have you even had one date?! {BlindDate}

[renthead]

Mark didn't know why he did it. Maybe it was because Roger was always pestering him, or because Maureen had been so obvious in thinking that he was a loser because he hadn't gone on a date since she'd broken up with him... whatever the reason, here he was. He had let his friends talk him into signing up for a match maker service, and they had picked a date for him. He didn't know who. He would soon, though. He had been told to plan a date, and he had no idea what to do. He wasn't good at those kind of things. Eventually he had gone to his friends for help, and they had suggested a Broadway play. Joanne and Maureen had mentioned having a couple of spare tickets around to a show they'd give him, and he figured why the heck not. It meant he could just spend the time watching the show if the date turned out horrible. Which there was a high possibility it would... knowing Mark. He had horrible people skills. He didn't know why he'd even agreed to do it...

But now here he was. The musical was something called Wicked, which sounded evil to Mark but Maureen had raved about it for twenty minutes so finally he agreed to go. He was standing in front of the theater, a little worried. He had let Maureen and Roger dress him (which he swore never to do again) and was stuck wearing a jacket over a tight black shirt (which he hadn't even known he'd owned... actually, he was pretty sure he didn't own it) and jeans. His camera had been stolen from him for the night, and he was going through slight withdrawal. He felt weird, without his messenger bag with his beloved camera in it. His fingers kept twitching towards nothing. Finally, he shoved his hands into his pocket.

While waiting, he took several deep breaths. He hoped his date wouldn't walk away the moment they saw him. He hoped they wouldn't be rude. He hoped they wouldn't be some cliched preppy person. He hoped a lot of things. He didn't really know if he even wanted anything romantic, anyway. The thought of trusting someone else to not break his heart, after it had been broken so recently, was scary. He didn't know if he was ready for it. But he was here, and he couldn't really just leave. That would be beyond rude, and Maureen and Roger would never let him live it down.

He didn't have any shoes besides Converse anymore, and now he turned his worry to them. They were old, and Maureen had frowned when handing them to him. Did they make him look like a starving artist? Did that matter, since he was actually a starving artist? He didn't know why he cared so much about what he looked like. If that was all his date cared about, then they weren't right for him anyway...

He let out a deep breath, and looked around. This was going to be scary. He just knew it. But he'd go through with it... just so his friends couldn't laugh at him.

[SEBASTIAN TIMOTHY MARTIN]

Sebastian hadn't been on a date in years, so he really didn't know what to wear to one. Normally at a social event he would wear a suit and tie, slicking his hair back like he was sophistocated. Yeah, right.

So instead of wearing the suit, he had thought about wearing his normal blazer and scarf, with one of his stud belts, just to spice it up. But then he was told his "blind date" had planned for them to go to the theatre. He thought, "well damn, I really should wear my suit and tie." From his understanding, you were supposed to dress VERY well for Broadway. But he didn't know what musical or play it was, as he didn't really pay much attention to Broadway. He just knew what theatre it was, and hadn't even bothered to look it up.

Now that he was walking toward the theatre, his mind was screaming "YOU IDIOT! YOU SHOULD HAVE LOOKED UP THE FUCKING PLAY!!!" He approached the George Gershwin Theatre, wearing full dress attire. He looked like an incompetent idiot. The musical was "Wicked." From what he understood of the show, it was one of those things that fangirls flocked to, from all across the world. Certainly not formal clothes material.

"Oh, God, oh shit, oh God, oh shit..." He muttered as he got closer. "Nope, that's it. I'm done." He started to turn around, catch a taxi, go home and huddle in a corner out of sheer embarassment. His home was beckoning, with his shelves lined with cheesy movies and sci-fi novels. His Doctor Who collection called to him with intese passion.

But then he saw his date, waiting outside the theatre. He knew it to be his date by the way he wasn't moving into the place with the throng of people, and the man seemed to be nervous and giddy. He was handsome, no doubt, and his glasses added a dorky touch... Something he knew all about of course. But then... His clothing. Further proof that Sebastian should just go home.

But the man looked so sweet. His aura didn't suit his clothing at all, and he couldn't help but wonder if his friends had put him up to this. He didn't even seem like the type to be going on dates, much less blind ones. He decided, against his better judgement, to address him, even though the Doctor was calling back at home. He'd have to wait.

"Excuse me?" He said, tapping the man on the shoulder from behind. "Ah, um... Are you my date?"

[renthead]

Mark felt someone touch his shoulder, and jumped about ten feet in the air. Okay, not that high. He couldn't jump that high. But he did jump, and whirl around so fast his glasses almost came off his face. He was face to face with a man who looked slightly older then him, dressed... well, nice. Nicer then he could afford, probably. Mark turned slightly red, and looked back down at his converse.

