This is a short chapter that's acting something like an introduction. Please Enjoy my loopy real-world AU.
Delta sniffed in disdain. This was so embarrassing. To think that he – him! – was working at a lowly convenience store in the middle of nowhere was beyond all logic and making his slightly less-logically inclined parts scream in frustration. He had done nothing today – no customers, no boss, no coworkers. Just looking blankly ahead at the remote cracks on the yellowed ceiling. All day. Every day. But Delta was a man in disgrace, booted from his prestigious job at a prestigious company, wallowing in the human filth that existed where he was now. His rent needed to be paid, and so this is where he ended up. The only person who would hire him was a ratty old woman with buck teeth who pinched his ass on the way out of the interview. Delta shuddered thinking about it.
Ok so, enough of the pity party. Probability of regaining my job: none. I went too far, too fast, without enough ground to plant my feet on, and got in way too deep. My fault.
His musings shattered when the relatively small bell attached to the single door in the store jangled jarringly. Delta blinked, looked away from that particular crack in the ceiling, waiting for his first customer of the week. How this place stayed afloat, Delta did not know, and his logic failed him when he considered the diseased building. The man who walked around the corner was – for all intents and purposes – gorgeous. Delta blinked, his breath seemingly incapable of entering his lungs, and his mind scrabbling to find purchase in some delicious relief of logic as to why he felt so lightheaded.
The man was tall – taller than Delta, with dark hair and a tan complexion and dark blue eyes. He flashed a smile at Delta, who shrunk from him, as if scared of his own beating pulse. Those teeth were white and straight, the lips that curved over top of them were thin but attractive, and looked oh-so-kissable.
Kissable? Delta, knock it off! Keep your head! You arenotsome teenaged girl with hormones racing at the sight and scent of an alpha male!
No matter how hard he tried to keep his knees straight, they failed him. He slouched against the counter, visibly supporting his weight on the cool plastic. Delta realized with a jolt that he wasswooning, of all things! The man didn't seem to notice, drew closer, still smiling at Delta.
"Hello. You've got cigs here, right?" Delta blinked, remembered his function, and obeyed the command in his head that screamed 'Work! Do your job!'
His mouth felt paper-dry as he answered shakily, "Would… would that be cigars or cigarettes, sir?"
The man's eyebrows lifted at the question. "Sir? Haven't been called that in… well, forever. No matter, cigarettes please. The brown label. Yeah, those are the ones…"
He kept talking while Delta faced away from him to skim his hands over the shelves, picking a generic pack when the man gave indication as to which ones he wanted. He quickly turned again and set the package on the counter. There was no way he was handing them to the man, he didn't know if he could stand actual physical contact with those calloused hands.
The man didn't seem to notice, but was glancing at Delta's name card in a casual fashion. Delta caught his eyes on it, and blushed just the tiniest bit, but managed to keep foreign emotions at bay. This was so unusual for Delta – swooning, attraction, lust, even. Whenever he met a new person, male or female, he scanned briefly over their bodies, their faces and their intelligence level. None of them had satisfied them, and so he developed no feelings, and simply moved on.
So why was this man whom Delta had known for a little over two minutes so different? That was the thing – he wasn't. There was nothing significant about him. He was wearing non-descript clothing, a non-descript haircut, and had a non-descript car, from what Delta could see through the dirty storefront. Absolutely nothing stood out about him; he was just an attractive man who smoked. But something in Delta's emotional center – so long unused – scrambled in confusion at his eyes and his smile. It excited and scared Delta at the same time.
All of these thoughts broke off abruptly when the man spoke again.
"So, Delta. When's your shift end?"
Delta blinked again, caught completely off-guard, not knowing what to say.
"Uh… well, I get off at five but I was planning to work overtime, I mean, because I need to pay my rent and I need more hours on my paycheck in order to have everything line up just the way I need it, and, and…" Delta stopped, realized he was still talking, became embarrassed.
The man smiled again, not minding at all. Or at least, not minding outwardly.
"That's fine. I'll meet you outside at nine. Tell me, would you like to hit the clubs or would you rather knock back some vodka?"
Delta frowned. "Well I don't really see the need for those kinds of thing-"
The man chuckled. "As I suspected. We'll go to the bookstore then. See you at nine." He began to walk away, cigarettes forgotten on the counter.
At the last moment, Delta recovered from his euphoria enough to yell after him, "Wait!" He stopped. "What's your name?"
The man turned partially, that smile splitting his lips again. "Name's York. See you later, D."
It was almost magical, how simple and easy that was. Two men, a five-minute interaction, and bam, they were friends. Delta wished he had a digital system mapping all logical outcomes to a conversation. However, he didn't have one, and had to settle for his foolish mouth running when it shouldn't, and his treacherous and formerly unknown emotions getting the better of him. But at nine he was going to a bookstore with a gorgeous man who had slipped into his life so casually that it was almost unbelievable.
And Delta could hardly wait.
Review if you wanna or you enjoyed it, please.