Black Licorice and Butterscotch // Dennor

The Checkout

In an attempt to avoid all conversation, Lukas pretended he was admiring a little box of chocolate eggs in the far corner of the balcony as he heard the tour guide's footsteps coming closer. He could hear his heart-beating quickly as the blood rushed to his face, threatening to ruin his usually cold and calm composure. 

Lukas relaxed his muscles as he tried to maintain his cool, but as soon as he sensed the man only a few feet away from him he tensed. Setting the chocolate eggs down, Lukas took a deep breath and made an attempt at not being so awkward by turning around and pretending he didn't even see the man obviously coming up to talk to him. 

"Hey!" the man yelled, arm outstretched as he desperately tried to get Lukas' attention. Lukas gritted his teeth as his plan to ignore the guide failed, but immediately returned to his usually deathly cold stare as he turned towards him to say hello. As Lukas turned he noticed that the man looked slightly different than he did from behind the glass barrier. 

When only a few feet away, Lukas noticed the man was much much taller than he was, had adorable freckles littered across his nose and cheeks, dishevelled eyebrows, and a nametag that read "Mathias". 

"I'm Mathias" he spoke, holding out a hand for Lukas to shake. Lukas looked at his hand warily before shaking it. His grip was incredibly strong and kind of crushed Lukas' hand as he made an attempt at being social. 

"Lukas" he replied, losing all speaking skills as he simply blurted out his name to this complete stranger. 

"I didn't see you on the tour. Are you here buying candy?" Mathias asked, his blue eyes intensely staring into Lukas' as Lukas stood, awkwardly clutching the bag of licorice twists as he realized he was being flirted with. 

"No I'm actually here to buy a refrigerator" Lukas shot back, catching the tour guide slightly off guard. Lukas immediately scolded himself for having the social skills of a hermit. 

"Oh we don't sell kitchen appliances but if you need to get any you'll probably have to go to-" Mathias began before Lukas cut him off with a chuckle. "What?"

"I'm being sarcastic" Lukas uttered, smiling in amusement as the man finally caught up to what he was saying. The man reminded Lukas of a puppy. Suddenly he didn't seem so intimidating. 

"Oh- haha of course!" Mathias replied, turning red as he rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment. Lukas paused as a slightly uncomfortable silence ensued. 

"Well I should probably check out now. Goodbye" Lukas spoke, ending the conversation as he walked away to go pay for his licorice. He figured there was no reason to talk to the man who was probably just flirting with him for a good laugh. Lukas figured no one who looked like that would ever want him. It just wasn't likely. But as soon as he turned to go, Mathias ran after him.

"Well I can ring you out! I'm actually supposed to be working the register right now but I- uh- asked someone to cover for me for a few minutes" Mathias said, shooting Lukas a toothy grin as they headed down the stairs together. 

"Okay" Lukas responded simply, not trying to make the conversation last any longer than it had to. He didn't want to torture himself anymore looking at the adonis walking next to him so he figured he'd buy the candy, get out of there as soon as possible, and then forget about Mathias and never see him ever again. 

As soon as they got to the register and Lukas set the licorice down to check out, Mathias shot him a disgusted look. Lukas's stomach did a backflip as he tried to figure out why Mathias looked like he had just seen someone eat a cockroach. 

"You're buying black licorice?! How do you even like that?! That's like the vegetable of candies!"Mathias suddenly blurted, voice slightly raised as he rung up the bag of licorice twists. Lukas relaxed and smirked slightly at Mathias' overreaction. He couldn't help but think the man was adorable. His personality definitely did not match the overly-intimidating looks he walked around with. 

"It's for my brother. His birthday is tomorrow and he loves black licorice. I personally prefer butterscotch" Lukas responded, giving an explanation for the gross choice in candy as he handed Mathias his credit card. Mathias' eyes lit up as he seemed to get an idea. 

"I can teach you how to make butterscotch!" he suggested as he handed Lukas the licorice in a slightly fancier bag than was necessary for the so-called "vegetable of candies". 

"Oh no that's okay I should probably get going-"Lukas began, figuring the man was just being overly polite because he felt bad for making fun of his brother's choice of candy. 

"No I'm serious! I'd love to have you- uh- in a class? I mean- I'm not supposed to give one-person classes but if you come in at the end of the day I can make an exception!" he stammered enthusiastically, shooting Lukas another one of his bright white grins. Lukas felt his face heating up. 

"I really have to go-" Lukas finally said, taking the bag of licorice as Mathias stood at the counter, brows furrowed and face saddened as he watched Lukas practically sprint out of the door. 

As Lukas ran down the street he felt his pulse quicken. Why was he such an idiot? He knew that the man had been flirting with him yet he still ran. He always ran. Even one glimpse at a romantic emotion and he was gone. 

As he fled down the street he hit himself in the face. "Idiot" he muttered, now cringing from the awkwardness of the entire encounter. He didn't know how he managed to live so long and not have a single inkling of how to talk to other humans. 

Upon arriving home he headed into his room and threw himself onto his bed with a grunt. He laid there for a moment, overthinking and overanalyzing before Emil knocked on his door. Lukas quickly shot up from his bed and threw Emil's gifts into his closet before opening the door.

"Hey- what's up?" Lukas asked, trying way too hard to act cool and collected as Emil stood there with a blank expression on his face.  

"Do you want to make lunch? I'm starving" Emil asked, smirking as Lukas awkwardly leaned in the doorframe. 

"Uh- yeah what do you want?" Lukas replied.

"I dunno- sandwiches or something?" Emil muttered, sounding bored wih the conversation. 

"We don't have anything here-  I'll go to the shops" Lukas stated before slipping through the doorframe and shutting his door. He wanted to make sure that Emil couldn't see his gifts. "I'll be back in 20." Emil gave a nod before Lukas headed out the door towards the center of town.

Alright kids this is the last place I left off in 2017... so the next chapters will be new and hopefully written better... Thank you for reading! Hope you enjoyed.