Ryden Oneshots

Dear Catastrophe Waiter

.:. Rating : NC-17 .:.

Brendon's engrossed in the want ads, enough that he's only startled out of it by the tap of a pen against his table and a droll voice asking, "What can I get for you?"

He glances up.

He begins at the pen - a red Bic - notes the long fingers and thin wrists, up the pale arms that disappear into a deep v-neck t-shirt in a fetching shade of blue. He pauses on the patterned apron tied around a pair of skinny hips, then flicks back upward to the bared collarbone, light brown hair curling at the base of the boy's neck, delicate jaw line, and a bemused pair of eyes. Brendon reads the name tag out loud. His voice comes out breathy. "Ryan," he says.

Ryan the prettiest waiter in all of San Francisco glances down at his name tag, then back at Brendon. "I'm not actually on the menu," Ryan says.

"You're not?" Brendon frowns, and Ryan cracks a smile. Brendon grins back at him. "Do you have any recommendations?" Brendon's pretty certain he wants the veggie burger, but telling Ryan that would make Ryan go away, and Brendon's not done looking at him yet.

"What were you in the mood for?"

Sweet lovemaking. "Vegetables," Brendon says.

"Well, you've chosen the right place," Ryan says dryly. "Have you been here before?"

"No," Brendon says, putting his chin in his hands and gazing unabashedly. "I just moved to the neighborhood, I'm trying to find all the good places but I don't have anyone to show me around." He bats his eyelashes at Ryan.

"Really, a friendly guy like you?" Ryan quirks an eyebrow at him. "You've come to the right place anyway, Herbivore's one of the best vegan places around. The red curry has a lot of vegetables in it, you'd probably like that."

"Okay," Brendon says. "I'll have that, and an iced tea."

Ryan half-smiles at him, writes his order down, and walks away. Brendon admires the view.

*

The cafe fills up after that, which is almost okay since Brendon's just about lost his nerve. The flirting was automatic, which had always been a problem back in Vegas, especially the time it happened with the inexplicably cute boy in the band with the stupid tattoos. At least Cash had let him down easy; when Brendon had accidentally hit on one of his jazz band classmates sophomore year he'd only narrowly escaped getting punched.

He can't chat much more with Ryan in the rush, but when Ryan boxes up the rest of his curry for later he hands Brendon the bag with a smile and a, "Hope to see you again."

"Definitely," Brendon says, and beams at him.

When he gets outside he notices an extra weight in the sack, and checks to make sure he got the right one. On top of his box there's another, with, "Welcome to the neighborhood - R," written on it in flowy script. Brendon shakes the box curiously before opening it to reveal an exceptionally delicious-looking donut. A donut. A free vegan donut for him, from Ryan the prettiest waiter in all of San Franciso. Brendon turns back to look into the cafe, hoping the cartoon hearts aren't visible around his head.

Ryan's taking an order inside, and when Brendon catches his eye Ryan smiles, a faint flush stealing over his cheeks.

Brendon is so totally in love.

*

The rainbow flag is an act of defiance. Granted, it's an act of defiance that he'll probably take down and hide in a drawer when his parents come to visit his tiny apartment, but for now he lets it fly. There it is above his TV, flying. Brendon is officially queer, and has the flag to prove it. He also has a crush on a boy, but he's had those since he was old enough to notice how nice cowboys look in chaps.