Flawed By Design

"Sometimes cheaper stuff tastes better. Like, sure, I could go and get a 40 buck dessert or I could make one from home and it taste better," he replied with a scoff, his own evident buzz showing by his pink cheeks and smile as he mixed everything together.

"I'll admit, wine definitely taste better when it's more expensive, no offense," he admitted as he took another sip, choosing to chug it down rather than gingerly sip it.
 
"No offence taken-- I mean, I'm poor, but the wine is shit. I don't mind you insulting it. Like I said, I'll bring you proper wine when I start bringing in more cash. I mean, I... am really depending on this job now. I told my Dad and he fired me from the garage, said that it was really rude of me to just go and get another job the way I did," he smiled, rolling his eyes at his father's dramatic way of talking. He deliberately left out the part where his father ranted about how disgusting it was for Xavier, a human, to be employed by and work amongst monsters. Bringing that up during what was clearly a date wasn't particularly wise.

Nor was he going to bring up the fact he was essentially homeless at the moment after being thrown out, just for working for a monster. If his parents discovered he was trying to date one, he was sure he'd be in hospital right now. Fortunately, getting thrown out was the worst things had gotten for him.

"So yeah, if you plan on firing me soon, I'm kinda in a bad place," he continued casually, leaning on the island with a chuckle. "Even if I'm a shit model, employ as your assistant or something. Is it really bad that I'm coming off as really desperate right now?"
 
"I'm not going to fire you after you just lost your job," he reassured, finding the idea comical. "I mean, relax, really, I'm not an aswhole. All you gotta do is try your best. You've got a phenomenal body, Xavier," he purred as he licked the batter from the mixer casually, his eyes narrowing as he stared at the oven. "In fact, I wish I had it. You're super toned, it's refreshing. Most of our models are mostly Twinks, you'll be a refreshing change."

Once the oven popped closed, he set the timer before wandering to the table, a crooked smile growing as he topped off the other's drink. "Hey, lets hope the brownies will drown out the taste of this shit."
 
"That's more of a reason to start paying me soon. I can buy you some proper wine," he beamed, trying to balance the jokey nature with some seriousness. He wanted to get paid as soon as was physically possible, but not just for the chance to treat the designer to some wine that tasted great. He was, technically, homeless. While he had a friend who let him crash on his couch, he didn't want to be a burden. He much preferred staying at a hotel until he could afford to rent an apartment.

And unfortunately, he needed money to be able to do that. He couldn't admit to being that desperate unless he also wanted to tell Dante why he'd been thrown out of home... and that meant potentially upsetting the monster, which he did not want to do.
 
"Gotta do some modeling, then," he replied simply before leaning close, taking in Xavier curiously. "Maybe some... private modeling, maybe?" He dared, though he knew that he was only being this open because of the alcohol. Taking his time now, he sipped the glass to glance out his window.

"You'll be fine, I promise. I can either pay 50 an hour or a flat 125 a gig. It's up to you, of course. I'd prefer the hourly rate, though the flat would let you come in and out quickly,"
 
"...I don't want to... do anything... private. Like, that sounds seedy, dude. I don't want to start doing stuff like that. I want this to be sweet, you know? I wanna date you and not do anything other than a kiss. It sounds dumb, I get that, but I... I feel really strongly about you and I ain't willing to... ruin that," he sighed as he awkwardly filled his glass up. Now the mood had soured a little, he decided the best thing to do would at least be getting drunk.

If he was drunk, he was less likely to remember the date, assuming it went badly. Right now, he only saw it going that way.
 
"... kissing only?" He confirmed in shock, though remained calm. "That's unfortunate, to be honest. I mean, I... I thought you wanted to, you know... I dunno, get romantic~?" He offered in his own attempt to keep the mood smoothly.

"I didn't mean it literally, you know. I don't do 'private modeling'. To be honest, this is the first official date I've ever been on. I just wanted to sound cool," he admitted with a nervous laugh.
 
"...I... I've rushed into relationships and done sexual stuff early on, but it's not worked out for me. I want to date you, but sex and... romantic stuff like that isn't necessary, not early on at least. Do I want to do that? Sure, eventually, but it's not top of my list. I'm happy to just be around you and hold your hand and be cute like that. That's enough for me," he admitted easily, leaning on the island and smiling quickly, trying to do his best to rectify the mood where he could. He didn't think it was necessarily unreasonable to ask that they just enjoy each other and really get to know one another before doing anything 'romantic'. If he wasn't ready to do that for another year, and Dante really did like him, he ought to accept and respect that.

Sex, after all, really wasn't everything to Xavier. In all honesty, his relationships failed because he rushed into that. If his relationship with Dante broke down because of it, he'd hate himself. This was a chance to do things differently.
 
"That's a relief," he blurted, his laugh now out of relief rather than discomfort. "I don't - I don't know how this sort of thing works, you know? I mean, I'm kind of afraid to do anything, l-like... romantic. How pathetic is that? I'm an adult, you know? I shouldn't be embarrassed at the idea of making out or anything yet here I am, getting all beetroot because of the thought of just kissing you. I'm just... aha, I'm sorry, I'm probably pathetic."
 
"...We can take it slow. Like I said, I... I really am just happy being in your company. No need for romantic stuff if it's uncomfortable for you. I really am just happy to be around you and starting this off slowly. You don't need to even be flirtatious because that kinda makes me uncomfortable too. I'm not... great with flirtation," he smiled, though he figured that much was already obvious with his robotic and often awkward responses to Dante's great efforts at flirtatiousness.
 
"You weren't too awful when you texted me," he noted as he took another gentle sip. "In fact, I found it cute. Like, I'm not a flirting god or anything but i thought I did a good job and so did you," he reassured with a laugh before deciding to get to his feet, motioning the other a bit.

