Week 1: Tino/Gilbert

"Ah yeah. Just general consideration. I agree." Gilbert looked at how Tino was glancing at him.

He walked with the other man for a moment in silence, thinking about what they had been speaking of. The sidewalk was cracked and he found another small broken piece to lazily kick as they progressed to the restaurant. He'd nearly forgotten about the food. He'd been on a walk with someone--that's where he'd been and it had been a long time since he'd been truly caught up in the present.

"So," Gilbert smiled at Tino. "When is your birthday?"

"Yeah. That's a gentleman. Always looking out for others. Chivalrous. Kind. There are so few these days..."

Tino had forgotten the purpose for their walk completely. He felt no hunger, so food wasn't on his mind. His focus was on his companion, who was kicking a shard of broken cement along the sidewalk. When it strayed into his path, he playfully kicked it back.

"Hm. My birthday is... December sixth. I think." The Finn tilted his head to the side, trying to remember. "Yeah. Yours?"

Gilbert smiled and kicked the small piece back to Tino. The small interaction made him feel warm inside. Dork, he thought.

"Uh...January 18th...yeah." He had to think about it. "I don't really celebrate it anymore. Just, when you get past a certain age..." He sighed. "You didn't remember yours for sure?"

Tino skipped forward and batted the piece back with one foot, laughing at himself when he almost staggered into a lamp post.

"Nope. I haven't celebrated my birthday in...a long time. I just stopped caring. That's the date I use if I have to sign my birth date for anything. And I'm twenty-one and holding. It's believable, so why not?"

He found himself laughing as he began a sort of kick the can game with Tino. It felt light hearted and natural to be playing with the other man like this. His boot connected with the small bit of sidewalk and he nearly backed himself into the street. Instead, he managed to right himself.

"Heh, yes and I am twenty-nine and counting." Gilbert winced at the thought. "Perhaps I should be holding. Think it still works for me?"

Springing forward, Tino sent the piece of sidewalk straight forward until it bounced off someone else's leg. "Sorry," the Finn called.

"You could pull off twenty-five and holding," he commented, sweeping his eyes over Gilbert. A smile flashed across his face.

He chuckled and pressed his hands in his pockets after a very short wave to the person Tino had hit with their plaything. Gilbert watched as the young man checked him out and smiled at the compliment.

"Perhaps," he nodded. "You should celebrate your birthday sometime, though. Shame when a person doesn't celebrate his twenty-first." He snickered at his own words. "Hell, you almost have a legit excuse to be drunk the entire month of December what with Christmas and all."

"Sounds great, but I can't afford to be drunk all month. I would spend most of my year drunk, if possible, but I have shit to do. And... I get a little peculiar when I get drunk." Tino blushed at a particularly humiliating memory. "I get crazy."

Gilbert made an instant mental checklist in his head with the top priority being "Get Tino Drunk." It was simply a part of getting to know the man, and he looked forward to it. He wondered what acting "crazy" was to the Finn.

"Interesting," he smiled to himself as his voice took on a slicker tone. "Story?"

"No." The Finn shook his head vigorously. "I swore to myself a long time ago that I would never tell anyone a story that I could only remember through the photographs. It's just a...terrible idea. Things are bad enough when you wake up and find things posted in places, and your friends are the ones that did it..."

Tino decided to avoid the alcohol, and perhaps avoid making a total fool of himself in front of someone he just met. Yes, the less alcohol, the better. If anyone offered, he would say no for sure. Or maybe just one. Or two. Two couldn't hurt anything.

"Well," Gilbert smirked. "Perhaps I can find the photos later."

He motioned to a street with multiple restaurants and night clubs. "Are we looking for something here?"

It was then that Gilbert felt like a complete fool. "Uh...how much time do you spend around here? Do you live in the area?"

"I hope to God you never see any of the photos..." Tino muttered, blushing.

The Finn glanced down the street and shook his head vigorously. "No... I fear I've gotten a little turned around... It's that way." Tino pointed across the street. None of the places here were ones he would bring a casual date. They were places he went with his more well-to-do clients, and being seen at one of them with Gilbert might lead to trouble.

