Nick stared at Leo for a moment, contemplating. Did he? Was it worth Leo's time burdening him with his problems?

"No, it's alright," Nick started, then paused, pursing his lips. "It's just- y'know, the usual stuff. Like the night in the shack. Sometimes the memories just feel too fresh."

"I see," Leo looked over his work on the bandage, "I hope I don't bring you any sort of discomfort. I'd hate to be a reminder of something like that."

"No, don't worry!" Nick was quick to reassure his friend, leaning forward in earnest. "Actually, its…nice that you came in today. The nightmares have just been repeating in my head all day, but…you bring a lot of comfort with you, I feel better."

Leo laughed and Nick couldn't help but let his lips tilt up into a smile. "I suppose that's all I could ever want, after- what, three years since we met?"

"Well, it feels like a lot longer than that." Nick was finally beginning to relax as they eased into the conversation. "I'm happy it was you, though."

It was finally now, with a light squeeze from Leo, did Nick notice that their hands were still connected- both of Leo's hands holding his own in such a way that left Nick feeling light, a thumb passed over his knuckles, working out the anxiety he'd built up in his joints. 

He allowed his eyes to look up, locking with Leo's. Blue as deep as the sea peered back into his own, and Nick couldn't help but wonder if Leo's expression was one of a desire- a need to say something, the itch of a question burning in the back of his mind-

He'd never know, because Meg chose that moment to pop into the backroom, stopping quickly and putting her hands up like she'd been caught in a crime scene. 

"Woah, save room for Daianha! Nick, that customer is here to pick up that order. Take a work shirt and change in the bathroom real quick though- I don't think she needs to know that you shed blood over her project."

"Ah, sure!" Nick stood up and grabbed a work shirt from a stack in the corner, bouncing to the bathroom. Meg watched Leo begin to quickly pack away the first aid kid and she grinned, taking slow steps to approach the man.

"So," she started slowly, one arm crossed over the other, her hip cocked to the side, "you make a move yet?"

"Please, have mercy." Leo whined, closing the first aid kit. He hadn't looked at Meg yet, but she was certain she could see the heat radiating off of the man's face.

"Nope, I'm done with mercy." She crossed the final few feet to sit on the couch in front of him, and Leo internally groaned at her lecture-ready posture. "You've been friends for three years now- you've gotten so close! He talks about you all the time, it'd be SO easy!"

Leo couldn't help but sigh as he sat up straighter to look Meg in the eyes, only to quickly turn his attention elsewhere. "There's a lot more factors to this than a possibly mutual pining, Meg."

"Not possible, REAL. This is textbook pining- you guys are worse than the teenagers I see comin' in here sometimes."

Leo pursed his lips. Meg was usually spot on with these things- and she'd always been the one he'd go to for relationship advice, but this time felt so much more different to Leo. It wasn't like his crushes from before, where he felt confident in making his move, expertly navigating the flirting and coordinating dates- he felt positively weak in Nick's presence. 

His breath would hitch the moment Nick acknowledged him, his heart would stutter at the sound of his name in Nick's subtle Dranduin accent- none of these symptoms were typical in Leo's past relationships, and he was clueless to navigate them. He finally understood the term 'hopeless romantic'.

At that moment Nick glided quickly through the backroom, a light blue t-shirt had replaced his sweater, and he quickly added the last flower to his arrangement, taking it out to the front. The two paused their conversation to let him through, looking back to each other as he left.

"Putting the subjectivity of that aside," Leo started, noting mentally how nice that blue had paired with Nick's hair- he was keeping that to himself- "what if he says no? Then I've made our friendship weird. Or worse, he says yes, we break up, and I lose him forever?"

Meg was beginning to think that "dramatic" was the theme of the day. "You're thinking with the anxiety part of your brain again."

"My whole brain is the anxiety part of my brain." That could have been worded better, Leo.

Meg rolled her eyes at him. "But you always think too hard about these things and read too far into it- no one does that!"

"Lots of people do that." Leo interjected again, earning a smack on the knee from his friend. "I just don't want him to get hurt. What happens when I have to tell him about my past?"