"Come on,lets relax, at least," he insisted as he grabbed the bottle of 'wine'. "The brownies'll be another 20 minutes, you and I can just sit and actually get comfortable. The chairs are nice but I hardly sit on them."
 
"So we can awkwardly chat about my preference for a slow relationship, and your desire for more than that? Right, sounds just delightful," the human teased, though did grab his own glass to quickly join him. No matter the conversation, he would sit through it just to be in Dante's company. To say he was in love with him was an understatement - he was borderline enamoured at this point.

"...Are we in a relationship, then? God, if we are, can we walk into work holding hands, just to shut up some of the monsters who hate me? I'd love that. I can swoop you into my arms, kiss you on the cheek... It'd be great~"
 
"Is that the best idea?" He questioned, being cautious even in his drunken state. Flipping down on the kitschy couch, he stretched out and set his cloven feet onto the coffee table carelessly. It was pretty toxic but Dante did seem to have less respect towards his things when he knew he could just replace them. "I would love that, but... I don't want anyone thinking you got the job because I think you're cute, people will get jealous. We gotta keep it low until you get a few gigs under your belt, eh?"

Once the other sat besides him, Dante went for another hard sip of his drink before taking in Xavier. He knew that they were apparently going to take the slow route but that didn't stop Dante from pulling the other into a well needed kiss.
 
"I'm a model. I got the job because I'm cute, right? Isn't that sort of the point?" He challenged with a wide grin-- at least, he managed to do so before the kiss arrived. The kiss was everything he wanted, but hadn't expected... and even if he did want it and had dreamt about it non-stop the last week, he pulled away quickly with a weak frown. He was probably being an idiot, refusing the advances f someone he loved, but he didn't want to rush into things.

He'd rushed into things in the past and it ruined everything. His enthusiasm for relationships was 'creepy' and he didn't at all wanted to come on too strong with Dante. He liked him too much to ruin this, even if that meant going slow.

"I, uh-- oh god, I... I want to kiss you, I do, but going slow is... it's for the best, you know? Can we just... not do that? For a while?"
 
"... we can't even kiss?" He murmured, his tone more out of disappointment rather than shock. "I thought... I mean, I get it, I guess. Why can't we just kiss, a little? You don't understand how much shit I have built up, I... I don't think kissing is necessarily bad, yeah?" He babbled nervously, mostly to relax himself when he was rejected.

"It's not because it's bad, right? I'm not... a bad kisser, right? I mean, I haven't had any practice, in my defense," the monster insisted as he watched the other in clear confusion and worry. "I know you want to go slow but I don't think I'd regret kissing you."
 
"...I get really into relationships, you know? Like, I... I get really serious really quickly, and... and that's not really considered a good thing, at least to my exes. My... first girlfriend, when I was 16, physically threatened to 'beat my ass' if I didn't leave her alone, because I was really into her and she wanted to take things slow. So... I like you so much that I won't... ruin it by getting too involved this early," he shrugged, now downing his wine in one and, biting back the bitter taste, moved to drink some more. Admitting his disastrous past wasn't the greatest feeling in the world, but Dante didn't quite seem to get the message.

"I'd love to kiss you and be like that, really, but... trust me, you'd dump me in a month if we started going that fast. Then I'd be out of a job and I'd lose someone I really fucking liked, and I don't want to... do that."
 
"I want to know how fast is 'fast'? Like, what can we do right now? What's 'appropriate'?" He questioned curiously as he finished off the bottle carelessly. He was a lightweight, admittedly, and was often the designated driver when his friends went out. For him to be this hammered, which was evident by his slurring and occasionally random giggles, was new. It was also incredibly infuriating to want to get a little more intimate with Xavier only to be left blue balled.

"So kissing you is too fast?" He confirmed as he dared to climb onto the other's lap, his long and rather sharp nails absently tracing the human's cheek. "What can we do, then? I don't want to just sit and talk, I want us to get closer."
 
"And, uh-- kissing on the cheek and holding hands is really close enough. I sound horrible, I get that, and it's not even that I don't want to, inherently, it's just-- I won't ruin what we may have by going too fast," he began as awkwardly as was probably now expected of him, easing Dante from his lap. The irony of his over-cautiousness was that, despite his attempts at prolonging this relationship, he was probably doing it more damage by being so tentative with expressing his feelings.

"I, uh... god, can we not make this awkward? Let's just eat the brownies, watch a movie and then I'll go and it'll be a really nice date, okay?"
 
"You're the one making it awkward," he replied quietly as he peered down the bottle, using it as an excuse to frown. "I know you want to go slow and all but I don't see how kissing you on the lips is going too fast. Like... I get wanting to go slow and everything but, like, why can't we go average pace?"

Before he could continue, the oven seemed to beep with urgency. Dante hesitated before getting to his feet cautiously. He was wobbly, naturally, and walking on hooves wasn't always easy. Heading forward to the kitchen, he tugged out the brownie with a hiss when he accidentally touched the hot pan.
 
Silently watching him from the couch, Xavier's enthusiasm for the date was genuinely fading fast. The awkwardness didn't impact how much he loved Dante, but it did make him want to run out for the second time in two days-- and he didn't even have the dogs to blame this time.

"Just respect my boundaries," he mumbled, tapping his finger on the glass to distract himself. "I don't feel comfortable kissing you, can't you just be happy and respect that? It's for the best, for me. If you don't like it, we shouldn't... date. It's sad, but I'm not forcing myself to go at a pace I'm not comfortable with. It's not right to push me like that, y'know? It's not right me forcing you to slow down either, so if you... maybe we're just better as friends for a while? Yeah? We can be friends and then see if it manifests into something else, more naturally?"
 
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