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I. CHOCOLATIER DU MONDE - (OPEN)
It didn't take too long for Kyle to find a job in the city. He wasn't entirely sure if this one would last, given that he was hired for a seasonal trial period, but it meant doing something kind of cool and getting paid for it, so he couldn't complain. Working at a gourmet chocolate shop meant giving people things they actually wanted for prices they were already willing to pay. He didn't have to sell anyone on things they didn't want and had the added bonus of rarely dealing with agitated customers.

Of course, with Valentine's Day around the corner, the shop was busier than ever and most of his shifts were spent on his feet helping people. He was mostly grateful that they didn't do deliveries and that every transaction was straightforward and in-store. Plus he'd already been able to sample most of the flavors and could actually able to recommend some. Which is why, when the next customer was up, he immediately offered them a smile and a sample of the dark chocolate orange creme.

"Try this."

II. CAFE - (CLOSED TO ALEX)
Kyle couldn't help but wonder why Alex had asked him out on Valentine's Day. The girl seemed adamant in shutting down every attempt at flirting and diligent about insisting on their inability to ever progress. Which he was fine with if that's what she wanted, but the mixed message was more than a little confusing. There was a part of him that wondered if maybe she was oblivious to the day. Even still, she had to have a reason for asking him out to coffee then. Luckily, his new job at the chocolate shop provided a convenient excuse to bring her a gift without making a big deal out of it.

"Hey," he greeted her with a smile, taking a seat before she could even offer. Kyle set the small golden box in front of her. "Here, I got these for you. I figured you wouldn't like the heart box, so I went simple."

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Kyle tries to cup a hand and catch the butterfly as it flies away, failing utterly. This is why he likes bats better. He gives her a smile and a nod at her agreement, glad they're already making future plans. The soldier needs more friends. Without thinking, he reaches down to grab her hand and pull her ahead, wanting to move on to the mini waterfall area he head about.

If she resists or as soon as they get there, either way, he'll release her hand and move forward to stick his hand under the water.

Alex is surprised when he grabs her hand, but she doesn't resist. She runs after him to the waterfall, and pulls her hand away from him when they get there. It's one thing to grab hands to run, it's another to stand in front of a waterfall holding hands. That would be way too close to dating territory for comfort.

She splashes her hand through the water, watching as butterflies circle around them. She could stay here all day, but she knows he has places to be, and she really should make an effort with her side project. "You wanna go see the bats?"

Kyle's mesmerized by the water, both the feel of it and the sound. It isn't until Alex speaks again that he realizes how absorbed he was and pulls himself from his reverie. He gives a quick smile to hide his distraction, looking almost regretfully back at the water before nodding. "Yeah."

He wipes his hand on his pants to dry it a bit before stuffing it back into his pocket. Kyle leads the way out through the plastic flaps to the outside, not realizing how warm it was inside until he hits the chilly exterior again. It makes him shiver, even though he's not that cold. He glances back to make sure Alex is with him before tilting his head in the direction they're meant to be going.

Alex puts her gloves back on as soon as they get outside. She walks along with Kyle in easy silence, feeling much less awkward about her inability to do small talk than when she first met him.

It's a lot darker in the bat habitat than the butterfly enclosure. The bats are mostly hanging upside-down from tree branches, one or two are gnawing away on watermelon or orange slices.

"Okay, bat guy," Alex teases, "what kind of bats are these?" She spots a placard explaining what kind of bats they are, and moves quickly to stand in front of it. "No cheating."

Kyle waits a few seconds for his eyes to adjust as Alex dives ahead. He follows a moment later, stepping up to the enclosure and staring at all the little guys. Adorable, really. He wouldn't mind having some as pets again.

"Uh.. fruit bats." He laughs at the guess, knowing nothing beyond some eat fruit and some eat insects. Oh and that one snout-nosed one. The rest all blur. "I used to watch them. In some areas, there were insects everywhere. You'd look up at night and see the swarms, like another set of stars. And then the bats would dart through them like missiles, grabbing 'em out of the air. It was awesome."

