Private It ain't the Sistine, but it'll do

Okay that was enough. He couldn't command his mother the way he did the other wolves - he'd never hear the end of that. But he needed this to stop. Taking a moment to interrupt, Dorian slipped a hand onto Paprika's shoulder and gave his mom a smile and said, "Thanks for the talk, Ma. I think Paprika and I are gonna head back out into the garage until the brisket's ready. Wanna give those burnt ends time to render out, ya know?"

He didn't wait for her to protest too heavily, steering his guest back out of the kitchen with hushed apologies. Dorian barely realized that he still had his arm around Paprika until they were almost back at the garage, at which point he very quickly removed himself from him. "Ah, sorry about that. Ma is... well she means well, and she's been supportive of me through everythin', but I reckon she's got some ideas in her head and... well, sorry anyway. Again."

They were safe back in the garage for the time being. No Mom to embarrass them. No Marcus to harass them. Just two friends, having a good time to-

Dorian did a doubletake at Paprika's question, his own cheeks reddening to match his guest's as he shuffled awkwardly in place. "I-" he started, rubbing his arm and trying not to grin like an idiot. "I mean I'd love to. I haven't really ever, I mean, I didn't want to assume you were, ya know. You're really nice though and I kind of hoped..."

Dorian shut up. He was babbling like a moron and the twang in his voice was thick enough to spread butter with, so he shut up and took a moment to breathe, laughing at his own dumb overreaction. "I'd love to. You seem like a real sweet guy and I was hoping I'd get the chance to get to know you better."

"Ah well, ya know. I figured it was a nice gesture, and nobody's gonna mess with a big wolf. And I also just uh, really enjoyed walking with you. It was nicer than sitting in the bar, surrounded by people way more qualified than me to be an Alpha."

The words came out of Dorian before he could stop himself. He huffed a bit, rubbing the back of his neck and smiling softly at Paprika. "I never really had much experience in this kind of thing. My family was always very, ah, reclusive back in the States for obvious reasons. And I was kind of kept out of the spotlight anyway when I came out as, ya know, myself. So you'll have to forgive me if I mess things up on our, ah... date."

He hoped that the word didn't sound as foreign coming out of his mouth as it felt, but he swung an arm forward to brush his hand against Paprika's nonetheless.

The hand squeezing his felt nice, and Dorian gave Paprika's hand a squeeze in return. He could feel his heartbeat in his ears and swallowed the knot of nervousness he felt growing. "Well that's good," he said with kind of a dorky laugh. "I guess we can figure all that out together."

But then the question of what they should actually do came up, and his mind drew a blank. He'd seen plenty of movies, heard cousins talk about the sorts of things they did on dates - many of which were inappropriate or off the table for logistical reasons. Couldn't very well go mudding with no ATVs. And he wasn't even sure if that sort of thing was something Paprika would be interested in anyway.

Dinner also seemed like a copout. And given that Paprika was a professional cook, it might end badly if they went somewhere he ended up not liking. Thinking through his options, Dorian finally suggested, "What about that space station? I ain't been up there yet and it seems like the kinda place we could just walk around til we found somethin' worth doin'."

"That sounds like a fantastic idea," Dorian said, awkwardly shuffling closer to narrow the gap between them. He didn't want to be weird, but it felt like the thing to do? He really wasn't sure what he was thinking.

"I just hope the food is good enough. And that my money is good up on the space station. I'll look into exchange rates and stuff if that'll be a problem."

And now he was rambling about something completely off the wall. Dorian laughed, scratching at his own cheek and squeezing Pap's hand a bit tighter. "Sorry, random I know. It does sound exciting and fun. I'm sure that whatever we end up doing, we'll have a lot of fun with."