Week 8: Søren/Matthew

As Matthew walked down the sidewalk, he nearly missed seeing the quaint little shop, surrounded on both sides by much larger, flashier stores. Matthew sighed. “I feel your pai—“ he stopped himself. It sort of went without saying that people weren’t supposed to talk to buildings, let alone emphasize with them and Matthew laughed at his own ridiculousness.

He looked through the windows of the coffee shop, curious to see if the person he was to meet up with was already in there. However, the curtains that decorated these windows made it difficult to see much of anything inside. The only way he would be able to find out for sure, he figured, was if he went in.

Matthew opened the door, not surprised to hear a faint chiming from a bell attached to the doorway.

Soren was sitting in the cafe. He had been waiting for quite a while now, but he had been very early, and he had had some work to do. Luckily he had already finished it, so he wouldn't have to think about it. He could concentrate wholly on Matthew, and to be honest, concentration was necessary. He'd never say it to Matthew, but he felt like the man would simply dissapear if he wouldn't focus solely on the Canadian. He seemed almost transparent anyway.

He had met this man a couple of times before, as they worked for the same company, but this was the first time they would meet outside work. It had really been a spur of the moment to ask the Canadian out, but he had the feeling neither would regret it. Although the man was rather invisible, he had this cuteness in him. Probably because he was so kind.

The Dane lifted his head when he heard the tiny bell on the door. He had to stare at the newcomer for a few seconds before identifying him as Matthew. After mentally kicking himself, he waved at the man.

"Hej! Matthew!"

“Hm?” Matthew looked around the café, noticing the man waving to him from one of the tables to the side right away. He waved back, smiling amiably as he took a seat across from him. It was a good thing he decided to go in rather than wait for Søren outside; where he was seated, he was completely hidden from view by the curtain.

“Hi, Søren, it’s good to see you,” he said, though that was a bit of an understatement. Matthew had been wanting to ask Søren out a little while before he was asked first, which worked out in his favor, for he probably wouldn’t have been able to do it, himself.

“I nearly missed the place,” he laughed quietly, “But it really is nice.” He took a moment to admire the décor.

"Yes, I'm glad you could make it."

It had taken a while to find a date that suited both men, but here they were now, and the world seemed a little less busy for the moment. Soren wondered why the Canadian had this calming effect on him, but he guessed it was some kind of aura surrounding the man. Never hurt to rest for a bit. Matthew always seemed willing to listen to him and his worries and jokes.

"Well, it is quite small and invisible, but I like it. Very cute and heartwarming." Just like you. he thought before continuing, "It's a wonder it's still in business in a big city. What would you like to have?" the Dane smiled warmly at Matthew.

“Well, since it managed to stay open, it must mean that everything here is really good, then, huh?” Matthew commented, smiling back with the same magnitude of warmth.

Matthew pondered over what he would get for a little while. It really was just a decision over whether he would be boring and get a regular coffee or predictable and get the maple tea he noticed that they had. Hm…he could really go for something predictable, then.

“I think I’m going to go with the maple tea,” Matthew said after a moment of thought. He wondered if Søren knew what he wanted, or if he was still deciding for himself.

"I can guarantee that! Well, I've only been here once before, but that was enough to assure me."

He thought on what he'd order. He'd already had a latte while working, but decided to take something else, no matter how good his coffee had been. He chuckled softly at Matthew's decision.

"Sounds like something you'd pick. You are predictable in some things, like everything to do with maples. Other times, I couldn't possibly guess what's going under those blonde locks. Not that I'm good at that anyway. I think I'll take a caramel espresso."

Soren waved at the waitress, and places their orders. He turned back to Matthew with a dazzling smile.

"How have you been? Not too busy, I hope!"

“I’ve been alright,” Matthew told him with a shrug and a soft smile, “Though work was maybe a little annoying than usual this week. But I’d say it was more repetitive than busy.” There were times when Matthew didn’t mind repetitive tasks, but just as often, there were other occasions where it could drive him insane if he kept at it for too long.

“So it’s been boring, basically,” he concluded with a passive sigh, “I’m sure things have been a whole lot more interesting for you.”

Matthew liked listening to others talk about themselves much more than the other way around and always listened to what others had to say intently as if it were the most fascinating thing in the world. But oftentimes he found, especially with Søren, that it was.

Soren chuckled a bit in a sort of polite manner. It had been a tough week at the company, and he knew Matthew sometimes got the most boring jobs possible. Then again, he also knew the Canadian wouldn't enjoy switching with him, as the Dane had tasks that demanded more public appearances than greeting fellow workers at the office.

