#thread.daniel

[visionspiral]

"Alright, I was far off indeed," Bijan said, chuckling. "Yes, that makes your former point valid, a decade is just less than a generation," he agreed. From what he could recall, a generation was twelve years, or a bit more than twelve. He wasn't perfectly certain, since all he held in regard was that his students were most definitely a younger generation. "You guessed my age much better than I did yours." He had to laugh a little at Dan's plea, he could understand it, he was an introvert at heart, but he did have a fascination with beautiful people. "Well, it might just happen to you, you never know. I'm sure there are still people like me out there, who want to strike up conversations with people in bookshops." He nodded at the mention of the ER. "Are you a doctor?" he asked. "We have been together for only two months now, but we've been very close for years, so it was meant to happen at some point." Or so he liked to believe. Colson had been there through his injury and recovery, before they'd made it official between the two of them.

daniel had to laugh ; partially because he was amused that bijan thought he was younger than he was. he felt pretty sure that, if anything, he'd aged more in the last two years than he had over the rest of his life combined -- trauma will do that to a person. "i'll take late twenties no problem... but you're not far off ; 'm thirty-three. so pretty much a decade between us. i think that means my original point stands." a playful smile. bijan was probably ( definitely, in fact but he clung to his ounce of denial ) right, but the striking up a conversation or connection was the bit daniel struggled with most and no doubt that wasn't doing him any favours. "i wish they would just come to me," he joked lightly, fidgeting with hem of his jumper. "would make my life a helluva lot easier." a pause. "i don't think i'm gonna find anyone in the er -- but maybe i'll keep a lookout from now on. seems to be working for some of us. how long have you been together?"

[visionspiral]

Bijan grinned. "Forty-three," he corrected, then gave Daniel another once over. "And you're... you look like you're barely a year over thirty, perhaps even younger. Late-twenties?" Bijan was very bad at guessing ages. He'd had plenty of years where he'd been guessed younger, until the grey hair came in. His family turned grey early, in many ways both a blessing and a curse. Bijan felt far too static to go along with the younger generations. "Hmm, perhaps that's also a very likely scenario," he agreed. The youth in his classroom lived fast, but they were kind... at times. They still had a lot to learn at that age, however. "Of course, you do have to talk to them. They won't just come to you," he explained. "And truly, any old library or book shop. I can't promise you instant success, but having shared interests go a long way, even if it's just the interest in books, in general." He paused. "I met my current partner at my job, or well, we frequent the same circles, both professors."

"i think you're probably right, there." he agreed. it was how things tended to work ; the more invested you were in something, seemingly the more likely it was to fall apart -- certainly it stung a lot more. it was precisely that fear that made daniel more hesitant to engage than he wanted to be. "c'mon, man. i don't think there's even a generation between us -- you're what? forty?" head tilting slightly to one side, he gave a soft laugh. "and anyway, i'm pretty sure there's people like that in every generation. there's a chance online dating just has a high concentration of them." it wasn't his favourite means of finding a relationship by any stretch of the imagination ; daniel too was maybe slightly 'old-fashioned' or romantic in his wanting to meet someone organically as bijan had described. "yeah. might've dodged a bullet there, huh? 'm happy with the alternative stranger today, for sure... can i get the addresses of these places? never seems to happen to me." he laughed.

[visionspiral]

Bijan smiled kindly. He knew what it was like to be stood up on, though usually it was something he’d done. Or usually he was the one standing people up, merely by being distracted or forgetting the time. He hyper-focussed so easily on information that he forgot all about his surroundings. Still, he felt bad for the other, could envision how it might’ve happened. “Likewise.” He took a sip from his coffee as Daniel explained. “Could be, though I fear that if you were far more into it, perhaps you’d also get turned down more often. It could be my age, but I feel like the younger generations live so much faster, and so much more reckless, they don’t care that much about the feelings of others. Perhaps then, in the best possible case, you’ve avoided a bad date and a possibly worse relationship. After all, it is the ones who truly show up that are worth your time.” He paused. “And now you get to meet strangers.” He took another sip. “I’ve never been one for the dating apps, I’ve always met handsome guys in places I frequent, like the library and book shops. I am sure that is still a thing.” 

"sure is," he agreed emphatically. daniel's main gripe with dabbling in online dating was definitely the lack of courtesy. he'd had to essentially train himself into not getting too attached ( which was perhaps a character flaw he needed to work on anyway. ) maybe it was the southern gentleman in him, but no one could ever describe him as anything other than courteous. "good to meet you, bijan." he responded warmly, considering the question in silence for a moment. "in my limited experience... kinda? but i'm not real into it like some people ; maybe that's the mistake i'm makin. or maybe i'm just unlucky." a soft laugh.

[visionspiral]

Bijan gave a sympathetic smile, he could simply not understand people these days, the very fact that they’d completely fail to send their date a message that they were not coming. It was a reason why he never dated, at least not through the apps that people tended to go for. He would rather go through the effort to meet someone at a bar than to have to rely no humour that didn’t translate through text. “An hour… yes, that is far too long to be stopped.” Perhaps something had happened… though as much as he wanted to believe that, he figured if he went along with the world right now: he’d find that the ghosting was far more likely. “Bijan,” he introduced himself, taking the offered hand and after the offered food. “Is it that hard, dating these days?” He asked. 

he gave a half shrug and extended the other a slight smile. "s'alright, just one of them things." it was a bit of a kick in the teeth to have been so completely abandoned, but the chance of it happening was simply a given risk of modern dating so daniel tried not to take it too personally. "musta been one hell of a stop, he's been missin an hour," his smile widened and a soft laugh escaped. of course, those things had been his first assumption -- daniel always consciously made the effort to think of and find the good in people. "no, i think they probably just weren't feelin it. doesn't matter now anyway." he offered his hand for the other to shake. "i'm daniel. please, grab somethin."

[visionspiral]

Bijan frowned, not used to be randomly talked to during his free time. He usually sat with a book, or he'd look outside and study people. But he would never turn down the offer of food. His face lit up and he nodded at the pastries. "I'm sorry, friend," he said, kindly. "Are you sure they aren't just lost or stopped on their way?" he asked, as he leaned forward, put the paper down and stood to join the stranger at his table. He set his coffee down.

for: @bhqextras, open location: café of your choice

"hey, so, uh," daniel offered a sincere but unsure smile to the person seated at the next table, fidgeting with a button of his shirt. "i'm pretty sure i've been stood up and i bought, like, ten pastries that i'll never eat." it was very unlike him to even attempt to put himself out there like this, but his new year's resolution had been that very thing and the present was as good a time as any. "-- so, if you're down you can take whatever you like... and if you maybe want some company, my day just became painfully free." he just hoped he didn't look too desperate as he pushed the box of goodies towards the edge of the table.