Ah, the January thaw... when all the snow turns to slush, the ice to puddles, and most people exchange their coats for sweaters while the nice weather lasts. Not Matteo, however. The curly-haired faun was still buried in his muddied coat as if it were twenty below zero outside. It made him conspicuous, but not so much as he would be if, say, he were to shed the coat. Being plainly non-human had its disadvantages.

He was lurking by the doorway of a small health-food store, eating peanut butter (on crackers, and not with a spoon as he did when he was home) and watching people go by. People-watching was a favorite activity of his. He'd be perfectly content to stand there all day and just look.

And a vaguely interesting character passed. Tall, bundled in a long (but not heavy) coat, no discernible features (due to all the mustardy hair that he had allowed to grow to ridiculous lengths), and...
He only half-passed, anyway.
He really didn't care about health food stores in the least, but someone was standing by the doorway, and even if they weren't exactly blocking the door...well, now Matteo had piqued Keye's interest, and was, therefore, in his way.
He made a sharp about-face and stalked up to Matteo.
"What're you standing in the door like that for, anyways?"
His voice was gravelly and agressive, but his face didn't show much but open bemusement and curiosity.

Matteo shrank back against the wall, his green eyes wide as he stared up at the tall young man. His mouth opened to answer, but all that escaped was a strangled sort of burble. He swallowed, and tried again.

"...no reason?" he said meekly, hoping that was the right answer.

The poor thing looked like he was about to faint.

Keye put his fingers in his bangs (if you could call them that anymore) and shoved them backwards, temporarily revealing his face.
"Well...uh..."
The harsh quality disappeared from his voice. He'd been hoping for a fight or something else fun, but he didn't want to scare anyone. He wasn't a bully.
...not that kind of bully, anyway.
"Seriously? You're just standing here for no reason? Why?"

"Well,...yeah. Um,...I'm, I'm just ... yeah. just standing here."

Matteo started edging slowly sideways, hoping he could circle around Keye and then get away. He didn't know what had prompted him to bother him, and wasn't exactly keen on finding out.

Keye edged sideways with him. This guy was weird, and Keye wasn't about to let him go scrambling off.
"Don't you get bored, just standing there?"

"Mm...no..."
He began edging in the opposite direction.
"I'm just - watching people, I'm not doing anything wrong..."

Then it struck him that Keye might have noticed he wasn't human and that was what had drawn him over. Maybe he'd seen his horns?... Matteo stopped just short of reaching up to check if they were poking out of his hair - if Keye hadn't noticed, that would be a sure way to draw his attention to them.

Keye edged with him.
In his defense, he didn't realize how distressing he was being.
"What d'you want to watch people for?"
He wondered why the stranger seemed so...shifty. He'd just been standing here watching people, he wasn't doing anything wrong, so why would he get so nervous?
Keye narrowed his eyes. However, the effect was lost due to sunglasses.
"You're not waiting here to mug somebody, are you?"

If Keye got any closer, Matteo was going to quit trying to be subtle about escaping and just bolt.

"Wh-what?" he spluttered, "Of course not! Why would I do that?! Why would you think I would do that?"
Whether he realized it or not, he was coming across as rather suspicious.

"Why else would you lurk in doorways and just watch people?"
He said it very nonchalantly. He didn't sound as if he'd really mind if robbery was Matteo's goal. Keye had mugged people in the past, and although those days were long gone, he could sort of understand why someone might want to.
"I don't have any money, though."

"I j-just like to watch..." he protested faintly, offended, "I'm not going to mug anyone."

Inch, inch, inch... and then he made a run for it.
He's fast if he has the space to run in, but dodging things and people tends to slow him down quite a lot.

Keye went after him. Keye was quite experienced at dodging things and people, and could do it almost as quickly as he could run in a clear space.
He popped up in front of Matteo again, his expression slightly pained.
"Did I scare you or something? I wasn't trying to scare you..."

Unable to stop in time, Matteo smacked into Keye and bounced off, landing heavily on his backside. In an instant he was struggling to get up again.

"Leave me alone..."
He looked imploringly at Keye, backing away.
"Please? I didn't do anything... I wasn't going to, either..."

"Okay."
Bitter disappointment, now. Keye, having alienated another potential friend, raised his hands in defeat.
"Sorry. I was just sayin', I didn't mean to scare you. Sorry."

"...Okay. It's, um, it's alright. You just - yeah, you scared me," Matteo admitted quietly, wiping slush and little salt crystals off his hands, but not daring to take his eyes off Keye just yet. He was still spooked, but not so much that he didn't notice Keye's change of expression.

"You shouldn't -- you,... why'd you start talking to me anyway?"

"Here."
Yes. Keye had a hankerchief in his pocket. He offered it to Matteo.
"I...uh...well, you know. You were standing there in the doorway all weird like, and I dunno, I didn't have anything better to do, and you looked interesting."

