, her eyes went wide when she saw them both...in suits. "Ohmygod you wore ties." She grabbed one tie in each hand and tugged lightly on them. "Come inside. I've just gotta grab my purse from the table, and we can go. The wards will let you apparate out."
Tony laughed and leaned in to kiss her cheek as they followed her inside. "Hey, you only get one first date. Always make a good impression. Speaking of, look at you, gorgeous." He slid his gaze over her from head to toe, admiringly and absolutely without shame. "You look amazing, Catey."
"Thank you!" Cate stretched up to return that kiss on the cheek with one of her own. "Consider the good impression made, because wow, you two. Seriously. Why have I never seen you in suits before? Might have given me ideas ages ago," she teased, laughing.
It was probably a good thing that Cate had done the thing with the ties, because Kent wasn't entirely sure he remembered what this whole business with walking was. Maybe he stood staring just inside the door--which he'd somehow recalled to shut, miracle of miracles--for a little too long, because by the time he managed to say, "Um, what he said," it felt like too little and entirely too late. There was some minor blasphemy in his head. "May we keep you all night, or do you have work considerations for tomorrow that we should bear in mind?"
"Keep me, huh?" she asked, turning her amused expression toward the other wizard. Half a step sideways and another lift onto her toes, and she kissed his cheek, too. "I'm off all night, and I get to keep my Sunday off, too, so I am entirely free until about 2:00 pm on Monday. Think that'll be long enough?"
She lingered for a moment, hands still on their ties, then gave them both another little tug before she laughed and dashed off to the kitchen. She was back in only a few moments, clutch in hand. "Ready when you are."
Tony took advantage of the momentary lack of Cate to nudge Kent with his hip, grinning at him. "Breathe, babe," he advised, and slung an arm over his shoulders to give him a bracing squeeze. "You've got this. I happen to think you're pretty good at dates, even."
He brushed a kiss across his lips just as Cate returned with her purse. "All right, sweetheart," he told her. "I'm gonna side-along you. Kent, you've got the apparation spot, right? You wanna go first?"
It was really just that quick kiss that headed off Kent's argument about his date-ability to the contrary. He was aware he was wearing a dopey smile when Cate joined them again, but he didn't care. And he showed off his calmed nerves by holding up his finger in a silent request to be given a moment, after which he stepped to Cate and settled one hand at her waist while the other slid to the side of her neck. From there, it was easy enough to kiss her like he'd wanted to from the moment she'd opened the door: slowly and sweetly and deeply.
He took a step back, grinning, and nodded. "I'm good to go."
Kent took the Turn and was gone.
Cate blinked a little dumbly at Tony as Kent vanished. "Hmm...alright. Is anyone else a little light-headed?" She laughed lightly as she pressed a hand to her now-warm cheek. Because damn. She'd never had a first date that started quite like that. Once she'd had another second to recover, she crossed to Tony and put her free hand on his chest, bracing herself for apparition. "Why do I get the feeling that there's a whole other hidden side of him that even I haven't seen yet?"
Tony, whose eyebrows were sky-high at that greeting, shook his head as he wrapped Cate in a hug. "Yeah, pretty much," he agreed. "I have no idea where it comes from, but I kinda like it." He grinned down at her and turned on the spot, apparating them away with a pop.
He steadied Cate as they landed next to Kent in the approved spot in Laramie's Night Market. The magical population of Northwest Territory wasn't large, and the Night Market here was pretty small and unremarkable, but there was always a decent amount of traffic, and he kept his arm around Cate as he guided her out of the marked apparation spot to clear the way for a group heading out. "You trying to one-up me, man?" was the first thing he said to Kent, amused and arch. "Catey, you should know, I'm pretty competitive. Be prepared."
"I'm not seeing a down side here," Cate said with a laugh.
"As far as I'm concerned, there are really no losers in this scenario." Kent raised his own challenging brow at the two of them. "So I say game on."
Tony laughed at them both, squeezed his arm around Cate, and let her go, sliding his hands casually into his pants pockets as he led the group toward their destination just half a block down. He'd made a reservation at Martina's Cucina, the best (and only) magical Italian restaurant in town, and requested a quiet table in the corner. That felt weird, like they were trying to hide or something, but not weird enough not to make the request. Tony opened the door for the other two with a flourish. "Benvenuto," he told them, and grinned at both of them. "That means welcome. I'm Italian, I know these things."
Letting Cate go first, Kent couldn't seem to help himself as he literally brushed past Tony, fingers just barely glancing his hip as he went. "Sai un sacco di cose, vero, tesoro?" he murmured with a faint smile and a look heavy with meaning. "Ci insegni così tanto." Kent looked over at Cate and winked at her, that smile deepening and taking on a wicked glint. "Sarà molto divertente."
"Well, now that's just cheating," Cate said with a glance over her shoulder. "If you two start playing the game like that then it's going to be over before it's started."
She went straight to the hostess stand and gave Tony's name, and was pleased when they were able to head immediately to their reserved table, especially given the large groups that were standing around waiting. The atmosphere was nice, in that it wasn't so casual that she felt like they looked out of place, dressed as they were, but wasn't so dressy that she felt like they had to act like anything other than themselves. There were plenty of somber tables balanced by raucous laughter and everything in between.
