A Certain Romantic Stutterfest (Alto)

[Alto Teng]

Alto watched in a mixture of amusement and embarrassment as Amos noticed the raised earth circle. "Uh, I didn't know that would happen," he offered meekly.

Amos was quite light, and once again Alto thought about mentioning tai chi to him, maybe as a way they could bond and maybe help Amos build up some strength. But he was too distracted at the moment to bring it up, and so he was content with keeping hold of his hand for a longer period than really necessary until Amos looked sure on his feet once again.

"N-no, that's not it," Alto assured him, shaking his head. "I-I just.... I've never really felt this way, um, about anyone before." Once again, he found it hard to keep eye contact. "I... I don't really know how it.... Works?" Wow, way to seem lame, Alto. "But, yeah. Uh, we can keeping going?" He felt like he was saying everything wrong, but hopefully Amos understood what he was trying to get across.

He kept up with Amos as they walked, even though his legs were a little shorter - he just walked more quickly. He was itching to reach out and hold the boy's hand, but he didn't want to seem too clingy, not yet. Fortunately, even though it was starting to cool off already, the heat he was creating by walking was more than enough to keep him warm.

At Amos's question, he looked over and smiled, shaking his head. "Nah, I... I didn't really know anyone to go with. And I guess they're doing a matchmaker thing, but..." He shrugged. "I don't want to end up with someone I don't like, you know?" Walking seemed to help with the stuttering, at least. "What about you?" he added, secretly hoping Amos had asked it for a reason rather than just a topic to talk about.

[Amos Freeman]

"I think it's kind of cool," Amos offered with a grin. The thought that he had excited Alto enough for him to involuntarily use his powers was flattering and somewhat adorable.

He pondered the other boy's words; he had felt confident in asking Alto out, and even kissing him, but he had never really experienced anything like it before either. He shrugged, cranking out yet another smile.

"Well, tons of people dumber than us have done it," he offered in a half-quip. "I think we're on the right track if that's, um, any consolation at all."

After a few minutes, they reached the clearing Amos had mentioned, and he stopped, taking a deep inhale of the air that blew off of the lake.

"This is it," he said unnecessarily. The sun was setting; the sky was cycling quickly from pale autumn blue to purple to pink. It wasn't the spectacular, jaw-dropping kind of sunset that you saw in the movies, but Amos figured that any sunset over any lake was plenty romantic enough.

"Um, I have a blanket we can put down, if you want to stop and eat for a little bit," he said meekly. "I brought granola and water and some dried dates."

He was putting off the conversation about Halloween until they were comfortably settled; if he did it while he was getting everything situated, Alto might think he was rushing into something.

[Alto Teng]

"Y-yeah, you're right," Alto replied, nodding. At least Amos seemed calm and confident - maybe it would rub off onto him!

They continued walking until they reached their destination, and Alto allowed himself a moment to admire the view. It was quite beautiful, and, he thought; perfect for their first date. Nothing fancy or expensive - just the beauty of nature and the joy of being in each others' presence. And to think, only yesterday he had just been another face in the crowd, mindlessly going about his day - and now here he was, filled with the amazing hope of budding romance.

"It's a great view," he told Amos. "Oh, food?" he added with interest. Granola and dates weren't really what he was used to, but hey, if it was what Amos brought and liked, then he would happily try anything. "Let's do it." He helped lay out the blanket on the flattest surface they could find, before settling down very close to his companion, close enough to feel the sleeve of his shirt brushing against his bare arm. Now that he was sitting, he did realize how cold it was starting to get, but he tried not to show it. Unfortunately, his arms decided that goosebumps were necessary.

He also noticed that Amos hadn't replied about the dance yet, and he wondered what the wait was. Had he shown too much interest?

[Amos Freeman]

"Yeah, nothing much, though, sorry..." Amos was usually incredibly outspoken about his veganism, but there in the falling twilight, activism seemed -- shock, horror! -- a little less important than Alto's satisfaction. "It's made with local Vermont maple syrup, though," he said, as though this justified everything.

He dug around in his messenger bag and, with a very slight amount of difficulty, procured the two bags of granola from it. He offered one to his companion.

"Are you cold?" He asked, frowning, after giving the other boy a once-over. "Wait, I don't think I took it out... yep... here you go."

