Knight in Shining Scrubs

[ChordTerias]

My hubris knows no bounds.

“Haha, come on man, I’d make you feel so good.” The man who had clearly misrepresented himself on Tinder put his arm around Tobi’s shoulders. Tobi weighed the pros and cons of lighting himself on fire, and sadly there were still things in life worth living for.

Like caffeine.

“No really, I am meeting someone uhhh.” He looked inside the coffee shop they happened to pass by. It was decently busy. “Oh, here we are! Gah, our time just flew together.” Tobi smiled and gave a wave goodbye, genuinely hoping that the man would take a hint, but not believing that he’d be so lucky.

The danger of Tinder in the city is that it had an unnaturally high concentration of catfish. The “gentleman” standing before him was just one of those catfish. Tobi, naturally, planned on just a quick lunch to see if the guy was attractive, maybe going back to his place if it went well. It did not, in fact, go well. In addition to using eight year old pictures, minimum, the man was convinced he was god’s gift to gay men.

The lecherous man was being willfully ignorant at this point, and moved his hand from Tobi’s shoulder to his waist. NOPE. NO MA’AM. Tobi startled and moved out of arm’s reach.

“I said I was just looking for friends on my bio, remember~” Tobi pushed open the coffee shop doors and went inside, “I’ll catch you later, gotta meet my man.”

The man looked absolutely offended. “You’re just making shit up at this point, playing around like a bitch.” He closed the cap between them and gripped Tobi’s forearm too tightly for comfort, causing Tobi to wince in response. His voice dropped low, “Stop playing fucking games, you’re pissing me off.”

Yikesyikesyikesyikes. Tobi scanned the bar and saw a kind guy in scrubs standing next to the counter, watching him with some amount of concern.

Oh god please play along. “Sweetie!” Tobi shook his arm loose and went up to Harm, throwing his arms around his neck and giving him a chaste peck on the lips. In a fluid motion, he intertwined their fingers, and said “That looked bad. This gentleman here was just so excited to see a concert tonight with his hot date.” Tobi helped that helping the man save face would be enough for him to leave.

And leave he did, but not before calling Tobi an ugly slut — under his breath, but loud enough to catch. Tobi breathed a sigh of relief, perking up as he realized he was still holding a shell shocked stranger’s hand and had yet to really explain.

Without taking a step away, he gave a sheepish smile, “Uhhh. Hi sweetie?” A question in his voice as he gave a nervous chuckle.

[Existentially Odd]

Harm had seen an advertisement for Sanctuary in one of the supernatural papers he subscribed to. Since Trick's mishap with his car, he'd started paying more attention to the stuff that was in between the articles and had decided to check the cafe out on his way home from work Monday afternoon. He was tired - he'd spent most of Sunday sleeping, after being at the carnival nearly all of Saturday night after Trick left him, but still didn't feel like he was all caught up - so coffee was necessary.

Apparently, going out of his way to try out a coffee shop that had something to do with the supernatural also led to a variety of other misadventures. Namely, a cute stranger plying him with kisses in a desperate attempt to fend off a creep. Harm had instinctively grabbed hold of the guy when he'd got close, worried about the scowl and the aggressive arm grabbing the other guy had been doing. When he skulked off, Harm went limp with relief, the adrenaline coursing through him at the near-miss making him feel wobbly and lightheaded.

He looked at the guy holding his hand and laughed wryly, his grin broad. "Hey darlin'," he replied.

Just then, the barista walked up with his large mug of cappuccino - clearly, he'd been planning to sit and enjoy it because it wasn't in a takeaway container. "Harm?" she said, because he'd been required to give his name anyway and had been standing at the counter waiting for it, trying to decide where to sit.

"Yeah, thanks," he smiled at her, reaching over to take the mug (sitting in a saucer, with a biscuit on the side - cute!) with the hand that wasn't connected to the guy standing in his space. He turned to look at him. "Can I buy you one?" he queried with a friendly smile. "I bet you could use something warm inside you, to settle your nerves," he added, squeezing the guy's hand reassuringly. His face shifted a little mischievously as he registered the way he'd phrased himself but he tried not to react, hoping the guy didn't notice.

[ChordTerias]

Tobi had definitely noticed, not being nearly as mature and completely failing at stifling a laugh. "Let's start with coffee, then we can see about... something warm inside me, you say?" His tone was playful -- not being entirely facetious, but also stopping short of actively making a move.

This was mostly for the barista's benefit, whose jaw could not drop much further without risking dislocation as she stared at the men shamelessly flirting in front of her.

