"I don't get off work until eight tonight," Gavin told him, deciding to sit up for once while he read.

Romeo took the opportunity of Gavin's position change to actually sit on the bench with him for once. He stood up first, dumping the rest of the breadcrumbs on the ground and folded the plastic gently before putting it in his pocket. He sat down and stretched his arm up and behind the back of the bench, letting it rest on the other side of the spot where their bodies would have been touching if Romeo was brave enough to get that close. He turned his head and gave Gavin a serious look.

"I don't have a problem having dinner ready by 8:30 or 9:00. Do you want me to pick you up at work or at home?"

"Work would be easier. Just don't look like some punk kid and if should be fine," he said with a slight smirk.

"Oh.. don't look like some punk kid, eh? I'll make sure that they don't even recognize me."

Romeo winked at Gavin and laughed a little. He was really excited about having the chance to cook for Gavin and he was sure that the sparkle in his eyes gave away that excitement. He made what almost sounded like a pleased purring sound in the back of of his throat.

"And I guarantee you that the meal will be worth your co-workers being forced to see me with you all out in public like that. Deliciously worth it."

"I doubt they'll even recognize you. Or that they won't bother paying attention to who I'm leaving with. They don't really give a shit about me, they just want to get rid of me."

Romeo's eyes softened. It must be tough working somewhere that you get no respect at all. It made him think of the girl they had most recently hired that was always tripping over her own two feet and being made fun of for it behind her back. Even Romeo himself was guilty of treating her slightly less worthy than his other co-workers. He sighed and shook his head ever so slightly. He would make ammends for that. Romeo never apologised.. this would come as a shock to more than just her. He tilted his head and gave Gavin a once-over, wondering if the only reason he wasn't treated as bad as Gavin was, was because no one knew his preferences but his trusted friend.

"Well I'll do my best not to look like a bum either way..." He grinned. "I haven't been keeping track of the time, do you know how much longer your break is? I'd hate for you to be late back to work...I'm a very punctual person when the need arises, and I like others to be when they can as well. Makes everyone's life a little easier."

He glanced quickly at a watch on his right wrist, then reached up to run his fingers through his hair as he sighed. "I have another fifteen minutes."

"Well that's good. I've got a couple ideas of what I want to do for dinner... but I don't know if you'd be up for Italian again and I don't know how you handle Chinese. Which would you prefer?" He watched Gavin's hand as it passed through his hair and then looked him in the eyes. "I could always do Mexican too."

"I don't really care what it is. A full stomach is a full stomach. I'm sure whatever it is it'll be better than the crap I usually live off of."

"Ok...I'll keep that in mind. Keep Gavin fed, keep Gavin happy." He laughed softly and smiled at happy. "Well at least you're not an overly complicated creature."

"Everyone is complicated in their own way. But overall, I'm actually rather simple. Hell, I'm happy if I can just get the news in on my TV," he said, shrugging a little. "Food, love, survival. That's really all that matters to me."

"And books too, right?" Romeo couldn't keep the grin off his face. "I don't think you'd look very natural without being around at least one book."

"Well, yes, books are extremely important to me. I guess I put those under 'love' because they mean so much to me."

Romeo smiled, half to himself. "I wish I could love material objects. It would make my life so much easier. There's no complications with stuff. You love and use it and it doesn't care. It just sits there all day ready to be used again..." He sighed. "Sadly, I haven't been able to love anything but living human flesh." He grinned sheepishly and scratched the back of his head. "And that one turtle I had growing up....found on the side of the road and convinced my orphanage to get a cage for."

"Books appreciate being read. I know they do. There's nothing more heart breaking than a dusty book that's never touched." He shrugged a little and stood up, tucking his book back into his bag. "I should probably start walking back to work. I'll see you tonight."

Romeo nodded and watched him go. "See ya"

Romeo walked back home and made the decision of what he was going to make. He went to the store to get the vegetables and meat he would need to prepare it and then headed home. Putting the food in the refrigerator he took a look at his wardrobe and laid what he was planning on wearing and wandered back into the kitchen to start chopping up the fresh vegetables.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~

It was right about eight fifteen. Romeo had already gotten dressed in his black slacks and red button down shirt, unbuttoned just enough to see the black undershirt he had on underneath. He had left his hair down and brushed it enough times for it to positively shine. Everything but the last finishing touches were ready for the meal and he was more than excited for Gavin to have his first taste of cooking Romeo style.

