Eliot hummed as he moved about the kitchen packing everything up for their picnic, for their first date. He smiled to himself. His first date with Quentin. It made the butterflies in his stomach flutter, but he was by no means nervous. No, he was happy and looking forward to spending more time with him. Luckily the weather was holding out and he hoped it would continue to do so.
Everything was in the basket and ready to go so Eliot went to get his jacket. Luna ran up to him and began rubbing on his legs. "I wish you could go with us, little one," he said, scritching and petting her, "but alas you can't. We'll be back later and you can love on Q. I know he misses you." Carefully he sat the kitten down then pulled out his phone to text Quentin. I'm about to head out the door. I'll meet you in the lobby. Eliot grabbed the blanket and basket then headed out to wait for Quentin.
For some reason, Quentin was actually nervous about going on a date with Eliot. Possibly because it was their first real, actually labeled as such date. He decided to see if a longer-than-usual shower would help. Thankfully it did. Unfortunately, it meant his hair was still noticeably damp by the time he was supposed to meet up with Eliot.
He glanced at the text and sent back a quick reply. OMW. <3 He shoved his phone into his jacket pocket and made sure the drinks he'd picked up were in his bag before he made his way to the lobby. He smiled and tried to tuck a bit of his hair behind his ear as he approached Eliot. "Hey! You look good." He hesitated just a moment before slipping his hand into Eliot's and grinned up at him. Okay. There was literally no reason to be worried. It was just them. Together. On a date. "Did you want to explore a bit before we settle on a spot, or should we eat then explore?"
There was no holding back his smile when Quentin appeared. "Hey." At the comment he looked down at the sweater and pants he was wearing. He definitely wasn't used to it, but with them going on a picnic, he wanted to be more comfortable. "This sweater is making it's first public appearance since I bought it. You should feel honored." Laughter slipped from him and he squeezed Q’s hand then turned to get a better look at him. "No time to dry your hair? Were you in that big of a rush to see me?" Again he laughed, unable to resist tucking a little more damp hair behind the others ear. "You look good, too, but then you always do." At least to him he did.
"Well, I don't really want to carry this basket and blanket around while we explore so I say we eat first." Eliot opened a portal for them to the park and once they were there he looked around as they began to walk. "If you see a spot you like, say the word." Even with having been there over four months he'd never been to Golden Gate Park, but he'd done some Googling and there was a lot to see and explore.
"Ooh I get the new fancy sweater?" He took a step away, just far enough to get a really good look at the sweater, but not so far that he had to let go. Quentin gave a nod. "I like it." Though he liked pretty much anything Eliot wore. The man had amazing taste in clothes. At the mention of his hair, he shrugged and gave him a sheepish grin. "Something like that."
"Fair point." He stepped through the portal and looked around the park. He'd looked up the park and there was so much he wanted to see, but later. After they ate. "Did you know they have a Shakespeare Garden here?" He wasn't sure where it was in relation to where they were at the moment, but he doubted they would find space in it on a Sunday afternoon.
As they walked he kept an eye out for some spot that wasn't too crowded, and maybe had a good view. He pointed over to a spot. "That looks promising...We could see the lake from there too." So not too crowded, AND it had a good view.
"Thank you." Eliot smiled sheepishly and curtsied. He gave Quentin a look and just smiled. He wasn't complaining. He liked his hair period. Although he did hope Quentin would let it grow longer. What? He liked long hair. Okay, his long hair.
"Unless you want to carry them," he teased once they were at the park. "I did know. I looked up the park. There's a lot to see and do here. I had no idea. It's cool. They have a carousel. We have to ride it." No, he didn't care one bit that they were adults. "And the ferris wheel!" The cost was ridiculous, but what was life if you didn't splurge now and then?
"I like it." They made their way to the spot and Eliot spread out the blanket then toed off his shoes, picked up the basket and sat down. Opening it took out the plates, real ones, no plastic and cutlery handing Quentin his. "Okay, I made turkey and ham sandwiches with lettuce, cheese and tomato." He set that container aside. "Then I have some strawberries, watermelon and grapes and finally dessert. I kept it simple, chocolate cupcakes and icing. But I made them with my own two hands." He grinned then leaned over and kissed Quentin.
