You Can't Take the Sky [Levi]

[Evan Brackett]

There was something about what Van was about to do that made him nervous. It wasn't so much being nervous that bothered him; that wasn't a new feeling. It was the annoying realization that he didn't know why he was nervous. Sure, with any other person, there would be plenty of reasons for him to be feeling this way. This was his first date. His first real, going-to-get-out-of-the-house-and-do-something date. The thing that should have made it different was that he was going to be with Levi. His best friend, his boyfriend. Technically they had been together since June, friends since January, and had known each other since September. They were comfortable together. Evan shouldn't have been nervous.

But he was.

As things had panned out, with them living in the same suite and already testing boundaries, their relationship hadn't exactly been normal for two teenagers. Van wanted to at least do something more traditional, because God knows he didn't have enough of that in his life. That was why he had planned this date.

Evan knew that the other boy already liked him, that there was no need to impress him, that he would have been just as happy cuddling and watching a movie. He knew that he wouldn't get rejected. Somehow, that didn't seem to matter to his nerves, because as he stood in front of the bathroom mirror, running a hand through his hair for about the twentieth time in the last hour, he could feel butterflies fluttering about his stomach. Perhaps that same pursuit of normalcy had been the source of his first date jitters. He could only guess. Thinking about it wasn't helping, and he had been trying to distract himself with getting ready.

He wondered again if putting on cologne was a bad idea, after already spending a great deal of time debating it in the first place. Even after he had decided to spritz some on, he worried that Levi wouldn't like it or that it had been too much. He ran his fingers over his smooth chin. The scent of aftershave had probably been more than enough. The idea of jumping in the shower again to wash away the smell was quickly discarded. He had spent enough time in there already, and they needed to leave soon if they were going to get to the lake before curfew. Evan would rather avoid the lake, but it was the only place he knew of where he could execute this particular date plan.

The cuffs of his button down shirt were needlessly adjusted, and his jeans dusted off. It wasn't a particularly fancy outfit--something he would normally wear, just more meticulously ironed--but this wasn't a fancy clothes occasion. Tugging at a few loose locks again, the brunette sighed at his reflection then forced himself to exit the bathroom. There Levi was, still on the couch where he had left him over an hour ago to go take a shower (something that normally wouldn't have taken longer than fifteen minutes, but preening had ate up a lot of time. He could only hope that no one noticed).

Van walked up to the couch and paused, sliding his hands into his pockets. "Hey," he addressed the other boy, his voice quivering slightly, "I'm going to go for a walk down by the lake. Wanna come?" This was suppose to be a surprise, so he hadn't actually asked Levi out yet. The only person who knew anything about it was Robbie, and even he didn't know much. The phaser preferred to keep it that way. He was willing Levi to say yes, hoping that he'd get the idea without any further hinting. Besides, as long as he agreed to go, Evan could explain the rest on the way.

[Levi Xu]

Perhaps Levi was a little on the oblivious side. After all, he was curled up on the couch for over an hour, and had only sort-of registered how long his boyfriend had been done. It had been a while since he'd read anything in Chinese, so he was enjoying the graphic novels his sister had sent. Granted, some of them were obviously girly, but he had a bit more interest in reading romance stories now that he actually had a romance of his own. (Thankfully, Evan hadn't asked what he was reading.)

"Hmm, what?" The younger boy looked up when he heard Evan speak, and it took a moment to process the question. "Uh, yeah, sure. I'll go grab my shoes." He got up, and as he walked past his boyfriend, he sniffed the air. Huh, weird. Van smelled funny.

Whatever, though, it would be nice to go off campus for a while. It took a minute to locate his sneakers, but then he was back out in the common room, grinning up at the older boy. "Okay, let's go."

Once they were on their way to the lake--and alone, out of sight of any Hammelites who might be interested in prying--Levi stepped closer and wrapped his arm around his boyfriend's waist as they walked. Honestly, the younger boy didn't care who knew they were together, but he was trying to be respectful of what Van wanted, there. As he leaned against him, he sniffed again, then a grin slowly slid across his face. "You smell good, Van." So he might have overdone it a bit on the cologne, it was still a nice gesture.

And it sounded a little like something that would come out of Nomi's goofy romance stories. Cute.