"Corner booth, as requested," said the host, placing their menus on the table and stepping back to give them space. "Your server will be Ed. Enjoy." And with that, he left them to themselves.
Cate eyed the table for half a second and then shrugged, sliding in and figuring they'd sort out the seating arrangement as they went, just like everything else.
Tony hadn't considered the hazards of booth-sitting with two dates, and he paused for a moment as well, stymied briefly. He glanced over at Kent, shrugged, and sat himself down on the opposite side from Cate, leaving Kent to choose which of them he'd sit beside. "Quod's on your court, man," he told him with half a grin. "Also… I'm only half Italian, so you're gonna have to translate. Was that sexy? It sounded sexy."
A slightly hunted look crossed Kent's face before he made a flash decision. He sat next to Cate, close, but not crowding. His foot immediately slid in next to Tony's, however, maintaining that connection that he had a feeling might be vital to what they were doing. "I think that depends on if you find imparting knowledge sexy." He smirked over at Cate, nudging her shoulder with his before gazed back at the other man. "Because I'm pretty sure there's a lot of things you could teach us."
Cate leaned toward Tony, side eyeing Kent and dropping her voice into a conspiratorial faux-whisper. "Do you see what he did there? We've been here two minutes, and already the innuendo has come out. He's right about one thing, though. I do think 'imparting knowledge' is sexy." There was the slightest tease in her voice at the fancy terminology, but she flashed him a grin. "So come on. Let's have it. Dazzle us with your brilliance." She rested her chin on Tony's shoulder.
Tony laughed, stretching his arm over the back of the banquette, around Cate's shoulders and his fingers brushing over the back of Kent's neck. The contact was reassuring, for reasons he didn't want to examine too closely. "Put a guy on the spot, why don't you. Okay, did you know that the longest major-league game of Quodpot ever recorded was in 1912 between the Flyboys and the Spitfires, and it lasted one thousand and sixty-eight Quods and took twenty-seven hours and fourteen minutes? It came down to one player from each team for the last two hours, and it was one of the bloodiest games ever played, they say. The last man standing was Elias "Stubby" Dodge off the Spitfires, who never did grow back all his teeth." He grinned at the two of them. "Sexy, huh?"
Even though he knew they were both teasing him, Kent didn't mind. His eyes went a bit glossy at the idle touch of Tony's fingers, but that didn't mean he wasn't paying keen attention to every word that was said. "Was the permanent loss of teeth down to the actual damage? Or was that more the delay in seeing a healer because the game was on-going? Did somebody sneak in a curse that the refs never saw? I have so many questions, clearly." He paused for a second, pink crawling into his cheeks, and then mumbled. "It's sexy to me."
Grinning back at him, Tony shook his head. "Hey, I'm really happy to talk gruesome Quodpot injuries with you, babe, but maybe not at the dinner table?"
Cate tilted the other direction on the seat, so this time her cheek rested briefly against Kent's shoulder. "You two are both officially nerds, and it's both adorable and sexy. So it's still a tie, I'm afraid."
She flashed both of them grins and then forced herself to sit up and pay attention to the fact that they were in a restaurant where clearly a server was soon going to be around for orders. She flipped open the menu and squinted at it in the dinner mood lighting. "Anything in particular you'd recommend? Italian food is one of those things I haven't had in much variety, but I've never had anything I didn't like. I'm still sad I never got to go to Italy last year, but we were having far too much fun in Spain."
Tony squeezed the back of Kent's neck fondly before withdrawing his arm to reach for the menu. "Look, they say not to order spaghetti on a first date -- or anything with garlic -- but that is a crap rule and they make the actual best pasta here. The carbonara is…" He kissed his fingertips and grinned between the two of them. "And can I just say, their brick oven pizza is in another realm of deliciousness. Really, you can't go wrong. How about wine? Red?"
There was a lingering pleased smile that quickly gave way to open confusion on Kent's face. He eschewed his own menu for a moment in favor of leaning in against Cate's shoulder a bit as he looked at the other two. "Why wouldn't you order spaghetti on the first date? Isn't it just the perfect excuse to reenact the scene from Lady and the Tramp? I mean, probably to disastrously awkward results, but I can see the appeal of the attempt, at least. Maybe that's just me. Zophiel made us watch that movie a million times when we were kids. My parents had the audacity to blame me when we found the DVD broken one day. I still blame Dumah, but she's never copped to it." As an afterthought, like he hadn't just related an embarrassing childhood truth, he added, "Red is fine."
"You might as well just say 'don't get Italian food on a first date,'" Cate agreed as she scanned the menu—or attempted it, anyway. Sitting there between the two of them was much more distracting even than she'd expected. But then, that was half the point. If she'd wanted things to stay innocent, she could have kept it that way. It wasn't as if they hadn't all been friends up to this point. This was not about being platonic—and right now she was very glad of it. "Isn't garlic basically the foundation of all the best Italian food?"
