Chapter Text
Cool air passes over him as he wanders the grounds of the grave site with only a small pocket light to guide him. It's peaceful tonight, no trespassers looking to make a quick buck trying to take advantage of the supposedly haunted graveyard. He stops to gaze up at the stars above, the graveyard is far away from the city enough that the light pollution does not affect them as heavily here.
It's the one thing he misses about that small town that he and his mother could not leave. They would stand out under the night sky when all the townspeople were away in their homes and the dreaded sun that was so harsh on Andrew's body was gone. They would look up there and his mother would point out constellations while he looked at them in awe.
If he closed his eyes and pretended he could feel that safety blanket of protection right beside him and –
His phone rang.
Drawn out of the moment he glances down where it is vibrating in his pocket and exhales out slowly. It is either a telemarketer or spam caller who got his number who knows how … Or, it's Luca calling him despite knowing he is currently on the job.
There was not a risk of anyone catching him talking while he worked, the Security Guard tended to avoid crossing paths with him. Not after the last time Andrew unintentionally scared them by looking like a mysterious pale thing walking toward him in heavy fog. Being mistaken for a ghost was certainly new but not too far off from the monster comparison.
Knowing Luca he would keep calling until he got a response from Andrew and if that failed after a ridiculous number of times then he would show up at his place of employment.
He was impulsive like that.
Glancing around just to be safe he found himself completely alone and hit the accept button, “I'm at work.” He informed him but he already knew what was next.
“I know!” Pipes up the charismatic voice on the other end, “I mean where else would you be in the middle of the night? You're a vampire after all, you've gotta be in your graveyard once the moon rises.”
Andrew does not laugh at this attempt at a jest and Luca clears his throat on the other end. Probably thinking right – the whole movie monster puns never sat well with Andrew.
“Anyway, listen, you're off tomorrow right?” He does not wait for an answer before he continues on, “I got Victor and Edgar on board to go out for drinks if you can come out of your cave to join us.”
Out at those hours on his day off? “Don't the lot of you have work the day after? You want to be out that late at a bar of all things?” Not exactly Andrew's scene but also not the worst place in the world either.
People tended to never stare like in other public places given they were either consorting with friends or drinking away some kind of woe that had put them there alone.
“Well me and Victor do but you know Edgar, he operates on his own schedule – so what I'm saying is we're putting aside some time to come and see you for a change so come and get drinks with us!” His voice on the other end sounded so enlightened, he sounded so excited about the prospect of getting them all together when they worked on conflicting schedules.
Andrew bites his bottom lip, one part of him wants to refuse outright and use his middle of the week weekend to hole up in his apartment AWAY from the outside world.
A larger part of him experiences fearful guilt, how could he deny them when they were going out of their way for HIM of all people. He did not deserve that and yet they were willing to anyway. If he denied the request they might just decide he was no longer worth bothering for. Too many rejected invitations and he was going to end up all alone in this city all over again –
“Andrew?” The voice on the other end cuts into his intrusive thoughts, “You good?”
“Ah … Yes – That is – I think I can go.” He corrects himself quickly, “I'm free tomorrow, I'll go.”
“Whoa, that was easier than I thought it was going to be.” Ever direct Luca on the other end chimes up pleased, no plans needed to be taken out to try to convince Andrew to wander out with them, “I'll come by and we can walk together, sound good?”
“Sounds good... I'll... See you then.” Exchanging quick goodbyes, he hit the end button on his phone and stared into his reflection on the screen. Luca always meant well, even if he sometimes had an extraordinarily weird and sometimes invasive way of going about it.
He was the first friend Andrew had ever made in the city. Even if Luca had utterly had terrified him at first with his single-mindedness he had somehow wormed his way into Andrew's trust. He seemed to like collecting those who were absolute wrecks around strangers, an extrovert collecting introverts into a friend group where he was the loudest of them all.
Maybe he saw something in them that he saw in himself. Andrew tried not to get too philosophical about whatever Luca's deal was and there was plenty of baggage there, he knew that well enough.
Pocketing his phone to continue his usual maintenance duties he decides maybe this will be fun after all. He could let a little optimism slip into his usual downer demeanor and actually tell himself it will be a nice, casual evening with friends.
He's looking for to it now.
✦✦✦✦
The next evening two people share the same moon in the same city but in two different places and very different mindsets. Andrew enters into a bar while Luca asks Edgar about his latest project insisting on getting details despite it being completely under wraps. Though he cannot say anything Edgar is clearly happy to be getting interest on his project and that makes Andrew smile too.
