~The Tale of Gavin and Romeo~
 

((I don't like godmoding and I didn't mean to... but I didn't know what position you would be in or what you would be reading so I tried my best to improvise...))

It was a bright summer day, almost too hot for comfort. Romeo had finally gotten out of the office and was looking forward to feeding the birds while he walked around the park near his office during his lunch hour, as was one of the many traditions that kept him sane. Stopping by the convenience store, he picked up a loaf of bread and once he was outside, started swinging it around by the excess plastic, whistling almost tunelessly the opening notes of System of a Down's song ATWA. He slowly made his way to the park and, given the heat of the hour decided to remove the jacket from his suit and carry it on his arm.

He was getting close to the place where he had intended. The same spot almost everytime. But he had gotten to his lunch break much later than normal and the familiar faces that showed every day were few and far between. His goal was the tree that provided excellent shade during the heat and as he got closer to it, he noticed that someone else was occupying it. Laying down across the entire length of it, without saving any room for anyone else. Anger and curiousity entwined together in such a way that he wasn't going to be able to keep himself from saying anything to the other man. As he got closer, he spoke, making sure to clear his throat loudly first.

"Excuse me sir, but may I ask what literature has you so enthralled that you take up the entire seat?"

Romeo sat down on the cement cross-legged and looked at the man in front of him, not caring about what happened to his trousers. His clothes weren't in the best condition. He didn't know if the man was a bum, didn't have a lot of money or just didn't want to wear nice clothes... but he did look very much at peace with the book that was in front of him, despite the intonation in the man's voice at his presence. The string of ebony hair that had fallen out of place was quickly pushed back, he adjusted the glasses that would have been there, if not for the contacts he was wearing, and pursed his lips in thought.

"I usually come here to feed the birds on my lunch break..." he said absentmindedly, already opening the fresh loaf of bread and breaking one piece into several smaller ones. "What kind of book is that, the title and author doesn't sound familiar to me."

"Learning new things always interests me. Sadly, I'm a bit too everywhere to be reading all the time. I think if I tried I'd be running into light poles in the middle of the sidewalk or if not then it would be the vending machines in the airport..."

He laughed a little, a small chuckle escaping his lips as he looked away from the man before him to start throwing all the pieces of bread he had been gently tearing up to the birds that were already starting to accumulate around him. Their soft cooing noises relaxed him gently and he smiled as they flapped their wings and started pecking at the pieces he had already thrown on the ground.

"Maybe I should give that book of yours a try some day."

His eyes flashed over the book and his eyebrows climbed a little high as he reached out to take the book from the other man. He tilted his head to the side as he regarded his new friend with a quirk of his lips. Spreading the last of the bread to the birds he got up and dusted his pants, both front and back for breadcrumbs and dirt respectively. The he held down his hand as a greeting to his new friend.

"I don't even think I've introduced myself, how callous of me. I go by Mr. Riviera and it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. How may I call you?"

"Well Gavin, it's a great pleasure meeting you. It's just about time I get back to the office or the birds will be the only ones eating on my lunch break."

He smiled and stretched, putting on his jacket to complete the suit before locating his wallet and digging out one of his business cards. Offering it to the man before him, fully aware that he would now know Romeo's full name no matter how much he hated it. He shook his head, making some more of his carefully placed ebony strands fall out of the ponytail that held them together.

"I've got to return the book to you sometime and seeing how this is not my normal lunch break, I should give you a way to contact me."

"If you insist... but I would like to see you again to discuss it once I'm finished reading it. Feel free to give me a call anytime you feel like it."

Romeo left it at that. He turned on his heel and walked back towards the office. Little did Gavin know this was his own personal way of seeing of someone was interested in him. They would call if they were, if not, he wasn't going to worry about it. Gavin was a very interesting man to him and he did want very much to get to know him better. On his walk back to the office he couldn't stop thinking about him and turned the book he had been given over in his hands a few times before eating a quick lunch and getting back to work on all his projects.

((This might be my last post for the day. I dunno if I'm going to be online after I leave work in 10 minutes because I've got my son tonight. But if you post something I'll make sure to reply once I get a chance to spend a little time online, even if that IS at 7am when I make it back to work. *laughs*))

Romeo stretched as he walked along the pavement on his lunch break. No call from Gavin yet, days had passed and he still couldn't stop thinking about the man. What was it about men who read that interested him so much? He mulled it over in his mind, scraping his tongue over his top set of teeth all the while. He had left his ebony locks down today. The slight breeze which made everything cooler whistled through them and occasionally made them obscure his vision. His expensive ebony shoes matching the suit of the same color, jacket left on today because of the wind. He had ended up ripping the bread to pieces while eating his lunch before he arrived. He wouldn't have to leave too early this way.

