A meeting at the crosswalk was inevitable, though Brian kept a slower-than-normal pace. It wasn’t quite slow enough. The light hadn’t changed, but Brian wasn’t entirely averse to approaching this man. The idea of his continuing to appreciate Brian with his eyes excited him. As he stepped nearer, just the two of them alone as cars and trucks whizzed past, the man smiled.
“How’s it going?” he said loudly, over the drone of a truck’s diesel engine.
“Hi,” Brian said softly, relieved that there was something familiar out here.
“I’m surprised to see—I’m sorry, I assume you speak English?”
“Yes,” Brian said. He stopped short of offering more information, though he felt idiotic giving one-word answers.
The light changed and the vehicles stopped, a couple of them screeching their tires. An unc