It is only a few blocks away from these four that a man is running down the empty street of shops closed for the evening. His labored breathe hurts his lungs and sounds of panic shock through him as he glances over his shoulder and the tall figure shrouded in dark hair is still following him.
Each time he thinks he makes headway on the creature a note plays on the violin that is caught between the strands of hair the sound knocks the Thief to the ground just long enough to let Antonio get closer before he is stumbling onto his escape again.
Antonio's puppeteer chuckles through his own lips, enjoying this little cat and mouse game he's playing with the Thief. Let him believe, even for a few seconds, that he's going to get away. That perhaps tonight will not be his last, that he will live. Only to take that away and let his hunter get gain on him. Antonio's voice comes out between the one he is being puppeted by in a curious hum. How strange the world feels when he is not the one piloting his own body. His vision comes through in a red haze, focused like a camera to follow the Thief directly around in his very move.
Though the has been fun for his Puppeteer it seems it needs to come to an end as their target trips down an alleyway, making for the fence at the end of it. The screeching tune plays out as the Thief grips the fencing and knocks him back to the floor before an impossibly high note is played which causes something to break inside of the prey.
Up ahead he screams out writhing off the ground before it splays back down against the concrete, arms out and head falling to the right as blood eaks out of his ears.
Slowly, he approaches, looking down to make sure that he is dead. Eyes rolled back into his skull and jaw slacked to the side shows a disturbing picture worse and any horror film he had ever seen. The violin constructed of his own hair slowly slips away, leaving it to join the rest as normal strands once again.
He's back as himself and Antonio slowly comes to the reality that he is standing over the corpse of a man that his body was just used to kill. He stumbles back, slapping a hand over his mouth to withhold the dry gags that jolted through his whole body.
It happened … While the man utterly deserved his fate by Antonio's standards it was still his very own hands which caused it. A puppet still has blood on its wooden hands when the puppeteer massacres someone using it.
The alley feels all too claustrophobic now, his palm pushes against the wall running out of there at first in a directionless stagger, putting space between himself and the body. He stops cold and knows where he needs to go, he needs to get his mind off of this and he knew the very thing that was perfect for drowning away sin until the soul felt cleansed by its dirty liquid coursing through ones veins.
His manager would have a fit if they knew he was going toward a bar he was grateful was conveniently not far from his location. It was one of the many places he use to spend his time when he ruined his career, but he did not care how just being in that place again might soil his reputation if the tabloids were to catch sight of him entering through its doors.
He needed a drink desperately.
The quickened journey there to the moment he is sitting at the bar before a bewildered woman who looks like shes seen a specter, “Is that Antonio I see?” She leans over, getting a good look at his face between the loose hair, “Yup, I don't think I have another patron with a mane as magnificent as yours.”
Her hands go to her hips looking him over like he was a ticking time bomb waiting to implode before her, “What in the hell are you doing here, anyway? I know my stuff is good, I don't need your people throwing a fit that you're here and trying to shut me down to keep you away.”
“They will not.” He promises, running his hand down his face – the last thing he needed right now was to be chastised, “I wont go overboard,” He holds up his thin fingers crossed over one another, “Scouts honor...”
“Pretty sure you've never been a scout once in your life.”
The hand reaches into his pocket and procures a black credit card to hand over to her, there's a limit on the thing while his company continues to pay off his past debts but they still wanted him to at least have an image like he had not thrown away his life savings so he was allowed a certain amount to spend each month, “You're right. I wasn't.”
Taking it gingerly, she shrugs, “Not my job to stop people from getting back into bad habits but I will tut and shake my head at you if I think you're going overboard. The usual then?”
“I wouldn't have it any other way.” Antonio answers, turning away from the bar to bring his focus elsewhere while she prepared something strong for him to lose himself in. He rather enjoyed people watching and bars were the most fascinating place for it. Being a middle of the week evening it was only half full as it would have been on a weekend. People were still drawn to the good atmosphere and beverages Demi provided so it never knew an empty night.
It was as he expected, the tables where there was one person were either staring off glassy eyed or had their head dipped down toward their phones. The tables with two people were usually wrapped up in fervent discussions, Coworkers he could guess drinking after the job, or clearly on some kind of impromptu first date. The dates were always fun to see, how they awkwardly attempted to navigate a first meeting wrapped up in prospected romance.
His fun little distraction analyzing Demi's customers brought him to the only comparably large group where four people sat in a U shaped booth. They were all rather cute he observed, trying to keep his gaze from the corner of his eye so he would have an out to look away if they caught him looking.
The head of the table was in a stripe shirt and was taking care of most of the talking while the person beside him sketched away but nodded in the right places. He was surprised to see a dog hunched over the table one of their feet, well behaved enough to snooze at their feet.