She gave Kent an amused smile to let him know she wasn't going to let that one go without comment, but focused for the moment on the wine list. Alcohol was sort of her specialty, after all. She pointed to a couple of the reds, angling the menu toward Tony. "These two sound good. Depending on what food we order, obviously." To Kent, she said, "That sounds like me and my sister, only she made us watch The Neverending Story on loop. You know, the one from the '80s? To this day, she's still determined to prove that luck dragons are a thing." She nudged him affectionately. "I'm gonna be a rebel and get the spaghetti. First date rules be damned." She flipped her menu closed with a flourish.
Tony winked at her and leaned in a little closer to survey the wine list with Cate, his hand coming naturally to rest on the small of her back. "You nonconformist, you. That's sexy. And so is your taste in wine." He grinned over at Kent. "I'll kiss you over the meatballs if you want, babe. Or you, Catey, but it seems like it's Kent's childhood dream and how am I gonna deny a guy his dreams?"
Their waiter showed up just then with a bread basket, a water pitcher, and an adorable smile, which Tony returned out of habit (even if he wasn't noticing adorable waiters right now because he was on a date). When they'd all placed their orders, Tony settled back into his seat, his hand still on Cate's back and his long legs stretched under the table to knock his ankle against Kent's, and lifted a breadstick to both of them in a toast. "So here we are," he said. "Three Musketeers or Three Stooges, do you think?"
"Definitely Musketeers," Cate said, raising her own bread stick to touch Tony's. Her free hand came to rest lightly on Kent's leg. "I mean, if things are going to get kinky, I think we can come up with better than hitting each other over the head. And I wouldn't say no to watching you two sword fight."
"I'm not the one with--" Kent realized he was getting defensive, and just as quickly realized how stupid that was. He pushed out a breath as he shook his head and then laughed quietly at himself. That laugh only got more prominent at Cate's illustrative clarification of her desires. He grinned at the pair of them and nodded to where the two breadsticks were touching. "Tony certainly is the master of handling steel. But, again, we all wind up winners in that contest too."
There was a beat, and then Cate's eyes went wide as she realized exactly how unintentionally full of innuendo her statement had been. She knew her face had to be bright red as she turned it into Tony's shoulder, giggling madly.
Tony laughed, too, though it took a lot more than a little double entendre to make him blush. He curled his arm around Cate and shook his head mock-disapprovingly at Kent. "Now look what you did, babe, making the lady blush like that. And before we've even had our wine."
He grinned, and lifted the breadstick to his mouth, and locked his eyes on Kent's as he took the slowest and lewdest bite that was ever seen in a public place.
"No, I'm pretty sure I did that one all by myself," Cate said as she lifted her head again, still laughing. "And don't think I don't know what you're doing up there," she added, rolling her eyes and patting Tony's cheek.
Beneath Cate's warm hand, Kent's thigh jumped a little in response to that display, as well as the tiniest sharp intake of breath. He pressed himself a bit more into Cate's side and turned to hide the deeper red of his cheeks by nuzzling into her hair. His lips grazed her ear as he whispered, "Do you mind what he's doing up there? Handling steel isn't the only thing he's mastered."
"Sure isn't," Tony agreed through a mouth full of bread, and grinned at both of them.
"Oh my god," Cate said, rather breathlessly, but rather than speak beyond that, she turned her head to catch Kent's lips with her own. She'd intended it to be a quick one, but his ready response drew her in for something far more matching the truth of her reply.
While the fingers of one hand had come up to cradle her jaw as he kissed her right back, the other moved past her, fumbling blindly for a moment before it slid against Tony's chest and slid up to find the opening of his collar. He'd just started to drag him closer to Cate when there was the rattling of glassware from behind him. The waiter. The restaurant. Public space. Right. It had totally vacated his mind. He eased back slowly and found the tablecloth extremely fascinating very suddenly. The wine and glasses were left, and Kent could have sworn he saw their waiter smiling to himself out of the corner of his eye as he walked away. "Um, sorry. Got carried away. Situational hazard."
Tony, who'd almost inhaled his breadstick when Kent grabbed his collar, coughed and laughed all at once, reaching for his water glass. "Can't take you anywhere," he told him, still wheezing a little, and reached up to straighten his shirt. "But I get it. We're hot." He nudged Cate, smiling down at her. "I think he likes us."
He sat up and reached for the wine bottle, pouring a glass for each of them, and slid them over to his dates. "And I also think it's time for a drink and a cool-down, kids. Let's not get kicked out for being indecent until I've had my carbonara."
"He definitely likes us," Cate said, still a little out of breath but feeling very nice all the same. She gave Kent's leg a little squeeze—because there were definitely no apologies needed for that kiss—and then followed Tony's example. She sipped the wine tentatively. "Is getting kicked out of restaurants for indecency a thing that happens? That has happened to you?" She raised an inquiring eyebrow.
So maybe there was a touch of compensation going on with the amount of wine that consisted of Kent's first "sip". The tips of his ears were still noticeably pink, but maybe he didn't mind much. "I'm not sure if the wine will hinder or help with the staying decent, all things considered. But if Tony insists on getting us liquored up, who am I to judge his methods?"
