As they were in a city, there were tons of places they could go. Rowan learned that Sage never ventured into their city at all, so working his way properly around a city was a bit beyond him. He understood traffic and basic courtesy, but he did not realize that there were some parts of the city that were better and some that were worse. Sage was not an idiot, but he was simply inexperienced in the setting of exploring. Besides, he was a bit directionally challenged, managing to get lost in a store that was even slightly large. He had no interest in exploration because he had been lost far too many times.
"Wait, you mean you've really never been north of our city?" Rowan asked. They sat along the windows of the inside of a small shop that sold locally made sweets and drinks. Sage had always stuck to sweeter drinks, so his drink in front of him was iced tea with a bit of honey mixed in with it. He normally added ice too, but the weather was already quite chilly. Meanwhile, Rowan always drank hot and bitter drinks, like his choice of coffee with no additions of sweetener to the black swirl in his cup. A tray of berries sat in a decorative display in front of them as a snack which went well with both their very opposite drink choices.
"Why would I?" Sage asked. He picked up a plump blueberry and placed it in his mouth. "I live in the west near the hospital."
"You really only go to and from the hospital?"
"Yes."
"You're miserable, Sage," Rowan deadpanned.
Sage frowned, but he did not argue against Rowan, so he picked up another blueberry and ate it quietly. He was not miserable. Sage was perfectly fine with his life. However, he would agree that his life was not very exciting at all.
Suddenly, Rowan smiled and said, "Open your mouth."
"What?"
"Do you trust me?"
"Absolutely not."
Rowan's smile fell. Seeing the pouting look on his face, Sage sighed and ended up complying. He opened his mouth, his tongue instinctively pushing out and resting on his bottom lip. Rowan's smile then came back, dimples pinching his cheeks, and he reached for a strawberry on the tray of fruit. He raised it to Sage's mouth and set it on his tongue. But he did not let go. Rowan grinned and pushed it against his tongue.
So, Sage glared at him and bit his teeth down, catching Rowan's fingers in his mouth.
"Ow!" Rowan fake cried and pulled his hand back. "Come on. I was being cute."
Sage said nothing and picked up his glass to wash the taste down of the other's fingers.
Actually taking the time to observe the city life was new. Sage had no idea things could be the way they were; he realized he was quite isolated the more he walked around with Rowan. He also felt like a stranger, so he made sure to keep close to Rowan to not get separated. The city they were in had a large crime rate, so even Rowan felt a little bit tense.
At some point in the walk, Rowan grabbed his hand. "Just to make sure," he said. Sage did not pull away.
Rowan explained that the city they were in was different from most; the one they were in was covered top to bottom in crime, however, other cities were usually different and more divided. There were good and bad parts of all cities. An area where it was filled with lively people, workers, and friendly conversation, but there were also the bad parts that were poorer, less fortunate, and a bit desolate.
"I feel like I'm teaching a child," Rowan grumbled. Sage stopped and stepped on his foot. "Ow! Or an incredibly distant and isolated grown adult?" he added after being attacked. Sage looked at him, but he said nothing and kept walking. At least the doctor scoffed under his breath with a tiny smile. Rowan's feelings were not shot down. "I am curious though," he suddenly said, moving to keep up with Sage, still holding onto his hand.
"About?"
"Well, you're a doctor. When people come in injured, just how do you figure they got injured?" Rowan asked. "I can bet you that most of them are from the northern area of the city."
"I'm a doctor, not an officer. When people come in my job is to help them, not interrogate them," Sage defended. "I don't ask questions unless it can help figure out how to diagnose. Other than that, I do not pry."
Rowan still held onto Sage's hand with his left, so he reached over with his right hand and pinched Sage's chin, brushing his thumb on his lip as he did. "You're so cutely oblivious."
"Quit touching me," Sage grumbled, using his free hand to slap away Rowan's hand. How ironic. His right hand still latched onto Rowan's left. What a pointless shove.
Suddenly, Rowan's pocket began to make a noise. His phone rang. Both took a glance down toward his left pocket, but Rowan did not move to pick it up.
"Are you going to grab it?" Sage deadpanned.
"My hand is busy," Rowan said, holding up their hands.
Sage huffed in annoyance, feeling the back of his neck getting red finally, and let go of Rowan's hand. Holding Rowan's hand was something that Sage excused in his mind as a safety precaution, but when Rowan acknowledged it as something more intimate by finding their hold so meaningful he would not let go to answer his ringing phone, he couldn't help but feel embarrassed, so he let go. Rowan appeared a bit upset by it, but he still took the chance to get his phone from his pocket before the caller was sent to voicemail. Seeing the screen, he immediately put it on speaker.
"Penni, sweetie, what's up? Are you okay?" As they walked, Rowan held up the phone between them so they could both speak to Penni and hear her.
"I missed Sage!" Penni said without skipping a beat.
Rowan frowned. "What about me?"
"...I talked to you yesterday."
Sage laughed. "Hi, Penni."
"Sage-y!" Penni cried on the phone. "Wah, when can I meet you!? I want to meet you! Are you going to come back with papa?"
"Ah," Sage stammered for a moment. It was not a choice for him. He looked at Rowan, but Rowan offered him nothing but a gentle, closed mouth smile, which gave no true answer. It made it difficult for Sage. He was unsure of what to say, but he figured that Rowan's silence was also like permission. "If that's what you want," Sage managed to say.
"I do, I really do!" Penni took a quiet moment of silence before her tone dropped sadly. "Grandma is being mean again."