Of course Demi allowed that in her bar.
The last was seated beside the dog owner and sat out of few at first, Antonio's curiousity got the better of him as he waited until they finally set their elbows on the table with laced fingers, leaning his chin into his hand. That was when Antonio began to unabashedly look.
At first, Antonio thought his hair might be dyed given the blonde hair very nearly bordered on a snowy white but it showed no signs of what came with that heavy of bleaching and toning that came with such a result. The slight mess of it showed someone who did not venture much into heavy care over their hair. The more he examined he noted that the eyebrows which nearly blended in with his pale skin were of the same variety. Definitely natural then.
Unlike the others he had spent as much time examining this one perks up and with a turn of his head looks directly at Antonio, noticing in little time at all that he was being stared at. Had everything been normal Antonio would have turned around in his chair to face the bar again, knowing that most people would convince themselves they had been imagining things and return to their evening rather than confront him at the bar over it.
But Antonio does not look away, he can't, he is trapped there in that pinkish gaze like they time had stopped for both of them. There is no one else left in this bar, in the world, there is only Him. There is only Them.
One eye completely hidden under a shroud of hair but the other caught sight with Antonio and his jaw fell open. In that gaze he saw something; an ocean of secrets locked behind doors which let no one in. They were rusted shut by an ocean of emotions, anger and sadness deepening the waters until the house of his mind was drowning.
Andrew could write a thousand songs about his eyes alone.
The moment between them ends as the other rips their gaze away and looks at his hands on the table, muttering something to himself that Antonio is not privy to hear.
This was it wasn't it? His Muse has was promised in the exchange for the first Sinner. A deep chuckle in the back of his mind is all the confirmation he needed that the Devil works swift.
He was up in an instance marching toward the table and his Muse started to move back toward the striped shirt chatty one as if he was trying to hide behind him and finally their attention is lifted up toward Antonio approaching their table with determination as well.
Assumptions of why Antonio was coming over would be swiftly proven wrong as to the reason he was reaching into his coat was to pull out a business card. He turns it over to the blank side, looking between the four of them, “Do any of you have a pen?”
There is a long pause between them as the request is processed. The one who had been previously sketching reaches into a pouch he has placed on the table, “Please be careful with it, it's for line art.”
“Perfect, wonderful, thank you.” The pen glided along the back of the card as he wrote down his phone number with his name underlined at the top of it. The front was useless for this purpose, being his Manager's number for scheduling him for venue's. His real number was something rarely given out given how easily it could ruin his private life if he were to just hand it out willy nilly like he use to.
This was different however, this pretty thing with the pale lashes blinking confused over his one seen eye was going to change his life for good.
Antonio stands up straight towering over the table now and hands it out toward his intended person but they sink back into the booth as if he was intending to strike him, “Please, I mean no harm. I must see you again.” As if it would actually help when speaking with a stranger who did not experience the same kind of euphoria he did he added, “You inspire me.”
They still do not move, looking like a deer trapped in headlights now it is instead the chatty one that plucks the card from between his fingers, “Thanks but Andrew can't come to the phone right now. You'll have to give him some time and he'll get back to you.”
“Andrew...” Antonio rolls his tongue over name with reverence, a tune was already starting inside of his head, “I will contact you then, Andrew. Thank you.”
He could not let it slip away from him now rushing out of the bar with that tune in his head, watched by everyone in the establishment now who had caught onto the strange scene and few whispering the speculation of what just happened.
“Hey – Wait – Antonio, your CREDIT C – Oh dammit.” Demi yells after him but the words fall on deaf ears. He had to go now, he had to immediately start writing like his life depended on it. His inspiration could move mountains and he could not let this moment end.
✦✦✦✦
Andrew's eyes are wide open and his heart is hammering away in his chest like he had just run a marathon. He thought he had been safe away when he sat between his friends in a sparsely crowded building he had been to before but apparently he was not! Why in the world had he chose to come out again? His hand wrapped around his cross necklace, the edges of it piercing into his hand as he questioned why he let himself be drug out of the safety of his home if these types of interactions were the one he risked himself to.
Even weirder, when he caught that mans gaze the oddest feeling washed over him. Like he had to keep looking, like everything depended on it. That was more terrifying than the whole prior event.
He reminds himself what the doctor said if he starts to feel like he's getting closed in by walls, count to ten. One, two, three, four, five –
Wait.
“You gave him my NAME.” Andrew snaps at Luca, sitting up quickly in his chair while Luca handed the card over to Edgar who had apparently asked for it while Andrew was quietly having a breakdown.
