Milkshake

[Archie Renner]

It was unbelieveable how quickly Archie's schedule transformed since he returned home for the holidays. He had gone from from attending classes, practicing quidditch and being a semi-care free kid to walking on thin ice, hiding away in his room when his parents argued, and then to walking on thin ice again. It was a vicious cycle that kept repeating, driving Archie to his breaking point and he was sure the war zone in his home would drive him completely insane if it weren't for the temporary solace he found when sending owl's to Orwell back in New Zealand and on the few days he managed to sneak out of the house and go on a date with his friend Kei.

That day was one of the days. Archie had managed to sneak a few galleons from his mum's purse and tip toe away from from his home and to the closest cafe he could find in the wizarding area of Sydney where he was now sitting with a large chocolate milkshake in front of him as he waited for his blue-haired friend. He occasionally sipped from the brightly coloured straw and savored the sweet chocolatey taste in his mouth, trying to avoid drinking the whole milkshake before Kei arrived but by the time Archie saw an all too familiar shade of blue hair in the corner of his eye the tall glass that once held his milkshake had been licked clean. He shrugged and smiled sheepishly as Kei sat in front of him in the booth. "The milkshake was calling to me and I couldn't resist. Oopsie." He said before he let out an unexpected burp which caused him to hold his hand over his mouth as he giggled. ​

 

[Kei Kanas-Arai]

It was still very strange for Kei Arai to think that he was going on a date with none other than his friend, Archie. Sure, he had been on many dates before, mostly with Tamsin, but it didn't feel like this one did. Kei didn't know what to call it, but he had butterflies and everything. And kissing Archie actually felt good. Rei told him that he might be into men, but Kei didn't know for sure. He still thought that he felt attracted to Tamsin, but didn't know if it was from obligation since she liked him, and they were childhood friends, or something else. It was really complicated and until he figured out his feelings, he didn't want to put a label on anything right now. It was just really hard on him. Kei made sure that his blue hair looked suitable, noticing that it had a purple tint from a small mishap. Hopefully not too noticeable. Leaving his cousin's home, he walked to the wizarding area, before slipping on his roller blades and skating the rest of the way because who had time to walk.

Kei bought himself a strawberry flavored milkshake and found Archie, who was already done with his. The glass was absolutely clean, which made Kei smile. Archie was adorable, and that much he could never change. He never wanted him to. Kei sucked on his straw to get the milkshake into his mouth as Archie spoke before he let out a burp, which made Kei choke a little bit. Kei finally gained his composure before sitting down in front of him. "It is all right. Milkshakes are rather good." Kei looked down for a moment, and brushed his hair out of his eyes. "Forgive me in the future. I'm rather nervous. This is my first date with a boy. How have you been?" Kei didn't know what the customs were. Was there a difference? He knew there was one when one was being intimate, but he didn't know much after that.​

 

[Archie Renner]

Archie moved his hand from the front of his mouth so he could wipe his face clean from any remnants of his chocolate milkshake as he watched Kei sit down. This wasn't the first time he and Kei had spent time together, but this was the first time they were spending time together with the pretense of a date. It was an extra label on whatever 'friendship' they had but Archie wasn't nervous in the slightest. The date so far wasn't anything different to the time he usually spent with the blue haired boy. He was as comfortable as ever, ready to lose any and all thoughts in his mind of the home he would return to so he didn't understand why Kei admitted to being nervous. Though he figured he would understand eventually so he shrugged in response and smiled at the other boy, pushing his clean milkshake glass to one side so there was one less thing keeping them apart.

He did realize, however, that escaping the stress of his home life and distracting himself in interactions with Kei would not be so easy when Kei asked how he was. He moved his hand to play with the straw sitting in his empty milkshake glass, keeping his eyes on the straws movements as he responded. "I've been, um, stressed." To be both honest yet vague. He wasn't uncomfortable sharing his feelings to Kei but he was uncomfortable when he was reminded of home so he quickly moved his eyes from the straw in his glass and looked up to Kei, still playing with the straw as he locked eyes with the other boy and changed the subject. "How are you? Still skating?" Archie asked, smiling as he waited for a response and hoping the conversation wouldn't turn back on him because it would defeat the purpose of him distracting himself in Kei's pretty eyes and interesting mannerisms. ​