A Certain Romantic Stutterfest (Alto)

[Amos Freeman]

It was 3:30 in the afternoon, and Amos Freeman was stuffing things haphazardly into his messenger bag. He knew it was 3:30 because he had been checking his watch religiously every few moments. He was determined to arrive at the door of Alto's dorm neither too early nor too late. If he was too early, he might come across as annoyingly eager, or worse, creepy; if he was late, the other boy might think he didn't care.

He cared.

A lot.

He had carefully portioned out his favorite flavor of vegan granola (maple nut) into a couple of sandwich baggies just in case either of them wanted a snack mid-hike. He'd also thrown in a flashlight, a first-aid kit, one blanket, a few bottles of water, and insect repellent. Alto was probably Type O, after all.

He pondered for a moment over whether he had put too much effort into the entire thing, but decided that he was running out of time to arrive at the ideal moment, and so quelled his own fears.

He was wearing a purple long-sleeved t-shirt with the sleeves rolled up, a very broken-in pair of jeans, mismatched socks, and a pair of vegan hiking boots that he liked rather a lot. And also, of course, he had his sport watch; it had been a gift from his father in his yearly Hanukkah package two years ago, and not only helped him keep his appointments with cute boys, but also functioned as a compass and an altimeter.

He inhaled deeply and exhaled through his nose with some determination.

It was not a long walk to Alto's dorm at all, which made all the nervousness that had been building inside of his chest feel rather anticlimactic. He lifted one scrawny arm cautiously before gathering the courage to rap on the door a few times with his knuckles.

[Alto Teng]

Alto, too, was scrambling to make sure he looked decent, although he hadn't gone to nearly as much effort to pack the necessities. He didn't go hiking very often, and so he wasn't aware of all the things one could possibly need while out in the wilderness. He had dressed in his faded Michael Jackson t-shirt, one of his favorites, along with loose jeans (always loose) and a pair of slightly torn Converse. Probably not the best hiking shoes, but he didn't know any better. His hair was spiked perfectly - for now, he would more than likely mess it up the first time he nervously ran his hand through it - and, after deeming himself presentable, he began to pace around his room until he heard a knock on his door.

Swallowing his nerves, he ran his hands down the sides of his jeans and went to the door. And there was Amos, looking also slightly nervous, a sight that Alto was surely making himself. "Hey!" he greeted him cheerily,"Just a sec." He darted back over to his bed and grabbed the light knapsack he had thrown some water and a few other belongings in, before returning back to the door and closing it quietly behind him. "So uh, where are we going?" he asked, looking up at his taller companion. He looked exactly the same as yesterday, still very cute and enough to make Alto's heart rate pick up a couple notches.

He made a conscious effort not to fidget, but it was very hard not to, being so close to his crush. Because... Yes. This had quickly developed into a very intense crush. This revelation made Alto almost giggle with delight.

[Amos Freeman]

"Hey," Amos greeted the other boy with a slightly nervous half-grin. "Um, well, I usually just take my bike down to Pilot Ridge Lake -- sorry, I didn't even ask if you have a bike." He felt a twinge of guilt at this. "But if you don't, I mean, we can probably find one for you to borrow."

He paused, scratching his scalp and taking a few brief moments to take in the sight of Alto properly.

Yep, still cute.

"Awesome shirt," he said with a smile. "Um, this is clean, by the way. I mean, I know all my shirts look the same. I just have a lot of purple ones." He flushed a bit, wondering why he had felt it necessary to establish this.

"If you do have a bike, though, I thought we could just get going... um, they have a really awesome hiking trail that's only, like, two miles long. They have a rack to put your bike on, too, at the beginning... and I have chains, if you're worried about somebody stealing it. But it's usually pretty deserted this time of day."

[Alto Teng]

"I totally have a bike," Alto replied hurriedly. "So there's no problem there. I don't get to ride it very often either, so this is great!" He hadn't realized they would be biking there, but somehow it made the date feel even better - more like an adventure!

There was a slight pause, in which Alto fidgeted again, scuffing a worn shoe against the ground. He glanced down at Amos's shoes, realized they were hiking ones, and belatedly hoped that his shoes would suffice.

"Oh! Uh, thanks. Yeah, I'm a huge MJ fan, rest his soul." He made a mental note to show Amos some of his Michael Jackson covers. They were difficult for him to sing, but not impossible. Amos kept rambling, and a smile crept up the side of Alto's face, until he let out a gentle laugh. "Purple is a wonderful color," he replied simply. "Suits you, too," he added, then glanced at the ground and blushed. Amos made his face heat up so much.

