Home is where you are Player 1

x

Anastasia loved bonding with people, old and new. Jacob seemed like a nice enough person which was why she’d approached him to take the photo in the first place. Luckily for him, she wasn’t the type to think people were hitting on her for the most part, so the thought hadn’t even crossed her mind when he introduced himself and essentially asked if she was alone. “I’m Anastasia but you can call me Ana.. and yeah. I came here alone to celebrate my… promotion!” She wasn’t exactly sure what to call it, but it seemed like a promotion for sure. “Are you here alone? I thought I was the only weirdo who traveled to the zoo alone.”

-

Noah had to admit that he was somewhat social media-challenged. It just was an overload of information for him, not to mention a time drain in a way that he couldn’t quite keep up with. Usually. Ever since meeting Jacob, however, and striking up a very interesting conversation which had turned into back-and-forth texting about all kinds of topics, but also about deepening his barely there knowledge about streaming content. It was highly interesting to learn about a part of the internet he had never heard about or considered before.

“Hello mate, thanks for inviting me.” Barely in through the front door, and Noah already didn’t quite know where to look first. It was a completely different style to his own, but nonetheless fascinating to look at and go through. Some of the things he even recognised, or at least realised the reference to. He laughed at himself. “Oh yes, please. You might need to explain some of these things to me. I feel so old right now.” His laughter only increased, and he shook his head at himself. “You have an amazing home, though. I didn’t know what I expected, but this definitely met all expectations. You have an own stream office, so to speak?” While he could work on recipes, or on the financial side of his business wherever he wanted, he knew he preferred to work at his restaurant’s bar. He had sat down there one day, and it had just stuck. “So I take it you work from home? Doesn’t that get lonely somehow?” Noah couldn’t quite imagine not being surrounded by people, whether he worked with them or cooked for them.

-

Jacob could tell that Noah was in over his head. It was kind of cute, to be honest. Like when you try to explain to your grandma what a podcast is or how people make money on YouTube. Noah was intrigued though, and he seemed eager to take information on board, which was honestly what mattered the most. If someone was dismissive and rude about it, he lost interest in teaching them.

"I love when you say mate," he laughed, but it was an endearing sort of laugh, not the type that said he was making fun of Noah. "You'll get the hang of it. Honestly, I kind of figured out a lot of it as I went. When I first started I was terrible, but you just learn more as you go. And it kind of helps that I went to school for tech stuff." He led Noah inside, showing him around the living room and kitchen.

"I have a stream room, yeah. It's my old bedroom, actually." He grabbed himself a diet soda from the fridge, offering Noah a drink as well. "Here," he gestured, leading Noah to a room upstairs. There were a few monitors set up, a nice desk, camera, mic, and all his other bits and pieces. The decor was mostly gaming related, some Funko pops, a couple plants, and his logo made of neon light. "It's daytime right now but these are blackout curtains I can close, so the lighting and stuff looks better, but if I stream during the day I can mix it up."

Luca could only wonder if Jacob was just as nervous as he was but when he finally returned with the coffee and shot him that smile, the warm feeling in his stomach immediately returned. God, he really could get used to that smile… And he couldn’t help but feel at least a little relieved when Jacob mentioned that he wasn’t all too sure how to start this conversation either. At least he wasn’t the only one then… even though when Jacob continued, it didn’t seem like that at all. Luca couldn’t deny that he was surprised to be asked on a real date right away but his cheeks immediately flushed and his eyes lit up. “Yeah… I’d love that!”, he replied, his smile growing wider. If someone would have told him about a year ago that the two of them were actually going on a date, he would have told them that they were crazy and yet, here they were. And he couldn’t deny that it felt good. More than good! When he was younger, he had hoped for another chance for so long and now he could only hope that he wasn’t going to blow it. “Anything specific you already had in mind…?”

-

He hadn't done this in a while, honestly. His dad's death had kind of messed him up for a while, and he'd been so focused on moving and spending the holidays with his mom and rebuilding his life here that dating really hadn't been on his radar. Back in LA, it felt like it was easy to talk to people. It felt kind of anonymous. Smaller towns felt like they came with bigger risks, especially when it was someone you went to high school with. Luca's nerves at least made him realise they were in the same boat though. Now they just had to paddle.

