A GAP in Baltimore, Friday Evening

[myownface]

It was a date, if you could possibly call an outing to the mainland to buy yellow socks and archery gloves a date. At least Alec and Sparkle were following up their shopping trip with dinner, or at least that was the plan. Sparkle had scoped out the cheap restaurant situation before they'd left, and he'd managed to narrow what he could afford down to, like, a McDonald's on the way back to the causeway.

He'd worry about that once they were done picking up his socks.

And they'd pick up socks just as soon as Sparkle was done browsing.

"Oh, man. Look at these ones. They have stars on them."

Sorry, Alec.

[NFB for distance, and for that guy!]

Comments

[myownface]

You know, there was a reason they were bad sticoms, Alec. Sheesh.

Sparkle actually looked maybe a touch amused at the chivalry, but he shot Alec a smile as he stepped through the held door all the same. That was probably the first time anyone had held a door open for him.

Weird.

"Doesn't seem too bad at a glance," he decided, sauntering in and looking around. "They probably even clean their floors now and then. That's a good sign, isn't it?"

[nottrivial]

"Definitely," Alec affirmed, following him in, but he was careful not to turn that into chiding about how cleanliness was imperative to restaurant-selecting. He was sometimes capable of being aware of his company like that. "I tend to be a stickler for that as a rule," he said instead. "If I'm going out for food instead of risking my sister's cooking, I like to be sure it won't poison me."

[myownface]

"Generally a good rule," Sparkle mused. "You do much cooking yourself? Or do you just hit up pizza joints all the time?"

Sparkle made a mean instant ramen, himself.

[nottrivial]

"Not really," Alec laughed. "But I can make sandwiches?"

Dream big, Alec.

"How about you?"

[myownface]

"Sandwiches," Sparkle agreed, smirking a bit. "Peanut butter, sometimes even get as fancy as adding Jam. And I make one hell of a Kraft Dinner."

A beat.

"It's a Canadian thing. Pretty sure that's a requirement for citizenship."

[nottrivial]

"Okay, I'm getting the feeling that if we do this again we should keep up going out for food," Alec concluded. "Not that sandwiches and homemade macaroni and cheese don't sound delicious, of course."

[myownface]

"Uh... yeah... Totally homemade."

It came from a box, Alec. From a box.

"So! Pizza?"

[nottrivial]

But it was made in people's houses! That... wasn't what 'homemade' meant, was it?

"Pizza," Alec agreed. He gestured toward the counter. "Um, after you."

[myownface]

That really, really wasn't what homemade meant. And if Alec believed that, Sparkle was also a master at homemade microwavable Hot Pockets.

"Right." He looked up at the menu board thoughtfully. "We ordering personal pizzas here, or something to split between us?"

[nottrivial]

"I'm okay with sharing if you are," Alec offered. "Something not mushrooms. Um... broccoli?"

[myownface]

"Uh..." Okay, Alec. Now Sparkle was giving you a really weird look. "Do pizza joints even, like, carry broccoli?"

Because that was a pretty unconventional pizza topping, actually.

[nottrivial]

Not in the States, Sparkle, god.

"Yes..." Alec reciprocated the weird look, eyebrows going up. "I guess it might be an American thing. Want to try it? Or we could get something else."

[myownface]

Well, the States were wrong. What.

"... Sure, let's have some of your weird-assed broccoli pizza."

Sparkle was open to new experiences, see?

[nottrivial]

They most certainly were not. U.S.A! U.S.A! U.S.A!

"Well, with that ringing endorsement," Alec said dryly, turning to the guy at the counter, "One small pizza with broccoli, please."

The guy didn't give him a weird look for that at all, for the record, and with that, Alec turned back to Sparkle, looking a little bit pleased with himself, and gestured to a nearby table. "New experiences for both of us today, I guess," he said. "Shopping for me, broccoli on pizza for you."

[myownface]

"New experiences all around," Sparkle echoed. And then leaned across the counter and added to the guy who had taken the order, "wanna throw maybe some hamburger or something to chew on onto half of that, please? Thanks, man, I appreciate it."

You could not have a proper pizza with just freaking broccoli on it. That was just wrong.

"Sorry," he said, slipping back to join Alec at the table. "Carnivore."

[nottrivial]

Hamburger pizza? Now that was weird.

"Omnivore," Alec pointed out, then realized that that correction probably wasn't necessary. Good try, though, Alec. "Um. Never mind. So... how's your week going?"

Always a good standby conversation topic.

[myownface]

Hey, now. Hamburger was a standard pizza topping in America, too. Weirdo.

"Well, I started it with holes in my socks," Sparkle replied, raising an eyebrow, but grinning all the same. "Finishing it with new socks, pizza, and a guy with the cutest fucking dimples in the world sitting across from me. Can't complain."

[nottrivial]

"Wh-- oh," Alec said, ducking his head and smiling. "Um, happy to help, I guess. My week was pretty good too. I got these gloves--" he held up the bag from the archery store-- "and am having a first... official date with, you know, you. I mean, I had a condom flicked at my head this morning, but you balance it out, I think."

[myownface]

"You think so?" Sparkle looked practically like he was about to start purring as he leaned forward across the table to smile at Alec. "You realize, now I have to hear the condom story."

[nottrivial]

On instinct, Alec leaned forward a little too, just enough for it to be noticable.

"I'm not sure what her name is," he admitted, "but there's a girl in my Sex Ed class who apparently feels very strongly that I needed to collaboratively practice condom application... with her." The dryness in his tone should give Sparkle a good idea about how Alec felt about that. "I declined, so she... flicked it at me."

Oh, Kenzi.

[myownface]

"She flicked the condom at you," Sparkle replied, clearly amused, now. "Did it at least get good distance when she did it?"

[nottrivial]

"I didn't really measure it," Alec admitted, amused and surprised by the question, "but I think she did okay."

[myownface]

"On the upside, at least it wasn't used?"

Sparkle was being helpful! Helpful!!

[nottrivial]

"...True," Alec admitted. "That was... fortunate. Not that there was really a chance of us having to work with used ones in Sex Ed class; that probably would have defeated the point."

[myownface]

"Yeah, probably," Sparkle replied, still smirking. "So, you didn't want to do the sex ed condom exercise, huh?"

He couldn't resist the urge to tease. Just a little.

"What'd happen if you ever needed to use one?"