“ ━ OKAY, so i’m a little lost ? why is everyone nutso about the supernatural ?”

“All I’m saying is it seems stupid to have four different spin-offs then half the viewers they have now wont turn in past the first episode and if they really think people are going to watch four shows that tie into each other just to find out things that wont be important after the original ends then they have no idea about how marketing works.”

“I’ve always thought the only appropriate time to do a spin-off, was when the core show ended. Like... Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, that’s a solid setup right there. Generally speaking, you don’t need four shows in one go to keep people invested in a story... unless it’s a crap story, then by all means toss ‘em out there and see what happens. What show -- or shows are you talking about specifically, though? If any. The only thing I’ve watched this year is Rick and Morty. Over and over again, because I’m hooked.”

“I’m not sure the church will ever disappear completely,” George smiled. “Perhaps in Vegas, but not across the world… Countries are still partially run by the church. Italy for example, they would have a hard time trying to rid Rome of churches,” he chuckled. “Ah, there will have been stranger conspiracy theories as to God’s decent than that,” George joked with a smile. “I mean, in way was God not the biggest gambler of all time?”

“You know, that is a very good point, I didn’t even consider Rome. I guess that was a pretty big thing to miss actually, but whatever; it was just one thought.” He shrugged nonchalantly, his bright tone still reflecting the smile across his face. “Trying to rid Rome of churches might be difficult... but then again, it wasn’t built in a day but it’s always easier to destroy than to create things.” Nicolás made a mental note to consider toning it down on the bordering philosophical nonsense, his smile widening when the other spoke up once again. “Gambling away your life savings versus... the destiny of the entire human race... You have another good point. You’re too good at this, it’s not a fair game.”

“That is the great thing about the church,” George smiled. “No matter how long you have been away or whatever you have done since your last mass, it will still welcome you back with open arms.” The man pushed himself up from the cushion and sat on the pew, resting his stick between his legs. “Not at all, I was just finishing, actually.”

“And we’re pretty safe to guess that it’ll still be there, even if there is some part of me that’s sure the decline in church-going in some areas will mean they’ll all be wiped out at some point.” He smiled warmly, emitting further quiet laughs. “Oh, good. Trying to pray and hold a conversation at the same time might be a bit confusing. Or so I would imagine. You could end up telling the wrong person the wrong thing; but I guess that’s where accents come in handy. ‘Cause I’m pretty sure God wasn’t Puerto Rican, or from Vegas.”

“I mean, I could have easily said drunk but you know, it is what it is.” The moment he heard the other speak spanish , his eyes widened. “I know you probably hear this a lot, but please speak more words like that. It literally sounds so beautiful. Oh and uh, yeah. That would be a wild commute. I lived in New Jersey, Hoboken specifically and I went to school in New York so the commute with like really short. Maybe 30 minutes. Well, we all went to the same school. Our dad taught there so, you know. Oh, is there a large age gap between you guys? My sisters and I are only two years apart, each way.”

“Sure, expressions are fun to throw about. They make speech less conformative, and more interesting.” He raised both brows, a short stream of nervous chuckles escaping. “I mean... not really? I mostly only speak Spanish when I’m talking to myself or -- you know, when the other person does -- and it would be weird if I were to egg myself on like that. But thank you, I’m sure the Spanish language appreciates your enthusiasm. Oh, Hoboken? Frank Sinatra’s hometown, that’s pretty cool. There’s four years between myself and Lucía, and Camila is two years older than her. It’s a big enough age gap, I think, for us to not have too much in common when we were kids. They were both older than me, and cooler, but we had music and films to bond over.”

“You know, drunk? Maybe that’s just an Eastern thing. But yeah. Thankfully my roommates pretty chill. I think we might be on different schedules so I don’t really see her. Thankfully I commuted throughout my college career. Actually, all my siblings did. And they weren’t half bad as roommates. I mean, they were annoying because that’s sisters but they never borrowed my stuff.”

