I'm made of cold stone

“I keep forgetting that you’re genuinely just giving the guy heaps of money to see how he reacts,” She admitted, still bewildered by his behaviour. “Well, you’re anything but boring.” And she was telling the truth. In a matter of half an hour this stranger had kept her more entertained than most people she knew could. She half followed, half lagged behind as he pulled her out onto the cold streets of New York. “Bro, I nearly spilt my probably shitty cup of coffee all over you!” She laughed, wrapping her hands around the warm cup. “I was only kidding, I don’t need you to buy me stuff.” If only that were true - Liv was definitely not in the position to be going on major shopping sprees. Regardless, the girl knew to never allow someone to have something over her, and this was asking for some type of blackmail down the line. Besides, who even was this guy? She knew his first name, and that he liked to freak out teenage baristas for fun. And now she was honestly contemplating taking him into changing rooms with her to show him what she was trying on? What kind of spell did he put on her? A normal person doesn’t do this. She took a sip of her coffee to break the obvious silence that she’d caused by her overanalysing. “Maybe on our second date.” Her toothy grin oozed confidence, and she was praying her eyes didn’t give away her sudden nervousness around this man. “A first date is no place for nakedness.”

“Whoa now, who said anything about nakedness?” Johnny asked with a laugh and a shake of his head. “I just meant that you would go into the change room, I would stand outside and wait, and then you would show me anything you tried on. Granted there is nakedness, but no nakedness that I would actually see” Of course he had only been joking about all of this anyway, feeling pretty sure that she wouldn’t allow him to go around the city buying clothes for her, seeing as they had only just met recently. She seemed to have more pride than to allow for something like that to happen, although he could tell that he had thrown her off a little bit, and decided to move on. “Well uh, maybe we should worry about having an actual first date first before we think about what we will or won’t do on the second one” He suggested with a small nod of his head. “I mean, I don’t know about you, but I would hardly call running around the city looking for a halfway decent cup of coffee, and fucking with the baristas along the way, a date. But I would say that it’s enough to make a guy want to take you out on one” He paused briefly and flashed her a smile, although it was a different kind of smile than any of the others he had shown her thus far; it was warm, and hopeful, rather than playful or amused. “What do you say? You interested? Or do we call this a one time adventure and go our separate ways? Your call.”

Liv nodded in amusement as she followed him up to the counter, watching as he pulled another hundred dollar bill from his wallet. She withheld a smirk as she acted fake surprised towards the cashier, watching his eyes widen, his lips pursed as he held the note in his hand. She nudged Johnny out of the way as she ordered her coffee, turning back to him as she waited. “How’d you know he’s not gonna keep the cash? That’s what I’d do,” The girl laughed as she took the cup from the counter. Liv wasn’t sure whether to find this guy amusing and quirky, or downright odd. It wasn’t like she necessarily needed to come up with an answer right away, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on what was making her question his actions. “You’re strange,” She mumbled affectionately as she held the coffee cup up to her lips. “So, do you wanna sit and watch everyone jump for joy when they find out their coffee is paid for? Or should we walk?” She spoke over the lid of the coffee, not willing to be disappointed by another terrible coffee just yet. “And if you wanna keep yourself amused, we could go shopping and you could pay for all my ridiculously expensive clothes,” She laughed, pursing her lips together in faux anticipation.

Johnny shrugged his shoulders at her question. “I don’t really care if he does quite honestly” He admitted with a small chuckle. “Like I said, I don’t do it for the benefit of the people in line. I do it because I think it’s funny to watch how the cashier reacts.” When she called him strange, he shrugged his shoulders again, and gave a small nod of his head to confirm that it was indeed true. “Better than being boring” He replied, his face breaking out into a grin. Of course she had no idea of just how strange he was, but he felt pretty confident that she’d seen enough that she wouldn’t be forgetting about him any time soon. At her question, he quickly shook his head. “No we should go right away. If we stay I’m gonna get showered with praise that I don’t want or deserve” He said, pointing towards the door. “Come on let’s go. Quickly.” Grabbing her by the hand he quickly dragged her along until they were outside, when he released her hand. “Anyways, as for the shopping thing, that is definitely something that can be arranged” He said with a nod and a playful grin. “But if we do it, does that mean you’re gonna show me everything you try on?”