Tony laughed, shaking his head. "Hey, I'm not saying a word about how much you should drink, but neither you or I are getting tipsy on one glass of wine. So don't let him use that as an excuse to get handsy," he added to Cate with a grin. "And don't you worry, I'm stopping after one and a half, so no matter what you'll have a sober ride home."
He tasted his own wine, leaning back a little against the banquette's back so he could watch Kent and Cate. He'd thought they'd be cute together, and they really were, and that was as far as he let himself take that thought before he grinned again at both of them. "Oh, I've got stories about being asked to leave restaurants and bars. There was this one time in Chicago, my very first first date with a guy -- I was nineteen and overenthusiastic, there was a small fire when we tipped a candle over and didn't notice…" He spread his hands in a what-can-you-do gesture. "I'm pretty sure I'm still not allowed back into that Thai place."
"Stories plural? These I've got to hear." Cate retrieved her breadstick from her plate and broke off the end before taking a bite. "Though personally I think that if you're getting kicked out of all these places, you're just not creative enough to get up to trouble without getting caught." She knew she was pushing her luck with that sort of taunt, given that they were trying to be good, but she couldn't help it. "I'll be more impressed if you have stories about not getting caught."
"I, too, am heavily invested in the not-getting-caught stories, for I feel as though they might be teachable moments." Kent winked over at the pair of them and injudiciously finished off his glass of wine. He'd just started to reach for the bottle when his phone chimed. Fuck. It had been on silent, which meant only one thing. "This is work. Be right back, hopefully."
Without knowing if this would turn into an actual phone call, Kent left the booth with utmost reluctance and went to find a quiet spot to see what the hell was going on.
Kent being pulled away by work wasn't a huge surprise at this point; Tony blew him a kiss as he left and gave Cate a one-shouldered shrug. "Hazard of dating a healer," he told her. "Nobody ever calls me back into work after I've clocked out." He smiled down at her. "I'll keep you entertained, don't worry."
"Same. No one freaks out if the bartender-coder isn't around." Cate raised her glass and tapped it lightly against his. "To not being indispensable and being totally okay with that."
She couldn't help shooting a concerned look in the direction Kent had walked, but then she turned back to Tony. No use worrying about Kent when it might be nothing, and they'd know soon enough. "So first dates. What's your usual approach? Something tells me you're not the sort to come prepared with a list of questions to cover conversation lulls. Which has actually happened to me," she added. "I'm talking written list that he kept on the corner of the table."
Tony laughed at that. "See, I think that's adorable. I'm definitely more of the wing-it-and-see-what-happens school of first dates, but if somebody brought a list I would definitely want to go through the whole thing. Gotta love a person who prepares." He sipped his wine and grinned at her. "I never run out of things to talk about. That's because I'm a really interesting person, Catey."
Adorable was not the word Cate would have used to describe this particular date, but she wasn't interested in talking about him anyway. "Okay, so what's the most interesting thing about you that I probably don't know already?"
"Ooh, boy," Tony said, and draped his arm around her while he considered for a minute. That was the thing about a first date with somebody you'd known practically since the day they were born -- you'd covered all the usual first-date topics already. "Did you know that humans have twenty-four ribs and I've broken every single one of mine over the years? Six of 'em aren't even my original bone anymore. Healers are amazing. I don't think anyone appreciates that as much as Quodpotters." He grinned at Cate and took her hand in his free one, guiding it to his ribcage. "Can you feel that one that's bumpy? That's one I didn't get healed in time to fix straight. Doesn't bother me, but it's funny you can feel it from the outside, huh?"
Cate slid her hand along his side until she felt the bump, probing it gently with her fingertips. "That is weird. Does it still bother you? Like, does it hurt? Or is this, like, second base in the scar show-off contest?" She tilted an amused expression up at him. "I have to disagree on one thing, though."
She grabbed her wine glass with the hand not still resting on Tony's side and took a sip. "Sophomore year of college I was in a car accident and fractured my tibia. That's the 'bad one,' as my pre-med friend called it. The friend who was in the accident with me described it as 'disgusting.' I, thankfully, was unconscious, and don't remember the bloody bits. But it happened when I was with No-Majs, and I ended up going through the No-Maj ER, almost immediately to a No-Maj surgeon...so short of getting approval for roughly two dozen memory modifications, I was stuck with healing the good old-fashioned way unless I wanted to miss a semester of school. Which I didn't." She finished off the last bit of wine in her glass before replacing it on the table. "All of which is to say that Quodpotters may appreciate healers, but no one does as much as much as Squibs who don't have access to it. Did you know there are places in the world where a Squib can only get into a magical hospital if accompanied by a magical spouse or guardian who gets to make all related medical decisions?"
Tony shook his head, meeting her eyes squarely. "I didn't know that. I guess… I never thought much about what it's like for you." He squeezed his arm around Cate's shoulders. "I'm sorry. I guess I just kind of figured since your family loves you, and you've stayed around and seemed pretty happy at the Kestrel, things must be pretty okay even when you're so close to magic and can't use it yourself. But it's bigger than that, I can see." He took a thoughtful sip of wine, and when he set down his glass he refocused on Cate. "Do you want to tell me about it? What it's like? I don't know much, but I'll listen, Catey. It's got to be really important to you, huh?"