“Ah, I’ll have to use that one in the future. At least it’s shorter than está como refajo de loca. Well, that seems to work pretty well; better to never or rarely see anyone than see them often and hate their guts. Yeah? I think it would’ve been a bit much to commute from Puerto Rico to Cambridge every day, even for my sister. Did you go to college in the same state? Siblings tend to be pretty good roommates; my sisters probably thought different about each other, but I don’t think they ever wanted to borrow my stuff. We can thank the age gap for that.”

Relieved, Hector sighed as he made his way tot he other man with a relaxed smile. “Gracias, mi amigo. Son bastardos rápidos, no? “ he laughed. “ ‘Preciate, friend. “ He nodded, accepting the man’s offer as he made his way back to the bags and kicked his door open wider. As he set the bags down on his counter, he reached in to glance at the eggs, sighing again when they weren’t damaged before going back to the man to cradle the animal in his own arms for a third and final sigh. “Thanks again. Little guys eager to get back on the streets to his girlfriend or something. Or boyfriend, I don’t judge. “ He shrugged. “Hector. y tu?”

Nicolás beamed, erupting into a string of soft laughs. “De nada... Certainly this little one is,” stroking the cat’s head gently, he slowly tore his gaze away to meet the other man’s when he returned, and offered another smile. “So it seems, though I guess he’s just a home boy, and I can really relate to that. But, you know, I’m also a sucker for free food, so his priorities might be a bit whack.” He shrugged, handing over the animal gently. “And like I said before , it’s no problem, really! I’m Nicolás, it’s good to meet you, Hector.” 

      “Amen,” George muttered under his breath as he finished his silent prayers and mantras. “I didn’t know you came to this church,” he spoke quietly without turning around as he heard the quiet footsteps on the marble flooring behind him.

“So, I was working last night right, and this man is sitting at the bar. He flags me down and is like ‘Lemme tell you a story.’ Now, this guy is two sheets to the wind so I humor him because it’s the right thing to do. Well, turns out his roommate is apparently nuts. He was like, ‘My roommate, man, he was standing on my bed and wearing my blanket like a cape when I got home from work, right? And I’m just like, what the hell are you doing here? I lock my door for a reason. Then he jumps from my bed, to the floor like some superhero and then gets in my face, saying that I stole his socks because he had 12 pairs of socks and I only had 8 but now he only has 8 and I have 12. At this point I’m over the shit because this isn’t the first time he’s done his crap. Like, it’s always something. One time, her refolded all og my clothes while I was at work because he said that I wasn’t doing it right when he was watching me.’  And honestly, I’ve been thinking about that all night. I’m just so happy that my roommate isn’t wild like that, you know? Like, could you imagine that?”

“Two sheets to the...? Yeah, I guess it would kind of suck if your roommate... organised your clothes in a potentially better way for you, and accused you of stealing his socks. It does kind of sound like there’s never a boring day though, and that can be a good thing, at times. Though I get where he’s coming from, I suppose; especially with the bedroom thing, what with the importance of privacy and all that. Is your roommate nice, then? That’s good. My older sister had an awful roommate at college, she would borrow her things and just plainly not give them back, which sucked.”

“God Dammit, Larry!” Soon as he opened the door, the cat made a break for it again, which caused him to curse. He was only trying to help the damn thing, but he knew it wanted to be back on the streets, weak and all. Hastily dropping his groceries on the ground and hoping he didn’t break his eggs, he made an attempt to case after the agile feline until he saw someone in it’s path. “ Hey– pretend you’re Donald Trump and grab that pussy for me, will ya?”

His first instinct was to panic slightly, tired eyes darting around the vicinity in search of a Larry, only to find his mind had jumped to the wrong conclusion. Within an instant of the strangely expressed request, Nicolás had crouched down and lured the feline close enough to snatch up. Holding the cat close to his chest, he smoothed a hand gently down the animal’s body, unable to stop the smile that formed the second it started purring. “Seems like you have a troublesome gatito on your hands. Lucky he’s cute.” It suddenly occurred to Nico that he had yet to return the animal. “Do you want me to take him inside so you can carry the shopping?”