Luca looks to him, then up at the ceiling in thought, and confirms it with a nod, “Yeah, I guess I did. What do you think he's gonna track you down somehow? How many Andrews do you think there are in this city?”
That point only frustrates him more because while a good one it is besides the point.
“Have you even looked at the card yet?” He gestures toward where it still was held in Edgar's hand, “You clearly got the attention of some fancy rich guy, you should be excited.”
“He was drunk.” Andrew retorted.
“I didn't see him take a single drink since he was here. He was only here for a couple minutes before he saw you and fell in love.” Luca teased back at him.
“Do any of you even know who that was?” Edgar's voice cut through the moment, quiet as it was, he always made himself heard when he spoke. He was a welcome interruption before Andrew could try to start an argument with Luca.
Edgar looks between them hoping someone was in the know like he was but sighs as once again no one is as knowledgeable about the art world as he was, “Antonio Paganini...”
Another bout of silence.
Starting back up on his sketch he was working on before everything he explains to the small crowd, “He's a famous violinist who came back into the lime light this a hiatus when his company sent him to rehab. He's more popular than he ever was before. There have been rumors circulating that his fall from grace made him more critical of his music than he ever was...” Andrew comes under his gaze who fidgets beneath it, “He's found inspiration in you. From one artist to another, he sounded genuine.”
“That's amazing.” Victor replies, reaching under the table to pet his bulldog, “You hear that boy, we saw a celebrity.”
“This is too much.” Andrew disagrees, he refuses to touch the number written in fancy handwriting. He wanted nothing to do with this and still could not believe that this was happening, “He was probably... He was probably someone who just looks a lot like this Antonio you're thinking of. It's a prank number or a scam, I bet!”
“Or maybe, a hot musician just thought you were cute.” Luca says, picking up the dreaded card from the table and pocketing it. While he didn't like hearing that he's glad the thing is at the very least out of his view.
His calm only lasts a few moments, the Bartender approached their table waving the credit card left behind in the air, “So you guys are Antonio's new friends, huh?”
“What – No, no not at all!” Andrew states, now looking at the credit card like it was made of fire. He has a feeling of what was coming next and it would only complicate this night more.
“Well, he clearly wants to see you again and knowing him, he wont be back here for a while and I don't know his number so when you see him again--”
“I'm not going to.” Andrew interrupts, now his head is starting to hurt. He massages his thumb into his temples wishing all the noise would stop, “It's illegal anyway isn't it? To give a patron's card to someone just because.”
“But I am, because you seem like the type of guy who wouldn't just spend someone's money cause you've got their card. Way too nervous about getting in trouble. Besides, knowing him once he has his mind on something he wont stop until he gets it.” The card joins the spot where the number had once been, “So you'll see him again, and I don't care if it's with a restraining order but get him the card back. If anyone knows something with that balance is in my bar they're gonna break in just to get it and I don't need that kind of insurance drama.”
“Don't worry, I'll make sure Andrew gets it back to him!” Luca picks up the credit card like he had with the number, lingering his eyes over the front.
The Bartender squints at Luca, “You, I'm not so sure you wouldn't spend someone's dime.”
Luca laughed, “I'm sure he wouldn't miss a couple hundred missing from his account would he? He's loaded right?”
“Let's just go with, he's going through a lot right now.” Waving over her shoulder she begins back to the counter, “Make sure blondy gets it back to him the next time he sees him.”
“I'm not going to...” Andrew grumbles, sunken down into his seat far enough that he's facing the table like an upset child. As if he could curl into the booth enough to just disappear completely. Why was everyone insisting he go see some stranger just because he's famous?
Even if the number was real, he didn't WANT to go spend time with some bratty celebrity whose fame came from the worst kind of thing. The wealthy. The higher class. The snooty types who looked down on anything different.
He just wanted something to laugh at. Yes, that was it. If the number was real, it was something to laugh at. Andrew wasn't going to contact him EVER.
“I think it's time to call it tonight, lads.” Luca announces, keeping an eye on Andrew, sounding more careful than he normally was, patting Andrew when it was time to move out of the booth, “I'll get him home.”
Andrew barely registers the whole thing. Whoever paid for the drinks and the walk home is a blur in his mind as he lets Luca, one of the few people he really trusted with himself, lead him back home.
He's staring at his door in what feels like a matter of minutes when really, it had probably been a half an hour since they left, “Uh...” He starts but Luca interjects.
“That guy was weird, yeah. Edgar said he was genuine so I think he was being genuine too.” Luca says, putting a hand on Andrew's shoulder but taking it away as Andrew pulled out of it. He's amazingly quick to recover, “Mind if I crash here tonight?”
