The Reincarnated King (ManxManxMan)

Chapter Fifteen: A Normal Date

~Chapter Fifteen: A Normal Date~

When Tom returns to the suite, his arms are laden with bags from different stores - about three per arm - and a few of them look pretty heavy with how much the bags are stretched at the bottom. When he sees me sitting on the couch, waiting for his return, though, he raises an eyebrow at me, as I am the one who has done something unexpected.

"Where are you planning to put all that?" I ask wryly, since I know he only brought one medium-sized travel bag, and I am pretty sure it is already mostly full.

Tom rolls his eyes. "I have room," he says, despite the fact that I know he doesn't. However, something sly then steals across his face, and my eyes narrow suspiciously. "But if you're offering..."

Donkey.

"Do whatever," I tell him, since it is not like I plan to do much more shopping at this point. I still need to seek out Christmas gifts, and it is getting pretty late to start since I missed an entire week, but considering how the last shopping trip I took went, I am a bit reluctant to try again.

Something hurtling rapidly towards my face startles me from my thoughts before they can start to spiral towards worry and guilt, and I just barely catch a bag before it can smack me in the face. "Good reflexes, space cadet," Tom says, teasing. "Don't look inside, but it's for you, so if you have space, that can travel with you."

I blink at him while his words register before scowling when I realize what he is doing. "You're really cruel, you know," I tell him, just because it feels like it needs saying. After all, here he is, giving me something to hold onto that is for me - something that I can't look at because it technically has not been gifted yet. It will haunt me every time I open my duffle bag now.

"You knew what you were getting into when you befriended me," Tom says dismissively.

"I really didn't," I counter, standing up to put the bag with my things. It should fit just fine since it is a modest bag of something; I just hope that Tom thought ahead and is not going to get me arrested for trying to sneak some contraband through airport security.

Once that cruel present is safely stored away in my duffle bag, I return to find Tom already sans bags, leaning against the counter in the kitchen with a glass of water in hand. Figuring that this is probably the best time to bring up the fact that I now have a date, I clear my throat awkwardly - guiltily, I will admit - and refuse to meet his eyes when he looks up from his glass.

"You looked in the bag, didn't you," Tom says accusingly, not even bothering to make it a question.

Indignation rises immediately, and I whip my head up to glare at him. "Of course not," I snap, and then I grimace. "Just, uh, something happened while you were gone."

"Did you break something?" Tom asks dryly, unconcerned despite the fact that something broken in this suite would probably cost as much as renting the suite itself.

"No," I reply hastily. After a pause, I indignantly ask, "Why're you assuming I did something bad?"

Tom rolls his eyes. "You look like you accidentally kicked a puppy."

Kind of feels like it, I admit, in the safety of my own mind.

"Well, so," I start, clearing my throat again, "I have a date."

For all that it can be called a date when Ari hasn't decided that it is one yet.

His brow furrows and lips purse in clear confusion, and he takes a slow sip of his water, taking a moment to think about my statement. "A date date, or a date on a calendar?"