“Oh, yeah. Way better to say inheritance than life insurance. I’m not one to judge, so don’t worry about me,” She smiled, glad he got off the topic of family before she had time to explain how she’d ditched hers at the drop of a hat. “True, although maybe you were in such a committed relationship that you guys moved here together and are so in love that you’re basically married. Or something.. Just better to make sure,” Liv shrugged. “Wow, I’ve already won you over and I haven’t even had to take my pants off? I must be the worlds best small-talker.” Olivia appreciated his response, especially because yet again it seemed to be so genuine. There was something about Johnny that made him overtly trustworthy. Liv couldn’t help but want to spill her guts to him, but she knew better. You can’t open up to just anyone, even though he seemed to be quite easily opening up to her. “If they offer me fucking creamer I swear to God you’ll be murdering someone today. Is it that hard to put milk in a coffee?”

Johnny laughed at her comment about the creamer, finding it hilarious that they seemed to be stuck in this endless cycle of her unknowingly making ironic comments. As they entered the coffee shop and approached the end of the line, Johnny pulled out his wallet, and after a moment of debating with himself, turned to Liv with a small smirk on his face. “Alright, you wanna see the real reason why I paid for your coffee in the last place?” He asked her right before it was time for them to step up to the counter. Glancing back quickly to check and see how many people were standing behind them, he added in an undertone “Watch this” before he took the final few steps towards the counter to order. “Hey can I get a medium coffee, black please?” He asked the cashier with a nod. “And I’ll also grab whatever this lovely lady is having” He added, pointing to Liv, before he pulled out another hundred dollar bill and slid it across the counter towards the cashier. “And I’ll also cover the next person in line with whatever they’re getting. And if there’s still money left after that, use it to cover what they’re getting. And after that, whatever they’re getting. You get the idea” The expression on the cashier’s face was one of bewildered confusion as he examined the bill and tried to process what had just happened, and once Johnny was handed his coffee, he turned away from the counter, chuckling with amusement, before he looked over to Liv again. “It was literally just to get that reaction from the cashier. Because that expression is worth a whole lot more than a hundred dollars” He explained, still chuckling before he shook his head. “It seems like I’m doing a nice thing, but really I’m just a bored rich asshole who has more money than he knows what to do with, so he does stupid shit like this to keep himself amused”

it seemed that ever since caleb had moved to brooklyn, it was quite difficult to find people that were as kind as- well, as kind as the male in front of him. no, money didn’t have any moral meanings but each encounter caleb either was involved in or witnessed with another resulted in someone being offended and upset. usually him, because he was never one to intentionally fight with another. he couldn’t imagine himself purposely hurting someone for the sake of it, or for a pathetic reason like accidentally bumping into them. like the incident he saw just the other day, when a woman had slipped next to a man that ended up spilling his coffee. he had flipped, and caleb wanted nothing more than to defend the woman- but he didn’t have the courage for that. and he spent that night filled with pure guilt over the commotion. “uh…yeah, yeah of course,” caleb nodded. he followed the others eyes, noticing the woman pointing their way before suddenly he was being pulled towards the door. “well i was just saying thank you,” he smiled warmly, shaking his head a little. “honestly, that was really nice of you. not a lot of people would do that,” caleb chuckled lightly. “can i ask…why you did it? just out of the kindness in your heart or?”

There was something about this boy that seemed...delicate, to Johnny. He gave the impression that he had never intentionally hurt or wronged another person in his entire life; a far cry from Johnny himself, but that didn’t mean that he didn’t find it admirable. In some ways, he wished he could be like this young man, and perhaps, if circumstances in his life had played out differently, he would have been. Nonetheless, Johnny knew they weren’t the same, but he was unwilling to destroy this boy’s perception by letting him know that the true intent that had been behind paying for his coffee hadn’t been out of kindness, but had in fact been nothing more than a way to amuse himself by throwing off the cashier who had been working. He wanted to keep this boy’s innocence in tact for as long as it possibly could, meaning that when he asked his question, Johnny lied by nodding his head and smiling. “Yeah I uh, I just wanted to do something nice” He said “I guess I was just in a good mood today or something“ He nodded his head again and gave a small shrug of his shoulders. “Honestly it was no big deal. But hey, enjoy it okay?” He added, pointing a finger at the boy while putting on his sunglasses, before he gave a final curt nod in the boy’s direction and turned to walk away.