He couldn't help but grin when Luca agreed. Some of the fear vanished. Only some of it. But god, he was so relieved. "Well, what are you into? There's all the typical stuff... movie, dinner, coffee..." He gestured to the cups in front of them. "Hit a bar, go see some live music, hiking..." He smiled a little. "We could even get out of town, go for a drive. I work for myself, so the world is kind of my oyster."

Waiting for the other to sit down, Luca offered him a slightly nervous smile. “Of course!”, he replied, not really able to imagine how or why any version of him wouldn’t have wanted to see Jacob, “And yeah.. it’s really been nice!” Which clearly wasn’t a lie either even though it still felt like some sort of dream at times when he thought about it. Him and Jacob dancing at a Valentines party at the Yacht club..?! Who would have seen that one coming after all..?! Not him, obviously! “I’ll take a black coffee”, he quickly added before using the time he waited for Jacob to order to try and get his own thoughts in order as well. Something that didn’t really seem to work. Especially since he’d never been the best when it came to talking about his own feelings… “Sooo…”, he finally started once Jacob had sat down again, only to realise that he didn’t know how to go on and awkwardly fell silent again.

-

Jacob could sense Luca's nerves. He felt his own too. Life had been a little bit of a whirlwind the last few years. Living out in LA had been a dream, but there were perks to coming home too, and this felt like one of them. "Black coffee it is," he smiled, heading to the counter to place their orders and coming back to the table with their drinks. He flashed a nervous smile at Luca's words. "I know, I never know how to start this stuff either. I just kind of wanted to see you." It might not have been flashy, but it was honest. "I know things were a little weird back in the day, but I feel like we've been getting along really well, and... I kind of wondered if you wanted to maybe go on a real date some time." And there it was. It was out there. No turning back now.

The Valentine’s Day event had gone pretty well. He’d made himself a couple of new friends, and he’d especially hit it off with a guy called Noah. After drink and conversation, the two had exchanged contact information and kept chatting in the days following. Noah was a chef, and when they’d been talking about people who streamed cooking content on Twitch, it had given Jacob an idea.

He invited Noah over, answering the door moments after the buzzer went off. “Hey! Come on in.” The place was empty except for him. He’d lived there alone ever since his father’s death, but he tried to make it homely, even if it was a nerdy kind of homely with collectibles and video game stuff all over the place. 

“You want me to show you around? I can show you my stream set-up.”

For once, Noah didn’t quip back, just listened for a while. He could understand the sentiment behind that last comment, especially. Things did tend to go weird sometimes, especially back in high school, when emotions were running high, and feelings were all over the place, all the time. Either way, he hoped that Jacob would get to see where it was all headed, or heading, and not be made to give it all up one way or another. Yeah, whoever that other person was he was looking for, Noah was starting to root for them big time. “I think it’s worth taking your time. Going into something too quickly always kinda ends with you not feeling all too hot about it.” Heartbreak wasn’t a feeling he had known too much of, since he was usually the one moving on, before that could happen, but he did remember one or two instances, when he had been a teenager, where he had felt like the world was ending, after a relationship did. These days, he avoided them all together.

“I lived in Paris for a little over two years, and it’s a great, but also exhausting city. Whereabouts does she live?” He could understand how one could, or would, choose Paris over Eureka in Northern California, but at the same time, he did enjoy living and working here. “Do you see her often?” Jacob’s mother sounded quite lovely, especially her cooking seemed something her son was enjoying. If he thought about his own mother, all Noah knew was that she had left him on the doorstep of his father’s house, and only sporadically set foot in her son’s life. Not that he much cared for her presence, after going so long without it. “As long as you enjoy making food, and like experimenting with it, I think you’re fine,” Noah said in reply to Jacob calling himself a passable cook. “I’m half Brazilian and half English, but was born and raised in LA - so I have, but don’t have much of an accent. I do speak Portuguese, but not because my mother taught me.” She had never cared enough, unfortunately.

