[Pathosis]

_____...Do as the Roman's Do

_____a private roleplay
_____possible M themes later on

[Pathosis]

He got a half hour break, just a half hour, for lunch. And with that half hour, he had to somehow eat, and find his way about the city to meet this...well, he wasn't sure what to call him. Friend? Acquaintance? They hadn't been talking for long, maybe three days, and they'd just recently exchanged cell phone numbers. Talking was frustrating for Stephen though; sure, it was conversation, but he didn't put that ad up just to have a pen pal, he wanted an actual adult to hang out with when he wasn't on father-duty.

And so, he was multi-tasking, eating half of a bagel from Tim Hortons and staring at the tiny screen of his bulky old cell, brows furrowed as he read the most recent text. It held directions, but being as new as he was, even the streets around his work were enough to throw him for a loop. His work was situated in Downtown Toronto, one of the busiest parts of the city, since it was a business district. All of the towers would look the same, if not for the giant logos for companies at the top. Taking a hasty bite from his bagel, he stopped in his tracks and scratched his head with phone in hand before lowering it to reply.

---

'RE: RE: RE: meeting spot

Hey, any way you can meet me somewhere else?
Maybe closer to my job?
Because I'm lost, haha.

- Stephen'

---

Hitting send, he watched the little envelope blip on the screen before disappearing. Sighing, he looked up at the over-cast sky, leaning against a lamp post. He would drive, but that would make the situation worse. Walking was a much better mode of transportation for a Torontonian, he'd found out, after getting stuck in traffic for nearly an hour. Stephen pulled his coat closer to himself, suppressing a chill that ran down his spine as the cold seeped in. Why couldn't it have stayed summer? The blonde mulled over that while he ate, waiting for a response.

[Honey]

He’d figured he’d have time to meet with the man online who had requested for help in the city. It was not the only time Jay had seen people enter the city to only find themselves lost among the masses of people, and having been an inhabitant of the city since being a young boy allowed him to be a great tour guide for those visitors. Not that many people often pulled him aside to ask for directions, but alas.

Newcomers to the city always had trouble, and while the man he had been conversing with for the last few days seemed like a quick study, Jay knew no one who could learn their way around Toronto that easily; He’d given himself time before he left his apartment lobby, figuring that the man who called himself Stephen would need more time than he for the both of them to meet up. The street light turned red as the rest of the people came to a stop, but he did follow their example and instead continued down the crosswalk with only one car honking at him after he’d passed by.

Jay paid no attention to the angry driver while the din of his cell phone echoed in his pocket, and pulling the device free he noticed the small envelope that settled itself at the top of his toolbar. He’d pulled himself out of the way of the crowd from before who were now crossing the street to allow himself to answer the text.

__________________________________________________ _______________
‘RE: RE: RE: RE: meeting spot

If you don’t mind me being a couple minutes late to meet you, haha.
Where do you work so I know where to meet you?

-Jay
__________________________________________________ _______________

A knowing smile slipped onto his lips as he reread Stephen’s message. He had suspected a message such as that before too long. Had he not received such a message...well Jay would have assumed the man was just playing him, and that was a rare occurrence in and of itself. However he knew not of whether this man was the type to try and do something such as that to him or not; and instead made the safe assumption that he was merely looking for help.

Assured his message had sent, Jay leaned against the side of the building while he waited for the man’s reply before checking the time on his watch. He had plenty of time to meet Stephen near his work assuming he did not live too far away, and his gut told him that he was not quite that far away. He went back to flipping through his phone impatiently.

[Pathosis]

Cars drove at a snail pace behind him, as he leaned against the lamp post and faced the shop front of a boutique that most likely targeted older women, and he couldn't help but laugh at their predicament. Chuckling into a napkin, the blonde was almost done his bagel, and in that moment, he wished he'd picked up a coffee, as well. The cream cheese always made him a bit thirsty.