"Obviously we have to ride both of them!" Maybe not on the same day. He knew they both cost probably more than he could afford to spend until his job came through. But he knew he'd be hearing back from them Monday, so he was just waiting.
Once they settled on a spot he reached to help him spread the blanket out then followed him in kicking out of his shoes and settling on the blanket with him. He shifted to sit cross-legged on one side of it. He reached out and took the offered plate. "Sounds like the perfect picnic lunch to me." He leaned over for that kiss then reached out to pull him back for one more. He resisted the urge to start with dessert, but he did start with a strawberry to get his sweet fix. "You ever wonder who decided dessert should be the last part of a meal?" Yes it was random and probably stupid, but it was one of those things he sometimes wondered about and this time he actually said it out loud before having a bite of his sandwich.
"I love your spirit!" He was glad Quentin hadn't said anything about the carousel being childish. Not that he really thought he would. Eliot just thought it would be fun and yes, he fully intended to get a picture of Quentin riding his animal of choice.
He smiled when pulled back for a second kiss. It warmed and relaxed him. As odd as it may be, Q's kisses were familiar yet they felt new at the same time. Eliot began to eat thinking this was already a good day simply because of the company. He looked at Quentin. "That's a good question." He loved how the other would ask questions like that. "I've never really thought about it. Maybe it has something to do with most desserts having more sugar and how it affects digestion. Though if you think about it, dessert is generally eaten with dinner which is in the evening. Eating a sugary dessert which could make one more hyper or awake would be better to eat first so the sugar has more time to work through the system and not keep you up." He laughed and shook his head. "Okay, I got way too deep on that question. We'll have to Google it later."
He munched on some of the fruit and looked around. The park was beautiful and there were a good deal of people there. It was Mother's Day though. He imagined there were plenty of families there for that reason. "Where should we go on our second date?" Eliot grinned then popped a strawberry in his mouth. "A museum? Movie? Sex club?" He laughed and pressed a kiss to Quentin's cheek.
"I wonder if they will have a griffin or hippocampus on it." How anyone could know there was a carousel and NOT want to ride it was completely beyond him. What was the point of being a grown-up if you had to pretend not to enjoy things that were quote-unquote for kids? He never wanted to be one of those people.
He ate a bit more as he listened to Eliot's ideas about dessert and nodded. "Okay, now we definitely have to find that out." It was now one of those Questions that must be answered in his mind, though he had no idea when he would get around to doing that. "OH!" He put his plate down and wiped his lips on the napkin then reached into his bag and pulled out the drinks he'd put in there. "They were chilled when we started this adventure but it hasn't been all that long." He held up the two 'bottles' of wine he'd found. "They don't allow glass bottles so people have gotten creative with packaging. Now I have no idea if this is going to be good or not, but the guy at the store said people seemed to like these. They're aluminum lined with..." He thought for a moment and shook his head when he passed one over. "I Forget what he said it was, but it is supposed to keep the taste pure."
Quentin took a sip of his wine and decided it wasn't terrible. It wouldn't be something he'd buy unless they were bringing it to the park, but it was good enough. He laughed at the options. "Is there a sex museum here?" Okay that was incredibly silly but it did stall a little while he thought about it. He had another bit of fruit then smiled over at him. "I have an idea, but I have to check something first. I'll tell you tomorrow, okay?"
"Sorry, I don't know. I only saw one small picture and don't really remember what animals there were." He ate more of his sandwich and nodded. It was one of those questions you never thought about until it was posed and then you had to know the answer. Eliot took the bottle and looked it over. "Necessity is indeed the mother of invention." He sat his plate down and opened the bottle then took a sip. "Eh, it's okay. It wouldn't be a go to for me, but I've had worse." It would do. He took another sip then settled it between his legs so it wouldn't spill.
Of course there wasn't a sex museum there. Eliot finished off his sandwich and drank down some more of the wine before eating some of the watermelon on his plate. "Okay with me," he smiled.
"I can hope, but I won't hold my breath. That's a bit of an obscure mythological creature anyway." He was glad that Eliot didn't absolutely hate the wine and made a mental note that they could get that brand next time they wanted a picnic in the park. "Exactly, though I wish they didn't have the glass ban. I Mean i get it, but I don't have to like it."