“What video games do you like to play the most? Or watch on twitch? It’s been a while, since I’ve had a controller or a gaming mouse in my hand,“ he said with an easy smile. “How does a cooking stream work, though? Do they just prepare food in real time? Do people cook along? Do they just comment?” Now he was really intrigued how it all worked.

-

"Yeah, high school is weird. You don't know what you're doing, you're a bag or hormones and an inability to process emotions, and you think you're the smartest person in the world," he laughed, sipping his drink as they spoke. "Or maybe that was just me." Seemed like a pretty universal experience though. He was happy to say he'd grown up a lot since then. It seemed like Luca had too. Maybe there was hope for the two of them yet, but... enough about Luca.

"Paris is a great city. I take it you speak French?" he asked. "Just makes things a bunch easier if you do. I like speaking French with my mom. Keeps me in practice." He hated going to Paris and feeling like that awkward American tourist, but his accent probably got a little rusty at times if he didn't use it enough. "We video call pretty often, and she comes into my streams if she can make it with the time difference and her work and stuff. Kind of have to be careful what I say sometimes," he joked, but his mom was pretty accepting and understood you couldn't judge people too harshly for casual dirty humor on the internet.

He liked that Noah was curious about Twitch, and he didn't mind that he wasn't well-versed in it, as long as he was respectful and didn't tell Jacob to go get a real job. "I play all sorts of games. I guess you could say I'm a variety streamer, but I've been playing the new Pokemon, gonna play the new Horizon Forbidden West when it comes out, I used to be cracked at Fortnite when it was really popular, Overwatch, Valorant, other shooters, story games, whatever I'm in the mood for. Cooking streams you just cook live, and interact with your chat. I guess some people might cool along with you, but I think it's mostly just hanging out."

Seeing Jacob grin after something he’d said was something he hadn’t really dared to imagine. At least not since he’d made it pretty clear that he wasn’t interested in him back in high school. But now it actually seemed like Jacob enjoyed the fact that he was flirting with him. Taking some deep breaths when the other went to grab drinks, Luca tried to wrap his head around all this. He couldn’t deny that he was still attracted to Jacob and it seemed like they had both changed since all those years ago. So maybe there was a chance that it could work out this time..? Lost in his own thoughts, he only realised that Jacob was back when he heard his voice and when he glanced back up to see that little smile on his face, Luca knew that he at least wanted to give this a chance. Whatever this was. “Thanks!”, taking the bottle, he returned the smile and took a sip of the beer before almost choking on it when he heard Jacobs question. “i… god, sorry!”, he apologized once he’d stopped coughing, “I’m not really a great dancer either, but… we can give it a try.. If that’s what you want, I mean. But I.. I’d definitely want to spend some time with you…”

-

Jacob was still feeling this situation out, but the more he dipped his toes in the proverbial water of a flirtationship with Luca right now, the more comfortable he seemed to become. Luca was accepting the casual, non-committal advances. He wasn’t pushing him away. “You know what? Fuck it. Let’s just dance. Who cares if we’re not that good? It’s about having fun, right?” He set his drink aside near Theo, giving him a little wink. The two had been pretending to play match maker for each other all night, so Theo would appreciate the fact he’d found someone. 

He led Luca to the area that had been cleared for dancing, cocking his head at him with a little grin. “So do I lead, or you want to? I don’t mind either way.” 

-

The world was feeling viciously topsy turvy in more ways than one, but Theo still maintained in the way he did — by compartmentalizing and focusing on something that was more imperative… or at least something that could keep his attention away from the bullshit. Work, usually, was always a good alternative whenever he was inconvenienced or overwhelmed simply because it felt less like a job, and more than a calming hobby. His exes used to argue that he was a workaholic whenever he walked out during an argument, an aggressive notion made — ”You care about your job more than our actual relationship!” — when in reality it had always been his personal therapy to keep him from saying things that could’ve come off as unkind. Now, well, he ran away from even that. Back in Eureka to lick his wounds, he was still as impulsive as ever. Which meant it wasn’t out of character at all for him to  sign up for the speed dating event in the hopes that he could just mingle with someone interesting. What he didn’t expect was who he was paired with — unknown to him — but the other young man seemed to know who he was. His last comment, naturally, left Theo laughing in amusement. “If you — or any man — were my type for that matter, I’m pretty sure I’d do a shit job at keeping my sexuality a secret. Not really the kind of dude that’s interested in hiding who or what I like.” But he was quite qualified at running away from his problems, on the other hand. “It’s good to meet you Jacob. We may not be going home with each but for the sake of just going with it, we might as well make this fun.”

