Kyle (brainoverbrawn) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2019-07-26 22:10:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, alex manes, hanna marin, kyle valenti |
Who: Alex Manes, Hanna Marin & Kyle Valenti
What: Hanna is graduating and well Kyle is there to support and drags Alex along
When: 17th July
Where: Valenti & Manes household | CSU Long Beach
Rating/Warnings: G | None
Status: Log | Complete
Today was the day that Hanna was graduating and true to his word Kyle was suited and booted in a nicely cut well fitting dark suit accompanied by a midnight blue shirt, a black tie with the smallest accents of dark grey and smart well polished black dress shoes.
He gave his hair another once over and made sure it was well styled before his hand dragged over his freshly shaved cheeks. A dash of cologne and Kyle grabbed the box which held the small present he’d gotten to commemorate Hanna’s graduation.
It was a big deal after all.
Satisfied with how he looked Kyle headed downstairs.
Alex glanced up from where he was sitting at the breakfast bar, Biscuit beside him waiting patiently for him to finish his sandwich and throw her the crusts. Glancing up, his fingers tightened around his food slightly so he didn't drop it and he cleared his throat because Kyle- Kyle looked good.
It took him thirty seconds to remember why Kyle was suited and booted and then he smiled a little. "Looking good, Doc," he teased, "Hanna's gonna be popular."
Kyle snorted and rolled his eyes. “Shut up. Gotta make an effort for somebody’s graduation.” He rummaged out his car keys and stopped to give Biscuit a quick rub of the ears. “But it’s not too much, right?”
Alex tilted his head, like he was truly considering his answer, before he shook it. "No, it's just enough." His smile was softer, "I mean it, fuck- you look really good." Good enough that Alex's pulse had started hammering somewhere around his throat. "Still, she'll be popular with all the older siblings and moms wanting to get your number."
Kyle’s lips softened into a smile as Alex assured him that he looked good, snagging his keys and slipping them into his jacket pocket a moment later . “I’m definitely taking that as an endorsement.”
He bit his lower lip for a moment before chuckling at the thought of older siblings and moms wanting his number.
“Sure I can’t convince you to get all smarten up and join me?”
"Pretty sure I wasn't invited," Alex pointed out with a little grin, tempting as the offer was.
“I honestly don’t think Hanna would complain,” Kyle said in return, eyebrow arched and everything.
"I don't know if there's an extra ticket; do you have a plus one?"
Kyle smirked as he reached into his pocket as he produced two tickets. “As luck would have it.”
Alex's eyebrows lifted. "You asking me to go to your friend-slash-random park patient's graduation with you?" he asked, dropping what was left of his sandwich down for Biscuit, who snapped it up in a milisecond before it even hit the ground.
“Do I need to repeat it in Spanish?” Kyle countered as he wiggled the tickets in Alex’s direction. “C’mon, the more the merrier. She’s a really nice girl and it sucks that she hasn’t got anyone coming to see her graduate so I figure an extra body will be just what the doctor ordered.”
Alex rolled his eyes, "You're an idiot. Hang on."
He got to his feet and rubbed behind Biscuit's ears. "How long do I have to get ready?"
Kyle tugged back his sleeve to glance at his watch. “Like twenty minutes or so?”
Alex grinned, "Okay, give me ten minutes, I'll be back."
He left the kitchen relatively quickly, heading into the guesthouse. He'd already showered that morning so he shaved quickly and put on the smartest clothes he owned; a pair of dark slacks and a grey blazer with a blank t-shirt on underneath. He didn't really have any button-downs that weren't military. He frowned, shooting Kyle a quick text:
{sms} should I wear my blues?
Kyle’s lips edged into a further grin when Alex headed out to get changed much to Biscuit’s confusion. “It’s okay, girl,” Kyle assured her with another ruffle of her fur.
Of course when his phone buzzed he retrieved it and swiped away his lock screen to see the question posed to him by Alex.
He’d never seen Alex in his blues and he sure as hell was not passing up the opportunity.
{sms} Yes, Captain Manes, you should
{sms} You gonna salute me when I walk in? :P
Alex snorted and dropped his phone onto the table, swallowing as he stripped again and pulled his Service Dress Uniform out of the closet where it had been hanging. He hadn't thought he'd be wearing this again but there was a level of respect for his own service that he needed to show himself, and putting this on for a formal event was a good start.
He was still fiddling with his sleeves when he walked back into the kitchen, hair slightly mussed but not unbecoming of an Officer, glancing up at Kyle with a little smile.
"Better?"
