Buddies
It was their first time meeting in person, so Alex was a bit nervous. Of course, so was Robin. Sure, they'd been talking for weeks and felt like they knew each other pretty well, but both of them were nearly positive they'd botch something in person. Like maybe being too sweaty, Alex thought, wiping xyr hands on xyr pants. Ugh. They were meeting at the local library. It seemed like a good place for a first meeting, in case one of them turned out to be a serial killer or something. Alex looked around. Robin didn't seem to be here yet. Meanwhile, Robin was definitely not panicking in the science fiction section. Staring at a row of Isaac Asimov books without actually seeing them, he tried to breathe. This was fine. No big deal. He totally wasn't going to say anything stupider than anything he'd already said online, right? I mean, would that even be possible? He checked his phone. It was 12:30, which meant Alex was probably already waiting for him on one of the soft benches by the manga. Breathe, he reminded himself, and went to find xem. Alex was eyebrow-deep in Watchmen. Sure, xe'd read it before. That was kind of the point. The familiarity was soothing. Already xe'd forgotten why xe was even at the library, wrapped up in Rorschach's quest for information about the murder of Edward Blake. "Um..." someone said. Xe looked up. A pudgy guy in a Legend of Zelda t-shirt. "Dude!" The comic slapped the bench as xe stood up and spread xyr arms, grinning. The two embraced, then parted with some back-slapping. Grinning at one another, they both thought, Hey, that didn't go so bad.
"Whatcha reading?" Robin asked, and kicked himself. I know what xe's reading, I can see it right there, gah! "Watchmen," Alex said, shrugging. The two settled down on the bench, side by side, and xe picked the book up again. "I just got to the part where Doctor Manhattan gets blamed for giving people cancer, which I think really sucks 'cause one, there's no way he's giving people cancer, right? And two, I think it really hurts him even though he's supposed to be all emotionless and stuff." Now it was Alex's turn to kick xemself. Augh, I'm babbling! Robin, on the other hand, was relieved. Oh, cool, xe's just the same in real life as xe is online. And I agree, I think Doc's definitely not giving people cancer, and.... The two spent nearly an hour discussing Watchmen. Alex, snuggled up against Robin's side, flipped through the book (open across their laps) to find various scenes while Robin, one arm around xyr shoulders, waved his hands energetically to emphasize his points (somehow managing to remember not to move that arm too much from shoulder to elbow, in order to avoid smacking his friend in the head). At one point, Alex looked up. "Yeah..." xe said. "Hey... you smell like cinnamon." Robin blushed. "Uh, yeah. I was making cookies earlier." "You can bake!?" Alex said, surprised. "Geez, that's cool. I can't use an oven to save my life. You gotta make me cookies sometime, dude." "Oh yeah?" Robin returned. "Why?" "'Cause I like cookies, you dweeb!" Alex poked him, and he yiped and poked xem back. "Gah!" xe said. Okay, I deserved that. "Plus I'll totally bring over Link's Awakening." "Deal."
