Chapter 5

Leo elected to ignore the resemblance between the man in front of him and Grim Reaper from his dream. There was something more important to focus on here. 

The man had asked to sit at his table, but there were two other empty tables outside the coffee shop. There was no need to try to sit next to him. Unless the man was trying to flirt with him. 

He might as well double check if his dating curse was still in operation. Leo held out his hand in the direction of the chair.

“You can if you like,” he said.

The man was dressed in a sharp blue suit, but something felt a little out of place. He looked to be around the same age as him so it was odd to see someone like that wearing such a nice suit. It was also too hot to be wearing a suit comfortably. This man should be showing signs of sweating, but he couldn’t see any.

Unlike the man in his dream, this one was definitely a human and didn’t look translucent like he was going to fade away at any second. His gray hair was also short with bangs across his face. The man in his dream had gray hair that went past his shoulders.

The man sat down and placed his coffee down next to his. Leo waited to see what would happen next. The mysterious man didn’t take any sip of his coffee and seemed to be waiting for it to cool down.

Leo sipped his coffee and checked his phone for the time. He did want to leave before the coffee shop started to fill up with people at lunchtime. There was some time to spare so he slid the phone back into his pocket and glanced to his right. The man did have out of this world looks so he was willing to try to flirt.

“Aren’t you hot in that suit?” he asked. “It’s shorts weather today, not three piece suit weather. You’ve got hot coffee as well.”

The man looked down at himself and laughed. It was a pleasant laugh.

“Of course. It does look odd. I just wanted to dress up today.”

“So you don’t wear it for work then?” he asked.

It was strange to want to wear a suit like that for fun. Or at least it was in his opinion.

“No. I’m a university student,” the man explained. “I’m starting second year in September.”

It was an odd way to phrase that he was a second year university student. However Leo was always glad to talk to a fellow university student even if they weren’t from the same university. 

“What university do you go to?” Leo asked. “I’m studying English Literature at the moment.”

“I’m studying Psychology,” the man replied and then named the same university as his.

Leo was immediately more interested in the man now that he knew he could see him again at university.

“What’s your name?” he asked eagerly.

“My name is Nocturne,” the man said and didn’t provide a surname. “We have probably passed each other at university before.”

“Are you from here then?” was Leo’s next question. “I haven’t met anyone from here at university. My friends here all went to different universities.”

“No, I am from somewhere else,” Nocturne explained. “I am just staying here until university starts. It seems like a nice place. Is there anything fun to do?”

“Sit around outside a coffee shop with a three piece suit on,” Leo quipped.

He still did think that Nocturne was a little strange, but he was attractive and they went to the same university and looked to be about the same age. He still could be boyfriend material.

Nocturne laughed again. “I will be wearing something more casual the next time you see me. I mean, is there a fun place that you can recommend?”

“There is the arcade,” he said. “If you go now, it shouldn’t be too busy.”

“Thank you for the suggestion,” Nocturne replied. “Would you like to come with me?”

Leo was very unsure if he was being asked on a date. Nocturne had not made his intentions very clear. Before he agreed to anything he wanted to know what their relationship was in case he was misunderstanding anything.

He decided to be very straightforward. “Is it going to be a date?”

For the first time he saw Nocturne look something less than the picture of sophistication. He blushed and stammered over his words.

“I mean- well, would you like it to be a date?”

Leo found the awkwardness adorable. Then he remembered that he had been unable to agree to dates for the past year. He silently prayed for his curse to end. Nocturne was adorable if odd and he did want to see him again.

“I can go on a date with you,” he said, surprising himself.

***

Leo’s heart was beating fast as they walked to the arcade together. He had managed to go on a date. His curse was over. He couldn’t quite believe it.

Nocturne was a little strange, but he was friendly. He looked at everything with open curiosity. Leo had never met anyone like that.

Soon the arcade came into view and he pointed at it. It was a large open building with a flashing sign and colorful walls.

“It’s here,” he announced. “Did you bring any cash? It’s pretty old fashioned so the machines don’t take cards.”

“I do have cash,” Nocturne said slowly.

It felt like Nocturne didn’t fully understand the question. Leo dismissed that thought and crossed the road with his date in tow. The arcade was old and the machines were quite dated, but it should still be a fun date. His first ever date.

The time had finally come for him.

After an hour of playing around at the arcade, Leo was convinced that Nocturne didn’t leave his house much. Everything seemed to be new to him from money to the concept of the games. There was something about the hesitation in Nocturne’s movements that told him that he was pretending to know what everything was.

