(no subject)

[ripetere]

[ Ten o'clock. Finally, his shift was over. He tossed his black staff shirt with SECURITY emblazoned in bold white letters across the back onto the table in the closet that passed for a break room, and dug his cigarettes out of a jacket pocket. Most nights he'd be working until the club closed, but he'd agreed to come in early today to do set up for an event. A guest DJ or some shit - he wasn't paid to care about those details, he was paid to lift heavy objects, break up bar fights, and turn away teenagers with fake IDs.

Normally he'd just head home for the night - the music wasn't to his taste, and he had woken up with a headache that hadn't ever quite subsided. But... Bruno was here. Had showed up with an entourage of beautiful women barely half an hour ago, even. Leone knew it was weird and creepy of him to stick around just to watch a stranger, but... a little while wouldn't hurt. Enough to have a cigarette or two. Then he'd leave.

He slipped out of the breakroom, and made his way through the wall of noise and people to reach the back patio doors. There was a decent view of most of the bar from back here, and while there were a few other people having a smoke it was still relatively quiet this time of night.]

Comments

[zippermom]

Hmm. I enjoy that, too, sometimes. Especially with the right company.

[It wasn't the same as waking early, didn't have the same associations, but it would be a lie to pretend he was always responsible. Far from it, really.]

[ripetere]

[ That caught Leone a little off-guard. Was Bruno flirting with him? He was always terrible at figuring these things out - but he was probably reading too much into it. After all, why would Bruno be flirting with him? ]

It's usually just me - but I can see how company would be nice.

[zippermom]

[Bruno smiled a little over the edge of his glass before he finished off his drink]

You should definitely try it some time.

[ripetere]

[...Maybe Bruno was flirting with him? The alcohol was starting to have an effect on him, and his mouth moved before the rest of his brain caught up.]

Was that an invitation?

[ A second later, he realized what he'd just said, and turned away, blushing.]

Oh God, pretend I didn't say that.

[zippermom]

[Bruno had no intention of following that request, instead he reached out and rested his hand lightly on Leone's forearm, hoping it wouldn't scare him off. He seemed a little bit... Flustered.]

It is, if you want it to be. ... I hope you do.

[ripetere]

[ Leone started, but didn't pull away from Bruno's touch. He stared at the other man in obvious surprise, cheeks still slightly flushed from embarrassment.]

What? I mean- yes, but... why?

[ People flirting with him wasn't a completely alien concept, but those people weren't Bruno. ]

[zippermom]

[Bruno's slightly inebriated brain cheerfully supplied a whole host of answers to that line of questioning, none of which were probably appropriate to say if he actually wanted Leone to keep associating with him. He settled for raising his eyebrows slightly and going with the simplest explanation, instead.]

Because I want to? There seems to be some mutual attraction here, it would be silly to ignore that.

[Besides, Leone was tall, and pretty in a goth sort of way, and Bruno really wanted to know him better.]

[ripetere]

[ Leone could feel a sinking dread in his stomach - something was going to go wrong. Something always went wrong, for him. ]

Anyone in this club would be happy to go home with you and... you'd pick me? [ The disbelief in his voice was tempered with something that might be awe ]

[zippermom]

I'm not sure why that's so hard to believe, but yes.

[Actually, he was starting to have an idea of why Leone seemed to be having trouble with the concept, and it made him feel a little sad, but that certainly wasn't going to deter him.]

I don't want to make you uncomfortable, though.

[He did have a tendency to just barrel headlong into things once he'd made up his mind, but he knew that wasn't something everyone was comfortable with.]

[ripetere]

[ The sinking feeling hadn't gone away, but Leone forced himself to push past it - he knew he was making things awkward, and he desperately didn't want to, not with Bruno.]

No, it's- it's fine. Sorry. I'd... like that a lot.

[ That was probably almost a normal human response, right? ]

[zippermom]

[Bruno smiled again and relaxed--he really had been a bit concerned Leone would find some reason to reject him.]

I'm glad. I was a little worried you weren't actually interested.

[But maybe it was just that his flirting skills needed work.]