Albatross

Chapter 02: The Distance In Between

Soon after Allan was gone, Elliot had done what he could to not think about him. Instead much of his thoughts went towards work. After all, it wasn't a difficult shift to make.

Elliot worked for a medical office and generally enjoyed it. Sometimes, he just wished his colleagues would leave him alone, even if he knew they were just being friendly. It was just that they could be too friendly at times. This was particularly true of Nathan Mills.

Nathan was a nice enough guy, Elliot thought. He had just been hired a bit over a month ago and it hadn't been difficult for him to befriend the other people at the office. The man had a sort of charm that reminded him a bit of Allan. That was most likely why Elliot tried to stay away from him.

"Hey, Elliot!"

Sometimes, that was hard enough to accomplish. With a resigned sigh, Elliot turned to look at the tall man walking up to him. Nathan had a wide smile on his face, something that was normal for him. He had a pleasant face—as pleasant as his personality, some would say—with brown eyes that were always cheery and bright.

"Are you going to get some lunch now?" Nathan asked as he stopped just in front of Elliot. He had just pulled on his jacket and thought he would manage to evade his co-workers, when Nathan walked by the front desk, where Elliot worked.

"Yeah, I am," he answered. He tried to keep his conversations with others short, particularly when he was speaking with Nathan. Not that it did much to keep Nathan quiet.

"Oh good, mind if I come with you? It gets boring, eating in the break room all the time," Nathan said, and Elliot was just too tired to refuse.

"Do what you want," he said, and didn't bother even trying to sound inviting. Nathan should have realized by then that his company was unwanted, but of course that never stopped him. Elliot supposed such determination would be admirable if it were not so irritating.

Nathan followed after Elliot, still smiling placidly. It was just a short walk to the coffee shop Elliot usually ate in, but by the time they got there Nathan's hair was a mess of chestnut colored strands. Not that the man cared much.

It was a relief to enter the warm shop, and Elliot sighed in satisfaction as he took a seat on one of the comfortable chairs while Nathan offered to get them some food and drinks.

The place was nothing short of cozy, even with the wide windows that took up such a large part of the walls and provided a good view of the streets. The lighting—a soft tone—lit the place in various tones of yellow that turned to amber when they hit the wooden floors and tables. Elliot always found the place calming.

He was hoping it would make his time with Nathan a bit less stressful.

Nathan returned with a pair of sandwiches and two cups of coffee. He sat down and looked around at the place with a pleased sort of expression.

"You know I've never been here, but this is a pretty nice place," he said, holding up his sandwich to take a bite. "So do you come here often?" Nathan asked, and then realized how much that sounded like the worst pick-up line ever. Or at least the most overused one. "I mean, you hardly ever use the break room," he added.

"I guess I do," Elliot admitted. "It's peaceful here." Mostly because then he didn't have to deal with Nathan's attempts at having a conversation with him. Plus the coffee was better than the watery stuff they had at the office.

"And the coffee's better," Nathan said, as if reading Elliot's thoughts. If he hadn't already been in a bad mood, Elliot might have found that amusing.

As it was, he just sipped his coffee and ignored just how uncomfortable Nathan looked. It wasn't Elliot's fault he was making things awkward for the other man. Nathan was out of his depth if he was intending to have lunch with Elliot and suddenly be best friends. Elliot didn't really want friends at the moment. The ones that he did have were enough of a pain as it was.

Idle chatter filled the remainder of their lunch break. Most of it came from Nathan's side and Elliot did his best not to encourage him. He was relieved to go back outside, even with how cold the wind was. Elliot pulled his coat tighter around him and began to make his way back to his workplace, expecting Nathan to follow. As he'd thought, the man was at his side just moments after Elliot had stepped out.

"This was nice," Nathan said as they walked down the street. They stopped at the corner, waiting for the light to change and Nathan turned to look at Elliot. "Maybe we can do this again." There was a hopeful tone to his voice as he said this, almost as if he were asking Elliot if that was fine with him.

"I don't think so," said Elliot. "Besides, I'm not very good company." That much, at least was true. By the look on Nathan's face, he disagreed. The light changed and Elliot hurried on across the street. Nathan hurried after him.

"Sure you are," Nathan said, stepping onto the sidewalk. "Besides, maybe you need the company."

Elliot stopped and turned to look at Nathan. He'd heard that line before and he didn't like what it meant.

"Is that why you came along?" Elliot asked. "Because you thought I was lonely?" Nathan looked both surprised and embarrassed, something Elliot interpreted as him being right about Nathan's motivation. He tried not to feel—or at least not to sound—too upset. After all, it wasn't the first time someone pitied him.

"Well thanks, but I really don't need you to feel sorry for me," Elliot said, and turned to continue on his way. He knew Nathan followed after him from the hurried steps he heard.

They didn't talk for the rest of the way back.