Ryan actually had to convince himself that Brendon wasn't making fun of him in order to maintain a composed expression - relatively composed - although he knew for sure that the act of dedicated listening and comprehensive nodding was just that, an act. Ran thought he was a fairly assertive person, but here Brendon was, totally cool with doing whatever in front of a stranger. Again, probably a New York thing. [i]I’m honoured you’re even letting me breathe it.[/i] Ryan continued his choice made thus far to just keep staring at him, more fascinated than anything else with how comfortable he got so quickly. He didn't argue with Ryan's logic, though, so that was all right, Ryan could deal with some irritation, no problem. It didn't even cross his mind to offer a smoke over, nor had any other usual courtesy occurred to him to present Brendon with; maybe this was a hire not just for facts and information but also to recalibrate to the outside world.

He might have considered Brendon lucky for being the most impressive candidate thus far if he wasn't the [i]only[/i] candidate. Ryan was in charge of looking for someone all by his lonesome, probably more because his company knew how huge of a control freak he was and didn't want to get in his way than anything else. That said, he did a piss poor job of making a list of prospects, hadn't even started looking for any profiles online or anything. There were plenty of professional consultants he probably could've called, line operators who were familiar with New York City for their career or tourism coordinators who knew every nook and cranny of the place. But Ryan had fucked up priorities, so his mind was usually on fixing the wording of every tiny meaningless sentence in his novel rather than on finding the person who would become an indispensable instrument in making the thing realistic at all. After all, he took life iteratively, didn't multitask to ensure his concentration was narrowed down into as tiny a focus as possible. That way, less mistakes were made.

And maybe Brendon wasn't perfect, because he didn't seem like the same kind of person, but Ryan heard somewhere that two very different people meant that there were two very different perspectives, and after being the only person with a real lead say on his last two books he knew he had to incorporate some variety. So. Enter Brendon. Brendon, of course, didn't know that from the second he walked into Ryan's view that he had a job already, and Brendon didn't know that it wasn't just because he fit the most basic requirements, but also that he had this insanely unusual attitude Ryan wasn't used to. So unused to, in fact, that he didn't want Brendon to know that his absurd brazenness was getting him places, 'cause then he'd probably just kick it up a notch and Ryan really wasn't up to getting his patience tested. For now, though, he was interested in him, wanted to know why someone so young and with so muc  potential had landed on such a weird short term opportunity, unless it was just for the cash. But he had barely given Jon any information about pay, so, maybe it wasn't even that, and he was just on his last leg employment wise.

As awful as he was at interacting with other real live breathing humans by now, Ryan knew he shouldn't just come out with 'you're fascinatingly weird,' so he stayed relatively quiet throughout the rest of their conversation, trying to eke more information about Brendon out of him while he stayed as surface-level about himself as possible. [i]Less confident, more like running out of options.[/i] So he was right. Ryan looked at him speculatively, something unreadable in his gaze, and he knew Brendon couldn't have gotten that out as easily as he tried to. He nodded very gently, understanding quickly. [i]Got axed, like, fuckin’- yesterday.[/i] Before he turned away, Ryan registered the look on his face, and he wasn't too socially inept to pick up on facial cues. He felt for the guy. He couldn't sympathize, necessarily, because it's not like he'd had to hold a job in his adult life to stay sheltered and fed, but he understood feeling like he was losing control. [b]"I see,"[/b] he said carefully just before starting the search for his wallet, sounding softer than he had throughout their entire bizarre interaction. 

It's not like it was a guilt trip by any means, because Ryan already knew he wasn't going to even try to look for anyone else, although he knew for damn certain there were people better suited for the position. Brendon had been the one with initiative (or the only one to know, unless Jon had really gone more out of his way, or even Spencer). The same went for the money he handed over next; it just felt fair. Brendon had gone so far out of his way for such a huge favor, staying over here and putting his own life on pause for the sake of a series he appeared to know nothing about. Unless, of course, Ryan was being presumptuous, and Brendon read more than he looked like he did. Which was a grand total of zero books a year. [i]Uh- thanks.[/i] Ryan looked at him slightly oddly, wondering why he was being thanked for what he thought was basically a debt being paid, but shrugged anyway and slung his hands into his too-low pockets. 

