Hello There... New Friend? (OPEN)

[Evgeny Demidov]

It had been a long day for Evgeny. First he burnt his electric stove while attempting to prepare breakfast that morning. It nearly resulted in a burnt eyebrow. Then the cab towards Hammel got a flat tire, at least it made him start considering buying car. And then, girl sprained her ankle in his gym class. He had definitely gotten out of bed with the wrong foot and still had two more classes in the afternoon, so he had to keep going and try to make his best out of what was left of the day, which was of course typical Ev attitude.

And so, he arrived to the staff lounge with his home-made lunch in hand to have with a little more privacy. Don't get him wrong, he liked the cafeteria, but in pure honesty, he had been trying to spend as much time as possible in the staff lounge the last couple of weeks as he attempted to meet fellow teachers and trainers, something that apparently had proven to be more difficult than he thought at first, specially because only now, a month after he had started working in at Hammel, he noticed that he was hanging out in the student lounge and not the staff's one. Do not ask why he never asked himself why the staff lounge was always filled by students only.

Sitting there, he took his first bite. It was pasta made the day before. Italian food always tasted better the next say, he had concluded. After his third bite, he heard footsteps coming inside. Someone! Someone! He wanted to turn around and say hi instantly, but he restrained himself. Be an adult... be an adult.

"Oh hi!" He turned around and greeted immediately with a big smile, ear to ear, in his face.

[Tim Lyne]

Tim's head was throbbing, even more so than usual. Usually there was just the buzzing that came with his being in Hammel for more than five seconds. Last night though, he'd decided that he needed to fight off the buzz with a buzz of a different sort, one involving several bottles of a beverage that most people in the lounge Evgeny usually hung out with hadn't yet had the pleasure of experiencing.

So Tim didn't really appreciate the chipper greeting of "oh hi" from someone who did not possess the two most important things Tim looked for in another person.

"Oh God, don't tell me you had sex," muttered Tim. "Because I might be forced to do something painful to one of us."

Wincing, Tim made his way over to the cabinets, seeking out coffee and possibly as many aspirin as he could manage. Did he really care that it was lunchtime? Not really. Should he? Probably. But for now, Tim was busy pouring the sludge that was the leftover coffee from that morning and digging pills out of his pocket.

"Do I know you?" he asked, looking over at Evgeny, squinting. The other guy looked vaguely familiar, and Tim had been here for several months, so he supposed it was possible. But, again, Evgeny didn't exactly have what Tim usually looked for, so...

[Evgeny Demidov]

"Err... no..." Sex? Really? Evgeny was highly accustomed to talk about sex with his brothers in arms, but with a complete stranger? It just seemed rather odd. "Something painful? Wait are you hitting on me? I swear I'm not gay." The way he said it clearly denoted the fact that he had been wrongly judged as one before. "This is really awkward isn't it?"

Good thing it was damn too hard to make Evgeny feel uncomfortable, even if he wasn't used to something, he searched for every little thing's good and fair side, which is why he could not, at all, understand the fact that the fellow staff member was rather bothered when arriving at the lounge, and even less the fact that the sex question was actually an attack to his rather strange friendliness. From his seat, he smiled before taking another bite.

"No, we don't." Ev said before standing up and walking towards the other man, where he stretched his offered his right hand. "I'm Evgeny." He kept smiling. "P.E. teacher. New. Russian." He laughed a bit, scratching his head with his left hand. "What about you? And are you looking for something? I can help, I'm good at searching things."

[Tim Lyne]

"What? No, I'm not gay," insisted Tim, glaring over at Evgeny. "And yeah, this is definitely awkward."

All kinds of awkward. Nearly accidentally catching your grandfather naked in the bathroom awkward, though not quite accidentally walking in on your mother when she was enjoying the company of the next-door neighbor awkward. Not that Tim had ever experienced either, mind. His brain just wasn't quite working well, especially with that incessant buzzing. He probably should have just called in sick for work today or something. Wouldn't be the first time.

Squinting. Didn't know each other. Evgeny, "From Russia?" repeated Tim stupidly. He also forgot to extend his own hand for several seconds, eventually realizing that he was creating yet another delightfully awkward moment. His hand shot up then, probably grabbed too hard, and shook a few times up and down before letting go. "I'm Tim. From here," he waved a hand around, "here being America, where you are. Did you get on the wrong boat or something? They have an institute in Russia, don't they?"