Despite that it was still an hour of fun. Nocturne was a fast learner and didn’t mind it when Leo defeated him at all of the games. He just asked if they could try again and normally beat him on the second go.

“Let’s try the claw machines,” Leo said whilst he wiped his brow after an intense shooting game.

It was stifling in the arcade and it was full of people. The air conditioning clearly wasn’t working today. When he let go of his controller he saw the marks left behind from his sweat. In contrast the man next to him in his three piece suit didn’t have a drop of sweat on him. His controller was as dry as it had been when he picked it up.

Leo was jealous. He was a hot mess right now and he hoped that Nocturne wouldn’t want to hold hands with him. It would be mortifying because his hand would slip away immediately from all the sweat.

They walked over to the claw machines. Annoyingly there were several children milling around them with their noses pressed against the glass windows. The summer vacation period really tested Leo’s tolerance of small children.

He found a machine with prizes that were something he would happily take home. The ones with cellphones in always looked like a scam to him. He was happy with a fluffy soft toy to add to his collection. The green one on the left side of the machine caught his eye.

“Okay, this one is kind of a scam,” he explained to Nocturne who was watching with keen interest. “You have to get this claw to hook onto the prize you want and bring it over to the chute over here. When it’s in, it will drop out this door here.”

“That sounds simple enough, why is it a scam?” 

Leo put some coins into the machine and started maneuvering the claw. He moved it into place above the green toy he wanted and let it drop down. The claw picked up the toy for a millisecond and dropped it back down.

“The claw only occasionally uses full strength to pick something up. You can get it to pick a prize up and then it will drop it on the way to the chute,” he explained. “The aim is to get you to keep trying so you pay more money.”

He used the rest of his turns up quickly and had his teeth gritted in frustration by the end of it. Whilst he knew how the games operated, he still wanted to beat them.

“I’ll go next,” Nocturne said and held up a coin.

Leo stepped back to see if his date would be any better than him. Nocturne might be a quick learner, however in this case the arcade scam would beat him. As he predicted his date was unsuccessful even with 10 tries.

“Do you really want this green thing?” Nocturne asked.

“I was thinking it would look good on my bed,” Leo said. 

Nocturne pulled out more coins. “I’ll do my best for you.”

It was cute. Leo enjoyed watching his date put his best effort into winning a prize for him. He didn’t seem to lose any energy even as the toy was dropped repeatedly into awkward positions. The toy even bounced off the chute wall at one point.

Eventually the toy dropped into the chute and Nocturne pulled it out the door and handed it to him. His face was flushed with victory.

“It’s for you,” he announced with a triumphant grin.

Leo’s heartbeat increased and he accepted the toy. He was feeling impulsive right now. He tucked the soft toy under one arm and went in for a hug. His date went stiff and he loosened his arms immediately. Maybe it was too early for contact or Nocturne didn’t like hugs. 

Then Nocturne put his arms around him.“Are you happy with your gift?” 

The blond stepped out of the hug a moment later. It was nice to hug Nocturne, but they had only known each other for two hours so he wasn’t going to prolong the moment.

“I am, thank you for all the money and effort you put into it.”

“Anything for you,” Nocturne said. “Is there anything else you wanted from here?”

Leo didn’t give the contents of the claw machine a second glance. “No. Let’s go and get something to eat. My favorite beach isn’t too far from here.”

The town where he lived had several beaches. The largest one with soft sand would be packed with tourists right now. There were two other beaches that could only be accessed by boat and then there was his favorite one which was more out of the way yet still managed to have an ice cream stand.

When they arrived, he noticed again how curious Nocturne was about everything. It looked like it was his first time seeing a beach. He was particularly fascinated by the seagulls and ice cream.

“It’s so nice,” Nocturne said eagerly as he licked his ice cream. “The texture is unique.”

Leo elected to not ask how he had never had ice cream before. He didn’t want Nocturne to assume that he thought he was weird.

“I’ve got to go now,” Nocturne told him a while later. “I’ve got some important things to do.”

Leo pouted. He had been enjoying sitting with Nocturne looking out at the sea and talking about random topics. It was a nice first date. Although it wasn’t like he had anything to compare it to.

“Do you?” he said. “...Did you want to meet up again for another date?”

He was going to be the one to ask this time. Nocturne’s reaction was to beam widely at him and look excited.

“I do want to go on another date," he answered with open happiness. "Is tomorrow too soon?"