ngl it took me hours to write this because i kept doing everything but this.
Tuesday afternoon came around and Lukas was counting down the minutes till he could leave work. It's not that he hates his job, but another receptionist called in so Lukas had to fill in at the pediatric wing of the dental office. Nothing like screaming kids and those complaining about their braces to make a work day go by slow. The poor introvert also had to go out to dinner that evening with Arthur and Alfred. This was common for them ever since the two started dating and Arthur made a point to keep his best friend around. So the trio did dinner at least once a month. Unfortunately all Lukas wanted to do was lay in bed till the next morning. Living life was exhausting, but he'd do it for his friends.
Six o'clock came around and Lukas packed up his stuff, said goodbye to the few left in the office, and walked to the car. He may share a car with his brother but he gets it on weekdays, the other on weekends; their schedules between work and school fitting perfectly. It only took him 10 minutes to make it home, luckily he avoided any traffic. Off came his work clothes and he debated whether to dress decently, or dress in sweatpants. He texted his friend to ask if he needed to dress up more, but if Alfred planned the dinner, they would most likely end up at Mcdonalds where sweatpants are more appropriate.
Look good. Came the reply. No hint of why or where they were going. Sighing, the blond put on a white shirt, grey pants, black vest, and a blue scarf, deciding tonight's look would be rather...gay. Not too long after came a call from Arthur, signaling he was at the apartment. Lukas grabbed his coat and went out to join them, already hearing the music from the building.
Lukas slid in the backseat and nodded a hello to his friends, knowing words wouldn't be heard over the music. He liked music as much as the next guy, and wasn't that bothered by the volume, but Arthur was. Although he couldn't argue with his boyfriend, seeing how happy music made him, it caused Arthur to just melt.
They got to the restaurant. It was a local italian joint owned by a family Lukas went to school with. They had quite the high rating, only downfall being the somewhat pissed off waiter that occasionally was there. To the trio's luck, they got his brother instead.
"Hello! How many?" Feli asked.
"Four." said Arthur, Lukas giving him a puzzled look. Feliciano led them to a booth near the corner of the restaurant, the lighting dim and romantic. Arthur slid in, with Alfred next to him, Lukas across.
"He should be here soon." Alfred said to his boyfriend.
"Can I inquire as to who else is coming tonight?" Lukas asked.
"You'll see." the loud one said with a big smile. It was almost scary. Lukas sighed and picked up his menu, looking through the drinks. Suddenly there were lots of whispers around the relatively packed restaurant causing Lukas to look up. Near the door people were surrounding someone so nobody could see who it was. When the crowd parted, Lukas audibly gasped.
There was the football player. Mathias Køhler. Standing in the same restaurant, in the same city. He looked like he did on the tv, minus the football uniform. His hair was just as spiky and he wore a more form-fitting red athletic shirt, with dark jeans. Alfred, judging by Lukas' reaction, turned and stood up.
"Matt over here!" He waved the other over who came walking over with a smile. The two did a typical bro hug and Alfred introduced his boyfriend to the man. Lukas was absolutely starstruck and had to pull himself together. Mathias' eyes met the other's and he quickly looked down at his menu, trying not to blush.
"This is Arthur's best friend, Lukas. We figured you'd feel awkward being a third wheel so we asked him along!" Alfred said, and Mathias sat down, cornering Lukas in the booth.
"Hi, I'm Mathias." He had a bright smile for the norwegian who in turn found himself saying hello back, still not believing what was going on. Mathias eyes were even bluer in person and shined like stars and Lukas had never felt so gay in his life.
"Hello, my name is Antonio and I'll be your server tonight can I get you all started with some drinks today?" said the waiter. They are ordered their drinks. "Great I'll be back with those and to take your order."
"So Mathias, how's being a pro athlete?" Arthur asked.
"It's fucking awesome. The training is a bit intensive but nothing I can't handle. I mean I gotta stay fit and strong." Mathias replied. "The fame of it all is something I need to get used to.
"Man if I were you, i'd be raking in all the fame and attention. I should be joining you out there!" Alfred said.
"Too bad you flunked out." Lukas chimed in, still looking at his menu. Mathias laughed and it was the best think the other ever heard.