It was tempting to ask if he'd come here to avoid all the cats, but it was unlikely that Tim really would understand the reference, just as it was slightly confusing for it to be included in a sentence after the fact. Nonetheless, the awkward and hungover man was still staring, trying to remember what he'd been doing a few seconds ago. Thankfully, Evgeny's question helped.

"I'm good at finding stuff too," said Tim. He laughed dryly, winced, and took an entirely too large drink of the coffee. This caused him to nearly sputter, and he choked a few times before looking up at Evgeny. "Mostly people though. People like us," another hand gesture, this time a finger waved between the two of them. "But, yeah, I was looking for my pills and this," he held up the coffee, then shrugged.

Like it wasn't obvious by now what was wrong with him. He paused, scratching at the stubble on his chin, and tried to remember if he'd asked questions or something...

[Evgeny Demidov]

Evgeny was rather relieved that the fellow staff member was not gay. He didn't have anything against homosexuality, he just didn't like being hit on by guys. He didn't like being hit on by girls either, actually, but that was because he thought it just looked rather tacky and Ev was rather old-fashioned. Now, Tim talked rather funnily, to which Evgeny couldn't help himself from giggling innocently just a bit as he raised his shoulders by reflexes.

"Of course they have." He confirmed Tim. "Where else do you think I came from?" Actually he hadn't put a foot in the institute in nearly a decade, and base HQ, where he had spent most of said decade, was miles away from it. "I just felt like... well I actually came here because someone I knew was working here. Maybe you know her? She's a power trainer, Yulia."

Evgeny waited for a response with a grin in his face. It was cute, really. Like those kids that eagerly expect for magical things to happen every-time when they're five years old. Evgeny had always said that people have forgotten how to smile and if someone would ever ask him why he was the way he was, he would always answer the same thing: he was unusually allowed to be a child, to smile and to be innocent since they were three qualities unfit for a soldier, so early on he had decided to try them every single time he could. Twenty years later, it wasn't something he was actively trying now, it was something that happened by instinct.

"Oh that's awesome, so you're a tracker?" He said, remembering a teammate with that ability. "How long is your range? I once knew a guy that..." He stopped and looked back at his table and his lunch on it, waiting for him to be eaten. "Did you have lunch already? Because I made a killer pasta and I brought two bowls. You're not lactose intolerant, are you? Because there are several types of cheese in the sauce. And mushrooms too." Ev rolled his eyes. "I do think I forgot to bring anything to drink but you already have your coffee anyway. What do you say?"

[Tim Lyne]

Tim shrugged. Not like he was exactly thinking his best at the moment, what with the pounding headache and the desire to drown his sorrow in pills. He did so, actually, tipping back his bottle and taking a few. Pain relievers, and mostly over the counter stuff, though he had stronger laying about.

The name Yulia sounded familiar to Tim, like a name he'd heard before or something. Probably involved faeries or something of the like. Not that it mattered; Tim really couldn't focus on much of anything. He did end up grinning stupidly at Evgeny though.

"So you came here for a girl? Yeah, that sounds familiar," Tim took a sip of his coffee, then held up his hand, "not for me though. I found most of the girls I know here after I got here. I think I knew one beforehand though, Ella. Ella Tate. We're buddies too."

Tim shrugged and took another sip of the coffee. Maybe it was his brain, or the medication, or time, or even the coffee, but his headache was starting to clear. Sure, the buzz was still there: that incessant noise that insisted on making itself known. So was the urge to just point at Evgeny. Like the other man didn't already know he was a meta.

Pasta. With cheese sauce. Were you supposed to feed a hangover? Tim could feel his stomach growling, and he hadn't exactly counted on eating anything decent.

"Sure, I can eat. Beats the hell outta what I was probably gonna shovel down if you didn't offer," he said, shrugging. He walked over to a seat, plunking down caddy corner to Evgeny. Tim set the coffee cup down, then leaned back, massaging his temples.

"It's a buzzing, actually," he explained. "And I don't have a clue as for how far away I can do it. Never really had to test it. It's not as good as some tracking abilities. Only works on metas and stuff."

Which probably made his brain super dangerous to certain groups, something he definitely did not want to be thinking about right now.

[Evgeny Demidov]

That sounded pathetic didn't it? Traveling half the globe for a girl. It certainly made Ev feel rather pathetic... however it also made him feel happy that he was such a great friend, doing all this for her. It did sound romantic too, though, but somehow that part escaped Evgeny's mind, so he just nodded with a smile at Tim. At least his mentioning of Ella implied that Tim also saw Ev and Yulia's relationship as buddies, if he didn't and had mentioned out loud, the Russian would be thinking on complicated things that he didn't want to, well that, and a very uncomfortable moment would have popped as he denied any romantic involvement many, many, times.

