***

It was a bright day on Sunday, and already the park was busy with joggers, people walking with their dogs and children, and cyclists. New Yorkers intent on enjoying the beautiful day. 

Kurt played with the drawstring on his hoodie as he walked along the pathway, feeling slightly nervous. Wasn't yoga full of all sorts of weird positions, impossible bendy positions? He sighed. Well, it wasn't like Blaine hadn't already seen Kurt in all sorts of embarrassing situations. After every hard workout, Kurt went to the locker room, seeing his red face, sweaty hair and clothes sticking against his damp skin.  Sexy!... not.

As he neared the area, he spotted Blaine waving at him, and then he jogged over to Kurt. He was wearing a blue concert t-shirt and black shorts, smiling and looking disgustingly un-winded from his little jog. Not even a bead of sweat. 

“Hey, Kurt. It's nice seeing you out in the real world.” Blaine's eyes looked even greener than usual today, crinkling at the corners as he smiled.

Kurt gave a little closed mouth smile in return. “Ah… yeah. How's your weekend going?” It felt a little weird to see Blaine out of his normal uniform, out in the regular world like this. His overactive imagination quickly jumped in.  Like a date.  He blushed a little at the thought, pushing it down fast. 

Waving to where the class was gathering, Blaine started walking that direction. He nodded, “Yeah, it's been a good weekend so far. Had a bunch of friends over last night to play board games.”

Kurt looked over at Blaine, a bit surprised by the personal information he had volunteered. Since Kurt had been his client, Blaine had kept their conversations focused on the workouts and healthy eating mostly. “Oh really? Which games did you play?” 

“Well, we switch it up each time. Last night, it was mostly Balderdash. Do you know it?” Blaine stopped on the edge of the yoga group, undoing the strap around the yoga mats and passing one to Kurt.

Looking around, Kurt followed the examples of the other participants, unrolling the mat and placing it on a relatively smooth patch of grass. “That's the one where you make up definitions of words, right?”

Blaine nodded. “Yes, that's it. I cleaned up so good on the word ‘Beeves'. Any guess as to what it means?” He stretched his arms out in front of his body, hunching his shoulders in.

Kurt was distracted watching Blaine's motions, but thought fast. “Um….. the beveled edges on Victoria mirrors. Like as in ‘The beeves on that mirror are exquisite, Marion.' “ 

Laughing, Blaine shook his head. “That's a pretty believable definition, actually. But unfortunately incorrect. The correct answer is ‘plural for beef'.” 

Kurt scrunched up his face. “Where would that ever come up in conversation?”

“Like in all the conversation you have daily about your herd of cattle.” Blaine laughed. “Three beeves have escaped, Little John.” He drawled, giving his best Clint Eastwood impression. At least that was Kurt's best guess at it, since it wasn't that good. But Kurt chuckled anyways, charmed by Blaine's goofy expression.

Was Blaine flirting with him? Surely not. Blaine was just a friendly guy. 

A woman walked over to them, and Blaine gave her a hug, then talked animatedly with her. She walked over to the center of the group and welcomed everyone. 

“That's Sabina. She's been running this class for years, and let's me do the class for free when I bring a new person.” Blaine smiled over at Kurt.

Kurt sputtered at Blaine, giving him an overly dramatic shocked face. “So, you are just using me to get a free yoga class?” 

Blaine nodded. “Yup. You got it.” 

The class started, and Kurt was pleasantly surprised by it. Sabina gave her instructions very clearly, and Kurt was able to follow along. The positions looked so simple, but after holding them a minute or two, he could really feel that they were working his muscles. Working his core for stability, feeling the stretch in his arms and legs. 

Unfortunately, his loose clothing was not working well. Bending over into the Downward Dog position, Kurt's t-shirt and hoodie had both slid downwards, revealing most of his pale chest. Blushing, Kurt straightened up, tucking his shirt into the drawstring of his pants, before resuming the position. Then, Sabina had moved into a position with one leg right straight up in the air, and when Kurt copied her, the loose pant leg of his jogging pants had slid up his leg, revealing most of that pale leg. He quickly put the leg back down, pulling on the fabric, blushing when Blaine looked over and smiled. 

