"Usually when I say something like that, the other person pats my hand and tells me very kindly to chill, or let's see how the first half hour of the date goes at least, or they just laugh." Which were all reasonable responses that Gabriel tolerated with good humour, especially since they seemed to be the correct answers. But Eli sounded like he meant it, really meant it, when he replied. What if it wasn't a pill that had thrown Eli off his axis, but just Gabriel? What if that kind of sledgehammer-strong, life-altering love was truly real, and it was happening right now? And did Gabriel feel it too? He wasn't sure, but he knew he felt a lot of things, chief among them a connection to this virtual stranger, a longing and loyal connection.

"About me. Huh. I don't know, I had the usual tragic childhood. It got worse when I told my parents I was trans. I ran away when I was fifteen and I've never even seen my parents since. Which, like." Gabriel shrugged, but his expression was pained, because he spent so much time brushing off his trauma and burying it in floods of alcohol that sometimes a mere shrug just didn't cut it. "I landed in New York and learned how to live like a person, and now I'm here. I feel like I'm running my life now, I guess? Instead of just reacting to a life that's happening to me. I love it here. I love the normal stuff, music and building things and feeling connected to people."