"Getting to know you..."

[notmyfathersson]

Who? Travis Parker-Cleary and Alex Hinton
What? First dates
When? Earlyish evening
Where? Travis' apartment

This wasn't exactly how Travis had foreseen this date going. He'd actually made reservations at a nice restaurant in advance, but when he'd arrived with Alex, the girl at the hostess stand informed him that they had no record of his reservations, and they were booked through until the end of the night. Travis had been really upset, but at the end of the day, Alex was there on a date with him, and he was happy for that. There was no doubt that he was extremely attracted to the doctor, or that he'd been pretty sure he was going to get turned down for this date in the first place. But here they were, and he was happy about it. So he refused to let himself get too bummed out about the restaurant fail.

Instead, they'd ended up deciding to head back to Travis' place, where he would cook them a quick dinner. He was by no means a super great cook, but he could put something that tasted good together, and that was the main concern here. So he and Alex came to be sitting across the small table in Travis's one bedroom apartment, eating spaghetti with sauce that was a mixture of a jar of Ragu with meat that Travis had browned up and added, and a mixture of spices that he added himself. It wasn't anything fancy, but it was dinner, and it would still give them a chance to chat and get to know each other better.

As he spun his fork in the noodles to get a decent bite, Travis looked across the table at Alex. "I'm really sorry about the restaurant thing," he said with a small smile. "I mean, my cooking doesn't exactly compete with nicer New York restaurants, but it's not bad, either... even if most of it's just doctoring up something I already had in a jar or something." He laughed lightly as he looked at the doctor. "How crazy was work with the holidays going on?" he asked, taking a bit of his food as he waited for Alex to answer.

Comments

[itsrainingmen]

"Well, life's slightly less hectic since there is no longer the risk of a meningitis epidemic and things have settled for my HIV friend who had failed contraception with his partner. And my e... uh, other friend has gone into cancer remission. In saying that, work life is never dull. That's just isolated to my personal life," Alex lamented wryly, only half joking. He didn't know what was wrong with him, but it was hard to get back into the dating groove. It had been so long and when the dinner reservations fell through, it began to feel like it was the world trying to tell him something.

Travis was really sweet and he was making the best of an unexpected situation, but Alex wasn't even sure why he was interested. "So, um... how have things been going with Ajay? You'll probably find that there is this network of connections where he'll know people who know people who know people. It gets kind of crazy sometimes, but Billy's a nice guy. He'll look after him."

[notmyfathersson]

"That's gotta help matters," Travis agreed, giving Alex a warm smile. The doctor clearly was one of those people who had a huge heart and cared very deeply for the people who were important to him. Travis was much the same way, so it meant that much more to realize that he hadn't overestimated the doctor's kindness and care by virtue of having been attracted to him. It wouldn't have been the first time that Travis's gut assumptions about someone proved to be far nicer than the person actually was, but with Alex, that didn't appear to be the case. "You mentioned you work a lot, and your family wasn't going to be around for the holidays. Maybe you could just use some time off to relax a bit? I work a lot myself, but I've figured out that if you don't take time to rest and have fun, it tends to make life pretty freaking hard." He smiled at the doctor as he raised his glass of wine as if to raise a toast. Travis was never a heavy drinker, but he did like a nice wine every now and again. "I'm glad you came out with me, though. Even if the whole restaurant thing kind of put a damper on things at first."

"They're going," Travis replied thoughtfully. He'd been trying to spend time with his brother as much as he could, but he also didn't want to infringe on the budding relationship between Ajay and Billy. "We're mostly just getting to know each other, but I'm glad he's not shut me out completely, and he's sort of letting me in on things. There's no doubt Billy's a good guy. He's been incredibly sweet to Ajay, and it's pretty obvious they care a lot about each other. Even from the first time I met Billy, which was basically when he told me to fuck off because he thought I might end up hurting Ajay in the long run."

[itsrainingmen]

Alex laughed and picked up his water for a sip. "I wish. If you want time off at this time of year you either have to put in for it about eight months in advance or be on death's door. The medical profession is not a glamorous life. I'd rather be at work than hanging around my boring shoebox apartment. Which is much of why I'm not sure why you wanted to ask me out to dinner because I'm not remotely an exciting person. In fact, I'm pretty dull and work is about the extent of the interesting things in my life." Which had been a bone of contention as to why his last relationship epically failed. He wasn't sure he had the balls to go through another break-up resulting in 'being too different' for each other. Beau had broken up with him, so it had been harder on his side to accept... and impossible not to blame himself for it.

