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Alistair Theirin (bloodoftheirin) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2014-01-03 00:48:00

Who: Alistair Theirin and Zevran Arainai
What: Dinner: Is It A Date Or Not?
When: Backdated: Friday, December 27th
Where: Campanille
Rating: Family Friendly
Status: Complete!

Alistair wasn’t exactly sure where they were going or if this was actually a date or not, but he’d chosen a nice pair of dress slacks, a button up shirt and blazer. He had no shortage of nice clothes, since his father had always insisted that his wardrobe reflect upon him, so jeans and a t-shirt were a rarity most of the time. Of course now he could wear pretty much anything he wanted and not have to worry about what his father would think. Alright, so maybe he still had to worry a little bit; after all, Maric hadn’t actually disowned him like he’d threatened to do, so he still had to keep up appearances a little bit. However, out here in Orange County there was less chance of anyone knowing he was Maric Theirin’s son unless they were either from Sacramento, followed California politics or knew his father.

Tonight what he wore was the least of his worries though. Tonight he was going out with a man who was a fairly famous porn star and if his father knew, he’d probably have a heart attack. Deep down Alistair found a small bit of perverse humor in that.

Zevran Arainai had a secret, although it wasn’t a very well kept one: he cleaned up very well. He’d chosen dark slacks, a button down shirt, and his favorite tie - forest green, to match his eyes and pay honor to his dream self. His blond hair was combed back into a loose, low ponytail, and he pulled up to Alistair’s home at the time they’d agreed upon.

Zev drove a modest car, a black BMW M6, something far less flashy than many of his castmates. He jogged up to Alistair’s door and rang the bell, grinning to himself.

Alistair had gone back and forth, trying to decide whether to wear a tie or not and in the end, he’d decided not to, because he hadn’t wanted to appear overdressed, but as soon as he opened the door and saw Zevran’s tie, he rethought his decision, but didn’t want to seem like he was a complete nervous wreck, so he tried to act casual, “Hi. You look nice.” He said, lips turning up into a smile, which he was sure looked incredibly cheesy, but he couldn’t help it. It was times like this that he wished he had friends who he could tell about this, but anyone he told back home would someone wind up telling his father. He really needed to get out a little more now.

Grinning back, Zev couldn’t help but like when Alistair grinned that way. It hadn’t ever been directed toward him in the dreams, more toward the Warden, but Zev had never blamed the prince. It was hard not to fall in love with the Warden, really.

“You look wonderful yourself. I have a question, before we go; do you want this to be a romantic date, or a friendly outing? If it is to be a friendly outing, I can manage this.”

“Thanks,” While Alistair had been wondering the same thing, he hadn’t expected Zevran to ask him that question and he felt his cheeks flush slightly, “Um...well, I….I wouldn’t be opposed to it being romantic.” He bit his bottom lip as he waited for Zevran’s response.

“Oh, good, I am glad. That was my hope as well.” Zev couldn’t help a genuinely happy grin, something people didn’t see often. They saw lecherous ones, wicked ones, and sly ones, but seldom the happy grins. “I have not been on a date in some time, you will have to pardon me if I am rusty.”

That smile made Alistair smile and he let out the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding in. He was actually going on a date with Zevran Arainai. “Okay. Good. Then we should go.” Yes, he was still extremely nervous, but he was also looking forward to the chance to do something without worrying that he might do something to tarnish his father’s image.

Reaching out to take Alistair’s hand, Zev walked with him toward the car. “I made reservations at Campanille for us. They have a bit of everything and are truly wonderful. I think you will like it.” He unlocked the doors remotely, figuring that opening Alistair’s door for him would be a bit much.

Alistair had never actually held hands with another man after all the only thing he’d ever done with another member of the same sex was a shortly lived drunken makeout session at a party during his sophmore year of college. So holding hands with Zevran felt a little liberating. When they reached the car, Alistair got in once the door was unlocked and buckled his seatbelt. “That sounds good.” He was glad that Zevran knew what was around, because Alistair was still new to the area.

“So, how has moving been? I trust you are getting settled in your new home?” Zev made small talk as he buckled his seatbelt and started up the car. It was modest enough looking from the outside, but the inside was incredibly posh: leather interior, iPad jacks, DVD players in the backseats.

“It’s going well. I went and got a Keurig and a few other things. So I don’t have to trust google maps to find me coffee anymore.” Alistair hadn’t gotten anything too extravagant, considering the allowance his father was giving him was only temporary. He needed to find a job and soon, but for the time being he had been spending his time settling in. After all, who hired during the holidays? He didn’t know what he was going to do, but he was sure he’d figure it out. He just knew that he didn’t want to do anything that had to do with Politics.

Zev chuckled. “I love mine as well. Do you have a job yet? Or do you need any help finding one? I am sure that there is someone in my business who needs a personal assistant. ... a director, not an actor.”

