I could use another cigarrette...
Romeo does his job well. Not that he likes the word. Job. From reigning terror in Italy to recruiting for the Organization al around the world in Chicago, currently. The second one loses the proper ring to who he is. Nevertheless, it's true. He does work for the Organization. As boring as work sounds, he enjoys it. More than reigning terror (most
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And then, of course, there's some guy sitting on the sidewalk. "You know," she comments, "someone's going to trip over you. And I won't feel bad about it."
Yes, she really is bored. Talking to random strangers on the street.
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He smiles up at her, blocking the sun with his hand to get a clear view.
"You're right." he says in that helplessly heavy Italian accent of his, quirking his head to the side. "I should probably move, yes?"
But he doesn't. Not just yet.
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And he smiles at her, again.
"Wondering about that apartment complex across the street. If it's a good place to live or not, you know? I just arrived in the city. Living in a hotel right now, but it is... expensive."
Not that he doesn't have endless amounts of funds when he needs it, but cover stories don't often rely on much truth.
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She smiles back at him a little when he smiles at her. He's cute. Got the accent going for him. It's not a bad combination. She glances over to the Main Gauche for a moment, then back to him. "It's not bad, I guess. I mean, the people over there are a little..."
Most of the people there are demons. It's not the sort of thing you just come out and say to random strangers on the sidewalk.
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Now that he has a reason to show it without seeming creepy.
He nods when she trails off.
"I had a feeling. Even standing out here. It seems..." Romeo makes a teeter-totter gesture with his hand held flat out as he turns his gaze back to the apartment complex. "It might seem... strange to you. But I get feelings about places people. Sometimes. Not always. Like a sixth sense. Much power inside that building."
He turns to her and pulls a face. "I am sorry. I probably sound uhm... off my head." Romeo fakes a wince at the wording. As though he hadn't meant it to come out wrong. "Out of my head. Crazy."
Yes. Share enough with her to let her in. Even if all of the details are heavily sedated.
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She laughs a little when he says she probably thinks he's crazy. "I've heard weirder, trust me. If you could see the town I went to high school in..." Buffy trails off. Right. Not thinking about Sunnydale. Home. Her friends. "Well, it doesn't sound as crazy as you think it does. Not to me, at least."
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But he'll let her shrug it off.
Romeo raises his eyebrows, inclining his head toward her. Only slightly.
"Good. I'd hate for you to think me... crazy." He smiles, apologetically for his own stumbling over the English language. "Are you a long way from your home then, too?"
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"Yeah," she says, more quietly than she really meant to. "I guess I am." She doesn't even know if Sunnydale exists in this world.
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Romeo smiles, a little. It's a surprisingly warm look for someone so... cold, although his expression has become much more serious on the whole. He is sympathetic. To a certain extent.
A wanderer, but there's something familiar about her scent. Just there, but not enough to put words to it.
"I haven't been away from Italy for long, but I already miss it. I don't look too out of place, do I? Other than sidewalk sitting... yes? Sometimes I feel like I haven't just changed countries, but changed... worlds... planets, you might say."
Oh, ho ho, using irony to his benefit. Sly dog.
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She pauses at his words, frowning a little. That sounds like... well, the only other wanderers she's met are Shepard and Harry, but it's eerily close to Buffy's reality, so she can't help but wonder. "Besides the sidewalk sitting, you look pretty normal to me. Which... I guess you might not want to go with my opinion of normal, but it's close enough." She bites her lip, and then decides to ask anyway. "What do you mean, changed worlds?"
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Romeo blinks at her question, playing confused very well and shakes his head.
"Nothing. Really. Only that Chicago is completely different than Milano." He tilts his head to the side and his smile seems to widen "I did not come through the Rift if that is what you mean to say. Like... you did?"
And then he gestures in little circles with his one hand to indicate the fact that he knows this requires more explanation. "My family in Italy. They are sort of... keepers... well, eh you might say guardians of the Rift there. If you did not mean to say the Rift now I am sure you will think of me as crazy."
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"How'd you know I came through the Rift? Or do you just go around saying these things to people and letting most of them assume you're crazy?" Not that she'd blame him. It happens.
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Vampire watchers. Oh, there's a... thought that is difficult to process.
Romeo laughs a little at that and shakes his head, slipping his hand through his hair and smiling.
"No, not quite." He taps the side of his head with two fingers. "That feeling. It is stronger than I like to admit until I am more sure I won't be thought of as crazy. The ones that come through the Rift... you have a certain... look, a certain... charm... no, an aura."
Romeo smiles almost fondly in her direction as if seeing that aura is a familiar comfort to him. It's really the opposite since wanderers take a lot longer to figure out.
"To me, at least, there is... something different. Not always easy to place. Sometimes I am wrong. Grandpa said the Rift makes all things possible. Chaos and destruction. Beauty and life. He liked to think it gave me this feeling. It comes in handy. Having a sixth sense."
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Romeo smiles at her and raises his eyebrows. "What better place to study and prepare for what will inevitably happen to the one in Italy than here? So I guess you could say I am on a mission. Find information and report back. Not so... difficult, yes?"
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