"Sure, let's go!" Alto was eager to get going. Two miles wasn't bad - he ran almost every day, for track and to help keep himself fit for wushu and tai chi. They made their way down the steps and out front, to the bike rack outside the dorms. "I don't have a lock, so that will be handy," he agreed. "Er, not that anyone would really want to steal mine anyway..." He motioned to his bike, a very worn-looking Schwinn, and grimaced slightly. "It's not the prettiest bike in the world, but it works." Glancing over at his companion, he went over and pulled the bike out from the rack, checking its tires to make sure they were full. Deeming it useable, he hopped on. "Which way?" he asked, and for some reason "The Trail We Blaze" began playing in his head.

He couldn't help but break into quiet song. "Changing legend into fact, we shall ride into history..."

[Amos Freeman]

"Oh good," Amos beamed.

Amos started making his way down the stairs, messenger bag slung securely over his shoulder. It wasn't as heavy as it usually was, so he had a little more spring in his step. Of course, there were other reasons for that, too....

"Yeah, his death really caught me off guard; it was really sad," he said solemnly, squinting into the golden afternoon sunlight. The air was crisper than it had been a few weeks ago, signifying that autumn was truly on its way, but it wasn't quite enough to be deemed 'cool' yet. Amos, who was more than used to New England weather, didn't flinch. He hoped that Alto wouldn't get cold later on. The days were getting progressively shorter.

"Um, thanks," he said after a while in response to Alto's compliment. He looked down at his worn, not-special-at-all shirt. "That's a really kind thing to say." He snorted momentarily. "My brother always says I look like a giant pansy."

He unlocked the combination on the lock that was holding the chain over his bike tire in place. He grabbed the chain with some effort and rolled it up before placing both it and the lock in the front pocket of his bag.

"I use the other one for my gym locker, it's in my bag," he told Alto. "Um, if we put our bikes close enough together, we can probably use the same chain."

He kicked back the kickstand and hopped onto his bike, pedaling slowly so that Alto had time to catch up.

"Um, this way," Amos grinned. He had never been very good with directions. "Don't worry, it doesn't take long. Jeezus, I haven't heard that song in, like, um, four years or something."

He gained a little bit of speed, but not too much; he was relishing the wind in his hair.

"It's awesome. I love that movie."

[Alto Teng]

Fortunately, Alto had a fairly quick metabolism and a nice layer of muscle, so keeping warm enough shouldn't be too much of an issue. He made a mental note to invite Amos to do tai chi with him sometime - he didn't look quite strong enough for changquan, but maybe they could get there eventually.

"You're brother sounds like a jerk," Alto responded, furrowing his brow. "I'm sorry he thinks so. He must have bad eyesight." He thought about adding something about Amos looking more than just nice, but that was not his style. Even if he did think so.

"Sounds great," he replied about the lock situation. Amos already seemed like a much more organized and prepared person than he was.

He quickly caught up to Amos, enjoying the feeling of his calf muscles straining against the bike pedals. He probably could go faster, but that would be rude, and this was a leisurely ride anyway.

"Oh, gosh," Alto laughed; he hadn't expected Amos to know the song. "It's such a great movie. I love the soundtrack - Elton John is just fantastic. I really look up to him. You know, for more reasons than one." He sped up as Amos did, continuing to laugh.

It was a nice ride, and didn't take too long. Soon enough, they had reached their destination. Alto hopped off his bike near the bike rack, running a hand through his now windblown hair. "That was nice," he beamed. "Way better than driving over." He reached into his pack and took out his water, taking a quick sip before putting it back. "So, uh, where's the trailhead?" he asked.

The dirt underneath his feet distracted him momentarily, and he couldn't help but lift a few grains, letting it drift around his feet before settling again. He really did love being a meta.

[Amos Freeman]

"That makes sense, because my brother is a jerk." Amos laughed into the wind; not even thinking about Joel could make him upset right now.

"I want to be Elton John when I grow up, maybe," he quipped to the other boy. "I mean, without the glasses, probably. And I can't sing, like at all. And I'm American. And Jewish. But I mean, other than that... I'm doing pretty well."

The lake spread out in front of them more quickly than usual, and Amos hopped off of his bike and pushed it into one of the rack slots. He rummaged around in his bag for the locks and the chain, hooking both of their bikes up to it and snapping the locks near each front tire. He stood back and admired his handiwork.

"Oh, do you drive?" He asked, suddenly a little self-conscious. Everyone could, it seemed, but him. He'd just never bothered to sign up for drivers' ed. "It's, um, right there, behind that tree with the marker," he pointed and began walking towards it.

"Oh, wait," he unzipped his bag again. "I brought some, um, insect repellent lotion. Because you said you got bitten a lot." He looked at the other boy meekly, wondering if it was lame that he remembered that. "I mean, if you want it. It's cool if you... I mean, yeah."

