ArchivedLogs:Oblivious

Oblivious
Dramatis Personae Corey, Doug
In Absentia	2013-04-22 Poor Doug.
Location <NYC> Central Park North
Central Park North is slightly quieter than its southern counterpart, being further uptown and slightly out of the bustle of the City - insofar as one can escape the bustle of the City even here, in the acres of green and blue that make up Central Park. The reservoir is in the northern half, providing miles of jogging and biking trails along the clear water, as well as benches for people to sit and rest. The weather was still nice for the day, if a bit chilly, and people were out and about trying to make the most of it before the rains would come later in the week. People out on dates strolled along the paths, exercisers were cycling or jogging about. There was even an Ultimate frisbee group getting in what game they could while there was still some light left in the sky. Spring was a lovely time of year wasn't it? Sitting on a bench with a cup of coffee and a box of popcorn, Corey was enjoying the passing humanity. Now and then he would drop a peice of pocorn, and pigeons would swarm to the sidewalk in front of him, stealing away the food quick as a wink, at least till someone disturbed them off again. It was fairly idyllic, but still chillier than perfect. He wore a simple pull over hoodie in grey, proclaiming the University of Florida as where it originated from, and a pair of plain blue jeans. Spring /is/ a lovely time of year. Nice enough that a fellow can cut through the park instead of taking the subway the entire way home. Which is exactly what Doug is doing. He does not have a date, or a frisbee, or even a bicycle. Neither is he jogging -- or he didn't come here for that, at least. Not dressed in a blue pullover sweater and snug-fitting jeans, with a laptop bag slung across his chest. But, that is what he is doing. Well, /technically/, that's what he's doing, since his steps are too fast for a walk, but they don't qualify as running, either. It's a lively sort of canter that takes him along the path in Corey's direction; something he would notice if he wasn't so busy looking at his phone. It's only when a flurry of pigeons rises up in cooing alarm that he stops, and takes note of where he is with a look of mild surprise. When his gaze lands on the older man, his mouth pulls into a wide grin. "Hey, Corey," he says, turning and heading towards the bench. "Long time, no see." Then he frowns. "That's not right. Um. How about 'medium time, no see?'" "How about Hello? And how are you?" Corey smiled back to Doug, raising his coffee cup in a little salute before taking a drink. Thinking a moment, he offered the popcorn as well. "Its gotten a little cold, but the pigeons don't seem to mind. Its the healthy stuff though, no butter, little salt." Shrugging at the admission of healthy eating, he glanced back along the path. "I can't wait till the weather gets warmer, the cold and rain just makes it all dreary. At least if the rain was warm, it would be comfortable." "That works, too!" Doug's tone is cheerful as he moves closer to the bench, allowing the pigeons to resume their vigil for free food. "Do pigeons have to worry about cholesterol and high blood pressure?" he teases as he seats himself. "If so, it's good that you're watching out for them." He nods along with the sentiments about the weather, tugging his laptop bag around into his lap. "Yeah, spring is always kind of chancey, warmth-wise," he says. "But it'll be nice and warm by this time next month, and by August, you'll be /wishing/ for a little cold." He nods sagely, and his gaze also follows the path a moment before coming back to rest on Corey. "You off work already, or killing time before your shift?" "I get the mornings generally. I don't mind the early hours, never really had problems with it." Leaning back against the bench, he popped another piece of popcorn in his mouth. "And yeah, it shouldn't be too much worse than Florida. The weather is generally colder and less humid up here I'd imagine." Smiling at Doug, he glanced at the the laptop bag sitting in his lap. "What about you? On your way home then? Or to work?" "Well, that's good," Doug says, his grin going lopsided. "At least you get your afternoons and evenings free, so there's that." He scrunches his nose at the consideration of the weather, and his eyes crinkle. "Oookay. You keep telling yourself that," he says with a chuckle. "And then come and see me in August, after you've had a couple months of humidity /and/ blistering concrete." He leans back and pats his laptop bag. "Headed home. Had classes, and then I had to stop off and do a thing for one of my web page clients." He stretches his arms along the back of the bench, and sinks down a bit. "Now I am heading home to relax in front of my X-Box and consider the age-old question of the philosophers." "You do know what every