Flash Fic Friday

Henry wiped his sweaty palms on his jeans and kept his gaze fixed on the door. His untouched chai latte sat cooling on the table in front of him, and he couldn’t even think about eating the piece of pumpkin roll. His stomach was tied in nervous knots, so he didn’t eat. He just watched the door of the cafe and waited.

He was finally meeting wolverineX25. They met online for the first time six months ago when they joined the same raiding party on a popular MMORPG. After realizing the other gamers in the party were morons, Henry and wolverine split off. They began meeting up to complete missions together and an easy camaraderie turned into veiled flirting. It went on for months. Henry couldn’t wait to get home at the end of the day just so he could meet up with wolverine.

Eventually, wolverine suggested they also start talking through Hangouts. Henry had been all for that and eagerly said yes. And for the last several weeks, they spent all day everyday sending each other random tidbits of their day and generally sharing themselves with each other. When Henry had said something about a traffic snarl he got caught in, wolverine realized that they not only lived in the same city, but rather close to each other. They marveled over the coincidence of it, and then, tentatively, wolverine suggested they meet.

Henry had wanted to say yes immediately. But he let common sense prevail and put it off for another couple of weeks. He and wolverine kept talking, and wolverine never pushed. Other than an occasional wistful comment that he wished they could meet. Finally, Henry bit the bullet and suggested a well known local cafe for a neutral ground meet up. Wolverine quickly accepted. And now Henry was anxious and nervous, watching the door for his date to walk in.

The door opened again, and the man of his dreams entered. Henry swallowed hard. Or at least he used to be. Before he started flirting and building something with wolverine, Logan had been what fueled all of Henry’s fantasies. They worked on the same floor, just four cubicles apart. Henry had noticed Logan the minute he started, and he lusted after him. But they never had much occasion to talk. And Logan was probably straight anyway. When wolverine had come into the picture, Henry had pushed Logan out of his mind.

But now the man was walking into his favorite cafe, and when he caught sigh of Henry, Logan did a double take. His deep brown eyes got wide, and he looked surprised. Henry watched as Logan’s gaze swept the cafe, looking for something, before it finally settled back on Henry. And then, to Henry’s utter shock, Logan approached him.

“Hi, Henry,” Logan said in that low, soothing voice he had. “What are you doing here so early on a Saturday morning?”

Henry had to clear his throat and lick his lips before he could speak. “I’m meeting a friend.”

“Is that right?” Logan said, almost to himself.  He didn’t say anything for a second, and then he took a deep breath. “I notice you’re wearing a Captain America shirt.”

Henry looked down at himself, where Cap’s shield was plastered across his chest and then back up at Logan with a frown. “Yeah. Um, you’ve seen it before. I’ve worn it on dress down Friday…”

Henry had to chalk it up to nerves that his brain wasn’t firing on all cylinders. His eyes widened, and then he dropped his gaze to the Dr. Who shirt Logan was wearing. And then his brain finally put all the pieces together.

“Wolverine?” he asked, his voice coming out breathy. When Logan smiled and nodded, Henry let out a chuckle. “I totally get it now.”

Logan laughed too. “Yeah, well.” He looked around again, and then gave all his attention to Henry. “I had no idea SweetH17 was you.  I, um, should have put that together. Seeing as how I know your last name.”

Henry waved that away. “Nah. There was no way you could have known.”

Logan nodded and then things turned awkward. They both stared at each other for a long moment. Henry felt the blush creeping up his cheeks. This had been the man he’d been easily talking to for months. Falling in love with, really, but he wasn’t going to say that out loud. But now that he had the person in front of him, and knowing that Logan had been so close all along, Henry felt weird. Did their chemistry only work online? Now that Logan knew who Henry was, was he no longer attracted to him?

“You know,” Logan said softly, leaning forward into Henry’s space. “I never asked you out because I was lusting after this guy I had met online. We had a real connection, and I wanted to see where it went. I’m glad it was you, Henry. Surprised. But glad. Want to give this thing a try in the real world?”

Henry felt the grin stretching his lips. “Have a seat.”