Day7! Day 7! And it's still technically today, so I'm not late! Haha!

I have to head to bed soon (I have work in the morning, wweh), so I'll be quick with this. Today is a free day, so I'm setting these two up on the date they were gonna have last chapter! Let's call today's prompt... Let's Dating Steal! (An Undertale reference, just because I'm shy and quirky)

See you at the bottom of the page!


"Can I help who's next, please?"

Burt walked to the front of the line at the cafe, Sven trailing next to him. "Can I have a large latte with an extra shot and half and half?" The cashier nodded and pressed some buttons. "Anything else?"

"Yeah, my… friend wants something, too. Sven, what do you want- Sven?"

Sven was staring hard at the display case full of baked goods next to the register, in particular at a large blueberry muffin practically crusted with sugar on top. "These muffins are so big…" He was muttering.

"Sven?" Burt brushed his hand lightly over Sven's wrist, shocking him out of his hypnotized state. "Got your order ready?"

Sven looked offended. "Of course I do." He turned to the cashier. "I'll have a coffee."

Burt and the cashier looked at Sven expectantly. "...What kind, sir?"

Sven blinked. "...A large one?"

Burt stepped in quickly, saying, "she means what kind of coffee you want, Sven. Do you want a latte, a cappuccino, an Americano, a mocha, an espresso…?"

Sven's face flushed a pretty pink. "I don't understand those words."

Burt glanced up at the menu board hanging above them. Most of the drinks listed didn't explain what they were, which was a poor design choice on their part, but still. The cashier was starting to look like she'd rather be anywhere else in the world, and Burt said, "Do you trust me?"

"W-what?" Sven asked.

"Trust me," Burt insisted. Sven stared hard at him, finally nodding after a moment. Burt turned to the cashier. "He'll have a large drip coffee, dark roast with one sugar. And one of those muffins," he muttered that last part to the cashier, who smiled in relief and tapped some more buttons.

"That'll be 12.99," she said, and Burt pulled out his wallet.

Sven looked like he wanted to object, and Burt said as he pulled out a twenty, "I know you didn't bring cash, Sven. You can pay me back later." Sven blushed even harder and looked away as the cashier handed Burt his change and a receipt with their number on it.

Burt led Sven over to a table on the side of the cafe, pulling out his seat for him before sitting down. Sven sat with his arms and legs crossed, rubbing over his bare arms soothingly. It turned out that he didn't actually own any clothes besides his formal suits for work, so Burt had lent him some old clothes that didn't fit anymore: some casual gray slacks and a light blue polo shirt, buttoned up at the top (it had been very difficult to convince Sven to ditch the tie).

Burt himself wore one of his favorite gray hoodies and a pair of jeans, with his head phones hanging around his neck in case there was an emergency back on base (there'd better not be an emergency, please, God, don't let there be an emergency-).

"You look nice," Burt said.

Sven curled up on himself more tightly. "I feel exposed," he grumped. "How can anyone dress like this day after day? And some of these patrons… they're practically naked!"

Given the weather today, Burt didn't think it was that inappropriate for some of the people here to be wearing crop tops and shorts, but Sven probably would have clutched his pearls at anything less than Victorian era formalwear. His lips twitched upwards at the thought.

"What are you smiling about?" Sven snapped.

"Nothing," Burt replied.

"Don't lie to me, Curtis; what's so funny?"

"Number 42!" Someone called at the counter.

Burt let his lips turn upward a little more as he stood up. "That's us. Be right back." He could hear Sven spluttering behind him as he grabbed the drink tray and the paper bag with the muffin he'd gotten.

Sven's spluttering grew all the worse at the sight of it on the table. "T-that's far too much food! We've already had lunch!"

Burt shrugged and sipped his latte. "You looked interested in it. Besides, I got it for both of us."

"I was just- wait a second, you got two?"

"Nope, just the one. Figured we'd split it."

Sven's brow furrowed. "Split…? You mean, share?"

Burt hummed in agreement. "Grabbed a plastic knife. We can split it evenly." He placed the muffin on a napkin and brought the knife down. It cut beautifully, crisply cutting through the sugar encrusted top and revealing the fluffy golden interior, packed with blueberries and what looked like lemon zest. Burt grabbed his half in one hand and bit into it. Yep, a lemon blueberry muffin. And God, that sugar on top felt great in his mouth.

Sven stared at him in horror. "I'm not going to shovel a pastry into my mouth like a child," he said indignantly.