-

The fact Jacob hadn't offended Theo was a relief. The last thing he needed was to make a fool of himself in front of a famous musician. Hell, he never even thought he would be in a room with someone like Theo, let alone on a pseudo-date with him. "Good to know," he laughed in return. "Just so you know, I'm trying very hard not to be awkward right now. We should get some drinks. That would probably help, right?"

He walked towards the bar, gesturing for Theo to go with him. He was pretty sure people would be falling all over themselves to try and get matched with him, but even if they weren't going to end up making out on the dance floor, Jacob still wanted to get to know the guy. "Well, I very much like dudes, just so we're clear," he laughed. "But it's always cool to make new friends, right?" He glanced around the room. "See anyone who's caught your eye? Girls love a gay best friend in those early 2000s movies," he joked.

Even though Luca was still feeling like he was making a complete fool out of himself, Jacob either didn’t seem to notice or he didn’t mind it. Maybe he was simply glad that he wasn’t behaving like he had at high school. Although he definitely longed for at least some of the confidence he’d had back then. When he heard the others reply though, Luca couldn’t help but grin. “Pretty sure you already stick out anyway!”, he stated before realising how that probably sounded, “…not in a bad way I mean.” Giving him another smile, he glanced down at his own glass, which was almost empty as well. “Yeah, that would be great!”, downing the rest of his drink, he thought about how he hadn’t been entirely sure if Jacob really wanted to spend time at him the other day or if he had simply stayed because of his car but apparently he had forgiven him his behaviour in the past.

-

He couldn't help but grin at Luca's words. Dude, was Luca actually flirting with him? He couldn't help but feel a little warm and fuzzy at the prospect. It was always nice to receive positive attention, but there were butterflies in his stomach at the prospect of it coming from Luca. "I'll be right back then," he answered, glad of the excuse to walk away and get a hold of himself.

He came back with two bottles of Corona with a slice of lime in the top, handing one over. "Here you go, I hope you still like beer." He offered a small smile. Maybe it was the liquid courage, or the fact it was a Valentine's event, but fuck it, right? "Hey, I know it was kind of weird, us running into each other the other day, but it's actually pretty nice seeing you again." Whatever he tried to say next, he felt like it was going to come out wrong. "Did you want to dance or something?" No, not that. “I... am a terrible dancer,” he laughed. “I don’t know why I said that. But I do wanna spend more time with you. Is that weird to say?”

The younger man said he was blushing, and Aaron could just make out the pink of his cheeks in the glow of the cigarette light. There was something almost sweet about the moment, even if he was drunk, and even if none of it would likely matter in the morning. Aaron loved flirting with strangers, and he loved the intimacy of connection, but he was scared to meld the two. He had some serious relationships in New York that crashed and burned, and sometimes, it was simply easier to be casual. A man without strings.

He grinned, with a nod. “It could be a pick up, I wouldn’t mind.” He chuckled, another drag of the cigarette. “Moved here, just a bit ago. Don’t know anyone in town, other than my boss, few colleagues, and my students. But a social life’s gotta happen, regardless, hm? And what about you? All alone?”

-

Jacob wasn’t exactly going out of his way to flirt, but he wasn’t going out of his way to stop it, either. He offered a little chuckle to the stranger, his smile widening. “You’re pretty confident, dude, you know that?” It was kind of encouraging. Jacob was fairly confident as well, but he had a difficult time being so direct. “Students?” he asked. “You’re a teacher? My mom used to teach French at the local college.” 

He didn’t know why that was relevant. If the man had just moved here, he wouldn’t exactly know her, but sometimes it was nice to find something that reminded him of her while she was so far away. “What, uh, what do you teach? Like, little kids, older kids? Music, art? I’m Jacob, by the way. Did I say that already?” He might have already had a few drinks in him. 

