Tom ate the fry that was offered to him. It was probably the sweetest way someone had told them to shut up in a while. “I’ll definitely be cooking for you,” Tom confirmed glad that they now had the ability to prepare a little more for that next date. Even in his ridiculously small New York kitchen he’d still be able to impress. Tom was in no rush to get there though and Alexander was right– the fries were good. Tom was eager to be in the moment even though they could tell they were drifting away from the present conversation. They were happy Alexander couldn’t relate. Tom’s mind didn’t dwell on it much nor did they care to continue the conversation about overdoing it. Tom agreed even if they’d come to that conclusion the hard way. The party lifestyle wasn’t so easy to just say no to as Alexander was making it seem.
Seattle was a much better subject. “I am, yeah. I grew up in Mercer Island which is like ten minutes from Seattle and then moved into the city after high school,” Tom explained though they doubted that Alexander knew much about the area. If they were back home they would be taking the lead a lot more. Especially hearing that the nearest botanical garden was two hours away. That was not the kind of detour Tom wanted to take tonight. “Wherever you’d feel most comfortable,” Tom deferred again. They were used to winding up wherever the wind took them and Tom wasn’t picky. Their apartment was fastidiously clean and he had no problem inviting Alexander back to their sanctuary tonight if that’s what Alexander wanted. Tom was also more than willing to take a wildly overpriced Uber back home from Alexander’s if that was more convenient for them. They were accommodating to a fault.
Pizza, clubs, distant botanical gardens all sounded like fine ideas… for a later date. Tom’s memory of Alexander lived in a very provocative corner of their mind. Alexander’d been on his mind more than a handful of times when Tom was in need of some late night… inspiration. Tom didn’t want to come off as brash but they both knew the next stop would involve shedding some clothes. They bonded over their sexual chemistry and exploring that further was clear on both of their minds; the teasing wasn’t going unnoticed by Tom. Especially not when they slipped their hands under the table and rested them on Alexander’s knees, which in hindsight wasn’t the smartest move because they instinctively inched their way up Alexander’s thighs as they spoke. “I’ll be honest I just want to get back to a room with you after this,” they admitted finally putting into words what they both were skirting around. His hands stopped mid thigh before they could go too far. If Tom wasn’t careful they’d end up slithering under the table here and this wasn’t somewhere he wanted to get kicked out for being indecent– he liked this bar. Tom went ahead a nudged Alexander’s legs together with a smirk as they tried to turn their attention to the food and drink before them that frankly wasn’t dwindling away fast enough. “Where’d you say you live again? You’re not here in Greenwich, right?” Tom asked before munching on a few fries.
“Good,” they replied with a grin when Tom confirmed that they’d be cooking for them. They were excited to try Tom’s cooking. Not to say that they weren’t a good cook, but... they were awful in the kitchen. That’s what they get, they supposed, for having two parents who were both incredibly competent at cooking - and not just that, they enjoyed the act of cooking for others, so Alexander was rarely, if ever, involved in the act of cooking as anything more than an extra pair of hands, especially when their aunts came over, and the kitchen was abuzz with actual chefs. Taking another fry, they looked across the table at them, trying to ignore the way their heart was fluttering in their chest. So, yes, Tom had stuck around in their brain more than their usual one-time hookups stuck around, what about it?
Alexander had never been to Seattle, so they had no clue where Mercer Island was - they were taking Tom’s word as law when it came to everything about Seattle. “I assume you went to college in the city, then - why’d you leave? The Pacific Northwest is supposed to be a really cool place, just want a new adventure?” they asked, genuinely curious. They were glad that Tom had chosen to leave Seattle for whatever reason - after all, they would’ve never experienced what they did in the Met if it weren’t for Tom being there. Right time, right place, right second in history. They loved little perfect coincidences like that. When Tom deferred to them again, though, they had to shrug. So maybe they wanted their curiosity to be sated. “Let’s go to yours,” they suggested. If Tom really didn’t want them there, after all, they would’ve suggested going to Alexander’s. So they figured that it was a perfectly good time to see what Tom’s living space was like. There was time to do other things on other nights.
At Tom’s hand on their thigh, Alexander had to remind themself to breathe, which was strange - they’d never had to do that before. No one had ever made them breathless at just a touch to their thigh. Nodding at their words, Alexander tried not to make it obvious that they were speechless. “Yeah-- yeah, me too,” they stuttered, biting their lip and telling themself mentally to stop nodding, that they looked weird, and they didn’t want to scare him off now. Then, though, Tom pushed their legs together, which took them by surprise - did they really want him to behave in this moment? Trying to spread their legs again, they did their best to school their face to look as calm as possible “No, I’m in NoHo,” they answered. “And you’re in Chelsea. So we’re both close, but you’re closer, slightly, unless you’re on the very north end of Chelsea, which...” they stopped themself from rambling too much. “We’re going to yours because you kept deferring to me, and I said we’re going to yours.” There was that familiar bratty attitude of theirs reappearing. “It’ll be fun.”
