Now See Here! (m/m)

The Blind Date

"If I do, kick me," the blond chuckled. "Hey, you didn't mention Linda's tits!"

"I have no idea about those, I haven't met her. I only got a description from Sharon… couldn't really ask for her curves, could I?"

"No, I'm pretty sure that would have been frowned upon… besides, I don't ca-"

"Stop saying that you don't care, if you don't care about tits, go date Jake."

"It's just that-"

"If you play the blind card I'll thump your head. You can still be a dog!" his friend claimed as they stepped out the door.

"Something to aspire to," Mark snorted, locking up.

"That's my bro! Hey, claim you want to find out how she looks and cop a feel!"

"You know I don't do that!"

"Yes, and you're missing out! We're at the taxi." Lance guided Mark inside before rounding the car and getting in next to him. "Like I said, if I was you I'd take advantage. How can they get angry at a blind guy?"

"I'll remember your wise words…" the blond muttered.

"Are they here yet?" Mark asked quietly as they entered the restaurant. He had his cane out and kept a hand on Lance's shoulder, walking slightly behind him between the tables.

"No, we're a little early, I thought we'd better get settled first," the brunette answered. "Your chair is to your right now."

"Would you like to see the menus?" a male voice asked them very quickly after they had been seated at a round table with just room enough for four.

"We're waiting for two more, but yes, we can take one and go through it before our company arrives… unless you have menus in braille?" Mark said.

"Um… No, I'm sorry, Sir, we do not. I'd be happy to go through it with you, though, if you'd like? We don't have any specials here, but I recommend the Pasta e fagioli or the lasagna, they are both very good."

"Thank you," Mark smiled, "My friend will help me with the menu, though, he's used to it."

"Absolutely, I'll be back in a moment and I'll bring something to nibble on while you wait," the waiter told them and hurried off.

They had just gone through the menu and Mark had decided on the recommended lasagna when their dates arrived. Feeling terribly awkward and self-conscious didn't help, but after they all were seated, Lance to his right, and Linda to his left, Mark took a deep breath.

"So… Linda… what do you do for a living?"

"I work in Barney's on Madison … we carry great men's wear, you should come by sometime."

"Is that a nice way of saying that you don't like my shirt?" Mark grinned. His date giggled and claimed the opposite, though. The tension seeped away a little as they talked. There were times the women seemed to hesitate when telling a story or saying something, but Mark knew those kinds of hesitations well… they didn't know if he would understand what they described, or how to describe something… or what was alright to ask and what wasn't. He inwardly sighed. This was a threshold he always had to overcome when meeting new sighted people, just as with Jake yesterday. It was easier with visually impaired friends, although he was in the same position with people who had been blind from birth. Grin and bear it, that was all he could do. He was an 'oddity' after all, there was nothing that could be done about that.

When the food arrived he felt over the plate carefully with his knife and fork until he knew how big the portion and the plate were. Choosing lasagna meant that there weren't several parts of the meal which had to be combined, which was a bit easier, but there were still some kind of vegetables adorning the plate.