Chapter Text
California was bullshit. Darko was a motherfucker for putting him up to this. Go to California , he said, get some sun on the beach, run the new club .
Fucking bullshit.
For starters, although the beach was only about fifteen miles from the club, it would take him almost an hour to get there. Thank you for nothing, mother fucking Los Angeles traffic. And that brings him to the location of the club. Of course Darko bought a club in West fucking Hollywood, not that Nigel particularly minded, but honestly he's had enough with American cocksuckers. Running a club catering to them was great and all, but he'll be damned if he had to live there too.
Which is how, after months, he finally found himself in the quiet town of Flintridge.
So far, it was probably the only part of California he didn’t automatically hate. It was a small, quiet community, banked by the Angeles National Forest (a bike ride he greatly appreciated). It was beautiful up there. So very different than Bucharest and all that bullshit. It was just him and the mountains. So maybe, California wasn't complete bullshit, but Darko was still a motherfucker.
Nigel shoved his hands in his pocket as he continued to make his way down the street to the Starbucks he preferred. Sure he could get better coffee from the specialty store down the road, but he enjoyed the crowd at this particular Starbucks more. Rather, he enjoyed the company, or if he was being honest with himself, the view of one particular man.
A lot could be said about Nigel, but no one, not even Darko, would deny that he wasn’t an equal opportunity lover. Especially when his prospect was simply put, gorgeous. Nigel, if nothing, was a lover of beautiful things. His Gabi was a work of mother fucking art art, but then again, she wasn't really his anymore. Which is what brought him here. In search for his next Masterpiece, and what a piece it was. Honestly, what had caught his eye was a flash of blue eyes and carefully combed hair, neat button down shirt covered by a light sweater, and terribly ill-fitting jeans which did not do that ass justice. He certainly wasn't Nigel's usual type; loud, bold, assertive and breathtakingly beautiful. Well, he had the breathtakingly beautiful part down, but the rest, well he was different . He was quiet and kept to himself, unimposing and rather unimpressive, but then there were those small moments. Moments when he was absorbed in whatever it was he was reading on his laptop, and his face would light up with the most gorgeous smile Nigel had ever seen. It was in those moments that Nigel couldn't help but fall a little bit in love.
So, Nigel now made it a point to visit the Starbucks on Gould just so he could sit, drink overpriced (and quite frankly, terrible) lattes and stare at heaven incarnate.
Adam liked Starbucks. This, among all the new things California had brought, was one of the biggest surprises. After all, Adam didn't like coffee, or crowds, or noise. But this one Starbucks in Flintridge was rarely too crowded or noisy, and the tea was much better than the tea Beth had liked to give him back in New York. She'd given him a whole box of it once. Adam had thrown it out when he moved.
New York had always been noisy, at least a little bit. Even at home. His home in Flintridge, in contrast, was unsettlingly quiet, enough to make sleeping difficult. This one Starbucks in Flintridge had just enough ambient noise to make working easy. Adam could tap away at his laptop for hours, picking away at programs in a way he just couldn't manage in the silence. That and they had decent pastries. Adam had decided he liked pastries, as a whole, although some were still a bit too adventurous for his admittedly picky palate. Speaking of which, he'd finished his scone, and he still had a bit of coding to get done tonight. One cookie wouldn't hurt.
Deciding it was safe, Adam left his things and went to join the line. Unbeknownst to him, his phone rang. Then it rang again.
Nigel watched the beautiful stranger get up, and boy what a view it was. Gabi may have had the ass of an angel, but this man, he blew her straight out of the water. The things he wanted to do to that ass, it would scandalize the men who regularly frequented his club in West Hollywood.
The buzzing on the table drew his attention away from the ass that could put Michaelangelo's David to shame. It was an older model, an iPhone 5s, if he had to guess. Old, but in mint condition, like it had never been dropped or mishandled. In fact, it was probably one of the first older models he had ever seen that wasn't sporting a cracked screen. The buzzing continued for a moment, before flashing a missed call and going silent again. Nigel was about to check out that ass again, when the buzzing started up again.
The phone vibrated against the table, knocking into the laptop that was left open to a page on what looked like Saturn, before shifting precariously toward the edge of the table. Before it could fall, the buzzing stopped again, and Nigel just stared at it until it inevitably began to buzz again.