He walked out the door to get in his car and frowned. There wasn't going to be a place for Gavin to sit if he didn't do anything about the condition of the passenger seat. Luckily it was all just mundane trash and he hadn't left anything sticky there. He threw everything that was in the seat and floorboard in the front into the back and put his old, beat-up Gremlin into reverse so he could back out of his driveway.

He stopped by the local gas station to pick up a rose and set it carefully on the freshly-cleaned seat. He picked up driving again and, with quite a few minutes to spare, he was at the front of Gavin's workplace and he made himself comfortable on the top of his car while waiting for Gavin to make his exit. He had gotten about a fourth of the way through the book thus far. Books always took him a long time to get through in the beginning. He kept putting it down periodically because he was afraid he was going to miss when Gavin walked out of the building.

Gavin stepped out of the building, back in his street clothes. A depressed look on his face, he seemed troubled about something.

Romeo's almost-carefree smile dropped in an instant... the void left was immediately filled with concern. Not quite sure what the protocol for being in front of Gavin's work place was, he decided to just worry from a slight distance. A frown pulled on the corners of his mouth and he tilted his head slightly.

"What happened in there?"

He looked up only when he got closer to Romeo's car, sighing heavily. "They're cutting my pay. Again. Apparently keeping today's youths sane and from killing people, themselves, or each other isn't worth as much as stroking the egos of rich men. So naturally, they're cutting a third of my pay so they can line their bulging pockets until they burst. I can't live like this. It's either rent or food now. If I lose my apartment, I lose my ability to work, because God forbid they have someone poor or homeless working for them, it doesn't matter that I'm more qualified than most of the assholes in that fucking office..."

He took a deep breath, his forcing his features to calm down, though he himself was still very angry. "Sorry for bitching, it's just not fair."

"I completely understand..."

Romeo wanted to hold him and tell him it was going to be ok. But life very rarely makes everything "ok" when you've been dealt the shittiest cards out of the entire table. He walked over to the car, opening the door and took out the rose he had stopped to pick up on the way there and handed it out to Gavin while stepping back and leaving the door open for him to get into the Gremlin.

"Hopefully I'll at least be able to distract you from your problems for a little while. Just don't look in the backseat and you'll be fine. It looks worse than your apartment."

The backseat really did look worse, with strewn trash all over the hoodies, DVD & CD cases, books, pieces of blank lined and unlined paper, folders, pens, pencils and recipts for random things. It kinda almost looked like it should have gotten up and started walking of it's own accord but Romeo just grinned at Gavin while he waited for him to decide if he was going to take the rose in his outstretched hand and/or get in the car.

He knitted his brows together a little, eyeing the rose. "Don't take this the wrong way... But I'm not really one for roses..." he said a little awkwardly.

Romeo blushed a little, a brilliant shade of crimson that almost matched the rose itself. He placed it on his lips and twirled the stem between his fingers to let the petals slide across his lips softly. He looked like he was thinking about something very important and then he suddenly let the arm he was carrying the rose in drop down to his side. He smiled, noticing a random woman walk out of Gavin's office. Who just so happened to be the secretary from earlier. He placed the rose in her hand, whispered something in her ear, which made her blush, pushed her slightly the direction she was origionally going and then turned back to Gavin. The poor secretary giving him curious glances behind her as she walked.

"I'll keep that in mind... but since I know you're really one for food, shall we go get some?"

He left the door open, figuring that if Gavin wasn't one for roses, maybe he wouldn't be comfortable with the doors being open and closed for him as well. He walked around the front of the vehicle and got in the drivers side and starting the engine, waiting for Gavin to get in.

Gavin sighed a little and got into the car, pulling the door closed and pulling the seat belt on before leaning back in the chair. Closing his eyes, he folded his arms behind his head, sighing much heavier this time. "Right now I think the idea of food is the only thing keeping me from taking a gun to my head..."

"Well then... I guess I'll need to keep my house plenty stocked with lots of good things for you to eat so you won't have to worry about wasting prescious bullets in case you need them for when the zombies attack."

Romeo smiled at Gavin again, but his eyes were soft and cautionary. He placed his hand on the back of the center console and twisted the top of his body around to make sure he was safe to exit on all sides. After adjusting his mirrors, he put on his seatbelt. He placed the car into first gear, then pulled out of the parking lot and onto the road. He wanted to do something to help comfort Gavin.. but city roads didn't free up your hand from a standard's gear shift like the highway did.

"You know it's not going to bother me if you need a place to crash for a little while so you can keep your cat fed..."

"I'm trying to pace myself, I'm not comfortable with that this early on..." he said tiredly.