First Date Facade

Patton walked into the Asian restaurant and got a table after confirming that he had made a reservation. He sat down and wanted to make sure his outfit wasn't too messy. Why was he concerned? Patton had finally gotten a date with his crush from college, Logan Tesla, thanks to their mutual friend, Virgil Nimbus. Patton and Virgil were both in a Creative Writing class, while Virgil and Logan were both in Astronomy Club. Patton would see Logan in the halls or hear Virgil talk about him and the big-hearted angel couldn't help but freeze and smile. When Virgil told Patton he gave Logan his phone number, he became enthusiastic when the two started texting and eventually agreed to meet up and officially call it a date. He wasn't happy for too long since he thought Logan would be annoyed by his personality. As a result, not only did he suggest an Asian restaurant for the date and dressed in a suit and tie, but he studied a lot, which involved using textbooks, including a thesaurus for improved vocabulary and knowledge, decided against showing the dog pictures on his phone, and even thought of ways to avoid puns for the night. He has overwhelmed too many people during the first impression before and didn't want to do the same thing to his crush.

After a few minutes, he saw Logan enter the with a black blazer and dress pants, blue dress shirt, and dark red tie. Patton looked like he was staring at a work of art and only regained his composure when said work of art was looking in his direction.

"Patton Hart?" He was asked.

"Oh, yes. And you're Logan Tesla. Nice to officially meet you." They shook hands and Patton did his best to not show off his signature giant smile before they both sat down.

"I hope traffic wasn't too bad for you," Patton genuinely stated.

"Oh, don't worry. The bus route and the sidewalks aren't always the best, but at least I'm saving on gas," Logan responded.

After ordering sushi, eggrolls, and water for appetizers, Patton glanced at Logan.

"We're going Dutch, right?"

"Yes, it's only fair."

"That's good. Scholarships and submitting poetry to magazines can only help so much."

"Oh, yea. My folks helped me decide on a payment plan, and I was more of a do-it-yourself kind of person growing up, so I took a good amount of the money I've saved over the years to start a small business."

Patton did his best to sound as mature as he could and, judging by the look on Logan's face, it seemed to be very intriguing.

"Oh, what business are you running? Maybe I can visit you at work sometime," the nerd asked.

"Oh, that sounds great, but maybe we'll talk about it later," Patton quickly responded.

As they were eating their appetizers, they were discussing their majors (well, Logan more than Patton) and even brought up that it was nice that they were trying Asian cuisine even though they didn't have it often.

They eventually ordered their entrees (Patton ordered sweet and sour chicken with rice and Logan ordered Pad Thai) and Patton tried to hold back a joke. Instead of saying "Sweet and sour, kind of like Virgil", he said "Um, Virgil... how long have you known him?"

Logan seemed confused as they were handing over the menus, but just answered the question.

"I've known him for a few months now. I joined Astronomy Club because of the idea of exploring beyond our solar system, but I think Virgil just likes to be existential when looking at the cosmos," he explained.

Patton saw that as an opportunity to talk about the potential ups and downs to surviving purely on potatoes on Mars like in the book and movie The Martian and ended it by saying "I guess they're not too chimerical after all, even if the salt part was purely coincidental," while thanking his lucky stars that watching Film Theory was one of the ways he studied for the date.

They ate their food and Patton was quietly trying to think of what to say without giving too much of himself away or boring Logan.

"Have you ever seen the Leonids, Logan?" Patton asked and did everything in his power to keep himself from calling it a prideful meteor shower.

"No, I haven't. I've wanted to, but every year, I find myself buried deep enough in my studies to keep me from looking up to see them," Logan said with a feeling of sorrow.

"Wow, with poetry like that, I'm surprised you're not in Creative Writing with me and Virgil. But, anyway, have you considered taking breaks during your study time to prevent migraines or the inevitable increase in exhaustion and decrease in motivation?" Patton suggested.

"I can't risk taking too much time away from my studies, Patton."

"Well, if you're smart enough to earn college scholarships, then taking breaks might do you more good than harm."

Logan grew a smile on his face and, though Patton thought it had something to do with his facade, it was actually from Logan's acknowledgement on how caring Patton truly was.

Patton finished his food and went to the bathroom to take some deep breaths in front of the mirror.

