sixthiterationlogs | [Mingle] The First Official Meeting of the Young Adult Club

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[Mingle] The First Official Meeting of the Young Adult Club

WHO: Nida
WHERE: House 16
WHEN: Evening/Night Monday the 14th
OPEN TO: Mingle: Open too all young adults (22 and younger); Older may show up but expect a testy Nida.
WARNINGS: Young Adults Partying, Possible: Underaged drinking if people bring stuff. If your thread changes ratings, in subject line and DM me so I can update.

The message goes out over the Network Sunday evening.

'Young Adult Club, First Meet-Up/Party Monday night. First house after the Jail/Barn. Bring Snacks If You've Got Them To Spare.'

Invitation sent in general, The rest, now, came down to Nida. Good thing he had someone who knew how parties worked was right there too. Rinoa turned out to be a pretty good resource. He learned there were a few important things to do for a party. Three major things were needed: music, treats and games. Unfortunately they couldn't do much about the former, so instead Nida employed his housemates in trying to make sure the latter two were covered.

The Nibbles

The easiest person to go to about food turned out to be Seifer. Of the three of them the blonde had somehow ended up as the defacto chef of their house when it came to important things like this. What this meant was a variety of easily made food, things like a plate of half-dollar sized pancakes for easy munching or dipping into other things, fried potato edges, even a quiche that Seifer had managed to whip up, not that Nida even recognized what the whole thing was. While it wasn't as impressive a spread as the New Year Eve party had (or perhaps even the forge gathering) it was clear that the three had done the best they could with the skills two mercenaries and a formerly sheltered young woman had between them. Hopefully treats from other people would help with the spread. Personally, Nida was hoping to steal some of the fritatta Seifer had made in their cast iron skillet, but guests came first of course.

The Games

Games. What even were party games? For that one the center spotlight had gone to Rinoa's planning efforts. Nida had scrounged in the inn's shared supplies, borrowing a set of playing cards and a Jenga set. Not that he really knew what the latter was. The cards went to the dining room table with some extra chairs borrowed from an unoccupied house, the Jenga onto the coffee table, and Rinoa's peakitten Julia got shuffled into her room to prevent her from knocking over the wooden blocks yet again. Nida was tired of rebuilding.

Introductions

They're all new here, they don't all know each other, so Nida and Rinoa encourage people upon arrival to start out simple. And all you have to do is say your name and three facts about yourself. Or, if you're feeling mischievous, two truths and a lie. Can people guess the truth of the matter about you? Or do they already know you well?

Quite Spaces

Frankly Nida wasn't sure how he felt about opening their house to so many people, and with the living room, dining room and kitchen all prepped for use, he realized there was one other thing people could need. A place to talk quietly or just have group games. As he was the only one of the three of them that didn't have much in the way of property and could give up the whole concept of privacy for a bit, the back bedroom ended up having a note pinned on it with a kitchen knife.

'Quiet Space for Your Use - Do not have sex in my bed please'

With his staff stored in the basement and his tiny journal and pencils stored out of sight on top of the standing wardrobe, the room was perfect for anyone who just needed to cool down. Or have a private conversation. Good thing the house has electricity because that could be used long into the night.

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Kitchens are good for that kind of thing, and Billy's no stranger to them himself. It's a comforting place to be; familiar smells, familiar sounds, always something to help with or something to clean. He's comfortable enough in the house and distracted enough by the conversation he'd just had a short while ago that he misses any slyness in Seifer's smirk, only catching a hint of a smile.

"You guessed right, honestly. It's great. We don't have a ton to work with, but you've made it work. Have you ever heard of latkes? Potato pancakes? I could teach you to make them sometime, if you haven't. Expand your recipe list a little." He wouldn't mind helping out, and of course, the excuse to be over at Number 16 a little more often would not go amiss, either.

Seifer had been in an out, observing the party and various conversations. One pair in particular had drawn his attention for some while, so wrapped up in each other the rest of the world might as well have not existed. Which was great, and hilarious. It also meant he had plenty of fuel for needling.

"Well I'm glad they were a hit. Not every day I get to cook like this." He observed. An interesting sentiment, that he might enjoy doing more cooking in the future. It was a good feeling watching people enjoy your food. Something he'd have never knew existed were it not for this place. "A what?" No he has not heard of latkes. "Potato pancakes? That sounds amazing," Also, an idea occurs, and again that sly grin returns. "Sure, why don't you come by more often? I bet Nida'd love that. I make breakfast for everyone in the mornin' after my run. Why not stop by?" Dual purpose, he gets to learn something new and Nida gets to see more of his very obvious crush.

