Lorn nodded. "Alright, I'll see you soon then." He smiled a little and reached out to stop Key from playing with the rose. Plucking it up, Lorn flicked off the thorn he'd noticed. With a flourish, he returned it to Key, then walked off. Soon cool night air filled his lungs. The stars caught Lorn's attention for a moment, or rather the illusion of them produced by flying planes and satellites. That was something he hated about cities, the lack of stars. Shaking his head at the thoughts, Lorn walked down the street until he noticed the café mentioned.

It didn't take long before the blonde warmed his hands around a cup of coffee, with a hint of caramel in the mix. The interior of the place was rather fascinating. There were so many different people milling about, from the young and hip, to the mysterious and harried.

Key stared after Lorn with a faint smile on his face. That little move with the thorn was more touching than it should be. He sat for another second before hurrying to go get changed. He only had faded slightly loose jeans and a simple top to change into though. He through his jacket on over it and hoped it would do. He bought the clothes in the girls section, but they were the sort of things that didn't exactly emphasis his girliness, not that most people noticed. He decided not to wipe off his makeup and only took down his hair and brushed it.

It was ten minutes or so before Key was hurrying through the cold to the cafe. He spotted Lorn and sat down at the table, dropping his bag on the floor with a clatter of multiple keychains. "Thanks for waiting."

Lorn watched Key walking into the café with a slight frown. He'd never seen her wearing clothing like that before, and he found he didn't like it. Emmery's words came back to mind. To rid himself of the seeds of suspicion his friend had planted, the man took a quick gulp of his very hot coffee. He coughed and spluttered as Key sat down, trying to regain his composure.

Once he could talk again, Lorn took a deep breath. " So what do you want to talk about?" It just seemed easier to let Key decide. This was nerve wracking ... Neither of them were at work this time. They had no excuses to evade and escape. It was nearly like a date, except Key was taken. "I hope your boyfriend won't mind me stealing you away from him for a while." Lorn chuckled a little at that to try and hide the discomfort he felt. He was doing it again, babbling a little or saying awkward things.

Key started by ordering himself a mexican hot chocolate. It was a little procrastination tactic, but it didn't help him procrastinate for long. He fidgeted with his phone in his lap, running his fingers over the two charms he'd tied to it. "Actually, I don't have a boyfriend. That was a misunderstanding...and I thought that maybe that would end things quickly, but then." Well then he'd started to kinda like Lorn. He didn't say that though. "I'm sorry for letting you think that."

"You were trying to get rid of the creepy admirer, I get it." Lorn smiled a little. He couldn't fault her for that. Being up on stage every night, well Key had a right to be careful about who she met. Though her last words puzzled him, he didn't mention them. Instead, Lorn focused on her. Sure, staring like that was a little strange, but it wasn't that bad. Emmery's words kept coming back to mind now that he was faced with Key in clothing that wasn't quite so feminine. Still ... Lorn couldn't find much masculine about her. "Don't worry about it, I understand."

"I was," Key said with a nod. "Ah, should I say it? It might just make what else I have to say worse," he groaned to himself. But he felt he had to verbalize it. He stopped fidgeting at least for that moment. He didn't want to appear like he didn't mean it. "I still want to say that I've started to like you. I don't want to. It makes things more complicated...I wish it didn't though." He ducked his eyes for a second, but returned them to Lorn's face to see could see the reaction.

(I wrote a post then it disappeared just when I was about to click post ..)

Lorn reached out to cover one of her hands with his. "I like you too Key." She was so nervous, so hesitant, so sure that her liking him was going to make a mess of things... The man couldn't understand what she was talking about. Emmery's words came back to mind, but he dismissed them easily. Key was too beautiful to be a man, there was just no way! Her soft ginger hair that made him want to reach out and see if his thoughts were true, that smile of hers ... And her voice.

