The Fires of Passion

Seriously. His Reaction Would Be Gold

It's been so long since Brent had hung out with his old crew, The Ab Crew. He tallies time in his head, coming to the conclusion that he hasn't seen them since the death of Instagram. For the sake of saving face, Brent pretends like he still remembers their names, when in reality, he doesn't.
"Dude!" Jacob(citation needed) hollers at him from across the street. "Wanna go see a movie with us?"
"Sure!" Brent yells back. He runs across the street to join up with Jake(?), That One, and The Twins™.
"Did you see that new movie?" The Twins™ ask in sync.
"Yeah, I saw it with Eva yesterday," Brent replies.
"Awesome!" The Twins™ exclaim.
"Wasn't it wild when that car chase happened?" That One asks excitedly.
"Totally, bro!" Jakob(I think) responds. "How is your relationship with Eva going?"
"It's going great," Brent replies truthfully, "but someone else... nevermind."
"No dude!" That One exclaims. "You have to tell us now!"
"Okay. Okay," Brent smiles, putting on a facade for his friends. "So, this someone else, is my boss."
The guys ooh, as if they feel Brent's pain.
"But I'm with Eva, so it doesn't matter," Brent says quickly, as if to steer the conversation to clearer waters before things got too out of hand.
"Dude!" That One exclaims, pointing at a movie poster, "Look at that bodacious babe!"
"No, dude!" Yakkob(I guess) pushes That One out of the way, "You see that hot rod she's standing next too?"
Brent decides to duck out without them noticing because he doesn't feel like hanging with them.
That's what he told himself, at least.
***
Weeks later, Brent smiles. He's organized all the tables. Ruvik is less happy. He is no closer on the mysterious project under the sheet than he was when the tables were last clean. At this point, Brent has become quite attuned to sensing when Ruvik is upset.
"Hey, wanna go get some coffee?" Brent asks. In all the weeks he's worked there, Ruvik has never said yes, but that never stops Brent from asking.
Ruvik sighs. "Give me a second to get ready to go out in public."
Brent smiles again, but not because the tables are clean.
While Brent waits in the lobby for Ruvik to get ready, Ruvik frantically rummages around the mess in one of his many offices to find something to cover up his face. He stops and holds up a roll of gauze triumphantly. Using a computer monitor as a mirror, he wraps the gauze around his head so that only his left eye is exposed. Blinking a few times to test the gauze, he pulls on a random shirt, grabs his cloak, and heads to the lobby where Brent awaits him.
As they walk to the coffee shop, Ruvik notices the barrage of stares he gets and gets worries that Brent won't want to go out again, for some reason. But Brent doesn't mind. He's used to being in the public eye and he doesn't want to leave Ruvik's side. These past few weeks with the scientist have been the best weeks of his life. No one has ever made him feel this good, this happy. Not his fans. Not the Ab Crew. Not even Eva.
At last, they made it to the local Starbucks. They order their drinks and sit down to wait.
They decided they would each pay for their own drinks. That way, it wasn't a date.
"I mean, no homo, bro," Brent laughs. He doesn't realize yet that he, in fact, wants all the homo. But he's with Eva so what can he do?
Eventually, they get their coffee. It's hand-delivered by a familiar face.
"Here's your coffee, Mr. Ruvik," Franziska Von Bow-Dagenhart Way hands him the cup. "And here's your Vanilla Bean Frappuccino, Brent. Nyah!"
She leaves. Brent takes a sip of his Vanilla Bean Frappuccino while Ruvik tries to stick a straw between the gauze. Eventually, the straw meets Ruvik's lips and his mouth is filled with the blackest coffee Starbucks can make.
"Dude," Brent smiles, "how can you drink that? Where's the flavor?"
"I drink coffee for the caffeine so that I can get more things done. What's the point in flavor?"
"You need to at least try this," Brent offers his drink to Ruvik. "It's good, trust me."
Ruvik sticks his straw is Brent's cup and takes a sip. A burst of vanilla and sugar shocks his tongue. He had forgotten about all the research done on sugar's effects on the brain. He would love to take another drink, but it's not his drink. It's Brent's. Ruvik goes to grab his black coffee, but he can't find it. It's not on the table anymore. Brent grabs a few creamers and pours it in Ruvik's drink.
"Keep the frappuccino," Brent smiles. "You looked so happy when you took a sip. Only a jerk would take that away."
Brent takes a sip of the black coffee with at least twenty creamers and struggles to keep a poker face. Ruvik exhales sharply from his nose in laughter at how ridiculous Brent looks. Brent smiles, happy to make Ruvik laugh.