westfallcorndog | Jock vs Nerd Round 2: Lunch Chat Edition

Harrowheart sits with his phone in his hands debating how to start this. He'd gotten Viatorus's number, and he fully intended to text him, but it wasn't easy. Everyone seemed to like Viatorus so much. They all vouched for him and insisted on his better qualities, but Harrow had been so rude when last they'd met, and he was certain the kid was some kind of anti-undead racist. Most of this felt pointless, but he had to try, if not for himself then for his friends.

It took him far too long to send his eventual text:

Viatorus this is Harrowheart. I looked up you're number. I feel like we got off on the wrong foot last time. Would you like to meet and try again?

He follows it up with a text of his current location. An authentic little Earth diner transplanted into the Nexus, a humble and half-clean place by the name of McDonald's. Flaccid fries and soggy burgers are universal – nay, interdimensional – and fast food joints are only appropriate for the meeting of two magical minds. Plus, there's a big playground.

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Still not convinced, Viatorus murmurs, "I'm not sure that disease counts as violence..." Though it does make him wonder if that medical treatment Verity suggested would prevent zombification....

Harrowheart is probably going to make Viatorus blush a lot, and now is one of those times. He blinks rapidly, pouting without meaning to. "I-I didn't stare at her... I didn't. That's not it. I... I don't know. I just... I was..." Himself. That's the problem. He frowns. "I didn't know what to say to her."

V doesn't know how to talk to boys, he doesn't know how to talk to girls. There is a very sad riddle unraveling itself in front of Harrowheart. Without even being conscious that he's doing it, he instinctively reaches to delicately pat the backs of V's hands.

"I used to be like you too, man. Shy and worried all the time. I thought if I opened my mouth people were gonna call me an idiot, or tell me my ideas were bad, or ignore me and make me feel worthless. I didn't talk much growin' up. Didn't talk much at all until I got to the Nexus, really. But I'll tell you one thing: I promise you that meetin' new folks is just as hard for other people as it is for you. Even the ones who're bold like Jim or loud like me, we don't ever really know how things're gonna go. We just try to be more hopeful for what we can learn about other folks than afraid of how they can hurt us. Guess it's a little like masterin' dangerous spells that way, hmm?"

He returns his hands to himself and folds them under the table.

"So next time we meet we can talk about Earth and Azeroth... But maybe we can talk about what to do around other people, too?"

The contact surprises him and a few months ago he might have flinched away, but he doesn't. Harrowheart's kind words have plenty of distractions in them to stop him from over thinking the implications of animated corpse hand contact. Or worse, contact with hands that handled McDonald's chicken nuggets.

"You... used to be shy? But... You're so..." He looks Harrowheart up and down, trying to reconcile this idea with his image of the mage. "You're so... vibrant. You're not... You're not nervous at all."

"Vibrant?..." Harrow paws at his cheek with one hand in a poor effort to hide the vague touch of a blush that colors his already discolored cheeks. "Sh-shoot, Viatorus, that's probably the nicest word anyone ever used to describe me. Nicer'n anything my boyfriend ever said, that's for sure."

He laughs quietly and looks down at the table under which his hands disappear once more. "Who says I ain't nervous? I'm nervous all the time, sure. Just... Show it different than you, I guess? You get quiet and take a step back. I overthink it, talk more, try to change the subject, laugh a little. It's still hard for me to talk to people sometimes. And... Sometimes I ain't graceful, and I mess it up real bad, and then I gotta go hide for a while until I'm brave enough to apologize."

Once again he laughs, but this time he cuts it short quickly. Tries to, anyway. Being conscious of his own nervous laughter bubbles up a little bit of honest laughter. He looks up at Viatorus with a smile, hoping to gauge whether or not he's noticed.

His mouth opens and closes while he tries to decide whether that means he should say 'you're welcome' or 'sorry'. Ducking his head a little and mumbling, he settles on a shy, "You're welcome."

This is a new perspective, new information, and he takes time to absorb it, to fully understand it. With the laughter, he looks up and, thinking over what was just said, offers up his own small smile. He looks at his hands and lifts a shoulder. "I... I do accept your apology, by the way. I... I didn't say it aloud and it's important that I do. I didn't know you were nervous. You seemed so... confident. Self-assured. You still do. It's like talking to people is so natural for you."

The acceptance of his apology is met with closed eyes and a respectful little nod. Harrow can't help but smile just a little, pleased with how this all turned out despite his unfortunate missteps on more than one occasion. " 'Precciate it," he says simply. Best to leave those difficult things behind them for now.

"Anyway, I only seemed confident 'cause I thought I had the upper hand. Guess that ain't a good way to think about social interactions, though, 'cause then you wind up makin' a fool outta yourself like I did. But that's neither here nor there."

He glances around the establishment and bro-nods at the bodyguard as his gaze passes by.

"Tell you what, my man," he says to Viatorus. "This is a good topic, but not for a place like this. How about we call our meeting to a close today and promise to meet up in the future, hmm? Good terms, positivity, friendliness. We'll talk about private stuff in a private setting. Stuff like gettin' over shyness and Earth and Azeroth and dreams and all. Until then, I'll release you from my dark clutches. You head on home, put in a nice word for me with your sister, and I'll see you – and your guard? – next time we meet."

He raises his phone and shakes it to call attention to it. "Remember, you can always text me if you want someone to talk to. You won't be a pest, promise. I don't mind hearin' problems or worries or anything like that. Plus, I don't need sleep, so I can be up at any old hour. Benefit of undead friends, huh?" With a wink and a quiet chuckle he pockets his phone again.

Will you look at that, he manages a tiny tremble of his lips, almost a smile, at the 'dark clutches' comment! He nods gently at the suggestion. It's all very reasonable. Kind, even. Possibly the greatest offer of friendliness since Verity and he first talked.

It's so difficult to understand it coming from an undead creature.

With a final nod to stop his head bobbing, he gets to his feet. "Thank you. It's... It's very kind of you to offer all of this, it... If you, for some reason, want to talk to me... I do sleep, but I will get back to you."

A second passes and then he offers his hand. "Until next time?"

The implications of Viatorus's offer to shake isn't lost on Harrow. He's careful not to move too quickly or boldly when he takes V's hand, nor does he shake too hard. He inclines his head respectfully and smiles at his new friend.

"Until next time, my man. You be good."

Jock vs Nerd Round 2: Lunch Chat Edition

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