The next day shone bright and clear, if a bit brisk, Alec saw Tyler was already there - sitting on the bench where they agreed to meet. He shuffled from one foot to another and cleared his throat. "Tyler."
He stood up upon hearing his name called. "Alec, hi. You look great." Alec smiled at Tyler who was staring, slack-jawed.
"Thanks, you don't look so bad yourself." That was an understatement, really. His date was dressed in similar tones as Alec, only in completely different garments. Alec was no fashion expert, but he knew that Tyler was wearing a turtleneck that was partly obscured by the bomber jacket he wore on top of it, and a pair of chelsea boots. He blamed Izzy's fashion rambles everytime her monthly issue of Cosmo magazine came in.
"Shall we?" Tyler jerked his head to the general direction opposite of where Alec was coming from.
"Sure," Alec chimed. They began walking slowly, with Tyler leading the way. "I have to say, I'm curious about what you have planned." They were now standing only a breadth away from each other; his nose was able to catch a whiff of Tyler's cologne. He smelled sour and citrus-y, an uncommon scent. Worlds away from the woodsy scent he'd been unconsciously expecting. It really shouldn't have pleased Alec as much as it did.
Alec liked how he didn't have to tilt his head down just to catch his eyes, the slight heel in Tyler's boots made up for their slight height difference; he was dutifully not thinking of a certain someone who also liked heels.
Tyler's breath came out in short puffs; Alec thought it was due to the low temperature. He still felt warm, but maybe his date ran cold-blooded. "Is there a certain standard on wooing you, Alec?" He lightly narrowed his eyes upon the question directed at him. Tyler's tone remained nonchalant but there was a certain weight behind it, implied by his piercing gaze.
Alec shrugged one shoulder. "Psh, no." He bit his lip before speaking again, and Alec liked how it made Tyler's gaze drop to his lips. "But I do want to know where we're going."
Tyler made a noise that was half laughter and half exasperation. "Where's the fun in that?" He then mimed locking his mouth. "My lips are sealed. And we're not even too far away."
Alec's head perked up at that tidbit. "Oh? So it's in here? We're not leaving?"
"Nope." Tyler said, popping the 'p'. "Cover your eyes," he suddenly requested.
"Cover my- What?! Why?" Alec was warily excited; based on his experiences with Magnus, this could lead to anything from a practical joke to fooling around together. His mind gave an inward shudder to the possibility of the latter; he thought that he was merely uncomfortable thinking about putting out while they were still on their first date.
"Just do it." Alec shivered at the authority underlining those words. Tyler must have seen his reaction but acted unaware. As a performer, he sure knew how to act the part.
"I swear if this is a part of a prank, I will kill you." Peals of laughter fell from Tyler's lips, unaware of how Alec was very much capable of doing that. Not that I would, but the concept stands.
After his laughter teetered out, Tyler crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow at Alec, silently challenging.
"Oh, fine." Tyler's crinkling eyes was the last thing he saw before he closed his eyes tight.
A palm hovered behind Alec's back, silently asking for permission. When Alec nodded, he slowly led him forward, Tyler's palm warm on the small of his back, and tingles climbed his spine.
Crunches of the fallen leaves under their boots met his ears, excited squealing of an adventurous toddler could be heard from a mile away, and the chilly wind brushed across his nose - almost warningly - as he huddled into his own coat; his senses were currently more sensitive with his sight temporarily obstructed.
Regardless of how spatially aware he was at the time being, Alec thought that he would have crashed into a nearby tree without the hand guiding him. As normal as he was acting, guilt pooled in the bottom of his stomach; regret still hadn't dared to show its face, but Alec banked on a when and not an if. This felt like a continuous attempt of faking it until it became some semblance of reality. The flutterings in his heart were genuine, though. He hoped it would be enough, yet perhaps this was already doomed from the start.
Tyler felt like he was on cloud nine; he couldn't keep himself from staring at Alec now and again, scarcely able to believe that he got to have this, not in his dreams or his reveries, in the actual real world. Being able to feel his body heat through the jacket under his palm was something so intimate to him.
It was no hand holding or a kiss, but still spoke volumes on their relationship - whatever it was at the moment. But then again - as much as his date was one of the most considerate people he had ever met - it was undeniable that for every inch of his beauty, a profound sadness was shrouded right underneath.
As Alec currently couldn't see him, Tyler let his eyes linger on his face, eyeing the minute twitch of his nose each time he took a step, something he doubted the man himself even noticed. "How close are we?"
He hummed in thought; he was already able to see the location from there. He didn't say anything definitive, deciding to tease Alec about it. "Pretty close."
Alec sighed like he had been told that he had been drafted for World War III, instead of simply having date related information withheld from him. With a little nudge, Alec continued trudging, only for a few seconds, before asking again. "How about now?"
Tyler shot a flat look right at Alec, even if he couldn't see it at the moment. Some people are blessed with the ability of sensing a glare from any direction; Alec could be one of them. Which he, in fact, was, as his mouth curved up into an impish smirk. "You just walked two paces, Alec. My answer is still unlikely to change."