"Well, uh, um, yeah, I think. I'm Mark..." he stated, keeping his eyes on his shoes but sticking out his hand. Mark knew that if he kept it up the date was not going to end well, but... well, he was embarrassed. The man was well dressed, and here he was dressed in his normal (well not his, but say... Roger's) normal clothes, at a theater too see a show he knew nothing about. A show that Maureen had picked out, which made it even worse. He would probably end up hating it, and even worse, the man standing in front of him would probably hate it. And blame him. Because he would assume Mark had planned it. Maybe he should have just settled for coffee at the Life Cafe.

"So, I don't know anything about this musical... I'm apologizing in advance if it sucks." he stated, his hands coming out of his pocket to run through his hair and to fix his glasses. This was so... awkward.

[SEBASTIAN TIMOTHY MARTIN]

The boy seemed so shy... He was a boy to Sebastian. Didn't he specifically state in his ad that he didn't want a boy toy? Ah, well. He wasn't that much younger. The poor thing was really nervous, he could tell. The other man looked down at his converse in embarassment. He didn't know what he was embarassed of. Maybe he had been expecting a girl, and got a guy? Well that would have been strange, a mix up on the matchmaker's part.

"I'm Sebastian... But... I guess you could call me Bastian," he said, shrugging after he put his hand back in his pocket. "Everyone else does."

He looked up to the glaring sign up above, the one of the green witch and the white witch. It sort of seemed childish to him, but he didn't really mind. He usually watched childish things when people expected the opposite of him. "Ah, well... I think it's about the Wizard of Oz... Or something." He looked down at his shoes, rolling back and forth on his feet. From all the walking some of his hair had popped out of the gelled mess. He scoffed internally at it, cursing the day he was born with hair that would fight back. "I'm sure it will be great..." He said, to reassure the panicing boy.

[renthead]

Mark took a deep breath, and forced himself to calm down. Nothing was going to come of freaking out the whole time except for an annoyed date. And Mark knew first hand how annoying they could be. In fact, Maureen had been annoyed about half the time they'd gone out... Mark scolded himself mentally. Here he was on a blind date, and he was thinking of his ex. That had to break all sorts of dating rules. He forced the mooing girl out of his mind, and turned his focus back on his date.

As far as dates went, he supposed Sebastian, or Bastian as he had been told he was allowed to call him, wasn't that bad. Maybe a bit older then he'd expected, but not like, sixty or anything. Probably around Collins' age... Mark nodded, and smiled lightly. "Oh, um, okay." he said, trying to relax his posture. He hoped the man didn't think it was his fault he was so tense. It was just... Mark. Honestly, Mark hadn't really been expecting his friend's to set him up with a guy. It wasn't necessarily a bad thing, but it had been a bit unexpected. He figured after dating Maureen for the length of time he had they would have forgotten about his boyfriend in college...

"Oh, that's cool. That's one of my favorite movies..." Mark said, cheering up slightly. Maureen hadn't told him that. In fact... well... she hadn't told him anything except that he had to go watch it. Mark watched the other man, deciding that he had already screwed everything up and that Sebastian was ready to run away screaming already, and sighed.

["I'm sure it will to... shall we go in?" he asked, pointing towards the entrance that tons of people were swarming.

[SEBASTIAN TIMOTHY MARTIN]

Sebastian could tell how terribly tense Mark was, but all he could think about was how embarrassed HE was for dressing in this monkey suit. He cursed the day his mother instilled in him the need to dress up at every occasion. It was always so troublesome eventually, and he felt like a fool.

He nodded when Mark pointed to the theatre. "Okay..." he said, apprehensivly. He started to walk toward the theatre. Gods, some date this was turning out to being. His first one in years and it was off to this kind of start... Oh well, at least he wouldn't have to talk during the play. It wasn't that Mark was a bad guy, or anything, he just seemed hard to talk to.

Or maybe it was because Sebastian himself was hard to talk to. He had to admit, he didn't like talking much. Maybe if he forced himself to talk about himself for once (something he never did), then the date might turn out a bit better. "Um... So... What do you do for a living?" he inquired.

[renthead]

Mark followed the man into the swarms of people, edging into the theater while trying to not get trampled. He pondered Sebastian's question in his mind, trying to come up with an appropriate answer. Should he say he was unemployed, which was technically true? Should he say he was a film maker, because he was although it didn't provide any income? Should he say he was a former Buzzline employee? That sounded fancy, yet sleazy at the same time. And anyway, those days were over with... for now at least. Alexi had called him, saying her other camera man had quit and he was always welcome back, but he had ignored her. He didn't really feel like selling out twice in two years. It just seemed... sell out-y.