Cate smiled over at him, though it was without the edge of teasing and flirting that it had had only a little while ago. "Things are okay for me. Great, even." She shrugged, though the movement was a small one given how she was leaning into his side. "Even then, with the broken leg and all, it's not like it was doom and gloom. Inconvenient and annoying, and at times painful...but Dad did manage to get me some pain potions. Damn fine things compared to Tylenol, let me tell you."
For a moment, she considered turning the conversation back to lighter topics. She hadn't really meant to go into anything serious in the first place. If this was a normal first date, she definitely would have dropped it—but there was very little that was normal about it, and she found she didn't mind that so much. "It's just my life, you know? I don't have magic, and I never will, and there's no point in crying over it. It doesn't change anything. Don't get me wrong. I've had those moments, but it's been a long time. Mostly back when everyone was going off to these exotic-sounding boarding schools and I was stuck in Grandma's living room." She smiled at that, because there were days now when she wished she could go back to that, if only for the time spent with her grandmother. "But I have it good. A family and a community that respects me, involves me, listens to me, even. Not everyone has that. I'd not only be crazy to walk away from it, but also irresponsible. Maybe I'll never have the opportunity to change anything for anyone, but you never know. Sometimes all it takes is one voice, right?"
This was, of course, the moment that the waiter arrived at the table with their order. Right after asking if there was anything else they needed at the moment, he did impart a bit of an update. And if he did so with the faintest amount of amusement, no one could necessarily blame him. "Your…companion said he would be just a few more minutes, but to feel free to start without him."
Tony smiled up at the waiter without taking his arm from around Cate. "Thanks, man." He kissed her temple as the waiter turned away, not really caring if he found their situation funny. It was weird, he would fully admit that. "Cate, sweetheart, I think you could change the world if that's what you wanted to do," he told her, absolutely sincerely. "And if I can do anything for you, you just say the word."
"Maybe I will. Or maybe I'll just be that one little butterfly flapping her wings and helping everyone else change the world. I'm pretty much okay with either." Cate raised an eyebrow the slightest bit, but when she spoke her tone was more sincere than it was teasing. "Well, for starters, you could kiss me. And then you could let me taste that carbonara," she added with a laugh.
He laughed, too, and despite his lingering uncertainty about what he was really doing here, it was easy to tip his head down and kiss her. It was soft and light and sweet, and he pulled back after just a moment to smile at her. "How was that?"
Cate stared back at him for a long moment, lips still tingling despite the softness of it. Her eyebrows scrunched up, as she if was attempting to sort out a tough math problem. "I'm not sure," she said seriously. "It's possible the pasta might win, because it smells amazing."
She cracked a smile, then stretched up just enough to press her lips to his again, quick, but more firmly than the last. Then she settled in her seat with something resembling proper manners, sitting up straight and only lightly touching Tony's side, before turning her attention to her spaghetti.
Tony cracked up at that and gave her one last squeeze with his arm before releasing her to try his own pasta. He closed his eyes in bliss at the first bite. "Oh, yeah," he told Cate, "that's what I came for." Spearing a bit of spaghetti on the end of his fork and twirling it around, he offered it to her, still grinning. "Have a bite," he offered. "Before it all disappears somehow."
Cate paused with her own fork halfway to her mouth to take his offering instead. "Ohmygod," she mumbled through a mouthful of pasta, free hand pressed to her lips in her continuing semblance of polite society. She savored it for the few seconds it took to chew, then wiped her mouth with her napkin. "I'd come back for that, too. Damn. I might have to get some of that to go."
She laughed, but only for as long as it took to follow up with her own traditional red-sauced spaghetti. Her eyes widened slightly, and once she swallowed she said, "Nevermind. This one is its close cousin, and I'm definitely not going to be able to finish this massive plateful."
Although he tried desperately to change his mood as he walked from his place by the kitchen door where he'd been exchanging texts and waiting for others back to the table, Kent hadn't been able to shake the tension that had gathered between his shoulder blades or the hard line into which his jaw had been set. There was a sizable dent in the other two's plates, enough that he was able to finally appreciate how long he'd been gone. It wasn't just the texts; of course he'd done a quick search on the new deputy head of Herbology. That was just standard operating procedure when a brand new colleague suddenly texts someone with an issue out of the blue. Pretty inexcusable date behavior, however.
He settled back into the booth next to Cate, and eyed the wine before deciding against it. "Sorry again. Took longer than I expected." He was back to being terse, even though that was the last thing Kent wanted. "Food looks good."
Quality effort.
Cate could tell that whatever work thing Kent had had to deal with, it hadn't been a nice one. She wanted to ask about it, make sure he was okay, but she'd already sent conversation down one serious topic. There was always time later, and right now he could enjoy dinner before it got cold. Still, her hand automatically went back to his leg, and she gave it a light squeeze. "It is good. Definitely steal a bite of Tony's before he wolfs the rest down. I'm a little afraid this has set the bar too high, though."
