A Bar On The Mainland | Saturday Evening

[nottrivial]

Alec had no idea that there was any kind of weirdness going on this weekend. He'd gone about his business like usual -- some training in the morning followed by some heavy hiding-in-his-room throughout the afternoon -- and then he'd set off on, well, it was kind of an adventure, actually.

Or if you asked Jace, it was a date. Which meant that if you asked Alec, it was a date, because he was pretty sure Jace knew about these things.

The fact that it was taking place at a gay bar might have been a clue that it wasn't quite that simple, but for all Alec knew, that was just how dates worked. Loud music, glitter, dancing... by the Angel, that was a lot of glitter. He was going to be picking it off his sweater for weeks.

Sigh.

Alec cleared his throat and turned to his companion. "So," he said, doing his best to be audible over the music, "is this the part where we get drinks?"

[[for one, up early for SP, and NFB for distance, yo!]]

Comments

[nottrivial]

"That's true," Alec decided, having loosened up enough from the small amount of beer that he didn't feel weird for babbling like this. "You're even more stubborn than my brother. It's a good thing, I mean. But he's, he's really stubborn, he talked me into not... getting nervous and cancelling this when he told me this was probably a date? So-- being more stubborn than him, that's... an accomplishment."

[myownface]

"Uh... go me!" Sparkle was a little thrown, here, but he was keeping up with the conversation kind of admirably. "He told you this was a date? Do I even know him?"

Because, wow, Sparkle hadn't been aware that this was a date. That would have been good to know!

[nottrivial]

Okay, now the embarrassment about babbling was starting to set in.

"I... what?" There was the coherent Alec everyone knew and kind of tolerated! "I don't know. His name's Jace? He goes to school with us. I mean, obviously. Is that... wrong?"

[myownface]

"Kinda," Sparkle replied, looking a little baffled, now. "You didn't tell him I was gay or anything, did you? I mean, I don't even know the guy."

And, okay, Sparks had a pretty flamboyant name, and he was a member of Pride and all, but it wasn't like he advertised the gay thing for all the school to know. So assuming that this was a date...

"Even if he does know I'm gay, why is he going and assuming that this is a date? Friends go to bars too, you know. Even queer ones."

[nottrivial]

"No, I wouldn't have -- I would never have told him that," Alec said hastily, not taking his eyes off of Sparkle but still managing to pick anxiously at the label of his beer bottle. "I never even told him about me, I don't really, uh, want to think about how he knew that--" because it was still unsettling, and actually the more he thought about it the more he kind of wanted to curl up into a ball-- "but he just... said it, and I figured he knew what he was talking about."

[myownface]

"Well," Sparkle said, his tone flat, "he's full of shit. He doesn't know me, wasn't there when we made our plans to go hang out, he's not exactly the authority on whether or not we're dating right now, Alec."

He set his beer down and rubbed at his forehead. He could feel a headache coming on.

"You wanna take anybody's word for it, why not ask me next time? I mean, last I checked, I was kind of the complete authority on whether or not I'm asking someone out on a date. Like, more than someone who knows, what, my name? Yeah, that'll tell a person loads."

[nottrivial]

Alec wasn't sure how to explain the fact that he'd been taking Jace's word as an authority on pretty much everything since they'd met, at least without embarrassing himself, so he left it alone.

"I figured it was just supposed to be obvious," he said, managing to keep his voice clear even though he wanted to mumble. "There are cues I miss sometimes, so I thought he had a better idea than I did. Sorry."

[myownface]

"He kinda sounds like a dick," Sparkle replied, not bothering to keep his opinion to himself, because... Sparkle. "He sabotage your friendships often? Shit, Alec. You came here thinking this was a date and here I've been flirting with the bartender."

Who had gorgeous eyes, by the way. And was far older than either of them.

[nottrivial]

Oh, Jace and Alec's friendship was fabulously unhealthy, it was true. And to be fair, Alec was equally weird about Jace and Natalie.

"He's my best friend," Alec said, just the slightest bit defensive, enough that it was barely perceptible. "I'm sure it was just an accident."

Now that he thought about it, Jace didn't really date all that much. Or ever, in recent memory.

"Sorry for... sorry."

[myownface]

"Let me guess," Sparkle sighed. "I get to look forward to being shaken down by him the same way your sister got to me sometime, too?"

He could hardly wait. If he didn't think it would end with him being brutally maimed, he'd probably try to punch the guy for this.

"Look, Alec, tonight wasn't supposed to be a date. If it's a date, I'll tell you. Hell, I might even take you someplace nicer than some glitter-infested gay hangout in Baltimore, if I can, like, afford it."

It could happen!