Kyle was busy fiddling with his phone when Alex came back in but as soon as he was addressed he lifted his gaze at which point his throat went suspiciously dry because Alex looked good on a normal day but dressed in his blues? Hot damn.
He grinned a second later. “You look good.”
Hell even Biscuit agreed as she gave a bark in response.
Alex rolled his eyes a little, "Everyone loves a man in uniform, I know." He turned to lock the back door, flicking the lock with his thumb and when Biscuit came closer he held up a finger. "Nu uh, madam, can't get dog hair on this."
He reached down and scratched behind her ears anyway, but with a respectful distance between them.
"Haven't worn these in a while."
Kyle surreptitiously stole a look at Alex as he reached down to scratch Biscuit’s ears and then with a suggestive arch of his eyebrow he said, “don’t think I’m going to be the only one that Hanna is asked about.”
Alex snorted, "You'll have to stop me from punching the eighth person who thanks me for my service," he replied, bumping Kyle's shoulder playfully. "Come on then, I- did you plan this? Is this part of your grand scheme to get me out of the house?"
Kyle snorted softly. “I think I can do that.” He gave Alex a blank rather innocent look when he asked if he planned this. “Me? Plan? Please.”
The playful bump was returned before Kyle was heading towards the door.
Alex laughed, "You're not as subtle as you think," he retorted, following along behind Kyle for a moment if only to indulge privately in a lingering glance at how well Kyle's pants fitted him so that he didn't get caught. Ever since the Seth Incident, Alex had been struggling to think past the idea of Seth and Kyle. It was driving him to distraction.
Once outside, Alex slid into the car and stretched his legs out in front of him, carefully rotating his ankle. "It's good of you to go, you know."
Kyle slid out of his jacket and hung it up in the back before he eased in behind the wheel. “Well she’s a friend and I might not have seen her face but I could read that crushed tone in her text when she said her mom wasn’t coming out. That and she’s going through a break up so doubly hard for her.”
He started up the car and backed them out of his drive and began them in the direction of where the graduation ceremony was taking place.
“Some guy she was sweet on had something going with the person in their joint dreams or something.”
Alex's eyebrow lifted. "That sounds complicated," he said, settling comfortably and pulling out his shades, sliding them onto his face so he wasn't squinting into the Californian sun. "And messy. I mean- shit, not knowing someone here and then dreaming about them must be weird enough to process."
“Right?” Kyle asked, shaking his head. “Sheer insanity.” He flipped the AC on and navigated the steady flow of traffic with ease, confident without the use of satellite navigation.
Alex was quiet for the rest of the drive, only chiming in to point out parking spaces as they approached the intensely crowded campus, filled with people who were dressed ready for their graduation.
Kyle's phone buzzed just as they were parking.
{sms} Hey- I don't know if you're still coming today or not but I'll be in the middle of the group that's going second. Hanna x
Alex leaned over, "Looks like she's nervous.
Kyle grimaced faintly at the amount of people as crowds had never been his favourite and he couldn’t imagine Alex wanted to be surrounded by that many people. Still, he’d look out for him, make sure he didn’t get overwhelmed. Alex was more than capable but PTSD was difficult to navigate when you were in the middle of it and living it.
{sms} Of course I’m still coming. Also brought my best friend in his military dress blues. You’re welcome :wink: We’ll be the ones making the most noise.
“Yeah, looks like.”
He opened up his door and stepped out, pulling his jacket on a moment later.
Alex drew in a deep breath and flexed his fingers against his thighs. He wasn't looking forward to being surrounded by people, but at least if they could sit on the end of an aisle or something, that'd be better than anything else. Following suit and climbing out of the car, Alex straightened his jacket and tugged down on his sleeves, wetting his lower lip and swallowing back the nerves at being out in his service uniform surrounded by strangers.
"Guess we better go in?"
{sms} You are? omg thank you :heart: can i meet you after? our group'll be done by 2:30 i think.
Kyle glanced over at Alex and could see the nerves in the small barely noticeable lines in his face but if you knew somebody like Kyle knew Alex you learned the non verbal cues. “You look great,” he assured Alex as he reached over to squeeze his shoulder.
{sms} We’ll wait for you. Maybe we can grab some food?
{sms} my treat tho x
Alex leaned into the reassuring touch and shook his head. "It's not that I'm worried about." He reached up and curled his fingers around Kyle's wrist, squeezing gently and resisting the urge he had to actually take the guy's hand. Alex wasn't a hand holder, and with Kyle's ability to pull anywhere he didn't want to give the wrong impression should someone catch his eye.