"What?" Rowan moved the phone back closer to himself. "What is she saying?"
"I don't know… she's sad you didn't bring mommy with you."
Rowan's face now looked serious and complicated. His brows furrowed as he thought. Sage did not want him to run into anything or anyone, so he reached for his hand again and pulled him off to the side as they walked on the sidewalk, so they were not in anyone's way.
"So, so that's why I want Sage-y to come and meet her! So that Grandma can see how nice he is…"
"Then I'll be there," Sage said without any hesitation on the topic. He did not want Penni to feel upset. Though he had only had a few conversations with her, there was no way he could ever bring himself to be mean to her or want her to feel more sadness. He glanced up at Rowan's face, too, and it was still a bit twisted looking, so Sage offered his hand a squeeze.
Rowan pulled himself back from his thoughts. His face calmed a bit as he cleared his throat and said, "Just try not to talk about me or Sage. Talk about school and your toys with her, okay? If she's really upsetting you, then call your mom."
Penni was quiet for a second and then answered, "...okay-y-y—oh! She's calling for me. Oh-ue-e-e." She huffed. "Got to go! Love you!"
"Love you too." and the call ended. Rowan stared at the black screen for a few seconds and then sighed.
Sage had no idea what to say at first. He did not have a kid of his own, and his parents had died a few years back. But he finally managed to ask, "Is it your parents or your ex-wife's?"
Rowan sighed and answered, "My mom." It had been Sage's assumption when he had learned Rowan and his ex-wife were together to please her. Rowan put his phone back into his pocket and started walking again. Sage followed, keeping hold of his hand, but now, he was on the other side. "She's the reason we even have Penni, so I'm grateful for that, but she doesn't treat her well. She wanted us to give her a granddaughter, so we adopted because we didn't have sex, and she's upset she's not, you know, a kid I made."
"So, you're a virgin," Sage said outright.
"What?" Rowan immediately came to a stop. "That's not even funny. Are you being serious?"
Sage hesitated. He felt like teasing Rowan, but at the same time, he had been a little serious. "I mean," he began, "you did say you've been with her since your early school years, and then you just said you didn't have sex."
"We," Rowan stammered. "I'm not a virgin," he defended. "Just because I didn't have sex with my wife didn't mean I didn't have sex with anyone ever."
"It's okay if you are," Sage teased, pretending Rowan was coming up with excuses. He smiled slightly, offering Rowan fake pity. "A little pathetic, but it's okay. Whatever your thirty-four, grown self is comfortable with."
"You're having a kick out of my bad wording, huh," Rowan grumbled. He squeezed Sage's hand suddenly. Sage had thought that was the only threat going to come from Rowan, but the other was not finished. He pushed him against the wall of the nearby building.
It was already quite cold out, so when Sage's back hit the chilling brick wall and added to the cold, he felt it through his thick jacket. Sage only had a moment to be shocked before Rowan stepped close to him and shoved his leg between Sage's legs. He leaned closer, his breath burning Sage's cold cheeks. His skin on his face prickled and tingled.
"Is that really what you think, husband?" Rowan's voice was dangerously dipped low. He grinned, corners of his lips spreading and pushing the tiny holes of dimples into his cheeks. His hands were holding the crook of Sage's arms against the wall, thumbs pressing in. Sage's front felt hot, but his back was freezing, and it made his head feel confused. "Because I could show you that I know differently. You've been asked before anyway. Why not give you something to speak on? It'll be more appropriate to know how true your words were when you said I was good. Practice makes perfect after all. I've practiced. You can let me know how close I am to 'perfect', mm?"
"You," Sage struggled to speak, the words leaving him. "You can't ever say that I overreact about things ever again," he grumbled.
"How about you then?" Rowan suddenly switched. "What have you done?"
"I don't have to tell you anything," Sage answered. He felt shy when Rowan questioned him about such intimate things and pinned him against the wall. Anybody would. The hot body against him, breathing on his neck, speaking so shamelessly to him. People walked by, but in a large city, most people did not bother with problems that weren't their own. Additionally, Sage did not struggle against Rowan at all; he allowed him to trap him. Everyone passing by assumed they were a brazen couple doing indecent things in public and ignored them. "Enough," he hissed through his teeth.
"Enough?" Rowan laughed a little and said, "What does that even mean?"
"Alright. I won't make fun of you anymore. Stop questioning me," Sage muttered. He easily gave up when his head did not stop spinning. His face was warm. Rowan noticed his facial expression, how the doctor slanted his look off to the side and lowered his head. He loved teasing Sage, but he couldn't possibly push anymore. Rowan took a step back and removed his hands from his arms, but behind him someone had been walking and shoved Rowan back into Sage.
Sage's instincts were cleared back to his head when Rowan began to take a step back, so he reacted when Rowan was tripped forward back into him. He wrapped his arms around Rowan to catch him, but he still felt the other squish him against the wall and knock his breath out a bit. Rowan had never had the chance to completely move his knee either, so it pressed against in between Sage's legs. The doctor curled his lip inward in a habit, bit down, and hit his forehead against Rowan's shoulder, hiding the embarrassment that spread across his face. He had made a small noise.
Rowan laughed. The bastard laughed! His arms slipped behind Sage, finally pulling his back from the cold wall into his warm arms. He tugged him safely off to the side. Even though he so desperately wanted to make fun of the little sound Sage made, he spared him. "Let's go," he said in a hushed voice, sliding his fingers in with Sage's.