"I'm a filmmaker by trade... but I don't really have a job right now. I mean, I'm looking for one but... well, I'm trying to find a job that I enjoy. My last job was... horrible. I quit after a few months because it made me feel like a sellout." he said, tilting his head to the side as they finally got into the theater for seats, and spotted a row near the back that was fully empty. He didn't think about asking Sebastian, used to attending things like plays and movies alone, and immediately made his way over. It wasn't until he had sat down that he remembered his date. If he had been red before, he must now looking like a strawberry with blond hair. He felt like the biggest loser on the planet, and he realized that was probably why no one went out with him more then once, usually. He was an awkward loser.

He wondered why he hadn't seen this before.

Then realized he had.

Right.

[SEBASTIAN TIMOTHY MARTIN]

Sebastian followed his date, of course, wherever he went. He figured they would have gone towards the front. That was the closest to the stage, and he thought his date seemed like the type to enjoy these types of musicals, from what he'd told him about his love of film. He, however, would have dreaded the front. Oh, sure, it was nice to be able to see the actors up close. But in the back of his mind, he'd always worry that a vision might come his way, and leaving from the front row would be near impossible. He'd be miserable the rest of the night.

That's why, when his date chose a seat in the back, he breated a sigh of relief. He smoothed into his seat with ease, already feeling less jittery than he had when he'd entered the theatre. He smiled fondly at the stage, crossing his legs to get comfortable. "Must be exciting, being a filmmaker. I'm afraid I'm only a teacher, or rather, professor."

He glanced over his date, and instead of finding the awkward smile thought would be there, the man was beat red. "I'm sorry, are you alright?" He asked. Had he emarrassed him in some way? "U-unless its not exciting. I mean, I'm not a filmmaker, so I wouldn't know..." He rubbed the back of his neck, laughing nervously.

[renthead]

Mark sighed, and looked down at his feet. It was time to get over this awkward jitters, and admit that he was very nervous. It wasn't like the guy couldn't tell. Most normal people were not this shade of red all the time.

"I'm sorry. I'm just really nervous. I haven't been on a date in.... well, a long long time. My last relationship ended really badly and my friends have been going... crazy I guess, and I'm just a really awkward guy I guess.. You can leave if you want?" he said, babbling slightly but giving the poor guy an out if he wanted to.

He tilted his head when he heard Sebastian's comments, and actually smiled.

"Hey, one of my very best friends in a professor. Well... sort of. He gets fired from almost every college for going somewhere naked." he said with a laugh. "And it is exciting... just nerves. Once again, sorry. But I love film." he forced himself to remain calm, and slowed his jitters to a halt. It could be fun if he relaxed. Yes. Fun. That would be his goal. Just to have fun and not scare the guy away. IF he didn't take the out Mark had given him.

[SEBASTIAN TIMOTHY MARTIN]

Sebastian smiled with understanding at the guy. He figured he was nervous, but it took guts to admit it. He sat back in his seat, looking up at the stage. "Don't worry about it... I'm... I'm kind of nervous too... In fact I think we're in the same boat. I haven't been on a date in years!" He chuckled, but it was with dark undertones. Of course he hadn't been on a date in years, not when the only boyfriend he ever had was left behind in the dust of memories containing visions. It was sad that this one always haunted him, but what could he do?

"And why would I leave? I mean... I heard this musical's great, and you seem like a pretty nice guy..." He nudged him playfully. "Don't be so paranoid. That'll be my job for the evening, okay?" He was trying to cheer the guy up, but Sebastian really was paranoid. Not because of the guy, but because he might just have a vision during this performance. He'd just have to concentrate and not stare out into space, because that was what usually brought them on.

When he heard Mark talk about his friend, he laughed out loud, showing his crooked teeth. He always hated his teeth, so he covered his mouth as he giggled. "Your friend sounds pretty interesting. I might have to try that myself some time." He was really just trying to take his mind off of everything, but he did seem to be having a good time. "And quit saying you're sorry. I hate it when people do that." He smiled reassuringly.

He was beginning to like Mark.

[renthead]

Mark looked at Sebastian and smile lightly. It was nice to know he was surrounded by happy couples. Mark's heart ached a bit at the thought. Normally, he was fine with being alone, as long he wasn't the only person in New York City who hadn't been on a date in awhile. That was hard to remember sometimes, when as every one else was happy. But it did get to him sometimes...

"Right, sorr-... I mean, Right. Just right." he said, stopping himself from saying sorry again. He tilted his head slightly to the side, and nodded.

"I heard it was good too. And I'm so- erm... I apologize, paranoia just comes with the territory where I live. Especially around the people I live with... they're just crazy. Like the college professor." when Sebastian said he might have to try Collins' signature move sometimes, Mark laughed. An actual laugh, not a fake one. He considered that progress.

"I'll keep a look out in the Voice. 'College Professor (Not Thomas Collins for Once) Fired for Streaking!'" he teased, leaning back in his seat and putting his feet on the chair in front of him. Yes, it was a no-no. But it wasn't like anyone was sitting there. Yet. He wondered when the musical would start. He wanted to see why Maureen liked it so much.