[IC] Steam

[timaeusTestified]

"HOOLIGANS! HOOLIGANS IN MY CAFE!"
Ally sprinted away from the coffee shop with a coffee in hand, giggling gleefully as his converse slapped on the pavement. This was a fun pastime of his, waiting around in a coffee shop until something interesting was ordered and taking it before the actual buyer could, before fleeing. It was really the only way he could get good coffee, because he had to buy everything with a credit card and his adoptive mom would blow a gasket if she saw coffee charges on his card. She hated coffee, said it was the drink of devil children or whatever. Crotchety old hag. He never really liked her anyways, just like he didn't like the last 6. He turned to look back at the cafe, seeing an old man shaking his fist and scowling at him. He giggled, before facing forward again. His eyes widened in surprise as he stumbled into another boy, knocking them both over and spilling the coffee over the other's sweatshirt. He froze for a moment, hands on either side of the blonde's head as their faces were inches apart. He looked down, eyes widening further at the fact that the spilled coffee hadn't burned the boy. On the contrary, it was steaming up and rising off of his chest like he had poured the coffee on dry ice or something. He looked back to the boy he was currently pinning, eyebrows raised in a silent question before he realized the situation and blushed, getting up quickly and holding out a hand to help the other up.
"Oh my god I am so so so so sorry I didn't see you then I ran into you and I spilled my coffee all over you and oh my god your sweatshirt jesus fuck I'll replace that but first why is your chest producing steam?" He babbled out a mile a minute, eyes nervous as his free hand rubbed the back of his neck.

[Vantas]

Moe usually spent his time being a loner hipster in one way or another, from hanging out in coffee shops to going to the park to make chalk drawing on the sidewalk, he was rather pretentious but would never object to a "draw a kitty!!" request from a child, so at least he had that. But, today after causing a snow in the downtown area (because one of the downtown area school teachers had pissed him off by calling him a "emo punk", and he wanted to fucking bury that guys car in snow, so he did) he just wanted to go home, or, what he called his home as of the moment.
He traveled a lot, so cheep motels, trees, and friendly peoples tree-houses were his homes.
Right now, he was walking down the street, not really paying attention, as cold air that he didn't even feel ruffled his hair and his old sneakers clapped against the pavement, one second he had looked up to let his glasses fall back in place, as they had slipped down his nose, and the next second someone had bumped into him. This would be no big deal but there was a brief feeling of hotness, a weight on him, the sound of sizzling and then a nervous/apologetic voice.
"Oh my god I am so so so so sorry I didn't see you then I ran into you and I spilled my coffee all over you and oh my god your sweatshirt jesus fuck I'll replace that but first why is your chest producing steam?"

Moe would have been sweating right now if he could sweat.
"I uh-." He stuttered, when taken by surprise he wasn't the best at speech, he looked up at the hand that the black haired boy was offering him, the flight or fight part of his brain was leaning towards flight.
"Fuck."
He rolled onto his stomach and used his legs to push himself forward, then sprinted forward, bumping into someone else and tripping again, this time scratching his knee quite badly on the pavement, he stood up again calling out a "sorry!" to the person he had bumped into and turning a corner to hide in an ally.

[timaeusTestified]

Ally frowned watching him run away, and stifled a laugh upon seeing the boy trip and fall. He really shouldn't be laughing, that looked like it hurt. He followed him into the ally, raising his eyebrows and chuckling a little. "Okay, so maybe you don't want me to replace your jacket. Can I at least buy you dinner or something to make up for knocking you over and stuff? I feel awful about that." He looked behind the blonde to see that where he was headed was a dead end, and told him so. "Either way, there's nowhere for you to run away from me. Wow, I meant for that to come out a lot less creepy than it did. I just want to know your name, at least? Humour me?"

[Vantas]

Moe ran down the ally, much to his dismay the other boy was following him, also to his dismay the ally he had turned down was a dead end, fuck.
"I just want to know your name, at least? Humor me?"
Fine, telling the kid his name wasn't going to kill him.
"I'm Mortimer." He said quietly, his voice was as icy as his appearance, he didn't mean it to be it just was.
"Or, Moe if you prefer."

[timaeusTestified]

Ally grinned, smile friendly despite Moe's icy demeanor. "Cool! I'm Ally, and I'm sure that it stood for something cooler sounding at some point but I can't remember." He held out his hand, eyes pleading. "It's only customary to shake hands, as I'm sure someone with a name as old-fashioned as Mortimer knows. Again, can I take you out to dinner? It would make me feel better about it all, even if you don't want to. Are you really gonna deny a cute face like mine?" He smiled widely and cheekily, tilting his head a little as he continued to extend his hand.

