Title: Polar Bears & Pick Up Lines (2/?)
Author: veggielover
Summary: Brendon has a content job at the zoo, but he enjoys it and gets to meet new people every day. He may have a bunch of cheesy pick up lines and a uniform, but that will get him farther than he knows.
Pairing: Brendon/Ryan
Genre: Romance (AU, OBVS.)
Rating: PG for now.
Disclaimer: Not real, not mine.
Dedicated: To the boys! Who played a great show Wednesday night 

Thank you: nailsxtacks, xstar_wars_pwnx, morrisseyislove, stepstools, quirkyblah38, howido_fics, phantomsquirrel, aliciabouvier, panicslash, to_hellxweride, xsavedbygracex, headphonexlove, code_of_vulgar, pagesinked, spitxonxbridges, stoodstill, weasleynut, sauviloquens, __tellmeastory, mystoryinstereo, theweeney, hunter_c, notmadeof_steel, stillmystar.



|1|



“So does that line always work Brendon?” Ryan asked, smiling at his new acquaintance.

“Well, it got me a conversation with you, so I’d say it works in my favor,” He smiled; the smile that had captured Ryan’s attention in the first place.

Ryan just shook his head and laughed. “Do you know how much they actually weigh?” He asked, blushing at his stupid that must have sounded coming from his lips. He was never good with conversations, because he always meant to say things in his head, but they always ended up spilling out anyways.

“The females usually average around six hundred, and the males average around nine hundred, but some can get in the high teens. It all depends on the bear,” Brendon informed, sliding his hand down to straighten out his wrinkled jeans that clung tightly to his small frame.

“So, what do you do here at the zoo?”

“Mainly I’m on clean up and maintenance, but sometimes I get to feed the animals. Well, some of them. My favorite is Bernie, the chimp, he gives the best hugs and kisses.” Brendon laughed, catching the slight tint of pink in Ryan’s cheeks.

“Oh, that’s pretty cool.” Ryan nodded, feeling a slight tickle on his shoulder. He turned his head and looked over, let out a loud scream, and nearly jumped straight into Brendon’s lap when he saw the horrid snake.

Graham and Spencer erupted in laughter, tossing the small rubber snake onto the bench. “We got it at the reptile house, cool, huh?”

Ryan huffed, his cheeks burning pink at the fool he had made of himself in front of Brendon. “You guys are such jerks!” He growled, quickly jumping up and escaping the room; he was way too embarrassed to stay in there.

He took a seat on the ground by the penguin trash can and pulled his knees to his chest, setting his head to rest upon them. His heart was racing rapidly and he felt like a total idiot for acting like that, but he suffered from severe ophidiophobia. Snakes caused him to freak out, anything that looked like them scared him senseless. TV snakes scared him too.

He always had to be the one to make a fool of himself in front of some pretty boy with a great smile.

“Cheer up Ry, we’re sorry. We weren’t thinking.” Graham and Spencer apologized, sitting down next to their best friend. “We didn’t mean to embarrass you in front of the stud.”

“Shut up Graham, we were just talking!” Ryan sighed, a small scowl on his lips.

“Yeah, so that’s why he gave you this?” Graham smirked, handing Ryan a folded map of the zoo.

Grumbling, Ryan took it and unfolded it, finding his cheeks warm again when he saw seven small numbers scribbled on the map over the artic display located on the paper “Not a word.” He muttered, knowing he would constantly be teased about flirting with the guy from the zoo. Ryan didn’t do it on purpose, Brendon had just started talking and he just so happened to be cute.

He shoved the map in his back pocket and all three boys stood up, making their way to the gift shop before they left the zoo for the day.



Smiling, Ryan picked up a small stuff polar bear, with the price tag of $7.99, and held it in his arms as he continued to browse through the shop, being sure to steer clear of anything snake related.

Spencer and Graham teased Ryan about his choice souvenir the entire ride home, and by the time he had gotten out of the car, Ryan’s face was once again that lovely shade of pink.

Ryan set the plush bear onto an empty bookshelf and tacked the folded up map onto the small cork board on his bedroom wall. He really wasn’t sure whether he’d call or not, because he didn’t feel brave enough to do such a bold thing. He was guessing that it’d be another number collecting dust on that small little cork board.

He was still embarrassed and he felt that if he called, he’d end up making a bigger fool of himself. He just…okay, he wanted a boyfriend, but this was just a guy from the zoo. Brendon probably only wanted a one-shot type of deal. Ryan didn’t know though, well, because he didn’t know Brendon. He had seemed nice enough.

-

Ryan ate a quick dinner and took a shower, the number on the map seeming to catch his attention every time he peered into his room. He had so many questions about Brendon and he knew he’d be setting himself up to possibly be let down, but that was his nature; he never wanted something to just be a one night stand, and if he really liked someone, he became easily attached.

Would it be rude NOT to call?

Did he want to talk to Brendon again?

Would he make a huge fool of himself? Again?

Was Brendon possible BF material?


To try and calm his racing mind, Ryan slipped into his pajama bottoms and flopped onto his bed, pulling out an old book to re-read. Chuck Palahniuk’s Invisible Monsters.



The obnoxious ring tone of Ryan’s phone startled him, and he book marked page sixty-one and went to find his phone.

Picking it up from the floor, Ryan saw an unfamiliar number on the screen, but answered it anyways and sat back down on his satin comforter. “Hello?”

“Hi, is this Ryan?”

“Yes it is, may I ask who’s calling?” He asked politely, a little confused at who was calling him at nine-thirty that wasn’t Graham or Spencer. He tossed his book onto his nightstand and laid back further on his feather pillow to make himself more comfortable.

“This is Brendon, the guy from the zoo today.”

“Oh, Brendon. Hey,” Ryan said nervously, trying to make some sort of small talk. He knew he wasn’t good at it, but he was trying to start up a conversation.

“Just got home from work, but your friends, Spencer and Graham gave me your number, so I’m really not crazy.” Brendon explained, laughing quietly. “So, are you okay? You seemed to have been a little spooked earlier.”

“I’m sorry about that, I just…those guys know I’m absolutely petrified of snakes. I can’t even watch them on television or anything. I don’t know what it is, but things are supposed to have legs, and not gross scales and beady eyes and fork tongues and venom and scary fangs and just…gross, so gross.” Ryan blushed, hating it when he started to ramble.

“Don’t be sorry, a lot of people are afraid of them, some not as bad, but then again, some worse.” Brendon said comfortingly, trying to figure out a way to not sound entirely too forward. “But I called you up because I’m off work tomorrow and I think I’d like to talk to more, because you seem to be a really nice guy Ryan.” Brendon paused a minute and brought the sound of confidence back to his voice. “Would you like to join me for lunch tomorrow so we could talk again?”

“Um,” Ryan stared at the number scribbled on the map and the polar bear on his shelf. “I’d love to.”