The waiter ignored their intertwined hands and Kand-Lei's red eyes with a sort of tacit understanding as they cleared the chessboard off the table, making room for the food.
They both looked hungrily at their meals. After the emotional conversation over chess, they ate in silence. Neither willing to be the first to withdraw their hand. The gentle hold they had on each other was comfortable. It felt so right for some reason.
Like everything was finally falling into place, pieces of a puzzle coming together seamlessly.
After the table was cleared, Darcy hastily ordered dessert.
Kand-Lei's eyes widened when he saw the banana split being brought out from the kitchen. He burst into laughter, shoulders shaking with merriment as he used his free hand to cover his mouth.
"Who eats ice-cream in the middle of winter??!" He managed to gasp out, tugging at Darcy's hand a little playfully.
Darcy chuckled. "Ice-cream in winter… you've never had it before?" He leaned forward a little, close enough to see the spark dancing in the eyes of the other. "It's delicious~" He grinned, sitting back after he saw the slight pink colour dusting the other's cheeks.
They ended up sharing the dessert, despite countless protests on the behalf of Kand-Lei, insisting that ice-cream in winter was insanity. After the first bite, he shut up quick.
It was only after leaving the restaurant that Kand-Lei belatedly realised that he had been sharing Darcy's spoon.
The embarrassment from this realisation kept him warm for a few moments as they wandered, his cheeks hot, even when faced with the light snow descending from the sky. Soon he was shivering, wrapping his thin coat impossibly tighter around himself.
Darcy, even though he was leading the way, felt it. He turned around and almost without thinking took his coat off and bundled Kand-Lei up in it. "Cant have my new friend catching a cold now then can I?" He murmured as he did up a few buttons, looking infinitely more like a concerned lover than a mere friend.
Neither said anything to this effect, although they both thought it.
"… friends…"
"Yeah. Friends."
"Friends… help each other. Right?"
"Mmm. What are you getting at?"
"You need someone to disguise your scent until that alpha loses interest. I need somewhere to stay while I find a job. We could… help each other." Seeming to lose momentum he got quieter, "That is… if you are.. not opposed."
Darcy appeared to consider it for a moment. Internally, he had already agreed. He would take any excuse to remain close to this fascinating and strong yet fragile person. He felt a strange compulsion to protect and to remain close.
"That could work." He uttered, adjusting the collar of the jacket meticulously so that it blocked all the wind. He brushed a snowflake gently off the other's cheek. "We should probably stay in a hotel tonight. I doubt my parents have given up on this marriage quite yet, so home is a no go."
Kand-Lei pulled out his phone, the nearest decent quality hotel was only a five minute walk away. "Four stars alright?" He asked quietly, unsure of the luxury this young master was used to. Conveniently forgetting that he was a young master himself.
Darcy nodded slightly, not in the least worried about the quality of the service.
As they began walking, he blew repeatedly on his hands, rubbing the red fingers together in an effort to keep them warm. Kand-Lei fidgeted with the edge of the jacket, they were both omegas, why was Darcy the one to give him the jacket? Feeling a little indignant at the thought, he boldly grabbed Darcy's hand, putting their intertwined fingers into the jacket pocket.
"Your hands are red." He muttered when Darcy stumbled and looked at him.
He bit back saying 'your ears are red'. A good thing too, because Kand-Lei was having a full meltdown internally. Questioning the very fabric of existence. Why oh why had he done that?!
They arrived at the hotel but once again, neither took the initiative to move away. The clerk smiled halfheartedly at the late night visitors, it was almost time to close the front desk, she was at the end of her shift and very tired. Not a lot of people check in to hotels at midnight, but then again maybe more than you think.
"Hello there sirs. Do you have a reservation with us?" Her smile was perfect, honed by many years in the service industry.
"No. Do you have any rooms free?" Darcy took the initiative to speak, at the flicker of tiredness in her eyes, Kand-Lei added softly, "Sorry for the inconvenience."
The woman's eyes softened a bit. She tapped diligently away on the computer after assuring them that she was just doing her job.
"Aha." She turned to them, triumphant. "You're in luck, we have one last room free. It's a skyline view room with a double bed."
Darcy stilled. "Only one room? And the… suites? All booked?"
"Yes, I am afraid so sir. Is there… a problem?" She glanced at where they were still holding hands before going back to calm professionalism. Her mind already whirling with a thousand and one scenarios as to why they didn't want to share a room.
"No. No problem." Kand-Lei gave a small smile as he pinched Darcy's hand that was still in his pocket. "Right?"
"Mm. Yes it's fine. Thank you." He fished out his wallet and reluctantly disentangled his hand from Kand-Lei's to pay.
They made their way to the fifth floor, entering the room in silence. Neither brought any belongings so there was nothing to do but shower and fall asleep. Darcy, after much insistence on Kand-Lei's part, took the first shower. Kand-Lei reclined on the bed. Lazily scrolling through his phone. Refreshing the chat app five times even though he knows it will come up with nothing.
His eyes start drooping as the sound of water stops. He's half asleep by the time Darcy comes back into the room, bare feet silent on the carpeted floor.
Darcy pauses when he sees the way Kand-Lei is half passed out already, he takes a moment to quietly observe him, as if committing his appearance to memory.
He was small, even for an omega, at least a hands-width shorter than Darcy. He had short black hair that looked like a deep blue galaxy when it caught the light, enticingly soft and fluffy. Eyelids covered opalescent silver eyes that flickered occasionally with a beautiful spark. Despite the hair covering his eyes somewhat, one could see that he had rather sharp features, softened by the gentle expressions that he wore. His skin was soft and smooth like white jade, his physique average in every sense of the word, maybe a bit on the skinny side. Lying there in Darcy's slightly large jacket, he looked even more petite but somehow no less masculine.
Darcy was interrupted from his musings by the sleepy but questioning gaze coming from the other man.
He smiled softly, braiding his long silver hair as he said, "You should at least take off your outer clothes if you're too tired to shower. You'll never get a good night's sleep in shoes and a jacket." He chuckled a little at the sleepy groan that was his response.
Kand-Lei managed to wriggle out of his shoes and jackets, burrowing under the covers in just a long sleeved T-shirt and trousers. While the trousers poked his side uncomfortably he ignored it, there was no better option after all.
Darcy slips into his side of the bed with a whispered good night, turning out the lights. They both fall asleep with an awkward kind of peace between them, each to his own side of the bed, warmth seeming to pass between them despite the distance. A soft feeling of comfort suffusing the tepid air of the room. Wrapping around the both of them like a second blanket.