The Nerd and The Frog

Liar, Liar

*Final Fantasy spoiler ahead... if you haven't played FFX, I'm shocked.*

There was a moment of silence on both ends of the phone. Not even a sign of breathing from either of them. Alan wasn't sure if he actually heard what Daniel truly said and was uncertain if he should ask him to repeat it.

"Um... let me make sure I heard you correctly..." Alan carefully forced out, adjusting the phone on his ear slightly. "Did... you say you were... gay?"

Again, a brief period of silence before anyone spoke.

"...That's correct." Daniel finally repeated, firmly.

If there was anyway to properly express the image of someone's mind being fully blown, Alan would be the prime example of such an event.

"Holy shit..." Alan blurted out loud, soon realizing that wasn't in his head like he wanted it to be.

"I should've kept quiet about this..." Daniel stated quickly, a hint of shame in his voice.

"Fuck no!" Alan said in response, rather loudly in fact. Shaking his head as if to clear his mind, he collected himself to try and remain calm, but supportive. "I mean... Daniel, that's awesome."

"I'm... not understanding..." Daniel stated, confused.

"I'm cool with you being gay. Honestly, I feel rather honored that you would actually be comfortable enough to tell me this." Alan admitted, a smile not helping but to show on his face. "It takes a lot to tell someone this... and I'm sure it wasn't easy to do, especially to someone you barely know."

"You're... ok with this? Seriously?" Daniel asked, a mixture of surprise and relief in his voice.

"Yeah, I am. I mean, I'm ok with you being a frog, for fuck's sake." Alan joked, only to hear Daniel laugh.

"Good point... This doesn't make you uncomfortable or anything?" Daniel asked.

"No, it really doesn't. I still think you're a very nice and cool person, regardless." Alan answered.

"I'm... really happy to hear this." Daniel admitted with a sigh, his entire demeanor having shifted from fearful to relaxed. "I haven't told anyone else this, actually. None of my friends, teammates... especially my family. So, it means a lot for you to not be upset or uncomfortable about this. Especially since you aren't gay."

Alan was happily listening to Daniel speak, somewhat mentally lost in utter bliss at the fact that the crush he was slightly obsessed with was gay. Until that last part.

"I'm sorry... what?" Alan stated, confused.

"I said you weren't gay. You have a girlfriend." Daniel repeated calmly.

"I DO?" Alan asked, completely lost at this point.

"The hell, Moogle? That's what I was told. The girl everyone sees you with... is it... Nicolette?" Daniel asked, surprised.

A look of utter shock rested on Alan's face as he heard this information. "Who... told you this?" Alan asked, trying to process this information.

"Oh, I asked Thomas Thaxton. He apparently knows a lot about you. He told me you guys have been dating for a while." Daniel stated.

That fuckwit.... I'm gonna fucking kill him. Alan quietly thought to himself, contemplating the many ways to murder a human without leaving any evidence of doing so. "Is... that so?" Alan forced out slowly.

"Yeah, which makes sense. I do see you guys hanging out a lot, so he confirmed you were a couple. Which is cool. It kinda makes our situation a little easier." Daniel stated with a slight laugh.