Getting up, he grabbed the phone when it went off again, staring down at the picture of a pretty enough brunette by the name of Beth. Before he could stop himself he swiped right and accepted the call.
Miles away in New York City, Beth Buchwald was having a terrible night. Most nights were terrible, actually. Most mornings, too, when she had to put herself together and will away the headache to smile for the kids. She'd gotten her book published, sure, but everything else in her life was crashing down around her.
Except Adam. Sweet, kind Adam. Adam, who still took her calls, even though she'd broken up with him and then stopped speaking to him for a year. Beth took another swig of whiskey and hit 'redial' again. This time, somebody answered, and Beth giggled shakily.
"Adam! Big, smart Adam! How are your space... chippy... things? God, you're smart. Smarter than me ." Another swig of whiskey.
Adam . His beautiful stranger, love of his life, okay maybe not yet, potential love of his life, his sun and his stars' name was Adam.
"Sorry, sweetheart," Nigel said, eyes flashing toward Adam and his perfect ass, "Adam's currently indisposed. Name's Nigel, what can I do you for?"
Beth frowned, pulling her phone away to check her screen. "But it says Adam," she complained, "Can you go get him?" The room spun as she stood up, pacing her apartment. "Also," Beth added, realization suddenly hitting her, "who's Nigel?"
"Sweetheart, I know you said you're not smart and all, but do you not understand the definition of indisposed?" Nigel asked, settling back down in his seat so he could watch the way Adam's ass shifted in his ill-fitting jeans. He'd have to get the man better clothes, something that would properly accentuate his ass ets. "It means he's busy right now. Unable to come to the phone and all. I can take a message for you if you like, let him know you called."
Beth huffed, and flopped back onto the couch. This was a mistake. It made everything in her stomach swirl in the opposite direction. "He's never busy," she complained, "he always used to have time for me. Used to have so much time. Before I-" Before she ruined it. But that was the past, and this was now.
"Yeah, take a message," Beth said, drink and anonymity making her brave. After all, this stranger didn't know her! Probably barely knew Adam , was probably a coworker or something. "Tell him I went out and watched the stars for him. I didn't remember any of them, but I was remembering how he smiled when he talked about them, how he got all lit up and happy and..." Beth sighed, shutting her eyes to picture it.
Nigel snickered, so desperate ex it would seem. "World doesn't revolve around you, sweetheart," Nigel said pulling out his phone to place an obnoxious order to stall the baristas. Talking to this Beth character was fun, her desperation entertaining. "Yea, he's got a helluva smile doesn't he. Like the whole universe is reflected in those baby blues."
"It's a great smile," Beth agreed sleepily, "It's the best smile. And the world doesn't revolve around you either," she protested, though the argument didn't make much sense. "Who do you think you are? You're rude."
"Oh sweetheart," Nigel said with a chuckle, "I'm your darkest nightmare, your wildest fantasy, a beautiful daydream. I'll let Adam know you called, to tell him that you desperately needed him to know that you went stargazing."
“I.... what... I don’t...” Beth felt like her brain had short circuited. She pulled her phone away from her ear, frowning at it. “You... you stay away from Adam, you jerk!”
Meanwhile, Adam had FINALLY gotten his cookie. It had taken forever, there had been a long line and then someone had placed an online order that had taken priority. But finally, he’d been able to get to the front of the line, get his cookie, and return to his seat, where he saw his phone had gone missing. He immediately locked in on the tall, attractive man nearby, recognizing the case in his hand.
"It's not what it looks like, gorgeous," Nigel said passing the phone back to Adam. "Thing was going off non-stop and threatened to fall off the table. Some chick named Beth called a bunch of times. I might have accidentally picked up the call. She wanted you know she went stargazing but couldn't remember any of the stars."
The fact that Beth went stargazing without him was interesting, but not clearly as interesting as the man in front of him. Tall, broad, with fascinatingly pleasant features, Adam had seen him dozens of times before. He would have recognized the pinup tattoo anywhere, at the very least, but Adam had snuck peeks at the rest of him as well. "You're the man who comes here to stare at me," Adam said, a hint of a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.
"I'm the what now?" Nigel asked defensively, because, yes, he certainly is the man who comes here to specifically stare at this Adam, but it never really crossed his mind that Adam knew . The smile disarmed him though, and he let out a small cough, awkwardly clearing his throat before attempting to catch Adam's eye. "Yeah, you caught me, gorgeous. What can I say, you're like a sky full of stars."