From the first look at Kent's face, Tony could tell whatever had taken his attention away from this wasn't good. He caught his eye and lifted an eyebrow in question. "Food's great. How are you?" He reached over past Cate to squeeze his shoulder. "What's wrong, babe?"
"It's--" he debated for the amount of time it took to draw a breath, and then shook his head. The night was going well, and the last thing Kent wanted to do was drag it down. He offered the pair of them an apologetic smile, and reached one hand to cover Cate's where it rested on his leg while the other went over top of Tony's. "It's probably nothing. Besides, I'd much rather focus on the two of you. I have a feeling I've already missed too much. Including the carbonara."
Cate frowned slightly, unsure whether pressing the issue was a good idea, or if her initial instinct had been the right one. Probably right was far too subjective to be judged. "You haven't missed that much. Nothing we couldn't catch you up on later, anyway." She offered him a smile, and then made a split-second decision. She kissed Kent on the cheek, then scooted across his lap and out of the booth before anyone could protest. "I'm gonna find the restroom. Don't eat all of my spaghetti while I'm gone."
She gave them a playfully serious look before laughing and heading further into the restaurant. If there was any chance that Kent was holding back for her sake, because it was her first night with them, then she could give them a second. And if not, she could stand to freshen up anyway.
Tony laughed out loud both at the way Cate squirmed over Kent's lap on the way out of the booth, and at the noise that came out of Kent. "Wow," he remarked, with an appreciative glance at her back as she disappeared across the restaurant. "I don't know if we were ready for Hurricane Catey, man."
He took the opportunity to slide around the banquette next to Kent and rest his hand on the small of his back, giving him a searching look. "You really okay, sweetheart?" he asked quietly. "If you need to go back to the reserve, we'd understand. We can get this boxed up and head out."
There was something very telling in the way that Kent kind of melted into Tony's side when he got close enough, head tipping toward his shoulder and resting there. For all of his maturity-beyond-his-years, in that quiet space between them he was every inch of twenty-five. "No," it was more sigh than word, but he said it again, a little stronger: "No. I mean, I'm okay. I'll be okay. I just need a moment. I just want to be here. With you. Can we just do that?"
"Yeah, of course." Tony drew his hand up to rest on the back of Kent's neck, finding the knot of tension in his spine and working at it with his thumb. He'd always been known for giving the world's best back rubs -- it was a useful skill and one he'd cultivated over the years -- and even one-handed he was pretty good at it. "You can do whatever you want to do, babe. I'm right here."
A small noise of appreciation hummed from the back of his throat, not unlike the same sound he'd emitted when Cate had crawled across him. Kent pulled away a little and turned so he was better facing the other man, and drew his fingertips along Tony's jaw before he leaned in and kissed him, not unlike he'd done with their third at the beginning of the evening. "That," he murmured, pulling away be a degree. "I want to do that."
Tony grinned into that kiss, feeling more reassured that Kent was probably actually okay than he had a minute ago. "Anytime," he told him, and used that hand on the nape of his neck to pull him in for another kiss, longer and deeper. He wasn't so worried about getting kicked out of the restaurant after all -- he'd had his food, and anyway, they were way back in the corner, it wasn't like just anyone was going to spot them. With that in mind, he slid his hand down Kent's spine, slow and firm, pressing him in close.
Cate slowed as she approached the table, not wanting to interrupt...and, okay, she hadn't been exaggerating when she'd told Kent it was an appealing sight. She couldn't help being a little proud of herself for reading the situation correctly, too, given how little she'd figured out about the whole thing so far.
Finally, she cleared her throat and then slid in next to Kent, not bothering to try to reinstate their former seating order. "At this rate, you're going you have to take it all to go." She eyed Kent's plate, amused.
Yeah, so maybe he forgot about where they were, because there really was something about Tony that took him out of himself. But he absolutely didn't forget about Cate, had felt her absence like a low thrum in his chest, a backbeat in his heart. So when she came back, Kent didn't pull away from Tony's mouth, but he did reach back to try to pull her even closer. "Food can keep," he argued in a mumble against the other wizard's lips. "Changed my mind. We should go. Now?"
Tony did pull back at that, chuckling at him. "Hey… first date, remember? There's no rush, babe." He glanced past Kent at Cate, raising his eyebrow inquisitively at her to check how she was feeling about this. "If it were just you and me," he said, lowering his voice to keep any curious eavesdroppers at bay, "I'd take you home right now and have my wicked way with you and feed you in bed later. But with Catey… I don't know if we're there yet." He shrugged one shoulder, playing his fingers through Kent's hair while he kept his eyes on Cate. "But it's up to you two, I guess. What do you think, sweetheart?" he asked her over Kent's shoulder, with half a smile.
Cate was surprised at Kent's automatic reaction to pull her closer, though she went willingly enough, because surprising didn't mean strange or bad. What was strange was the way Tony's eyes fixed on her. Not because he was consulting her, because of course she had a choice here, but because that choice meant she somewhat indirectly had a say in what was in front of her—that was to say, what happened between Kent and Tony. And that settled oddly in her chest.
