Chapter Six- Pronouns and Mash Potatoes

                                    

                                          

Briar tapped his foot, checking the time on his phone again. Today, he and Jesse were meeting up for the third time since they met two months ago, but as those first two times were over a month and a half ago, he was anxious. Nerves swam in his stomach like mini tsunami's threatening to overwhelm him and drown his earlier excitement, but Briar was determined to fight against the urge to go home and make an excuse to cancel.
Years ago he had been quite the social butterfly, enjoying nights out with friends and meeting new people at the array of clubs he had been part of. But as the years passed and he was almost always at work or home, his insecurities festered away and left him a socially awkward bundle of stomach cramps. 
And yet, underneath the current of inner turmoil lay an excitement so strong it shocked him at first. But since their meeting those two months ago, Jesse seemed to ignite this emotion and sensation a lot within the young man. 
Almost instantly, they had formed a routine of sorts. One where every single morning Briar awoke to voice messages from Jesse detailing their dreams from the night before- ones usually consisting of food, animals, forests and fairy godmothers. And they always made him laugh or smile, starting the day off well. And in the evenings, when his work had usually not long begun or was near finishing, he left tales of the funniest or weirdest thing he had seen that day.
'Nearly there!'
The text message made him giggle at the erratic array of emoji's after the words. 
Yeah, today's going to be fun. Stop getting so worked up. You've been excited about this for over a week.
"Beauty!" A voice yelled from across the street and Briar about combusted from embarrassment. For whatever reason, the little pink-haired terror had given him a nickname that he found very blush-inducing. And yet, it also made him smile. 
He had a nickname given by a friend. Of course that made him happy.
"Foxy!" he yelled back, looking up and pocketing his phone. Despite his friend's short and slim stature, they stood out among the crowd of people, bright coral pink hair and eccentric clothing drawing the attention of everyone around. 
Jesse ran across the street, uncaring of the car that very nearly turned them into road kill, and flung his arms around the taller man who hugged him back with a wide smile. 
"Hey good lookin', you excited?" they said after stepping back, readjusting their oversized pink jumper so it wasn't slipping down their shoulders. 
"Yes! I've been reading reviews ever since you mentioned this place and they're really positive". 
"Really? Yay! I was worried that it would only be popular because it's new but if it's as good as you're making it sound, we should have a good day. We fucking better, because I've been excited for this for ages so my expectations are sky high. Anyway, what've you been up to?".  
They walked together down the street, making small talk on how they had been. Briar learned that Jesse had been busy with work too, his small online business specialising in web design getting a sudden influx of clients since their last project for a big company gained a lot of attention. 
"How are your partners?" he asked. 
"They're good; Dev is busy with a new personal project. Which really just means he's tearing apart pieces of the house and having them rebuilt. I swear he does this like three times a year, like a ritual. Having an architect as a lover really isn't as peaceful as I'd pictured, you know, like I'd imagined he would sit in a rocking chair all day sketching with coffee stains on him. But no, instead one day we have a downstairs bathroom and the next it's a hole with scaffolding".