"We always wondered what happened to you. You flunked out?" Mathias asked.
"No I dropped out by my own choice!" Alfred replied.
"He got put on academic probation and after not being able to play football he decided he hated college and left." Arthur clarified.
"Oh. So what do you do now?"
"I'm an assistant manager at Dick's sporting goods." Alfred said proudly.
"Fitting." Mathias said with a snort. "What about you guys?"
"I'm a history teacher at a high school in the city." Arthur said.
"Neat!" He turned to Lukas. "And you?"
"I work at a dentist office." He said quietly.
"You're a dentist?"
"Receptionist." Saying it out loud to someone so successful was somewhat embarrassing. Especially when it was a relatively women-dominated field.
"That sounds less fun, but a lot of work." Mathias said with another bright smile.
"So how long have you two been together?" He asked the couple.
"Two years. We met through our mutual friend Francis." Arthur said. Alfred piped up.
"What about you Matt? You seem to have lot of women all over you at games." This made the athlete chuckled.
"Oh sure there's lots of women, nothing better than a big football player. But I'm single." Lukas felt his heart skip a beat.
"Lukas is single too!" Alfred exclaimed, unable to keep it to himself, after all this was just a tactic to get the two to meet. Said single boy felt his face heat up and rammed his foot into the other's leg.
"Alfred, volume." Arthur said. Mathias didn't comment on what the man said. Luckily their drinks had arrived and Antonio took their orders.
"It's so nice being home. I missed it around here a lot. Mathias said.
"Where are you staying?" Arthur asked.
"I'm over at my cousin Berwald's house. Him and his fiance Tino always offer their spare room to me when I'm home." The three made small talk for awhile, mainly the two former teammates catching up. Arthur caught the quiet man's eyes as he drank his drink a little too fast.
Their food them came to the table to the talking quieted down for a little bit while they all ate their food, only minimal conversations here and there. Then Alfred decided they'd all go to a bar together, right down the street. Lukas tried to make an excuse by they wouldn't accept it. So they paid for their dinner and then headed out. As they walked, Lukas hung back behind them, so Arthur joined.
"Why?" Lukas asked.
"I have no idea what you're talking about." Arthur replied, their voices hushed.
"Come on, you know Alfred planned all this against me."
"He's doing it with good intention. Lukas you haven't dated anyone since… well you know."
"I just don't have a need to date anyone. Besides you heard him talking about women." The late fall evening was cold and they could see their breath.
"That doesn't mean anything, you used to say you liked women too. Remember when you dated Natalia?" Lukas shuddered at the thought, but the two went through a goth phase together and decided to date.
"Are you guys going to keep chatting or come inside? It's cold." Alfred said. They reached the bar and went inside. Being a tuesday night, it was fairly empty. This didn't stop the two loud men from getting beers and starting a game of pool. Arthur and Lukas sat at a table near the bar, with drinks in hand.
The night continued much like that. Arthur and Lukas chatting, while Alfred and Mathias continued to drink and play more pool. The more drank, the worse they got. Alfred slumped over to the table and whispered something to Arthur, whose face turned quite red. He shoved the other off with a laugh but it didn't work and Alfred placed an embarrassing kiss on the other's lips. Lukas turned away and saw Mathias sitting at the bar watching whatever sports recap was on the tv. Not wanting to be around the increasingly sexual kissing, Lukas went and sat next to him.
"You're very quiet." Mathias noted. "That's kinda cute."
Lukas turned pink, causing Mathias to chuckle.
"Do you like sports?" He asked. Lukas shrugged.
"It never really appealed to me."
"Really? Alfred said you were a vikings fan. To each their own. Sports are very exciting." He pointing to the tv. "Like look at that. Look at how much effort those players put into their work. It takes a lot of training and strength. I mean look how strong I am."
Mathias flexed his muscles in his arm, holding it up in front of Lukas, who, once more, turned pink. He pushed Lukas into feeling his muscles and the smaller of the two was slightly in awe.
"Ehm… so what do you play on your team?" Lukas said, trying to make conversation.
"Oh i'm the kicker! Playing soccer in high school along with football really helped my accuracy." Mathias replied. "It made my legs super strong as well."
