Chapter Text
It was a relatively slow day at Hollow Sound vinyl + vintage. Some regulars were milling about, most of them were professional loiterers in Luca’s humble opinion. One woman came in every Tuesday and just walked up and down the rows of records, not really looking at anything in particular. Unless you count Luca of course.
His favourite coworker Maria thinks she has a crush on Luca. He always just rolls his eyes. “Maybe she just likes.. the vibes? Oh god I don’t even know.”
“Yeah dude, your vibe, she totally is into you.” Maria says, looking up from her book.
“Yeah well.” He replies, eyes returning to his sketchbook.
The woman has finished her weekly browsing and is on her way out slowly, lingering. Maria smiles, it’s all too good.
“See you next time, Antonia!” Maria calls from behind him and Luca can only offer a small smile to the poor woman.
“OH- yeah for sure. Bye guys, bye Luca.” She said darting out the door.
“You’re such a bitch!” Luca says, spinning around to face his friend, batting her book right out of her hands. His eyes, almost as bright as his smile as they laugh.
“She’ll get over it, me, whatever. I’m sure there’s someone out there for her.”
Luca isn’t exactly into Antonia or, well, anyone like Antonia.
***
Luca hasn’t really put himself out there, and definitely not lately. So he doesn’t have much experience. Not that he’s a prude or anything but he only moved to Boston about 6 months ago and he’s been working A TON to basically just feed himself and have a place to live. So meeting men wasn’t really on his radar at the moment. Any time he has gone out, it’s mostly just to unwind and have a few drinks, he is only 24. Practically a baby.
He clicked with Maria right away and she’s tried to set him up so many times with friends or friends of friends, but he just keeps saying it’s not the right time.
“When will the right time be, babe?” She asked one night as they sat in a booth of their (Maria’s) favourite Thai place.
“I don’t know, I’m just figuring stuff out.”
“Yeah, but you could also be figuring out some guy’s dick.” She countered, and tried not to laugh as Luca almost choked on his pad see ew.
“Oh my god, I’m moving back to New York!”
“No, nooo, I’m kidding I’ll stop and I’ll even take your name down from the bathroom stall at Vesper.”
Vesper was the queer club they usually go to on Saturday nights. $2 shots and go go boys.
Maria was bisexual and more often than not, Luca was her wingman, which was fine, he never minded. She had found him one or two guys to make out on the dance floor, but it never went past that.
“LUCA HAAS IS A GOOD TIME" she mimed writing.
“MARIA!”
She just smiled.
***
Luca was working an afternoon shift and he was messing with his hair in his bathroom mirror.
Luca’s hair was naturally light blonde, and slightly wavy. Right now, the colour was more of a dusty pink. He had put a semi permanent pink on it a few weeks ago and the colour was almost faded all the way out. He liked to play around with his hair colour sometimes, he felt like it made him look less intimidating. People had told him he could be intimidating.
Luca was 6’1” with an average build. He wore glasses, mostly for reading or drawing, but he liked how they made him look so he wore them more than he needed to. His ears were pierced once each, he had a lip piercing on the left side of his bottom lip. A simple tight black hoop. Maybe unsuspectingly his nipples were pierced. He could thank Maria for that, as he could with many things. He had lost a bet and Maria could dare him to do whatever she wanted.
He..kinda liked them though.
His outfit today was casual as always. His beat up black converse, loose fitting black jeans and a t-shirt of his favourite artist, Hozier.
He threw on the vintage denim jacket he bought after his second month working at Hollow Sound, god bless the employee discount.
Luca was very punctual, especially about getting to work and especially when it came to making sure he had time to get his iced coffee before work.
He walked into the store and Maria perked up.
“Hey dude get over here, first dibs on what this guy just brought in!”
Maria had worked here for years so sometimes she looked through what people donated, before they input it and put it out on the floor.
“NO WAY!” Luca almost shouted.
“I have been wanting this record for like 10 years.”
“Celine Dion?” Maria said, plucking it from his grip.
“Yeah, my mom loves her!”
“You’re an enigma, Luca Haas.”
“Whatever, how much with my discount?” He said with a laugh.
“Just take it, early birthday present,” Maria said with a wink.
“You don’t even know when my birthday is.”
“Well then I’m either a little early or REALLY early. Enjoy it, kid.”
“I owe you!”
“I’m filing that away for when I want to use it!!!” She said, swirling her smoothie.
“I regret it already.”
***
Antonia was leaving the shop. With her boyfriend. Or at least it looked like that the way she hung off him and laughed, possibly too loud, at something he said. All while looking right at Luca. Good for her. Luca would be lying if he wasn’t going to miss the attention, even though he wasn’t into women.
“Have you ever had a threesome?” He asked, off the cuff.
“I’m walking away, weirdo, gonna grab some receipt paper from the stockroom,” Maria replied.
The bell over the door chimed and he snorted out a laugh as he watched someone walk in.
Woah.