[Alto Teng]

Alto laughed at Amos's declaration of wanting to be Elton John, and continued to do so as he explained how he was different. "Um, well, you could be knighted somehow? Maybe? And uh, marry some awesome guy and have adorable kids?" Alto blushed at this, and he was glad that the wind was mildly cool against his face. "I could be like him, maybe. I can, uh, sing. And I wear glasses sometimes."

Alto just watched as Amos worked at the bikes, and nodded approval when they were nice and safe. He glanced over at the lake - it was beautiful, especially in weather like this, but he still didn't feel any urge to go swimming. Give him dry land over water any day, thanks. "Uh, at least it's not warm enough to go swimming. I... Actually can't swim to save my life," he admitted sheepishly, kicking at a stone.

He glanced up at Amos, nodding slightly. "Yeah, I drive. Not a lot, but I have my license. My uh, my mom kinda forced me to get it so I can visit her more often. I can walk to her place when it's nice, but it's nice to have a car when it gets wet and cold." He shrugged, and then blinked as Amos pointed out the marker.... Right behind them. "Oh, uh, right," he declared, feeling dumb. "I uh, totally saw that."

Before he could walk, Amos stopped him and offered some bug spray. A grin lit up Alto's face. "Hey, thanks Amos, that... That's really nice. I didn't know you would remember. I should've brought some myself..." He grimaced. "I'll probably be eaten alive if I don't." Carefully taking the bottle, he proceeded to slather some on his skin as he began walking.

"So uh, how has your day been so far?" he questioned, figuring it was as good a question as any to start a conversation.

[Amos Freeman]

"You're closer than I am, then," Amos said with a grin. He noticed that Alto was stammering a lot, and he felt a little guilty. He'd never thought of himself as an intimidating person, but he hadn't really gone out of his way to make the other boy feel more comfortable, either.

He wanted him to have fun.

"I can swim, but I don't like it much," he admitted. "Um, my dad signed me up for lessons when I was, like, seven. But I was never very into sports, so I quit after a month."

He nodded at Alto's words, smiling a little. After the other boy slathered some of the lotion on his arms and other exposed body parts, Amos went to the trouble of rubbing some on his own arms. He tossed it back into his bag.

"I slept for most of it, so I guess that's pretty good," he laughed. "I have this thing, you know, where I stay up all night writing articles -- like, every night, almost, right -- and then I sleep all afternoon. I don't do 'normal person hours.' I end up sleeping through like half of my classes sometimes."

He sighed, shielding his eyes with one hand and peering up the trail. The sun was a dark golden-orange orb through the trees.

"How was work? And um, watch your step," he warned, pointing to a rather large tree root sticking up in the middle of the path. A skittering sound in the treetops caught his attention, and he squinted up again.

"Don't freak out, but I'm gonna borrow that squirrel really quickly," he said with a grin. He plopped down by a nearby tree, and positioned his bag so that he could use it for a decent pillow. His body went slack.

The squirrel gave a slight twitch, as though someone had given it a poke from behind. Amos asked very politely and convinced it to run down the tree and onto the path.

[Alto Teng]

Alto hated the fact that he stammered when he was nervous. But he couldn't help it. And the way Amos looked at him just sent butterflies all through his stomach, which was both an amazing feeling and a slightly scary one.

He wasn't used to falling for people so quickly.

"I'm just afraid of drowning," he murmured, eyes wide. "I think that would be the most horrible death. Just... Knowing what's coming, you know? I'll stick to my nice, uh, earth," he finished, lifting the kicked stone with a flick of his fingers so that it landed on the seat of his bike. Terrakinesis was fun.

"They actually let you skip classes?" Alto asked, mildly amused. "Man, if I knew that, I wouldn't bother going to half of them. How on earth are we supposed to focus on balancing chemical equations and whatever at like, eight in the morning? I'm still asleep then. I'm much more of a night person." He looked over and smiled. "But I'm glad that you uh, had a nice sleep. Seems like we might have to plan to do things in the evenings to fit into your, uh, schedule, though." Oh God, had he just said that? He glanced away and flushed, suddenly becoming very interested in his shoes. Now Amos would certainly know how fond Alto was becoming of him.

The question was a nice distraction. "Oh, uh, it was good! Not a very busy morning, mostly just cleaning and answering the phone. Pretty simple stuff. Sold a nice Fender to someone though, that was fun." He found pleasure in helping people in their musical pursuits. He glanced at the root as Amos warned him of it, thankfully taking an exaggerated step over it to show he had heard. "Thanks for the warning," he said warmly.

"Oh uh, um, okay," Alto replied as Amos got interested in the squirrel. He paused in his walking as Amos settled down. "Do you like, completely leave your body when you do that?" he asked, curious and a bit in awe.

He found a place to sit next to him, and watched as Amos's body went still. He struggled not to be concerned, and instead turned his attention to the rodent. It didn't really act any differently than it had before, other than coming to the ground, which seemed like a squirrelish thing to do. It wasn't, like, doing backflips or anything.

