Milkshake Hearts

Chapter 36: Damien and Shayne

A/N: There is some fairly direct explicit references in this one, to the point I almost edited them out. I am not opposed to post-editing later if anyone is weird about them or relates them to the actual people, so let's not do that, yeah?

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Damien and Shayne schedule their catch up for two days after New Years, but Damien reschedules they day before, telling Shayne that Kimmy had suggested they hang out then and he didn't want to say no to her.

"Of course, enjoy your night!! See you the day after?" Shayne texts him back, immediately, and so they meet on the third at Shayne & Courtney's place, the latter going out with some of her own friends to give them space for their at-home boys' night.

"So how was your date?" Shayne asks, the second Damien settles down up the opposite end of the couch.

"It was nice," he starts, nodding, "I was super nervous but it was easy enough to relax into because I kinda already knew we get along? We talked a whole lot about all sorts of stuff, shared dumplings for dinner, and we wandered around for a while after just so we could keep talking."

"Is there going to be a second date, and did either of you make any kind of move?"

"I paid, so there's... that, and we held hands a little while we were wandering around, nothing else though. I think there will be a second one, I mean, we both said we had a nice time and we'd have to catch up again soon so... yeah. I'm not rushing anything here, but it's nice," Damien admits.

"You mentioned a while back that you weren't totally sure about feelings or anything - any clearer picture now?" Shayne pushes, and Damien nods.

"Yeah. I know I'm attracted to her, have been for a while, but the more I get to know her the more I like her. She's actually into some of the same stuff I am - not games so much, but anime, and even cats, that kind of thing. She's a secret nerd, which is perfect for working with Smosh I guess but it's also... Yeah, we have plenty to talk about," he explains, "also she is super sweet, that's not an act."

"As much as you're letting sassy Damien out more often these days, it makes sense that you'd go for someone who is very sweet, because you're still super careful and courteous yourself," he tells him, Damien nodding in response.

"I think it's something I do intentionally, and I mean, she's very relaxed too and I'm not really looking for anything intense or whatever so... yeah. It's nice. And it's also like, I think even if we do end up stepping back to just friends, it's gonna be fine."

"Do you think you will go back to just friends?" Shayne pushes, and Damien shrugs.

"I don't want to, but I can't get a read on what she wants."

"She asked you on the first date, right? How about you plan a second one - sooner rather than later - and see what happens then? You never know," Shayne suggests, and Damien nods.

"I need to come up with an idea for something to ask her to do. I want to be more interesting than just dinner again, but I want it to be somewhere we can talk," he muses, "I dunno, would it be weird to ask her to go to a museum or something? Is that too nerdy?"

"That seems like the kind of thing you'd both be interested in, especially if you can find somewhere that has a cool exhibition or something on," Shayne prompts, Damien nodding in response.

"Okay, yeah, maybe I'll look into that," he comments, sounding a little more enthusiastic, "I think I can do that. That could be fun."

"I hope it is, Dames, it seems up your alley."