"Well, a guy can try." Alec shrugged, the sass he had noticed quite early on still prominent. "I'm also tall, so I am able to take big steps." Based on Alec's story so far, about his brother Jace and how he kept bragging over every little thing he had and lorded it over others, he didn't expect some of that trait to be displayed by him. He really should have.
"Not that big." It was really not, the step size contrast between them was only five inches at maximum.
"You're just jealous because you're not as tall as me. Which, as consolidation, most people aren't." Damn right, beanpole, Tyler thought to himself.
"Right, we're here," Tyler announced, as he untied the blindfold. Alec blinked his eyes rapidly at the sudden onslaught of sunlight, needing a couple seconds to readjust.
Alec was smiling happily at the prospect of reaching their destination and seeing what Tyler had planned, but then his face turned jokingly disgruntled as he pointed out Tyler's slight omission of truth earlier. "We've literally only walked five steps from the last time I asked."
"I did say my answer would still remain the same after two steps, I didn't say anything about five." He took a chance and winked at him, only to catch on to Alec's worsening expression.
"Why, you little-" If Alec's look wasn't enough to activate his fight-or-flight response, then the words certainly did. He ran from him, more or less circling a tree but he was getting away; until he was tackled to the ground, both of them laughing almost hysterically until Tyler pretended to wave a white flag in surrender.
He expected some sort of awkwardness from the position, a little bit of a blush or even stilted speech. Neither of those were reality as Alec smoothly pulled himself up and offered a hand out to him.
Brushing his disappointment under a rug, Tyler grabbed his hand and brushed off the specks of soil and grass clinging to his trousers. As their hands still remained intertwined, Tyler tugged them both to the blanket spread he had already set up beforehand.
This particular area was one of the most unpopulated of all. If you were lucky enough, or early enough, you might get the whole section to yourself, creating a rather lovely first date site.
They both sat down atop the checkered fabric, cross-legged. Mutual laughter was still buzzing in their throats, even when there was no longer anything to laugh about.
As Alec was distracted with the laces of his boots, Tyler ran to one of the large, ancient trees which could function as their canopy if necessary. For now, it functioned to hide Tyler's younger sister, Mirana, up until she shoved his picnic basket none too gently at his chest and quietly whispered how he owed her now.
Tyler knew he did, and this was by far not the first favour he had ever asked of her. Not that it was going to be the last. He could already see Mirana's sly smirk and how she loved to say "So, you need something, dear brother." It was practically a tradition by now, and he learned to just accept it so long as he got what he bargained for.
Considering the business adjourned, he turned back to Alec, only to see that he was almost finished with both his laces. His mistake was leaving his back to his sister, as the immature girl didn't waste an opportunity to make silly kissing sounds at him.
He slipped 10 bucks into her purse just to make her quiet down. She tipped her head down and mock-saluted him, before prancing away in search of the nearest grocery store to buy items with her newly acquired money. He shook his head at her; he just hoped it wouldn't be a case where he would have to return a dagger to its original owner. It was quite unlikely to receive refunds for dagger acquisition, and he knew that fact from experience.
He plopped down next to Alec, his curious gaze inevitably drawn to the basket before he looked to him with eyes bright in excitement. "Up for a mid-morning sandwich?"
The two men quietly ate their respective foods, the only kind Tyler was capable of making. It didn't even taste that great, but he was glad that no complaints seemed to be forthcoming.
In between nibbles of the ham and egg sandwich, Alec began. "At least indulge me with this; why Central Park, of all places?
He took a big bite before answering, "Well, you said that you've lived here all your life, but I bet you haven't seen New York the way I do."
"How is that?" The unfeigned interest in Alec's question had his gears shifting in his head.
Tyler's entire sense of self for all his twenty years of life was rooted in everything his mind was able to infer from how other people interact in their own portion of the world. He had found that people who were truly genuine are as rare as rain in a desert these days. Getting to know someone like Alec, who knew who he himself was and strived to be just that - no qualms barred, instead of wearing masks to contort themselves either against or following society's perception, was refreshing, to say the least.
"As a tourist." He had told Alec this information among their numerous chat messages. It wasn't his intention to share that much information - or any information at all, really - to someone he only met shortly, but there was something about him that just screamed trustworthiness. Even if his tattoos would dissuade most people.
"Oh right, you moved here a year ago."
"Yeah, I had a really good job offer and decided to take it, even though it's two thousand miles away." From a small city to the city, his lifestyle underwent a massive shock; but he thought he adjusted quite well. Then, fondness crept into his voice, turning it softer, "My mom was really happy about that, surprisingly. When I was growing up, she was very protective of me, but I'm grateful that she's now letting me spread my wings a little."
With his empty sandwich wrapper crumpled in his left hand, Alec hesitantly hovered his right palm on top of his left, only directly touching when Tyler didn't pull his' away. "Well, I'm also happy, because otherwise we wouldn't be here." It baffled Tyler to hear Alec say that so airily; he had come to notice that Alec was the type of person who didn't realize how romantic they were being.
This had only been their first date, and hopefully not last, but he already knew that Alec Lightwood was someone he would be grateful to know for the rest of his life, in whatever capacity he could have him.