“Detroit,” I said. “What did you get up to there?”
“The last few years I’ve worked part-time as a piercer,” he said, then grabbed the silver ring in his right ear and tugged on it lightly, as though to show me. “Outside of that, just the usual. Chasing down guys, trying to keep out of trouble, working on my truck. How about you? What’s your scene like in Seattle?”
“I don’t really have a scene…” I said. “But I do have the comic shop where you stopped by. Most of my friends hang out there.” I tapped my fingers against the novel, trying to think of what else to say. “How was the comic you picked up?”
“Pretty decent,” he answered. “TheStar Trekcomics are really just like more episodes of the TV shows.”
“Yeah, exactly,” I said, brightening a little. “More worlds to explore.”
“Mmhmm,” he agreed.
“You said in the shop that you’ve been reading those since you were a kid?”
“Yeah, as long as I’ve been watching the show,” he answered. “I had a pretty fucked up childhood, butStar Trekwas always my escape. When I was allowed to watch it, that is.”
“What kind of parents don’t let their kid watchStar Trek?”
“My parents weren’t the problem,” Mars answered. “They ditched me a long time ago. But you’d be surprised what kinds of rules they have in some foster homes.”
I swallowed and felt a little embarrassed for having assumed things about his past. “I’m sorry to hear that,” I said, although I knew there must be much worse stories hidden beyond just being deniedStar Trek.
“It’s chill,” he said. “I was out on my own at a pretty young age. Then I could watch whatever the hell I wanted, whenever the hell I wanted.” He chuckled, and for some reason, my mind flashed back to high school and the way I always thought I saw a tinge of pain in the eyes of my bullies, even when they were trying to cover it by harassing me. “How about you?” Mars continued. “You grow up in Seattle?”
“I’ve always been here,” I said. “It’s a great city, so I don’t really plan to move. My mom raised me, and we’re still close. She was a social worker for years, although now she works as a professor at a college in Portland.”
“Sounds like a good woman,” Mars said. “I could have used a couple of social workers like her in my day.”
I opened my mouth to say more, then bit down on my lip. Mars kept dropping these glimpses into his life, but I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to ask more questions or just listen. It was only a first date, after all, and it wasn’t like I wanted to drag out all the trauma from my own past.
Luckily, Mars saved me from my own awkwardness. “So you’re aStar Trekfan too, I take it? Makes sense. You’re a smart guy, I can tell. Plus you’d look pretty damn cute in one of those uniforms.”
I felt myself blushing at the compliment. “Yeah, I like all science fiction,” I said. “I like imagining other worlds and other ways people could exist. There’s a whole universe out there, you know?”
“It was the Borg episodes of the TV show that really got me hooked,” Mars said. “I swear to god, the people I grew up with were more like the Borg than anything else. Everyone was just the fucking same, and I was always the outcast.”
“Because you’re gay?” It was hard to imagine Mars taking crap from anyone.
“And because I can’t keep my big mouth shut,” he joked. “I didn’t come out of the closet until I went out on my own, though. That’s when I met my best friend, the guy I moved here with. He was out and proud and taking care of all the other gay kids on the street. Really helped me find myself, and he never gave me shit for my other tendencies.”
“Your other tendencies?”
Mars leaned forward on the table, and I noticed the tattoo of a star on his knuckle again. “I like to flirt,” he said, dropping his voice closer to a whisper. “I try to enjoy that gay liberation the older generations fought for.”
“Oh,” I said. “Other tendencies.” I frowned to myself, then took another sip of the tea. The warmth steamed up my glasses, and I had to take them off and clean them to see Mars again. When I did, he still had that cocky half-grin on his face.
“How about you?” he asked. “Every time I flirt with you, your hands start tapping on that book, and your eyes dance around like nervous ballerinas.” He ran his tongue across the edge of his lip slowly. “Not that I mind working for it, especially with a guy as cute as you.”
I glanced sideways at the coffee shop, suddenly wishing I had brought Valeria along to serve as emotional support in the background. “I guess I don’t date much,” I said, withholding the whole story. “I’m not really looking for a one-night stand or anything like that. More like a long-term boyfriend.”
“And what about me?” he asked. “I might not be your best bet for a husband, but I’m a lot of fun on a proper date. Maybe some night this week, somewhere that’s not a coffee shop?”
“Oh, I’m not sure about that,” I mumbled.
“Why not? Don’t you think I’m hot?”
I actually laughed out loud, surprised by his cockiness. “Do I think you’re hot? Do you really ask people questions like that in the middle of a coffee shop?”
He leaned back and folded his arms over his chest. “You didn’t answer the question.”