“Go ahead.” Andrew sighs, Luca bounding past him toward the small couch. Good enough for Luca who was on the shorter side. Andrew could never make himself comfortable on this thing.
“You rock, man.” Luca says as he stretches his arms out over it. Couches were something Luca knew well, being the social butterfly he was Andrew's was not the only one he would find himself on. All he needed was one of the blanket's from the closet which he sprawled out under after being tossed one.
“Sure...” Andrew muttered, staring into he small hall that led to his bedroom. He stands there for longer than intended, only getting woken from this state when Luca speaks up.
“Andrew?”
Andrew shakes his head again and looks to him with bleary eyes, “Oh... Yeah... Goodnight.”
He wanders into his bedroom and tosses himself on his bed, no bed frame just a box frame and a bed on the floor. Why bother with anything better than that? It wasn't as if anyone would ever be invited in here.
Tucking himself under his blanket he just wanted to forget this night ever happened. Anxiety kept him up for a long while, questions racing through his head as the memory replayed in his head. The part where they locked eyes was where he kept getting stuck the most. Was it fear he was feeling? That didn't feel right, he was always a little scared when people looked at him for too long but that wasn't the same feeling.
“It's nothing.” He tried to promise himself while squeezing his eyes shut, “It's nothing just... Go to sleep.”
Sleep comes to him eventually in the early hours of the morning, keeping him asleep throughout the morning and noon. He does not even stir when Luca tiptoes into his room and takes the phone off of his nightstand and moved back out of the room just as softly.
The next morning he felt like he could trick himself into believing the whole thing had been a surreal dream. After all, pieces of the night were missing from his memory so could it really have all happened in his head. Reaching over to his nightstand his hand fell to the flat surface instead of to his phone. Ugh, which meant Luca was here and that means everything that happened last night did indeed happen.
He drags his hands down his face naming off the important keys to himself. Some famous musician or something stormed their table and forced him to take his number, or some joke line he still was convinced, and then left just as quickly. What a weird evening.
Throwing the blankets off of himself he walked toward the living room where he expected to find just his phone left behind on the table with whatever updates Luca had made to it after easily cracking his password. Not Luca sitting with his feet kicked up and watching a video on his own device.
A takeout box rested still open in his lap with another tied up in a bag on the table, Luca nodded at it and Andrew saw his phone rested beside it, “Got you some orange chicken, eat up.”
“I thought you had work today.” Andrew said, sitting next to him on the couch. It was sort of nice having him here still. Though the memories were hard to accept it was better than thinking he had made up an entire evening. Taking his own phone back he unlocked it to check on whatever Luca had done with it. His face went paler than it already was. The good feeling was gone.
“Yeaah, I called out. Figure I'd give one of my favorite people some time.” He stuffed noodles into his mouth and chewed continuing to watch his video until Andrew's voice spoke up, void of tone.
“You texted him.”
Luca put his down, waiting for what would come next, “Yeah, I did.”
There's an unread reply from an anonymous number and the short beginning of a conversation makes his blood run cold. Luca had even added the name into his phone as a contact.
[Andrew] This is the cute blonde you gave your number to last night, I've got your credit card did you want that back?
[Violin guy] Oh I did not expect you to be so forward. Won't you join me for dinner tonight? We can kill two birds with one stone.
Andrew's throat is dry and raw feeling as his thumbs start moving to mend the situation.
[Andrew] No sorry that wasn't me that was my friend.
[Andrew] that sounds like an excuse
[Andrew] it's not I really did not send that text.
He was breathing heavily of all the things Luca could have done with his phone this was the last thing he could have ever wanted, “Why would you do that?!” He snaps at him, wrenching his head toward him, “That's the BIGGEST invasion of trust! I can't – I don't understand.”
Luca would not look him, if he felt guilty about it he would not let Andrew see while he sipped away at a straw for soda, “You weren't gonna do it, so I did it for you.”
“Why ?!” He stood from the couch, starting to pace back and forth. This whole thing was a mistake, going out was a mistake. Trusting Luca was a mistake. “I thought I could trust you but you texted someone else on my phone, who you already gave my name in the first place, and I--”
His phone pinged again, he looked down at it expecting the one who was texting him to get back so quickly.
[Violin guy] The talkative one right? I sort of already guessed.
[Violin guy] You will have to thank him for me.
Huh?
[Violin guy] I was getting a little nervous I wouldn't hear back from you.
Huh?
[Violin guy] It came to be quite late that I may have given you a fright last night. Please, allow me to make it up to you.