"C'mon, I'm claiming an aisle seat."
{sms} If you insist
Kyle waited a beat before he just slid his arm around Alex’s shoulders, tugging him into step beside him and providing him a slight buffer against the pressing crowd.
“No problem, I’ll happily sit next to a stranger.”
Alex barely hesitated before he slid his arm around Kyle's waist in response, just underneath the hem of the jacket that lifted when he'd tugged Alex close. "Of course you will," he teased, "how else will you get your first number of the day?"
Kyle snorted as Alex teased him and just rolled his eyes. “I’m here to support Hanna. Nothing more.” Still he couldn’t help but smile at the easy back and forth between him and Alex, it was nice. Reminded him of when they’d been younger.
As they rounded on the allocated seating area Kyle broke away but only so he could secure two seats on the aisle, shimmying in and leaving the one on the end for Alex.
Alex chuckled and slid in beside Kyle, nudging his shoulder gently and settling, kneading his thigh and watching the various family members filtering in. Ahead, in the front rows, the graduates were there, dressed in caps and gowns.
Hanna, chewing on her lower lip, got to her feet and looked around to see if she could see Kyle and Alex. She knew they said they’d be here, but she was still worried. One knee resting on the chair, she scanned the crowd.
{sms} its getting busy hope u find a seat ok!
Kyle glanced to his left and made eye contact with an older lady who looked beyond thrilled to be there and as they locked eyes she smiled. "It's my grandson's graduation today."
"Really? That's amazing," Kyle answered with a smile.
"So proud of him."
Kyle nodded. "I bet." He glanced briefly at his phone and saw the message from Hanna.
The lady clocked it and tipped her head. "And who are you here to see?"
"A friend," Kyle replied as he fired off a message that assured Hanna that they had seats.
Relieved, the blonde mortarboarded head sat down to await her turn to walk across the stage. As the last of the people filtered in, Alex reached out and caught Kyle’s fingers, squeezing gently - partly in reassurance that he was okay so they could both focus on the ceremony and partly to get his attention so he could silently tease him with an arched eyebrow about the octogenarian he’d managed to pull.
“That’s kind of you,” she said to Kyle. “You should always support your friends.”
Kyle turned his head as Alex caught his hand and then rolled his eyes at the expression on the other man’s face. No words were needed, Kyle knew exactly what Alex was thinking and his own thoughts were as plain as day across his own face.
“Oh, I couldn’t agree more,” he replied to the older lady. “I’m Kyle by the way and this is Alex.”
The woman’s lips tugged into a knowing smile. “Pleasure to meet you boys, always nice to see a happy couple. I’m Susan.”
“Pleasure,” Alex said, leaning forward a little to see the old woman properly. “And congratulations on your grandson graduating. You’ll have to tell us which one he is and we’ll cheer for him too.”
“Oh, you’ve done well,” Susan assured Alex. “He’s a looker.” And then she tipped her head to better regard Kyle. “Of course so are you.”
Kyle let out a small chuckle and stole a look at Alex before he just shook his head. “Believe it or not, Susan, but I’m not his type.”
“What!?” Susan asked, looking over at Alex.
“Mmhm,” Kyle said with a small nod.
Susan tsk’ed softly. “Well that’s a crying shame.” Though she did smile a moment later. “And I will, point out my grandson that is, but you won’t be able to miss him. He’s the best looking one on the stage.”
“I’m not his type either,” Alex chimed in and lifted his shoulder, leaning over Kyle to say to Susan, in a stage whisper, “Of course he’s my type, he’s just a very busy guy what with being a surgeon and all.”
He chuckled and nodded, retreating back, hand on Kyle’s thigh for balance. “Well, it’ll be good to celebrate him getting his diploma too.”
The dean stood up on the stage and cleared his throat as the last of the families moved in and settled down.
Susan’s eyebrows lifted at the admission from Alex. “Well then sounds like he needs to make more time for fun in his life.”
Kyle shot Alex a playful glare before his attention was caught by the dean. “Looks like it’s starting.”
Alex nodded, “Couldn’t agree more, ma’am.”
And indeed, the ceremony was starting so Alex turned his eyes forward to watch as people began crossing the stage, class by class.
“Don’t you two gang up on me.” Kyle tsk’ed softly much to Susan’s delight who barely had time to suppress a giggle when the ceremony begun.
Kyle nudged Alex with his shoulder before he turned his attention to the stage.
