“Are you absolutely certain this is a good idea, Daniel?” Eliza asked. It had been the fifth time she’d asked. Her usual confidence wasn’t exactly in pieces, but it had most definitely fallen off the dresser and rolled under the couch when nobody was looking. It was, Daniel had to admit, a strange sight, seeing her fret like this, as much as he could relate to how she was currently feeling. He’d had some reservations of his own, when Jenny and her boyfriend had invited him and Eliza over for dinner. 

For one thing, being over at someone’s home had always been a cause for anxiety for Daniel, who had been invited to many a soiree and nobleperson’s house, and almost always there had been an attempt at bribery, straight up job offers -- which he’d declined, he’d have made for a terrible geography teacher -- and on three separate occasions, assassination. He simply had never had an invitation from someone he hadn’t known for years that had actually been the evening of fun and companionship that had been promised. 

The other thing was that he wasn’t sure how to approach an evening like this with Jenny and her boyfriend, who he had yet to meet and whose name he was fairly certain started with a K. Sure, they both knew he was, well, Daniel, but he didn’t have a lot of clothes that would allow him to look even remotely decent at an evening like this. He had shirts and the rough pants made of denim that he quite enjoyed, but he never saw people wearing them in official settings. He’d told Jenny about it, who had simply reassured him to come as he was and, if necessary, he could borrow some of her boyfriend’s clothes, which barely helped. He simply didn’t know what to expect. 

That hadn’t been a problem for Eliza, who had sheepishly walked into a clothing store and had been adored by the two girls there, who had been more than eager to help her find the perfect outfit. They had whisked her away and Daniel had been forbidden from seeing what she’d ended up with, but she had looked extremely pleased with herself when she’d left the store. The two girls had waved them out enthusiastically and Eliza hadn’t said a word more, grinning smugly all the way home. 

Now she was getting ready in the bathroom and all that bluster had evaporated. Daniel, lying on the bed, simply stared at the ceiling with a slight chuckle. Not that Eliza’s confidence on its own wasn’t… something he could appreciate, but knowing she was mortal under all of that power never failed to make him smile.

“I think,” Daniel said, “that it would not be the worst idea for either of us to make more connections. Loathe as I am to let you out of my sight, lest you go conquering worlds again, I do think having some friends is a good thing.” He propped himself up on his elbows. “Besides, I’d think you, of all people I know, would be more comfortable in a situation where you can present as the great Eliza again, rather than having to conform to this world’s more… drab standards. Not to mention that I can’t help but feel like you wouldn’t like to miss a chance to finally get dressed up ag--”

That’s as far as he got. It is a common fallacy that men are easily distracted by beautiful women, and it is a fallacy that is built on a system that devalues the attraction of women, as well as that of gay men. In fact, everyone is easily distracted by someone they think is beautiful, but only men see their open attraction acknowledged without punishment. All of this to say that Daniel’s response was entirely normal, even if he was a man and Eliza was a beautiful woman, the latter of whom had just walked out of the bathroom with none of the demure timidity that could be expected of someone insecure about their appearance. 

Eliza was wearing a grey knee-length sweater dress with green accents and a split that went just a bit up her thigh, leather boots with only a hint of a heel that went halfway up her calf, and black leggings. The only piece of jewellery was a sapphire -- or something that looked a lot like one -- on a simple silver chain around her neck. It wasn’t particularly big, but it complimented the muted tones of the dress well. Her now shoulder-length hair was up in a bun, with a few loose strands framing her face. One hand on her hip, she smirked at Daniel. 

“You were saying?” she quipped, before striding through the room the way she probably used to all the time, patently ignoring Daniel’s inability to tear his eyes off of her. When she stood in the doorway, she stopped and turned back to him. “It’s… not the shoulders, right?” A twinge of vulnerability in her voice and her jaw set a little too tight, and Daniel wasn’t sure if that was insecurity because of herself or because of him. 

“No! No… I wasn’t…”

“I just… I want to think you were looking at me because of the way I’m dressed,” she said, “but I do look… all right, right? I know I don’t look traditionally… feminine…”

“You look…” he paused, trying to figure out how he’d want her to talk to him, too. He didn’t want to sound placating, or condescending, and it would be so easy to say the wrong thing. “You don’t see the person in the mirror that you want to, Eliza,” he said. She nodded. “I think… I think I do.”

“Bully for you,” Eliza said, rolling her eyes. “I’m glad the mirror is your ally.”

“No, that’s not what I…” He groaned and rubbed his face. “That was supposed to be…” Eliza looked at him with all the patience of a cat waiting to pounce, her eyebrows raised. As expressions go, ‘I see you have dug yourself a hole and have only a shovel to dig yourself out’ is highly specific, but it is one that has been perfected across all layers of reality. “I see what you don’t, Eliza,” Daniel said. Eliza nodded, still not understanding. He cleared his throat and tried to calm his suddenly-quite-fast heartbeat. “I see you,” he said. 

