Cherry and Johnny: 73 Our muses are destined to fall in love in an art gallery.
Johnny never fully understood why, but he had always enjoyed visiting museums, art shows, and just generally any place that had stories within every piece. It wasn't even necessarily for the art; he just personally didn't care enough to try and understand the meaning behind every little swipe and splash of paint.
Instead, he much preferred seeing the many different kinds of people that took their own time to admire the art. He loved watching people from all different walks of life, with a similar interest that brought them each to a certain painting or sculpture or ancient rock from some unknown city.
That wasn't to say he always liked the people themselves. Once someone caught his interest though, they couldn't always get rid of it so easily. Like the tall blond man he was currently watching in an art gallery.
He'd come into the same room where Johnny was sitting and watching about fifteen minutes ago, and had closely examined each painting he passed, writing things in a small notebook he held in his left hand. Now, he was standing just a couple yards away, and Johnny was ready to make his move.
Standing casually, the dark-haired male walked over to the blond, pretending to look over the painting curiously before he 'just so happened' to glance at the other man. "This is a great piece, isn't it?" he began, trying to make conversation.
The other looked back at him, indifferent behind his rectangular, thin-framed glasses.
Unfazed, Johnny smiled back. "I'm Johnny Rayflo," he introduced, a small grin growing on his lips. "I would shake your hand, but the sign says not to touch the masterpieces."
The blond continued to look unimpressed, glancing at the sign on the wall next to the painting as he took a few more notes. "It says there's no food or drink allowed in the gallery."
Johnny pouted a bit, but if anything grew more interested in the other man. "That's a shame, you're easily the greatest masterpiece in this gallery, and I was hoping I could take you out for lunch."
That at least got a reaction out of the blond. His eyes widened slightly, and a faint, but still noticeable blush stained his cheeks. He huffed quietly and quickly looked back to the artwork before replying. "Is that really the best you've got?" he asked.
Grinning slightly at the challenge, Johnny let out a small laugh and set a hand on the blond's back. "Come on, you could at least tell me your name? A stunning piece of art like you can't be untitled."
The blond sighed softly, his cheeks darkening a bit more. "…It's Charley," he finally said after a moment's pause.
Johnny's eyes lit up in triumph, and he moved his hand to poke at the blond's cheek. "Charley, huh? You look a bit more like a cherry right now though," he laughed, referring to the redness of his cheeks.
If Charley had just been blushing before, he felt like his face might light on fire after that last statement. "That has nothing to do with any of this," he said firmly, swatting Johnny's hand away with the notebook.
"Oh really?" Johnny wondered, interested by Charley's reaction. Leaning closer, he couldn't help but smirk slightly. "Is Charley really a 'Cherry' after all?"
"Shut up." Charley scowled slightly, tearing a paper out of his notebook and turning away to leave, apparently fed up with being teased by someone he barely knew. He only took a couple steps before Johnny hurried after him, setting a hand on his shoulder.
"I was just joking, okay?" he pleaded, but didn't get any further before Charley turned and pushed him off, moving too quickly for Johnny to realize that the blond had slipped something into his pocket in the midst of the shove.
"Quit following me," he snapped somewhat harshly, although his face was still almost completely red. The blond did his best to ignore the almost pained look on the other's face, as well as how his chest seemed to ache at the sight of it.
Sighing softly, Johnny straightened up and held his hands up in surrender. "Alright, alright, sorry," he said somewhat quietly. "It was nice meeting you Charley."
The blond didn't reply before he turned away again, quickly leaving the room, and Johnny assumed the gallery itself.
Letting out another sigh, Johnny returned to the small table he had been sitting at before Charley came in, ignoring the slightly bitter taste of defeat. 'He seemed pretty interesting too,' he thought, running a hand through his dark hair. He paused mid-motion when he heard a faint crinkling in his pocket.
Curious now, he reached in and pulled a small folded piece of paper from the shirt pocket. Unfolding it carefully, a smile grew back on his lips as he looked over the name 'Charley,' underlined twice with seven digits underneath.