"Billy's show opens just after New Year, so he's going to have plenty on his plate. I hear the whole first two months are sold out. There's been a lot of exposure over it, but it's really good to see. Justin, the kid in the lead role, just a few months ago was in the ICU after a bad suicide attempt," he said with a small shake of his head. Alex worked with Sam a lot with patients who had infections that spread to their heart, so he had been close when the whole ordeal was going on. He laughed hearing what Billy had done to Travis. "Jude told me. He copped it too, which is proof of how much he cares about Ajay."

[notmyfathersson]

"I'm a social worker for sick kids," Travis replied with a small smile. "And I can vouch for the medical profession bit. I'm not a doctor by any means, but I know a lot of them, and their work never ends. It's no easy task what you guys have to do." He gave Alex a thoughtful look for a moment, then smiled again. "You know... I've had exciting boyfriends in the past. In my younger days, I thought that was what I was supposed to go for. I'm introverted by nature... I like things that are calm and quiet, not things that are crazy and pressing. I thought I needed a boyfriend who was going to force me out of my shell, get me to do things that I wouldn't have thought of doing on my own, but you know something? I watched too damn many romantic movies along the way. Sometimes opposites don't attract at all. Sometimes one solid, calm person with a 'boring' life, as you say, needs someone else who lives the same way. I'm not looking for someone to go... I don't know, skydiving with. I'm looking for someone who enjoys the more simple side of things. It kind of sounds to me more like you're what I was looking for than you think."

"I have tickets to go with Ajay and Jude. I know Billy has some extras. If he hasn't given them out already, you should go with us," he added. "But I told him I'd be available to help him with Ajay's health stuff as much as I can. He's my brother and I've only just met him. I want to help him and try and make up for lost time, too." At the mention of Justin, he gave a tiny nod. "I know. Billy told me a bit about him. Sounds like a damn good kid. I'm glad to hear that he's doing better... I really look forward to seeing him, too. Everyone's raving about his performance already." Travis was eternally grateful to know that there was someone like Billy who adored his brother so much. "Absolutely. It just made me feel good to know that someone loves him that much and is trying to keep him safe."

[itsrainingmen]

This all was still very surreal for Alex, and probably even a little moreso when Travis started to talk about his wild ex and them not being compatible. It sounded like he had been talking to Beau, but the guy said he hadn't, so he didn't think he was lying or anything. "Look, I'm just going to be frank with you here so it's not a whole lot me sitting here wondering if you're reading my mind. My ex was the one who had cancer. For the second time in his life actually. He lived in a very free-spirited way when we were together, and it didn't work out. He's married to another guy now, and it was basically the days after I told him I had applied for a job in San Francisco because I needed a change that you came and asked me to dinner. He didn't want me to leave and was trying to give me reason to stay. So, this is all kind of a bit surreal. And just that tiny bit moreso with you telling me about your ex. You said you were a social worker for sick kids, and Beau's actually an almost-qualified Oncologist, with a lot of kid patients because he just has this knack with them, so it just had me wondering."

He gave a small wave of his fingers. "No, I couldn't intrude on your family thing. It'll be a nice thing for you to share with Ajay. He's probably feeling like he missed out on a lot with you about now. Now that the initial shock as warn off. I hear he used to be quite the vibrant guy when he worked for the magazine, but as they say, looks can be deceiving, huh? You can probably hide a lot in the fashion world behind bling and bitchiness. That's the small world thing right there. Gen, who owns the magazine, is Justin's stepmother. And my cousin might be starting work with Caden, who is the producer of the show. He's been working with Justin as a dance coach. And also happens to be engaged to a professional hockey player. You can see why my life feels dramatically boring so much of the time," he said with a laugh.

[notmyfathersson]

"Well, it wasn't really so much a single ex with me as a period of time that I tried dating that specific type of guy because I thought it would be good for me. It wasn't... Mostly just made me feel like a square peg trying to fit a round hole all the time. I'm more the type of guy who wants to spend a quiet night in with my other half than go out and party, or anything like that. I like consistency. So if that makes you boring, I'm just as boring as you are. But I'm honest when I say I've never met or talked to your ex... at least not to know who he was, or that he knew you. I mean, I'm sure if his younger patients are ever seen in my service, I've probably at least met him, but I wouldn't have known he knew you." He paused, looking Alex over just a little. "There's nothing wrong with the quiet things and people in the world, you know. Sometimes they're the best things and people in the long run. I'm nothing exciting, but I like to think that doesn't mean that I've got nothing to offer anyone." His words weren't defensive, but more intended to be comforting to someone like Alex, who apparently thought he was too boring to offer anyone a relationship that was worth their time.

