The downside of winter is the essence of winter. The driving wind that whistles through the streets and plasters clothes to the unfortunate, the tiny harsh snow that stings in your eyes and keeps the head bowed.

While Gabriel does have a sweater on (his only sweater, in point of fact), a sweater is slim barrier against a snowstorm. His is a significantly hangdog look when he finally makes it to the Bean, blond hair scraggling in limp lines across his forehead, drops of water melting and dripping and hanging from the tip of his nose. His sweater is an interesting patchwork of blue and white, cloth and snow.

Gabriel was lonely. He wanted company. To be altogether more accurate, Gabriel feeds on the pervading energy of sentient creatures, and Gabriel is hungry. The angel, however, naturally has no idea of this, and he is just lonely.

He is also very, very happy to be inside and drying, rather than outside and wet. Being wet is unpleasant.

By nature (or tradition, take your pick), Matteo is not fond of this climate. Fauns are all about the summer, you know? Warm weather and leafy plants and such. This is about as far away from that as you can get.

He has discovered, as he does every winter, that snow is only pretty for the first five minutes one is out in it, at most. His first five minutes were enough to get him lost, and the next five brought him into the Bean, seeking shelter and something to warm him up before he ventured back out into the cold.

And so he sits at a table by the window, coat and hat and scarf and mittens all beaded with melted snow and draped over the back of his chair. He's curled over a mug of the plainest tea they have here - the plainest would be the one with the name that was easiest to pronounce - and for the moment, he's just warming his hands on the cup's smooth sides.
He'll get around to the actual drinking when he can feel his fingers again.

In Gabriel's mind, it is perfectly normal to sit at a table where there's another person, rather than at one of the multitude of little empty tables brought on by atmospheric issues.

He settles broodingly (and damply) across from Matteo, and asks without preamble, "D'you like snow?"

Gabriel is beginning to think he doesn't, at least when he's out in it and it's soaking through his clothes unpleasantly.

Matteo blinks up at him and stares for a few moments.

"Snow?" he repeats lamely, too startled to remember to be shy.
Let's have a pause while he considers the question.
"I... not really."
Marvel at the brilliance of his response. Go on, marvel.

Gabriel nods for emphasis as he says, "Me neither. Far too damp."

Stupid snow.

"Well,...um... it's snow. It's always like that."
He gives a small shrug.
The paralysis from shock has started to wear off, and he blinks down at his tea in order to have somewhere to look.
"When it melts, anyway..."

"I know."

He figured.

"But that's why I don't like it.

"Oh. Well,...um... not much you can do about it, then."
He gives a small shrug.
"...Maybe wear more layers?... You're bound to get all wet, just wearing a sweater."

"Maybe once I get a job."

He doesn't have a job, therefore he doesn't have money, therefore he can't buy a coat.

But he might, once he gets a job.

Matteo frowns into his tea.
Forgive him, but he's not following.

"...Why?"

Gabriel, also not following, frowns right back at him.

"Because I get cold and wet." Didn't they just cover that?

Gabriel doesn't actually get cold, but he knows humans do, so he adds it on to 'wet' to make the seeming more seemly, if you see his reasoning.

Gabriel envies him tea. Gabriel cannot have tea, because Gabriel has no money with which to buy tea. He needs money. He needs a job. He needs a job and money.

He needs to be a bit more proactive about life. If he weren't immune to such things, he would be starving to death right about now, so clueless as he is.

"N-no,..." He retreats a little, his chair making a scraping sound on the floor.
Well, one would think it was his chair if one didn't know he has the nervous habit of scuffing his hooves on the floor.
"I mean, what does getting a job have to do with wearing layers?"

"You have own layers to wear layers," Gabriel says patiently.

Really, it wasn't that complicated to understand, was it?

Well, was it?

"Oh. Oh. Of course."
...
See him try to understand some more.
"Did you just move here?"
Surely he must have just been unprepared for the weather here. A student from down South, maybe?
(Gabriel's just much too clean-cut to be a homeless person.)

Gabriel's hair is dripping in his eyes. He takes this opportunity to try to get it to not drip in his eyes, with what amounts to mixed success.

He frowns at Matteo from beneath wet hands. "Yeah."

Because it's the simplest explanation to just agree with whatever the other person thinks is reasonable.

"Thought so," Matteo nods. He looks up. "The cold's kind of a shock if you're not from around here."
He isn't from this area ether, technically, but he's from roughly the same latitude.
"Where have you tried looking for work?"
Because you have been looking for work, right Gabriel?

Not exactly.

He's been meaning to, though! Gabriel is a creature of good intentions.

"I...."

Have nothing to say to that.

Gabriel truly hates having to think of lies. It's antithetical to his nature, and besides that, it's hard.

"Was actually thinking," he continues in a burst of inspiration, "Of applying here."

It's warm and cozy and the food is nice and the people are interesting. That's a good reason, isn't it?

Don't answer that. Gabriel's figured out by now that people tend to think his logic is a bit skewed, and he can't bring himself to care. It makes sense to him, and that's the important part. After all, if he's happy, who has the right care? No one.

Eric was a selfish creature. Perhaps that's where this logic comes from. Perhaps it's just part of Gabriel. Who knows, after all, where mindsets come from.

"Oh."

Hm.

"...Well, the coffee here is good, but I wonder if you'd get sick of the smell, ..."
He shrugs a shoulder.
"Now is probably a good time to go job-hunting, most places need help over the holidays."

He nods.

"That makes sense."

Matteo is smart. Yay, someone smart to talk to.

Matteo nods in return, and offers a faint smile.

"Well, it happens every holiday season, you know..." he mumbles. Doesn't everyone know that? "Sometimes you only get temporary work, but if you're lucky, they'll keep you on."

Gabriel is not sure he believes in luck. He nods again anyway, because doing otherwise would be just odd.

He doesn't want to be odd.

He turns to study the counter, for lack of anything better to do. It's a nice counter, as counters go, he supposes.

Matteo quietly slurps at his tea, waiting for an answer. When no audible answer comes, he looks up to find Gabriel looking at the counter, and so turns back to his tea.

He thinks he should probably say something else, but can't for the life of him think what.

"I'm going to go talk to Jennifer."

She's one of the baristas. He's been in here a lot lately, so he talked to the regulars a bit.

And why he announces his intention? Matteo gave him the idea. Matteo is awesome. Even if he isn't sure he knows (or remembers) Matteo's name.

He looks up again, a tad startled.

"...Okay."
That was sudden.
And who's Jennifer?

Gabriel offers him a blinding smile.

"You're a fantastic person."

And with that, he stands, pushing his chair firmly in place before he goes.

It's neatness. He likes neatness.

Matteo stares after him, shakes his head, and looks back into his tea.

That was...different.