“Oh.”

“Yes,” he said. “If you’d understood what I meant in the first place then we wouldn’t be in the middle of what is rapidly becoming the most awkward conversation of my life, but yes.” He was a little frustrated and a lot flustered and he didn’t know why, only adding fuel to both. “I see the version of you that you wish you could see in the mirror, because I know who you are and you… wear that dress… really… quite… well…” His voice trailed off as a blush rose up his cheeks, hopefully a little camouflaged by the still growing stubble. He had taken to trimming it a bit -- he had learned a long time ago to avoid the teenage see-through facial hair -- but he felt that a hint of stubble made him look both more masculine and a bit older. 

“Thank you,” Eliza said, her smile reaching all the way up to her eyes. “I’m glad.” there was a comfortable silence for a moment, and then Eliza turned on her heels. “Come on, let’s go! We’ve only half an hour and unless you’ve secretly learned how to drive, we are either walking or taking public transportation, and I don’t want to sit on another bus.”

“We could attempt a taxi?”

“No,” she said resolutely. “I’m never doing that again. I’ve never felt more embarrassed. Are you all set?”

Daniel nodded. “Jenny let me know again that it’d be no problem for me to get changed there. Her boyfriend is to give me ‘pointers’. It’s going to be dreadful.”

“It’ll be delightful, Daniel.” She picked up her purse -- grey, with a little blue accent -- and led the way to the front door. “Come on, I don’t want to be late to meet your… boss.”

Daniel groaned. “Don’t call her that. She’s more like… a colleague.”

“Who pays you,” Eliza said drily.

“She pays herself the same amount, mind! She makes enough to keep the place running, and then only for hours doing her share of the work. Pat’s no different.” He huffed. “Far as I’m concerned, all three of us hold the same position.”

“But they get the profits, don’t they?” Eliza said as she whirled her coat onto her shoulders with a flourish Daniel neither could nor had any intention to learn. Eliza, however, looked positively royal when she did so, and as they made their way down the stairwell -- neither of them very comfortable with elevators, useful as they were for groceries -- he felt distinctly underdressed, wearing a cheap jacket over his already not-very-impressive shirt-jeans combo. Next to him, Eliza looked, well… like a queen. 

“No,” Daniel said. “The profits -- and there aren’t many -- go into a separate account for the gym. If new equipment is needed and so on. For the most part, they appear to break even, wages not included.”

“Huh,” Eliza said, “interesting. Well, she is still the person who employs you soooo…” With a little wink, she stepped out into the afternoon-rapidly-becoming-evening air, and they walked mostly in silence to their destination, not far from the gym. 

Daniel was the one to knock. Even though he still felt more than a little self-conscious about being a hunched-over ill-dressed figure next to Eliza, he was essentially the main invitee, and the one Jenny knew. He should, he figured, be the one to lead the proverbial charge. For a brief moment he pondered on how different his life was these days, how this was considered leading the charge for him now. Once upon a time he would run into the open maw of a titan wielding only half a sword, and now the thought of socializing was making him nervous. Some hero. 

Jenny opened the door with a big smile, and immediately, Daniel felt even more like the odd one out. Her black cocktail-dress was pretty, and its design left her muscular arms and shoulders bare. Daniel hoped Eliza took note. Jenny could probably bench-press him, and she didn’t look any less feminine for it. 

“Daniel, I’m so glad you made it.” She turned to Eliza, and blinked for a moment. Daniel could swear Jenny’s gaze slowly walked all the way up to Eliza’s face in a way that bordered on the inappropriate. “Okay,” Jenny said. “Okay. Yeah! Hi! I’m Jenny. You must be Eliza.” She offered her hand, which Eliza took gingerly. “Please, come on in!”

They did as they were offered and were led into a small -- though not as small as their own -- living room, cozy and far from devoid of comforts. A large screen seemed to be set up against one wall on which a fireplace was projected, and the table had already been made. There were candles. Soft music came from somewhere and they took it all in for a moment. It was nice. The kind of thing Daniel wouldn’t mind living in, if he ever lived with someone else. 

“It’s wonderful,” Eliza said, and Daniel couldn’t help but agree. Jenny smiled a thank you and then ran into the kitchen to do… something. Just in that moment, the man of the house entered. He wasn’t much taller than Daniel, dressed in a simple white button-up, buttoned down slightly, and a black vest. He presented handsome in a way Daniel hadn’t seen in person much before. Not in this world, at least. He’d seen a lot of business suits, but this managed to look both refined, dignified, as well as casual and comfortable. 

