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abominable-space-they · 1 year

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I think about this so much I accidentally made a spacedogs meet cute about it.

a lot of autistic ppl feel shy & awkward in social situations but NT's usually read us as bitchy unless we're actually being bitchy, then they usually think we're being cringe, dumb, or funny

So when I imagine Adam & Nigel meeting in a social situation, at some society party that encompasses academia & the performing artists/musicians crowds

I imagine Adam trying to keep to himself but inevitably being drawn into conversation bc his knowledge base is like a party trick to these ppl. Sometimes he bristles & snaps but they think he's being funny.

He tells jokes that are as much at their expense as he dares, small frustrated sharp toothed indulgences. They never realize, they never react at all, except Nigel.

The first time Nigel laughs at one of his jokes, Adam thinks he's being laughed at, his eyes jerk up, instantly clammy with anxiety.

Nigel is just smiling enthusiastically, he tips his beer in Adam's direction

"A-fucking-men. Who has time for bullshitters? Kill em all, let god sort em out"

Nigel goes back to whichever party attendee he was talking to like it was nothing. It probably was nothing to Nigel. Adam however was cast adrift. He'd never had an interaction with anyone like that, without that looming shadow of his otherness perched hulking between him and anyone else he ever tried to talk to.

He went over and over the conversation in his head, tried to find the hidden mockery, the underlying "god why are you so weird?" but couldn't find it. Did that mean it wasn't there? Or did he miss the obvious again?

After that Adam started paying closer attention to Nigel when their paths crossed. Nigel was handsome. He had an easy dangerous charm, always smiling, having a very good time. He was always with another very sexy person who hung from him like he was their salvation, at least that night.

Nigel was piercingly observant, clever. He never said the things he saw though, just smiled a crooked secret smile. Adam got a little obsessed with categorizing all of Nigel's smiles. There was the easy smile when he knew he had his audience in the thrall of his charm, the smile when he knew he was about to make some money or get laid. Those smiles were self satisfied.

There was the smile when Nigel thought the people around him were being a bit amusingly predictable or unimpressive. The toothy sharp smile when he was angry. That one was dangerous.

None of his smiles ever reached his eyes, not really, not any time at all... except when he was joking with Adam.

And what exactly did that mean?

Adam thought it might mean that Nigel was in a very real way, almost as alienated as he was, just better at hiding it. He was better at not letting the boring people know that he only thought they were boring or inconvenient or both.

Adam wished he was brave enough to ask Nigel to teach him how to care less, to show less. He could never quite bring himself to.

He felt to obvious to himself, like Nigel would take one look at Adam and just know the strange mix of envy and desire that was building in his gut.

He couldn't be rejected if he never asked though. So that seemed like his best bad choice. Not the best plan he'd ever had, but not risking the possibility that he'd misjudged was the safest option at least.

The night everything changed for them was a Friday, unassuming in most ways. Adam was socially at his limit that week. He didn't want to come to yet another fundraiser or overly extravagant dinner party really

But he even more so he didn't want to miss his weekly small dose of Nigel's joking with him (flirting, he was flirting Adam knew that, but Nigel was always flirting w/ everyone. It didn't mean anything he reminded himself repeatedly)

Then that particular tired night Nigel came in wearing Adam's favorite shirt, a whimsical one with adorable little dumb dogs on it.

It's so out of place on this dangerous charming man, Adam loved it instantly.

Unfortunately that night Nigel was also wearing some gorgeous willowy, tall, blonde fashion model of a man, named something like Kyle, Micheal, Jeremiah, or maybe Brian.

Something like that, Adam couldn't be bothered to remember.

Usually Adam only drank a little wine or beer at these events. It seemed a bad idea to risk his paper thin respectable, not quite acceptance here, on to much alcohol making him even more blunt and irritably overwhelmed.

But tonight, at the end of his very bad week, Nigel coming so prettily draped with this... arm candy? Adam couldn't take it

Wouldn't take it

He stormed over to the little catered bar area, composing himself. It wasn't the caterers and staff's fault.

"Can I get four shots of tequila, no salt, two limes-, Please"

The kid behind the bar blanched slightly, Adam was here as many Friday events as he could stand and he never ordered anything more daring then a hard cider.

His face must have looked the right amount of serious though, the bartender didn't try to make polite conversation over it. Good.

Adam steeled himself with his frustration, his righteous indignation. He made Nigel's eyes smile, not this beautiful hanger on who knew nothing about him other than that he was rich and handsome. It was inconceivably unacceptable.

He decided no preamble to mess up would be best so just handed Nigel his shots, the ones with the limes. He pointedly didn't look at very pretty Eric what's his name, just nodded a bit to formally at Nigel.

"I got these for you. I-... thought you might like them"

Nigel looked confused but not unhappy about this turn of events

"Adam?... what are we celebrating? Or is this the last drink before we go off to war?"

"I don't know yet honestly. I am trying to be spontaneous. I'm not very good at that"

Nigel chuckled, The honest one, the one that made his eyes glow happily. Good. Social contract fulfilled then.

Adam didn't look at his shots either. He didn't give himself a chance to second guess himself, just threw the first shot back past his tongue like it was medicine, with no chaser. He squinted a bit, stimmy growl humming through the burn. That was all right, it focused him in his body.

A a few seconds later his stomach stopped tossing around warning messages and was ready for the second one. He tossed that one back with medicinal efficiency too.

When Adam felt settled and calm enough to look directly, Nigel appeared happily stunned as he took his own shots. This obviously wasn't what he was expecting from Adam at all. He put one lime in his mouth to suck the bitter taste of alcohol away, offering Adam the other.

