"This is huge! Next time you get close to Vanoss in front of the media, rip his mask off and expose his face to the world! He will be charged with being a vigilante, and then we would have less opposition. No one would want to speak out against Delirious without Vanoss' protection," Lui explained. Jonathan was talking on a disposable phone with Lui about what had happened two nights ago in the alleyway.
It was now 7:30am, and Evan was still sleeping in his own bedroom. It was their day off, and Jonathan planned to spend it lounging about the apartment, flicking through random television programs. That is, until Lui interrupted his leisure time.
"That's good, but Vanoss is fast, he would probably reach for my mask straight after. I can't believe he hasn't tried tearing off my mask already," Jonathan countered.
"Right, of course. Just keep your details out of the media. And how's that Evan going?" Lui questioned. Jon felt his face flush a little at the mention of Evan.
"Evan? Oh...um, yeah he's ok," Jon mumbled shyly.
"Bullshit man, I can hear by your tone that something's up, what is it?" Lui pestered.
"It's just...whenever I'm around him I feel strange. My stomach tightens, my heart beats faster, and I don't want to leave his side. He's so good to me, Lui. I don't know what I'm feeling towards him," Jon replied.
"Wow, Jon. Did you ever consider that you like him? As more than just a friend?" Lui laughed a little.
"What?"
"You're hopeless sometimes Jon," Lui chuckled.
"What should I do about it then?"
"Ok listen, it's your day off, right? When he wakes up, ask him if he wants to go grab breakfast and a coffee with you, then walk around the city together for the day or something," Lui tediously explained.
"Because Los Santos is so romantic," Jon drawled.
"It's the best you've got with the given time, don't complain," Lui argued, "Ok, I'm going to leave, I have a hot lunch date with some lanky dude. Tell me about Evan, won't you?" Without another word, Lui hung up.
Jonathan could hear the faint pitter-patter of the shower. Evan must be up. As quickly as Jon noticed the shower was even running, it switched off.
Five minutes later, Evan emerged with blow dried hair and a small smile.
"Morning, what's on today's agenda?" Evan asked, his head resting on the doorframe to the lounge room.
"Listen, Ev, I wanted to ask-"
"No, actually, before you make any plans, I found this amazing breakfast joint a block or two away and I want us to go try it out this morning," Evan cut Jon off. Jon was shocked, he was thinking the same thing as Evan.
"Sounds great, I was just about to ask you the same thing," Jon answered.
Evan silently munched at his blueberry muffin while Jon was telling him about his childhood. He grew up motherless, with a father that was passed out drunk more often than he was conscious. His sister died when he was fourteen, and Jon still remembers the smell of burnt rubber in the air from the car that hit her.
"Ok that's depressing, moving on. What are you hobbies Evan? I feel like you know a lot about me but I know nothing about you," Jon suggested.
"Oh, well I like editing across a few medias. Obviously I edit my writings as a job, but I like editing music, specifically electronic music. I also dabble in video editing, like slideshows and collages," Evan explained, taking bites of his muffin in between sentences.
"That's awesome, Ev. You'll have to let me listen to some of your tracks sometime," Jon smiled gently.
"What coffee do you usually drink? I'll pay for it," Evan offered.
"I drink black coffee, but you don't have to pay for it," Jon weakly offered. Even though there was delicious food in the quaint shop, it was still expensive and he would be glad to let Evan pay.
"Nonsense, you paid for the muffins earlier, so it's only fair." Score. Evan stood up and walked over to the counter to pay. Jonathan was never the type of guy to shamelessly ogle another, but he couldn't help but get lost in the movements of Evan's hips. Evan only waited a minute or so for the drinks, the service here is incredible. He walked back over to where Jon was situated, and passed Jon his piping hot, black coffee.
Jon stood to join Evan, and they left the shop to walked around Los Santos with their beverages. They exchanged little stories and pleasures from their lives as they walked. They soon found themselves standing at the edge of the Del Perro pier, coffees long gone, sun high in the sky.
