Gabriel nodded his head toward a direction and a path, and they began to walk. No goodbyes for the redhead, no sorry, you're lovely, but he's dangerous and it's thrilling and it's just so much more interesting to break the heart of someone who might break mine in return.

He had the mad urge to take Niall's hand, but that would be reckless, even for him. Northern Ireland was both more and less homophobic than Canada, than Quebec. It took a different tone toward them, even in an open-minded university town like Derry. If the Irish liked you well enough already, then it was forgivable if you were a bit of a nancy boy. If they didn't, well. It might have been decriminalized, but that didn't make it welcome. Better if one had the sense to have a bit of tact about these things, at least in public.

"What brings you to Derry, then, Mr. Lynch?" Not only did Niall not belong at the university, he didn't belong in Derry. Might not even belong in Northern Ireland. Gabriel hadn't learned how to distinguish the subtle cultural differences or the nuances of accent. He might never develop the skill. But for some reason Niall had arrowed straight for him. "You hinted you'd gone out of your way for me, but I can't imagine why."