Who: Julian Randol Murphy and Daryl Dixon What: First Date Where: Squirrel Creek When: On a rare day off for both of them, recently Warnings: Boys kissing? None, really Status: Closed, Complete
Julian had teased his boss about the fact that he was the one who made the schedule, especially when Daryl had talked about them getting together on a day off. He'd actually been happy to give his boss the day, the other night, when shit had gone crazy in the dreams for him. He still wasn't entirely sure what to make of his own dreams, but so far he'd only had two. Not that he wanted to think about that.
"Don't you dare even think about going in there," he tells Daryl, once he stops the car in the Squirrel's parking lot. His tone is a bit teasing, but this was their day off and neither of them needed to go into their own place of business. Not even to eat. They could find somewhere else to go.
He gives him a bit of a smile," So what's this all about anyway?" Not that he didn't know, he probably did. Especially when they'd talked about heading out together at some point.
Daryl cut the car’s engine and shifted a little to face Julian in the car. “I just need to check on something,” he said with a slightly mischievous glint in his eyes. He liked Julian. He wasn’t exaggerating when he said he was glad he’d hired him. Julian was an exemplary employee, the kind of worker every boss dreams of. He’d do his job, and pitch in where he was needed, making sure the ship sailed smoothly.
Daryl appreciated that. And more. In the short time he’d known Julian, his feelings for him had shifted from friendship to possibly something more, something deeper. He was a little gun shy about broaching the subject, though, because he wasn’t even sure Julian would be interested. He hadn’t really heard him talk about past relationships, neither with women, nor with men.
“Come in with me?”
When Julian had told his boss that he was a jack of all trades, he'd meant it. Even if most of what he did in the past dealt with cars, he loved to cook. That much was obvious when he was on the line. When he was back there with the others. Funny how that even worked. He was glad that Daryl had decided to take a chance on him.
"Why are we going in on our day off?" It's asked with a hint of amusement even as he slips out of the car, shutting the door firmly. He has to stop himself from letting his eyes roam the area, for the moment. Not wanting to seem like he was checking for stalkers or something.
He does, however, slip around the side of the car and waits for Daryl to slip out so they could head inside, for who knew what reason.
Julian didn’t know it, but Daryl had set up his office for private dining, for just the two of them. He’d planned the menu and had his desk draped with cloth so it looked more like a table and less like a desk. He’d had a television brought in, so they could watch a movie.
Hopefully it wouldn’t backfire on him. He really liked Julian, and wanted to get to know him better. And while he could have suggested they go to his house or out to some other restaurant, he opted to make use of his office. It was where they first got to know each other, really, when Julian patched him up after the dream incident with the arrow in his side.
“You can tell me if this is a terrible idea, but.” Daryl led the way to the office.
The last place that Julian wanted to be on his day off was at work. Not that he didn't love what he did, he loved his job. It just hadn't been where he'd expected. Actually, a part of him always felt weird being in a workplace on a day off. It felt like a person was intruding or something.
He follows Daryl back towards the office and raises a brow at those words. What in the hell could possibly be a bad idea? His mind was going through a ton of different scenarios. All of them with endings that were pretty bad or gruesome. However, he stops in the doorway of the office for a minute before walking fully inside.
The desk was draped in cloth and there was even a television in the office. This? Was definitely not what he'd expected. He does, however, give a smile," It's safe to say that it's not a terrible idea."
Daryl let out a breath. He really didn’t know what he was doing, here. He had never done this sort of thing before. Sure, he’d dated in high school, and a good bit after. Always women, though. And then he went through a phase where he simply couldn’t be bothered. And then Julian came along and...well, here they were.
“Are you sure? I don’t want to...I don’t know. Make you uncomfortable?” He didn’t think that was really an issue. Julian was nothing if not outspoken. He’d let it be known if he wasn’t interested in where this was headed, since at least in Daryl’s mind, the message he was trying to send was pretty obvious.
"Daryl."
He can't remember ever using his boss' first name. So many of them were just used to hollering chef at him. Well, no. Julian called him by name. Now that he thought about it, it was probably weird to the other cooks. Except that he didn't do it in front of them anyway.
"Do I look uncomfortable to you?"
“No,” Daryl said. His eyes flashed over Julian, drinking in every subtle detail. He definitely didn’t look uncomfortable. There was nothing about his demeanor that said he was uncomfortable. Which was a relief. Daryl had taken a risk, and it appeared it was paying off.
Or at least not outright rejected. Mixing work and play and personal life was a bad idea, he knew that. But he liked Julian and he couldn’t help it. He didn’t want to sit on it, squash it down, ignore it. That wasn’t any better. So he was taking the risk, and more than hoping for the best.
“I thought we could cue something up on Netflix and...chill.” He grinned a little awkward, but amused, grin.
"Netflix and chill, huh?"
When he asks, his tone is a little teasing. Wasn't that something teenagers did nowadays? Sat back, relaxed and watched netflix. Something like that. He knows that at home Raven threw it on sometimes. Even if she couldn't hear it, he'd never really asked why she did it. It wasn't background noise. Maybe the vibrations, who knows. Or a semblance of normal.