He squinted at his phone, why in the hell was this guy being so nice? Or whoever in the world was actually texting him. Starting to pace again back and forth he texted him back exactly what he needed to get off of his person to feel better.
[Andrew] I just want to get this card back to you and be over it.
[Violin guy] Over dinner?
Andrew groaned and came back to the couch to sink into it, too drained now to stay mad at Luca's antics. No matter how truly bad they were. He handed the phone over willingly now for the other to read the back and forth and do something to help him now.
He whistles low, “This guy is persistent huh? But look, he realized you're basically like an animal that gets cornered by him coming up all in your face last night. So hes got a good heart right?” He gives the phone back over, “You're gonna go right?”
“What, no...” Andrew replied, the last reply stays up on his phone like a nagging little insect buzzing away around his head, “Why would I go to dinner with some spoiled rich guy I don't even know.” By this point, he had given in that he was actually texting the person from last night rather than some prank number.
“Because, Andrew, life is about taking chances and you're wasting it with your lack of them.” He exposits, words that sounded like they had been weighing on him for a long time. Luca could be extraordinarily blunt but he was not usually one to deliver any kind of wisdom to him.
Luca sat up, crossing his legs on the couch and facing him, “I've watched you let every opportunity pass you by to really let anyone good into your life. You only talk to Edgar and Victor when I'm around after all.”
He winced, while Luca was right he did not want to be called out for it.
“While this guy seems eccentric I think eccentric is just the right thing for you since you live such a weird life already.” Luca continues, “Or, it will at least be a little change up from your norm.”
He gazes at him from a side eye as if to say, get to the point.
“So, even if this doesn't turn into anything, I think you should give violin weirdo a chance.” Luca concluded, leaning his back against the arm of the couch, “It's low risk, if you hate how it went it's not like he knows where you live.”
Why did Luca have to have a talent in making things sound reasonable when it was something that absolutely went against everything Andrew knew was safe? The notebook on his counter stands out from its off white surface, going out would give him something interesting to write about in there. Then maybe he could actually talk during his sessions with his doctors so the time would go by faster. He would not talk about his past. Never about his past.
“Fine... Fine. Fine, I'll … Give it a chance.” Andrew said looking at his phone and entering in a response, “But just tonight... I'm not going to make this a thing.”
[Andrew] sure, I guess I can do that.
He thought of how a lot of restaurants he had seen lit their about it before adding.
[Andrew] I can't go anywhere too brightly lit. Sensitive eyes.
There's an answer within seconds.
[Violin guy] Wonderful, I know just the place.
Thanks to Luca, the rest of the afternoon was spent delving into the personal life that Antonio had up in the public eye. Andrew had been content just to see the videos of his performances, he was quite good after all... More than good... He was absolutely spectacular.
What was someone as good as he was at the violin doing at bars in the middle of the night scouting out randos to use for inspiration? And why could it not have been Luca who caught his eye? He was charismatic and tended to attract people. Edgar is artist so they could have related on the vision? And Victor has a cute dog.
Unless he was planning to write a piece about a strange looking person that could be conveyed somehow through violin music alone he could not understand why it had been him.
In their further correspondence Antonio tried to offer to pick him up from his home and drive them to the restaurant together. Andrew was quick to refuse, big name or not he was not giving away where he lived or getting into a car with a complete stranger. He could be some secret murderer who got his kicks from luring people tempted by his fame into his car and slaughtering them offsite.
Luca had given him the 'What is wrong with you.' face when he expressed that one before going back to selecting an outfit for him for the evening.
It was the 'best he could do' type of outfit in Luca's own words. A white button up and black slacks with discounted dress shoes that came from the days when he was still interviewing for night positions around the city. He refused the tie as a part of the ensemble because it was good enough for what this was. Returning a card and having dinner and then never seeing each other again.
In no way was this some kind of date.
Bidding Luca farewell at his door he began the journey across town, choosing to leave early enough so he could take the long way around. Through sections of buildings that tended to not be empty of human life when the sun set and the moon rose. Without his hoodie to cover himself up with he felt exposed to prying eyes. He could not hide within the confines of it, thus the shadows became a good enough substitute until he got there.
Approaching the restaurant he slowed to a stop. Antonio was already there but Andrew did not recognize him at first. His long hair hair that wrapped around him in an almost unruly fashion the other night was tied back with a purple ribbon to rest neatly against his back. Andrew could perfectly see the sharp features of his face now and he was more handsome in person than he was on camera.
The smart suit and trenchcoat looked high end, they might have been custom designed to fit Antonio's shape and tastes. Andrew was ready to throw the credit card down at Antonio's feet and bolt for home so he would not be seen with him in his department store clothing.
