Order of Steak

Here it was again. Matentines. Gus, in his time, had found that it was one of the best times of year. There were plenty of reasons to love the holiday, the chocolates, celebrations of love, drinking, and most of all, the coupling. He was experienced in that endeavor, finding himself with many prospects, but at the years went on, his once party animal friends had settled somewhat. 

There was nothing wrong with settling, naturally, for somebun that *really* got you going, but as Gus didn't catch up with them, he was admittedly starting to feel... a little left out. 

So, when he eventually heard about the Church's mission to pair up Succubuns for the season, he couldn't resist. It would be nice to spread his arms again and hopefully find something unserious to shack up with for the season until the heat passed. The pair had agreed to meet at a diner, a little hole in the wall where they apparently served pretty good coffee. Gus couldn't say no to that. As he waited outside, he leaned on the corner of the building and scratched at his beard. He tried to imagine what his date would look like. 

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Matentines. One of the most dreaded times of the year. It wasn’t that Siobhan disliked the holiday — in fact, she adored everything about it. The chocolate, the flowers, the romance…oh, the feeling of love in the air was so romantic. That was, if one actually had a mate to spend it with. 

The truth was, Siobhan had terrible luck with love. Every prospect she had ended in one way or another. Some ended dramatically, some almost comically, while others ended with nothing more than a quiet fizzle. It had become something of a running gag between her friends, to guess how the next one would end. So when the Church announced their mission to pair Succubuns up together, Siobhan decided that this time she would prove them wrong. She was going to get a mate this season.

Or, at the very least, she could get a free latte out of it all.

Approaching the diner, she eyed the patrons outside, wondering which one was her date for the afternoon. Her warm eyes soon fell on the bearded bun who appeared to be scanning the crowd just as she was. That must have been him.

Approaching the other bun shyly, she addressed him in a coy, sweet tone. “Um…excuse me. Are you Gus by chance?”

. 

Gus looked to the bun who approached. Well... it wasn't exactly his type, though, he wasn't going to complain. With fluffy fur and a smell of fresh grounds to her, she was a sight for sore eyes, even for a bun like him. Smiling warmly, he stood up from where he leaned on the wall. 

"Right! And you must be..." Oh no. He was awful with names, and he'd already forgotten Siobhan's. S... S.. It started with that. Sho.. Maybe. Maybe she wouldn't be upset with a nickname? "Sho, right?" He tilted his head. He'd hoped she'd fill in the gaps. Fake it till you make it, as they say.

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…Sho? This was already off to a bad start. Not even five minutes in and her date couldn’t remember her name. 

Still, she wouldn’t give up hope. Not yet, anyway. Forgetting a name was just a simple mistake, right? Perhaps they could move past this and live a happy, romantic life.

“Siobhan, actually, but…Sho works too, I guess.” She giggled off his little mix up. “It’s nice to meet you, Gus. Ready to head inside?”

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Siobhan. He wasn’t even close! Gus smiled softly, and ushered her inside ahead of him. As she walked, her fluffy head of hair bounced. Between the two of them, their hair could probably make two huge fur coats. It was almost silly how alike they were, yet completely different. 

When they were seated, he finally got to get a good look at Siobhan. She was cute, but not really his type. That’s the problem with blind dates, isn’t it? 

“I hope you don’t mind the place I recommended, Siobhan. This diner has great coffee.” Gus didn’t bother looking at the menu, he went there so much that he didn’t need to look to be sure what he wanted to order.

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Siobhan found her seat at a small booth across from the other bun, and teased her fur to fluff it up some before giving Gus a warm smile.

“Oh, I don’t mind it at all,” Siobhan assured, “honestly, great coffee is all I really need.” 

Her eyes then fell to skim the options on the menu. The coffee selection wasn’t exactly expansive, with only just the standard black coffee with cream and sugar, but that didn’t faze Siobhan at all. It was to be expected eating at a diner like this, Though not her personal go-to drink, there was something comforting about a simple cup of joe.

Now, picking a meal was something else. “Do you come here a lot, Gus?” Her eyes flicked back up to her date. “What’s good to eat here, you think?”

.

"I do! It's my favorite. There's plenty of things that're good though, I'm particular about the steak that they serve." Come to think of it, she didn't seem like a steak girl, did she? Gus tried to think. "But the pie's good too?"

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“Steak and pie, hm?” Siobhan hummed, thinking over his suggestions. Both sounded so cozy and delicious…would it be too much to order both? What would he think of her if she did? What kind of girl would Gus like anyway? She wasn’t really picky when it came to mates, but maybe he was…?

“Then, a slice of pie sounds nice.” She finally answered, giving up on the steak. She wouldn’t appear very cute if she ate steak, right? This was a date, so looking cute was more important than stuffing her face…even if she really wanted to.

.

