YOUNG IN THE CITY

BELIEVE IN SAYING SOMETHING, WOULD YOU PLEASE LISTEN?

The coffee from the café below the hideout was… tolerable? He didn’t really like the stuff despite the amount he tended to drink on the daily. It was perfect for when all he wanted was a caffeine fix, and after a day of classes it was exactly what he needed.

The afternoon air was warm, but thankfully not too warm. The last thing he wanted was too feel stifled and sweaty, though he knew it was only a matter of time before he’d be dealing with that kind of weather. He was basically dreading it. What no one told him about binders, is that they were super uncomfortable when it was hot out. He’d savour the cool weather while he could.

Roan yawned as he stepped into the coffee shop, pausing to idly scratch at one of the scars on his skin, just under the collar of his shirt. From what he’d gathered, there were plenty of people like him within the revolution with scars very similar to his own. Evidence of the training he’d undergone and the amount of pain he could take -- what he would endure for the cause and all that.

His hair fell into his face, but he ignored it for now. He shuffled over to the counter and ordered, something with lots of sugar and cream. Though, if they forgot his order and just got him straight black coffee he wouldn’t complain. Either way, he’d be getting the caffeine his tired brain craved. He had a paper to do later tonight, he’d need all the help he could get. Just after he placed his order, he heard his phone go off. It was Dee. He already knew it without even looking. Sure, it could be someone looking to commission him, but it was probably Dee. Roan backed away from the counter to wait for his order and pulled his phone out of his pocket, a smile tugging at his lips as he peered down at the screen.

He quickly typed an answer, 'I need coffee in order to function, so that sounds DAMN good dude. Add it to the list of shit we gotta do when we meet.'

TAGGED: Dimitri Ryder , :3c

YOUNG IN THE CITY

BELIEVE IN SAYING SOMETHING, WOULD YOU PLEASE LISTEN?

While he waited for his coffee and for Dee to reply, he scrolled through his feed. Nothing of much note greeted him. Thankfully, he didn’t encounter any spoilers for the game he was set on getting. The internet seemed to always be set on ruining things for him. How hard was it to shut up about the best video game ever? Apparently pretty difficult. But, he’d taken precautions and blocked the tag for it.

Roan glanced up when he heard someone slip past time and talk to the barista at the counter, but quickly lost interest. Who the heck said ‘kickin’ in this century? He probably should’ve kept paying attention though, maybe then he would’ve been able to avoid the guy when he stepped back into him. Shuffling slightly away from the man and his slightly ridiculous height, he shrugged. “Don’t worry about it.”

His attention was quickly drawn back to his phone when he got a new message, he couldn’t help but grin a little. Roan had managed to type, 'You keep it on your fridge? Just write it down in your notes on your phone like everyone-' before his phone was snatched unceremoniously from his hands. And like any normal person, he reacted appropriately. “What the fuck?”

While Roan definitely wasn’t the most intimidating person, he tended to blend into the background if anything. Which, while good for his job, wasn’t the best when trying to threaten people. But despite his less than impressive stature, he did know a few things about fighting. Clenching his hands into fists, he whirled around to glare at the thief. “Give me my fucking phone back.”

TAGGED: Dimitri Ryder , roan looks like an angry kitten confirmed. an angry kitten who probably has dirt on you

YOUNG IN THE CITY

BELIEVE IN SAYING SOMETHING, WOULD YOU PLEASE LISTEN?

At first, Roan was just really confused. Was this guy stealing his phone or not? And the more he spoke, the more things didn’t really make sense. What gave him the right to call him a gremlin? It took him a moment to figure out exactly who was standing in front of him, and the realisation hit him like a truck. His eyes widened and his angry expression softened with shock. “Dee?”

“Holy shit.” The words were like a whisper and full of disbelief. What were the chances of meeting Dimitri here, in Seattle of all places? Why hadn’t he figured it out beforehand? Dima was here, holy shit. It’d been so long, that he’d thought that maybe they would never end up meeting. Obviously, he was fucking wrong. Because Dima was here and holy shit, they could finally do all the things they’d been wanting to do for years. He wasn’t gonna cry. He wasn’t gonna fucking cry. Rapidly blinking his eyes in an attempt to keep the tears at bay, Roan couldn’t stop a quiet sniffle as a bright smile started to pull at his lips.

“I’m surprised all the pictures fit on your fridge, you’ve got that many cats.” He laughed and shook his head, a shaky hand coming up to rake through the bleached ends of his hair. At the mention of his height, Roan raised a brow. “Says the giant. I’m average height, thank you very much. First time we meet in person, and you take my phone and call me short. What the fuck, dude? I thought you were trying to steal it or something.”

TAGGED: Dimitri Ryder , aaahhh don't cry roan be strong

YOUNG IN THE CITY

BELIEVE IN SAYING SOMETHING, WOULD YOU PLEASE LISTEN?

“It's not always two.” He pointed out knowingly. Roan knew far too well how many strays Dimitri tended to collect. Some people had a collection of video games or coins, while his friend had a collection of stray cats. Wait, now that he knew that Dee was in the city, that meant he could even get to see his cats. Awesome. Fucking awesome. There was so much stuff they had to do, things they had to talk about. He didn't even know where to start.

