Who: Matt and Miles What: Miles asks Matt about dating stuff When: Before Alyssa’s Christmas Party Where: Their home Rating: low
You’d think someone with good reflexes wouldn’t drop their phone as many times as Miles did, but in this case, he’d blame it all on Gwen. Not that Miles was angry since the whole interaction on the network had gone well. Really well. And thankfully he had a good, solid case so his phone never broke, but it was still ironic.
Now Miles had several things on his mind and after some pacing in his room and a lot of ‘research’ on the internet, he ended up leaving his room in search of Matt. Hopefully he wouldn’t chicken out when he found his guardian.
Matt happened to be in the kitchen, making himself a cup of coffee. He heard Miles, obviously on the computer, and then coming downstairs.
“Hey Miles.” He’d finished cleaning up the kitchen after dinner. “Fancy meeting you here,” he joked.
He chuckled a little, though there were probably nerves in the small waves of his voice. He knew what he was about to ask was pretty weird, but it’d been on his mind and Matt had a girlfriend and was way older than him so he had to know things.
Miles rubbed the back of his neck. “Soo… can I ask you a question? If you’re not busy or anything.”
Given that Matt’s plans included checking in with Eve to ensure their plans still stood for tomorrow, listening to Christmas jazz, and attending Midnight Mass, no he didn’t have plans at the moment. Matt definitely caught the nerves in Miles’ voice.
“Sure, what’s up?” he asked, putting away the last of the dishes.
He shifted from one foot to the other as he tried to find the words. That wasn’t true - he knew the words - but his mouth didn’t seem to want to make any sounds. His arm crossed over his chest and rubbed his shoulder.
“So, uh…” His face screwed up in a ‘I can’t believe I’m saying this’ expression. “How do you know if you’re good at kissing?” He shut his eyes momentarily as if that would help his disappear from all the cringe.
Very few things in Matt’s life surprised him these days but Mile’s question certainly did. While the foot shifting told him to prepare for a possible embarrassing question, Matt hadn’t prepared for that.
“Well, for one thing, you should definitely take cues from whoever you’re kissing.” Matt didn’t add the part about using about half the amount of tongue as one should think, because this didn’t feel like needed advice at the moment. “Does the person want to keep kissing you? That’s a solid start.” He refrained from the beer since he’d be going to Midnight Mass later and didn’t want anyone to smell alcohol on him.
“I have… no idea. Because we’ve never kissed before. Actually, I’ve never kissed anyone before.” Miles was channeling his Spanish mother at the moment and talking with his hands. The awkwardness was also translating into his words which meant he was talking a bit faster than he normally did. “But she said she wants me to kiss her under the mistletoe at Alyssa’s party and so now I’m worried I’m going to suck at it and she’ll never want to do it again.” Finally he took a breath.
Oh boy. Matt sat and took a sip of water, considering what to tell Miles. The hand motions could definitely slow down a little bit, but given Matt called Hell’s Kitchen home, he certainly wasn’t surprised. Though they did add a lot of sound for Matt.
“Well, maybe just enjoy kissing her and don’t worry if you’re good or not. People aren’t necessarily good or bad the first time they kiss. Just keep yourself and your lips relaxed and follow her lead.” He’d never been good at advice like this, especially since he never struggled.
“Just try to do it when there aren’t a lot of people watching you.”
His eyes widened a little and he stiffened a bit.. “I forgot there’d be other people around.” And now Miles had another piece to add to his over-thinking anxiety.
There was a pause and then Miles ran a hand over the top of his hair. “Okay, so… I’m just supposed to kiss her and hope for the best?” That was a new one for Miles. He was used to studying for things to make sure he got things right.
Another pause, then. “Is there like… a standard time limit? Or do I pull away? Or would she read into that and I should wait for her to pull away? And what if she doesn’t pull away and both of us run out of breath because she’s waiting for me to pull away and I’m waiting for her to pull away….”
Well, Matt had definitely made things worse. “Ask her what she likes. Take your cues from her. First kisses can always be foolish and awkward, so know you’re not alone.” Matt listened to his questions.
“You could start with just a brief peck and if you cup her face or hold her hand, even if you pull away and keep your hands as they were, she won’t think you’re pulling away because you don’t like her. Trust me, one of you will pull away to breathe if you continue to kiss.”
“Brief peck. Hold hand. Keep hands where they were.” He was committing it to memory. He wasn’t cringe enough to write it down - and he also wasn’t sure he could bring himself to cup her face even though he was certain she had a very soft face.
Well, this had been useful. And also very awkward.
Miles spoke again, quickly like he had when he first asked the question. “Okay, thank you! That was super helpful. I’m sure you have stuff you have to get back to so I’m going to go now. Bye!” He backed up and disappeared around the corner, but then had one more question in his head so his head poked back around the corner. “Uh… I can go to Alyssa’s Christmas party, right?”
Matt couldn’t hide the amusement when Miles ran back to him to ask permission. “Yes. But do me a favour. Don’t piss off her boyfriend, please.” He’d avoided the blonde since his arrival as well as her boyfriend. “Have fun and please be home by the time I am from Midnight Mass. And call if you need anything.”