"They are definitely amazing. You grate the potatoes and some onions, and add a couple eggs, some flour, a little salt and pepper, then make them into little cakes and fry them. Seriously, best thing you'll ever eat."

Listen, Seifer, he's got no idea what you're talking about. No, really, he's got no clue he gets like that, and it probably shows from the surprised look on his face when Seifer brings Nida into it. Honestly, he's just happy to have a marketable skill to share, and maybe a new cooking pal, okay? "I mean, Nida gets enough of me most days," he says, completely missing the point. "We talk most nights, anyway, and then there's the training. He's teaching me to fight. But yeah, I can definitely come by for breakfast one day and show you how to make latkes. It's a shame we don't have any applesauce here, but maybe Frank can figure out sour cream." Because really, what are latkes without either of these things.

"That does sound great! Definitely adding that to the breakfast list." Sounded easy enough to make, too. Good way to add a few vegetables into their diets. Seifer was moderately health conscious, good nutrition is necessary for a physically fit body after all.

Totally getting a new cooking pal, also being invited over to spend more time with Nida. Ultimately that's the true goal here isn't it? Though Seifer does genuinely want to cook with him too. He just knows he'll have to surrender his cooking buddy at some point. "Oh I dunno, from the way you two act around each other I don't think Nida gets enough of you at all." He's still wearing that mischievous grin. "Sure, I'd like that. You should definitely stop by."

Applesauce could probably be managed if they got some sugar production going. "D'you put applesauce on them?" He was just going to eat them as-is, sounded fantastic just like that.

Billy looks a little caught off-guard by Seifer's words as he looks up at the blonde currently standing in front of the stove. "What are you talking about?" What does that mean? Is there a way they are around each other? I don't think Nida gets enough of you at all, Seifer said, and Billy feels his cheeks turning a faint shade of pink. He'll blame it on the heat from the stove. That's all.

"We're friends," he adds on. "Really good friends. I like Nida a lot. He's a really good guy." He's probably not helping his case, or doing anything at all to dissuade Seifer, especially considering the warm sound of his voice as he talks about his friend. Anyway, safer things to talk about. Get back on the subject of food, definitely less dangerous ground there. "Yeah, you can put applesauce on latkes. I mean, you can eat them plain too, but it's kind of a cultural thing? Applesauce or sour cream are the best options, personally. I've got a preference for applesauce."

"Come on," He turns a moment to eye Billy over his shoulder, one eyebrow raised. "You can't tell me you haven't noticed the way you two have been orbiting each other all night. If you aren't talkin' you're lookin' for each other." Seifer watched more closely than he let on. Tonight wasn't the first time he'd noticed something happening between them, only the first time it had been so blatantly apparent. Oh no, they both know it isn't the oven's heat.

"Yes he is," Seifer agrees. He'd do the Big Brother thing, however right now the last thing he wants to do is scare Billy off. Instead he wants to maybe open his eyes a little bit about how they've both been acting. There's clearly some affection there, even if Nida and Billy are both being too damned stubborn to see it.

"Sounds good, I'll have to try whichever one I can get my hands on when you come by to cook." Yes, he's still insisting that Billy come spend some time with Nida. They seem good together.

"We are?" He is, Billy doesn't ask, but that question is also just as obvious, and there are his ears now joining in with the pink parade. "I mean, yeah, I was looking for him. Like I said, we're friends. I like talking to him." And he just...feels comfortable, talking with Nida, or knowing he's around. That's all. "And this was Nida's idea, you know? So I didn't want to pull him out of anything else he was doing just to talk at him. I do a lot of that already." Because Nida always listens. No matter how dumb it is, he listens. That means a lot.

But this isn't about Nida. Not just about Nida, anyway, and the idea of coming over to cook for Nida--to cook for his friends, or with his friends--is a good one. Definitely worth doing. "Definitely. I'll come by one morning later this week. Wednesday maybe? Nida and I have a lesson later, so I can come show you how to make latkes and then we can go." It's just good timing, really.

"Definitely." Yes, they both are. Seifer won't specify, he made a promise to keep Nida's confidence and he would. Didn't mean he couldn't prod at Billy for his own side of the interactions. "You really like talkin' to him," Sefer observed, turning back to his cooking. More pancakes for the pancake god. "You two do hang out a lot."