But most of the class went without incident. The best part were the poses where Kurt was facing towards Blaine, and he was looking a different direction. Then Kurt could let his eyes wander over Blaine's body, admiring the strong line of his legs in the Warrior pose or his gently curved back in the Cobra pose.  So beautiful. 

After the class, Blaine led Kurt over to a bench and they sipped on their water. Blaine gave Kurt a sidelong glance for a minute. “Hey, are you running off anywhere right after this?” 

Kurt pressed his lips together, and shook his head. “No, just catching a movie tonight with a friend. Why do you ask?”

Nodding, Blaine smiled. “Because I'd like to get in some cardio with you now, but I'm also getting hungry for lunch. So, if you aren't in a rush, maybe we could do both.”

Was Blaine asking him for lunch? Sure, maybe… but it wasn't a date. Breathe. “Um, sure. That is OK with me.” Kurt tried to keep his voice steady.

Blaine jumped up. “Great! I know a good loop for that.” 

Kurt got up, undoing his hoodie and wrapping it around his waist. It was getting warmer out. “OK, I'm ready.” 

They walked north, and soon Blaine was encouraging Kurt to jog. Kurt was still resistant to it, preferring to just walk fast. But Blaine cajoled him into alternating a few minutes of jogging with walking periods, making the jogging periods longer and longer with each cycle. The pace was slow, but Kurt was pleased that he could keep up without straining too hard. The only thing ruining it was Blaine's ‘See, I told you so' expression.  Damn that man for being right all the time. 

Reaching the Bethesda Terrace, Blaine had Kurt running up and down the steps a few times, until he was breathing heavily. They rested a little by the fountain, sipping their water. Heading south, they walked at a moderate pace, cooling down. 

Blaine stopped at a little café at the edge of the park, leaving Kurt on a bench nearby. He returned after a few minutes with a bag and two drinks. “Come on, I know a good place we can eat.” 

Kurt was feeling good. The workout was tiring, but it had been nice to be outside for it. It was only about 70 F, with some cool breezes, so he felt pretty comfortable. Plus he was enjoying being out with Blaine like this. It had elements of their normal training sessions, like when Blaine was encouraging him to jog, or asking him to run the stairs. But the rest of the time, it felt like hanging out with a friend, walking around in the park on a pretty summer day. 

Leading up a pathway, there was a squat little red and gold brick pagoda building. Inside, there were several tables with people sitting around. Blaine led Kurt around the building, where there were trellises for shade, covering stone tables and wooden benches. The area was about half-full of people, mostly old men. 

Setting down the bag and drinks on an empty table, Blaine waved Kurt to sit down, before heading into the small building. He came out a few minutes later with a small box, smiling at Kurt's confusion. 

“Never been here before, I take it?” Blaine laughed, setting the box down and moving the food bag to the bench. 

Kurt looked down at the table where Blaine was waving, and noticed the checkerboard pattern in the center. He just thought it was a design choice until Blaine opened the box, pulling out a pawn and a checkerboard piece. “Checkers or Chess?” 

Laughing, Kurt grabbed the box, looking into it. There was really a full set of chess and checker pieces inside. “Chess, if you are up for it, Anderson.” 

Grabbing the box back, Blaine started taking out the chess pieces. “You're on, Hummel.” 

Once they had the pieces set up, Blaine unpacked the lunch. “I've got Turkey and Avocado or Chicken Curry Salad. And mint lemonade or hibiscus iced tea. Take your pick.” 

Kurt was really hungry after their busy morning, and found his chicken curry sandwich very tasty. Perhaps his enjoyment was enhanced by the wonderful setting. Sitting in the shade, in the park, playing chess outside, taking a bite of his sandwich while watching Blaine ponder his next move on the board. The hibiscus tea was tangy and a bit tart. Blaine looked like he was talking the game quite seriously.

