The next day, Shaw had just started her afternoon shift when Five came in. He sauntered up, staring at the menu board overhead even though he always ordered the same thing. A large coffee, black, no sugar. Maybe sometimes, when he was feeling a little crazy, he got a blueberry muffin to go with it, but that was rare. He was predictable, but she liked that about him. And when it was a quality you could never possess, you started to long for it. Maybe that was a part of her attraction.
When he reached the counter, Five started off, "Large co..."
"Large coffee, black, no sugar." She said, starting with him and continuing when he trailed off. "You want that muffin today, or no?"
"Uhh... no." he replied, dumbfounded it seemed, "Damn, am I that habitual?"
"Well, seeing as you have never strayed from that, ever... Umm, yeah! Just a bit." she joked, but quickly added, "Actually, no... I don't think that's a bad thing. I like it. You know what you want and you go for it."
She got a little smile for her efforts, which made her happy, but there was a short, awkward lull in the conversation as she began to make his drink. She could tell he was working up the nerve for something. He was pretty obvious about it. He reminded her of one of the boys in high school, fidgeting and sweaty when they approached you. There was something endearing about it.
She saw a blush rise to his cheeks as he began, "Listen... umm, I'm not very good at this, but... uhh, I was wondering... Do you have a break coming up? You can sit down with me and show me which coffee you happen to like. Maybe you can make me change my mind."
She looked over to her aunt, Holly, and she gave her the thumbs up. "Yeah, I could do that. But since you drink yours black, I highly doubt you'd like what I drink."
"Oh, why's that?"
"Because I like a caramel macchiato with extra caramel." she replied, as she began making it.
He looked at her, and mockingly gasped in disgust, "You heathen!"
"I need my sugar rush." she said, shrugging her shoulders. "It keeps me going."
"You do know that's what the caffeine is for, right?" he asked.
For the next twenty minutes, they learned some things about each other. Surprisingly, his name actually was Five. Go figure. Apparently, she was the only one who had never heard of the Umbrella Academy or Reginald Hargreeves, which she thought he seemed secretly relieved about. She wasn't sure why that was so important to him. Was that some private school she'd never heard of?
All she knew was that he really didn't want to talk about his family, which she was completely fine with. Her family wasn't the greatest either; most of them had abandoned her, not able to understand zerophilia and thinking it was something unnatural.
She told him about everything... mostly. Like previously stated, she wasn't sure how to bring up her zerophilia in conversation. He seemed like he was knowledgeable about science and... well, pretty much everything. But it was still something that even the brightest minds couldn't wrap their heads around. She wasn't a split personality; the exact opposite, in fact. How do you explain to someone that you weren't two minds in one body, but that you have two different bodies but one mind?
She just knew if she did want to pursue anything further with Five, she would have to tell him... eventually.
"So... what do you have planned for after work?" he asked.
She sighed frustratedly, "Nothing in particular. I just hope that I don't get harassed again. There are these two guys that are always on my bus home and they like to fuck with me every time. I don't know what about me they are so damn fixated with and why they love to see me so frustrated, but they do. I just know I'm going to end up punching one of them soon, and I'm scared they might retaliate. That maybe that's some sort of plan of theirs, like they want to rob me or something. I don't know... Maybe I watch too many crime dramas. Seriously, I think I'm too paranoid sometimes."
"Yeah, I have that problem too. Trust me." he replied, with a laugh. "Well, you know... if you want, I could come and walk you home."
"It's a few miles." she said, and noticed he looked a little disappointed by that response. She grabbed his hand across the table and continued, "But I would love it if you would come with me on the bus ride home."
"Really? Well, that's great! What time do you get off?" he asked, before he realized the other way that question could have been taken, and quickly tried to correct his wording, "Oh! Shit... I mean... What time does your shift end?"
"I get off at eight." she replied, giggling slightly at the mishap.
"Eight it is. See you then."
It was about seven-thirty when Five walked back in, having another coffee while waiting. As soon as they had gotten on the bus, she noticed the two jerks further toward the back. She was going to sit closer to the front, away from them, but Five grabbed her hand and walked her toward where they were sitting. She thought he was nuts, but decided to trust him. She wasn't sure why, but she felt like she could.
The guy sitting by the window laughed and said, "Oh look. She found herself a little boyfriend. Ain't they cute, Nick?"
"A-freakin'-dorable." he said, smacking her ass as they walked by.