“It’s nice when you live alone, cause you don’t have to make a whole pot that will eventually go to waste.” Alistair was surprised that he was able to make small talk, what with how nervous he was. Sure, a little of his nervousness had eased when Zevran had smiled at him, but Alistair was still a whole mess of nerves. His brows rose slightly at the question, “I am actually. I was talking political science at Sacramento State, but that was only because my father wanted me to go into politics, which is not what I wanted.” He was sure that his father would have a coronary at the thought of one of his children being an assistant. It was much different than when Goldana had been an Intern. “I do have to find something soon actually. I only have a limited time that my father will continue to give me money.”

“Well, if you do need something, be sure to let me know. Director’s assistants make a tidy stipend, truly. Directors in my field work far more than the actors do, for fairly obvious reasons.” Actors needed more down time to recuperate. Directors mostly yelled instructions for a while then went off to do something else.

Alistair would be lying if he said he wasn’t interested, but at the same time he didn’t want to be someone’s gopher. “What sort of things would an assistant of the director have to do? Get coffee and dry cleaning?” He was only partly joking, but usually when someone heard the word assistant that’s what they tended to come to mind.

“Not just that, but make phone calls, mostly. Securing locations, costuming, things like that. Also fielding calls from agents. It’s mostly phone things and less fetching things. I had someone as an assistant once as well, but I found it made me lazy.” Zev laughed to himself. “It is just an idea, a last resort, if you will. I do not want you moving back to Sacramento so soon!”

Alistair thought about that for a moment or two as he gazed out the windshield then glanced over at Zevran, “That doesn’t sound too difficult.” He practically scoffed at the moving part and shook his head, “I have no intention of moving back any time soon. I don’t really have anything to go back to there.” Not a real life anyway. His father would probably just tell him that he knew he’d be back and usher him back into the image he had him in before.

“Good.” Zev smiled a little to himself and started to drive, making sure to keep the conversation light until they got to the restaurant. It was one of his favorites - high class food, but fairly casual. “So. You seemed surprised when I asked you out.”

“Well, I mean...you’re you. You’re famous and I’m just a regular guy.” Honestly, Alistair could kick himself sometimes. “Plus, I probably didn’t have the best first impression.” If he remembered correctly, he’d stumbled over most of his words and blushed like crazy. How could Zevran like someone like that? “Wouldn’t you be surprised if you were me?”

“No. You’re handsome, and I’m attracted to you. That’s what people do on dates, they find out if they have anything in common besides mutual attraction. And I’d hardly call myself famous. I don’t get recognized all that often, Alistair.” Zev had actually been surprised by that.

It was strange to have someone actually tell him they were attracted to him after all the matches that had been orchestrated by his father over the years. Any dates he’d gone on had all been ones of convenience and not attraction even though a lot of the girls he’d gone to events with or on dates with had been attractive, he just hadn’t been attracted to them, because he had literally been forced to go out with them. Zevran was another story altogether, “Seriously? That’s hard to believe. I mean, I recognized you right away.” There was no point in pretending he hadn’t, because Zevran already knew that he’d watched his movies. “So, do you always ask out guys you randomly meet on the street?” He knew Zevran had said that he hadn’t been on a proper date in a while, but he was attempting to be funny.

“I usually do not ask people out at all,” Zev shot back, grinning. “I usually don’t have time, or simply don’t feel a ... what is it called, a spark.” He didn’t mention the added thrill of knowing Alistair from his dreams, if only because he didn’t want Alistair to think he was crazy. “I cannot remember the last time I went out on a proper date. It is nice.”

“So which is it in this case?” Alistair asked, feeling his pulse rise slightly. He usually wasn’t quite so bold, but there was something about Zevran that while it made him nervous it also made him feel at ease. It was a strange combination of feelings. “Did you simply have the free time to go out or did I give you that spark?” He knew which answer he wanted to hear, but wasn’t sure what he’d do if it was the other.

Zev gave Alistair a Look. “You know which it is, Alistair. I would not wear a tie for someone I did not have a spark with.” He chuckled and drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. He actually felt sort of ... nervous, which was really strange. Until that moment, he wouldn’t have said it was something he could still feel at all.

A small smile spread across Alistair’s lips, “Well, I’m glad I’ve given you a spark.” Was this really happening to him? Alistair hadn’t expected to have a date so soon after moving and he certainly hadn’t thought it’d be with someone who was famous or semi famous since Zevran continued to insist he wasn’t that famous. He only had one major worry about the whole thing, which he was trying to not think of, because he didn’t want to ruin things, but deep down he was worried that Zevran would expect the date to end with them having sex and here he was, a complete virgin, which was pretty embarrassing for a guy his age.

“I can only hope it goes both ways, Alistair.” Zev smiled as he pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant, a lot filled with similar looking cars, all expensive and sleek. “Well, here we are. Shall we?” He hoped that paparazzi would leave him alone for the night, if only because he wasn’t doing anything scandalous. He hoped they’d look like they were having a business dinner.