As they sat, Evgeny took another pasta-filled recipient from his backpack, which had, believe it or not, a Mickey Mouse on it. The second recipient, had always had the same mission since he first packed it this morning, which was being fulfilled at the moment by Tim: sharing lunch to make friends. Agent Yegor, mission Accomplished. However if Tim asked, it was, obviously, to eat later or something like that. Popping a slight smirk, Ev placed the recipient in front of his fellow staff member along with plastic cutlery. He only hoped Tim didn't ask why he had two sets of plastic cutlery if all the food was for him.

"Oh, so you're a meta tracker." The blonde said as he resumed his eating. "Met one once too. He could also determine abilities and an average level of control. Quite use..." I... shouldn't be saying this. "...ful... I... guess? For someone that works at a meta-school, I mean." Nice save, otherwise he'd have to explain how it was useful when he was in the military, something he isn't allowed to talk about. "You should be a recruiter. Unless of course you are one right now, are you?" Only then, he noticed that he had given Tim cold pasta, not aware that not everybody liked it like that, which he considered weird since cold pasta, and pizza, tasted better than just-made. "Wait, but do you actually hear a buzz? Isn't that bothersome?"

[Tim Lyne]

"I think you grabbed your little sister's bag, man," said Tim, master of tact and polite conversation. He chuckled, till that made his brain thrum slightly, making him wince and rub at his temple. Maybe someone was punishing him for finding humor in someone else's misery. More likely it was the drinks from last night coming back in force again. Had he taken the pills yet?

Food time. Tim immediately dug into the food, forgetting what little manners he still had. Nod, sure he was a meta tracker. Evgeny continued though, listing off this long list of awesome abilities that the last meta tracker he'd known had been able to do. About the time of "average level of control," Tim was looking up at Evgeny with his eyebrows raised.

"It's a pain in the ass, is what it is," said Tim. "And I'm a hot commodity for government agencies or super conspiracies or something. So, yeah, it was become a recruiter or go into hiding."

That was the story Tim was going to publicize anyway. Ella was, as far as Tim knew, the only one who knew the true story. The story of how Tim had failed miserably at every job he'd attempted to had since graduated from Hammel, had managed to not really avoid the buzz, and had eventually limped back here with his tail between his legs.

Super.

"Yeah, the buzz sucks," said Tim. He ate more pasta, and talked around it as he continued. "It's always there. Dims whenever I drink or take enough drugs or something. Still, I can always pretty well go," without looking up from the pasta, he waved directly at Evgeny, then pointed several other directions in the room, "and pretty well pick a meta from a crowd."

He swallowed his latest bite, burped, and looked up at Evgeny. "This is pretty good. You make it yourself or something? Because I might have to steal lunch from you more often or something."

[Evgeny Demidov]

Evgeny couldn't abstain from coughing as soon as Tim mentioned government agencies. He knew how big of a pain in the ass they could be, specially regarding metas and obtaining meta-advantage. It was a hard world out there and he had gone through it. Fortuntately, thought, he had gotten the better end of that straw, enjoying pretty much everything about it. After recovering from his nervous cough, he even felt a little nostalgic. Oh well.

"Side-effects are enough, but gah, having your ability to work so annoyingly, I can't envy you." Ev continued his pasta, feeling his mouth a bit dry now. How could I forget beverages? "And no, but thanks! Is it really that good? I mean, I just... followed internet instructions." He smiled, feeling rather proud of himself. "I don't mind sharing my lunchs with you, I've found I like cooking. I could bring you something tomorrow too if you want!" His voice had taken a rather excited tone. "Of course, if it's not too weird. We already stated neither of us is gay right?" Evgeny quickly moved his eyes from the other man, a little embarrassed. Stop bringing that subject up! "It's just too normal guys sharing lunch, which is totally normal, of course"

Things were so much easier back in the army. Besides actually engaging in sexual behavior with a fellow male soldier for more than ten seconds, pretty much nothing was considered homosexual. They were all brothers, they all knew and trusted each other. Any of them could cry in anyone's shoulder any day out of the blue, and it was fine. If someone cooked, they usually shared with the group of friends or best friend and it was fine. Even new-arrivals were instantly considered equal and given the same trust everybody else had, because in the end, they were brothers in arms, and it was something the Federation taught them well enough. Behaving in civilian society, specially in that among civilian straight men, was something they did not. Heck, even normal men find it hard to go ahead and bond with other men their age casually and Evgeny had to do it for the first time in his thirty years of life and with no help whatsoever. At least he was willing to try and keep trying.

