pelts silentbob We lived across a courtyard for three years. 2E and 3W. During a threadbare cookout in the courtyard with no one else in our houseshoe-shaped building, you said hello, standing next to a bearded white male, plane-looking, unremarkable. I would see him go into your building a few more times over the next few months. A handful of times. Then I stopped seeing him come in and out and just you. You, at the same gym as me, running the treadmill in gray yogapants, you, not letting the gate of our shared entryway slam and rattle, echoing through our courtyard. Then that gym closed. I was priced out, having to move at the end of my lease. I saw you on our street and asked you if your rent was going up, too. You had clearly just been exercising somewhere new. You confirmed it was, but that you were just going to pay it and hold out for what the 'improvements' were going to be. The next time I saw you I was carrying empty boxes readying for packing. You asked me to let you know how the move went, and paused, there was an ellipses "But I'm sure I'll run into you again." You did. Last Sunday night you called ahead on the street so I would turn around and wait for you. "Hey!" you said. And I told you about my house_cooling party and how it was the opposite of a house_warming party. "Everyone takes something on their way out!" you said and I was charmed. And standing in our adjoining courtyard we exchanged phone numbers and facebook information. And the conversation continued and we kept having to come back, step forward from our opposing doorways. To talk about the ways people mispronounce our names. "Evans" I said of mine. And you pointed out how people should remember, because "Evers" is a word that already exist. Like yours, a German word for fur. And you seemed so smart and nerdy. And Tuesday night I texted you and asked if you texted, and you said not really but it was nice to hear from me, and that felt genuine. And I asked if you were free for dinner sometime this week and we figured out Friday. And I asked if you'd ever been to the harding tavern, and you said no should we go? like you were already on the same page as me. And we talked about Jim and the new light fixtures he installed, and how clearly that is worth raising the rent by 25% a month. And you told me you were an editor and I came up with all these questions. Later you asked if we could reschedule for Saturday and I reminded you of my house_cooling and told you you were invited, but how bout Monday. And you said 8:30 and I said yes. And I liked that you didn't blow me off or flake, you suggested an alternate time. You did it exactly right. Currently in the good moment, of everything ahead of me. Could go either way, but it hasn't yet gone either way and I get to just be excited. Even if nothing happens I get to enjoy the knowledge that I once asked out the cute girl from across the courtyard and she seemed excited about it. Didn't meet her online, had known each other for years. And she was still interested. These things have very little do with how you actually are as a person, they are a combination of timing and perspective. Like if we were friends through a completely different circumstance, say I was friends with her brother, she would see me as her brother. But because I am the cute mysterious bearded gentleman who has an end date, I am suddenly very appealing. Now I am rambling. 140823 ... flowerock what a cute, sincere, sweet, hope filling interaction. a reminder that sincerity is alive in souls everywhere and real people are out there. thanks for sharing. I hope the friendship blossoms and if more is meant to be that it goes as smoothly. I feel glad that you asked her and initiated the interaction, it encourages me to do similarly. I already have a heartmate, but it would be nice to make some friends around here, get into an existing community here. connect. I am often shy and unsure of myself, assuming that people are completely uniterested in what I might say or offer as a thing to do to begin a friendship. coffee or hiking is usually my idea, I guess those are the types of friends I'd like to have, caffinated hikers : P and now I too ramble... 140823 ... flowerock I have to confess that when I first started coming to blather I tried to look up others here on facebook, yours was one of two that I was able to find. ha to let you know, I feel a little stalkerish, just curios not creepy! 140823 ... silentbob that's what facebook is for! 140823 ... silentbob On Monday we had dinner at the tavern on the corner. The food was delicious and there was never an awkward pause. There was always so much to say. I told her about the house_cooling and the kitten I found and she wanted to meet him. She talked about the intricacies of publishing content for museum catalogs. She is way smarter than me. She came home with me to meet my cat. Nothing happened but there was a palpable tension. Kitty was out of litter and I asked her if she had any and she said she would check and then text me. She texted me that she didn't, but sent a series of long texts about how I should come over to her house the next night so I could be there for moral support while she cleaned the cockroach infested areas of her apartment. She knew I could relate because she had seen my apartment too. I said I would be there. 140827 ... silentbob Your place was wall-to-wall with bookshelves filled with graphic novels and literary fiction, stacks of new yorkers and untended piles of paper, projects, a creative space we tell ourselves. You had dishes in your sink that had water in them. The water was dirty. There were visible bugs, some dead. Every time you saw one you would recoil in terror, audibly. We hung up poison together. The bodies started piling up. We ordered Chinese food and I ran home to throw a load in the wash. You talked about your work crush and how you tried to make something happen but it just wouldn't. How it seemed he didn't even want to be friends. I told you about Julia. You said you should just get on tinder and be done with it. I advised against. You said you wouldn't know what photo to use. I pulled up your facebook profile and told you which of your pictures I liked the most, and you leaned in close to me. And I touched your face and we kissed. And kissed. And kissed. We ended up in your room but we left our underwear on. You said how you didn't want this moment to end. I got four hours of sleep that night. 140901 ... silentbob You(1:45am): If you're looking for your hoodi, it is here. Me (7:21am): Oh shoot! What time do you work? CanI get it before? And the ice cream. You (8:39am) : Just woke up. Are you still here nd want to get them? Me (8:40am) : haha, no i had to go. Will it disrupt anything for me to get them tonight at some point? [you had intimated the previous night you had a date] You (8:43am) : I don't know... And I have an early doctor's appointment tomorrow. What if I took out the ice cream and washed the container and left it with your hoody at your door? You (8:45am) And we could eat the ice cream Friday Me (8:45am) : Oh that would be amazing actually! You (9:40am) : I heard your little friend Me (9:41am) : Oh my heart! I left so long ago! You (5:45pm) : You will be reuinited soon! Me (6:19pm) : So tomorrow you will just leave those two things for me? Outside my door? What works for you? Me (6:49pm) Aww you already did it! You're the best 140901 ... flowerock a d o r a b l e and I mean that in a really good way, I love sweet stories and yours is pretty sweet! 140901 ... silentbob By Thursday it was clear we were not going to wait until Friday to hang out again. I came over when you got home from work and we ate leftover Chinese. You said maybe tonight we shouldn't go as far as we had the night before though it was fun. It was mostly friendly until it became physical again. We didn't go quite as far, but almost. Stayed til after 1am again. I texted you the next morning to let you know I successfully slept past 7am. 140901 ... silentbob Before I left Thursday night I told you this weekend would be the weekend I move out of the building we shared for three years, and the courtyard between us. So I would be busy. But we could hang out next week when it was done. You said sounded good, and you would catch up on alone time / self_care. But Friday night you texted me and we agreed I would come over when I was done taking a load of stuff over to the storage unit. Nothing too dirty happened but it was amazing to lie next to you and breathe you in, to sleep in the spoon position, to touch you and be touched and to have you compliment my face and my personality and seem like you meant it. When I woke up I bought cat food and tried to find a home for the nameless kitty I couldn't keep. I found him one and forwarded you the jpgs I was sent of his new home. 140901 ... silentbob the last time i saw you was amazing. you made such marvelous faces. you do this thing where you hear an element of a song and it will remind you of another song that you cannot name, and i can usually help you figure out the source of it. you said you were busy but when i suggested something specific you said "count me in" 140910 what's it to you? who go blather from