They both faced the ocean, every so often their fingers would brush together. Jon found pleasure in the fact that Evan would sharply inhale every time Jon slowly dragged his fingers up Evan's palm.
Evan turned his face towards Jonathan, who had looked at Evan's sudden movements. Evan was right there, his face only inches from Jon's, and it was still getting closer. He could feel Evan's breath on his chin.
Jon could see every tiny freckle spattered on Evan's nose, every individual eyelash...
"Hey, you must be David, right? It's nice to finally meet you." Lui extended a hand to the lanky man who towered over him. Lui was already a small man, but standing next to this giant he felt minuscule. David swiftly took up his hand and shook it so hard Lui thought he was going to rip his arm off.
"It's great seeing ya, and when you said you were short you weren't kiddin'!" David exclaimed, thick Irish accent bouncing off every wall in the pizzeria. He got the attention of some others, but they were being just as loud as him.
Brian told Lui about this app called Grindr ("it's revolutionary, Lui, you'll absolutely adore it!") and he instantly hated it. He constantly received messages from douchebags who wanted a quick fuck or a drug hookup. Although Lui was part of a gang, he preferred to keep his love life out of his crimes.
But David...David was different.
When he received the first message from David he promised himself that if it wasn't a positive message he would delete Grindr for good. Instead, David just wanted a boyfriend to be himself around. David told Lui that he was sick of not being able to be himself in his everyday life, and he just wanted someone to talk to, cuddle, and play video games with.
Lui found him rather sweet, which was the opposite from Lui's usual type. Lui usually went for the bad boy archetype, much like himself. However Lui was fed up with the constant heartbreak, and was finally looking for someone to settle down with, he was almost 30.
"Let's grab a booth, the seats are way comfier," Lui suggested, pointing to a booth in the far corner of the shop. He let David order a surprise pizza for him, so he ordered a simple cheese pizza.
"Hey, you can never go wrong with Margherita," David argued as he took a bite. Lui followed his actions, and found himself staring at the way David licked his lips. Lui quickly averted his eyes to his own pizza.
Lui and David shared many tales, and spoke of their favourite video games, promising each other to play together all the time. The more the lunch progressed, the more Lui could envision himself settling down with the funny Irishman.
They quickly polished off the pizza and cleaned the booth, but they remained sitting and continued to talk. Lui could get lost in the lilt of David's voice. David stopped speaking to take a sip of his lemonade, and Lui snapped out of his reverie. He still stared at the softness of David's brown hair, neatly resting on his head. Lui met David's chocolate eyes, and felt himself draw closer to them. David gave Lui a quizzical look.
Lui suddenly lurched forward and grabbed David by the collar to pull him closer...
"I'm so glad we decided to do this together," Craig mused, looking up at Tyler. "I didn't expect you to actually call me back. I thought you would just take the anonymous dry cleaning money and run with it."
"Why wouldn't I call you back? You tried to help me, and I thought that the best way to repay you for the dry cleaning would be a quiet afternoon in the park," Tyler explained. He tore a chunk of bread off and hurled it towards a duck by the banks of the pond, only a few feet away from the park bench they were sprawled across.
"I thought you would be mad at me for spilling my coffee on you," Craig looked down, quietly chewing his gum, "and guys like you don't usually go for guys like me." Craig threw a piece of bread towards a different duck, who quickly pecked it up.
"What do you mean? You've been nothing but kind to me; you've paid an enormous amount for my dry cleaning, you've agreed to put up with me for an entire afternoon, and you're hinting at us doing this again in the future," Tyler listed. He looked over to Craig's smiling face, green eyes peering up at him in awe, jaw only slightly moving with each bite of the spearmint gum.
"Besides, you're easy on the eyes, Craig," Tyler stated. He threw another chunk of bread to a lingering duck.
"You're not to bad yourself, Ty," Craig replied, his gaze not leaving Tyler's face.
Before Tyler missed the chance, he brought his lips to Craig's cheek, then moved a little to the right...
...Evan tasted of coffee.
...David tasted of lemonade.
...Craig tasted of spearmint.