"Could I get just a green tea, please?" Tobi asked, bringing the woman back to reality as she quickly averted her gaze and went to make a drink.

"You're a lifesaver." Tobi nursed his forearm, taking note of the bruises from the other man's grip. "I'm sorry that I couldn't exactly give warning, but you think pretty quick on your feet." Tobi noted that the other man still had Tobi's hand secured in his own, and used the opportunity to guide them over to a nearby table.  "I caught your name, so it's only fair to give my own -- I'm Tobi."

[Existentially Odd]

Harm blushed as Tobi not only noticed his unintentional double entendre but amplified it. At the end of his first question, the blush morphed into an appreciative laugh. The flirt back was deserved, credit where credit was due.

The flighty feelings inside Harm settled as his unexpected date ordered a tea and inspected his bruises. Harm frowned at them also, dismayed by the amount of force the creep must have applied to have broken blood vessels. He traced their outline with the tips of his fingers, lightly touching the stranger's arm to turn it and inspect the damage from a medical standpoint before releasing him. He went to the table willingly, settling into a soft, cushiony chair as he learnt his sweetheart's name.

"Hi, Tobi," he grinned, cheekily turning their held hands into a handshake and pumping it twice before releasing his grip at last. It was nice to have held onto his hand - it'd made Harm feel tougher in the face of the creep's aggression, anyway. "Yeah, thinking on my feet is kinda what I do," he laughed, gesturing at the teal scrubs he was still wearing. If he left the hospital at night, he usually put a hoodie on to hide inside but he ran too hot to think about that during the day, even in cooler weather. "And that guy seemed pretty scary. I was glad to be of assistance. Will you have to see him again?"

Harm ran his hand through his hair and looked Tobi over. They were the same height but Tobi's colouring was much darker. Like Trick's. His heart scrunched up a little and he smiled through it, focussing on what his companion had to say.

[ChordTerias]

Tobi took the moment when Harm was tracing the bruises to give him a onceover. Harm had been attractive enough to stand out in a cafe, so the beauty he found on a second inspection wasn't necessarily a surprise. Tobi didn't normally go for the pretty-boy type. Frankly, they sucked in bed and tended to be incredibly judgmental outside of it. However there was something alluring about the ease with which the pair had just accepted the change in their afternoon plans.

Being called "darlin" didn't hurt matters either.

Tobi didn't put much effort into the handshake, but blew a raspberry at the gesture. "I genuinely don't think so. I made sure to pick somewhere far from home, and didn't plan on returning home tonight anyways -- so even if he had planned on following me for a bit, I'd like to think he'd come up empty." He gave Harm a wink, "Plus, now he knows that I have a hot date -- he can't compete."

As Harm played with his hair, his eyes cut up toward the motion. When they returned, the pair caught one another's eyes. Tobi felt an uncharacteristic heat hit his face, and welcomed the distraction of the drink placed in front of him. "So, let me take a guess at what you do." He feigned deep thought and snapped his fingers. "Librarian?"

[Existentially Odd]

Harm laughed again when Tobi called him his hot date. It only got louder when his occupation was guessed as a librarian. He stopped the laughing and his expression brightened mockingly, as if he was thoroughly amazed by Tobi's insightfulness.

"Ohmygod! You are so observant!" he congratulated, his tone exaggerated and a hand cupping the side of his face playfully. "This is totally my re-shelving outfit!" he declared, running his hands down his torso before swishing them over his thighs. "So what do you do for a living?" he enquired, lifting his coffee and settling back into his comfy chair, sipping it and looking over the rim of it at Tobi.

[ChordTerias]

Tobi mocked an exaggerated bow, "Thank you, thank you. It's truly a gift." As Harm relaxed into his seat, Tobi felt comfortable enough to lean forward, resting his head in his hands -- his elbows on the table.

"I take your work to the private sector," Tobi said, grimacing. "I work for a bookstore on the other side of town." He sighs, stirring his tea without purpose. "Never really found my calling, you know? I'm one bad decision away from giving it all up and stripping." To the raised eyebrows of the nearby tables who were clearly eavesdropping, he added, "You know... as a profession, not in a coffee shop..." He feigned deep thought for a moment, "Although, I think that barista probably would enjoy a lap dance or two now that I mention it. I might be onto something, here."

He grinned and shook his head, "Sorry, I talk way too much sometimes. It drove people crazy when I was in school."

[Existentially Odd]

Harm was initially baffled by the comment about the private sector but the bookshop explanation cleared it up. He laughed appreciatively at the stripping comment, his gaze raking Tobi's form speculatively. He looked to have even less meat on him than Harm did, though they were the same height. He'd have defined musculature but not a lot to shake. Harm wondered idly what his ass was like.

