The guy is talking fast. Way too fast. His hair is messy. He's trying to talk while having a lollipop in his mouth. (which totally isn't giving Sam suggestive thoughts)His hands are moving and gesturing like crazy. And hey, maybe he's a little cute. Not that Sam notices.
"No, no, I don't-" and damn is it hard to get a word in. "My brother just sent me to get the latest Batman," Sam finally manages to tell him. The man stops talking and frowns.
"Oh. They're really crappy, though, I'm warning you. I could only manage to read the first three." He keeps talking, but he seems a little bit upset and disappointed now.
"Yeah, well, Dean really likes Batman," Sam defends with a shrug. The man behind the counter concentrates and closes his eyes before snapping.
"Oh! Dean Winchester's not-so-little brother," he nods, realizing the connection. He extends a hand to Sam. "Gabriel. Man, you totally won over in the looks and heights department," he, Gabriel, compliments.
"Uhm… thanks?" Sam says unsurely and takes the offered hand. Gabriel grins at him for a few seconds. He snaps his fingers. What is it with this guy and snapping? Sam thinks.
"Right. Batman," and he jumps off the high stool behind the counter. He gestures for Sam to follow. Gabriel leads them to a well organized area. Its a contrast to the counter, which was messy and had papers strewn about. "See," he thumbs through comics, "right here!" he says triumphantly, handing issue #22 to Sam. "You read Runaways?" Gabriel questions, sort of suddenly. Sam reads lots, just usually not comics. He shakes his head. "Shame. Sandman?" Is this an interrogation? Sam, has, though, read the series on Dean's request, and he nods. "Good. You're not entirely uncultured," Gabriel announces happily.
They head up to the counter to check out. Gabriel brings up the comic and then reaches under the counter and pulls out a hardcover collection. He slams the book down dramatically.
"For you," he declares, clearly proud of himself. Sam starts to protest. He just came for oneBatman comic. Gabriel silences the protesting quickly. "From me. 'cause no one should go through life without reading Runaways. And I have a feeling you'll relate to it."
Sam must be giving off a confused look, because Gabriel takes it as a cue to explain.
"I'm flirting with you, if it's not obvious. Sorry, do moose have different courting procedures?" he says it light and airy, joking. Which is confusing for Sam, because he can't tell if the guy is joking about the whole thing or just the moose thing. "Awh, man. You're straight, right? God damn."
"Oh! no, it's not that, I was just- I didn't think you were being-" Sam tries to stutter out. God, he swears he's usually much cooler than this.
"Hey," Gabriel stops him, "I'm not joking. I don't hand out hardback Runaways collections to people I don't like," he assures him. "You're hot. Trust me." Sam gave him a small smile. "Okay, so that's $2.47," Gabriel informs him with a grin. "And your number," he adds happily. This guy just leaks confidence and happiness. Sam obliges and Gabriel gives him a sheet of paper to write down his number. Sam puts the money for the comic book down and scribble down his number in neat handwriting.
By the end of the day, Sam has a newfound love for Brian K. Vaughn. It's 11 o'clock when Gabriel calls (way past the socially acceptable time to be calling)
"Hello?"
" 'llo, gorgeous. It's Gabriel. Milton, if you wanna put that in your contacts." Sam makes a mental note of it. "Anyway. 2 things. Going out with me and Runaways. You look smart. You finished with the collection yet?" he asks, all of this without pausing to take a breath.
'Uhm, yeah. I actually really liked it, thanks. Easy to relate too."
"Good. I thought you would. And it gets even better later," he promises. "Oh. And hey. Sorry I called yah so late. My campaign ran late."
"Campaign?" he questions, because the only campaign Sam can think of is political, and somehow, that doesn't really seem like Gabriel's thing.
"Yeah. I swear, if Balthazar derails the campaign to flirt with a NPC village girl one more time, I will use my divine powers and smite his annoying British ass," Gabriel says, which he clearly thinks is an explanation, but it only serves to further Sam's confusion.
"What?"
"Oh. Pathfinder campaign! It's an RPG, like D&D. Except gameplay is soo much better. I run it, I'm the GM. We play it down at the shop on Tuesdays."
This guy is a huge nerd. But he's nice and funny and cute. And interested in Sam. So, Sam decides to just go with it.
"So. I remember you said you wanted to talk about two things," he prompts. Sam can hear a light laugh in the background.
"I did, I did. And we already covered one of them," Gabriel agrees. "So then. Next topic. Going out with me. I've already made it very clear I'm very into you. And you seem, at the very least, freaked out and intrigued. So. Could I persuade you into going on a date sometime?"
"Only if you can tell me where to get the next issue of Runaways," Sam jokingly bargains.
"Ah, that'a boy. Sure thing," Gabriel agrees. Sam smiles.
"We're both dorks."