"Oh, I know!" He turned again to face the man. The excited tone had come back. "We could also have a drink or two, I don't know. I still don't have any friends here and you said drinking makes you feel better. Well I think it makes us all feel better." Mentally sighing in relief, he went back to his eating. "What do you say?"

[Tim Lyne]

'Yeah, it's good," insisted Tim, around a mouthful of food. He paused though, in both eating and talking, as Evgeny dug himself deeper and deeper and deeper. Not just normal deep, but "can you see the Chinese people" deep. Tim ended up blankly staring for most of the little diatribe about food sharing and how normal it was, finally ending with the most mature comment to ever been said in the faculty lounge:

"Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaay."

There was also some pointing with plastic utensils. But Tim smiled anyway, laughing. "But, yeah, you can totally bring some food. Not gonna bother me at all. Better than the shit I'd eat if you didn't."

Though Evgeny wasn't going to leave it there. Tim had a feeling that Evgeny wasn't the type to leave anything there. Which led to more awkward staring on his part. Thankfully, Tim was a master of the awkward stare, due to his years of practice.

"Yeah, that's cool with me. I've got a couple of other friends I might call up, and we can all get together and get wasted or something," Tim was already pulling a phone out of his pocket and thumbing through numbers and calenders, gathering together a mental list of possible people. "Just remember: so not gay. This," he waved his hand at his lower body, "is the no-touchy zone, at least for you."

Phone up, and more pasta time. Tim swallowed, waving the plastic fork. "Just let me know the time and place."

[Evgeny Demidov]

Ev couldn't help himself from blushing when Tim stated out loud what Evgeny was trying to avoid looking like. He did know he was joking, though, but he nevertheless felt a little embarrassed and focused in his food. After a few seconds, though, he already had a grin in his face. He wasn't really the type of people that feel bad or embarrassed for too long and always goes back to default quickly. Fortunately Tim reassured him by admitting he would indeed appreciate Evgeny sharing his food.

"Oh, maybe I could open a business." He joked.

Being stared at didn't mind the Russian at all. Having a naturally longer field of view than normal people, he easily saw when people looked at him without wanting him to notice, and thus, he was already used to it. Of course, it wasn't like people did this a lot, but he knew he was handsome or at least good looking, so it wasn't rarely either. Ev did smile when Tim agreed to go out, heck, he even danced a little in his mind, he was tired of getting wasted on wine alone in his room.

"What?!" He almost made his food a projectile out of his mouth. "Of course. I mean. It's not even the look zone, don't wave your hand around it." Ev looked away and thanked his personal gods that he was no longer training his powers. Back then, they would have activated and he would be, without wanting, watching inside Tim's pants. "Yeah yeah, sure fine." He finally went back to eating. "What about, I don't know, this weekend? Saturday? Downtown? I don't know, I don't know Pilot Ridge that well yet." Should I invite Yulia? Na. Maybe it's better to just get to know new people. "It's a date then?" Silence. He realized what he just said. "A... non-gay one... of course."

[Tim Lyne]

Tim arched a brow. Evgeny's food might be good, but it wasn't that good. Not like Tim was really one to say anything. He just kept shoving more of the food into his mouth, till he reached the point where licking the container seemed like a perfectly acceptable thing to do. Table manners hardly mattered when there wasn't a lady around to impress.

Though apparently Tim had impressed Evgeny, or something? The other man probably didn't get out much or something, judging by his reaction to Tim's acceptance. Tim was already starting to put together a list of people he'd planned on inviting, mentally adding Ella and her girlfriend, along with a handful of others. Probably should ask around to see who this girl Evgeny followed here was. Might as well make it a full house.

"Saturday. Downtown. We'll hit some of the clubs and stuff," said Tim. He paused to wipe his mouth. "Figure around eight or so to round everyone up and get started. I know a few places we'll go.

"And dude, stop with the gay thing," said Tim, staring. "Because you're making me nervous. Tell you what, invite that girl you followed here," to save Tim the work; he was already doing too much of it as it was. "Might as well get as many people as possible."

Now if only Tim had a woman to invite. Sadly, he hadn't connected with any females just yet. Give it time.

