Portrait on paper

"Nice to know I don't give off huge bitch vibes."

It takes him a moment to figure out why the man looks familiar, but once he actually sees his face, it clicks. Emanuel Gutiérrez, one of thr top sales reps. Lucas has worked over a lot of his sales. He's pretty good at his job based on the numbers. Lucas doubts he knows him. Accounting isn't exactly popular. Especially when they're only really vocal when they point out problems.

He reached out, taking the sunscreen slowly and giving Lucas a proper look over, trying to remember where exactly he had seen him. Of course, he was sure he'd remember that beautiful face anywhere, but it took him a second to place him without the suit he usually saw Lucas in.

"I almost didn't recognize you without the suit, dude!" he offered immediately, flashing a smile in appreciation. "Not that I mind the view, of course... But hey, it's nice to see you enjoying your vacation days."

He took a seat by Lucas' side, not even asking for permission. Emanuel didn't waste a second before he took his button up off and started placing sunscreen all over his own arms.

He blinks then shakes his head.

"No, uh... haven't had a chance. Been busy."

Part of him is screaming to leave now. He's already made the situation awkward, no need to do worse. But the handsome man is offering a drink and company. He can handle that right? It's like talking with customers. Or club members. Just different he supposes.

He gestures to the beers. "Can I...?" He doesn't even know how to finish that question. God, he's so bad at this.

He patted the metal of his car, right to his side, as an obvious invitation for the other to stay. Perhaps it was a latino culture thing, but he didn't mind sharing. There surely was enough beer to go around... And the company of a beautiful man was the most welcome, after all.

"See, you can already see so much more already, man" Paolo beams with a soft smile, his face catching the bright luminescence of the fireworks. A bright flash of white and blue catches Paolo's attention, his eyes engrossed in the intensity and color. Turning to Emanuel with an excited bounce to his words. "Should we stay inside this tin can or you want to watch these babies unfiltered?"

"Oh, forgive me for ever doubting your wisdom," he teased shamelessly, pulling out on the side of the road, getting the car a little bit on the grass, ready to enjoy the show and the marvelous view of the hills.

Of course, as Paolo noted, the show would be much better outside.

"If you call my car a tin can one more time I will riot," he groaned, even when he wasn't upset about it at all. Still, he was the first to unlock his door and make his way outside.

Richard began to unscrew the top to the personal bottle of sake, moving his bottle closer to Emanuel's to give it a clink before taking a swig. It was an odd flavor, lighter than the hops brew that the bar had in stock. It ran down his throat smooth. He gives a hiss as he feels the soft burn of the spirit before returning to their conversation. "If that doesn't keep away a cold, I don't know what will."

He was impressed, of course. He knew of the japanese drink, but he never tried it himself before. Emanuel was under the impression that it would be impossibly expensive... But hey, if he wasn't the one paying for it...

The ex-soldier met Richard's toast with a gentle smile and, following his example, took a swing. Probably more than he should've, thinking it would be closer to beer than to whatever fire-water-thing this was. Unlike the biker, he didn't keep his composure as well and ended up coughing a little after he swallowed.

Lucas had taken it upon himself to actually use his many vacation days to enjoy the beach for once. He's been feeling extra trapped at work recently and his usual drinking at the bar or club isn't hitting the same. So, beach day it is.

He's got a towel under him, his swim shorts are tight, and in honor of the town's festivities, he's got an old battered paperback of Dracula.

The sun on his skin rides the line of feeling refreshing and painful. At least it is until something steps up and blocks the light. He squints up to see who it is.

"I won't burst into flames if that's what you're worried about. And Dracula doesn't either but people tend to forget that."

"That's actually the reason I approached you," he offered as warmly as he could, hanging his blazer on his arm as he tried to find Lucas' eyes. "Of all the people out here, you look like the most approachable one, man..."

He offered an apologetic look, but his stance remained firm and confident as he continued, taking special note of the book.

location: billion biliards bar

"Surprised they let you in here." Richard had begun to say, taking a swing from a glass bottle before taking a seat next to the other man at the bar. It had been a while since he managed to talk to some people in town. He had started spending most of his days in the Jefferson household, it was quite vast and cozy compared to the Billion Billiards Bar. But it was his first home, he hoped the rest of the Billiard Bikers knew that too.

Except, that day, he truly needed a distraction much stronger than some fireworks.

"With my luck," he started, totally smiling at the playful nudge, "I'll end up catching a cold."

It wasn't self deprecating, not truly. Just a healthy dose of cynicism to keep himself grounded in reality. And reality seemed to be rather elusive considering the week he just had at work.

Then someone is talking to him and he's blinking back to his surroundings. He doesn't usually talk to anyone outside of work or the Quilting Club. For as sheltered as he was as a kid, he never developed causal social skills like he really should've. He could just pretend like he hadn't heard and walk away but that would be rude.

So he turns to the guy lounging on a car. Wow, okay yeah, that's... wow.

Malik chuckles. "Yeah. Adds a bit of color to night. Distracts from the sweating."

He smiles but internally he's smacking himself. Distracts from the sweating? Why would he say that?

He could wholeheartedly agree.

"I dunno, man. I've tried everything and nothing can distract me from the sweating!" he groaned, totally riding with the prompt he was given in a humble attempt at not making it awkward.

"You know I found someplace we can go for the fireworks." Paolo begins to say, mindlessly hanging off the side of the car window, watching as the sky lights up in vibrant reds, greens, and yellows.

Or so it seemed.

"You had somewhere for us to go and you let me open my beer all the way out here in some shitty street?" he teased, immediately hopping off and making his way to the driver's seat.