Noah turned and leaned against the bar more comfortably, his eyes never leaving the younger man’s face. Despite having escaped to the bar to take a breath, he truly enjoyed Jacob’s company, and was happy he had come talk to him. He was easy-going and easy to talk to, too, and just had a way about him that made him feel comfortable right away. “You knew each other in high school? But you didn’t date back then, did you?” Okay, perhaps he was being nosy, but he was genuinely interested. “That’s the best way to go about things, I suppose. I’m not a big relationship person. I date casually, but then work takes over, and before that it was school or other activities, and it’ll simply fizzle out.“ His friendships, on the other hand, were for life, once he decided people were worth his time and attention. Especially one friendship in particular. He sought her out in the room, found her standing with friends of them, and smiled.

“You know, it’s probably best to just let it flow. Panta Rhei, you know? Everything is in flow, and like you said, whatever happens, happens.” It had been the one advice his barely there father had given him, just before graduating high school. He still secretly cherished it, even if his father had no impact on his life - never had, really. “Your mother is French? I wouldn’t have guessed that,” Noah told him, and shook his head. People surprised him more often than not, and in all kinds of ways. “What’s your favourite dish your mother can make?” Noah was very proud of his first, very own restaurant in Downtown Eureka, and he beamed, when he told Jacob about it. “It’s called the Beijinho Doce, it’s a Brazilian Fusion Kitchen style, and very versatile, I’d like to think. A beijinho de coco is a Brazilian sweet treat made of sweet condensed milk and coconut flakes, or cocoa. It’s one of the many things I love about the Brazilian kitchen.“

While he had no idea what Twitch was - perhaps that was a thing he would need to ask Mari about - he listened and nodded anyway. “What kind of content do you create and stream? Is that one of those apps and softwares where you can watch other people do things and interact? Like a video chat, but just you are streaming your video?” At the mention of cooking, he perked up. “And how does that work?“

-

Jacob chuckled at the question. "No, we didn't date. Things were kind of weird back then." He didn't want to share all the details, that he hadn't been attracted to Luca's arrogance and that Luca had pretended he'd never liked Jacob at all once he realised Jacob didn't like him. It wasn't fair to bring up immature high school bullshit. "I haven't been a big relationship person either. I'm open. I just haven't met anyone yet."

He didn't know what Panta Rhei meant, but he got the idea from how Noah described it, and he simply nodded. "Yeah, my mom lived here from college age until about six, seven years ago, now she lives in Paris. She makes really good French onion soup, and I really like her Chicken confit. She's a really good cook though. I never picked too much of it up, but I'm... passable." He gave a small chuckle. "That's cool though, are you Brazilian? You sound kind of English, but kind of not."

He was used to people being curious about Twitch, so he answered easily. "Mostly video game stuff. It's a website, a little like Youtube if everything was live. There's a chat, so people can talk to you. People subscribe and can donate to you and stuff."

Hearing the other laugh, Luca suddenly realised that he was glad that Jacob hadn’t been paired with anyone he was interested in. And he couldn’t help but wonder what had been if he had actually decided to take part as well and the two of them had been paired up. But then again they were here now. And even though Jacobs eyes widened when he heard his comment, he still didn’t seem to mind it. “Well, it worked..”, he replied with a somehow shy smile. God, what was wrong with him? He’d always been the confident one.. “Thank you! It’s.. actually been a while since I wore one of them..”, he stated, blushing once again as he quickly glanced down at his suit. Jacobs question got his mind racing again. It seemed like he really was interested in whether he had a date for tonight. Or was it just an obvious question and he was completely overthinking…? “I.. no. I mean, I came here by myself..”

-

Jacob was trying really hard not to make a fool of himself. He didn’t even know if he was interested in Luca. It had been years, after all. He’d shut him down so harshly in high school, and Luca had behaved like a jerk in turn, but they both seemed like they’d grown a lot since then. It might be worth trying. “Come on, you’re gonna make me blush with all these compliments, and you know how pale I am. It’ll stick out like a sore thumb.” His drink was getting low, and he glanced down to see if Luca needed a refill. “Do you want another drink? I can grab one for you.”