[Vantas]

Moe blinked, slightly questioningly, then just nodded solemnly, taking the boys hand he only shook it for a brief moment, not wanting Ally to catch wind of his icy flesh, he didn't respond to the jab on his 'old fashioned' name, because it was truly old fashioned, seeing as how he was over 200 years old.
"Alright, fine. If it'll make you feel better you can take me to dinner." He said, his voice ever-quiet and slightly angry, even if he wasn't angry in the slightest. He didn't need to eat, he could, he just didn't need to. Being an immortal god had it perks, such as, he hadn't had to take a shit in 200 years.

[timaeusTestified]

Ally nodded to himself for a moment, before gesturing in the direction of a restaurant a short walk from their current location. "I'm really sorry about that, I probably should have been looking where I was going." He started off towards the direction, continuing to talk to Moe. "My foster mom really only cares about whether or not I'm around when the social worker comes to visit, otherwise I can basically just roam about. Since I'm over 18 I'm not a ward of the state anymore, but she's the only home I have right now so I opted to stay in the program." He approached the restaurant, bowing over dramatically and opening the door for Moe. "Good sir."

[Vantas]

"Interesting way to start a conversation." Moe said dully, obviously Ally wasn't one to hold back information, Moe would keep that in mind, he walked into the restaurant, a sullen look on his face as he usually wore.
"Please, say 'Mir, if you would." He said, looking at Ally and correcting him on the male-gendered "sir" pronoun, he usually went by They/them/their and 'Mir in the "sir/ma'am" addressing.
"'Sir is a very monogendered pronoun."
Most people would just shrug it off, but Moe had lived through 200+ years of being called "sir" and finally in this modern age he was able to correct people on misgendering him without being burned at the stake, beaten to death, or killed in some way or another, he wasn't going to be afraid of who he was.

[timaeusTestified]

Ally blinked for a moment, processing and making a mental note of this information. "Oh, okay! I'll try to remember that, correct me if I mess up!"
He got them a table, and while they waited for their server Ally leaned towards Moe. "Yeah, conversation starters like "How's the weather today?" Or, "How are you?" Have always seemed kinda bland and pointless to me. Instead, I like to randomly blurt out facts about myself. Like. Uh. Shit. See, now I'm drawing a blank." He frowned, sighing. "I don't do well under pressure and I really hope I'm not giving you a terrible impression because I personally don't think I'm a terrible pers-" He was cut off by a woman letting out a cry of "Don't touch me!". He swiveled his head practically at the speed of light, eyes narrowing in on the situation. He saw a man shoving his hand up woman's skirt, and edging closer to her when she slapped his hand away. Ally got up with a start, with a whispered "Sorry excuse me," to Moe. The brunette made his way to the man, words low. "I swear to god you bottom feeding jackass excuse for a human being if you don't take your hands off of her and leave right now I will shove my fist down your throat pull out your inner intestines and stuff them back up your hairy shriveled asshole." Literally every word of that was bullshit. Ally knew that. He could take maybe a few punches from this man before he was down for the count. Ally just hoped the man didn't know that. The older, larger, man stood up. He towered over Ally by a good foot and a half. Ally stood tall, scowling at the man. The woman ran to the other side of the restaurant. The man pushed Ally into wall face first, causing a nasty nosebleed and slight dizziness. By the time Ally turned back around, the man was out the door starting his vehicle, then gone. Ally grinned proudly, turning to walk back to his table as he stuffed pieces of napkin up his bleeding nose and spoke nasally to Moe after sitting. "I still look hot like this, right?" He winked.

[Vantas]

"Holy shit." Moe said as the scene unveiled, he didn't even have the chance to stand up and help because one second he was stunned by Ally's words, seeing as how this boy looked like he couldn't even hurt a roach without crying, and the words coming out of his mouth seemed like they were coming from someone else, Moe wouldn't have believed it if he hadn't had been sitting right there watching the whole thing unfold.
And then the next second, the man had thrown Ally against a wall and ran off.
He didn't even get the chance to stand up and help out before Ally had stumbled back to their seat, stuck some napkins up his nose and then winked at him with an egotistical remark.
"Of course, but you'd look a lot 'hotter' without blood covering your face." Moe said, looking at Ally with concern filled eyes, probably one of the first emotions he had shown other than bitterness.
"That was stupid to do, noble, daring, but stupid." He added, of course he didn't approve of the sexual harassment that man had displayed, in fact it sickened him, but Ally had been at least a foot short than him, it had been a stupid move.

[timaeusTestified]

"What was I supposed to do, sit there and let it happen? It may have been a stupid decision, but I'm a stupid person, and of the things I don't tolerate sexual harassment is #1 for personal reasons." Ally shrugged, grinning after a moment. "You think I'm noble?" He ordered hot chocolate and macaroni and cheese, shortly after being informed personally by the manager that in light of what Ally did, his and Moe's bill would be paid in full by the woman. Ally fist pumped, ordering two more plates of mac and cheese for takeout. "What're you having, Moe?"