"That's really- wait where did the others go?" Lukas said, looking at the now abandoned booth.
"No idea. They seemed to be having a bit of fun." Mathias said with a chuckle. Lukas pulled out his phone, calling Arthur's number. There was no answer. He sighed.
"Well they're not coming back."
"How do you know?"
"This happens sometimes. They're both rather… sexual drunks."
"Oooh. I understand, I get like that too." Mathias said, laughing. "Looks like you'll need a ride home then?"
"I can just take an uber." Lukas said.
"Nonsense. I have a car, I haven't had nearly the amount of alcohol that Alfred has, might as well give you a ride." Finally the other agreed and they walked back by the restaurant and searched the small parking lot for his car. Then Mathias stops and starts laughing. Lukas stared at him.
"I'm so stupid. I actually took an uber here. My car is in Minnesota!" At this point he's doubled over laughing and Lukas can't help but chuckle as well. "I will admit, I'm not sober."
"I'll get an uber." Lukas said, pulling his phone out.
"No no I'll call an uber. I'm not gonna make you pay for my stupidity." Mathias pushes Lukas' phone down and pulls out his own, getting the app up and putting in his address and information. "It should take five minutes."
The two stood together, waiting. Mathias rocked back and forth on his feet. The silence was very uncomfortable to the athlete.
"So… what's your favorite color?" He said, breaking it. Lukas let out a soft chuckle.
"Blue." Like your eyes. He wanted to say.
"Nice! Mine is red. Suppose it should be purple, but can't help that I just look better in red."
"True." Lukas said, then blushing at the realization of what he said. Mathias laughed. The uber pulled up at that moment and they got in. The ride was short, about seven minutes of more silence, then they pulled up in front of a small home.
"Thank you!" Mathias told the driver and he went off, leaving the two in front of the house. "I can have my cousin drive you home from here, since ya know, no car."
"I can just call my brother." Lukas said, pulling his phone out once more and sending his brother a text. "What's the address here?"
Mathias told him and Emil agreed to pick him up.
"Do you want to come in?"
"...Sure." Lukas followed the other into the house. He was automatically hit with the scent of whatever was made for dinner and pine. Inside was all decorated, as if Christmas exploded. There was a huge tree in the corner of the room, which was where the pine scent came from.
"My cousin's fiance really gets into christmas." Mathias said, noticing Lukas looking around.
"Mattie are you home?" A small blonde man peeked around the corner.
"Hey Tino, this is Lukas." Tino came up to the norwegian.
"Hello! I'm Tino! Mathias' future cousin!" He said, with a smile. "Would you like some cocoa?"
"Uhm no thanks, my brother should be here soon to take me home." Lukas replied.
"Oh come on Lukas just a cup. I swear Tino always has cocoa ready." Mathias grabbed the other's hand and brought him to the kitchen where a tall man sat with a small cup, completely opposite of his appearance.
"This is my cousin Berwald. Ber this is Lukas." The two nodded to each other, both being men of small words. Mathias, still holding the others hand, let go as Berwald raised an eyebrow at the two. A chime came from Lukas' phone meaning Emil had arrived, so he quickly excused himself and headed for the door, Mathias following him.
"Hey tell Alfred and Arthur thanks for inviting me out tonight. It was fun. We should all get together again before I leave." Mathias said with a quick wink, causing Lukas to go pink. He stammered out a "yea" before almost running out the door and down the walkway to the car. Mathias waved out the open door.
"Nice meeting you Lukas!" he called. Emil smirked at Lukas' pink face.
"Who was that?" he asked.
"A friend of Alfred's."
"Then why were you at his house, and why did I have to pick you up?" Emil pulled away from the curb and started heading home.
"Alfred and Arthur ditched us so we took an uber to his place and I texted you. Simple."
"Right." They listened to the soft music coming from the radio; k-pop unsurprisingly. Another chime went off from Lukas' phone.
Hope you had fun and found your way home. It was from Arthur.
I did. We took an uber back to his place and emil picked me up.
What did you think of mathias? Last we saw you were checking out his muscles.
All i'm going to say is that man can kick me in the face and i will say thank you.