Surely Billy wasn't that dense about how it looked? Talking to each other all the time, hanging out all the time, dancing together. They even both dressed nicer. "Sounds good to me. I run every mornin' but I should be back by the time you show up. What kind of lesson?" He'd not heard about these lessons. More time spent alone together? How scandalous! As it was he was just smirking privately to himself. Hyne these two.

"I really do," he answers, and he doesn't even have to think about the answer. People are gonna see what they wanna see, but honestly? He just enjoys spending time with Nida. "He's easy to talk to. I like hanging out with him. And it's not just hanging out. He's a good teacher, too. He makes me feel...I don't know, like I'm not useless. It's nice." He laughs a little at the end, ducking his head as he leans against the counter. Okay, so he's not completely oblivious to how it might look, but Billy? Definitely deeply in denial and oblivious about any change in things on Nida's end.

"I promised to teach him swing dancing. The Lindy Hop. I don't think you guys have it where you're from. It's like acrobatics and the foxtrot had a baby. He's gonna be amazing at it, he's a great dancer." And that is clearly a lot of affection in Billy's voice. "Anyway, it needs a lot of space for the really fun stuff, so we're gonna rearrange my living room. So we'll definitely need a good breakfast first." Potato pancakes are just the thing.

So quick to admit it, Seifer's still wearing that sly smirk of his, just shaking his head and huffing a soft laugh to himself. Hyne, this guy was so head over heels it was insane to think he couldn't even see it. It's worse than he realized. And here Nida was, thinking there was no real interest there. Alright, well, he'll just have to provide a little nudge. "He's a good guy, that's for sure. You two seem like you're good for each other. Sure brightens up when he talks about you." Nida wasn't subtle about it at all, neither was Billy.

Honestly, it was like talking to teenagers who just started puberty. He shakes his head, letting out an amused huff.

"There might be somethin' like it, I wouldn't know. Don't get outside the Garden much," Or have the liberty of retaining much even if they do. Guardian Force induced memory loss is a real pain. He's still grinning, so much, at all that explaining Billy's doing. "Sounds like you two are gonna have a blast. Maybe when you're done dancin' around each other you'll consider askin' him out." Because someone needs to make that move and it's not going to be Nida at this rate.

"He does?" He talks about me? Billy doesn't ask the second question out loud, but it's clear enough. He hadn't thought about that, really, but...but good. He's glad he can make Nida happy. He deserves happy. "I mean, I'm glad. He is a good guy. A good friend." Because that's all he should be. Nida needs friends. He's called Billy his best friend, after all, and it wouldn't be fair of him to jeopardize that, would it?

Even if the pleasant warmth that jolts him at Seifer's words makes him realize that maybe, part of him kind of might want to. Billy's slowly flushing bright crimson as he looks at Seifer, startled and shaking his head, lifting a hand to fuss with his hair. "What?? I--no, I mean, you've got it--we're just friends," he eventually manages. "I mean, I'm still sort of--working through some stuff. And it's not like he's interested in me that way." Notice how he doesn't say he's not interested.

"We're just friends. We joke around. That's all."

"He does." He responds, confirming both the spoken and unspoken questions. It's amusing how wrapped up in each other they really were, and how frustratingly alike in this particular vein. Seifer rolls his eyes and shakes his head. "Do you know, or do you assume because you think it'd be rude to say anything?" He's going to guarantee it's the latter, because Nida's done the same damned thing.

A long-suffering sigh, punctuated with a very 'oh please' expression as Seifer turns back to eye Billy. "Have you asked him? Or said anything to the effect? Ain't nobody a mind-reader, and if there's more going on you'll never know if you don't ask. I'm not sayin' don't take the time you need to get through whatever you're goin' through, but I'd place heavy gil on you two surviving an awkward conversation or two."

That is not all and all three of them know it. He noticed, and he's raising an eyebrow pointedly at Billy over it. If he's interested, saying something could save them both heartache. "The worst that could happen is he's really not, and you'll continue bein' friends. With a hell of a lot less wondering on the table."

Billy doesn't say anything at all for a long moment, just blinks mutely at Seifer, at a loss for words. Because he has been assuming. Because why would things be any different than they were back home? Because why would Nida...And he hasn't asked, because...

"I'm his best friend," he says, shoulders falling. "It's not fair of me to make that weird, or make him feel like he can't trust me anymore." Because Nida can't really feel that way about him, so what's the point in ruining a good thing he genuinely enjoys? Not to mention all the rest. How much he fucked up.

"Besides, Nida deserves better than someone like me. I'm a really shitty boyfriend," he says eventually. "Just ask my ex." It's...nice to think about, maybe. But it's not fair. Not to Nida.