"I actually live in a smaller town north of here. I just come here for work. So I spend plenty of time here. I know my way around well enough."

He chuckled. "I've only been here on holiday, and not too often. I tend to stay at the hotel. I don't believe I have ever walked around town now that I think about it."

He turned toward the street that Tino had indicated and began walking with him. He was a little disappointed to leave the piece of sidewalk behind, but he was sure that was because he was at a loss for what to say to the other man and wished for a distraction.

"Hm so...I met someone at the hotel once. We had a good weekend together. I wonder if you know each other..." he trailed off because his line of conversation needed to end right there. He was finding he cared more about what Tino thought about him than he did with most acquaintances.

"Really? You should have come out here before! There's tons to do, people to see, and stuff to eat." Tino skipped up the curb out of the street and leaned thoughtfully against a light post. "It's a wonder that I'm the first to drag you around out here."

The Finn found a broken piece of stone and began kicking it around. So Gilbert made this sort of weekend a habit? "Someone I know? It's likely. A lot of the same people stay at the hotel and I know most of the regulars. The staff already know me on first-name basis..."

"Hmm..." he kicked the stone back to Tino, happy to have it. "Well, it was a long time ago and I haven't met anyone here in a long time. I guess certain people make an impression, you know?"

He rolled his shoulders and watched Tino lean against the poll. He wondered idly if that was natural or a learned habit. It was flattering, and Gilbert found himself eyeing the blond's body line. Very fluid for someone not very tall.

"Indeed..." Tino tipped his head to one side thoughtfully, nudging the stone. "Do I make an impression?"

Gilbert's eyes following the line of his body didn't escape his attention. Tino knew when people were looking at him, checking him out, and he was used to it. But it was hard not to blush now, with Gilbert doing it so conspicuously. Trying to shrug off the sudden shyness, the Finn decided to exhibit himself a bit, stretching his slender body out, arching his back, sliding a hand up the post, seemingly nonchalant the entire time. The other man probably thought he was a whore by now (hell, he practically was), so why not show off some? Gilbert might as well have some idea of what he was dealing with. Tino pressed back against the pole, feeling cold metal between his shoulder blades as he leaned his head back, watching Gilbert with crystal violet eyes.

Gilbert watches as Tino's posture changed from something very natural--he could tell that now--to something quite showy. Not that he was complaining. He felt his throat click as he swallowed and the tips of his ears grew warm. Oh God, do not blush. You only blush when you are smitten.

In order to keep himself from turning red, the albino turned his attention to the sidewalk and the small stone, then kicked it lazily. Having regained control of his blood, the young man looked back up to Tino and did something he hadn't done in a very long time.

He felt his hip pop out slightly as he placed a hand casually into his pocket. He rolled his shoulders back slightly and lifted his chin, exposing his neck to the light. He knew he could very nearly glow sometimes, and he hoped that's what was happening. He posed like this--in this come-on fashion to cover up his embarrassment at what he was about to say.

"I have a feeling I'd remember you for a very long time."

Lights, from neon, street lamps, stoplights, blended on Gilbert's alabaster skin like stained glass until it looked like the light was coming from inside him, not simply reflecting off him. Each strand of his fine silvery hair seemed made of the light, defined by it. He looked spectacularly sexy.

There was a moment's pause before a brilliant smile flashed across Tino's face. He pushed off the lamp post and touched Gilbert's neck impulsively with light fingers, feeling the smooth, glowing warmth.

"Good to know I'm so unforgettable."

Gilbert's neck twitched under the other man's fingertips. He'd seen the pause, and the way Tino had looked at him. He assumed the posture had worked well enough. He felt his pants tighten at the smile and the young man's touch. He had a feeling he might lose himself tonight unlike he had for a while, and he was glad for it. There was a bond--perhaps they could be friends one day--but there was defiantly a bond that was beyond casual, and Gilbert craved that.

If it were up to him he would bond with every fling, but it just didn't normally happen that way. Usually it was very shallow. It didn't have to mean any sort of commitment, but it was better to have a connection deeper than skin. Something you could take home with you and feel connected to on the cold nights.