Burt chewed and swallowed, then pulled out a plastic fork from seemingly nowhere. "How about this?"

Sven slowly took the fork and stared at it. It occurred to Burt just then that as an elite Toppat since his moment of birth, Sven had probably never had anything less than stolen silver spoons in his mouth. Plastic cutlery must have been mind blowing. "Need me to feed you?" Burt asked, only half-joking.

Sven gripped the fork so hard it looked close to breaking. "I'm a grown man; I can feed myself!" Then he looked at his coffee cup. "...Where's the handle?"

Oh boy.

Burt walked Sven through the process of how to drink from a coffee cup versus a coffee mug (You need to open the tab on the lid. Now pick it up- no, you have to pick it up with the sleeve. The little cardboard piece- yes, it's called a sleeve. No, I'm not messing with you). After some trial and error (thankfully no spills), Sven had gotten the hang of it enough to drink, eat, and talk to Burt.

Burt let him do most of the talking, content to listen to Sven's lilting voice as he rambled about the stresses of paperwork and leading meetings and such. It was all stuff that Burt was familiar with, but with Sven, it felt different, like he could see and feel how that work impacted Sven on a deeper level.

Eventually, the coffee ran out (Sven seemed pleased with Burt's selection for him), and Burt tossed out their trash. "What now?" He asked.

Sven looked at him oddly. "We should return, shouldn't we? We have work to do."

Not yet, Burt thought, not yet; just a little more time together, I'll ask him, I just need a little more time- "Why don't we wander as we head back to the car?"

Sven frowned. "'Wander'?"

"To… in case someone wants to follow us," Burt finished. "They'll think we're ordinary people and leave us alone."

Sven nodded slowly. "That's a clever idea, but where should we 'wander'?"

Burt gestured down the street they were on. "Have you ever gone window shopping?"

"Shopping… for windows?"

Later

Sven, as it turned out, was very good at window shopping. He had a talent for picking out stores with the best displays, usually ones that showcased a good balance of their specialty as well as the extent of the variety of goods available. He was also good at lingering for just the right amount of time, long enough to thoroughly examine what was on the other side of the glass, but not too long that he was blocking other people's way.

Burt stood close to him, watching the way his deep blue eyes would light up at the sight of something he liked, usually practical things like fine suits and books, but occasionally more enticing items like candy, toys, and-

"Oh, Burt, look!" Sven tugged Burt over to a new store, and Burt tried not to smile at how Sven had relaxed enough to call him by his first name. The object of Sven's attention was a beautiful sapphire pendant, about the size of a quarter and shaped like a dew drop. The gold chain it hung from wasn't too thick or too thin, and the lights above had been cast to perfectly illuminate the gem, bits of faceted blue light reflecting onto the pristine white pillow it rested on.

"You know, I've never been particularly interested in necklaces myself," Sven began. "They're always either too small or too gaudy, but this one is perfect!"

"Yeah?" Burt asked, putting his headphones back over his ears and pulling his hood up over them.

"The way they have it displayed is magnificent! The lighting, the arrangement of the chain, the very surface it's laid on! It must have taken a true expert to create such a display. I've always liked sapphires, and this one is such a beautiful shade of blue! Do you think they grew it in a lab, or is it natural? Hm, with a price like that… oh, but does it matter? It's beautiful! Subtle! Discreet, but glorious! You know, the Witch says that gems have inherent meanings and properties; did you know that sapphires represent nobility and loyalty? Apparently they're also good for healing plagues and certain illnesses. I think some of the rings the chief wears have sapphires on them, which makes sense; he's always thought of himself as a nobleman, in a way- oh, don't tell anyone I said that! Do you think if I become chief, I should wear sapphires? I don't want to come off as-"

"I'm back," Burt said.

Sven blinked and looked up at him. "What? When did you leave?"

"I, uh, had to go to the bathroom."

Sven looked disgruntled. "You could have told me; I've been talking to myself like a fool for who knows how long!"

"You can tell me everything in the car," Burt motioned Sven away from the window. "I think we should head back to base now."

Sven sighed. "Oh, alright. We've been out here long enough as it is." Burt began taking long strides down the sidewalk, Sven's shorter legs working overtime to keep up. "Why are you in such a rush?" Burt suddenly grabbed Sven's hand and pulled him along. "H-hey! Don't pull me-!" He yelped as Burt suddenly turned down an alleyway and broke into a run. "Burt-!"