"Why couldn't he trust you, because you told him the truth?" He countered pointedly, still arching that eyebrow. "Or d'you think your friendship is so fragile that it wouldn't survive a little bit of discomfort?" See, challenges were how cadets and SeeDs did things. It wasn't always the best method for everyone, but it usually worked for them. Challenge them to push and better themselves. One could never tolerate being called out on their cowardice.

"There you go assumin' again. An' if you think you're so bad, then do better," He says flippantly, as if it were so simple. Of course he knows it's more complicated than that. Everything is, but does it really have to be. "You'll never get anywhere if you're too afraid to take a step. And knowing Nida? He ain't gonna run over a little thing like that. Hell, he puts up with me." He barks a laugh at his own private joke. Yes, Nida's made out of far more forgiveness than anyone should be.

He shakes his head. "Your ex around?" A smirk, because he's not so sure that's the case. "Listen, I dunno what happened. But I've never seen Nida anything close to as happy as he is with you. And if you've got some feelings building in there, aren't you doing both of you a disservice keeping it to yourself? Dishonesty won't get you anywhere. Take your time, tell him what's up, but lyin' to yourself isn't gonna do you any good."

Who knew Seifer could occasionally have some good advice in that thick skull of his?

No, he doesn't think their friendship is fragile. They might only have known each other for a little over a month, but they've talked so much in that time. They've shared so much. Secrets and memories and dances and movies and just...words. Words building a friendship that's come to mean so much to him. It isn't fragile.

But is it really that simple? Do better? Could it be? He isn't so sure. It's easy to say, isn't it? Just be better. He doesn't know if he can be. And yet, here are those words for a second time tonight, and Billy leans against the counter, dropping his head for a moment before lifting it again, flipping his hair out of his face and giving Seifer a look, a faint smile on his face.

"Did you and Rinoa rehearse this before I came over? Because she said something pretty similar to me about not being afraid." He sighs then, and the smile vanishes, despite the warmth still lingering in him. He makes Nida happy. More happy than his friends have seen him before. Maybe Seifer isn't totally wrong. Or is that just more wishful thinking? Maybe he is afraid. "I know he's happy around me. I'm happy around him. More than I have been in months, you know? Since...even before Teddy left me. But--it's complicated. And we are friends. That's not a lie. Would it be so bad to just...stay friends?" Even if he is...well. You know.

It was the same advice Nida had given to him about being a better brother. Just do better. Learn from his mistakes, improve. It was all they really could do, in the end. Digging in their heels and laying down to surrender to their failures wouldn't get anyone anywhere. He is quite certain that Billy and Nida's friendship isn't fragile, that's why he's suggested they talk. When they're ready.

"What, she say somethin' similar?" He smirks, finally finishing with his latest batch of pancakes and loading them onto a plate to be ready to go out to the table. "Nah, we didn't talk. Guess we do think alike sometimes." As he turns to busy himself with attempting to make something of a presentation he offers a shrug. "Everything's complicated," That no one can disagree with. "I'm not sayin' there's anything wrong with it. If that's where you guys end up, then that's where you end up. But sitting on your feelings, never saying anything about 'em, it festers. Those what-if's have a way of gnawing at you. I ain't sayin' rush out there and confess right away. I'm just sayin' think on it, if it's still there, still persistent, there's no harm in bein' honest with yourself and with him. If he doesn't feel the same at least you won't have that what if anymore, right?"

Easier said than done, he knows, but he still thinks honesty is usually a good policy. It's the not knowing, secrets and schemes that drive people away. Not telling them the truth.

"Yeah, something like that," he says, shaking his head. He lets Seifer's words process for a long moment in silence, before he finally shakes his head again.

"You aren't wrong. I shouldn't assume. But...I don't know. I'll think about it. I do wanna come over to make latkes with you, though, and not just to hang around and maybe see him, so. I'll see you Wednesday?" Maybe by then he'll have figured all this stuff out. He's definitely got a lot of thinking to do.

"I'd like that," He still thinks it's so Billy can hang out with Nida more. That's alright, they'll still learn some fun potato pancake things. He has some new food he can add to the recipe list.

"Sounds good, you know where to find me." He shoots a brief grin over his shoulder. "Feel free to hang out if you need a break, I'm not doin' anything special." He won't keep poking the issue. Thinks he's made his points, now it's on Billy and Nida to figure themselves out.

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[Mingle] The First Official Meeting of the Young Adult Club

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