He began with simply shaking his head at him. "No matter how I met you, it was always be memorable, you big dork." Though, he definitely wouldn't forget the first encounter any time soon. When Dee leaned down for a hug, it felt like a long time coming. "Please don't suffocate me."

All the times he'd wanted someone there, just to be close when he needed it and had to clutch his phone to his chest like some kind of substitute for the hug he actually wanted -- all that time made, and still this one hug was absolutely worth it. He was smiling so widely and he couldn't stop, the broad grin felt like it was almost breaking his face as he returned the embrace. "Holy fuck, I can't believe you're here."



TAGGED: Dimitri Ryder, hughuGHUG

YOUNG IN THE CITY

BELIEVE IN SAYING SOMETHING, WOULD YOU PLEASE LISTEN?

When was the last time he'd had such a nice hug? A while. A really long while. But it was good. He could definitely get used to it. Especially since it was Dee. Dee, Dima, Dimitri. He still couldn't quite believe it. It was slowly sinking in, but it was taking its time. It felt kind of like a dream, but the tight squeeze that Dima gave him was enough to affirm that, yep, this wasn't a dream.

The tight hug was kind of uncomfortable, but he couldn't even bring himself to care all that much.

When he loosened his hold, Roan stepped back just a little to look up at him. "It's been awhile since I moved here for school, and I've been coming to this coffee shop for months now, I don't how I haven't seen you." Or maybe he had, and he just hadn't realised it. God, how many times had he walked past Dee without even thinking, glancing over his face and completely disregarding him. That won't be happening ever again.

"I know! You kept talking about the city you lived in, and I had absolutely no idea. Talk about dumb." He shook his head, not even trying to stifle the smile on his face. Yeah, he was definitely a spy alright. He couldn't even add up all the obvious hints that popped up whenever they messaged each other. He could see how obvious it all was when he looked back on it now, and he felt a little silly for not being able to figure it out beforehand.



TAGGED: Dimitri Ryder, this hug's my last resort. suffocation, no breathing

YOUNG IN THE CITY

BELIEVE IN SAYING SOMETHING, WOULD YOU PLEASE LISTEN?

His eyebrows shot up into his hairline at the mention of how much Dimitri actually frequented the coffee shop below the hideout. Surely, he had to have seen him before then. He must've forgotten the tall stranger he'd seen, under the impression that he was unimportant and that it was a face he'd never see again. Which was really bad, considering the job he did for the revolution. Though, he was at his most observant when he knew he was on a job. Outside of that, apparently he was not very alert. Yikes. "I guess even if I did see you, I wouldn't have known it was you anyway." He murmured quietly, shrugging bony shoulders.

Roan's smile somehow managed to get even bigger when Dima spoke and poked his tongue out the side of his mouth. Such a dork. "Yeah, at least there's that." He'd thought Dee was a total dork when they were just messaging each other, it was good to know that he wasn't wrong about his assessment. If anything, Dee was an even bigger nerd in person. It was so awesome that they lived in the same place though. They wouldn't have to spend any money to be able to see each other. At most, all he'd have to do was take the subway or the bus to meet up with him.

At the reminder of the coffee he'd ordered, Roan perked up. He'd ordered that coffee a while ago, surely it'd be made already. Had he missed his name being called out? "Oh shit, uh-" And that was about the moment his name was called out. Well, it was his name but it was horribly mispronounced. He walked over to get the steaming cup, before returning, peering down at the name labelling the cardboard. Ryan? That was definitely not the name he'd given the barista, but okay sure.


TAGGED: Dimitri Ryder, does it count as being blonde if you have a really bad dye job??

YOUNG IN THE CITY

BELIEVE IN SAYING SOMETHING, WOULD YOU PLEASE LISTEN?

Ryan, ugh. He scrunched up his nose at the horrible butchering of his name. Though, 'Roan' definitely wasn't a common name by any means, so he could kind of understand? Actually, no not really. Maybe he should've gone with a different name, but he liked it a lot. Roan had even gone through the trouble of asking Dima if it sounded cool. Besides, it'd been years, he wasn't about to change it now. He'd just have to put up with mispronunciations and misspellings of it.

"Hell yeah, let's sit." He said with a raised brow, like Dimitri even had to ask him. "I'm finished with classes for the day, so I'm free!" Even if he did have stuff to do, he would've happily blown them off to spend time with Dima. Because there was no way in hell he was just going to meet him for the first time, and then just ditch him to do something boring.

Going to the table Dima pointed out, Roan happily collapsed into a seat, taking a sip of his heavily sweetened coffee before he finally looked over at his best friend. "I guess you don't have to take me here, huh? I usually come here after classes." His yellow eyes brightened slightly as a thought suddenly occurred to him, leaning forward in his eagerness to voice it. "I can go see your band now! Holy crap, there's so many things- I can see all your cats too. Holy shit, Dee."

TAGGED: Dimitri Ryder, i'm on a roll tonight