He had reached back into the bag and pulled out a worn, slate-grey cotton zip hoodie. He hoped Alto wouldn't mind that the edges of the sleeves were slightly gnawed on; a boy's gotta chew when a boy's gotta chew, after all.

"You can borrow it," Amos said after a while, mumbling in his sudden shyness. Somehow sharing his favorite hoodie seemed like the epitome of romance. "I'm not really cold or anything."

"Um, but..." he trailed off, trying to remember where their conversation had left off. "Oh, yeah. I mean, if you... that is, if you're having fun, and all... I mean, if you wanted to go out again, like, to the Halloween party. That would be pretty cool. But only if you want."

He smirked slightly.

"I've already, um, picked out my costume, so..."

[Alto Teng]

"It's cool," Alto chuckled in response. "I don't, uh, exactly have the healthiest of diets." Yes, he was one of those boys that lived off of Ramen noodles and frozen burritos when other food wasn't available. Fortunately, Hammel provided decent meals, for the most part. And his mom was a decent cook, when he went to visit. "Maple syrup sounds delicious though," he added hopefully.

He took the bag offered to him, examining its contents briefly before taking a small handful and sampling it. After chewing it for a moment, he nodded appreciatively. "S'good!" he commenting, giving Amos a thumbs up as he swallowed. It was a little different, but he could get used to it!

He glanced over, about to tell Amos he didn't have to give the jacket to him, that he was fine, but the kind boy was already reaching into his bag again, and Alto shyly took the offered article of clothing. "Thanks, Amos," he murmured with a small smile, pulling it on; it was just a tad big snug, but he didn't mind. "I guess I should've brought something with me," he added, crossing his arms in front of him and trying to get the fact across his head that he was wearing Amos's jacket. "Fortunately, you s-seem like you're prepared for anything. I owe you one." He gave Amos a gentle nudge on the shoulder.

Amos seemed to be nervous again, and Alto gave him his brightest smile in response to his offer. "I would love to go with you," he replied. "I am having so much fun. Seriously, Amos, this..." He looked away, over across the water, sorting through his emotions. "This has been wonderful," he finished, a little anti-climatically.

He thought a moment. "Hm. I haven't really thought about a Halloween costume yet. W... What or who are you going as?"

[Amos Freeman]

"Well, don't look at me, I've been eating day-old pastries for dinner for like two straight weeks."

He munched some granola contentedly, then continued speaking in the candid stream-of-consciousness style he adopted when he was comfortable.

"I think it's, like, kind of hard to be really, truly 'healthy' in the sense that everybody wants to be. So I like to come out here and be in nature, you know? I think... if you can enjoy yourself and be healthy for one day out of the week, you're doing better than most people."

He went to great effort to fish a large piece of sliced date out of his bag.

"My stepmom makes it," he said after a few moments. "She has this, like, shop on the internet -- you've heard of Etsy, right? -- and she sells snacks and things she knits on there. I actually hear from her more often than I hear from my dad, which is kind of weird."

Amos took a deep breath, realizing that he was dominating the conversation with his own life. He felt a little guilty; as much as he hated Joel sometimes, he was kind of right. Once Amos got on a roll, you couldn't shut him up for anything.

"Awesome," was all he could manage in response to Alto's enthusiasm. His cheeks flushed again. "Um, don't laugh. I'm making my own costume; I'm gonna be a carbon dioxide molecule."

[Alto Teng]

Alto didn't mind in the least that Amos kept talking about himself. It gave him time to think, and also made it easier for him to learn more about the boy. Because really, they still did know very little about each other - fortunately, all that Alto had seen and heard so far, he liked. He liked very much.

"That's so cool," he commented about Amos's mom. "I uh, actually sell stuff on there too. Songs and such, you know." He took another bite of the granola, eying the date Amos had pulled out of his bag.

At the mention of his dad, Alto paused. It sounded like he and Amos might have more in common than he realized. "I'm sorry to hear that," he murmured. He wasn't ready to dive into the subject of his own past - not yet - but maybe, eventually, he would get to that point. He hadn't told anyone yet, not even Dr. Neville or the teachers, about his parental situation. Although actually, the telepath probably knew anyway.

If there was one thing he had engrained into his head as a kid from his dad, it was to never trust someone that could read your mind. It was a very hard habit to break.

