Ben blushed at the questions comment, not having realized how many questions he had been asking. “That’s a lot of cities,” Ben responded. “It must be so cool so see so many different places.” He imagined what it would be like to see all of those places besides just through a television screen. How it would feel to live there, even for a month or so.
Of course, being the awkward guy that he was, Ben’s mind circled back to Val’s earlier comment about him asking a lot of questions. “Um, if you want I can stop asking questions. I just find your travelling interesting.” He also didn’t love talking about himself, so there was that too.
"Oh no, I don't mind at all. Don't feel bad, my friend. It's not often that I have full-blown conversations with people, so this is great." Val smiled brightly at Ben, hoping that would make him feel better about all the questions. In the back of his mind, he was hoping that the two of them would become friends, possibly more. But that wasn't the present goal. To be fair, the man seated in front of him was very pretty, that always had a play in things for Val, even though he knew it was a bit shallow.
"But yeah, it's amazing to be able to see so many places. My favorite was definitely either Moscow or Dublin. And the accents were just wonderful. I am a sucker for foreign accents." He was still smiling as he spoke, in a really good mood. The best mood he had been in this early in the morning for a while.
“Oh my god tell me about it,” Ben agreed with a laugh. “Irish accents are so hot.” He blushed. “Do you have pictures? My friend went on a trip to Europe a few months ago and her pictures were amazing. She visited Ireland too!”
He was glad that Val wasn’t actually getting annoyed with him. Chill, he told himself. It would be highly unlikely that he would already hate you anyway.
"So if I spoke in an Irish accent, I'd be classified as hot? I guess need to study up on that accent then." Val teased with a silly smile. In a way, he was stalling, trying to think of a way to deflect the question. He had gone to Ireland when the only mobile phones were old flip phones with terrible quality pictures, if any. Although, he had taken a polaroid camera, even though regular cameras had been a thing. He just preferred physical things, there had been a lot of technological malfunctions when he used magic.
Ben blushed. To be honest, this guy was already classified as hot to him. But he didn’t have courage to actually admit that. Instead he brushed back a lock of hair and replied, “Maybe.” He had an equally teasing smile, though his was slightly more shy. “I mean, it certainly wouldn’t hurt.”
"Perfect, if we ever see each other again, I'll make sure to be speaking in an Irish accent." Val smiled with a small laugh. "Anyway, about the pictures, I only have polaroid pictures. I prefer to have a physical picture that I can hold. I've had some… bad luck with technology, like phones and laptops, in the past. "
“I get it,” Ben replied with a smile. “I’ve had my fair share of technological mishaps, mostly by dropping things because I’m kind of a klutz. I’ve gotten a lot better about that since high school though, which is good for me since they might not have let me in a lab otherwise. Plus polaroids are cool. Vintage and all that.” He stopped, finding himself rambling a bit. Honestly, Ben was surprised he was turning out to be so chatty today.
Val didn't mind the rambling, he wouldn't have minded if Ben had continued. "I-" He was about to say that it had been cool living through that time and that it had been a favorite of his. Of course, he stopped himself before saying so with only a split second's hesitation to continue the sentence. "I would love to be able to travel back in time to experience what it was like for there to only be those, no mobile phone option." He settled with that and kept up a smile.
“Yeah, that would’ve been awesome!” Ben agreed excitedly. “My sister always rolls her eyes because she can’t live without her phone, but I think it’d be great! With records and cool clothes and music and everything. There are cool things about living now too though, like take out and Netflix and stuff.”
"Many things are for sure easier now than they were then. And we all know I'd still stand out like a sore thumb at that time too." Val laughed a little, referring to his clothing style. Instinctively, he went for another sip of his coffee. Realizing he finished it already, he chuckled a little to himself. He was suddenly very aware of how long they had been talking at the coffee shop.
"Am I making you late for anything?" He asked, feeling a bit guilty. He didn't have anything, but that didn't mean the other didn't as well.
Ben blinked, checking the time as well. “Oh, no, you’re good,” he responded. “I actually don’t have much to do today anyway.” He offered a smile to Val. “Wait, I’m not making you late for anything, am I?”
"That's great to hear. And you aren't making me late for anything except maybe my appointment to sit on my couch and do absolutely nothing. Normally I would have taken my coffee and left, but today is the rare day where I have absolutely nothing, at least nothing yet." Val explained smiling. He was glad it had been today where someone talked to him, instead of the day before.