“You’re a terrible liar,” Liv giggled as she watched boy’s attempt to keep a straight face. “Seriously, you couldn’t keep your cool for half a second.. Ah, so you’re a rich boy. Nice. And smart too? I’m assuming you’re also locked down in a committed relationship by now, then.” The girl was anything but subtle when it came to her intentions, but it usually worked well for her.  “Unfortunately I’m a walking cliche. An unemployed model,” she put bunny ears around the world model, often worrying that she would be judged for her career choices. Being an aspiring model was a label, plain and simple, and often allowed people to pass judgement without much knowledge about Liv. “By that I mean I have a pretty substantial following on Instagram, and I get paid to post pictures. Otherwise, currently unemployed and looking for a stable income. Definitely not a law student,” She smiled, “but thanks for the compliment.” Liv glanced into the window of the shop a few doors up. The words ‘World’s Best Cup of Coffee’ assaulted her eyes, the neon flashing erratically. “Hey, wanna go get the world’s best cup of coffee?” She smirked. 

“Not exactly” Johnny replied with a small shake of his head. “I actually didn’t have much money at all growing up. Spent most of my childhood just above the poverty line. My dad...well...it wasn’t exactly inheritance he left me. It’s just nicer to say inheritance than to say I made a bunch of money from my father’s life insurance” Shrugging again, he moved on from the subject, a laugh escaping his lips at the girl’s not so subtle observation. “You forget that I’m new to the city” e said with a a slight quirk of his brow. “Moving to a brand new city doesn’t exactly say “In a serious and committed relationship“ now does it?” He pointed out. “So no worries there Liv. I’m still on the market and yours for the taking. You just gotta say the word.” With a small wink, he then listened to her talk about what she did for a living, nodding his head in understanding. “Hey at least you have the guts to chase what you want. there’s a lot of people in this world who never do” He said with a reassuring smile. “Plus there is no way that you aren’t going to succeed at it. It’s only a matter of time before that stunning face of yours is going to be everywhere. On billboards, magazine covers, the side of buses. I have no doubt about that. So much so that if you were a business, I would definitely be investing in you” Grinning, he nodded his head, before turning to look at where she was pointing. rolling his eyes at the sign that proclaimed it was home to the world’s best coffee, he let out a sigh mingled with a chuckle. “Well...can’t be any worse than the last place. Let’s give it a shot I guess.” 

“Liv and Johnny actually go really well together. We already sound like a legitimate criminal couple fleeing from the law. Now all we need is to actually commit a crime. I do the robbing, you do the killing?” She couldn’t help but laugh at this twisted joke they had going. It wasn’t often you could joke about literal murder with someone and have them stick around long enough to flesh out the joke. “And how would I get in your way? If I’m doing the robbing and  supplying the money you kinda need - Oh, wait. You’re already rich. Well, uh.. I’ll try to not get in your way? I hope I don’t get in your way..” She paused, walking silently for a few moments. “So what do you actually do for work, Johnny? Something impressive, I guess, if you’re paying for people’s coffee.” Liv was genuinely intrigued in his line of work, considering she was running low on money. Modelling wasn’t stable - it was barely even a gig. 

“I’m a male stripper” Johnny replied to her question, fighting to keep his face straight so that she would think he was serious for a moment, before he let out a laugh and shook his head. “I’m totally kidding. My uh, my father left me a pretty large inheritance when he passed away, and I used it to buy a bunch of small businesses across the country, and thanks to making some smart investments, I’ve made a fortune off of them“ This was his official cover story and, was technically, not a lie; his father had left him quite a bit of money, and he actually had invested it in small businesses across the country. After all, the best cover story, was one that was actually true. “What about you?” He asked, directing the question back at her, while he surveyed her carefully with his eyes. “Wait. Hold on. Before you answer, let me guess. Hm, I mean, saying a model for a girl who looks like you almost seems too obvious so I’m gonna say...a law student?” He guessed with a small laugh. “Because you seem to know so much about planning the perfect crime”

Liv smiled as she saw his face light up, proud that she had managed to entertain this stranger. “Where’d you come here from?” A laugh erupted from her mouth as she slowly began to wander away from the shop, nodding her head. “Sounds like a plan to me, I need my coffee, and to be honest I reckon anything would be a step up from this place. Oh, so you’re a fully fledged murderer, huh?” A sense of humour was a major turn on for Liv - if a guy could make her laugh she was 100% more into him, and this guy seemed to have a great one. “Well, if you’re a murderer I’m a bank robber,” She shrugged, pausing to grab his arm. “A real life Bonnie and Clyde!” She chuckled as she nudged him, “We’d definitely be on the front page. Two amazingly good looking criminals? How newsworthy. Just promise you won’t murder me or anything, okay? I have a few promising jobs coming up that I probably need to be alive for.”

