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Newt shifted in his chair and looked out of the window. The street in front of the restaurant was busy, a bus stop not too far away and cars constantly going in all directions. Only few people who passed the window looked back at him; most were frowning at the ground in front of their feet. The sky was surprisingly clear for an early January day, but the sun didn’t help against the cold. A little girl, holding her mom's hand, stepped into his view. Suddenly she stopped walking, irritating her mom, who bumped into her. The girl pointed at something on the other side of the street. Newt followed her arm. A puppy, grey, muddy fur, was playing with some leaves the wind had picked up. A teenager stood next to it, holding the loose leash, bored, unimpressed. The mother pulled the girl away from the dog, from the window, away from Newt. He sighed.
Newt looked at his wrist watch. It was already 10 past 4. Maybe he wouldn’t come? He opened the lock and closed it again. It was his fault, really. Why did he agree to a blind date in the first place? And then to one Thomas had set up for him. He could be lucky if it wasn’t one of his pranks, if the guy just really didn’t show up, because… Yeah. Why? He could’ve at least texted him. Then again, Newt didn’t have his number, and neither did the guy, probably. He could’ve texted Thomas, and Thomas could’ve texted him. Newt took his phone out and stared at the “0” next to “new messages”.
15 past 4. He’d wait another five minutes and then he’d leave. He was kind of really hungry. Actually, it was really rude that he didn’t show up. Who did that? Rude people. This person was very rude. Very very-
“Newt?”
He winced and looked up. Brown eyes stared back at him, wide, questioning.
“Yes. Hi! I’m. Thomas?”
“N-no, my name is- I mean, yes. Thomas sent me here. I’m Minho. Hi.”
Newt looked at the face that was only a couple inches away from his. Red cheeks flushed from the cold, wild hair distraught from the wind and a shy smile with closed, pale lips. Damn.
“I’m so, so sorry I’m late. This never happens, really! My bike broke at 103rd and I forgot my MetroCard at home so I had to run and I swear if one more dog poops right in front of me I’ll fucking- Um. I’m sorry. That’s not very romantic.”
Newt smiled. “It’s okay, I understand. Please, sit, I got a menu for you.”
“Thank you. I promise, this will never ever happen again. I’m never late. Ask anyone! This is my wonderful luck, that today must be the one time in-“
“Hold on, you ran? From 103rd?!” Newt stared at him with wide eyes.
“Well, yes. I can’t really afford taxis and as I said, my bike was-“
“But that’s almost 60 blocks! How are you even still standing?”
“Oh, you know, I run a lot. It’s kind of a hobby of mine.”
“Your hobby is… running?”
“Yes. I love it. It’s like standing, but everything around you moves.”
Newt huffed. “It’s really not.”
“Well, it is for me, anyway. When I run I’m free, you know? No one can stop me. It’s almost like I’m invincible.”
“Until you step on dog poop.”
Minho laughed. “So you’re no fan of running then, I take it?”
Newt grinned and pointed at the cane leaning against the wall next to the table.
“Not a fashion statement, y’know.”
“Fuck. Sorry. Uh, that sucks.”
“It’s alright. Not like I got it yesterday. I can do pretty much everything you can. Except for, like, the running part. Kinda bad at that.”
“Hah. I bet you can’t eat the pizza as fast as I can.”
“Oh, please, I’m a professional! Do you know how often I’m here? Besides, we haven’t even ordered yet!”
Someone behind Newt cleared their throat. He turned around and looked into the slightly annoyed face of the waitress.
“Whaddayaguys wanna have?” She asked, impatiently tapping a pen against a small block.
Newt glanced at the menu and looked for his favorite pizza. He knew the number by heart, but it couldn’t hurt to double-check.
“I’ll have the 15, please, and a Coke.”
“Sure, sugar. And you?”
Minho, who hadn’t really looked at anything but the salad dressings so far, blushed.
“Do you have pepperoni pizza?”
“We have every pizza you could dream of, hun. Anything to drink for ya?”
“Just a water, please.”
“Be right back.”
The waitress frowned at them one last time, then turned around and walked in the direction of the kitchen.
Minho glanced after her. “What’s her deal?”
“Ah, she’s cool, I just usually don’t come here with. Um. Dates.”
There was a pause in which neither of them really knew where to pick up. Newt quickly glanced out of the window and considered telling Minho about the girl and the dog he had seen earlier, but before he could say something, Minho asked: “So, what do you do for a living?”
Newt looked at Minho, who was fiddling with his napkin and carefully looking at him. “You mean besides breathing and sleeping and eating? I work in International Communications.”
“That sounds super interesting!” Minho seemed impressed. Newt laughed.
“It's a fancy way of saying I work for the postal service. I'm the guy who puts stamps on letters and does a lot of paper work.”
“Oh. And since when- I mean- do you enjoy your job?”
“Got it since last fall. I quit my old job as a, well, delivery person, because I wasn't that fast anymore. I worked for this shop, actually. Best bloody pizza in town, I'm tellin'ya. Trust me, you won't find a finer slice anywhere in this shuck place.”
Minho blinked at him and then looked at the table. “So you don't like it here?”
Newt shrugged. “It's not bad. But. It's also not great. I love my job at the post office, really. I get to stamp letters and glue them together and fill in loads of paperwork. It's not super fascinating, but it's also not bad, y'know? But I'd like to do something, I don't know, something that matters. Something important.”
“I can imagine,” Minho agreed with a small smile on his face. “I wish I could do something to help people. I try, I do. But I'm not always fast enough.”
Newt nodded. “I know that feeling, trust me,” he threw a glance at his cane. “I'm so much slower than I used to be. But I got something in return, and it makes me much better at my job.”
“Patience?”
“Something like that. Hey, let's build a coaster castle.”
