Welcome to Gaia! ::

It was in Bo's nature to collect friends like breaths of air. Almost every time he left the house, he ended up making friendly conversation with someone, about anything. More often than not, those tiny conversations turned into lunch dates and hanging out. He loved this about himself. With so much in the world designed to tear people apart, Bo took pride in the fact that he was skilled at brining them together. Sure, he often forgot where he met someone, or even what their name was, but hey! He loved everybody -- wasn't that worth something?

For instance, Bo had met Naomi just three weeks ago while taking photos of her capoeira class in a Destiny City park. When the class wrapped, the 22-year-old began taking photos of interesting leaves and a bum asleep against a trashcan across the way. He almost didn't notice the blond girl, not until she tapped him on the shoulder. She had, understandably, wanted to know why he was taking pictures of her class. He had, understandably, offered to make prints of some of the better ones for her. The conversation took a turn for the friendly, and before he knew it, Bo had Naomi's number in his phone and plans to meet up for coffee that weekend. There was nothing romantic in it, but in the 4-5 times they had hung out so far, Bo had enjoyed himself immensely.

Now that school was back in session, Naomi and Bo had decided to let loose -- just a little. They met at the apartment he shared with Noel (though Noel was not home) for drinks. Bo enjoyed gin and tonic with some lime juice, and Naomi helped herself to a pack of Smirnoff Ice. Rules like "drinking age" were not something Bo ever worried about, and if they were going out dancing (and he was hoping they were), then he wanted to ensure both of them were floating comfortably on a wave of intoxication.

Topping off his latest drink, Bo hopped back into the living room, sliding down on to the couch. He grinned at Naomi, clicked his glass with hers, and took a long drink. "So, Naomi," he said, "how do you want to celebrate your last moments of freedom before the new school year?" Bo wanted to drink. And sleep in. And also, drink.

Bo was definitely a special kind of person. He could be off-putting with his friendliness, and the people that he got along with the best were the ones who both understand and appreciated this part of him. Naomi was special, too. She was funny and friendly, and even though she was a new friend, Bo felt like they could be friends for a very long time -- which was saying something, giving his ADD behavior when it came to... everything.

The gin and tonic was cheap but smooth, perfectly fine for Bo. He had been drinking pretty steadily for the entire summer. Truth be told, he didn't aim to stop when classes started again. He just figured he would need to time it a little better, or at least that was his hope. "Sure, this is celebrating," he said, resting the glass on the knee of his khaki shorts. "But we could do this any time. I vote..." He dragged the word out for emphasis. "I vote we play Never-Have-I-Ever until we're drunk and then go dancing." Did he sound like a girl? He sounded like a girl. But Bo had no real pretensions about gender roles. He liked dancing. It was fun. And he wanted to know more about all the secrets that Naomi had -- also fun.

Bo busied himself with his gin and tonic while Naomi mulled over his idea. It was one of his favorites to throw out there. For one, almost everyone knew how to play. For two, almost everyone secretly wanted to play. For three, it always led to amazing stories and revelations about friends. These were all things that seemed like fun to Bo, and so he was more than delighted when Naomi agreed to it.

"Sure thing," he said, taking another sip and straightening up from his slouched position. "Okay... um..." Hm, it was always easy to think of these things when it wasn't your turn. Bo knew that these games often devolved into sexual questions, but he decided to start it off casually.

"Never have I ever... watched The Jersey Shore." Bo grinned. It was simple and stupid, but the fact that he had never seen something that had been dubbed as one of the most popular shows of his generation was saying something. He was curious if Naomi indulged in a little trash television too.

When Naomi took a drink, Bo laughed. "You're a sucker for Snooki, I see," he said, taking a sip of his own drink without thinking. That was how this game went. Everyone drank the entire time, but sometimes, you were forced to drink too. He could picture Naomi watching trash TV -- and why not? Everyone needed to relax their brains from time to time. Bo did it with alcohol, napping, and long walks by himself. Others did it with bad TV, comfort food, and also napping. It was the human condition.

Now it was Naomi's turn. Naked? He grinned. She had upped the ante without him having to do it -- nice. Tilting his chin up, Bo lifted his glass to the air and drained almost all of it into his mouth, straightening up with a refreshed "ah!" "This one is hardly my fault. My mother took me to a nudist colony in Florida when I was a kid, and now we go back every now and then to visit old friends. Not to mention all the skinny-dipping I have done in my life, the streaking..." Also, Bo had most definitely had sex in public locations before. He didn't find it necessary to mention that tidbit to Naomi though, not when they were just getting to know each other. "You should try it. Live dangerously."

Back to him. "Never have I ever... gotten a tattoo," he said, eying Naomi. It wasn't that he was opposed to them, just that he would plan one out and then forget all about it before he even began trying to make an appointment. C'est la vie.

Bo's drink tipped to his lips. With his free hand, he lifted his shirt, exposing his own six pack of abs. "This is the DC Situation," he said, grinning over the rim of his cup. Though Bo sometimes lacked the focus to go to a gym and work out, he was an incredibly active person. He ran, walked, biked, and swam just about every day. It had its bonuses.

Though his drinking never really stopped throughout the game, Bo laughed at her next statement and took an extra-long drink. "Failed is such a strong word," he said. "I think of it as... practice before passing." It was true that Bo was no academic virtuoso. He had slept through multiple final exams, gotten distracted in the middle of essay tests, drawn doodles on math problems instead of answering the equations. If there was a way to fail a test, Bo had likely already done it long ago.

What to ask next? Bo took a long, thoughtful drink. "Never have I ever said no to a date," he said. It was true. Bo wouldn't pretty much hang out with anyone who asked. Sure, if it was one of his gay friends it wouldn't so much be a romantic date, more of a friend-date, but it was not in his nature to deny people.

Meeting eyes with Naomi, he added, "Oh, this is totally unrelated -- but do you want to go on a date?" It was a trap. He knew they were just friends and was mostly joking, but if she said no, he had guaranteed a drink from her.

(( xo -- k a i r i told me she is probably not coming back so she gave me permission to very slightly puppet Naomi to end our RP with closure! ))

Naomi was fun. Bo loved fun people. Not only did she play back at his flirtation, but she also knew how to lob her own curveballs. Standing people up? Bo did that on the regular. He gave her one grin and then took a long drink. "In my defense," he said, "it was never necessarily intentional. I can just be forgetful." Also, evasive. Bo was likely to ditch any situation that he thought might be unpleasant.

As the night wore on, the questions got more and more personal. Each one took turns drinking and laughing, then drinking and laughing some more. There was some playful slapping and faux-wrestling. With each passing moment, Bo found himself more and more infatuated with the girl in front of him, even as she pushed away his attempts at making their interaction a little more than just playful.

It turned out that Naomi was definitely a giggly drunk. Bo would have liked her to stay the night, but she was sweet in her refusal. At the end, they cleared beer bottles to the kitchen together. She was much shorter than him, but as they got to the doorway, Bo asked her one last time: "Really, we have fun together. Go on a date with me. I promise it will be full of fun and nothing else. Just sunshine."

He smiled the smile he knew was charming. Then, when he sensed the energy between them crackle, Bo leaned in and finally earned himself a kiss from Naomi, just as sweet and gentle as she had been the entire night. "Okay," she said.

"Okay," he repeated.

With one last hug, Bo led Naomi out the door and out of his apartment -- he hoped it wouldn't be the last time.