Johnny laughed, giving a small shake of his head. “Pffft please. We’d be a million times better than Bonnie and Clyde. We’d be Johnny and Liv. Our names would be the stuff of legends” He joked, finding himself extremely entertained by this conversation. He’d had lovers before who had been criminals like himself, but he hadn’t even been able to joke about it this way with them. Of course she had no idea that there was a large dosage of truth to these jokes, but that was part of what made it hilarious to him. Still, he couldn’t help but appreciate her great sense of humor, which, added to her very attractive body, made her a very desirable person to him. “I can promise I won’t kill you as long as you don’t get in my way” He joked, still grinning. This was of course, another truth to the way he did things, seeing as he didn’t ever want to kill anyone, and had only ever done so out of desperation. But, once again, it wasn’t as though she needed to know this. Plus, it wasn’t as though she had anything to fear from him.

“You don’t look like the kind of guy who needs to do a whole lot for sex, so I’ll take your word on that one I guess,” Liv smirked as she directed her gaze over his body a few times. She could feel her cheeks slowly warming up at his words. He was definitely a smooth talker, which is something Liv was relatively used to. But it was the way he said the words, with a tone as smooth as honey, that made her slightly uneasy. More used to sharp jabs of flattery yelled at her from across the street than a genuine compliment, Liv was unsure of how to react. She nodded along to his explanation, “I guess you’re right. Just because of your excessive richness I’m now having a pretty interesting morning - bar the shitty coffee..” She exhaled loudly as she glanced at her watch, “Do you know anywhere that makes decent coffee around here? Oh, and if you’re willing to pay I’m more than happy for you to come along.” With a wide grin plastered on her face, she dramatically batted her eyelashes a few times, “It’d really help a poor aussie girl out.. Pleeeeasseeeeeeee?” Johnny seemed like a cool guy, plus she was extremely attracted to him and she was lonely in this big city, so why not? “Just tell me you’re not a murderer or an ex-con or anything.”

After chuckling at her dramatic antics, with the batting of her eyelashes and the wide smile, and laughing and shaking his head at her joking question, finding it funnier than she could possibly know, Johnny took a moment to ponder her actual question, furrowing his eyebrows in thought. “Well, I’m actually new to the city myself, which is why I didn’t know better than to choose this place that would honestly be a sad excuse for a sewage plant, let alone a coffee shop” He said, jerking his thumb towards the coffee shop they had just exited with disgust, while tossing his coffee to the side. “But we can try to find a place if you want? I don’t have anywhere I need to be today, and I certainly don’t have anyone I’d rather be spending time with. As long as you don’t mind that I am not an ex con, but am, in fact, a full fledged murdering con currently” He grinned as he finished speaking, which along with his tone indicated that it was a joke. Of course, there was a truth to it, but she didn’t need to know that.

“So you’re telling me you just paid for my coffee because you.. felt like it?” Liv raised her eyebrows as she took a sip, relishing in the compliments being laid upon her. “Flattery isn’t gonna get you laid, mate,” She laughed as she stuck out her hand, “Although I appreciate, and acknowledge, the honesty.” Liv inwardly sighed as she bought the coffee cup up to her mouth, wrinkling up her nose as the boiling hot liquid burned her tongue. “Look, Johnny, would you be offended if I chucked this coffee in the bin?” Without waiting for his response the large cup was dropped into the rubbish just near her. “The coffee sucks here,” She sung as she turned to the barista behind the counter. “I know it was free and all, so I should’ve just taken it, but honestly - Americans do not do coffee well. Oh, and you’re not too bad yourself.” Liv was intrigued by the boy with the blonde hair. “Who just has money to throw around, huh? 

“Again, I don’t need to resort to cheap tricks for that” Johnny said with a grin in response to her words, giving a shake of his head. “Plus it’s hardly flattery if it’s the truth. The definition of flattery is excessive and insincere praise, typically to help further one’s own goals. And I think we can both agree, that there is nothing excessive, or insincere about anyone telling you that you’re gorgeous” Taking a sip from his own cup when she did, he chuckled a bit at her question, giving a small shake of his head. “Nah go ahead. I don’t buy into that bullshit that you should suffer through something awful just because it’s free. That goes for anything. Food. Drinks. A meal you have on a date. A movie. Whatever. If it’s shit, throw it away. End of story” Pausing to take another sip of his coffee, a slight smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth at her compliment, and when she directed her question at him, he gave a small shrug of his shoulders. “Lots of people. More people than you’d think” He answered with a small nod. “It’s not even that I have the money to throw around. I just like to mix things up sometimes. you never know what it’s gonna lead to. I mean, the conversation I’m having right now is living proof of that”

GAIL: If it helps, I highly doubt he's any more serious about me than I am about him.