His grin was genuine and appreciative at Tobi's final comments. "Hey, I hear you. My mouth has got me in trouble more often than I can count," he chuckled, moving to take a drink of his cappuccino before a peal of laughter struck because of his mention of his mouth getting him in trouble. More fodder for Tobi to come at him with. He lowered the mug so he didn't end up with a face full of froth, his mind casting back over Tobi's previous joke.

"Coffee shop stripping," he chuckled, shaking his head as he grinned across at Tobi. "I think it might catch on!" he encouraged, taking a drink at last, his blue green eyes dancing over the rim.

[ChordTerias]

Tobi snorted into his tea, coughing as he laughed, "Your mouth huh? I'm beginning to think you're just a master of innuendo at this point, and that these aren't all slips of the tongue." He placed his cup back on the table between them, and grabbed one of the napkins to dab at the corner of his mouth in case of splatter. Relieved to find the napkin return dry, he cocked his head to the side, "And you just had to wait for me to take a drink too." He shook his head from side to side in faux judgment.

Tobi realized, suddenly, that he hadn't really stopped grinning since he introduced himself to Harm. Through the grimacing and flirting, a constant smile had returned to his face in between each of their back-and-forth. Tobi tamed the corners of his mouth, bringing the earnest smile down to a contained smirk. "So, Harm. Does that stand for something? Because I could totally see your nickname being Ladykiller." He motioned towards himself. "Tobi is short for Tobias, but I prefer only select people to call me by my full name."

Tobi buried the thought in the back of his head that was beginning to bubble, questioning if Harm could be one of those people.

[Existentially Odd]

Harm giggled at Tobi's splutter, setting his mug down and squirming in his seat to get more comfortable, drawing his left leg up. He rested his elbow on his knee so that his hand, in turn, could support his jaw. He raised his eyebrows and looked upward, tilting his head in an effort to look innocent of all master-of-innuendo charges, secretly delighted to be labelled thus. "Lucky break, I guess," he chuckled when accused of waiting for the perfect moment to make Tobi laugh.

His eyebrows lifted again as Tobi became determinedly more serious. He made an explosive noise of indignation - thoroughly undermined by his broad grin - at being labelled 'Ladykiller'. "What? Harm is short for Harmon - and I only get that when I'm in trouble with my mother, pretty much. Why on Earth would I be called Ladykiller? I have zero interest in ladies - and I'm a healer, not a killer," he declared sincerely, his tone reminiscent of a teary starlet accepting her Oscar, his head lifting off his hand so he could press it to his heart while batting his eyelashes indignantly.

[ChordTerias]

Tobi gasped. "Oh no."

He reached out and put his hand on Harm's forearm. It was a gentle touch -- and it took some rearranging -- but a serious expression crossed his face. "I don't know how to tell you this, my dear sweet Harm. But you are entirely a Ladykiller." He jerked his opposing thumb over his back, where a group of young women had to quickly avert their gaze from the pair as they realize they had been seen. "You've singlehandedly murdered the steamy daydreams of at least seven women and counting since I've walked into the cafe." Tobi hung his head, shaking it sadly. "You killed three of them at once, when you called me 'darlin' earlier. It was a massacre."

Tobi leans back and collects his tea. "You see, I believe you when you want to claim innocence. I believe it is not your intention to trample their desires. It's simply because..." He takes a sip of tea, allowing a moment of quiet between the two of them before locking eyes.

The inflection in his voice became serious, and his gaze was piercing -- he was no longer teasing. Tobi was direct, "You're gorgeous." He leaned back, waiting to see Harm's response.

[Existentially Odd]

Harm was willingly captivated by Tobi's dramatic telling, smirking at the hand on his arm before glancing at where Tobi gestured over his shoulder. He made unwitting eye contact with a brunette who giggled outrageously at her friends when she caught him looking. He looked hastily back at Tobi, absorbing the angle of his hanging head and his sad expression with burgeoning amusement. Tobi was an excellent storyteller. Harm's tongue poked out from between his lips, held there by his teeth as Tobi's tale reached its dramatic crescendo.

At being called gorgeous, his tongue slipped back into his mouth and he blushed, shaking his head as he delivered a quiet clap, applauding Tobi's efforts. Truthfully, he was a little embarrassed, his smile not broadly revealing his teeth this time because of that serious tone. And him - the man that grew annoyed when people didn't accept his compliments - suddenly lost for words! That wouldn't do at all. He narrowed his eyes playfully at Tobi, fixing him in a deadly squint and pointing at him.