"Look. Come here." He beckons her over, pointing at one dangling and nomming at a piece of banana. "Look at him, how they hold on and eat.. We had a few fruit bats as pets at one of our camps. I mean, they were free, but they always came back and we'd leave food out for them."

It's his turn to be enthusiastic and childlike.

Alex watched him stare at the bats, listening to his story and trying to picture it. It's good to see him happy. He's the farthest possible person from that tense, panicking guy who forced his way onto her bench, and even though she doesn't really care about the bats, his wonder at them is infectious. It's all she can do not to kiss him right then and there.

After a few moments, she catches herself staring at him rather than the bats, and turns her attention to the animals. It is impressive that they can hold onto a tree branch and their food at the same time, she'll give them that.

"They're really cool." She may not completely see the appeal of bats, but it's important to him, so she means it sincerely.

Kyle glances at her, glad to see her enjoying her time, even if she doesn't seem quite as into the bats as he is. They aren't his favorite animal, but they're damn cool and they remind him of a better time in South Africa and some good friends he's since lost. He tries not to think about the fact that everything seems to remind him of before his losses in some way.

He spend a few minutes watching them, pointing out particularly adorable or badass ones. Finally, he straightens, moving over to read the plaque for a second and then walking back towards the entrance. "Alright. Thanks for humoring me. I could watch those fucking bats all day. Come on, we have time for one more."

"Hey, you went to see the butterflies with me. And really, they're neat." Just because she's not as enamored of the bats as he is doesn't mean she doesn't like them. It's been so long since she went to a zoo that she'd happily spend hours at each exhibit if they had the time.

She follows him outside, blinking in the sudden light, and then looks around for another map.

"What next?" There are a lot of options, and she can't choose just one. She prefers to be decisive, though, so she offers the two most exotic-sounding animals as options. "Lemurs, or... komodo dragons?"

Edited 2016-02-22 00:13 (UTC)

Kyle lifts a hand to shield his eyes as they adjust, walking over with Alex as she finds the map. He looks over it for a little while, hands returning to his pockets when he's no longer forced to squint and be blinded. He's about to offer a couple options when Alex beats him to the punch. Since one of her options overlaps with one of his, he shrugs and easily replies, "Dragons."

He sets a finger to where they are, then to where they need to be, glancing over the path. It should be easy enough and even makes for dropping them closer to the exit. Not that he's eager to go, but like hell he's going to risk his cushy new job. Not unless she's dying or something.

"Zoos are cool, but.. It's sad to see the animals locked up, you know? I wish they had more space." A casual conversation as they walk. "I heard about some zoo in Europe where it's wide open and the people go in cable cars or something to look. Or how you go in jeeps on safari, that you're a guest and not the other way around."

That's a sobering thought. Alex had spent close to a year locked up in a metal cage barely big enough for her to stretch out in, fed only when someone bothered to remember, with nothing but a thin blanket between her and the cold. She would have given anything for a habitat like one of these: regular meals, heating, enough space to run around in. In the wild, at least she'd had her freedom, but it had been miserably cold and lonely, and survival often came down to sheer luck.

"There are worse ways to live," she mutters. True, what he's describing sounds nicer, but this place seems nice enough. There were definitely worse things. "The butterflies probably don't even notice," she added in a lighter tone, trying not to dwell on it.

"True," he admits with a light shrug. Kyle likes talking, whether idle thoughts or serious commentary, and knows the two sometimes get confused. It's why he intentionally shrugs it off and carries on walking. He also knows some of the animals here might be endangered, like the komodo dragons, and that being here is the only thing keeping them alive. "Plus they feed you three square meals a day, let you hang out and play. Could be kinda fun."

"Yeah, could be." Alex pressed her lips tightly together, trying to smile. This isn't what she wants to be thinking about. Unconsciously, she moves a little closer to him. It helps to have a friend to take her mind off of it. With Kyle, she gets to be Alex Winslow, and maybe Alex Winslow had a few bad experiences in the foster system or something, but that's about it. Normal stuff.