(I hate when things like that happen)

Key let Lorn hold his hand for a few seconds, but he had to slowly pull his hand away. He continued to fiddle with his phone, even going so far as to chew on the corner of it which he never did in public though the scratches showed he'd done it before. "Yes...and that's why I have to tell you," he said as he moved his gaze from the phone back to Lorn. "Your friend was right. Drat, how should I say this? How could you not figure it out after he said it?"

It took a few moments for the meaning of Key's words to make any sense at all. Emmery had been right? Key was a man? "N-no ... Key, you aren't! I don't believe you. It's not true, this is all a joke right?" Emmery must have set it all up, that was it. That was it, it had to be. He placed his hands on the coffee cup, just to have something to do. It wasn't like he was going to leave ...

Though he wanted to run so badly, or drag Key away with him and ask the most impolite question he could. Would she actually take off her shirt to prove it? He just thought she was flat chested, but he'd never imagined that his affections had been taken by a man. It was all just so confusing, and to be honest it hurt quite a lot.

the look on Lorn's face was too painful to look at. Key went back to chewing on his phone. At this rate, he was going to need a new one if he managed to really crack it, but he couldn't keep still. "This is why I didn't want to start anything with you," he whispered. "I feel so bad." It was all his fault. For a second, he wondered why he couldn't just be a woman, but he'd never actually wanted to be fully female before. Now it was just so painful though. It was painful to see how Lorn obviously didn't want him anymore. He knew it would be that way. He was just glad that the other man hadn't already run off. It would come though.

Before he thought it through, he reached out to snatch the phone away from Key. "Stop that, you'll break your teeth or hurt yourself." Key was a man ... "So what's your real name?" Lorn couldn't wrap his mind around what had just happened. He felt like his world had just shattered and been put together again with things upside down. It hurt. Lorn actually felt tears welling up at the corners of his eyes.

With an annoyed growl, he dashed them away quickly with the back of his hand. Realizing that he still had the cellphone, he placed it onto the table quickly. Lorn forced himself to smile at Key. Despite the huge lie she, no he, had let lie between them, there was no denying the fact that Lorn still found him attractive.

A small squeak escaped Key as Lorn snatched his phone away. His eyes widened slightly, but he couldn't really say anything about it. It was probably for the best. "Keith. I hate that name though," he added with a frown. No one but his parents had called him Keith since before he graduated high school.

He still didn't want to look at Lorn, but he couldn't help it. "Really, I'm sorry. I know this is all my fault. But I guess...at least you believe me?"

*I'm still having a hard time wrapping my mind around ..." He couldn't even say it. It was hard to even think it. Honestly, Lorn just wanted to yell and scream at how unfair the world was. Finally, finally, he was talking to the person he'd been admiring since the show had begun, but she was a he. Lorn had never liked a man before, not in hs twenty-five years of life.

"I could...prove it," Key said finally after a bit of silence. That was so awkward. He didn't even know why he was offering. He never did things like that and he didn't think that it would help the situation, but he was desperate to fix it somehow. "Um, if you think that would help."

His head lifted so fast he thought he hurt his neck. "You would do that?" For him? Lorn let out a deep breath. He was too curious to let such an offer slip by. "Alright." Where would they go? It wasn't like the public restroom would make something like that easy. Lorn's mind wandered to his apartment, but he dismissed it. Nosy neighbors and landlord, they were sure to ask questions and pass the information on to annoying Emmery when he came by for a visit. So he didn't offer, and kept mulling over it instead.

Key was surprised how quickly Lorn agreed. But, he would do it. He watched the way ideas almost seemed to flit across the other man's face. He was obviously thinking of how this would work. Key was trying too hard and he knew it, but he didn't stop himself. "We could go to my place," he offered.

Lorn was again surprised by Key. Did the ginger haired actor really like him so much? The brown eyed man found himself swallowing loudly at the thought of someone caring for him like that. It was scary, and he'd been acting the same way with Key before he'd found out. "That sounds like a good idea." Lorn hesitated, then sighed.