So, he was right about the steak. A dainty girl like her wouldn't like something like that. Gus cleared his throat after, and a waiter appeared just on time. Between them ordering the coffee and food, Gus found himself nervous all over. Usually, he was a fine talker, but there was some kind of awkward air about the situation. 

"Is this your first time doing something like this?" Gus tried to sus it out.

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“Me? Oh, no…not exactly. I’ve done this a few times…” Siobhan couldn’t help nervously fluffing her fur again. She wouldn’t admit just how many times she’d been through this process. “And what about you? Is this your first time?”

.

"Yeah!" Gus smiled. It was actually still hard to wrap his head around the fact that he was doing this at all. "Actually, it's funny, I sort of just did this on a whim." Gus chuckled, and their coffee arrived shortly thereafter.

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“Really now? How adventurous!” Siobhan chuckled along with him, her mood improving ever so slightly once the coffee arrived. She couldn’t possibly be too upset with a good cup of coffee in front of her. Before adding cream and sugar, she took the cup in her dainty paws, lifting it to take a sip to savor the flavor of the undiluted black. Bold, and slightly nutty. She hummed, then reached to pick her choice of sweeteners.

“So…what kind of bun are you looking for?” She probed, looking for tips on how to best present herself to him.

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What kind of bun was he looking for? Now that was a tough question. Gus wasn’t looking for anyone in particular, mostly someone to spend the holiday with, at any rate. The way Siobhan moved so delicately, and drank only the slightest bit of sips of the dark coffee, Gus was beginning to wonder if Siobhan was just too uptight for someone like him.

“Well… I like a bun who knows how to have a good time!” He tried to explain it simply, though perhaps it ended up unintentionally vague.

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’A bun who knows how to have a good time?’ What did he mean by that exactly? Siobhan couldn’t help but to take it the only way her lustful brain could.

“Oh? Like sex? That’s fine by me.” Finding a mate was the point of this date, wasn’t it? Naturally something like that would be involved. “But…what about romantically?”

.

Gus was even less sure about that. Romantically, well, he hadn’t thought much about romance. If he had to pick something, he’d like someone who could keep up with him… someone spontaneous… 

“Huh? Well… the same, I guess.” He didn’t realize how much he was making Siobhan struggle.

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The same? What did that even mean? He wasn’t exactly helping her out here! It sounded as though he wasn’t even sure what he wanted out of this!

“W-Well, I’ve always wanted a partner to go on adventurous dates with...” She replied with a nervous chuckle, grasping at straws. If he was so fun loving, maybe he’d be interested in things like that?

.

Adventurous! That must be good. Gus smiled back at her, and opened his mouth to inquire about her idea of a good adventure would be. Could it be something like kayaking, surfing? Hiking?? He couldn’t imagine her doing something like that, but you never know! 

Though, just then, the waiter arrived at the table with their food. The pie they passed her was a small piece, dainty, and likely not very filling. For Gus, he received his steak, with a butter sauce for the topping. “Yours looks good,” Gus said.

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Siobhan took a pause from the conversation as the waiter moved to set down their food in front of them. 

…Huh? That was it? 

Siobhan wasn’t necessarily a big eater by any means, but she did consider herself as something of a foodie, and she loved to try new and exciting dishes. So, she thought, shouldn’t a pie slice from a hole in the wall diner be bigger? Yet here was this dainty pie slice, no bigger than a tea cake. Comparing it to Gus’s dish, and with the way this awkward date was going, she was beginning to regret not indulging herself.

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Gus was not having the same problem. Instead, he was beginning to eat his steak, which, in comparison to how big he was, was easily finished in a few cuts with his steak knife and a a few more bites. 

Eventually, he hadn’t realized that neither of them had said a word until he finished. When he looked up, Siobhan’s expression looked to be… in pain? Sad? He didn’t know what to think of it. 

“Are you okay?”

.

Siobhan hadn’t even touched her pie yet. She had been staring intently at Gus the entire time, watching him as he devoured his steak in silence.

It wasn’t fair, was it? That she had to try so hard just to find a mate, to avoid the teasing of her friends. That she had to pretend, to hide her true self, just to get with someone. That she had to settle for a measly slice of pie while her date got to eat delicious steak! It just wasn’t fair!

Without warning, Siobhan stood up in her chair, tears welling in her eyes. “I…I don’t want to be your mate! You’re not my type! And…And I want to eat steak too!”

.

And just like that, the tension broke. The other patrons in the diner looked over for a moment, but ultimately ignored the bun's outburst. Gus was shocked, to be sure, but to hear Siobhan lay her feelings bare... Gus sighed.

"Oh, thank goodness." He put a hand on his chest. "I think you're not really my type either... maybe we can settle for just being friends instead?" 

He waited until Siobhan tearfully nodded, and waved down the waiter for one more order of steak.