Moving over to the couch he sits down and leans back, perfectly relaxed. His boss wasn't someone that he felt weird around anyway. Maybe if he hadn't pulled an arrow out of him, it might have been different. "You just going to stand there or join me?" He teases.
“Oh, I’m gonna join you,” Daryl said. He moved to do so, sitting next to Julian on the couch. Netflix and Chill was popular with the teenagers, and young adults. Daryl was a little older than Julian, and a little older than the average Netflix and Chill crowd, but he still knew about it.
“What do you want to watch?” He loaded Netflix up on the television. He didn’t really care what was on the television, what they watched wasn’t as important to him as the fact they were watching it together. “Action, comedy, drama, horror…” he said, at least hoping for a suggestion of genre. Once that was determined, it would be easier to pick a movie to put on.
"I would sure hope so."
They were, after all, in the office with it being decked out for a date. Something that really hits him. He gives a bit of a smile and gets a bit more comfortable, leaning close to Daryl when he finally does sit down.
"We could go action comedy," he tells him. It would give them laughs along with a bit of action too. Not that he thinks they'll really be paying too much attention to whatever was on netflix. He hadn't expected this when they'd showed up on their day off, but he's glad that they had shown up.
“Action comedy it is,” Daryl grinned. He ended up choosing something at random, because otherwise he’d spend far too much time analysing the options. “This looks good,” he said, queuing it up and letting it start. He didn’t have much intent to actually watch the movie, not with Julian being agreeable to the whole date atmosphere.
He set the remote down and let his hand move to Julian’s, fingers lightly grazing the back of Julian’s hand. “I’m glad I took this chance. I was afraid you’d cut and run when you saw what I was planning.” But he’d followed his gut instinct and gone through with it anyway.
The movie that was on the television was probably something that he'd seen before. Or maybe it'd be something new. None of that mattered, though. For him? It was merely background noise and nothing more. Daryl probably felt the same way about it, but he didn't know what ran through his boss' mind.
He feels those fingers graze the back of his hand and smirks," Cut and run, huh? I'm not sure I'm the cut and run type." He's quiet for a moment, letting the silence fill the room, well semi-silence," Besides, maybe I'm just sick and tired of running. I don't want to run anymore." That could have a million meanings behind it, but it didn't. He was home. That's what mattered.
Daryl was quiet for a moment, weighing the words that Julian said. There was a lot of meaning there, a lot of baggage to be unpacked. Daryl was glad that he was there to help Julian navigate the unpacking, because no one should have to deal with that alone. Julian had a tragic story, forced to leave home by the people who were supposed to love and support him, separated from his twin brother, unable to come home until their overbearing father died.
But he was home now. Daryl hoped he felt like he was home in more ways than one. Daryl hoped that he might someday be home for Julian. “Yeah, you are.” He said finally. “You are home.” Which seemed like the perfect window for initiating a first kiss, and Daryl did so, with one hand moving to cup the back or Julian’s head.
Julian didn't want to think about the reasons he'd ended up leaving. Didn't want to think about the fights he got into at school, in order to protect his brother. Or the military school that hadn't panned out. A place that had given him some semblance of structure, but not enough. That hadn't happened until he could come home. Until he could be with his twin again.
He's pretty sure he hadn't mentioned anything about home, but maybe Daryl was voicing his own thoughts. Which was weird to him, but the man had given him a chance. Given him a job despite the fact that he, himself, had been all over the place. Jobs had been odd and end for him, nothing more. Now? He was at a job that he enjoyed.
Last thing he expects is the kiss. The firm, warm hand on the back of his neck. Though, he doesn't hesitate in kissing him back, even letting his own fingers brush through Daryl's dark head of hair.
After a moment, Daryl pulled back. He looked to Julian’s face, trying to get a read on him. He didn’t see anything that told him to back off. He was glad. Rejection at this point would be awkward for a number of reasons.
But there was none. There was only acceptance. Julian seemed to be as all in, in the moment, as Daryl was.
“Well, that was nice.” Lame, but he felt like something needed to be said to mark the moment.
There were times where even Raven talked about how it was hard to read Julian. It was something that the young Murphy knew. He'd made himself that way so he'd never be able to be hurt. A lot of his walls since coming back home had started to drop, though. Maybe it was being around his twin brother or maybe it was just the city itself.
He gives Daryl a bit of a smile with those words, trying not to laugh," That was nice. Which means we'll have to do it again and perfect it." Not that it wasn't already perfect. Everything about the day seemed more than perfect. Something that he hadn't expected when he came out with his boss.
"Maybe we'll have to give Raven the good news."
His sister-in-law probably needed it after all the crap that she’d been put through.
“She’ll be the first we tell,” Daryl said. He was quite fond of Raven. He had been since the day he met her. He enjoyed feeding her from his restaurant, and getting to know her and John. They were even more important to him now, since he was now dating Julian.
“But later. Right now I want to enjoy being here with you.”