Five grabbed the guy's hand and put his other hand on his shoulder, forcing him from his seat and slamming him face first onto the bus floor. He still had his hand on Nick's wrist, but put his foot on his neck so he could stand up, twisting his arm further as he did. Nick groaned in pain and Five twisted it harder, making him yell out.
"Now, that wasn't very nice, gentlemen. I want you to apologize."
The other guy stood and tried to swing at Five, but he ducked and struck him in the jaw.
"Now I can kick both of your asses; don't get me wrong, fellas. I'm just trying to have a nice evening with the lady and I don't want it to go that far." Five said, twisting Nick's arm again, "Now... apologize to her before I get angry."
"Okay! Okay... we're sorry! We're fucking sorry, man!"
She wasn't sure why Five doing this was making her so happy, but it was. Maybe because she'd never had anyone to stand up for her before. And Five barely knew her, so it somehow made it even sweeter. Usually, she would just wait until she switched and kick the person's ass himself. And don't get me wrong, she didn't necessarily have to wait to become a man to handle these problems; she could do some damage as a woman too. She just didn't like risking it. What if she got really hurt? And Shaw could also get really hurt as a man too, but it seemed with his stature and musculature that it was just less of a possibility.
The bus driver stopped suddenly, and kicked all four of them off of the bus. She was afraid this would become a real fight now, but the guys took off running down the street. She guessed Five had really spooked them.
"So... I'm sorry about that." he said.
"No, that was pretty amazing, actually." she replied, as she hailed a cab, "I'm the one who should be sorry. I hate cutting this short, but... can I make it up to you?"
"Of course."
"I have my day off on Saturday. Did you want to meet up then?" she asked, and he agreed, eagerly, although trying to hide it. She wrote her phone number on the back of his hand and hopped in the cab, with the biggest smile she'd had on her face in a long time.
That night, she went to bed with Five still on the brain. The next morning, Shaw had woken up and his erection was staring him in the face as soon as he opened his eyes. He sighed in frustration, heading for the bathroom. He decided to try and burn off some of that tension with a jog around the lake again. Although, he couldn't deny that he had an ulterior motive, hoping to see Klaus, as well.
He wasn't sure what was happening. He never got crushes, and now there was two. He'd mentally stopped himself from that after Frankie broke his heart and all of this had started. Now it seemed like Klaus had the interest of his male self, while Five clearly was what his female half was thinking about. But both were still Shaw. That had definitely never happened before. This dichotomy of male and female thoughts and attractions was something new and different. Usually, if it was something Shaw liked, both sides were drawn to it. Food, music, movies... all the interests were the same. But it had never been a person before. He knew it was something that he was hesitant to explore further, but a part of him really wanted to.
He smiled as he reached the park, seeing Klaus in his usual spot doing yoga. The way the sun shone against the musculature of his back and his legs was exquisite, definitely enticing. His face was blank in a serene concentration, as he moved into another pose. Shaw ran around until he reached him and sat down next to him, both saying their hellos.
"You wanna go for a couple laps with me?" he asked.
Klaus looked reluctant, "Uhh, I don't know. Running and me... don't really mesh well. It's like flannel and floral."
"How about this... if you jog with me, I'll let you teach me your... yoga stuff." he said, "Agreed?"
He jokingly eyed Shaw up and down, like he was measuring him up. It seemed like he didn't think he could handle it. It was just stretching. How hard could it be?
Klaus shook his hand though, and replied, "Agreed."
When they first started jogging, they stayed at a slower pace than Shaw was used to, since Klaus had said that this wasn't one of his normal activities. He seemed to be having no problem, though, keeping a steady pace and his breathing maintained. Soon, Klaus was passing him up.
"Oh, you wanna go?" Shaw asked, "Let's race then, big boy. First one back to the grass in three laps wins."
"You're on!"
Shaw took off fast, making it to the grass first that time around, but Klaus caught up again. He was pretty quick for someone who didn't do this a lot. He tried to quicken his pace, but Klaus had beat him in the second lap. Just one more to go, and it seemed like the man in front of him was gassing out. It was down to the last few feet, neck and neck. Shaw knew that he could win, but... should he?
He decided to be nice and let Klaus win in the final second, his arms shooting up in victory.
"Oh, I won! I so owned you!" he cheered.
"I think you lied to me." Shaw said, collapsing onto the ground, "You have to run occasionally."
"Nope. I'm just more awesome than you." he smiled, widely.