"You are totally crazy... but I love it," he relented with a laugh, his expression opening up again. He dropped his finger and his raised foot back onto the floor in favour of sitting forward and opening up his little biscuit packet. "You're also pretty cute yourself," he winked, abandoning his treat in favour of scooping some chocolate-sprinkled foam into his mouth. He turned the spoon over in his mouth and dragged it back out between his grinning lips, his tongue cleaning all the sweet foam off. "You've obviously picked up the knack for storytelling at your job. Do you write? Or is your spare time taken up with kissing complete strangers in coffee shops and exploring appropriate venues to launch your stripping career?" he grinned, waggling his eyebrows playfully at Tobi.

[ChordTerias]

Tobi was caught completely off-guard.

He had expected a safe, shallow one-liner or continued flirting. But instead, Harm hit him somewhere he didn't expect -- a genuine compliment about what other people would wave away. "I -- uh, thanks." Stunned, Tobi took a moment to collect himself.

It wasn't that he didn't catch the compliment about his looks, he had just not expected the validation about his "performance," if he would call it that. "Actually, I do really enjoy storytelling. One of the reasons I stick with my current job is because we'll get kids in fairly often, and I get the opportunity to read to them. There's actually a local elementary school that has club trips over, and we'll get to enact some of their favorite books." Tobi was gushing, emotional walls completely down and raving with a wide smile on his face. "They're kids, so we'll often end up reenacting the same story when they visit, but there's just something about the smile on their faces when one of them get to play the prince, and slay me -- obviously the dragon, by the way -- with their foam sword, saving one of their classmates from my clutches." He realized, suddenly, the word vomit he released, and took a hand to the back of his neck sheepishly. "I woulda probably went for being an elementary school teacher, but I really don't like how schools are handled nowadays." He felt pressure on his face, and fundamentally knew that his embarrassment was obvious at this point.

Taking a moment to take a stab at levity, he added, "Oh, and no, you happen to just be the lucky thousandth customer, and the cafe was doing a promotion." Tobi threw up half-assed jazz hands, and a whole-assed cheesy grin. "Congratulations!"

[Existentially Odd]

Harm's mouth dropped open with wonder and envy as Tobi described his storytelling to the children. He wrapped his hands around his arms, resting his elbows on the table as he leant forward, interspersing noises of delight in lieu of interrupting Tobi's description. He nodded his wholehearted agreement at the mention of there being 'something' about the little faces lighting up as their stories came to life - starring them!

"Obviously," he echoed, inclining his head and grinning as Tobi declared he was the dragon to be slain. Harm's gaze roamed his companion's countenance as he fidgeted a little, his enthusiasm rouging his cheeks prettily. He looked embarrassed. It was adorable. He laughed as Tobi tried to deflect attention from the awesome part of his tale with twinkly hands and a cute smile, releasing his arms in favour of sitting up to take another sip of his coffee.

"I love kids," Harm sighed wistfully. "I hope to have a couple someday. Whenever I get to work the paeds ward, I'm ecstatic!" he declared brightly, his eyes twinkling. "I get to read bedtime stories every now and then but it's mostly trying not to be the asshole that scars them for life over needles or the guy that has to wrangle them after I've issued them a steroid for respiratory issues. Man that shit hypes them up," he laughed casually, sipping his coffee. He lowered it and looked into Tobi's green eyes appreciatively. "Your job sounds way more fun and with far less potential for trauma. I envy you!" he grinned.

[ChordTerias]

Tobi nodded his head appreciatively. "I don't think I'll ever be a dad myself, but I plan to spoil the hell out of my friends' kids." He taps his nose, "I make too many bad decisions, and I don't think I could toe the line between 'I don't want you to make the same mistakes that I made' and 'I know that me trying to control you will only make you make worse decisions,' so I will just be the 'uncle'..." Tobi threw up air quotes, "... they can run to who can offer advice."

Tobi mocked surprise, "You mean to tell me you've been allowing me to labor under the impression that you are a simple librarian, when you -- in fact -- are saving lives?" Tobi smiles, turning the melodrama down a few notches. "I have to be the one to envy you. My job is pretty boring and I feel like I'm wasting my life on the in-between times, but you..." A conflicted look crosses Tobi's face. His smile does not completely disappear, but with the way that his eyebrows knit together, it is clear that he is wrestling with something. "... you have something to be proud of, ya know?"

He takes a sip of his tea, and speaks earnestly once again, "You'd really have something to be a role model for your future kids." The sentiment is genuine, but his smile doesn't entirely reach his eyes, despite his efforts.