Speaking of time, Tim looked at the closed clock, doing some quick mental calculations. He really ought to head out to work sometime soon. That would let him legitimately get away from Evgeny before the awkwardness hit new levels. But it would also mean moving. Decisions...

[Evgeny Demidov]

Tim was right and Ev sighed as he tried erase all thoughts about gay and not-gay from his mind, which somehow seemed more difficult than it should taking into account that he was pretty sure of his sexuality. It was most likely just awkwardness that made it difficult, but he managed to shake the thoughts off anyway, and hopefully, Tim wouldn't add anything on the subject either.

"Yulia?" He asked, even if it was pretty obvious that Tim meant her. "Well, I... don't really know what she's been up to lately. Or if she'd like to... Hey I wasn't following her you know." He had suddenly realized how stalker-ish of him that story sounded. Well, either that, or romantic, but it just couldn't be romantic, or so he wanted to think. "But yeah I'll ask her, I guess."

Finishing up his plate, Evgeny noticed Tim looking at the clock. At what period is my next class? Wait. Is it Tuesday or Wednesday? He was blankly staring at the wall as he tried to remember whether or not he had his next class in the following minutes. He had been thinking on buying a smartphone to keep track of his class schedule in there, but up until now he hadn't felt the need of owning one. Then again, most of his days were pretty straight-forward with little to no distraction like socializing. He did preferred having someone to talk to even if it meant arriving late to class. They can always wait.

"I so think I have class next period." He started opening his Mickey Mouse themed backpack and placed his empty bowl inside a plastic bag that was in it. "So I should go and ready the gym. You're done with that, right?" He motioned to Tim's bowl so he could place it with the other afterwards. "Oh, look, you should give me your number." Evgeny quickly passed his cellphone to the recruit so he could write his number on it. "I'll see you Saturday, then?"

[Tim Lyne]

Yulia? Tim nodded. Yeah, Yulia, assuming that was the girl who Evgeny knew or something. The name seemed to at least match the nationality, as much as Tim knew of foreign names (which basically consisted of his own escapades and anything on prime time television). Really, at this point, Tim would settle for anyone else in addition to the two of them. Anything to take away the dreadful "date aura" that was sure to hang about the evening.

"Exactly, and I'll show you all the moves you need to lay on her," insisted Tim. He nodded. "By the time we're done, you'll be so slick that no woman will resist you. It'll be awesome."

He was nodding, insistent on doing this irregardless of Evgeny's feelings on the matter. Even should this Yulia person not even show, Tim would make sure that Evgeny got some. Wouldn't be too hard, with alcohol involved.

Oh, wait, movement and clocks. Tim glanced at the clock, did some mental math, and nodded himself. Yeah, definitely time to do something. But the whole class thing just made him raise a brow, especially given the class. Then again, Evgeny had probably said his job earlier. Even if he didn't, wasn't like Tim was going to care that much.

"Right, Saturday," agreed Tim. He dug out his phone, tossing it over to Evgeny to enter in the numbers. Already Tim's mind was working out all kinds of details for what was sure to be an awesome and legendary night.

[Evgeny Demidov]

Oh god do I want Yulia to not be able to resist me? Evgeny's eyes widened with the thought. He had never thought of her like that and the sudden thought of them together was something he didn't think he was ready to consider. It wouldn't be awesome, it'd be awkward. And picking up women with Yulia next to them? More awkward. Whenever he did his flirting deeds back in the army days with his comrades, it was just as simple as going out with the uniform and laying out they were soldiers fighting for the Federation and the women would literally throw at them. However, when the girls happened to go out with the boys, Evgeny composed himself and abstained himself from looking as douche-y as his comrades looked while hunting for girls. It wasn't really about trying to look good for Yulia, although that reason was involved, but it was more about trying to be a gentleman, something that didn't matter that much when peer pressure, and hormonal instincts, dominated like in boys night out.

Having little to say about it, he just nodded.

After dialing his number in Tim's phone and saving it, Ev gave it back to his owner. He was tempted to say "perfect, it's a date" but they the homophobic air, with phobia as in literal fear, was still surrounding them both and he believed he had already said something similar, so he worded it out differently.

"Perfect, it's a d...appointment." His subconscious almost won. "Call me." Gay. "Or I'll call you. Or something." Tiny awkward silence. "Yeah." Evgeny stood up, wore his backpack and offered his right hand to Tim to shake. "Nice to meet you, man."

He finally smiled, ear to ear, at Tim and turned to leave. Mission accomplished. He finally had a friend, and in his mind, he was sprinting his way out of the staff lounge.