“Oh, that’s good then!” Ben responded with another smile. “So you’re pretty busy then, I take it? Me too. But my classes don’t actually start for another week, and I haven’t found a part time job or anything yet, so for now I’m pretty free.” He finished off his own coffee.
"Yeah, I am usually pretty busy. Today is a much-needed break." Val noticed Ben finish his coffee. "Would you like to join me for a walk or something?" He asked with a questioning smile. As much as he loved the coffee shop, he'd rather not socialize there all day and take up a table.
Ben shrugged, glancing around and realizing that were taking up a table that could be used by people who hadn’t finished their coffee. “Sure, sounds good,” he agreed, a little bit excited that was managing to hit it off so well with this guy. He was usually a ball of nerves when meeting new people, and, well, he was still a ball of nerves. But this time he was a ball of nerves who actually talked, so that was progress.
"Perfect, we should go now so we're not taking up these spots much longer." Val said, smiling and already standing up. Ben was his first human friend in quite a while. With mostly being around other warlocks and creatures, he hadn't socialized with many humans, let alone become one of their friends. He picked up his empty coffee cup and waited for Ben.
Ben picked up his empty cup as well, standing up and throwing it away before holding the door open for Val. He liked to do little things like that, even though his sister thought that it was annoying. Val seemed different than most of Ben’s friends somehow, but it was probably the clothes. Val’s fashion sense was a bit out there.
Following suit, Val threw away his cup and followed Ben. "Why thank you." He said smiling. He was always the one to do that. He had planned to for Ben but the other beat him to it. "So, you just moved to Seattle, right? Because I know the best park a few blocks down."
Ben grinned. “Yep, I just got here,” he agreed, following Val. “Let’s go. I’ve always liked parks.” Ben was a pretty agreeable person, liking a lot of things. He ran a hand through his hair again.
"Perfect, we need to go this way then." Val turned to the right, heading the opposite direction of his apartment. "So do you know anyone else here?" He asked, looking over at Ben. The way they were going was less populated. It was a bit longer of a route, but less people on the sidewalk made up for it.
Ben smiled sheepishly. “Nope. I literally just finished unpacking,” he admitted. “So I’ve met you so far.” He walked next to Val, hands in his pockets.
"Well, it's an honor to be the first person you meet here. I can't say this city has especially nice people or especially asshole people. It's just like any other city in the states." Val said, unsure exactly why. He lead Ben around a corner and it got considerably quieter.
Ben smirked. “The last city I lived in was the same,” he replied. “And before that, I lived in a pretty small town. That sucked, because everyone knew everyone else and everything that you did got back to people. Bigger cities are much better.”
"Oh for sure. I'm not sure how long I'd be able to survive in a small town. I mean, I'm sure they're great in their own little way, but I thrive in cities. That's why the only places I've traveled to are all big cities." Val explained. He found a different overall feel of cities versus towns.
Ben nodded. “Yeah, it sucks,” he responded with a chuckle. “Like whenever I did something dumb, by the end of the week basically everyone knew about it.” He shrugged. “But no one knows me here, so I can make as many bad decisions as I want and no one will give a shit. It’s awesome!”
"You should include me in those bad decisions, provided I'm not busy," Val said, smiling. For a while, he had been known for doing stupid things. Not really anymore since he was one of the head warlocks in Seattle, but he can dream. "Just don't make such bad decisions that you get kicked out of school. At that level, people do give a shit, believe it or not."
Ben blushed. “Actually, most of my bad decisions include my personal life,” he admitted. “I hardly ever do that kind of shit at school. Except once or twice, but that’s not important. When I said bad decisions, I meant more along the lines of awful haircuts and getting back together with an ex, not illegal stuff.” He shrugged. “I’m horrible at taking advice.”
"You said illegal, not me~." Val giggled a little at that. "But how bad can messed up haircuts really look on you? You're a stunning person." He smiled and looked to the side at Ben. It was about time he got a compliment in. In the back of his mind, he had been scheming a compliment.
Ben blushed again, taken off guard. “Oh, thanks,” he said, running his hand through his hair again. “But you’d be surprised. I had that ugly Justin Beiber hair in middle school, and in my freshman year of high school I thought a mohawk would be cool. Big mistake.”
"Didn't everyone have the Justin Beiber cut though? It couldn't have been that bad." They had arrived at the park. It was very green and full of trees. There was a large playground in the distance and a pond a bit away from it. Val kept walking to one of the biggest trees then sat down at the base of it.
