Chapter Text
Roman stood in the middle of the theater. He held his eyes closed and opened them again slowly, taking everything in as if he were seeing it for the first time. The soft glare of the stage lights, the hustle and bustle of the crew and cast, the awe-inspiring elegance of the venue.
He was really here. Broadway. He made it.
Granted, he was just an assistant on set, the "coffee guy" as some of the other crew so affectionately called him. That didn't matter, though; just being there was a dream come true. One out of many Roman intended to make so. He wasn't aware he was holding his breath. Roman exhaled softly.
His romantic stupor was suddenly halted when he felt an arm jab at his side.
"This may sound odd to you, but your job is a little more than standing in the way. Do you mind?" He stepped to the side to let them through. He found that people tended to be a bit cranky when they haven't had their morning coffee. That and the infamous New York sass everyone there seemed to be so good at. Roman composed himself and went to his unofficial post, the coffee maker. Yep, dream come true.
He spent the rest of his workday delivering various refreshments to the performers. Coffee cups, soda cans, water bottles- Roman ran around backstage so much he had the floor plan practically memorized. It was hard work, but he was lucky; someone thanked him on occasion. Roman didn't have the same working hours as most of the crew and cast, so the day ended much earlier for him, though it was still late.
As he was gathering his things, he noticed someone walking over to him. He glanced in their direction.
It was the stage director. Roman found it somewhat odd for the director to be backstage, since rehearsals would be going on for quite a long time today. He studied the man for a moment. He was imposing from afar, but now that the man was closer he could sense a warm, charismatic energy about him, and a rather friendly disposition. He was dressed as one would likely expect a Broadway director to be dressed- sunglasses, scarf, and all-black clothes that seemed to test the line between semi-formal and casual. Roman could understand the scarf to a fault, the air conditioning could get a bit drafty, but the sunglasses indoors didn't make much sense. Maybe it was an aesthetic thing.
The director took off his shades and held out his hand. "Good job out there today!"
He was taken aback by this. Getting a compliment, from the director no less. Roman took his hand and shook firmly. "Thank you, sir." He smiled politely.
"Oh, come now, formalities aren't really necessary. Call me Thomas." Thomas flashed a dazzling smile. "Sorry to catch you on your way out, but I just had to congratulate you on a job well done."
Roman could barely process this. "W-well thank you, again, Thomas." He paused a moment before saying the man's name, as if it were some secret.
"Oh," Thomas started, "...one more thing, I noticed the expression on your face when you entered the building." Roman blushed.
He pursed his lips and leaned casually against the wall. "People tell me I have an 'eye for talent,' so to speak. I saw how you looked at the stage, that gleam in your eye." Thomas smiled at him.
"Well, I shouldn't keep you. Have a good night." With that he walked off.
Roman was speechless. Dumbfounded, he replied "You too."
He stood there for a moment. Roman breathed shakily and headed for the theater entrance.
"You too?" He thought. That was the kind of thing one might accidentally say to a Starbucks barista after they say "Enjoy your coffee!" or a ticket attendant at a movie theater when they say "Enjoy your movie!" Sure, it wasn't the worst thing he could have said, but still. It was nighttime after all, but considering his work schedule, Thomas would be up most of the night. It was appropriate then, to have said "you too."
Content with that line of reasoning, Roman looked at his phone as he strolled out of the building. He could always hail a taxi- he had always wanted to do that after all, now that he had the chance, but those could be a bit...unpredictable. He'd just get an UBER.
Roman opened the app and requested a ride. His apartment was in the Upper West Side, but the streets were...navigable. On good days. He stood there for several minutes, until a potential driver popped up. Roman checked his stats.
Good ratings, nice car... He looked at the driver's profile picture.
Oh. Wow. He had purple highlights in his hair, which was styled so that it swept down but didn't cover his eyes. His eyes were deep brown, and striking against his pale complexion. Not to mention his eye shadow. It wasn't ridiculous, but defining nonetheless. His expression was a small half-smile, although it looked like it took some effort not to look forced or fake. It was one of the most adorable smiles Roman had ever seen.
He looked at the driver's name. "Virgil." It was interesting, but not in a bad way. Unique, he'd rather put it.
Roman contemplated for a second, and tapped the "request a ride" button.
He waited for a while, watching the cars go by. Roman glanced at the app again. This "Virgil" guy was kind of cute. He put his phone back in his pocket and looked at the license plate numbers of the cars around him, his face warm.
After a few minutes, the car pulled over to the sidewalk. It didn't look luxurious or anything, but comfortable. Something reliable that got you from point A to point B. He supposed that was the point.
Roman entered the backseat after re-reading the plate. For a moment, the prospect that he would be entering into a total stranger's car crossed his mind. It was a little unsettling, but this was what he asked for. He closed the door and clicked the seatbelt.