child in Orlando does, every summer, from the time that they can get their parents to drag them there don't you?" Corey chuckled bemusedly at that. "And sounds like a fairly relaxing evening at least, though which age-old question?" Tilting his head to get a better look at Doug, he thought a moment. "The meaning of life? I hear that one's been solved at least." "Disney is not the same as New York in August," Doug says determinedly, and shakes his head. "You'll see. And you can't say you weren't warned." He grins widely, and closes one eye in a wink. "Nothing so esoteric as all that. I will ponder the question of whether to get Chinese food or Pizza delivered, of course." He tilts his head. "You're welcome to join me," he offers. "I have two controllers." "Heat islands and such. Yes I know, I've heard of it before." Corey shook his head a moment, then shrugged. "The answer is Chinese by the way. Pizza should be acquired and eaten on the street. Chinese is to be eaten from take out containers." Hrming slightly, he considered the offer. "While I wouldn't mind the offer, I've not played any video games in awhile. I could enjoy some Chinese though, but video games would be mostly laughing at how bad I am." Doug nods, reaching up to rub at his chin thoughtfully. "I was thinking of Chinese food, to be honest. Like you said, pizza's a street food, unless you've got a bunch of people over." He makes a noise of disbelief at Corey's claim, and shakes his head. "Nah. You won't be that bad. We'll play Lego Batman or something like that. One of those games where you can never die." He turns, then, and offers an apologetic grin. "I mean, if you want. We could also play board games, or watch a movie." His eyebrows lift. "I just got 'An Unexpected Journey' on Blu-Ray." Looking confused for a few moments, then a look of realization passed over his eyes. "Oh right, the Hobbit movie. I was trying to figure out what movie that was." Shaking his head at his own derpitude, Corey ran his fingers through his hair. "I'll have to take a rain check on that. Long Peter Jackson movies followed by 5:30am shift? I'd have like two hours of sleep, then grab a shower and get to work to make it on time. I could survive on that, but eesh, I haven't done things like that since college. And my room mates hated me for it." "That's too bad," Doug says earnestly, moving his arms off the back of the bench. "It would be cool to..." he gives the older man a frankly assessing look before snapping his eyes up to crinkle them at Corey. "Hang out with you." He rubs at his face, and grins. "But I will take your raincheck. Maybe we can have dinner and a movie when you've the next day free?" There's a faint pinkening; almost invisible in the dimming light. "Like, at an actual restaurant. Not crappy take-out." "Actual restuarant? Huh, I haven't been to anything like that in the city yet." Corey let his mind go a bit as he tried to think of some places. "Ah, well I only really know the crappy take out places honestly. Wouldn't be a bad idea though to find out what's available. Been thinking of somewhere nice to go with Morgan, but not exactly the most funds in the world." If oblivious were a tree, this boy fell down the entire tree of it. "But yeah dinner and movies do sound pretty great." There's something akin to a wince that flickers over Doug's face at this unexpected wrinkle, and his smile becomes a bit fixed. "Yeah, you should really find out about the restaurants," he says, exhaling heavily. "Especially if you're trying to impress someone you're interested in." Then he stands, suddenly, and tugs at his laptop strap with a mild brow furrow. "I probably should get going," he says. "If you don't catch the Chinese place at the right time, the food is pretty disgusting." He lifts a hand. "I'll let you know about that raincheck," he says, although it doesn't sound like it'll be any time soon. Now he just sounds the tiniest bit weary, despite the cheery smile he offers. "See you around, yeah?" "Alright, you seem pretty tired there. Make sure you get plenty of rest alright?" Corey gave him a warm smile as he got back up. "And let me know about that rain check, it sounds fun. I haven't had a chance to see the movie yet." Tossing out some more of the popcorn to the pidgeons, he checked his watch. "I ought to get back to my apartment as well. I need to get some rest before my shift tomorrow anyway." "Yeah, I'll do it," Doug's smile is less cheery as he moves away, but he nods. "Thanks." He lifts his hand again, a bit more woodenly this time. "Take care of yourself, dude. I'll give you a call." The fact that he doesn't actually have Corey's number doesn't seem to factor into his statement, because he's moving away, his steps picking up into that half-jog the further away he gets. By the time he reaches the edge of the park, it's a full-on run. Maybe the subway is the better way home.