"He accepts you the same way you would accept him and his past." Meg's tone was much less comical now as she geared up to a more serious one, her posture closer to that of a reassuring mother. "He really likes you, Leo- he's just scared. I've learned a lot about him since you brought him to me and asked me to hire him- he's got a history. You're exactly what he needs, and I think he's exactly what you need."

Leo stared at her for a moment, contemplating her words, before Meg smirked at him, her cocky demeanor returning. 

"If you don't ask him out today, you forfeit your spot and I give him my little black book."

Leo's eyes widened just a smidge at the implications in her words, sitting up a little straighter. "You wouldn't dare."

"I would." Her voice was coy, she was confident in her influence over him. "All the numbers of every cute guy in Destroh, all in the palm of his hand, one phone call away…."

Leo stares her down, challenging her sly expression with a stern one, until he sighed, looking away again. "I mean- isn't it weird, considering the circumstances of how we met?"

"It's only weird if you make it weird." Meg replied. "I mean- you told me you've had literal dreams about this guy."

It was quite intriguing to Leo how, over the years, Nick had grown from looking sort of like the man in his dreams, to being the man in his dreams. It was quickly becoming apparent that Nick was the one Leo was seeing every night, and the prospect of them meeting simply by chance was slimming gradually. 

"Well, yes." Leo's voice was quieter now as he recalled the confusing dreams. "Which makes this even more confusing. Interesting…but confusing."

"Sounds like Daianha really has a plan for you two."

Ugh, that sounded corny. Leo's eyes couldn't help but roll- quickly darting to Nick as he reentered the backroom, hand on the doorframe. 

"Meg, someone has a question I can't find the answer to."

"I'll handle it!" She bounced up quickly, her sales-rep persona returning like a switch. As she left she turned to Leo once more, giving him the universal "I'm watching you" gesture, and left. Nick watched her leave, a single eyebrow darting up in curiosity. 

"What was that about?"

"Ah, nothing." Leo answered quickly, standing up and turning to face Nick. He couldn't help but pause and take a moment to look him over, relishing in how damn cute he looked in the blue tee, a light green apron now draped over him to protect the clothing. His hair was up in a haphazard tail, and boy did he have a lot of it- it'd grown over the years, blood red waves draped over his shoulders, spilling down his back. 

At one point Leo was certain it would have been chopped off, but Nick continued to let it grow, reassuring him it was a Dranduin thing, and he was proud of how hard he had worked to maintain it. He had imagined himself getting the chance to run his fingers through the ribbons of red, hoping to confirm how soft Nick's hair always looked. 

"You alright?"

Nick's question caught Leo's attention immediately and he returned to the present, earning a smile from the shorter of the two. 

"She didn't threaten you, did she? We both know how good she is at going through with those."

Leo laughed nervously, already winded- he had no idea he'd been holding his breath. "Nah, just lost in thought- I should..get back to work."

Nick's smile fell at the words, his shoulders dropping. "Oh, alright. I'll walk you out."

The pair returned to the front of the store, and they both noticed Meg in the front at the register, talking to the customer from earlier. They stopped to give them some space to finish their transaction and Leo decided to take that moment as an opportunity. 

"You…close soon, right?"

Nick's head turned towards Leo, staring up at him. The 8 inch difference in their height made the task a little daunting as Leo towered over him. "Yeah, we close at seven. Two more hours to go."

Nick could immediately feel the anxiety radiating off of Leo as he fidgeted, unable to make eye contact. The blond cleared his throat nervously. 

"Maybe after work…" Leo paused to choose his next words carefully, "I can take you out to dinner. Formally. Not like- Formal as in fancy, I mean-”

“Leo, it’s okay.” Nick interjected gently, placing his hand on Leo’s bicep. The touch did nothing to calm Leo’s nerves- if anything, he’d been given a one way ticket to a panic attack. “You mean a date, yeah?”

Leo stumbled over his words, embarrassed with how difficult this seemingly easy task was for him. “Y-yeah, a date. A uh- romantic evening between the two of us. Just us.”

Nick chuckled, pulling his hand away and crossing his arms. “What did Meg say?”

Ah, so she’d definitely brought it up with the both of them- Leo should have known.