As if his presence had been sensed frozen in place and ready to run, Antonio looks up from where he had been checking his phone and into Andrew's direction. He smiles calm and almost sweet looking, along with how cleaned up he was it utterly opposed the frazzled state Antonio had been in the night before. Andrew found this version far more intimidating.
Pocketing the device Antonio walks to join Andrew where he stays dumbfounded in the middle of the sidewalk, “I do hope it was not too much out of your way.” He offers his hand to take in greeting, “It's wonderful to see you again, Andrew.”
The hand is like an offending object of social constructs of touch that make his skin crawl. Why did everyone always insist on doing that? Wasn't it enough to just greet one another. Instead, he gets the card out and puts it out for Antonio's long thin fingers to take rather than his hand.
“Ah,” He catches on that his gesture is being rejected, taking the card and tucks it away in a front pocket of his coat, “Yes, thank you so much for delivering this back to me. Demi must trust you.”
Who? Oh, the bartender at Luca's favorite joint.
“Uh... No... Maybe?” He stammers over an answer, here came the small talk the next worst thing about meeting people, “I don't really know here... She just saw you talk to us and... I dunno, assumed.”
“She is a good judge of character, that one.” He gestures an arm out for Andrew to follow, closer to the door than Andrew was he opened it for him and nodded into the restaurant like some perfect gentleman, “After you, my good sir.”
“Thanks...” He muttered quietly, keeping an eye on him as he passed by as if expecting a knife in the back while he entered into the lounge like restaurant. Ahead of them, the Hostess stands stationary and soldier like beside the Host podium. The moment their eyes rest on the taller figure walking beside Andrew they are getting menu's ready.
“For Mr. Paganini – Please, right this way, sir.” They say with forceful politeness, walking ahead of them with a mechanical swing to their arms. Andrew hazard a guess that the restaurant was prepped for this arrival since the second they realized someone of Antonio's popularity was coming to their establishment.
He supposed that was the nice thing about standing next to someone popular, others hardly took notice of him while they were looking to please their expensive guest.
Taking their seats he gazes around the dimly lit restaurant, the atmosphere of the place was unexpectedly well chosen. It did not put out an air of spoiled richness but instead somewhere the upper middle class would go out for a nice evening. The brightest light shown over the piano player who sat on a small stage at the very front and he had some comfort in knowing that while they were professional they weren't some big name he was unaware of like Antonio.
During his inspection of the room he has a cylindrical case with a candle inside tinted with red. It put off a ring of red light in the center of the table, bringing him back to their table he catches sight of Antonio. He's staring at Andrew again.
Once caught, he shifts it back down to the menu with that same gentle smile still. That was a relief at least, even if the whole exchange made Andrew fully uneasy at least he did not gape this time.
“Choose whatever you like, I must insist on paying tonight.” He speaks pretending like he had not been caught surveying him again. Andrew opens his mouth to disagree but Antonio pats his front pocket, “You did a service for me now I must do a service for you. It's only fair, yes?”
It was hard to argue that. A tit for a tat and all that... As long as he didn't owe Antonio anything he... Supposed it was fine.
The exchange makes sense, he didn't want to owe Andrew anything and that's something he can respect. There's still something he cannot get off his mind, he can't sit comfortably until he asks with his menu fidgeting in his hands, “Why did you give me your number anyway...? You don't even know me, we were both just some people in a bar and you could have just left it that way. Luca said you weren't drunk but... How in the world could that be when you acted that brashly? You're so... Different right now. You don't seem like the same person even.”
Antonio is awaiting for him to be done with his hushed voice rambling, leaning one hand against his face he gives a few beats before he speaks, “Andrew... Are you alright with me addressing you directly as Andrew?”
“Uh... Yes?”
“I meant every word I said back there. I saw you and I knew you were supposed to inspire me. Everything that has happened so far is just proof... I need you to write my greatest song yet...” Antonio speaks fluidly but his dark eyes lock Andrew's own intensely, it's happening again he doesn't feel like he has permission to move until Antonio's smile return, “Call it artist's intuition! We tend to believe in fate you see.”
All of that is … Way too much to process. Andrew loses his voice burying his face into his menu, but not reading the words, just seeking out anything that would give him a chance to not talk to the man across from him. Convoluted plans start working out in his head, if he just checked the bathroom for a window he could escape through that. As long as he blocked Antonio's number and wandered during daylight with his hood pulled over his face like usual he would never find him !
Before he can excuse himself to go check the bathroom for a window their wait staff had come over to take their orders and rambling off the first dish that sounded alright he can feel the social constrictions to stay and finish his food starting to settle in. Dammit, he was too slow...