That would be cool.

His gaze drifted back over to Amos, and he found himself studying him more closely, drinking in his features while the boy was off in his own squirrely world. He was, Alto thought, a beautiful human being. He fought the urge to reach out and touch him.

[Amos Freeman]

Amos and the squirrel were having a hard time reconciling the fact that they were in front of two seemingly rather large predators. The poor rodent wasn't quite as tame as Amos had hoped.

His eyes fluttered open, and the squirrel ran off, its mind free of human nonsense.

"Ah, that didn't go like I thought it might," he murmured sheepishly. "Sorry. I thought that, um, maybe I could convince him to come close enough for you to see him better."

He sat up gingerly, brushing a stray leaf off of his shirt.

He realized somewhat suddenly that he and Alto were very, very close; their shoulders were almost touching, and Amos could, with some hint of fluttering, embarrassed hyper-observation, make out all of the pores on the other boy's nose.

There was silence between them for several long, heart-thumping moments. In the deserted, earthy realm that seemingly existed for them and for this purpose, Amos Freeman reached a decision.

"Um," he prefaced, his eyes darting from Alto's kind, almond-shaped eyes to his lips. He leaned in gently, tilted his head a bit, and pressed his own over them.

[Alto Teng]

Alto was content to sit there for as long as Amos took. Sadly, it didn't seem to last long, and before he could think to give the boy some room as he stirred back to life, Amos began mumbling and it was too late to move.

"Th-that's alright," he stammered, eyes quickly darting to the ground. "I was kinda expecting it t-to do a backflip or some..."

He trailed off as Amos brushed off his shirt, in the process of which he leaned up very close to where Alto was sitting, enough so that Alto was sure he could hear the drumming of his heart speeding up about a thousand times a minute.

When Amos's eyes found his, Alto sat riveted, for once not looking down or away. Something was happening. He wasn't sure what, but as Amos's gaze dropped slightly and began to lean in, Alto realized... This was really happening. Oh God. His first kiss.

He closed his eyes as their lips met, breathing in through his nose as he tilted his head just a little. It was gentle, soft, not too demanding. So this is what kissing was like?

Um, he could get used to it.

After several seconds that felt like hours, he finally pulled away, eyes fluttering back open as he looked at Amos in awe. "I, uh, that, um." He couldn't seem to get his tongue working right again. "Y-you... Wow." This seemed to be as best as he could sum it up for the moment, and a small smile crossed his face.

[Amos Freeman]

"You wow," Amos laughed breathily at the other boy.

He was content to sit for a few moments; the world felt a little airy and not-quite-real. His entire body was pulsing in time with the frenetic beating of his heart.

"Um, do you... I mean, would you like to keep walking? There's a really cool clearing in the trees up ahead, on the hill, where you can see the lake, and it's really pretty. It's one of my favorite places."

He felt like this was a somewhat anticlimactic thing to say after he'd just kissed someone, so he cleared his throat and prepared to elaborate.

"I really like you a lot, Alto," he said in an uncharacteristically gentle, unassuming voice, as though commenting on the weather.

[Alto Teng]

Alto was feeling very similar to Amos at the moment. Was he dreaming? It felt too real to be a dream. But here he was, just having shared his first kiss with a guy he had just met the day before. A beautiful, smart, perfect boy. It was as good a first experience as he could possibly imagine.

He hadn't even realized he had caused a small circle of the ground to raise about an inch around them.

He glanced up and managed to get rid of his dorky grin as Amos spoke. "Uh, y-yeah! That uh, that sounds awesome." Would they kiss again there too? Alto found himself hoping they would.

Alto made no effort to move yet, though, instead just choosing to glow in the heat of the moment. When Amos spoke again, his smile came back, and he shot him a shy look. "I-I really like you too, Amos. I... I don't want to take this too quickly. B-but..." Agh, why did he have to stutter so much? "J-just... Yeah." His cheeks burned. "Um. Want to k-keep going?" He began to move to stand, offering Amos a hand as he did so.

[Amos Freeman]

The dream-like stupor faded slowly, and Amos was aware of the rest of his environment again. He prodded the raised section of dirt with his fingers amusedly.

"Yeah," Amos agreed to the unspoken feelings that Alto was hinting at. He grinned, taking the other boy's proffered hand and allowing himself to be pulled up. Alto was shorter than Amos, but he was a lot stronger than he looked at first glance. It made Amos's already-aflutter heart skip another beat.

"I mean, we won't do anything you don't want to do," he said mildly, wondering if he had pushed his crush into a situation he hadn't been ready for. "Um, but... so..."

He hiked along determinedly; the sun was getting lower in the sky now, and the slight but comfortable chill of dusk was settling over them.

"Do you have a date for the Halloween party yet?"