Burt shushed him, taking another turn so that they were standing by several trash bins behind the stores. One of the back doors opened, and Burt pushed Sven against the wall, shushing him again when his face turned tomato red. "Keep your eyes on me," Burt whispered, holding Sven's hands to the wall, essentially caging him. His lips were just shy of brushing against Sven's. "Don't look around. Close your eyes if you need to. It's just us here. Make no sudden movements."

"W-why-?"

"Trust me." Sven's deep blues stared up at Burt's dark browns, holding his breath. Burt could feel Sven's heart pounding from here, they were so close-

"Ew," someone said, followed by the sound of trash getting dumped into a bin. "Can't people make out in their own homes?"

Sven squeaked and Burt shushed him again, waiting until the door snapped closed behind that person before pulling away a bit. Sven opened his mouth, likely to start yelling, when a police siren wailed by, growing a bit distant but never stopping. Sven closed his mouth. "Burt Curtis."

"Sven Svensson," Burt replied. He was still caging Sven.

"What did you do."

"...Nothing."

"Curtis, if you get us arrested by the police-"

"They won't find us," Burt insisted. "We'll take the back alleys to the car, then drive away all calm-like. They'll never know it was me. Okay?"

Sven glared at him. "Fine. Now unhand me!" He pushed Burt away from the wall, checking the back of his hands with disgust. "Who knows how many people have touched that wall! It's disgusting! What reason could you possibly have to-"

Burt pulled out the necklace and dangled it in front of Sven, stunning him into silence. "Surprise."

"You- You stole that?!" Sven hissed.

Burt gave him a blank look. "We're thieves, Sven. That's what we do."

"Burt!" Sven cried. "They'll know it was you! All they have to do is look at the security cameras-"

Burt pulled his hoodie down and tapped his headphones. "Remote hacking systems. Conveniently, their security system went into sleep mode."

Sven opened and closed his mouth a few times, eyes flicking between the necklace and Burt. "...Why?" Sven finally asked.

"Because you liked it."

"Well- yes-" Sven stuttered. "But that's hardly any reason to-"

"Also I like you."

Sven blinked. "...What."

"I like you, Sven," Burt repeated. "I like spending time with you. I like seeing you happy and relaxed. I like you. I want to go out with you. Do you want to go out with me?"

Sven blinked rapidly. "Wait, was this… a date?"

"Would you like it to have been?"

Sven blushed furiously, sputtering and waving his hands around as if he couldn't decide between hugging Burt and throttling him. Finally, he put his face in his hands and nodded. "Yes… yes. I'll go out with you." He pulled his hands away and didn't meet Burt's eyes. "I've never had a partner before, so I might treat you badly."

Burt smiled softly. "You won't, and neither will I. If we do something the other doesn't like, we'll talk about it. Now," he shook the necklace lightly. "Can I put this on you, or would you rather we get arrested for holding this out in the open?"

Sven turned on his heel at that, arms crossed, but peeked back at Burt uncertainly. Burt carefully pulled the necklace around Sven's neck and clipped it in the back, tucking the pendant under Sven's polo shirt before pulling away. He could see that Sven's blush went down to his shoulders, possibly even lower. He gulped at the thought.

He held his hand out to Sven. "Shall we go back, Sven?"

Slowly, Sven took his hand. "We shall… Burt."

And together, the two went back to base to finish up their work day.

(And later on, Carol Cross received a pair of black pearl earrings that Burt had also stolen, as payment.)


I had to pull all of my coffee brewing knowledge to make up Sven and Burt's orders (you can imagine I'm the cashier in this scene, if you like). I remembered how Sven liked his coffee from an earlier chapter, but I had to make something up for Burt on the fly. I imagine he takes coffee in whatever form he can get it in.

Casual clothes! Maybe Burt will lend Sven one of his hoodies since they're an item now, teehee :)

Ah, the ol' "pretend we're making out so the police/witnesses won't pay attention to us" move. Works wonders, apparently. I wouldn't know, it's just a guess.

And finally, Carol gets her payment! The real question is, is it enough, or will she try to get more out of Burt?

Also, Witch mention! I don't see a lot of people mention her very often, but she sounds like a fun character to mess around with! Maybe I should figure out a way to use her more often...

Anyway, what did you think? Thank you for joining me for Curtisson Week 2023! We're only halfway done, though; two more ship weeks to get through! Next week PanPrice, or Dave Panpa x Rupert Price! We'll start with Day 1's prompt: First Meet! While you wait, leave a review here and tell me what you thought of this week! I'll see you tomorrow. Until then!