They arrive at the komodo dragon house quickly enough. She crouches down in front of the glass to get a face-to-face view of the huge lizard before glancing up at Kyle, smiling more widely now. The dragon is close enough for her to count each individual scale. "Check it out."

Kyle's oblivious to her tension, but he lets the subject go easily enough when she doesn't seem that taken with it. Instead, he focuses on looking around and enjoying the sights. It's a pretty cool place. He's heard Central Park has something similar, but he's never seen it. This is the most big city he's ever really been. It's both intoxicating and overwhelming in turn.

When they arrive, he smiles at Alex's grin and crouches down beside her, his knee resting against her thigh. His attention is on the dragon though, admiring its claws. "I wouldn't want to run into one of those in the wild."

Alex doesn't even process the fact that his leg is touching hers. It's comfortable being so close to him, a lot more comfortable than she would have imagined possible just a few weeks ago.

The lizard flicks its tongue out at her, then starts trundling away to a nearby pool and begins to drink. She shrugs, and flashes Kyle a cocky smile. "It's just a big lizard. I bet I could take it."

Kyle smiles, shaking his head as he rises to stand once more. "Uh, no. I don't care if you're a certified ninja, those things are fast, poisonous, and have claws to kill. Literally designed to kill you. And I heard they're fast. Or is that hippopotamuses? Hippopotami? Whatever. Point is, it would kill you. Which is why it stays behind the glass and we stay safely out here where it's comfortable and artificially warm."

Edited 2016-02-27 03:33 (UTC)

Alex raises her eyebrows skeptically, watching the dragon drink until it gets bored with that and curls up under a tree branch. She can't exactly explain that super healing and super strength would definitely give her the edge in a fight, so she shrugs again as she stands.

"All I got out of that is that you're scared of lizards," she says casually, meaning it to be a lighthearted tease rather than an actual comment on his courage.

"Not lizards," he corrects lightly, though his tone becomes somewhat defensive as he continues, a mixture of posturing and pride. "And I'm not afraid. I respect my mortality and I'm aware that some things have pointy bits specifically designed to kill me. It's a survival instinct."

He's thinking more of vampires than lizards, but it's not like he can elaborate. It's the reason he left his sister behind, after all. To survive. Without meaning to, the thought immediately sours his mood. Kyle tries to hide it, but there's less enthusiasm to his smile now.

"You about ready?" He asks lightly, gently. He's not really the type to take his dark mood out on someone, especially someone he doesn't know all that well.

"I didn't--" Alex quickly senses that she said something wrong, but decides it would be better to let it go. It's a reminder that, even though he's one of the better friends she's had in the past six years, she doesn't really know him all that well. She doesn't know all the little things that will upset him. She wants to, but she also wants to let him tell her when he's ready.

She nods, and smiles gently back. "Yeah. You need to anything else before your long, hard day of eating chocolate?"

He lets out a light chuckle at that, sincere in spite of his mood, and shakes his head. "I think I'm good."

Kyle stuffs his hands into his pockets again and turns to leave, waiting until she's with him to walk out of the enclosure and then make their way out of the zoo. It isn't until they're back in the park, heading casually for the Underground, that he finally speaks up again.

"Thanks for hanging out, Alex," he says casually, staring off along their path before glancing at her with a soft smile. "And happy Valentine's day."

Alex walks beside him in comfortable silence. They're almost to the Underground station when he speaks, and she smiles back at him but waits until they're outside the station to respond so she can say goodbye as they part ways.

She's not sure whether she should shake his hand or kiss him in the cheek or hug him or what. She pauses awkwardly, trying to figure it out, before deciding on none of those things. She's not great at public displays of affection - platonic affection, she reminds herself forcefully - and shaking his hand would be too weirdly formal.

