He had decided tonight, that he'd be going by Richard. He had no real reason for his choice, but it seemed to fit his current attitude.

Dressed in a purple dress shirt, striped sweater, and black slacks, the newly named Richard felt like he matched the requested style. He had flat-out refused to wear a tie of any kind and the stylist he had consulted had protested with a stubborn frown, but had eventually relented.

So now, nicely dressed and hungry for dinner (not really, entities like himself didn't require food), he simply had to wait for his date to arrive, hopefully in a car or the walk would probably be awkward.

As he sat on his conjured couch, his little jack Russell jumped onto his lap and cuddled up to him.

Why was he thinking about the awkwardness that would occur? He was a pagan god! Why on Earth was he acting like a teenage girl with a crush?

God help him, he had a crush.

The pup in his lap let out a sound like a snicker, and Richard glared down at him slightly.

"Oh, shut it, Taz." The dog yawned and settled back into his lap, paying his owner no mind.

Richard glanced at the clock. 6:15 PM. He sighed.

Glancing about his rather bare "apartment," he decided to redecorate while he was waiting.

Hopefully to impress Gigantor.

The knock at his door caused Taz the jack russell to begin barking incessantly and jumping for the handle. Richard rolled his eyes but was just as eager to open the door.

When the door swung open, Taz immediately rushed out to greet the tall figure on the other side, and Richard was pleased to note the way gigantor's eyes lit up at the sight of the small animal.

Dog-lovers were always the better.

"Hey there, gigantor." He said with a smirk and a raised eyebrow, watching as the very large man sat down on the floor with folded legs to play with the dog. The man in question smiled sheepishly up at him but didn't stand up or stop playing with Taz, despite the fact he was wearing a nicely pressed blue dress shirt, black slacks, and a tie.

"I like dogs." He explained simply after a few minutes, finally standing up and brushing off the dog hair.

"I can see that." Richard laughed. "Gotta say, gigantor. You're getting more and more attractive by the minute."

His companion blushed slightly, but smiled anyway.

"Nice place." He commented, looking around the repurposed studio apartment.

"Of course." He smiled, gleefully thinking about the 45 minutes of interior design he'd invested in. He grabbed a key from the hook on the wall by the door. "Ready to go?"

Gigantor nodded and Richard ushered Taz inside, "locking" the door behind him.

The ride to the restaurant, Baume, was a short one, and Richard was happy to note that his date had a car, used though it was. They didn't do much talking on the ride, mainly because Richard was busy playing with the buttons and rifling through the glove box, while gigantor glanced over in amusement.

The two got a raised eyebrow from the host when they arrived, but were directed to a table easily.

Then they had to overcome the struggle of conversation. It was easier than either of them expected.

"So what do you do?" Gigantor asked, an interested glint in his eye. "Your apartment doesn't say professor, student, or lawyer."

"Ah, I work at the hospital." Gabriel fibbed. He did occasionally work at the hospital as a candy striper, mainly because candy and partly because he'd originally thought it said candy stripper.

"Oh? Did you go to Stanford, then?"

"Nope, went to Johns-Hopkins." Also partly true. "What about you, Mr. College Student? What are you majoring in?"

"Pre-law." Was his reply. "I want to be a lawyer."

"What kind, though? Defense or prosecution? …or are you more of a desk jockey kind of lawyer?"

"Prosecution." And by the determined set of his jaw, Richard could tell that this was a deeply thought of issue.

"Putting the bad guys away. Admirable."

"Thanks." He turned a little shy at his compliment. He was clearly in thought for a while, and Richard waited curiously for whatever question his dinner companion could come up with.

"So your business card?"

"What about it?" Richard asked smugly, knowing exactly where this was going.

"It didn't have your name on it." He replied. "I've been mentally calling you stalker guy all this time." He admitted.

This garnered a genuine laugh from Richard.

"You know what I call you, already. I didn't catch your name either." And wasn't it a curious thing for him to not know someone's name. But the strange atmosphere surrounding Palo Alto was affecting his abilities, so this was an exciting new thing. It kind of made him like this guy even more, the slight mystery.

"Sam. And you?"

"Today I'm going by Richard."

"Oh?" He leaned forward in confusion and interest. "You're 'going by' Richard? What does that mean?"

"I like trying different names out with people I haven't made up my minds about yet."

"What do you mean by that?"

"If I decide that I like you and trust you enough, I tell you my real name." He replied, knowing for a fact that despite his crush on this human, it would never evolve into anything more than a one night stand and a crush.

"So what was your 'name' when we met?" Sam inquired, accepting his explanation with surprising ease.

"Steve." He replied proudly.

"Steve?" A raised eyebrow.

"It is a perfectly respectable name."

"It really doesn't fit you, though."

"Oh, what name fits me then?"

"Well… Richard fits you better. But I think you need a more… fun name, for lack of a better description."

"Like what?"

"Mm… Max maybe."

"Nope."

"Alex?" Both men were clearly enjoying this little game, but the waiter interrupted them with their meals. Sadly, this meant their conversation went back to normal date conversation like favorite color and where in the world would you want to go.

After a while though, a question started bugging Richard.

"I didn't take you for the gay type." He admitted after a while. Sam looked surprised by the change of topic, but not altogether uncomfortable, which was good.

"I like people." He replied simply. When Richard raised an eyebrow, he elaborated. "I don't have a 'preferred gender.' My family has – had – an easy view on love. 'If you got someone, good.' I live by that kind of creed. When I was in high school I went out with mostly girls because no guys there were interesting or interested." He shrugged.

"But why'd you want to avoid the girls your friend wanted to set you up with?"

He turned a bit uncomfortable.

"All the girls he tries to set me up with, well they look like a relative of mine."

"Ah, and you don't want to have to deal with the possible incest insinuations?" Richard inferred with a smirk. Sam seemed relieved that someone understood, though.

"Not high on my list of things to do, no."

Dammit. This kid was making him like him even more.

"Okay, Sam." Richard said, when the two had finally reached his 'apartment.' "I've got a proposition for you."

Ignoring the way that was phrased with barely a blush, Sam nodded for Richard to continue.

"I challenge you to figure out my name." Sam's eyes lit up at the mention of a challenge.

"What do I get if I win?"

"Hmmm… Whatever you want. For one day, you get anything you want. I'll do anything."

Sam smirked.

"Alright, then I accept your challenge."

Richard, seeing an opportunity, smirked and grabbed Sam's tie, tugging the much taller figure down and planting a large kiss on his lips.

Then, releasing the stunned and totally red man, he shut the door behind him. His own blush dancing across his face.

God, he was such a teenage girl.