“I've... Made you uncomfortable.” Antonio observes, after their menus are taken away.
Clearly.
“That was not my intention... I get so excited you see about my music I've made a bit of a fool of myself. It's a habit you see.” Antonio sighed turning his head to the side with his eyes knitted closed, “Can we try again? No talk of muses or music or anything like that... You brought something out for me and we're just... Out to have a nice evening.”
If he was speaking his truth and not attempting to manipulate Andrew with sympathetic lies then he was having just as bad of a time with social norms as Andrew was. It made him think of Edgar who could at times be more hopeless in these situations than even Andrew could. It made sense...
He exhales out, he could open up to Antonio just a little so he did not just plain ruin the evening for the both of them, “I'm not... Not very good at talking...” He admitted, “I usually let other people talk and I listen...”
The soft smile returns and this time Andrew finds it just the slightest bit endearing given they seem to have found some common ground between them, “Alright... That's easy then... I'll do the talking.” It seems easy for him once they get over that first hurdle. It was like the violin was his first talent and recounting tales from his life was his second.
Traveling the world had been a journey worth retelling, especially with a friend sometimes at his side whose haughty personality made thing more colorful, “So he turns to the man and says, 'T'es vraiment trop débile.' and when asked for a translation, he told him it was a fanciful comment for someone you are attempting to court in French.”
Andrew finished a bite of his food, the whole meal had been rather good actually, “And what did it actually mean?” He prompts.
“Roughly, it translates to 'you're really too stupid'.” Antonio answered, the both of them laughing lightly at the anecdote. Only when the check book was brought to their table did Andrew realize how much time had passed.
Accepting the book Antonio tucked the very card that Andrew had delivered back to him into the sleeve of it, quietly adding for so he to hear, “I had a very nice time, Andrew.”
Surprisingly, he had a nice time too... Antonio was an engaging storyteller that could put Luca to shame. He spoke with enough conviction but in a calm voice that it had put Andrew at ease for the hour they had dinner together.
That ease being acknowledged bubbled up anxiety in his chest. How could he let his guard down for that long? “Uh yeah... Yeah me too...” He says, but he doesn't sound so sure of himself anymore.
“I'm glad.” Antonio stands it looks like he is walking around to his side of the table to pull his chair out for him, to which Andrew practically shoves his chair backward to get out of it before he can.
For what feels like is starting to rack up Antonio is caught off guard by his actions all spun on by his own anxiety, but rights himself again without commenting upon it, “Well... You're sure you don't want a ride home? I really don't mind and it's cold out there.”
“No no, I like walking. Walking is fine.” Not true, if this city allowed it he would have gotten himself a car long ago and drove everywhere to avoid the gaze of people but traffic was too much of a bother to really spend the money on.
“If you're sure.” Antonio looks like he wants to do something when they step outside and Andrew is thankful he just folds his hand in front of himself, “I'd like to see you again, if that would be alright. I would be quite disappointed if the only time we ever met is if I clumsily forgot things places. But I would happily do so if it meant we could spend time together.”
His preference would be to run so he does not have to promise anything one way or the other, still trying to figure out how he feels about Antionio bringing him into a sense of security, “We'll see... I gotta work... I work late shifts so... I don't exactly have normal hours like other people...” And he quickly adds, “I like having my time to myself too.”
“Yes, of course, I'll text you then and perhaps we'll work something out.” Antonio says, tone clearly disappointed by the half answer Andrew gives him, “Good night then.”
“Good night...” He nods, a little guilty knot starting in his stomach as he walks down the sidewalk. Suddenly, a cold washes over him as he swears he feels eyes on his back again, but this time the feeling is intense. It's so frighteningly intense he actually feels threatened, more than he has in a long time. Slowly, shakily, Andrew begins to look over his shoulder to see what kind of expression Antonio is giving him but when he looks … The man is gone.
The sidewalk is empty, leaving only him alone.
He shakes his head squeezing his eyes shut, “Get it together, Andrew.” He mutters to himself before jogging the rest of the way home as to shake off that disturbing sense he got.
Once back home in the warmth of his apartment he looks at the latest text in his phone and no shocker it's from Luca.
[Luca] text me the moment you get home.
Andrew sighed and typed out a quick 'home' message to him. He's exhausted and to go to pass out from social and emotional exhaustion rather than getting on any of his forums like he normally would; but his phone begins to ring with Luca's number, “Hello?” He answers, confused as to why he was being called suddenly.
Luca's voice on the other end is ecstatic, “So … Tell me everything.”