At mention of Amos's costume idea, Alto couldn't help it - he laughed. It wasn't a mean or condescending laugh, just of mild surprise. "That's... Actually really creative," he chuckled, grinning. "I bet no one else there will have the same costume." He thought for a moment. "So what should I be? Um, a water molecule or something?"

Feeling a surge of affection for the boy, Alto tilted his head slightly to lean it on his shoulder. The sun was going down even further, casting reds and oranges across the water. It was just too perfect.

[Amos Freeman]

"Oh; you can sell songs on Etsy?"

Amos pondered this while he munched. He offered Alto a date slice wordlessly.

"It's not a big deal," he said offhandedly, although he inspected his fingernails with more attention than usual. "He's an executive at a really major publishing company, so he's really busy, and my half-sisters are really young. So. I mean," he laughed dryly without amusement, then pointedly changed the subject.

"It was the scariest thing I could think of," he said with mock solemnity. "I've been making it out of stuff that I find in the recycling bins. It's a slow, worthy process."

He scooped some more granola into his mouth and grinned at the other boy.

"Sure, if you want," he chuckled. "I mean, then, if we went together, we could be carbonic acid. Like, you know, the stuff that makes soft drinks fizzy, I'm pretty sure."

He cleared his throat.

"Except nobody would get it, probably."

He was silent for a few moments, the lameness of his own feeble chemistry jokes settling over him. He looked fondly over at Alto, who had positioned himself on Amos's shoulder.

He smiled.

"By the way, can you, um, make pyramids?" He asked randomly, looking over and making eye contact with a mildly amused expression. "Or, I mean, like, not actual pyramids, obviously, just put the dirt into pyramid shapes. I just always thought it would be hilarious if you could make random pyramids in places and then leave them there, and people would think aliens did it. I'm pretty sure that's totally what happened in Egypt."

[Alto Teng]

"Yeah! CDs and MP3 files and stuff.... It's pretty awesome." Alto grinned. He loved Etsy.

Alto took the date with interest and inspected it as Amos spoke, before giving an experimental bite. Whoa, it was actually really good! Alto began to wonder if he would start to get spoiled by his crush's food; at least it was healthy, so he wouldn't gain weight... Right?

"That's too bad," he sympathized, but actually felt a slight pang of jealousy - at least his dad was still in contact with him. His own father wanted nothing to do with his unnatural, mutant child. He brushed aside his own pains, though - Amos's situation didn't sound pleasant either. "At least it sounds like your mom takes good care of you, right?"

Alto laughed again; Amos was so creative. He hadn't realized the 'scare' factor behind his costume until Amos mentioned it. But yeah, global warming - terrifying stuff. "That's amazing," he chuckled, returning his grin. He pondered his choices now. "Maybe I could tie into the scary environmental theme, though," he mused. "Like, a, um... Methane molecule? Or..." he thought more. "Maybe a huge costume made entirely out of plastic bags." The image of himself being covered by the wispy material made him snicker. At least he would be recycling!

"But if I did end up just going with a water molecule, then at least we would get it. And that's all that matters, right?"

Alto closed his eyes and let out a silent sigh of content as he leaned on Amos. He hardly ever felt this comfortable around... Anyone.

He smiled at Amos's question, and laughed at his theory about the original pyramids. "I'm pretty sure my ancestors totally built those," he agreed, trying to keep a straight face. He glanced up, catching Amos's gaze. His cheeks heated up again. "But, um, I've never really tried. The earth is really.... Random, you know? It doesn't like to be put in specific shapes. It kinda just acts on it's own, even when I'm controlling it. Like, if I were to raise, um, a section of the ground in front of us, I couldn't really tell you the shape it would be in. I could tell you about how big it would be, but that's about it. It's kind of, uh, frustrating sometimes."

Focusing, he tried to create a pyramid in the ground in front of them. He held out a hand and twitched it up, and a semi-triangular piece of ground shot up. It was very crude, and not really pyramid-looking, but at least it was something. "That's about the best I can do," he admitted meekly.

Once again, their faces were really close, almost teasingly so. Alto hesitated. Would going for another kiss be too much for a first date? He really, really wanted to, though. As the sun dipped below the horizon, he made up his mind and tilted his head up, catching Amos's lips against his own once more. Carefully and gently, though, in case Amos... Didn't want to.