Just this once .... It was a horribly impulsive idea, but he wanted to know so badly ... His thoughts were so scattered, Lorn didn't even know what he was thinking. He had to know what it was like, before finding out the truth about Key. Before he knew it, Lorn was moving to stand beside Key, lifting a hand to tilt the other person's face up to meet his gaze. "But this is a really stupid one," mumbled Lorn to himself just before he bent down to brush his lips against Key's.

He backed away with a blush, and held out his hand to help his companion up. "Sorry, I just really wanted to know before ... Just in case." Just in case finding out the truth made him change his mind about everything that had happened.

Key shook his head at himself as he grabbed his phone and put it in his bag. When he looked up, Lorn was standing in front of him. "Wha-?" he started at the other man's words, but he didn't finish the thought as Lorn bent down and lightly kissed him. Key thought his heat would die. It wasn't like it was going to jump out of chest of whatever people said. It felt like it tried to die. But Lorn had already stepped back.

Key nodded wordlessly as if he agreed, or understood. He was just confused though he had no idea if that was the look on his face or not. he grabbed his purse and stood. "Let's....it's this way," he said heading for the door.

Taking quick breaths to try and calm himself, he reached out for Key's hand without thinking. No wait, he had. Lorn just wanted to have a little time, just a little, to act like this was just a normal date with a delightful young woman. Sure, he was confused as confused as could be, but there wasn't really anything he could do about that. Instead he concentrated on enjoying himself for the moment, despite the stares some of the patrons were sending their way.

Once outside, he glanced to Key questioningly. "Which way, or do we need to take a car?" Lorn made no comment about the kiss and hand holding. He just wanted to act normal, just for a little while.

Key could feel the warmth from Lorn's hand. He slowed his pace a little until they were walking side by side. He didn't say anything about it. There would be time for all that later. He smiled a little, though it didn't fully light up his eyes. "I usually take the bus," he admitted. "Though I think we've already missed the last one of the night....Do you have a car?"

Wordlessly, he guided Key across the street and back to the emptying theater parking lot. His secondhand yellow car caught the eye, sitting nearly alone as it was beneath a streetlamp. It was almost a beater, but that was just on the outside. Letting go of Key's hand, he opened the passenger side door and motioned for the other man to get in. His heart beat so fast ... Lorn couldn't help but hope that perhaps everything was just some huge hoax.

Key let himself be pulled to the theater parking lot to a simple car, even if in a more random color. He nodded and got into the car. Lorn was chivalrous almost, opened the door for him. He waited until Lorn was also seated before he said, "I feel like this situation is just getting more and more strange." He wasn't sure why he said it. The way his voice sounded in the silence seemed as if it didn't belong to him.

Lorn snorted at his words as he started the car. "You just realized that?" He didn't mean to sound derisive or angry, but it came out anyway. The blond sighed, and turned to offer up an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry if I snap or say hurtful words, I'm just really confused right now ...." He didn't know how to deal with it.

To cover his hesitancy, Lorn spoke up once more. "So where to?"

Key bit his lip at Lorn's words. Of course he didn't just realize that. It just seemed to be getting worse the further the the day went on. He'd felt as if he had to say something. Now he regretted it.

"I know," he said. "I would be confused too." he shook his head and gave instructions on how to get to his house before turning to to stare out the window.

Lorn drove dutifully to the given address. All the while he attempted to order his thoughts. This was perhaps the very first time the blond found himself feeling so helpless where his own emotions were concerned. Pulling into the driveway, Lorn shot a glance Key's way. Reaching out, he squeezed the feminine man's shoulder. "Hey ... I'll try to figure out how I feel as soon as I can, alright?" Taking a deep breath he went on. "This isn't your fault." Key had man reason to hide the fact that he was a man, if indeed she was...

That little tidbit still confused Lorn; he refused to believe it. But if she was a he, then there were plenty of reasons for keeping that fact a secret. Lorn could imagine the trouble it might bring to the theater company, and all the business that might be lost if the truth were found out.