God, that smile. It was simply stunning. It had to be one of the things that was attracting Shaw to him the most. He loved his sense of humor and his eyes were gorgeous as well, but... that smile. Wow.
He then realized he had been staring and snapped out of it, quickly averting his eyes, before asking, "So, where do you want to start with this? Are you my, uhh, Yogi Bear thing now?"
He laughed, "It's just Yogi, and I'm definitely not a bear, thankyou. But you can just call me..." he paused, searching for the right word, "Beautiful. Yeah, that works for me."
"Okay, Beautiful. Show me your ways."
He had them both stand, and Klaus stood behind him, having him stand absolutely straight.
"This is the simplest pose, it's called the Mountain Pose. You're basically just standing. But first thing I want you to do, though, is press into all four corners of your feet... your big and little toe and both sides of your heel. Now, I want you to roll your shoulders up and back." he said, grabbing Shaw's biceps and guiding him along with the motion, "When they get as far back as they can go here and your shoulder blades are almost touching, I want you to close your eyes and inhale deeply. When they reach that spot again, let the breath out slowly. Got it?"
Shaw felt kind of stupid doing this, but nodded, closing his eyes and feeling Klaus' chest press more against his back. He breathed with him, slow and deep. Klaus' hands ran down and back up his arms, rotating his shoulders again as he did.
"Slowly. Now, you feel that?" he asked Shaw, "That's the stress leaving your body as you prepare yourself."
He couldn't help but giggle, but he tried to stop himself. He didn't want to offend him or anything. It was just strange to be doing this in public with so many people around. He didn't like getting attention, but he could tell Klaus was used to it. He had a spotlight on him without even trying.
"Alright, Beautiful. What's next?"
He came in front of Shaw this time and decided to show him an example. He bent forward, his torso almost completely flattening against his legs, and his hands met the ground. The pose was simple, but this was not a simple situation. Shaw's mind was racing with thoughts about running over behind him, ripping down those shorts, and just... God, he had to learn how to control himself.
"And that was the Forward Fold. Yep, you fold forward." Klaus said, simply, "One thing though, you should have a slight bend to your knees the first time. If you fully extend them, you might hurt yourself. As you relax into the pose, you can straighten them more, as long as you feel comfortable. Here, I'll help." Klaus got behind him again and put his hands on his hips. "Okay... now, like I showed you."
As he bent down, Shaw felt Klaus' hand trailing up his spine, rubbing the tension out as he did. His other hand moved down and made sure his knees were bent as well, before coming back up to his hip. He could feel Klaus' hips now against his, as the first hand rubbed his neck and kept his head faced downward.
The thoughts that Shaw was having now... let's just say, he'd need three cold showers when he got home.
Klaus then showed him the Plank Pose, although Shaw had known what planking was previously; he just hadn't known that it had something to do with yoga. He also showed him a pose called Downward Facing Dog, but wasn't sure what was necessarily 'dog-like' about it. The only thing Shaw was certain of was that they should have done this before running. He hated admitting it, but it would be a great way to stretch his muscles out before he did anything strenuous. Also, it wasn't so weird after a while; he didn't even think about the other people in the park. All he was focused on was Klaus.
They sat down side by side on his yoga mat, and Klaus placed his head on Shaw's shoulder. Shaw put his arm around him and they sat in silence for a while, just watching the people walking their dogs and talking on their phones, oblivious to the world around them. He didn't know where he had gained the courage, but Shaw turned and kissed the side of his head and his shoulder. Klaus smiled, and kissed Shaw's hand that was around him, before grabbing his wrist.
"Oh shit!" he exclaimed, looking at Shaw's wristwatch, "Is that the time? Oh crap! I have got to get going. Do you have a... number I can reach you? Maybe a Twitter account? Something?"
Shaw grabbed a pen from his pocket and wrote his number on Klaus' hand. It was weird; he had never done that before with anyone and now had done it twice in a twenty-four hour period. On two different people's hands.
"I'll give you a call later on."
"I'm looking forward to it, Beautiful."
Shaw was so confused. What was he going to do? He really wanted to see what was going to happen with Klaus. But what would happen when they made a date and Shaw couldn't make it because she had a slight case of ovaries that day?
And the same with Five! He was the factor in this that was making it extra difficult. Klaus seemed more open minded to things, maybe not this necessarily, but she could tell he was more accepting, unbiased. But Five, on the other hand, seemed way more traditional and calculating. How could Shaw throw this into the equation for him? He wasn't sure. What he was sure of was that he had a lot of thinking to do.
