(no subject)

[thedreamthief]

In the end, Ronan chose a place that wasn't too expensive or too high-class, but one where it also wasn't out of place to dress in something a little nicer than jeans and a tank-top. Even two years out of Aglionby hadn't endeared Ronan to wearing a fucking tie so he didn't quite go that far, but did dress in a nicer pair of slacks and a white buttoned-up shirt that he kept loose up by the neck so he didn't feel he was being strangled.

And a blazer he'd dreamt a few weeks ago, the fabric undefinable but comfortable and sleek.

The dinner was paid for entirely in money he'd earned at Graymark, money he'd tried telling Luke he didn't really need but Luke insisted on giving him. It was more than enough to cover anything he and Adam might want, even when Ronan asked for another round of wine.

"Thought we could go for a walk or something after this," he said, dropping his hands to fidget with the napkin in his lap and trying not to stare at Adam's face in the low light for too long, the cast of shadows across his cheekbones and the purse of his lips. Jesus, when had he turned into such a fucking lovesick asshole? "Or we can just go back to Cabeswater. Or Hywel," he added because that felt important. It was Adam's decision, really. "Everyone else is out at that party, aren't they?"

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[thedreamthief]

Ronan managed a smirk at that, relieved by the familiar jibe and the fact that at least one person in this fucked up city could still see Kavinsky for the shitbag that he was. And further relieved when Adam doesn't press the point, seemingly just as content to drop the subject as Ronan.

He let a comfortable quiet slide over them as Adam's foot nudged his under the table, taking another bite of his steak before reaching for his wine.

"So tell me more about how much you fucking hate economics," he said with a faint smirk.

[incognoscibilis]

"Christ, Ronan, we're supposed to be having a good time," Adam says. Economics is a boring topic, even for its most determined student. "You don't what to know about my classes."

Mostly, he wants to think about Ronan's hands, strong and clever, as he talks, the way his eyes fix on him and don't look away. The things about Ronan he loves.

"Ask me about something you actually want to hear about."

[thedreamthief]

"Never said I want to hear about economics," Ronan insisted, smirking a bit at Adam's reaction all the same. "I want to hear about how much you hate it. And fuck you, I like hearing about your shit. I know school means a lot to you, Parrish. I want to know what interests you."

And he meant it. He couldn't identify with wanting to go to college, maybe, couldn't fathom the desire to get some corporate office job, but he knew some aspect of that was important to Adam and that was all that mattered.

[incognoscibilis]

"I don't hate it," Adam says. "It's just boring."

The things that interest him are beneath his aspirations. He may love and understand cars but he waits for the day that repairing a car is a luxurious weekend hobby instead of a money-earning necessity. Someday, he'll come home on the weekend with hours to wile away doing whatever he wants.

Whatever he and Ronan want.

[thedreamthief]

"Isn't it all fucking boring?" Ronan asked, one hand curled carefully around the bowl of his wine glass as he eyed Adam across the table. "What part of it do you actually like?"

Because he knew Adam did. He knew there was more to college than getting out of Henrietta. Otherwise Adam wouldn't still be doing it.

[incognoscibilis]

"I like my professors. My advisor's really smart," Adam says. Sometimes the in-class parts and his own stubborn will to succeed are the only things that keep him from losing his mind sometimes. And Ronan, always Ronan.

He looks up at Ronan, staring intensely at Adam, wineglass in hand, and suddenly chokes back on laughter. "God stop holding your glass like that, you look like a supervillain."

[thedreamthief]

Ronan arched an eyebrow as Adam's face split into a wide smile and he snorted a laugh. He glanced down at his hand and felt his own lips twitch into a near smirk, though he didn't change his position at all.

"Maybe I am a supervillian," he pointed out with a shrug before taking a sip of his wine, grinning across the rim of the glass. Swallowing, he licked his lips. "And you're fucking me, so what does that make you?"

[incognoscibilis]

"Probably not heroic," Adam says. He leans on his hand and raises an eyebrow at Ronan, challenging him. Of course he isn't a supervillain, Adam thinks, because for all his power, Ronan isn't cruel with it.

"What are you going to do with someone so unheroic?"

[thedreamthief]

"Fuck if I know," Ronan replied with a huff of a laugh as he set his glass down and then crossed his arms over the table, leaning a bit to smile at Adam across the table. "Probably marry the loser eventually."

It came out casual, off-hand. Easily to laugh away.

And it would be, he knew. Hell, they weren't even twenty yet, and the past year alone had proven just how quickly things could change. Even now, even after everything, some part of Ronan couldn't help but wonder how long Adam would be willing to put up with him.

[incognoscibilis]

Adam's breath catches and he waits for a punchline that he knows isn't coming. The moment passes and Adam realizes that not only is Ronan serious, so is he.

"Eventually," he agrees, smile soft. It's nice knowing and wanting it. They don't have to act on it now but hanging it up in their future gives a stability to Adam's dreams.

"Doesn't sound too villainous though."

[thedreamthief]

The moment hung between them, quiet and still. Adam didn't laugh it off, but he did look surprised before his lips twitched into a soft smile. And Ronan let out a breath. Maybe things would change again, but for right now, some part of Adam maybe actually liked the idea of spending the rest of his life with Ronan.

"You kidding? Two evil people together?" he replied, grinning more than a little then himself. "We'd destroy the world."

[incognoscibilis]

"Sounds like a lot of work," Adam says, carrying on with the joke but not ignoring the half-proposal. "And we'd have nothing to do after."

He swings their ankles back and forth again and feels lighter than he has all week, buoyed by who they are. What they get to be.

[thedreamthief]

"You don't think we'd come up with something? Where's your imagination, Parrish? We could build a whole fuckin' new world if we wanted."

It did sound like a lot of work, but with Adam at his side, it would be fun too, he thought. And, honestly, he'd just gotten done putting a whole lot of work into the farm so he had some experience there. So long as Adam kept smiling just like that, so long as Adam stayed with him, everything would be fine. Better than fine.