"Well, intreresting's quite the word to describe my week. Had a lot of meetings with new and old clients, which basically meant running around town with minutes to spare. A project had it's deadline too, and boy I'm glad I finished it on time! Helped Davis on his project too, and sent through some old documents for that. So it's been a little helter skelter, I got to admit, but like thunderstorms, it makes me feel alive. I'm not rambling again, am I?"

“Don’t worry, that’s not rambling at all, I don’t think,” Matthew assured him, having listened to Soren talk of his week without a wavering interest. “But really, I’ll never understand h— Oh, thank you.”

Matthew paused as two steaming cups were placed in front of them. Strangely enough, his smelled exactly like syrup and he breathed in the scent with a small relaxed sigh before snapping out of it, a little embarrassed once he remembered that he was in the middle of saying something. “A-anyway, it’s pretty amazing how you manage to do so much, I could never accomplish all of that given a week.”

As he said this, he unknowingly began to fiddle around with a spoon and this subconscious action was only brought to his attention when the piece of silverware slipped out of his hand and onto the floor with a clatter. Matthew blinked, wondering if he could play it off as if nothing had happened.

Sören mentally praised himself for being able to control his tongue, as mostly he did ramble far too much. What made it better was that Matthew was speaking again. The Canadian's voice was calming. It felt like Sören was taken away from his busy life into a safe and calm harbour of peace. His musings were interrupted by the waiter, and the Dane felt a little bit irritated, but the coffee and Matthew's voice soon soothed away the feeling.

"Oh, it's pretty rough really. And I could have finished my project last week, but I guess I procrastinated again. And I guess a lot of work is like a battle for me, and I love fighting to stay in the flow. But that's just my little theory, it does sound a littlle... Weird. Like from a magazine horoscope or something." Sören chuckled, and scratched the back of his neck.

Then he heard the spoon. He had to practice a lot of selfcontrol not to say "Cute!" out loud. Locating the object with his blue eyes, he reached for it and handed it back to the Canadian, a smile on his face betraying his thoughts of cuteness.

"Here you are! Hope it's not dirty. Though the floors do seem really clean."

Matthew thanked Soren with a smile that grew even more sheepish, if possible, once he noticed how his fingers slightly brushed over the Dane’s as he retrieved the spoon. Things hadn’t gone as smoothly as he had planned, but Soren didn’t really seem to think much of it. He’d really hate to embarrass himself to much in front of this man in particular, so that was good.

“Hm, you’re right, the floor does look very clean,” Matthew agreed, wiping the spoon off with a napkin before placing it back down gently, careful to keep it away from the edge of the table to avoid a repeat of the incident.

He hummed thoughtfully as he thought about what Soren had said before. “I think I understand what you mean, it’s not that weird,” Matthew said, though he had to admit that it did sound a bit like a horoscope. He began to wonder idly about the salary of someone who writes horoscopes compared to his own job, but luckily he stopped himself before he drifted off into la-la land.

"Yes, this place seems so perfect. I'd pick this in favour of some Starbucks any time! Much more, comfortable. Almost like being at home in front of the fireplace. Not that I have one, of course, a fireplace in a flat is rare. Where would I chop wood anyway? Might be cool though, it does get a little cold in wintertime, but that's just another challenge for me!"

Søren chuckled. He really didn't mind the cold, having being rather used to it, though a cold apartment wasn't one of his favourite things. He found himself gazing mindlessly at Matthew again, thinking about the warmth of a fireplace, and quickly got a hold of himsef, taking a sip from his espresso.

"Oh, good. I might just try and get that explanation to someone else too! I mean, I thought it sounded weird, but if it makes sense to you, then it must be ok. You're so easy to understand, you say things so clearly, though you mumble a bit. But that's just cute!"

As Søren spoke, Matthew was somehow able to listen while letting his thoughts wander a little. Like about how he’d love to get a chance to use a fireplace soon, maybe take some time off from work in the winter, go to a nice secluded cottage or something similar. Though it would get a bit lonely if he went alone…

Just then, Søren said something that made Matthew slip out of his own thoughts (and nearly made his cup slip out of his hand, but he stopped himself in time). “C-cute?” Realizing that it was probably an overreaction to a casual comment, Matthew felt his cheeks redden slightly.

He tried to laugh it off easily, but found that he was now looking at the floor, the wallpaper, everything besides the man right in front of him.