“Out of these thin paper coasters? It's never gonna hold!”
Newt shook his head. “Trust me, it will. It's sort of my party trick. I'm really good at card houses.”
Minho shrugged and gave Newt all the coasters he could easily reach, then opened the menu. Newt grinned. This was what he was good at. Impressing strangers by putting card on card and making sure with a little extra that they wouldn't fall.
“Holy shit!” Minho yelled, and the people two tables further looked at them angrily.
“Sorry,” Minho whispered and turned back to Newt. “When did you build these two stories? I only looked away for like ten seconds!”
“More like a minute, actually. Told'ya I was good. Can believe me when I say it. It's easy, once you got the drift.”
Minho shook his head. “I couldn't do it, my hands would shake too much. Nah. You build awsome card houses with your magic patience, I'll sit over here and stare at you-your piece of art.”
Newt didn't look up. He could feel Minho's interested eyes on his work, and he knew exactly what to do. On top of the high but other than that rather unspectacular card house, he built a tower, using the last available coasters. Just when he was done the waitress arrived with their food and drinks. Newt carefully set down hsis coke on the flat top of the card house tower. Minho stared. The waitress winked at him and left with the menues. He always built these. Everyone here was used to it by now, and as long as no children were around who would try to imitate him, they were okay with it.
The pizza was delicious, of course. Minho seemed to enjoy it as well, Newt thought, and continued to help his meal vanish into crumbs on his plate, only interrupted by taking small sips from his coke tower glass.
“Sooo good,” Minho sighed contently, which made Newt laugh. “You look like you've never in your life had pizza!”
“I'm just very hungry. I just ran here, remember?”
“Right. But really. Running? Doesn't that get kind of boring?”
Minho swallowed a piece of the crust and grinned. “I get around a lot, meet lots of interesting people. It's pretty awesome.”
“You meet people? While running?”
“Yeah like, when I stop running somewhere, then I see a thief and I can play hero for a minute. It's a nice feeling”
Newt coughed. Minho looked at him surprisedly and handed him his coke. “Are you alright? Did I say something wrong?”
“No, you just reminded me of someone. How fast did you say you can run?”
“As quick as a flash. Ha!”
Newt chewed the cheesy tip of his newly started pizza slice carefully and avoided looking at Minho until he couldn't push it away any longer.
“As... quick as The Flash?”
Minho's eyes grew wide. “No. Nonono. No. Just an expression. I'm not The Flash. Sadly. I wish I was. He's a hero. No. I'm just. I'm just me, I just like to run.”
Newt took a sip of his coke. “I could. Maybe. Don't tell anyone. I'll have to ask, but. I could introduce you to him. If you wanted.”
Minho dropped the pepperoni he had contemplated only seconds before. “Are you serious? You know The Flash? You- I could say hi to him? He's my biggest inspiration. Him and Glue-Man!”
Newt spit out his coke and most of it landed on his pizza. “Fuck, “he spluttered, “fuck I'm disgusting. I'm sorry.”
“Hey, don't make fun of Glue-Man! He's the fucking best, okay? He can do so many amazing things. The time he rescued these kids from the fire? They would have fallen down four stories, but he fixed the sunblind of the ice-café and made it stable enough for the kids to land safely on the ground. And the time that bridge was about to crash? I swear, nobody would've survived. And Glue-Man fixed the bridge long enough for everyone – E V E R Y O N E – to get to safety. He's the biggest hero ever. You can't not admire him!”
Newt stared at his plate with more concentration than probably needed.
“I'm not making fun of. Glue-Man. I just wasn't aware that people... liked h-him.”
“Oh, please. He has fan clubs and everything! We tried to communicate with him once, but it didn't work. Well. I guess that's what you get for having a secret identity, right?” Minho laughed. “Nobody can send you presents.”
Newt nodded forcedly. “Yeah. I guess that's the price you'd have to pay.”
“What about you, Newt? Who's your favorite superhero?”
Newt blushed and moved his eyes back to the mess on his plate that was pizza and coke and cheese. It looked disgusting.
“Uhm. I'm not sure. Maybe. Maybe Superman. Because like. He can fly. I wish I could fly. But. No. No I take it back. Superman has all these powers, see, and anyone could be a hero with super powers. No. No I think I have to say Q-Kid. Because he doesn't have super powers and he still runs around saving people. Also I really like his suit. Although I'm not sure why he'd call himself Q-Kid.”
“Short for 'quick',” Minho threw in, and after seeing Newt's surprised face, he added, “I think. That's what I always assumed. Quickkid. If you say it quickly it sounds like Kickit. I don't know. I feel like it has a nice sound to it.”
“You're right! I never noticed that! Yeah. Quickkid. He's my favorite, I think.”
Minho suddenly turned very quiet.
“It must be difficult, hiding a secret identity,” he murmured.
“Tell me about it,” Newt sighed.
“What?”
“What? Nothing. I can imagine. I mean. You can't really talk to anyone, right? And even if you have superhero-friends, it's not like you can see them all the time, or bring them to parties. They're always busy. I mean, that's what I imagine, at least.”
Minho looked at him, and Newt sighed. Could he be any more obvious?
“I'm so glad Thomas set us up,” Minho suddenly said. “I feel like everything you say makes sense. I'm so glad I met you.”
“Yeah, me too,” Newt said and smiled.
Minho fiddled with his pizza crust, then dropped it on the plate. “This pizza is delicious, but how would you feel about ice cream?”
“In January?” Newt laughed.
“Hey, we make the rules!” Minho replied and grinned cheekily.
Newt smiled. “Yeah. Ice cream sounds good!”
They payed and got up, pulling their jackets over and making sure their scarves would protect them from the cold as much as possible, before going outside, on the windy street, together, hand in hand, looking for ice cream and for new beginnings.