Mark Me Yours [Omegaverse]

First Date

     Work was finally over. Ryan had all of four hours until his date. He had been up since before midnight. Normally, he would just go home and crash, comatose. Tuesday was the only afternoon he ever had free. Sometimes, managing to have a fixed schedule really bit him in the ass. He trudged his way home. He had to get some sleep before tonight. Sooo tired...

     He fell into bed and gripped his pillow tight. His stomach complained about being hungry, but he was too tired to care. There were no less than three alarms set on his phone so he wouldn't oversleep. At least Scott picked another restaurant that was nearby. Not that Scott knew where Ryan lived, but Ryan considered it lucky anyway. It meant more sleep. He double checked that the alarms were set.

     Three hours, fifteen minutes until the date. One hour to dress up and get there. Two hours, fifteen minutes of sleep. He triple checked his alarms. Two hours, ten minutes of sleep.

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     The alarms started going off. A bell chime, angry buzzing, and a nuclear meltdown warning sounded off, one after the other. Ryan lay face up in his bed, listening to the cacophony and wondering if he really, truly, REALLY wanted to go on this date. His dream was just getting to the good part, too.

     He sat up with a groan and set to work on the puzzle locks to turn the alarms off. He was going on this date. He agreed to this date. He was not going to be an ass and stand this guy up. He oozed out of bed and stretched, yawning. He could go back to sleep afterwards.

     He changed into his good pair of jeans and the white button-up from his busboy gig, rolling up the sleeves to hide the stains. If he had time, he might have gotten a new shirt, but neither time nor money were on his side. Besides, he already wore his one nice shirt when he had the blood work done. He couldn't very well wear the same shirt he was asked out in on their first date. Well, second date. First official date. Besides, it passed the mirror check. He brushed his hair out and tied it in a loose ponytail. He was tired. He looked tired. He gave his face a quick wash in cold water and headed out.

     The restaurant was a twenty minutes walk away. It helped Ryan wake up a little, but not much. Scott was already there, standing outside the place, waiting on him.

     "Hey, Ryan! Glad you could make it!" Scott waved and moved in for a hug.

     Ryan froze up before returning the gesture awkwardly. At least it was a short hug. "Did... ah... Were you waiting long?"

     "Not too long. Ready to eat?"

     Ryan's stomach answered for him, reminding him that he'd had nothing to eat since before his grocery clerk shift. "Ye-yes," he said. He blushed and his hand went to the hem of his collar.

     Scott chuckled. "Let's not keep your stomach waiting then. Shall we?"

     Scott offered up his arm, which Ryan tentatively accepted, and led him into the restaurant. The place Scott picked this time was a Chinese buffet. The assault of sweet and savory smells prompted more commentary from Ryan's belly.  It had been so long since Ryan had been to a buffet of any kind. This was definitely worth getting out of bed for.

     In short order they had their food and were sitting across from each other at a table. Scott had just a few different things on his plate, while Ryan had a little bit of everything.

     "Wow, you know how to use chopsticks?" Ryan watched Scott as he daintily started in on some stir fried vegetables.