He closed his eyes and leaned his neck into Tino’s palm as if he were an animal starved of touch. He swallowed stiffly, then looked up to the purple orbs. "You still hungry?"

"Starving," Tino murmured, gaze trained on the other's scarlet eyes. The tendons and muscles beneath his hand tensed as Gilbert leaned into his touch, and he ran his thumb along the edge of the man's strong jaw. Gilbert looked gorgeous, and the temptation to pounce on him was almost irresistible. Instead, the Finn pressed a little closer and brushed his lips lightly up Gilbert's neck.

It was nice, being with someone he touched by choice, someone who wasn't there for one thing and one thing only, someone who didn't look at him with concealed distaste or disdain. It had been so long, he'd forgotten what it felt like. He hoped Gilbert might choose to keep in touch after...whatever this was. Tino didn't think Gilbert was the kind to go for the usual deal, and maybe that was good, and he could have a connection that was more than a weekly call to the nearest hotel.

Then again... He might be one of those who looked down on people like the Finn. Tino didn't like to see himself as a whore or a prostitute. He wasn't making back-alley deals with whoever pulled up to his street corner. He was an escort. He ran a business. But some didn't care. He slept with people for money, and that made him dirty and disgusting. He could pray Gilbert wasn't one of those, but there was no guarantee. Tino had believed...he...would accept him no matter what, and look how that had turned out.

The albino tilted his head back at the light touch on his jaw, then gasped as if burned when he felt Tino's lips on his neck. Warmth spread across his cheeks, down his neck against those lips which suddenly felt like ice, all the way to the tips of his toes. He felt his hands slip around the young man's hips, gripping onto the cloth there for his life. He felt as if his legs might go out from under him.

He panted out his words. "A-are you--" he swallowed. "Hungry for food...or...?" He looked back down to the other male. "Or, do you just want to go back?"

Tino stared up into Gilbert's face a moment longer, then looked away. "I don't know."

Gently, he pried himself from the other man's grip and kicked the stone again. It clattered along the pavement and bounced to a halt. Maybe he shouldn't go that far, even if his body was practically screaming at him to drag Gilbert into his hotel room and never let him out. As charming and lovely and sharp as Gilbert was, Tino couldn't trust him completely. And he couldn't trust himself with the other man.

Gilbert felt his hands empty of gorgeous male, and blinked as he came to his senses. He took on a perplexed expression, his mouth hanging ajar just slightly and his brow raised. The color of his skin slowly resumed it's normal ivory tone and he kicked out a leg, adjusting his pants without hands.

"Uh...so...food." The albino laughed, but it was more like an expulsion of tense air. Then the genuine half smile reformed on his lips. "Yeah, I'm starvin'. Lead the way, handsome." .

"Of course." Tino moved to walk on, then slipped his arm through Gilbert's and sidled closer. He felt bad for pulling away so abruptly, but he didn't want to put out and be seen as too easy. Plus, he still felt the need to be touching the taller man.

It took him a while to realise he no longer had any clue how to "date" someone. Especially not "first date" someone. He didn't even know if this was a first date! He fretted to himself, mind hopping in anxious circles. He honestly hoped he wasn't broadcasting his thoughts on his face for Gilbert to see. He was embarrassed enough as it was.

Gilbert was a bit surprised that Tino touched him so soon after the withdrawal, but it made him feel better about it. This probably meant that the other man didn't take issue with Gilbert himself, but with something else--probably how fast they were moving. The albino had just assumed that Tino was like, well him, from their talk. And he assumed the young man had been seriously coming onto him as a result.

Again, he found he wasn't really upset about this. Oh he'd never been a dick and pressured anyone, but there had been a few occasions where he'd gone out with a tease. Most people knew better than that. The night usually ended with Gilbert giving said tease a speech and lecture about blue balls and falsities. Not that it was effective, but it annoyed the shit out of those dates.

He was sure Tino just didn't know what he wanted and that was fine...particularly so because Gilbert found he seemed to have more patience with the blond than with others. He held onto Tino’s arm which had encircled his own as they walked.