"You don't need a chaser?"

Adam laughed at himself a little, his wild misspent youth mostly involved mystery illnesses and constant pressing anxieties.

"No, I was a sickly kid, always having to take new medicines, deal with medical tests... "

Adam made intentional eye contact, looking up through his eyelashes at Nigel, leaving his mouth a little open, shining & wet

"I can swallow just about anything now. I've put much more questionable things in my mouth then tequila"

Nigel, for the first time in Adam's experience was almost speechless, still holding the lime out to him.

"You sure?"

Adam shrugged

"If you insist I guess."

Still making as sexy burning eye contact as he contained in his whole body, Adam leaned in, plucked the lime slice out of Nigel's mouth, and popped it into his own.

"I don't know, a lot of people hate bitter things, things that come on to strong, are to intense. But I've always loved them. They feel refreshing, centering. Personal taste I guess."

Adam slowly bit into the lime, skin and all, in a showy way just to watch Nigel watching him do it

The arm candy boy finally decided enough was enough

"Excuse me?! What the fuck?!"

Adam sighed deeply, neurotypical people were so tiresome

"You should just go away now. You're no longer needed. He thinks you're boring. I think you're boring. It's because you're boring. If you go now you'll still have your dignity though Jason"

"My name's not fucking Jason & I'm his date freak, you go"

That roused Nigel out of his amused willingness to see what Adam was gonna do, stepping slightly between them with a bristling, heavily controlled violence rolling off him

"Funny thing, he's fucking right. Any-fuckking-way, if you don't like fuckin freaks then you don't like me Jason. I think our night just ended. I'll call you an Uber. I'm not an a complete monster."

"What?!?! I can get my own Uber. What the Fuck is happening right now? MY NAME'S NOT JASON!"

Adam rolled his eyes, making sure not to flinch or shrink. The cold indignation helped.

"ok? Go be not Jason anywhere but here"

Nigel's beautiful date was livid, which Adam supposed was fair. Nigel just laughed at the whole mess though, like it was a relief, something new and entertaining.

"I'm sorry. I said I'd buy your drinks, a nice arrangement so I could do my job. I never said anything about marriage and a two car garage"

Adam didn't think Nigel really sounded sorry at all, even as Not Jason flounced away, cussing Nigel out loudly. Nigel seemed not even a little sorry. It was a relief. Adam hadn't realized he was holding his breath. He watched Not Jason go, turned to blink owlishly at Nigel.

"I'm sorry I didn't know he'd make such a scene"

Nigel laughed again, delighted.

"You didn't know he'd make a scene?"

"No, I have an ample amount of ability to feel shame. I would have left immediately if I was him, and I didn't know if you'd choose me. So I might have been the one who needed to leave. I'm sorry, that's probably the craziest thing I've ever done. I will probably freak out about it a bit later, depending I guess. But Nigel, he can't make you smile. I make you smile."

Nigel looked at him like he was some rare uniquely precious thing. A whole constellation of beautiful secret things, found hidden behind a taxidermy squirrel riding a tiny ski jet at a flea market that smelled like moth balls and stale chocolate.

"You thought I might reject you and you still did all that?"

"Yes? It's offensive. He can't see you, how much more you are then just this stupid party. I see you Nigel, every Friday I see you. Why can't I be the one..."

Adam trailed off, not quite brave enough to finish the sentence. Nigel had no such fear though. He pulled Adam close so he could speak low in his ear, semi private even in the crowd.

"You would be Gorgeous, they don't realize how funny you are, or how bitchy. I do, you're beautiful, but what I do for a living is pretty fuckin against the law. No offense babe but you seem the law abiding good boy type"

Adam felt an electric thrill shooting through his whole nervous system. He didn't read it wrong?! Nigel liked him too? Romantically?! The thrill made him braver then he would be usually

"Maybe I'm tired of being good. Maybe I want to be bad too Nigel... within reason"

Nigel snort laughed happily into Adams space, clearly endeared by Adams specificity

"Within reason, noted. Listen soo, the thing about not having a gag reflex? Were you being serious? Or was it just a come on"

"Yes it was a come on, yes I was being serious. I'm usually serious, even when I'm not being serious. I was serious about the reason too, I really was a sickly kid... that's... less sexy."

"mmmh Adam babe, don't sell yourself short. You're fuckin sexy, and hell with an opener like that. Work can wait, you wanna tell me all about that sickly childhood and anything else you want, Alpha Centauri?... If you're feeling inspired"

"you remembered I like the stars?"

"How could I not? You light up when you talk about them."

Oh, that felt so very nice. Adam threw caution to the wind, tugging Nigel by the hand back away from the crowd and the noise. He absolutely had to get his mouth on this man immediately. It was an emergency, a mouth emergency.

"I am feeling very inspired Nigel"

"Inspiration looks damn beautiful on you Babe. We might have to start a mutual inspiration club, only two members, very exclusive"

Adam barked a laugh at that very silly joke. I wasn't the type of joke a very cool dangerous guy makes, like the dumb shirt, Adam loved the dumb joke instantly too.

"Yes, ok let's do that then, sounds fun"

(years later they still called their anniversary mutual inspiration club, everyone always groaned but them, they're to busy being "inspired" to care what anyone but them thinks at all)

#spacedogs fanfiction #spacedogs #adam raki #nigel x adam #heu #hannibal extended universe #meet cute #flirting #adam raki has had enough #Nigel is indulgent and loves a little chaos

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