"Okay, okay, so far so good. I just need to pull this off for a little while longer. There's nothing wrong with seeming mature for a little while longer," he continued to tell himself.

As he looked in the mirror, he was both surprised and glad that he wasn't crying. He put on a decent smile once he left the bathroom and continued to discuss academically-related topics to Logan until it was time for both of them to pay the bill.

As Patton was finishing up, he saw a familiar man with a familiar Corgi through the window and the man waved while looking in his direction.

"Oh, uh, I should probably go out to get some fresh air and check the traffic. Don't go anywhere," Patton claimed before heading outside to the man and the Corgi.

"Patton, how great to see you. Umm, was I interrupting a date?" the man asked.

"Well, it is a date, but it was pretty much close to ending, I think, so I don't think it would be too much of a problem, Emile," he answered assuringly.

The Corgi barked at Patton and wagged its tail. Patton crouched down and tried to make sure the dog wasn't too loud.

"Shh, okay, okay, Retsuko, I'm happy to see you, too. I'll give you your ear scratches and belly rubs, but keep it down," he said to the dog.

As he was giving the Corgi the pets he remembered she likes, he occasionally looked at the window to see if Logan looked outside. Patton ended up being distracted by the dog for too long before he heard a "Well, what's going on here?" from behind him that made his stomach turn. He slowly turned around to see Logan standing by the door watching him.

"Oh, sorry. I'm Emile Picani. Retsuko here is a regular at Patton's pet daycare. I was just taking her for an evening stroll and I guess she wanted to say hi to him," Emile told Logan without much thought. However, it wasn't until the two looked at an empty space where Patton was that Emile realized he said too much and quickly walked away with the Corgi.

Logan found himself speed-walking down the sidewalk and looking around for any sign of his date until he heard sniffling from inside a 7-Eleven. Logan looked inside the window and saw that Patton was sniffling and tearing up. Upon closer inspection, he noticed Patton was on the verge of ordering an Uber. Logan quickly walked inside, but it seemed as though Patton didn't notice the sound of the automatic doors. The nerd didn't know what to do, but all he knew was that he didn't want Patton to go home yet, so he decided small talk would help.

"So, um, that Picani guy is a regular at your small business?" he asked.

"Okay, fine. I'm not exactly mature or as serious as you would want a potential boyfriend to be, but if it meant you wouldn't immediately leave, I would happily put on a mask for your sake. It's not like it's the first time I've done something like that in my life, anyway," Patton vented while trying to remember the store's address.

"Look, Patton, when Virgil told me about you and gave me his phone number, he also told me what to expect from you," Logan admitted.

Patton stopped working his way through the Uber app and looked at Logan with a worried expression.

"Wait, what did he tell you?"

"He mentioned how much you love animals, your kindness, your consideration for others, your love of baking, your puns, that he finds cheesy and clever, he even mentioned how much you enjoy making stuffed animals and flower crowns," Patton told him.

"Guess you thought I was off putting before the date began, huh?" he muttered before starting to work with the Uber app on his phone again.

Before Patton could confirm his order for an Uber, though, Logan gently grabbed his hand without thinking.

"Actually, I was thinking that, though you sounded different from me, that I'd feel lucky to experience you for myself. Be honest with me, though. Would you have acted differently if I told you sooner?"

Patton looked at Logan's hand holding his own and noticed an expression of sincerity on the scholar's face.

"Truth be told, yes. I wouldn't act... eccentric, though, for the sake of a first impression, but I probably might reveal at least some of my true colors."

Logan pulled out his phone from his pocket and scrolled through his pictures.

"Well, if it makes you feel better..." he showed Patton a picture of himself sleeping in a unicorn onesie on a day where he was sick.

"My gosh, you look adorable," Patton expressed with shock.

"My brother gave it to me as a gag gift and I wore it often to ruin his fun. I eventually grew to like it, though," Logan explained.

They looked at each other in silence uncertain of what to say next.

"So, unless you still want to head home now, I'd appreciate if I spent the rest of this date getting to know the real Patton Hart," Logan said, slightly hoping it wasn't too late.

"I would enjoy that. Maybe we can stargaze at the park. Though, I think cop cars would be a dead giveaway that a shooting star would be near," Patton responded.

Logan chuckled and Patton held his hand as they walked out and headed for the park.