[Evan Brackett]

Either Levi wasn't as nearly as enthusiastic as Evan about going on an actual date, or he had completely missed the point of the request. For the time being, the older boy was going to choose to believe in the second option. The corners of his mouth still twitched up when the his boyfriend answered in the affirmative, because he was trying very hard to be positive about the situation. It required optimism. "Okay," he replied with forced coolness. "And I have to grab some...stuff too."

Even he could tell that came out awkward, but he tried to ignore that fact as he went to his room to grab his backpack. It had been pre-packed. His school work and books were left in a neat pile on his desk, replaced by an outdoor blanket, some glass jars, and the necessities for making s'mores. He didn't need anything special for a fire, because the lake park had pits and, thanks to David, he already knew how to set up a proper campfire. The matchbook was included in his s'more supplies.

Throwing the bag's strap over one shoulder, he darted back to the common room and waited for Levi to get ready. As they left campus, he simply shuffled along quietly, waiting for the opportune time to let the other boy in on his plan. That time came when Levi took his waist. Evan smiled at him, and gingerly placed his arm around the younger boy's shoulders. It felt nice to be able to do that without worrying that someone might see them, because he did feel guilty about asking Levi to hide it at school. He was really more afraid of the news getting back to his family than what anyone else thought.

He blushed slightly at the boy's compliment, but he was relieved to hear that his effort was well receive. "Thanks...Um, actually," he began, using that as a jumping off point, "I don't know if you noticed, but, well. I mean, you didn't seem very excited when I asked. Um. This is suppose to be, I mean, uh." Van was fumbling the explanation more than he intended, so he paused to take a deep breath. With his mind cleared, he managed to cut straight to the point. "I was trying to ask you out on a date without it being obvious. That's okay, right?"

"That's why I brought my book bag," he continued, running his free hand under the strap. "I brought some stuff for us to do. Have you ever tried to catch fireflies before? August is the best time to do it, I think."

[Levi Xu]

When Evan wrapped his arm around Levi's shoulders, the younger boy just leaned into him and smiled. Yeah, it would take them a little longer to get to the lake, but it was much to pleasant for him to care. Really, he wanted them to be out. He hadn't yet told his family because Evan hadn't told his and he didn't want to pressure him. Of course, things looked a bit different when his family lived a continent away and were all pretty liberal to begin with. (Except for Nai Nai, but Levi knew his grandmother would probably instantly dislike anyone he dated, so long as it wasn't a nice Chinese girl and their date was arranged by meddling grandmothers.)

Van's fumbling of words only made Levi smile more and gently squeeze him into a half-hug. "Sorry, I thought it was just a walk. You know, the regular kind." But wait, did that mean... "Is this our first date, then? Like an actual first date?" As opposed to fake first dates, if there was such a thing. (Privately, Levi was considering his trip to the Brackett farm their first date. It was also their first kiss...and a couple other first things too. But if Evan wanted to do this properly, he was cool with that.) "And yeah, though I haven't since I was a little kid. I think everyone tries to catch fireflies." Except Nomi who had freaked out once she realized fireflies didn't look like fairies close-up, they looked like beetles.

They reached the lake at just the right time. It was starting to get dark, and the blinking was already beginning to start. "I've never been out here this late. It's beautiful."

[Evan Brackett]

"I was worried you missed my point," he said, returning the hug. "But you came, and that was the important thing." Really, the phaser wasn't sure what he would have done if Levi had declined his invitation. Probably be more insistent, or maybe even straight forward, because he wasn't going to let his effort go to waste.

Fortunately, that hadn't been a problem. "Uh, yeah. That's was the idea," he said shyly. Perhaps it was because all of that happened at his home, or because it was originally intended to be a regular sleepover, but Evan didn't consider Levi's trip to the farm as a date. Although, with all the things that happened, it certainly had turned out more like a date. It still wasn't quite the same.

"Oh, okay," he replied with a momentary lapse of confidence. Catching fireflies sounded like a great idea when he had come up with it while on the phone with Robbie. At the time, he hadn't considered that it was an activity for little kids, and he began to worry that Levi thought it was too childish. "I guess that's..." The older boy trailed off, not really sure what to say. In the end, he just went into greater detail of the items he brought along. "Um, I have jars to keep them in, just until we're ready to leave, and then we can let them go."