Jacob’s comment had him smile, and reminded him just why he never took things like these too seriously. It wasn’t worth the effort to get in too deep just to leave with his expectations unmet, or, worse still, disappointed. “It’s why I want to have a great night, without any hassle. I’m here to support and if something happens, it will. If not, well, then tomorrow’s another day.” Even if he had been born and raised in this country, he had never understood the obsessive ways people went about finding a date or their one true love on Valentine’s Day. Other than that day was busier than usual at the restaurants he had worked at so far, there was nothing truly special about it. Not in his eyes anyway.

“I’ll leave them to it, I’d rather have rivetting conversations than trying to one up someone else. They’re doing fine on their own.” Noah took a moment to look at Jacob, and his immaculate style, and smiled broadly. He found himself liking him instantly. During his time at the Cordon Bleu in Paris, he had had a great time experimenting - he hadn’t felt like putting himself in a box, especially sexually, but by the end of his stay, he had reached the conclusion that women were more his thing. “What about you? Any lucky blokes who have caught your eye?” He looked at him with kind eyes. Being that young and putting yourself out there had to be harrowing in a way. “I do hope you find them, whoever it may be.” As the conversation turned towards food, and cooking, his smile widened to a full-blown grin. “A cook is anyone who is actually cooking, at home, outside, with friends. A chef is someone who is trained and working in a restaurant kitchen. So I’m both on a good day. I opened my own place in town a while ago, and it’s been a hell of a ride so far. But enough about me - what do you do? What’s your story.”

-

Jacob had decided he liked this guy. He had a nice accent, a friendly smile, and he was easy to talk to. He hadn't been back in town too long, considering he had spent so much of the holidays out in France with his mom's side of the family, and he also had a job that required him to be playing video games in his house. Meeting people could be tough, so it was good to use tonight as a chance to make new friends.

He glanced around the room, eyes falling on Luca for a moment, then he tore them away to sip his drink. "There's one guy I might like, but we knew each other in high school, and I haven't seen him in a few years until recently, so I'm still figuring it out. We'll see what happens. If it turns out we're friends, that's cool too." He was interested to hear more about Noah's cooking. He could cook a little, but nothing really fancy. "Well, my mom is French, so she was pretty good in the kitchen. What's your place called?"

He always wondered what was the best way to explain his job to people. A lot of them didn't seem to get it. "I'm a content creator and streamer on Twitch. It's for video games and stuff, but you can make all kinds of content on there. Art, music, even cooking."

“And all for a good cause, too. I think this will give us major karma points,” Noah laughed. “I feel like having a good time should be the least we get to have, and that we should add to it to make it a great, memorable one. Right?” Turning around, he spotted a younger, curly-haired guy who was most likely just as much a magnet for people as his own date. “Well, we could take bets who of them gets to chat up more ladies. I’d step in, but -” Noah started laughing. “That would be unfair of me, they wouldn’t stand a chance. Let them fight for the flirting crown amongst them.” At the question, he raised both eyebrows, then gave a little shrug and picked up his drink once more. He didn’t quite know how to reply to that yet. He hadn’t come here to find a date or a relationship, he didn’t do relationships for the most part. It had been a way for him to do good, and network a little, most of all. But the night was turning differently than expected, and in a good way. “I don’t quite know yet. Mostly, I want to have a fun night, because it’s my night off, and I have to get back into my kitchen tomorrow once more.” He laughed. “Not that I mind, it’s where I feel the most comfortable, but don’t worry, I won’t talk your ear off about food. Not tonight anyway.“

-

"Yeah, exactly. That's the way you gotta think about it. I feel like if you take this kind of stuff too seriously you're just setting yourself up for disappointment." He had a casual air about him, an easy-going attitude that would have seemed at odds with the young man he'd been before he left for LA. Back in middle school and high school he'd been going through a really hard time, and he was the epitome of teenage angst. He was trying to be different now.

"Oh, I'm sure you and the guys could get together and see who can get the most girls' phone numbers. Nobody wants to be alone on Valentine's," he laughed. He was starting to feel as if maybe him and Luca were the only two gay guys at this event. "Dude, kitchen? Are you a cook, or... chef? I'm sorry, I don't know the difference."