The idiom didn't make any sense to Adam, he had no idea what it was supposed to mean, but he could tell he'd been complimented. Obvious enough. The man had not come here for weeks on end to stare at Adam's backside because he didn't like him, but it was still nice to hear. "You're very attractive," he said, placing his phone back on his table, "I don't think I caught you the first time, but I noticed you a few weeks ago. I looked, too."
"Yeah?" Nigel asked, shifting a bit closer to Adam. "Glad to know the attraction is mutual. I suppose I should thank this Beth for getting drunk in the middle of the afternoon and call you incessantly."
Adam's eyes flicked back towards the phone, distressed. "Oh no, she's drunk again? I should call her back." He didn't like speaking to Beth when she was drunk, but he'd found it was worse to leave her on her own. Maybe he could get away with texting her mother? "I'm sorry you had to deal with that. Beth is 'going through a hard time' this year."
"Don't worry about it, darling,"Nigel said swiping a hand through his hair, "she wasn't so bad. You can call her back if you like, she sounded a bit desperate, probably trying to get laid or something, not that I blame her."
In all honesty, Nigel would prefer it if Adam didn't call her back. It if were up to him, he'd take Adam home, blow him until he saw stars as he came and forget all about his ex. Nigel could wait though, now that he knew he had a chance, that Adam had been checking him out for almost as long as he'd been admiring that ass.
Adam hesitated. He could call Beth, it would be a very kind thing to do. But she would ramble, and be upset, and the handsome stranger would leave. He rattled off a text to her mother, instead. Mrs. Buchwald would fix things.
Setting the phone down, he turned back to Nigel. "Oh no. Beth and I already tried having a romantic and sexual relationship. She broke up with me. You must be mistaken."
Nigel was pleased that Adam didn't take the bait. That he chose him over Beth , it was certainly promising. "Yeah, probably, but if I had you, I'd certainly never let you go."
Adam flushed, pleased. "Well, Beth felt differently. I... I didn't give her what she needed, I guess." There was still a hint of doubt there, old hurt creeping back up. Adam shook the thought away. "Why didn't you come speak to me?" He asked, changing the subject, "I kept expecting you to say something, but you didn't."
"Well," Nigel said, hands itching for a cigarette, but that would involve exiting the cafe, and he had no intention of running away now. "I wasn't sure you'd be interested. It was one thing to admire you from a distance, another thing entirely to make contact and risk rejection."
"I wasn't going to reject you," Adam said, because for him, the answer was obvious, "besides, I've learned that you don't know if you don't ask. I have trouble guessing what people are thinking, so I usually ask." Although he had also learned how not to ask. Telling the attractive stranger that Adam had sexual fantasies about him in his sleep was probably not acceptable. "If you'd like, you can admire me from my table next time."
"Yeah? How about I admire you from your table tonight, and maybe next time I'll admire you from my bed," Nigel said with a wink, taking a seat and resisting the urge to pull Adam onto his lap. Adam was going to be the death of him, of this he was sure.
Adam hesitated. His experience with Beth had taught him that expressing sexual desire immediately was a bad idea, but here this man was, stirring heat through Adam's belly. "That would be nice," he finally said, "I've thought about you in my bed, as well." He flushed, unsure whether he was managing 'flirty' or just 'inappropriate,' and hastily returned to his laptop.
"So," Nigel said, inclining his head toward the laptop, "those the 2017 Cassini images?"
"Oh, yes!" Adam nodded enthusiastically. "It's a shame that the craft itself had to be lost, but twenty years of data is no small feat for any machine, given the way technology has changed since 1997. There's so much information now that we didn't have before Cassini. The images of Saturn's rings alone would have been worth the journey."
Nigel hummed in agreement. "That and the data it collected from Enceladus and Titan. Can you imagine? The possibility to live on one of Saturn's moons."
"Life on another moon or planet has always been a goal," Adam said excitedly, "but the more information we gather, the closer we come to it." He couldn't help the bright smile that broke through as he settled into his seat, clicking through each of the pictures in turn, engaging Nigel and losing himself in the discussion.
Nigel was enthralled. This man was fucking brilliant and he couldn't get enough. So he prodded him about Saturn, in an effort to draw out more detailed explanations, dragging on the discussion so he can drink in the way Adam's face lit up as they continued to talk space.