"I don't know if that's as simple of an answer as you make it sound like it should be," she said, feeling a little awkward being put on the spot. "There are other choices between being the wet blanket that wants to stay here and deciding right now whether I want to jump into bed with you, aren't there?"
At some point, Kent had sought out and found Cate's hand, his fingers tangling with hers. He squeezed them now as ribbons of his two… his two... of their conversation floated around and over him. Even in the haze that had descended over his brain, he could sense that they were skirting the edge of something, and he knew that was his fault. He let his forehead fall and rest against Tony's collarbone as he attempted to gather some semblance of a higher functioning brain together, to say nothing of bringing his breathing back to some kind of normal and socially acceptable levels.
As Tony had just done, Kent drew back as well. He couldn't say what was going on with the look in his eyes, because he had no idea what he was feeling. It was all a massive jumble of intense want that was some part straight-up desire but also a longing that went far beyond something that was just physical. But there was a challenge there, and an entreaty, while weariness threaded through in a baseline undercurrent. you don't deserve this
He gave Tony this look for maybe a handful of heartbeats before turning to look at Cate. An apology joined in on the action, and he raised her hand to kiss her knuckles. "Of course there are other choices," he told her earnestly. "I'm sorry. This is my fault. I got...carried away. I don't have any idea what I'm doing, so naturally--" his mouth twisted into a sardonic grin--"I'm fucking everything up. We don't have to go. We should stay, and you can both tell me more stories. Please."
Tony squeezed the back of Kent's neck once more before releasing him and scooting away by a hair to give them both some room to cool down. He had very little idea what that look was Kent was giving him, and not knowing made him a little uncomfortable, and distance seemed like the best solution to that problem. "I'm gonna finish this, anyway," he told them both lightly, nodding at his plate, and grinned across at Cate, lifting his wand to levitate her place setting over to her. "Here you go, Catey. Kent, yours is gonna need warming up, and do Cate's for her too, would you?"
There was a different atmosphere now, with Kent in the middle of him and Cate, though he couldn't have put his finger on exactly what that difference was or why it should matter. It felt more unbalanced now, and despite being all for the idea of having Kent right next to him he felt weirdly unsatisfied with the whole thing.
"I didn't—" Cate started, and then bit off the rest of the sentence, letting the other two talk.
She poked at her spaghetti for a few seconds, but her appetite had disappeared into that twisty feeling in her stomach. She replaced her fork carefully so that it didn't make any loud clinking noises. "I don't think I can sit here and pretend things didn't just get weird. And no, you didn't fuck anything up," she said, giving Kent a pointed look. "And no, I'm not saying I want to stay. I appreciate that you're trying to be considerate of me being new in all of this, but it's not supposed to be about what I want, right?" She blew out a long breath, trying to sort through the tangle of words that were fighting for voice. "I just...if this is a thing we still think is possible, then I want to be able to go with the flow without having to explain myself or put words to my decisions. I'm a big girl and perfectly capable of extracting myself if I decide I'm in over my head."
Cate leaned forward so that she could see both of them. "I mean, come on. You can't tell me that you two got from 'hey, what does hot cocoa with Tony mean?' to making out on karaoke night by having a couple of polite dates."
Despite the weirdness that had sprung up, Tony had to grin at that, casting an amused glance at Kent. "Not even a little bit," he answered. "But that's not really the same thing. We were pretty clear from the start what it was when he and I hooked up."
He finished off his wine and set down his glass, looking between the two of them. "Look… real talk? Flirting and joking is one thing. But I guess I haven't wrapped my head around," he waved his hand in a vague circle to encompass all three of them, "what this is yet. I know what this is." He gestured between himself and Kent. "And I know what that is." Another gesture between Kent and Cate. "And it's fine. I told you both it's fine. But you and me, Cate? And all three of us? I don't know what that is. And because we've all known each other so long, and because I think you two are great together, I don't want to screw it up from the beginning with sex, because sex is easy but feelings are hard. So that's where my mind's at."
"Fair enough," Cate said with a nod, feeling a lot better for getting these things out than she had a few minutes ago. "But can we agree to call it what it is? If any of us are uncomfortable, unsure, or simply not in the mood for whatever...we'll just say it and move on? And try not to make assumptions? Because honestly? I wasn't uncomfortable until you assumed I should be."
She leaned over and scooped up a few noodles from Tony's plate, as much a good will gesture as for her stomach feeling significantly less queasy. "Which is to say—we're trying too hard. So, really, normal first date territory. It only feels off because we've mixed it with a much easier date." She gave Kent's shoulder a light shove. "Since when are you the easy one? You're losing your touch, Brightstar."
"Are you… Are you slut-shaming me?" Kent managed to maintain his affronted expression for several seconds before he totally lost it in a show of genuine, if nigh-hysterical giggles. The humor in all of it was a lot easier to handle rather than the emotional whiplash.
Tony stared at Kent for a long moment, one eyebrow quirked in bafflement, because while he'd heard Kent laugh before (and was pretty proud to have caused it), he'd never heard that sound out of him. He looked past him at Cate and raised his other eyebrow. "Well," he remarked, "I think we did it. I think we broke him."