“Daniel?” he asked, and they shook hands. “I’m Hayden. Good to finally meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“Many have,” Daniel said without an ounce of shame, boast or humour. Hayden did him the courtesy of laughing anyway. “Good to meet you too, Hayden. Jenny sings your praises often.”

“Does she?” Hayden grinned. “I’ll have to bully her about that later.” He turned to Eliza. “Of course, the eponymous Eliza. Honestly, I’ve only heard about you… third-hand, and I’ll be honest, I wasn’t ready for just how much of a vision you are,” he said, and Daniel noticed her blushing. He’d half expected Hayden to bow or kiss her hand, but he simply shook Eliza’s hand like he had Daniel’s. “Now, all that out of the way, if you’ll excuse me, I have to check on the potatoes. I’ll ask Jenny to show you to our room, I put some clothes out on the bed that I think you’re going to dig.” He smiled again, gave Daniel a gentle pat on the shoulder, and disappeared into the other room. 

“That was…” Eliza said, looking at the space Hayden had occupied just a moment ago. They had both been mesmerised. 

“Definitely something,” Daniel finished. 

“Never met a man like that before.”

“Dapper?” Daniel asked with a smirk. 

“Jovial. He makes me feel welcome,” Eliza said. Daniel turned to look at her. 

“I don’t?”

“No,” Eliza said, and Daniel’s rapidly dropping heart was caught at only the last second. “You make me feel at home.”

“Daniel?” Jenny asked as she walked back into the room, handing Eliza a glass of bubbles and putting Daniel’s on the table. “Come with me? Hayden says he got some things ready for you.” 

Hayden had. Hayden had put out an outfit not unlike his own, but with a black shirt instead. However, the part that really stuck out to Daniel was a centerpiece, something that clearly was supposed to go under the whole thing. It had a little note.

“Daniel. If everything Jenny says is correct, this is your first time wearing one of these. Remember, if, at any point, you start to feel out of breath, you immediately go and take it off. It helped me a lot, early on, and I hope it helps you too. Men like us have to stick out for each other. -- Hayden

“PS: I washed it.

Daniel looked at the garment for a moment, took a deep breath, and forced himself into the outfit, deliberately ignoring the mirror in the room, and straightened everything out as best he could. The buttons on the shirt had taken a moment to get used to, but he’d hoisted himself into uncomfortable ceremonial outfits before. He was just glad there were no cufflinks. He ran a hand through his hair, rubbed his face, and took a not-as-deep-as-he-would-like breath before heading back. 

Jenny and Eliza were happily talking next to a set of pictures, Eliza clearly having mastered the art of small talk, when he walked and ran a hand down his chest to flatten out the shirt, and was struck by the realization that the underthing Hayden had given him had practically taken away his bust. He looked down, and back up, catching Eliza’s eye. Did he look like he felt? Did she see him the way he felt?

“It looks amazing on you, Daniel!” Jenny said. “Gosh, I’m so glad this worked out. I had a feeling, because you and Hayden are the same size, but I don’t like to assume. Please, sit. Gosh, Eliza, he looks handsome as hell!”

“Yeah,” Eliza said quietly, her eyes wide as the four of them sat down and Hayden broke the ice by giving everyone their glass of champagne. It wasn’t a taste Daniel had acquired yet, but he appreciated the celebratory/festive aspect of it. 

“To making new friends, yeah?” Hayden said and the other raised their glasses to salute. “Now… dig in. I spent way too long on the mash and I need someone to tell me it’s not garbage.” They did, dinner going by happily. It didn’t take long for Daniel to relax and open up a bit, although he and Eliza couldn’t go into detail about a lot of their earlier life and they did their best to stay vague, asking questions themselves. 

However, as anyone who has tried to avoid a subject is well aware, every once in a while, you let your guard down and eat something. In such a situation, you are defenseless. You can either lie, which most people are much worse at than they think they are, you can dodge the question, which will cause more questions, or you can answer the question. The third option is, of course, the worst, and the only correct one. However, that doesn’t make it easy. As Daniel enjoyed a forkful of what were actually really good mashed potatoes -- ‘No, really, I think you were being facetious, you knew they’d be this good, haha’ -- Jenny raised her glass and looked conspiratorially at the two of them. 

“So,” she asked, wiggling her eyebrows. “How long have the two of you been together?” 

Daniel nearly choked on his food.

Elamimax

God, don't you love dinner parties?

A reminder that this story is completely finished and has over ten chapters that have yet to be released on scribblehub, and that you can already read all of them through my Patreon, and you get a whole bunch of added benefits! On top of that, it keeps my lights on and even lets me eat! Patrons get a ton of benefits, like access to new stories, sometimes weeks or even months in advance, as well as cheaper commission rates, exclusive discord roles, and access to private polls about future projects. 

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