The longer they talked, the more Nigel couldn’t help but think that Adam was a fucking wonder. More gorgeous up close than he was at a distance, with a mind that matched his beauty. Nigel could sit here forever, discussing the intricacies of the universe, but if given the choice, he'd rather whisk Adam away and discover every inch of that body.
Adam forgot about his cookie. He forgot about everything, until he happened to glance at the time. "Oh..." He said, trailing off mid-sentence, "I've been talking too long."
"Nonsense, darling," Nigel said, waving him off, gesturing for him to continue. "I have all night."
Only Nigel didn't have all night. In fact, he was pretty sure he should have left twenty minutes ago to head over to the club, but fuck that shit. Adam was more important. He'd skirt all his duties just to talk to this angel all night, every night, for the rest of his life.
"Fuck," Nigel cursed as his phone went off in his pocket again. "I'm sorry, gorgeous, I don't actually have all night. I wish I had all night. Fuckers need me over at the club. I'll make it up to you though. Here, give me your phone, I'll put in my number that way we can set something up. I'll take you to dinner or something, on a night I'm free, that way you can talk all night while we watch the stars."
Adam looked at him, unable to resist the frown that stole over his features. He handed his phone over, regretful to lose the connection he'd made. "I shouldn't talk all night," he said with a shake of his head, "it upsets people. Conversations are meant to be shared." Or so Adam had been told. Frequently.
Nigel pursed his lips as he inputted his number, but decided to let the subject drop. It didn't sit right with him that Adam felt that it would upset people if he talked too much. Nigel for one, had enjoyed their conversation, which was most definitely shared. He'd have to hunt down these people who dared to make Adam feel this way. It wasn't right.
"I'd like to have dinner with you, though. But maybe I could make you dinner, instead? I'm... picky." Adam didn't like the word, too childish, too immature, but apt nonetheless.
Handing back the phone, Nigel flashed him a brilliant smile. "Yeah, that sounds great. Whatever makes you comfortable, gorgeous. I'll eat anything. I got to go," he said, stopping himself as he started to lean in to press a kiss to Adam's temple, "call or text if you ever just want to talk."
A faint flush stole over Adam's face. The man's smile, his compliments, they all sent pleasant twisting heat through his stomach. It had been a long time since he'd felt this way about another person. As the man left, Adam glanced down at the new contact. "Nigel," he murmured, and then, unable to help himself, he wrote out a text. Nigel had said to do so, if he ever just wanted to talk. Right now, Adam wanted nothing else.
Nigel smiled as he checked his messages, he was barely out the door before Adam had texted him. It was endearing, and he really wished he could blow off the club tonight, but he was supposed to be meeting a contact from Romania, so it couldn't be blown off. With a heavy sigh he pulled on his helmet and shifted the bike into gear.
The sun was just breaking across the horizon by the time he collapsed onto his couch. It was bullshit. California had a bullshit law that establishments closed at two in the morning, and yet, he still couldn't make it out of that wretched place until half past six.
He grabbed his phone, a smile breaking out over his tired face as he read the onslaught of messages Adam had left him the night before. He hadn't had a chance to respond, but appreciated every last one.
Sorry, gorgeous, work was brutal, but yes, it's a damn shame that they have yet to send a probe to explore Uranus and Neptune. You'd think that if they could get to Pluto, they'd be able to at the very least probe Uranus. So dinner, are you free Monday night?
Adam woke to his phone buzzing. He'd fallen asleep with it clutched in his hand, another message halfway typed. Long charging cables were a blessing. He worried, for a moment, that he'd taken advantage of the invitation to text, but Nigel's answering message brought a smile to his face.
We don't have anything fast enough, yet. It would take decades to get so far out into space. But it would be worth the wait, if we could gather even a little bit more information. There is so much left unknown. Adam typed. Then, he switched over to his calendar app, even though he knew what it would say. Adam only rarely went out, and his coworkers preferred to gather on Wednesdays. I'm free on Monday, would you like to come for dinner? I usually prefer to eat mac & cheese, but there will also be chicken, and broccoli. He was trying to broaden his palate, but nervousness always made him fall back onto old habits.
Yeah? That sounds great gorgeous. See you Monday night. Six work for you? Text me your address
Nigel yawned, dropping the phone onto his chest before promptly passing out.