The only reason he decided to stall on suggesting their second date is he had to figure out how to word it and not give away the whole thing. He just hoped that Eliot didn't think the whole thing was stupid once he told him. He finished off his sandwich and drank a bit more of the wine. "You know we should do this regularly, at least when the weather still allows it."
Eliot would be patient for the second date idea. It was enough that they were even dating, taking things at their own pace. It didn't matter what others thought because they didn't know everything, didn't know their history, they're connection. And the truth was they never would and would never understand it.
He reached for the container that held the cupcakes then opened it. "Dessert?" He sat it down and took one out. "I think that's a great idea," he smiled. "We never really dated, went on dates." Hell, Eliot hadn't dated much in general. He took a bite of the sweet cupcake. "Not too bad if I do say so myself. You know, there's a lot of different museums here. Maybe we can check out some of them. The GLBT Historical Society Museum is one I'd like to visit."
"How could I forget the cupcakes?" He hadn't actually forgotten them. He'd only gotten side tracked and distracted by the prospect of a carousel ride. He reached out for one and licked a bit of the frosting off. IT was always the best part of any cupcake, or cake, or whatever happened to have frosting on it. He had a bite and hummed appreciatively. "I think it's more than not bad." He smiled and had another bite.
He looked over at the mention of more dates and smiled. "We really didn't, did we? We didn't exactly have the time for it though." Quentin moved the remnants of their lunch to one side then shifted over to sit beside Eliot and leaned his head on the man's shoulder. "But now we have the time. And I think the GLBT Museum would be a perfect date for us at some point, soon."
"Thank you," Eliot smiled then took another bite of the chocolaty sweet treat. "We didn't have a lot of time for anything other than quests, saving this or that or saving each other." He let his thoughts wander back to Brakebills and the many other places they'd all been. He focused on an image of Margo at Castle Whitespire and smiled before it slowly faded. He missed her so much. The thought of possibly never seeing her again hurt his heart more than he cared to admit.
He leaned his head against Quentin's. "Mmm, we do have the time now. We'll make that trip to the museum happen soon or anywhere else we want to go." The sky was the limit. At least within the confines of this place. He finished off the cupcake and washed it down with some wine.
Quentin didn't say anything for a minute. He was too busy finishing off his cupcake and thinking about what Eliot had said. They hadn't really had much time other than trying to fix things that had been broken. He wondered if they would have actually gone on dates after Eliot healed. He wondered what would happen if or when he got sent back to his own time again.
Then he remembered that if/when he did, Eliot would be going back to a world where he'd died. It hurt him to think about that and he shifted to wrap his arms around the man's waist the best he could without moving too much. Maybe they would never get sent back to their respective timelines. "WE should make a list of places we want to go together." He could already think of a handful of places he wanted to see around San Francisco and a few that were further away. "But the first place we're going is that carousel. And if it's not prohibitively expensive, I'd like to ride the Ferris wheel too."
"I think a list sounds like a fantastic idea. I'd like to go to New York. I know it's not the same one we lived in, but I still want to go." Just maybe he could find a little magic and nostalgia there somehow. He slipped his arms around Quentin and gave him a squeeze. "I think some weekend trips are in our near future. And when I have my time in at work we're going to Hawaii to be bums for a week."
A quick nuzzle and kiss then Eliot stood. "Yes, both are going to happen today, but first we're going to pack up and I'm going to portal this stuff back home and I'll be back in a flash."
"Yes. New York must be on that list." Some day when they were both able to have the time off. He knew once he started working at the college, his salary would allow him to splurge and spoil Eliot a bit. And he would not let the man stop him! "I wonder how long those tickets to Hawaii are good for anyway."
Quentin moved to help him clean up their picnic and get everything back into the basket before standing up. "I'll be right here waiting."
"I think the Hawaii vacation is good forever because I'm pretty sure it said we could use it whenever we wanted." At least that was how he interpreted it. He wished he could take the relaxing vacation now, but couldn't get a full week off from work at present.
Eliot folded up the blanket then created the portal. "Be back soon." He dropped everything off in his apartment and checked on Luna who was sleeping on her bed in the corner. He decided not to disturb her and returned to the park. "And, I'm back. He smiled and took Quentin's hand. "Time for the carousel? Then the ferris wheel." They were definitely doing both.