Straightening up a bit when he felt his cell vibrate, he squinted as he read the text. A couple minutes late? Looking at the time on his wristwatch, he frowned a bit, and shrugged. Sure, a couple minutes wouldn't hurt - it'd just mean that they'd have less time to chat and meet. Perhaps meeting for supper would've been a better idea, but the whole daughter factor came in to play, and he didn't want to trust anyone to babysit her just yet. Stephen was lucky enough to find a reputable day care to play Annabelle in while he worked.

---

"RE:RE:RE:RE:RE: meeting spot

A few minutes is fine - I just hope you're nearby?
I work at SecureKey. But I think I'm a few blocks away from it now.
Uh...I'm at the corner of Bay Street and King Street W.
I'll stay put, if that helps."

---

Hitting send, he set his phone in the pocket of his work pants, crumpling the Tim Hortons wrapper into a ball and stuffing it in his coat pocket to throw out later. He could have littered and no one would have batted an eyelash, but his mother had taught him better. Stephen started to smile to himself, feeling himself get a bit giddy at the chance to meet an adult that wasn't going to talk about boring work-related things.

[Honey]

The screen of his phone pushed itself forward from what he’d been occupied with, and after only a brief glance to see what intersection he was at he realized he was only a few blocks away from West King Street. Pushing off of the building from where he’d paused he started down the busy sidewalk again while he typed up his response. After all, he had two hands, he could text and walk simultaneously. No need to waste both of their time.

__________________________________________________ ____________
“RE:RE:RE:RE:RE:RE meeting spot

More nearby than I thought, actually.
After all, there are only so many places in the city to be.
I’ll be there in a flash.”
__________________________________________________ ____________

He pressed a button on the face of his phone to lock it, and holding it up to inspect that he looked alright he tugged against the collar on his jacket to straighten the material while moving along with the crowd. Another reassuring hand ran through his head of dark hair to put it back in its place before the autumn wind whipped it around. Pleased with the results, Jay slipped the phone back into his pocket as he donned a smug look. No use looking disheveled for a meeting- business or pleasure.

[Pathosis]

Stephen was zoning out, thinking about mundane things like work and when he would pick up his daughter from daycare, and what they'd have for supper. It was a dangerous thing to do in the city, but it couldn't be helped. He'd had an early morning, and no coffee to wake him up, just water from the office. Time seemed to speed up on the outside while he was in a stupor, and he almost forgot that his cell had vibrated when he finally snapped out of it. Checking his phone, his eyes widened as he looked at the time it was sent and the time displayed in the top right corner.

His heart began to thump in his chest and his palms started to sweat, something that happened when he was nervous. Licking his lips, Stephen glued his eyes to the intersecting roads that Jay was meant to come down, and gave a timid smile when the face he recognized from the picture came into view. Pushing off of the lamp post, the blonde figured he'd meet him half-way, trying to even out his breath so he wouldn't seem winded.

Uncertain of whether he should give him a hand-shake or an awkward hug as a greeting, he decided to keep it formal, wiping a clammy palm on his pant leg before extending it. "Uh, hey," he said with a small laugh, another nervous habit, "good to finally meet you." Scuffing his shoes on the ground, he couldn't get the smile off of his face, looking down at the damage he'd done to the toe of them before looking up with bright blue eyes. "So, uhm, what'd you like to do in the..." glancing at the watch, he laughed again, "15 minutes we have left?"

[Honey]

A quick scan of the crowd had not pointed the man out to him, but the figure coming towards him with a nervous look did. Bingo. Jay found himself not sharing the same qualms as his acquaintance did, and instead of mirroring the nervous demeanor he donned a confident and kind smile as he strode forward to shake the offered hand. He could feel the bit of clamminess of the hand in their brief shake, but he bought it off of the man’s nervousness and did not hold it against him. “It is nice to meet you as well, Stepen.”

With the way he stared at the ground, he thought it to be something interesting, but with it being a near nervous tick he was about to offer his voice for suggestion in order to break the ice, but the man seemed to take the lead first.“Well,” Jay said with a chuckle of his own, “ if I remember correctly, you have not been in town very long. Perhaps if you hadn’t had a chance to look around, see one of the local parks just to give you a sense of the city. I bet if we walk and talk I could get you back to work in fifteen minutes tops.”