"Happy Valentine's Day," she responds, smiling up at him, "and thanks for the chocolate." She doesn't really want to leave it there, but she can't think of anything else to say, so she starts to head off on her own before quickly turning back. "You should tell me where you work. The box you gave me is pretty small, I might need a refill." She tries to sound as casual as possible, as though she couldn't possibly have any other reason for stopping by his chocolate shop than to buy chocolate.

Kyle finds himself surprisingly distraught at the sight of her walking away with barely more than a few parting words and feels a sense of relief when she turns around. He flashes a deliberately brilliant smile, the one that used to get him pretty much anything he wanted back in high school.

"It's called Chocolatier du Monde," he replies, his pronunciation a little too American. "I work most days."

He watches her, still smiling, standing awkwardly by the Underground and casually keeping an eye on everyone passing them. When she turns to leave again, he can't really help himself. He reaches out and grabs her hand, pulling enough to stop her and closing the distance between them to give her a quick peck on the edge of her mouth, half-cheek, half-lips. An innocent enough gesture as he immediately lets go of her hand and withdraws back to his own space. Still wearing that brilliant grin. "Have a good one."

And with that, he turns and, if uninterrupted, will make his way down the stairs to catch his train.

"Okay. I'll, uh." Alex smiles at him, half turning away as she speaks, once again somewhat flustered by his smile and how happy she is. "I'll stop by some time."

She turns to leave again, but stops immediately when he grabs her hand, wondering if he needs something or if something bad managed to happen in the few seconds that her back was turned.

"Is--" She realizes what he's doing just in time to draw back, but she doesn't get far enough to prevent his lips brushing against the corner of hers. She's about to snap at him when he drops her hand and grins and that useless platitude comes out of his mouth. It's not easy being friends with him when she wants more and all the reasons why that would be a bad idea keep seeming less and less important, and he's not making it any easier. She almost grabs him and kisses him. If they weren't in public, she might have.

Maybe it's for the best that they're surrounded by people, because it gives her a moment to take a deep breath and remind herself that cute boys are just a distraction. Killing Semak is all that matters, and that's where her focus needs to be.

She doesn't want to dance around Kyle anymore, she wants to make sure they both know exactly where they stand. No miscommunications, and definitely no more almost-kissing her in tube stations. Before he can get very far, she runs after him and grabs his arm, tugging him towards an out of the way corner where they can talk. She looks up at him determinedly for a moment, steeling herself to say, "You can't do stuff like that. We're just friends, okay? That's all this is gonna be."

Kyle's blissfully ignorant of her reaction, on his way to the train, until he feels himself being pulled aside. He knows it's her before he sees her, though he glances over to confirm before falling back towards the wall where it's a little safer. Her expression is almost comical to him, though he knows it would be a terrible time to laugh, and he's still smiling until the words come out of her mouth.

His expression immediately drops and every ounce of frustration he feels with her response is painted on his face. Not anger with her, but impatience with the situation. "Jesus, Alex, I know. You've made it perfectly clear that we're just friends and I want that, but this is how I treat my friends. We can show some affection without it being a damn declaration of love. You want me to avoid touching you completely? Fine. Fuckin' tell me. But stop with the bullshit need to make sure I know."

Edited (dialogue tweak) 2016-03-04 05:23 (UTC)

"I do need to make sure you know!" She keeps her voice down, painfully aware of how public this is. "You don't kiss friends on the lips, Kyle!" Maybe he did, maybe that was perfectly normal in whatever middle-of-nowhere American town he was from. But it was definitely over the line for her. If he'd kissed any other part of her face, it might have been a little intimate but she could still rationalize it as not necessarily romantic. As it was, though, he was making it very difficult for her to keep everything between them platonic.

His frustration transitions into exasperation, more akin to hashing out an old pet peeve than actually being upset. Kyle shakes his head as she speaks, lowering his volume again to match hers. He's less concerned with keeping his dirty laundry of sorts private than he is with making her comfortable.

"I was trying to kiss you on the damn cheek until you moved." Not entirely true, but she doesn't need to know that. It genuinely was meant as a platonic gesture of affection. "Trust me, if I was trying to kiss you, you'd know."

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