Van grinned when they arrived, stopping for a moment at the top of the hill to take in the scenery. "It is," he agreed, leading Levi down to the fire pit. He sat down on one of the old logs that wrapped around the charred area, and started rummaging through his bag. "I also got marshmallows and stuff if you want to make s'mores, uh, and I made sure to get the kosher kind." Evan pulled out the bag (it was only slightly squished) so Levi could look at it himself. "These are okay, right?" They were a little more expensive than regular marshmallows, but getting anything non-kosher would have been pointless since the other boy wouldn't eat them.

[Levi Xu]

"Of course I was going to come. You asked me." Levi missed the waver of confidence, because he actually thought catching fireflies was a pretty clever idea for a date. They didn't do a lot of dating stuff--obviously, as this was their first actual date--but they spent most of their time together. The only thing that really changed from before was that they didn't just hang out, anymore. They did... other things. And hang out, sometimes.

He sat down next to the older boy, leaning against him slightly. Levi couldn't help but grin at Evan's mention of kosher marshmallows. "That sounds really good. I haven't had s'mores in years." Not since day camp at the synagogue back in Portland. He grinned again and kissed his boyfriend gently. "Thank you for doing this for me."

After a few minutes, Levi sat up straight again. "We should probably get the fire going. Or are we going to catch lightning bugs first?" He was fine with making out in the dark, but they didn't have unlimited time. They had to get back to the dorm eventually, and if it was going to be their first date, they should probably do what Evan had planned. He'd gone through all this effort, and Levi did appreciate it.

[Evan Brackett]

Evan grinned stupidly at Levi's praise, quite pleased with how things were going despite his lacking confidence, and he returned the kiss and stuffed the marshmallows back into the bag with a shy, "You're welcome." There was a lingering awkwardness in his voice--the unfamiliarity of it all, with their relationship going so different than this and he having never actually tried this date thing before, was still affecting his stomach.

Honestly, the phaser would much rather focus on his plan than make out. As much as he enjoyed it--because he did enjoy it--they could do that anytime, and they usually did. They couldn't catch fireflies, or have a campfire, or make s'mores back at the dorm...he didn't want to waste their time. No, he'd have to come back to making out later.

As he pulled a pack of matches from his supplies and pocketed it, he decided, "Oh, um. No, we can start the fire first." It would probably dim the beauty of the fireflies' light, but it also could help attract them. He wasn't sure if they were attracted to flame the same way moths and the like were, but he supposed they must considering the nature of the insects. Besides, the best part was letting them go en masse at the end, and they could always put out the first before they did that. Van, thinking this over, hesitated before standing, and quickly brushed old log particles off his pants. "I need to get wood, um, over in the forest. Do you wanna come with me?" He held out his hand to help the other boy up (although, he also just wanted to hold his hand).

The light was fading, but Evan came prepared with a small flashlight. They wouldn't have too much trouble finding their way.

[Levi Xu]

Levi snickered for a moment, but then realized that Van's innuendo was probably unintentional. He wasn't like Levi's other friends; his mind didn't always go there right away. "Sounds good to me." He was fine with going along with whatever plan Evan had. His boyfriend had made an effort to do something nice, and that was even nicer than just making out in the park. (Though that was nice too! It all worked together for the niceness!) Levi took the taller boy's hand and stood up, grinning. It had been ages since he'd last seen a bonfire, and he'd never lit one on his own, but he figured Evan would have a handle on that.

(And no, of course he didn't think that Sam could light the fire easily. And he didn't even think of bringing it up because that would be the perfect way to ruin the date.)

Levi squeezed the taller boy's hand as they walked into the woods. He'd never been a cub scout, and wasn't sure if they were looking for something specific. He stopped and picked up a large-ish branch from the ground, then asked, "Is this good? What kind of wood are we looking for?" It hadn't rained too much lately, so the branch in his hand was pretty dry. "And what made you think of doing this for a date? It's sweet."

[Evan Brackett]

Even as Levi snickered, he didn't pick up on the connotation of his words. He wondered again, as he clicked on his flashlight, if the other boy thought this was a stupid idea. It explained the laugh.

Van continued to internally fuss about it as they hiked into the woods, forgetting that they were there to pick up firewood until Levi stopped to grab some. Putting on a smile, he turned his light on the branch. At least his boyfriend was going along with it. "Yeah, that's perfect. We need a bunch of different sizes, though. The small ones get it started, and then we can throw on bigger pieces as the fire gets hotter." He broke a twig off the main branch and twirled it between his fingers. Yeah, that would burn just fine.