Alex grinned at Kyle and bumped his shoulder back gently as names were called. After about ten minutes, Susan gripped Kyle’s hand tightly and used it to help her get to her feet so she could clap for a young man that stood up and crossed the stage. Alex watched Kyle help her get her balance with a small smile and whistled through his fingers in appreciation for the old lady’s son.
Hanna was watching the time. She was bored of waiting for it to be her turn but then she knew this was important for everyone, not just her, and many people were making a bigger deal out of this. Hanna, however, had no family and no boyfriend here to cheer her on. She did have Kyle, her really hot doctor friend and his...friend (?) Alex.
When it came time for her to walk up to the stage, her name was announced and she did just that, up the stairs and she scanned the crowd for Kyle and Alex but didn’t see them, received her diploma and her tassel was moved to the other side. People applauded and she lingered for a second at the top of the stairs, just looking to see the men there for her.
Kyle happily helped Susan to her feet and true to his word he along with Alex made noise for her grandson who literally looked as if his entire day had been made when he saw his grandmother in the crowd.
When Kyle noticed it was Hanna’s turn he nudged Alex. “This is her.” And with that he got to his feet and proceeded to make noise worthy of an exuberant sports fan including whistling through his fingers.
Alex got to his feet again and whistled, using Kyle for support as he did; the up and down was making his leg ache but it was worth it for the way that her face lit up in delight at seeing them.
Hanna lifted her hand and waved, cheeks flushed and eyes bright. There was a bit of a lump in her throat as she stepped down the stairs to return to her feet and she gently ran her fingertip under her eye to catch the tears before they ruined her make up. She hadn't expected that anyone would be there, so having two people come was amazing and she couldn't have been happier.
Kyle grinned over at Alex before he helped the other man to take his seat so the remaining graduates could also bask in the glory of their success. It took a while but eventually they were able to move out of their seats and go up to their respective graduates to congratulate them.
Susan made a beeline for her grandson.
Kyle and Alex made one for Hanna and Kyle greeted her with a smile. “How does it feel?”
Hanna hesitated for a split second before she launched herself at Kyle, securing her arms around his waist and hiding her face against his chest, mortarboard tipping back slightly as she did.
Alex's eyebrow lifted and he smiled.
"Thankyouforcoming," Hanna mumbled into Kyle's chest.
The force of which Hanna launched herself at him did cause Kyle to stumble back but only briefly as he soon recovered and wrapped his arms around her. "Anytime." Which wasn't a lie, Kyle would literally go to the ends of the earth for his friends and the people he cared about. And whilst dream!him might not be the best the more he dreamt the more it became clear just how much he'd grown and wasn't willing to take shit from anyone especially Jesse Manes when it came to Alex.
"I uh got you something, to commemorate the occasion."
Hannah leaned back when Kyle said he'd bought her something and for a moment her eyes got suspiciously shiny before she ducked her head and released him from her hug to carefully dab her finger underneath one to avoid ruining her make up. That would be the total worst and she hadn't put on waterproof mascara because she, like, hadn't been expecting to cry.
"You didn't have to do that, Kyle," she told him, voice quiet.
Alex came up behind her and touched her shoulder. "I didn't get you anything," he confessed.
Hanna laughed. "That's okay too," she reassured, covering his hand with hers gently. "I- you didn't have to, Kyle."
"It's nothing," Kyle assured Hanna with a smile. "I mean unless you intend on going back into further education you only graduate from college once and it never hurts to have something to remember it by."
He looked over at Alex and smirked. "I don't know, Manes. I think you all dressed up like that is plenty gift enough."
Hanna's lips twitched up when she heard Alex breathe in sharply at the borderline flirtatious comment from Kyle and she turned her head to look at him, realising properly that he was dressed up in military uniform and her eyes widened. "Oh my god, I- I didn't even- thank you for your service."
Alex narrowed his eyes slightly at Kyle, recovering from the way his chest fluttered and tightened at the compliment and shrugging his shoulder. "Thanks, Hanna, but it-"
"It's totally a big deal. So thanks, but I bet it's super awkward for people to keep thanking you."
"It is," he admitted and Hanna had the decency to look abashed. "I'll let you off this time."
She grinned at him and then looked back at Kyle. "I am not doing this again, oh my God, it's the worst."
Kyle's teeth caught his lower lip for a moment before he ducked his head into a smile, a chuckle escaping him a moment later when Hanna admitted that college was in fact the worst.
"So, you wanna get out of here, grab some food and enjoy life as a graduate?"
"Yeah," Hanna said, looping her arm around Kyle's and tilting her head to rest it against his shoulder. "And you can tell me when you got a boyfriend."