"Apartments on West End?" Virgil asked nonchalantly.
"Yep." Roman replied. He gave the driver a quick once-over, feeling his face get warm again.
"Sorry if you're late to anything, traffic's bad today." Virgil spoke up.
"It's fine." He stated. The two sat in uncomfortable silence as Virgil drove.
"...How was your day?" Roman asked.
Virgil raised an eyebrow. People never asked him that, they just sort of stared at their phones the whole ride. He tried to start up small talk sometimes, but his passengers were always unresponsive.
"Fine. How was yours?" Roman pondered this.
"It was good." He decided.
Virgil was perplexed. This guy gave off a pleasant vibe, and looked friendly enough. He might actually have a nice conversation with a normal person. Imagine that. The only conversations he ever really had with riders were long stories.
He asked the man his name. Sure, he could have checked his phone, but traffic was picking up.
"Hey, what was your name again?" Ugh. Of course he had to ask such a dumb question. It probably came off as rude, of course he would be so careless as to forget his name. It was on the app- he just saw it a few minutes ago!
Calm Down. Breathe. Focus on the road.
Virgil had a tendency to overreact to things like this, but he was getting better at reminding himself to calm down. He heard his passenger speak.
"Roman. Your name is Virgil, right?"
"Yeah."
Wow. He hadn't heard anyone actually say his name in a long time. Most people he had to deal, err, "work" with, weren't ones for pretense.
"I like it." Roman said smiling. Virgil tapped the steering wheel, thinking of a conversation topic.
"So..." he started, "do you live in the city, or are you a tourist?" He assumed the guy lived at the apartments, but he could have just been visiting or something. It was an ice-breaker either way.
"Oh, I live here, but I've only been for a little while. I haven't actually seen very many of the attractions outside of work."
"Where do you work?" Virgil asked casually. In retrospect, it sounded a bit creepy, but he was just trying to have polite conversation. If Roman found it weird, he'd probably just stop the conversation and the two would drive in silence. That was fine, he was used to it.
"The Broadway Theatre." Roman said. He hoped he wouldn't give off the wrong impression.
Virgil made a quizzical face. "The Broadway? Like, THE Broadway Theatre? You work there?"
Roman couldn't help chuckle. "Ha-ha, yeah." His driver was genuinely confused.
He paused and gave Roman a sideways glance. "You're not some really famous actor I've never heard of, are you? I'd ask for your autograph, but I don't have anything for you to sign."
Roman laughed and it spread to Virgil, smirking.
"No, I'm just an assistant on set. Coffee guy."
He smiled. "Oh, okay." He stared at the hectic metropolitan life around him. The people milling about, the cars on the road, the endless billboards and signs- this was NYC. So much going on at once, and in the middle of it all, two people in a car having a conversation. He loved his city.
"Hey, Roman, you said you haven't lived here long, right?"
He nodded with an audible "Mhm."
"Hmm. Well, the longer you live here, you tend to pick up on things. I've been here my whole life, so I can give you some pointers if you're up for it."
"Sure." Roman leaned forward.
"Okay. First things first, survival. If baseball is ever brought up- Yankees over Red Sox, every time. It doesn't matter if you don't know anything about baseball, the whole state'll have your back." He felt comfortable to joke around a bit more now; there was a relaxed atmosphere between the two of them. It was nice.
Roman nodded again, with a look of mock skepticism. "Second, NEVER feed the animals in Central Park. Unless it's a cat, but they're a rare exception."
He snickered. "Don't even feed the birds or squirrels?"
"NEVER." Virgil said gravely, a smirk coming through nonetheless. "At first it's a squirrel or a couple of pigeons, then next thing you know, you'll have the Central Park Zoo following you around."
Roman snerked.
"Okay- okay, Thirdly, and this is my last tip of the day, steer clear of the Hudson and East Rivers. Only ever take a ferry out on the water if you're going to visit the Statue of Liberty. No one knows what lurks in those murky depths." He cast a far-off gaze as if he were an old lighthouse keeper reliving a troubling flashback, but it ended as soon as it began.
A jokingly ominous stillness filled the air as they sat in reverent quiet. The two cracked up.
Traffic crept to a standstill and Virgil checked his phone. Only a little while 'til they got to their destination. The side of his mouth downturned at the thought.
After more joking and small talk, they pulled up to the curb.
Roman unbuckled his seatbelt and put his hand on the door handle.
"That was fun. Thanks." He got out his phone. "Five stars." Virgil looked at him in the rear-view mirror. He tried to contain his surprise, but his eyebrows raised imperceptibly.
"Yeah, you too." He took out his phone as well. "Five stars."
With that, Roman parted from the vehicle, and Virgil pulled back into the road proper.