Nick-AJ - NYC
It was one thing, Nick thought grumpily, to be a street musician. He was expressing his art, he was bringing music to the people, it was fulfilling in a totally poverty-stricken kind of way. It was another thing to sit out with his guitar all day in the cold and only make ten bucks. And even worse when it started raining, and he had to shove his guitar into the case to keep it from getting wet, and run to the subway with a newspaper over his head. He'd heard of people having shitty mondays, but this was a FRIDAY. Totally unfair.
And he clearly wasn't the only one holding this opinion; there wasn't one smile to be seen in the sea of people surrounding him. Well, no, that was a lie. There was one smile, a kind of a soft secret smile like the guy knew how to be happy in the middle of all this ... dreck, but he wasn't sharing that secret with anyone. He was looking down at his feet as he smiled so when he looked up and caught Nick's eyes, Nick was busted for staring. There wasn't much he could do other than make an effort to sheepishly smile back.
He shifted the guitar carefully, muttering a 'sorry' when he realized it had been pressing against a lady's foot, and glanced back at the smiling guy. He was still grinning a little, leaning against the stanchion pole in the middle of the subway car, kind of looking in Nick's direction, kind of not. Nick was pretty sure it was against the rules for someone as drenched and dripping as this guy to look so happy, even one with a pricey raincoat like that, and wondered for a second what it was that made him smile like that. Maybe he was going home to his girlfriend, or maybe he got a great new job, or maybe he got a record deal...Nick rolled his eyes at himself, and was startled by a soft chuckle. The guy had seen him, and was...laughing at him?
He was looking away again, though, back at his feet, seeming more cheerful than mocking though Nick still found that hard to believe, what with the water dripping down fro his hair onto his face and his shoes that looked squishy. A moment later they were both startled by a woman in fur sitting next to the doors who started mutting to herself about her poor dead cats, poor bloody dead cats, but not for long. When Nick met the guy's eyes again, he finally mouthed a very pronounced "What?" at him.
The guy grinned and shrugged one shoulder a little, before mouthing back "nothing." He stood away from the door as the train lurched into the station, and when the crowd streamed in and the doors slid shut again, he was pressed up against Nick. "Hey," he said quietly, still smiling. "Um, you're dripping on me."
Nick rolled his eyes again. He still couldn't figure whether to be pleased or irritated by the smile, and it was frustrating him. "Yeah, so?" he said, shifting his guitar case so it would take up as little room as possible. "You're dripping on me, too. It's raining." And way to impress the guy with his wit. Not that he cared about impressing him.
"Well, yeah, but you're taller," the guy pointed out reasonably enough. "Your drips have a much better trajectory." He moved out of the way, and Nick realized his jacket collar had been dripping straight down on this guy's chest, and actually felt a little bad about it. "Did you save your guitar? Rain's awful for 'em." Smiling dark eyes made the question seem somehow appropriate, even though Nick couldn't remember the last time someone had just started talking to him on the subway. Usually his size and rather ratty appearance guaranteed him some space.
"Um, yeah," he said, looking down at it. And dripping some more on it.The case was slick with water, but it had suffered a lot worse in its day. "I got out of the rain in time. Pretty lousy Friday, huh? So ... " What exactly did one say to that, anyway? "You play?"
"Yeah, sometimes." The guy's smile didn't falter, and he twitched his raincoat out of the way, so IT wouldn't drip on the guitar. "Not such a bad Friday, I like the rain. Oh, hey, I'm sorry. AJ." He looked like he wanted to extend his hand, but he was braced against the side of the train car, and didn't move. "I'm sorry I was laughing, you just...you ran in here like a wet cat, all prickly and snarling. It was kind of funny, wantching people scatter out of your way."
Nick looked over both shoulders and snorted softly. "Didn't scatter far enough, as far as I'm concerned," he admitted. Being used to the press of bodies didn't make him like it any more, especially in the mood he'd been in when he'd ducked in out of the rain. He debated giving the guy his name, then shrugged. "I'm Nick. And you've clearly had a better Friday than me."
"Hi, Nick." AJ nodded at him, strangely formal, before looking around them again. "They won't disappear, no matter how hard you glare," he said casually. "The rain's not SUCH a bad thing, you know. Cleans the streets off, saves us from drought. Does nice things to people who happen to look good wet." His gaze lingered on Nick's face for just a moment, before he looked away again.
"Cuts down on my livelihood, gets mud on the cuffs of my last decent pair of pants, makes my feet soggy and cold ... " Nick added to the list, scowling, hardly even mollified by the flirtatious attention. "And don't knock the glare; it *does* make people disappear under the right circumstances. When we're not hurtling along in a cattle car."
"Wow, that wet cat thing might be closer to accurate than I thought," AJ noted, his voice almost admiring. "Pants clean, feet dry, and there's always tomorrow to play. You're scaring the nice lady who's talking to herself, you know. Maybe you should let me buy you a cup of coffee. Make up for the universe giving you a bum deal today? I'm celebrating, myself, and I'm feeling the need to spread the cheer."
So Nick had pegged that one, at least, and found himself nodding his head before he'd even consciously come to a decision. It was pretty much a foregone conclusion, though -- never say no when someone offers you something for free, especially when it's either food or lodging.
"What are you celebrating?" he asked, and scrubbed the back of his neck with one hand to try to keep the cold drips from trailing down his spine.
"Just a good day. Good week, all around." There was that secret smile again, the one that turned a rather ordinary face mysterious and handsome. "I closed on my new apartment, that's the big thing today. And I like the rain." He looked up at Nick, grinning. "You a busker? I can see why you don't agree with me, about that at least. Where do you play?"
"Wherever wide-eyed tourists with handy cash gather, I play," said Nick, nudging the guitar case with his foot. Like it was going to agree with him or something. "You know. Just trying to get by. New apartment, huh? That's great. Whereabouts?"
"Bleeker. West Village," AJ offered unapologetically. "I've been commuting in from the 'burbs, and it sucks, so you can imagine I'm pretty thrilled. If your target audience is tourists with cash, though, you're definitely in the right place. You like playing? I'm just curious, here, I know a lot of musicians who play in working bands...most of 'em were buskers at one point or another."
"It's not the kind of thing you do if you don't like it," said Nick with a bit of a rueful smile. He life would have been a lot easier if he'd fallen in love with, like, accounting or something. But far less interesting. "I was in this band once, a while back, but it never really went anywhere, then one of the guys moved out to L.A. and it all fell apart. You know how it goes."
"Sure do," AJ said cheerfully, peering out the car window at the passing station signs. "I'm getting off on the next stop, there's a great coffee place about a block up. But yeah, I was in and out of bands myself for a long time. Then I figured out I was a better manager anyway, and there wasn't any stage fright to deal with." He tipped his head at the door, looking at Nick questioningly. "Coming?"
Nick blinked at him a couple times, processing all of that, then spurred himself into motion before the doors closed and the opportunity passed him by. "Yeah, thanks," he said, hauling his guitar out with him so abruptly he hit two people on the way out. "Sorry, sorry," he muttered back over his shoulder, but he didn't stop moving.
"You're vicious with that thing. Might wanna think about registering it as a lethal weapon," AJ pointed out, watching him with a grin. "Um. This way." He led the way up the stairs and out of the station, and beckoned Nick into a quiet and comfortable-looking little coffee shop before they could get more than a few drops of rain on them.