Alistair was silent for a moment or two, because he didn’t want to seem too eager. Just before getting out of the car though, he turned to Zevran, still smiling even though his cheeks were flushed, “It is.”Alistair could only imagine what would happen if they were photographed together. His father wouldn’t be the first one to see it, but someone would definitely bring it to his attention then he’d get a phone call. So, Alistair was glad that there were no paparazzi around tonight. “Well, this place looks….nice.” He almost said expensive, but that was a given.

“It is. But yet they have food that we can both identify and pronounce.” Zev grinned wickedly. He’d dated a few foodies in his time, and hated it; he always got sick of food in foam form.

Reaching out, he took Alistair’s hand and held it as they walked toward the restaurant, and all the way until they were seated.

Alistair bit his bottom lip as Zevran took his hand and he was convinced that he was trying to kill him. Okay, so many not, but he felt like he might pass out if he kept doing that; pass out in the good way of course. That was a thing, right? When they sat down, Alistair glanced around the restaurant as they were given menus and asked if they would like something to drink. Of course he’d been in expensive restaurants before, but it had never been quite like this. Never been because he wanted to.

Zev ordered a glass of red wine, smiling and quietly telling Alistair to order whatever he wanted. That done, he examined the menu. “The pizza here is amazing, you cannot go wrong there, but I think I may eat pasta. Or some fish stew. You can take me out of Spain, but somehow, I still eat like I live there. You look... nervous. Is there something I can do?”

Alistair ordered a glass of wine as well then started looking over the menu. He’d known that Zevran was from Spain, his accent being one of the things he was attracted to most, aside from his obvious good looks of course, but there was just something about that accent. “What? No, I’m fine. I was just thinking about how I’ve never actually been on a date I wanted to be on. Or been to a nice restaurant like this when I’ve wanted to be. It was always because my father set something up with the daughter of a colleague or he had my brother and I accompany him to some business dinner or it was one of many uncomfortable family dinners.” Alistair could have gone on forever, but he forced himself to shut up, not wanting to bore Zevran.

Zev smiled sadly and looked down. “I think sometimes it sounds like you have the life that I escaped.” Leaning back, he thanked the waiter for his wine. “You do not look like the sort of person who will sell my story, and I trust you. I was born in Spain, yes. My father is a senator there, and has been for my entire life, even before I was born. His platform is the family,” Zev rolled his eyes, liberally using air quotes. “So the fact he had me with his maid was not to get out. She died giving birth to me, so he sent me to boarding school. Upon my graduation, and his finding out I had not been ... very good at boarding school, he told me to leave the country and never come back. He pays me monthly for this, to never mention him, so we cannot be linked.” Smiling wryly, Zev leaned back. “It is one of my great weaknesses that I have never confronted him.”

Alistair never would have thought that he would have such a similar background to Zevran. Of course his father hadn’t told him to leave the country, but he definitely hadn’t been pleased when Alistair had said that he wasn’t happy and wanted to move. Wanted to have his own life. “Wow. I didn’t….this is such a small world.”

“I will not lie - he may find out you are with me before you tell him, if a paparazzi snaps a photo of us. Are you all right with this?” Zev leaned forward, concerned. He didn’t think it’d be good for Alistair to come out too suddenly, even if he was just experimenting.

Alistair had known that was a possibility when he’d moved, but he had to live his own life. He didn’t want to wind up one of those guys who got married because of convenience and then cheated on their wife with the maid or even pool boy. He wanted to do what made him happy now. “He’d find out eventually. After living away for awhile I was planning to tell him. After I’ve got a job and money of my own so that if he disowns me completely, I won’t be penniless.” While Alistair did currently have access to his trust fund, he didn’t want to use that money unless he needed to. He took a sip of his wine, “Does your father know?”

“Of course. There is a reason he still sends me hush money. He would rather people not know his son is a famous pornographic actor in both hetero as well as homosexual films.” Zev couldn’t help smiling at Alistair. “You are very brave, my friend.”

“Brave? I just couldn’t live like that anymore.” Alistair didn’t think that was particularly brave, but it was nice to hear it from someone like Zevran, “My brother and sister might be able to, but I just couldn’t.”

“Sometimes we don’t know what is brave until we have already done it,” Zev shrugged. “I am still proud of you, nonetheless.”

A small smile crossed Alistair’s lips at the compliment and he took a sip of his wine, “Well, thank you. I’m glad that someone thinks I did something to be proud of.” He still couldn’t quite believe that they had such similar backgrounds and in a way it made him feel closer to Zevran.

“I hope you are one of those people!” Zev put down his menu, his tone oddly serious for a change. “You should know you have done something remarkable. It is no small feat to live for yourself.”

Alistair nodded, trying not to blush too much, “It’s an adjustment, but I think I’m doing pretty well so far.” He smiled at Zevran as the waitress came over to take their orders. A month ago, if someone had told him that he’d be living on his own and out on a date with Zevran, he would have told them they were crazy, but he was definitely glad things had worked out this way.