“Would you care to make the outcome of this game a bit more interesting, Anderson?” Kurt said casually, taking another sip of his iced tea.

Blaine looked up, narrowing his eyes slightly at Kurt. “Like a bet?” 

Kurt nodded. “Yes, but not for money. Like if I win, you don't make me do any burpees for a month.” 

Blaine shook his head, laughing. “Burpees are my go-to torture method! You can't make me give those up! All the other personal trainers would mock me.” 

Kurt arched his eyebrow. “You'd only have to give them up if you lose. Surely you have some confidence in your chess skills here.” 

Looking down at the table, Blaine could see he'd already taken Kurt's bishop and a rook. “OK, you're on, Hummel. And if I win, you have to do the Empire State Building stairs run with me. 86 flights… 1500 stairs….”

86 flights of stairs?!!! Sheesh! Kurt meet Blaine's eyes, trying to judge what to do. Blaine was a pretty good chess player, an intelligent guy, but there's no way he had played as much chess as Kurt had. Blaine had been busy, working out, dating, having a life, while Kurt had been playing chess, lots of chess, with his old boyfriend Chandler. They'd been together for two years, and it seemed like they were constantly playing in person or with a phone app. 

Kurt held out his hand. “You're on, Anderson.” Kurt smiled confidently as Blaine shook his hand with a firm grasp.

Ten minutes later, Blaine was smiling widely. Kurt had his face down against his folded arms, wanting to bang his head against the hard table. Burpees and the bloody Empire State Building Stairs? Might as well kill me now. 

“Was this a total fix, Anderson? Are you a chess hustler or something?” Kurt lifted his head to glare at Blaine. 

Blaine was packing the chess pieces back into the box, still smiling. “Well, not really, but if this personal training thing doesn't work out, I'll have that to fall back on.” 

He took the box back into the building, and cleared away their lunch stuff. “Come on, Kurt. I'll walk you back to your park entrance.” 

Kurt shoved his body up from the bench, feeling like a sullen, moody teenage boy. He wanted to stamp his feet. Suddenly he wasn't finding this smug Blaine that attractive. Had the chess thumping killed his crush? Maybe. 

“How did you get so good at chess, anyways?” Kurt asked, kicking at a rock on the pathway. 

Blaine shrugged. “When I was first here, trying to get established, I didn't have a lot of money after paying for rent. So, I wandered around the park a lot. I started hanging out at the Chess and Checkers House, and there are a lot of old guys there. I'd play them, and they were all very willing teachers. I got kind of obsessed with it, for a while.” 

Kurt gave a dry laugh. Blaine probably played in chess competitions. 

“You may have noticed I'm a fairly competitive guy. I like doing things at the best level I can, pushing myself until I get there.” 

Kurt looked over at Blaine. Yes, he was competitive, and he had the urge to do his best, but he was still considerate about it. Not cutthroat. It actually made him good at being a personal trainer, setting small steps for his clients to push themselves to achieve, building the small successes into greater confidence in their abilities. 

“Do you really think I can to this Empire State Building thing? When is it, anyways?” Kurt's bad mood was dissipating. 

Blaine pulled out his cellphone, scrolling through the calendar. “It's about 2 months away. And, yes, I definitely think you can do it. We'll make a training schedule and you'll be ready for it by then.” 

Kurt nodded.  Wow. 86 floors….

“And Kurt…. You might want to get some new workout clothes. You've gone down at least one size, maybe even two. Get something less baggy, OK?” Blaine smiled, and left Kurt at his entrance of the park. 

***

-Disclaimer: I own nothing.

-Yes, there is yoga in the park in the Sheep Meadow. Video here.

-Le Pain Quotidien. Their lunch is things from the menu. Website here.

-Chess and Checkers House. Built in 1952. You can borrow chess, checkers, backgammon and dominoes pieces, or bring your own. 30 second video here.