"I don't know about you, but I kind of like broken!Kent."
He rested his hand lightly on Kent's back, stroking gently over his spine, but it was Cate he spoke to. "So how does tonight end, then? We take you home, kiss you goodnight, and then I take him home and fuck him until he forgets his own name? Because that just seems… I dunno. Unfair. Unbalanced. Especially because even if you're not there, you'll be there." He tapped his forehead. "We can't just turn it on and off, right? If this is a thing," he gestured in a circle to the three of them, "then it's not separate from me and Kent, or you and Kent, and that's the part I'm not getting. How it works when we're not all at the same… you know… stage."
"Honestly? I have no idea," Cate said. "Lots of opinions, obviously, but not any real knowledge of how this should go." She considered for a long moment, attempting to probe not just her gut reactions to all of this, but also what she knew about herself when it came to relationships. It wasn't quite possible to relate this to a regular first date—even a first date with someone she'd known a long time—but attempting the comparison did at least give her a baseline place to start.
"Okay, so. A couple of thoughts, in no real particular order." She ticked them off on her fingers as she went. "Let's say this was a regular first date with only one of you. I think me going home and that's that would feel weird. That's the sort of end for a date with someone you don't know, you know? That's sort of what I meant about there being a middle ground. I'd probably have suggested somewhere more private, even if the end result was snuggling on the couch and watching a movie, or whatever." She lifted another finger, looking specifically at Tony. "I think you and I need to spend some more time together. Alone, that is. He's not the unbalanced part." She turned a smile on Kent. "We are."
It really was like watching a brutal tennis match, and Kent felt like he was up in the stands, tense and barely breathing, wondering who was going to win. They were both saying so much, and he was keeping it all inside. But Cate had said that honesty was what would make this work, if it was going to at all. Even while he pushed into Tony's hand moving across his back, he reached over and took Cate's hand, lifting it to kiss the back of it. He muffled a soft groan against her skin as his eyes closed for a moment. As much as he didn't want to, he had to put his own thoughts out there. "This is going to sound like bragging, and maybe it is a little, but I hope you'll take it in the spirit it's meant to be in. So, sure, I'm a genius and everything, but that doesn't exempt me from thinking with my dick sometimes. Because I'm not gonna lie--I can't stop thinking about what Tony said, about fucking me until I can't remember my name, and that's really, really fucking appealing."
He ducked his head, but moved Cate's hand until her palm rested against her cheek. "But here's the thing-- cuddling on the couch and watching movies with the two of you is just as appealing. And isn't that the age old conundrum: what the body wants versus what the heart desires. Except." His back tensed very suddenly. "The body isn't as separate as it probably should be. For me. But I could have it all backwards. And maybe it should be degrees of the same. Heart and body, wanting things in concert. In grace notes." Kent paused, eyes shut tight. "Fuck, I don't even know what the hell I'm saying anymore. This is why I don't talk."
When people started talking about hearts and feelings, that was traditionally the point in a relationship when Tony would start heading for the exit. He shifted a little uncomfortably in his seat, and reached for the wine bottle to pour himself another half-glass, and leaned back, his hand still moving absently on Kent's back, to watch the two of them. "I dunno what you're talking about either, man, especially the parts about music." He smiled at him, and past him at Cate. "But I like movies. And you know I like cuddling, babe. We could go back to Nat's and do that tonight, she won't mind."
He sipped at his wine, more thoughtful than he usually was. "But I think Catey's right, we should probably try this… separately, at least sometimes, and figure out what works for the three sides to this triangle. Because we're all different people, we've got different wants and needs, and there's nothing that says we all have to, you know, have the same relationship with everybody or whatever. Right? So you two should go out, or stay in, or do whatever without thinking too much about me. And Cate and I should go out and see what that's like without getting distracted by you, Dr. Handsy. And Kent and I should stay in and have a lot of hot, sweaty sex." Tony winked at him. "I think we should definitely do that."
Cate looked between the two of them as they spoke, her expression fighting between affection and amusement, with a tiny bit of confusion that was mostly irrelevant. "I like it when you talk, for the record," she said, squeezing Kent's hand. "Even if I don't understand half of it."
It felt good to have reached some sort of consensus, even if the details were still fairly murky. "Movie and cuddling, then I'll leave you two to whatever it is you wanna get up to when I'm not around." The amusement definitely won out as she said that, mostly because she was forcing herself to not actually imagine what they were discussing. Because damn. "And then we'll plan other things. With full agreement from all three of us that working on the sides of this triangle is the name of the game, and it's...I don't know, open season? I can't think of the right term." She laughed. "What do you think? Time to get the check and head out?"
An expression that was the closest Kent got to delight filled his face, and he nodded, taking in the two of them in turn. "Sounds like we have a workable arrangement. And for the record, I think we should leave the planning up to Cate in the future. I doubt she'd ever steer us wrong. So, movies and cuddle time, and then hot, sweaty sex, respectively? Sign me the fuck up."