"...Thanks."
Matteo stepped forwards and hesitantly took the offered handkerchief, then retreated to his former place to clean the stuff off hs hands. A few flecks of blood streaked the cloth - some gravel had scraped the skin - and he grimaced at it.
"You could probably have found something better to do.... I'm not interesting."

Keye's hand sort of waved in Matteo's face again, this time holding an alcohol swab and a bandaid. Oh, those amazing pockets.
"Well that makes you interesting then," he argued amiably, "Everyone I've ever met has been some kind of interesting, so the fact that you're not makes you unique, and unique people are interesting."
So there.
Make sense of that.
I dare you.

He looked bemused for a moment - he actually carries that stuff around? - then took the offered band-aid and alcohol swab, but this time, without retreating. He didn't put them to use right away, though. Instead he stared at Keye, frowning.

"But if I'm not interesting then, then I'm - but -... " He gave his head a quick shake. "I don't think that makes sense... What if I'd said I was interesting? Then I'd be like everyone else, but I... ooh. You're making my brain hurt..."

"Uhhh. Sorry about that. People say that a lot...I feel kinda bad about it, actually. Listen, are you okay? I didn't mean to make you fall. I just...didn't want you to think I was a psycho or something."
He tugged at a handful of hair with a nervous laugh.
"I guess chasing you down and then cutting you off was not the best way to convince you, huh."

"I'm fine. Happens all the time," Matteo said in that quiet voice of his, giving a small shrug, "Falling, I mean. Really. It's surprising how often... Umm,... no, I guess chasing me wasn't really a good idea."
He looked down at his hands and began picking a few specks of gravel from his skin.
"...Shouldn't really chase anyone, it's unnerving," he mumbled.

"I guess it is, if you're the one getting chased. I really didn't think of that. Sometimes my mind just sorta shorts out stuff like 'hey, chasing that guy might scare him kinda!' and so I do something dumb and then next thing I know, somebody's yellin' or cryin' or something."
He shrugged.
"Like I said. Sorry."

"It's alright. Really."
He didn't want to make this out to be a big deal. Better to just let it be.
"...Just don't do it again."

Matteo pulled the wrapper off the alcohol-thingy and dabbed gingerly at his hands with it, wincing a little. It was just a few scrapes, but they stung. He backed carefully up to the nearest wall and leaned on it, reflecting (with a vague feeling of annoyance) that he'd dropped hs snack when he'd started running, and wouldn't be able to finish it.

"So...."
Keye scuffed his feet on the pavement, clasping his hands behind his back and swaying slightly from side to side.
"You into that health food sh--crap?"

"Me? No. Not really. Well, sometimes. Sort of."
Realizing he was rambling, he gave a weak, apologetic smile.
"I mean, I go in the store for, um, tofu from time to time, but that's about it. 'M vegetarian, but not... obessively so."

"Tofu? Isn't that like...real bland?"
He blinked.
"Do you know anything about herbs? I've been thinking about trying some St. John's Wort or some shit. Uh...crap. I was just wondering if it was at all worth taking seriously."

"It is on its own. Disgusting, actually. But it's not so bad if you flavor it." Matteo tipped his head to one side. "Herbs? No. I don't know a thing about them, sorry. Maybe someone in the store could tell you. Like I said, I only ever go in there for tofu..."

"How do you flavor it? Like...like chicken? Beef? I can't imagine that you'd get it to really taste like something..."
Keye was bewildered by tofu.

"Yuck, no..." he wrinkled his nose. "You use things like,... like miso, for example. It's this salty soy paste thing,...really strong flavour. It takes some getting used to, but it's pretty good. Wouldn't want to eat a lot of it, though. Ever tried it?"

"No, I never have. My, uh..." he still had some trouble with this one. Dad? The more formal Father? Roommate? He stuck with 'uh'. "...cooks a lot, but he's never made tofu. I wonder if he knows how. Are you good at cooking your tofu?"

"He probably knows, it's not difficult. I tend not to actually cook it,... "
Matteo made a wry face.
"I'm no good at it. When I cook things, they usually get burnt, so I just prepare stuff cold. I get distracted too easily, and by the time I remember what I was doing, something's gone up in flames."

"Oh. Hey, you should come over for dinner sometimes. Life without hot food...well, it's not bad, exactly, but you're missing out."
Which is weirder? That Keye invited a total stranger over for dinner, or that he meant it?

Matteo wasn't certain which was weirder - but he was just weirded out in general.

"Um,... I don't go entirely without hot food, ..I order in pizza sometimes," he said meekly, giving a small shrug and fidgeting with the band-aid wrapper. "And I make tea,... I haven't burned that yet."

"Riiight." Keye nodded. "You don't like me much, do you? I'll go away. I have...stuff to do, anyway."

He gave a small, awkward shrug. It wasn't so much he didn't like Keye, as he found him frightening.

"Umm,.. okay. You go,... do stuff, then. Thanks for the, um..," he held up the bandaid, "This thing."