"I'm loving getting the chance to know him," Travis admitted. "I went literally my whole childhood wishing I'd get a baby brother, as cheesy as that sounds. I don't know if you've seen the video of the little Scottish boy breaking down in tears because he's so happy that his parents are having a baby? That would've been me if my parents ever had told me I was going to be a big brother. It never happened, but then here's this kid and I've had a baby brother all along, and I just didn't know it. So for me, it's all about taking my time to get to really know him. Seriously, though? It blows my mind how interconnected all of this is. But it's cool, too. It's like a huge support group that you didn't even know was there."

[itsrainingmen]

Alex laughed. "You've had a more interesting love life than I have, in any case. It's probably more of a fact of not really knowing what I want in general out of life. There's med school, which pretty much owns your soul while you force yourself through it. Then there's the Residency, which owns your soul and your life. Where all my friends seem to have moved on to having amazing relationships, starting families of their own, following their dreams and or their hearts, work is all I've really got. Like I said, my family all have their own lives. So do my friends, so I'm at this place in my life where I feel like I'm swimming against the tide so I started to look for work in other places for a fresh start. Beau's a great guy and I'm truly glad he's happy, but I loved him and watching him go through all this, and get married, and now to be thinking about kids, it's really been tough not to feel like I've just been left out in the cold by everyone."

Then he scrunched his face up wryly, putting his water down. He was not at all impressed with himself for talking out what had been on his mind lately to a complete stranger, who had been nothing but kind and wanted to spend time with him on a date. "Sorry on the verbal diarrhoea TMI. What sort of things would you like to do with Ajay now you know he exists and he's open to getting to know you? Having a brother is pretty cool. It's a relationship no other quite matches."

[notmyfathersson]

"I'm not all that concerned about how interesting it is," Travis replied with a smile. "Interesting or not, it turned out not to be the right people for me, and in the end, I'm still single." He laughed a little with a small shake of his head. "It just turned out to not be me in the long run. I'm happier single than I would've been forcing a relationship that didn't fit, but it's still pretty lonely." He nodded understandingly as Alex explained, and without really thinking too much about it, reached over across the table to touch the other guy's hand. "So all your friends have found somewhere to belong, and you sort of get the feeling that something's missing?" He paused, a slight sadness on his face on Alex's behalf. "That can't be easy. I've never been in love before. I can't imagine seeing the person you loved going on with their life and going through hard times like that."

"Don't apologize," Travis said reassuringly. "I asked you to have dinner with me so we could get to know each other. That means the good and the bad. So I'm not pushing you to talk if you don't want to, but I want you to if you do. Honestly, I'm still getting used to knowing I have a brother. It's a great feeling, and I love him, but I mainly just want to keep getting to know him better... Finding out more about who he really is. He's hurting a lot, but he's a gorgeous person. I want to just... Figure out the things he likes to do... find out what we have in common and build on that as much as we can."

[itsrainingmen]

"I've seen a lot of couples with the whole opposites attract dynamic and it really works. They make it look easy, but I don't think that's really something that works for me. The more I think about it, the more I realise that I'm a simple guy and I want someone who can be simple with me. I do also know a lot of couples who are similar and they're going great guns. There's even a couple of guys who both have epilepsy and both struggled finding people who understood their issues. Now they've found each other and they're getting married on Valentine's Day. You might know Jesse from the hospital. He's mostly in trauma, but he's a bit of an all-rounder nurse," Alex mused. In recent months, he had been doing a lot of contemplation about what he wanted or how he was even supposed to find it. After he and Beau had that drunken encounter in Atlantic City, he had been in a funk about how crap his love life was. Even Travis holding his hand, it was really nice, but it felt foreign because it had been so long since he had this sort of affection. And maybe affection was exactly what he was so desperately craving for inside.

He gave Travis a smile over the table. "I think it's a special things he's willing to let you near with how his health has been lately. It would have been a big teller if he didn't accept you, that it might have not been what he ultimately wanted. But Jude talks a lot about how happy his brother is and how head-over-heels he is for Ajay. It's really sweet. The irony of this world is that it always seems to be the nice, kind and placid people that get hurt the most."