GAIL, unsent: The short version is, I want tickets to Hamilton and he's a techie that's been having marriage problems. [MESSAGE DISCARDED.]

GAIL: Just a guy I've been seeing. Nothing serious, tbh.

JOHNNY: Oh yeah? Not sure if I should say lucky guy, or poor guy?

Liv fumbled with the change in her pocket as she pulled her sunglasses off her head. “A large soy latte, please,” She mumbled as she slammed all her loose change on the counter. “Uh.. Here’s a penny? A quarter? I don’t fucking know, just take what you need,” The brunette cursed as she battled with the small coins. After living here for almost two weeks, you’d assume that the currency would no longer be an issue, but somehow Liv was still battling with the money. The man behind the counter pushed her money back towards her and pointed to the blonde guy walking towards the exit. “He paid?” She questioned. “Uh.. Why?” She grabbed the coffee off the bench and chased after him. “Look, dude, I’m all for a coffee shop pick up but I’m perfectly capable of paying for my own damn coffee. You could’ve just asked for my name,” She smiled. “It’s Liv, by the way.”

In truth, Johnny hadn’t even glanced back at the person who was standing behind him in line; after all, he really didn’t care who they were. His actions weren’t about them, they were purely to bring about the reaction that he had managed to get from the cashier, which Johnny found to be incredibly amusing. However, when the girl tapped him on the shoulder and began speaking, Johnny couldn’t help but feel as though the fates had smiled on him, by making the girl standing behind him in line a stunner like this one. “You know, this will probably come as a surprise to you, being as gorgeous as you are, but I actually didn’t pay for your coffee as a way to try and hit on you. Believe me, I don’t have to resort to cheap trick like that when I’m interested.” He said with a nod, a smirk, and a shrug of his shoulders. “Of course, the only reason I wasn’t interested in because I didn’t look back. But you’re here now, so I guess I didn’t have to” Grinning, Johnny gave a small shake of his head, before he extended his hand. “It’s a pleasure Liv. I’m Johnny”

when caleb had finally made it to the top of the line, he sighed in relief and happily listed out the things he needed. when he retrieved his wallet from his back pocket, and the woman stopped him, he frowned. “what?” he raised an eyebrow, following her finger that pointed to the man only a few metres away. at first he tried to refuse to let it go free but she was already taking the order of the next person. caleb pursed his lips and slowly made his way over to the male, clearing his throat. “hey…uh, i just wanted to ask,” he gripped his cup and cocked his head to the side. “did you pay for my stuff?”

Typically when Johnny made this sort of thing happen, he would try to disappear immediately before anyone could be the wiser as to what he had done. After all, he didn’t care for praise or thanks, and the fact was, rarely was he even doing it to be nice; he was usually just doing it for his own amusement. Unfortunately though,there was a problem with the napkin dispenser that was keeping him from making his smooth escape. Complex security systems keeping him locked in a building are no problem, but a freaking napkin dispenser causes him grief? Go figure. Hearing the clearing of a throat from behind him, Johnny sighed, before turning to face the man, who he vaguely recognized as being the one who had been standing behind him in line. Hearing the man’s question, he nodded his head, while half returning his attention to the napkin dispenser, which he finally managed to get to work. “Uh yeah that was me. But if there’s more to this conversation than just that question can we continue it outside please?” He replied, glancing over at the line, and noticing that the girl who worked behind the counter was pointing in his direction. “Come on let’s go” He said, grabbing the boy by the arm and walking out of the coffee shop hastily. Once they were outside he released his grip. “So anyways, you were saying?” He asked casually, as though nothing unusual had happened.

GAIL: I'm only half a lesbian, it's just my standards are very, VERY high. I blame anime. How do you show a girl Tuxedo Mask and not expect her to develop impossible expectations?

GAIL: And TBH I feel like women could put the bar on the floor and men would dig to go under it.

GAIL: No offense.

JOHNNY: None taken. In the dirt seems right at home for men really

GAIL: I wouldn't know, I haven't known too many attractive guys.

JOHNNY: Lesbian?

JOHNNY: Or just girl with very high standards?

GAIL: oh

GAIL: my

GAIL: god.

GAIL: is it too much to ask for you to forget you saw that??

JOHNNY: I mean

JOHNNY: Kinda yeah.

JOHNNY: I mean, I can try to forget, but...well