"Oh, I don't know. It kinda just occurred to me," he said, picking up a few more sticks and tucking them under his arm. "Do you really think it's sweet? You can tell me if it's dumb, you know." He figured it would be better to find out now rather than later. Making Levi happy was more important than keeping to his date plan. "I mean, we can do whatever you want. I don't want to bore you."

[Levi Xu]

"Were you a boy scout or something? Or is it something you just know if you didn't grow up in a city?" Levi kept gathering sticks, trying not to snicker at all of the terrible puns in his head involving starting a fire and getting wood. "And we need thin ones for the marshmallows, right?" He reached up and tugged on a stick that was still attached to a tree. There weren't any leaves on it, and it seemed both dead enough and stiff enough to hold a marshmallow out of the flames.

"I really think it's sweet. I mean, whenever I'm the one planning we end up watching half of a movie." Granted, he enjoyed that too, but it was nice to do something different. Something that was a little more datelike and less exactly what they used to do as best friends plus kissing and screwing around. "I want to do this. It isn't boring." Levi was very rarely bored when he was with Evan, and all of the exceptions to that had more to do with the fact that the older boy insisted they did their homework before they wasted time most days.

He picked up a few more branches, breaking some in half so he could carry them more easily in the bundle under his arm. "How much wood do we need for this?" Though the shorter boy had asked the question, he ignored the response in picking up another stick and jumping up onto a large-ish rock. "En garde!" Levi yelled, brandishing his stick-sword, probably confirming that a date catching fireflies was pretty much perfect for his personality.

[Evan Brackett]

"A bit of both, actually," Van said with nod. "I was a cub scout and a boy scout before we moved to Vermont. We also just do a lot of barbeques and stuff at the farm. Um. Sans farm animals." He didn't think knowing how to build and start a campfire was that impressive, but then again, he didn't know the first thing about living in a city either.

"Mhm, yeah. And yeah, you want one that's still kind of alive, so it won't burn up on you. That one there is good," he replied, helping Levi break the stick off of the tree. "You're a natural at picking out good wood." Except he finally picked up on an innuendo just a second after he uttered it, and his face turned an impressive shade of scarlet. "Ah, I mean. Um. Yeah, you're good at collecting firewood."

The confirmation that his date wasn't a total flop made Evan lighten up a bit. "Okay, good. As long as you're having fun." Honestly, he didn't care what they did as long as they were together, but he was glad to out on real date for once.

"This should be enough..." He trailed off as he boyfriend hopped onto a rock and brandished a stick at him. Evan pulled a weapon of his own from his bunch of sticks, dropped the rest, and smacked it against his opponents. "You dare challenge me to a duel?" he asked, trying his hardest to glare up at Levi. The dopy grin on the phaser's face ruined his intent, but it was all about the effort, right? "This'll be the last mistake you ever make." He swatted at the other boy's stick a few more times to add emphasis.

[Levi Xu]

Honestly, up until that point, Levi had tried, really tried, to keep a straight face. Evan didn't make those kind of jokes on purpose, and when he finally got the innuendo, the look on his face made the younger boy crack up. "I knew what you meant, Van." Didn't stop it from being funny. He added the new one to the pile of sticks in his arms, and grinned up at his boyfriend. This really would be a better first date than "We just hung out at his parents' farm and made out in his treehouse."

The shorter boy wasn't sure if Evan would play along with his game, but he brandished a stick as well. "I do dare!" Levi's grin matched his boyfriend's, and he swung his "sword" around with a flourish a few times. "And you will eat my steel." He spun around dramatically, before lightly tapping his boyfriend's arm with the stick. "Ha. First blood is mine."

Of course, as he drew back into a pose that was more reminiscent Pirates of the Caribbean than actual fencing, he realized that this was pretty very silly, and probably not the best way to prove to his boyfriend that he was mature enough to be in a relationship. Though Evan never even hinted at it, Levi was well aware he was a freshman (even if it was his second year of it) dating a senior. Wasn't he supposed to act more adult than this? His grin wavered, unsure if he was screwing up what was supposed to be a very sweet first date.