[Vantas]

"Yes, I think you're quite noble, not many people would stand up for someone in need, I know I for one would never have been able to." He admitted, he made be an all powerful god, but, he was a coward, he stayed out of trouble if he could avoid it and only confronted people he could talk down, he saw that man who had sexually harassed the woman as a lost cause.
When Ally asked what he wanted to eat he just said, "Anything as long as it's cold." rather blankly, he hardly tasted food anymore so he didn't care much what he had, but he couldn't have hot foods- too much and it could hurt him, melt his insides or something.

[timaeusTestified]

Ally nodded, ordering salad and ice water for Moe. When the waiter left, his voice took a softer tone. "When I still lived with my birth mother, my stepdad was abusive to her. Me too, but especially her. He'd do the most awful things to her, amd I.was so young I could never do anything about it without fearing for my own life. Now that I can do something, I will.whenever I get the chance." He rubbed the back of his neck in embarassment, eyes trained to the table as the volume of his voice slowly decreasd. "I'm really not that brave, just impulsive and passionate about certain things. Like you. You're different, and I'd like to get to know you better. CanIHaveYourNumber?" He exhaled the last part all at once, worried Moe would reject his request. Boy, that'd be awkward.

[Vantas]

Passionate and ill-tempered, reminded Moe of someone else who had been close to him, no, he couldn't be thinking of people like that now- best to distract himself. He was only half listening when he heard Ally request to have his phone number, this was a much more difficult question that Ally probably- no- most definitely didn't realize.
If he gave him his number, if he hung out with this odd boy, if he became close to him, befriended him, shared with him little or all of his secrets, he would become attached, as he so often did and being a god becoming attached was never a good idea. Moe outlived everyone he ever met, so, he tried his best not to meet anyone, he hated having to deal with that heartbreak, he knew it was a cowards move- to be alone all your life rather than face heartbreak, but he couldn't help himself.
But, before he could let his better judgment turn down Ally, he just nodded then grabbed a napkin, a pen out of his pocket, wrote down his phone-number and left without another word, already regretting his decision.

[timaeusTestified]

Ally stared after Moe, grabbing the napkin off the table and running out the door. He looked around, sighing in exaspersation when he saw no sign of Moe. Dinner forgotten, he headed home with the napkin clenched in his hand. Naturally, he didn't notice the car trailing him all the way home and speeding away after he walked inside. Because god forbid a main character ever notice something that will be crucial to their plotline later on. Ha. Anyways.
Ally laid in bed, staring blankly at the ceiling for a moment. He had already entered Moe's number into his phone, and held the mobile device above his head. He opened up texting, and sent a single text to Moe before playing a game to pass the time.

hey old man!! Its ally the guy who ruined your sweatshirt with stolen coffee.

[Vantas]

Moe had walked to the place he was staying for the night, an old run down hotel in the downtown area, fucking hell he was a god but he lived like a rodent. He didn't mind much though, but he could hear the people next door to him having very loud sex, and that was really putting him off. He would have buried his head in the pillow to block out the sound but the pillow was slightly yellow and he didn't trust it.
Also putting him off, his phone had made a buzzing, he didn't have friends who would be contacting h-, of course, Ally.
He wasn't about to ignore him, maybe he could be distracted by texting enough to the point where he couldn't heart loud grunting and moans from next door.
"hey old man!! Its ally the guy who ruined your sweatshirt with stolen coffee."

You didn't really ruin it if I'm being honest, stained, yes. But, not ruined. Nothing some hard manual labor and elbow grease can't fix."
He sent the text before adding on.
And, old man? I'm 20. Hardly an old man.
He had to at least try and make it seem like he wasn't as fucking old as he really was.

[timaeusTestified]

Ally smiled to himself, giggling a little before sending the next texts after closing out of the game.

oh, im glad! 20 huh? youre only a year older than me, thats cool. howd you get a name like mortimer if you were only born 20 years ago?

[Vantas]

"Family name, my mother named me after her father who was named after his father and so on and so forth, if I was female my name would have been Elisa, my grandmothers name."

[timaeusTestified]

huh, ok. i hope you didnt expect me to forgot the whole steam rising when i spilled hot coffee on you thing. because i didnt forget. what was that about?

[Vantas]

Moe froze, quite literally.
"I honestly have no explanation that wouldn't make me sound like a crazy person."
He figured, either 1) Ally would believe him and then he would know the dangers of befriending him, or 2) he wouldn't believe him and they would depart, never to speak to each other again.