"Us both liking guys... hey, that's an okay start to the whole dating thing, but just because we're both queer, that doesn't automatically make us both compatible or anything. You see straight people dating one another just because they're straight, like, ever? 'Hey, we have compatible parts! Oh my God let's go steady!' If this Jace guy thinks it's that simple, then yeah, he's a bit of a dick."

[nottrivial]

Alec wasn't sure which part of that to address first, so he started with, "He won't if you don't want him to." Which, okay, wasn't necessarily true according to what Jace had announced before, but it was different now, and Alec could probably talk him out of it if he tried. Maybe.

"He might have just-- just figured that I liked you," he offered, and it felt weird saying something like that loudly enough to be heard over the music. "I mean, I do, I think. Like you."

[myownface]

That was not really what Sparkle had been expecting to hear. Granted, it was kind of neat to hear. He certainly hadn't heard something like that before.

Clearly, the thing to do here would be to down the rest of his drink, and lean in close and study Alec thoughtfully, and then lean back and look at him with some sort of great revelation in his expression.

"How drunk are you? I mean, like, you've had one beer. That's pretty lightweight. You know you kind of ramble and say crazy things when you've had a beer? I never would have guessed."

Sometimes, Sparkle's revelations were wholly and entirely unproductive. At least he wasn't pointing out a zit or something.

[nottrivial]

"I don't think I'm that drunk," said Alec, who it seemed was pretty much a total lightweight. "It's just a, a thing that I thought of. When we were shooting. Actually."

[myownface]

"Like before you even talked to your totally misinformed about how gay guys work buddy of yours, even?"

Sparkle just had to check to be sure, here.

[nottrivial]

Alec wanted to duck his head, but logically he was aware that given the volume in here, it was pretty much necessary for them to see each other's faces to know what they were saying to each other. "Yeah, before," he said. "So. I don't know if that makes, um, any difference, but... that's a factor, I guess. In whatever Jace might have been picking up on."

[myownface]

Sparkle was now looking at Alec as though he was either trying to stare him down, or to bore a hole through him so that he could just look into his brain.

Barring either of those, he just reached for what was left of his drink.

"So, you wanted this to be a date?"

[nottrivial]

Hey, how did a blush look under green lighting? Because that was suddenly a relevant concern.

"Not really," Alec admitted, then blushed a little harder as he realized what that sounded like. "I mean, I don't know how to date. I figured I'd do it wrong."

[myownface]

"Oh. Good. Because this is so not a date," Sparkle replied, crossing his arms over his chest and looking around. "Ugh. I mean, seriously."

He took a moment to look kind of disgusted, before he continued.

"No way, Alec. Our first date is going to be something way less lower-middle than this hole. I mean, you should not come home from a first date all covered in glitter and crap, that's just tacky. No way. We'll do our first date right."

See how Sparkle had just decided that you two were dating now, Alec?

Get used to that.

[nottrivial]

And now Sparkle got to watch the expressions on Alec's face go from confusion to... well, to a different kind of confusion.

"Oh," he said, once it settled in that Sparkle was being serious. Then, a smile. "Okay. Yeah. That sounds really nice."

He wasn't sure if this was entirely the appropriate response, but nonetheless, he added, "Thank you?"

[myownface]

"Yeah, sure," Sparkle replied, smirking a little. Alec, how were you so adorable? "So, we'll finish up tonight, you know, just two guys hanging out in a gay bar. And while we do that, we can figure out what we do want to do for our first date, how does that sound?"

What would Jace think once he learned that his misconception about Sparkle and Alec's outing had led to them actually dating?

[nottrivial]

He'd probably just smirk pretty hard.

"Deal," Alec decided, still with that private little smile. "So... what do you think of this song?"

[myownface]

"This one, that's playing now?" Sparkle took a moment to listen, and then shrugged. "Never heard it before. Want to see if it's any good to dance to?"

[nottrivial]

Ordinarily the idea of Alec dancing was laughable, but you know what, he felt like expanding his horizons tonight. "Sure," he decided, pausing only to down the rest of his beer before sliding off his bar stool.

As he finally took in the actual dance floor rather than just the back wall of the bar, he proclaimed, "I think there's more glitter here than at a Fandom dance."

[myownface]

"I know," Sparkle laughed, leading him out toward the dance floor. "Isn't it great?"

Sparkle had a slight glitter bias.

[nottrivial]

"You're the one who just said it was tacky," Alec pointed out, but he was grinning. "But I like it too. It's... I mean, I'd never fight covered in this, it's too distinctive. It's nice for a... this kind of setting."

Experimentally, he ran a hand through his hair, and sure enough, came up with glitter all over his hand.