A/N: I'm gonna publish this to see if it'll get me motivated to start updating my shit. Enjoy.

Today was unusual.

The sky was the perfect mixture of light pinks and dull blues at this hour, contrasting the black clad man sitting on a park bench. He was sitting at the bench closest to the entrance so he could avoid the early birds that functioned far before he'd consider himself human.

He could see a considerable amount of people from where he sat, they seemed to frequent the middle of the park which was fine by him. He could see a few joggers dotting the path and a small crowd of dog owners throwing sticks around.

Frankly, Michael was slightly disgusted by how early these people actually got up. He wasn't even fully awake yet, he didn't even know why he was up in truth.

He woke up at the crack of dawn without reason and couldn't fall back asleep which bothered him because he had to work later and he was going to be irritable all day now.

Now Michael, you see, wasn't a bitter person. He was just the kind of person that drank half the glass and left it for others to decide if it was half empty or half full. He liked to think of himself as independent, which was only half true. He relied on acquaintances for conversation but he doesn't exactly have friends. Everyone Michael knew was connected somehow to the diner he worked at, whether it was Tom the waiter or Luke who worked as kitchen staff. He even hung out with the girl that was always in the diner utilizing the free wifi one time.

He found comfort in not having people clinging to him on a constant basis, wondering where he was or what he was doing, he didn't like the idea of setting up plans to meet up or figuring out his day around what his friends were up to. Plus, having friends could be a drag at times, Michael didn't enjoy the thick cloud of drama that hung around his mates back in high school so he slowly cut himself out of the picture and moved to a sleepy town somewhere in the US, somewhere around New York if one wanted specifics.

He didn't even know how he wound up in the park, somewhere between getting a coffee that would hopefully get him into his routine and looking for somewhere to waste time, and Michael had a whole lot of time on his hands. The park seemed reasonable enough, even though now that he was seated, Michael couldn't do much else but scowl at the early birds as he sipped lukewarm coffee that wasn't quite strong enough to prevent him from squinting at the passers by.

A dog that looked like it could easily fit comfortably within Michael's jacket trotted up to him while he was glaring at a couple on bikes who wore matching tracksuits, they were in their later years but that didn't excuse their atrocious couples attire, Michael wanted to gag.

The dog pissed on Michael's shoe, he didn't even notice until it began soaking into his sock. Michael would describe the look the dog gave him afterwards as smug although dogs seemed to have very few expressions.

He muttered a few choice words in reply as he checked the damage, Michael grimaced at how disgustingly warm it was in his shoe now. He needed an excuse to indulge in some new shoes but this really wasn't what he had in mind, dogs definitely weren't on Michael's list of favourites and that gesture just proved his point.

After all that, the dog had the audacity to hop onto the bench next to Michael and sit down as if it hadn't just relieved itself on his only pair of shoes. Michael almost wanted to cuss out the small mammal even more but a few joggers were approaching and he didn't want to attract attention to himself.

Michael unhappily sipped his coffee and the dog sat next to him and watched expectantly like some kind of service dog. Michael didn't know why he was still here, with the dog, when he really should be headed home to disinfect his shoe and change his socks.

As if in reply to his unanswered question, a tall lad stopped in front of the bench. Michael glanced over, disposable coffee cup to his lips and noticed that the boy was obviously a student judging by the backpack, hopefully college. His skin matched the colour Michael often associated with home, something that reminded him of warm nights and great memories.

The guy wasn't even looking at Michael, which made him frown, why was he here then?

The raven haired boy crouched down and started petting the dog. Usually Michael didn't mind not being noticed but he'd just been rejected for a dog, even though he hadn't said a word to make conservation with said boy, Michael still felt sour about the dog being the centre of attention.

The boy was pretty after all, pretty enough for Michael to take notice. He'd met a lot of pretty boys around the diner, but what was one more to brighten his day after waking up so goddamn early.

"Wow, your bulldog is adorable, what's his name?" The boy asked, sure enough having an Australian accent to fit the look, he didn't even bother looking up from the dog which made Michael frown even more. The boy continued to pet and talk to the dog while Michael just kind of looked on from the side.

"Uh, it's not even my dog honestly, it pissed on me and then sat there." Michael grumbled, glaring at the dog only for it to look back at him with its round buggy eyes.

"Oh, sorry."

The boy was off again, walking down the path and out of the park without a second glance back. The dark skinned boy hadn't even looked at Michael once.