He hadn't bothered to check the inside cover of the book. He usually just skipped right past the cover page, introduction, prologue and everything of that nature just to get to the meat of the material. He got as far in it to discover that it took place in Kenya. Which reminded him of a funny little flash video that one of his co-workers had sent him a link in an e-mail. But he had also gotten to where the archeologist had actually discovered the bones, but not much further as he seemed to always be pressed for time. Romeo found himself singing the "Only in Kenya" from the flash video as he rounded the corner next to his normal bench and found it taken again.

"Why, hello there Gavin. It's good to meet you again. How have the last two days been for you?"

"They've been, is not very definitive. So either you've had a really horrible past two days and they're something you're not interested in telling me or they were... boring as hell. Either way, without you elaborating it leaves me enough in the dark to wonder."

He quirked his eyebrow and smiled, letting him know it didn't bother him either way. He wasn't about to admit that he had missed someone he knew so little about even the small amount that he did. Deciding that because he didn't know a lot about his new friend and it wasn't in his nature to force information out of people, he was going to leave a way out of the conversation.

"I've really liked what I've read of that book you gave me so far but, due to constraints with work and... well my extracurricular activities... I haven't read a lot of it. Though I have always wanted to learn more about Kenya ever since that silly flash video that Victoria sent to me."

((Will probably be heading to bed after this one but I'll be on tomorrow when I can be.))

Romeo nodded at his first statement and his face flushed slightly at the last. It had been such a long time since anyone had sent him an actual letter that the concept seemed almost foreign. The last time he sent one out, it was sent to his high school sweet heart that had got sent to the army. After a few replies about how much harder life was living under the command of someone that told you when you could eat, sleep, drink and piss, eventually the letters got fewer and farther between. One day after a full month of waiting, he got a letter that said his male lover had found a girl he wanted to be with and that was the end of it. He coughed once, trying to hide the shape his face was contorting into at the thoughts and brushed his fingers through his long ebony hair.

"That was very thoughtful of you. If you don't mind me asking a small personal question. Are you missing a phone out of personal choice or because of circumstance?"

Romeo knew that he didn't know enough about Gavin to tell if he was constantly breaking his phone on accident, if he choose not to have one because he hated technology or simply if he was just too poor to afford one. He wasn't planning on asking specifics, but he did want to know one way or the other. Simply to give him a better idea of the kind of person he was facing. He took the time to sit back down on the sidewalk again and start getting out the torn pieces of bread while he waited.

((Sorry I ran away and didn't get a chance to tell you I was leaving. I am a mother and duty called with it's tiny screams and small grasping hands. *laughs* But he's over at his father's place right now so I'll be free of him for the rest of the night. I will have to run to the store, but I should be good after that.))

Romeo cleared his throat. It was a clear marker for him attempting to change the topic of conversation away from something he could tell was an uncomfortable subject.

"So why do you dye your hair orange? Favorite color? Just wanted to be a rebel? Or does it have some other significance to you?"

"Hrmm...I wonder if that means you also hate being looked over."

The fact that it was word play was almost meaningless next to the fact that it had a double meaning. Romeo smiled at Gavin's back in anticipation wondering how he was going to react. He placed both hands behind him and leaned back on his arms.

"You have to know that I don't wear the suit because I like it. They force me as part of the dress code. They figure that if they're going to be paying me enough money to afford it that they get the right to see me in it."

He sighed while brushing his own hair out of his eyes. His eyes softened a little and he started scattering the bread pieces around the area. Pursing his lips into a thin line, he made the decision that if he was going to take the friendship to anything but a friendship level that now might be the time to start.

"I'd like to give you a chance to see me out of them." He laughed, coughing to try to cover it up, and stopped trying after a little bit and just let it out. "Oh, I'm sorry. I did not mean that the way it sounded. But I'd like to buy you dinner sometime if you'd let me."

"You're hair's not colored obnoxiously. It is quite an interesting color. Reminds me of the only female actress I've ever taken an interest in and that was because she was so flat I thought she was a pretty boy at first."

Romeo let out a huge sigh of relief of the inside. Up until that point he wasn't really even sure that Gavin was persuaded the same way he was. He would have hated to lose a friend over something simple like this. And he really did have an affinity for the way his hair fell into his eyes.

"And to answer your other question, I think you are quite special. It's not every day I find someone who likes to read and displays themselves so prominently while doing so."

((Running to the store.. I've gotta work tomorrow so I may not be on again tonight.))