In Tongues | Jojian

XI

Ian took his time observing the world as it rushed by him.

The last 24 hours have been some of the most eventful he's had in months, and he really needed to pay extra attention to small details. He counted the cracks in the dirty sidewalks, observed the vibrant signs for shitty restaurants and convenience stores, listened to the conversations as passing people as some talked about meetings and others talked about roommates.

It had been a long time since he was able to fully process the world as it passed by him without getting the surreal feeling as though he were floating away and observing subconsciously. He felt grounded, as though the cold fingers weaved through his own were keeping him anchored, stopping him from drifting into the wind.

The same hand led him through the crowded streets Ian had fallen in love with over the years, slowly making their way towards a place Joji swore had the best waffles Ian would ever eat. He had some doubts, much preferring the weirdly shaped ones Joji would make that only had a 1 in 50 chance of being cooked right, but he kept his mouth shut and let himself be "taken out."

Ian followed Joji blindly until he found himself sitting across from him near a window. It offered a nice view of the people walking by, but Ian was done paying attention to them, and turned the focus to the man who brought him here. "So, best waffles I'll ever eat, huh? Why don't you tell me what I should get?"

"Ian, you're a big boy, you can choose for yourself." Joji laughed at his own joke, flipping through the menu although Ian could tell he already decided.

"Yeah, yeah, just give me a recommendation."

Joji started speaking about everything on the menu, gonna in depth about how good it all was. It wouldn't surprise Ian if he had eaten the whole menu at this point. But about halfway through Ian stopped listening to what Joji said, and started paying more attention to his rapidly moving lips, the engaged and energetic look on his face, the way he used his hands for emphasis or pointed to the menu enthusiastically when he had to.

He didn't even realize he had been asked a question until he heard his name repeated a few times. "What was that?"

"You didn't hear a thing I said, did you?" Joji laughed a little as he spoke, putting down the menu so he could rest his elbows on the table and put his chin on his fists. He had a gaze filled with nothing but love and admiration. Ian had missed when Joji would look at him like that. Sometimes Eric gave him a similar look, but... it was never the same.

"Umm, yeah, of course I did. I paid so much attention. To all of it."

Joji laughed and picked up a menu again. "So what are you gonna get then?"

"That's... a good question. You gave me a lot of options there, what should I get? Don't tell me the whole menu again."

Joji started laughing harder, managing to get out, "you didn't listen to a thing." Ian couldn't help but join in, because it was just that sweet of a sound. "Alright alright alright. I'd go with Nutella pancakes, you'd really like 'em."

Ian felt a weird sort of feeling in his chest upon the recommendation. All this time, and Joji still knew all these small things about him, like how much he fucking loves Nutella. Ian could almost perfectly recall the time Joji made one of his rooftop picnics with nothing but Nutella products.

"Come on Ian, I promise, it's even better this time." Joji begged, trying to force Ian to wear something nice even though they were only going up a few floors.

"You say that to me every time," Ian laughed. He pretended that he didn't want to, that he hadn't been looking forward to it ever since he had seen Joji packing a basket late at night— Joji didn't know he saw of course— but Ian just wanted to make him work a little harder. After another five minutes of whining and complaining, Ian promised to get dressed.