WOAH.
This was one beautiful man.
Tailored dress pants, with a grey sweater that left little to the imagination and what looked like vintage Versace loafers. He had sandy blonde curly hair, just long enough that it covered his ears a little bit.
Luca was mildly interested in fashion, and so was this man apparently.
Luca was more than mildly interested in the way that fashion looked on this particular man’s body though.
Luca assessed this all quickly and hopefully not too obviously as the man was, oh, he was walking up the counter.
“Hey there, how can I help you?” Luca said with a small smile.
“Hello, I’m wondering who I would talk to about advertising with..paper.”
Hmm, the way he talked was interesting.
“Oh you’d like to advertise on our bulletin board?”
“Yes, yes, I am having.. event and I’d like people to come.” The man said gesturing in the air as he tried to find the name for a particular word
He had an accent…he couldn’t place it at first. Maybe Russian?
Luca then noticed he was in fact wearing what looked like a Russian Orthodox crucifix necklace. The way it sat at a perfect length on his chest was…
Luca had spent some time in Russia. Some summers his family would go for the whole summer, spending lots of time at the beaches and cafes.
He remembered the men being attractive but this man looked like something straight from Florence Italy, how strong and chiseled he was.
FOCUS LUCA!!
Wracking his brain, he tried to remember some of the language from so many years ago.
“Vy russkoyazychnyy?”
The man’s eyes widened, glittered almost. His smile brightened and his shoulders seemed to relax.
“Da, ty?”
“Net, ya shveytsarka, no moya sem'ya provodila tam leto.” Luca offered.
“Akh, ya teper' pochti ne govoryu po-russki..”
Luca didn’t get to speak German much, other than when he called to talk to his parents.
“YA tozhe, s nemetskim.”
“Da.” The man replied, a small smile on his lips.
He was supposed to be getting someone?
MARIA!
He cleared his throat and switched to English.
“So, um, yeah sorry, let me grab my manager on duty, she can help you. I’ll be right back.”
“I’ll just stay right here.” He said. The way he rolled his Rs and the way his accent curved around the words as he spoke was..nice.
Nice..
He walked back with Maria, trying to just be as nonchalant as he could. The man again was asking about if he’d be able to put up an ad on their bulletin board. It was for a show his gallery was putting on in two weeks. There was a small bulletin board at the front of the store.
“Oh for sure, that’s so cool! Yeah absolutely!”
“Gallery? Are you an artist, a dealer?” Luca asked, coming closer to the counter.
“Ah, no, just a dealer. I can’t take any credit, I just like to let the artists shine.” The man smiled with that comment.
“Luca loves art, always has some sort of sketchbook on him, doodling.” Maria offered.
He flushed from where he was standing now back off to the side of Maria, trying to keep himself busy. He was always nervous about showing people his art but she had always complimented his work.
“Luca,” the man repeated.
Luca offered a smile.
“Ilya,” he said offering his hand to Maria first and then to Luca.
Ilya…
His hand was firm in Luca’s and Luca’s tongue felt too big for his mouth all of a sudden. He could have sworn he felt Ilya’s thumb rub over his hand while he held it.
“Could I see?” Ilya asked.
“See?”
“Your art. I always love meeting artists,” Ilya said. “I find it’s a nice way to see a different side of someone. Can be very..intimate.”
Intimate.
Shit.
“I actually didn’t bring my book with me today.”
THE ONE TIME.
“Another time then,” he said with a smile.
“Totally, yeah. Come back any time, I’m here..a lot.”
Really?
“Well then I’ll have to come back, maybe I’ll even pick up that sexy looking leather jacket.”
“Sexy looking"?
“That one is nice, we just got it in.”
Just got it in? Jesus dude come on.
“Leather can definitely make one look dangerous, what do you think.. Luca?”
“Oh yeah sometimes,” Luca offered, suddenly words were hard. “I usually try to make myself look less intimidating though, hence the pink hair.” He gestured to his head as if Ilya wouldn’t get it.
“Well that is definitely working for you.” He said with a small smile.
Definitely working for you
“Thanks.” Luca said and jesus, his face felt so hot.
“Well thank you both, I can go hang this poster up now?”
He almost forgot Maria was still there, she’ll definitely bring this up later.
“Definitely,” Maria said. “Let me grab a thumbtack for you, I have to take some old ads down from the bulletin board anyway.”
“Sure.” Ilya said and soon off they went.
Luca was burning a hole in the pages of his book with his stare, not even reading anything, hoping he’d look busy when Ilya left.
Of course not because he brought back a few thumbtacks and set them on the counter, since Maria was off sorting some of the jackets.
“Thanks again, Luca,” Ilya offered.
“No problem, my pleasure.”
“Ich wünsche Ihnen einen schönen Abend,” Ilya said with a smile.
Luca stared, wide eyed, dumb smile on his face.
And then the bell over the door chimed, signalling Ilya’s exit.
Well….