He watched Brendon go to painstaking measures not to fuck anything up while he settled in, putting his bag down on the couch he treated like fine china but that Ryan could give less of a shit about, then held his jacket rather than set it in the same place or hang it up, whatever. Ryan wore an amused look, reservedly eyeing the coat hanging off his arm, and wondered how exactly to tell him he could do whatever the hell he wanted and Ryan wouldn't care. Actually, he needed a reason to keep his housekeeper coming, because all they ever needed to do was, like, move a book to a shelf or throw away a couple of crumpled up papers he missed himself. At least now he knew that Brendon wasn't as much of a fireball as he expected - he was actually too well-mannered for his own good from the looks of it, so much so Ryan was afraid he wouldn't be able to get comfortable in what would virtually be his own home for an indefinite amount of time. Or maybe he was wrong, and this was just Brendon in the first thirty minutes. Hopefully that was the case.

He needed to stop making assumptions about the guy, either way. [i]That he knew you in Colorado, you were an author and you needed a source- a NYC native.[/i] Ryan wasn't sure how he felt about that much information being passed on, as little as it was. He'd become accustomed to [i]complete[/i] anonymity. He pursed his lips but didn't comment on the facts, just slowly tried to extract Brendon's jacket from his arm and hang it on a hook behind them directly beside one of his own. [i]And here I am, nothing but a kinda pretty face from Brooklyn. Although- he wasn’t [/i]mad [i]specific.[/i] Mad specific. Ryan was endeared to his slang, and maybe made a mental note of it - if Brendon's speech patterns were this distinctively Brooklyn then he was definitely going to need to pick up on them and incorporate them into the story. Not just for the realism, but it really was heartwarming. He forgot the appropriate boundaries of socialization before replying. [b]"[i]Kinda[/i] pretty?"[/b] was all he said, raising an eyebrow at Brendon over his shoulder but not offering much else. That alone, though, was fairly telling itself. 

[i]Um, Ryan? So, man, do you have WiFi up here? Or are you a strong believer that the internet distracts us from one of life’s greatest pleasures- [/i]reading. Ryan glanced back at him again, once again wearing an odd, curious look. Brendon really was eccentric. He was about the first person Ryan had met in a very long time who didn't drop to the floor to kiss his feet just for being young and wealthy - and, that being said, the first person who called him 'man' like that, like he may as well have said 'yo' too. He wasn't sure whether he liked or disliked that fact just yet. [i]How do you even survive?[/i] Ryan stopped in front of a door abruptly, without warning, and smiled at him, offbeat. [b]"Yeah, man, I've got WiFi,"[/b] he replied just as casually, and leaned in close to Brendon to check out the settings app sitting open. There were a few different routers throughout the place simply because of the size, and he picked out the strongest, pointing at Brendon's screen as if this kind of distance between two strangers was acceptable. [b]"That one. The password's just, uh, 'password.' To be honest, I'm not sure how I survive, 'cause technology is beyond me."[/b] And he was only a year older than Brendon. He shook his head tragically.

Ryan opened the door he'd stopped in front of, strolling into a guest room fully furnished; a queen-sized bed with sateen and Egyptian cotton, faintly silvery-white, and the rest of the room reflected the same color scheme with an accent of light-light-lavender. All the wood in the room was pine, all the furniture characteristically vintage looking (likely because it was actually antique, and not just on purpose), two sidetables and a dresser and a filled out bookshelf and a desk with a laptop/office set, the works. Out of nervous habit he flicked the lights in the connected bathroom on and off, worried a little that the place had gone untouched so long that it was hardly livable, but the space was pristine. Guess that housekeeper found work after all. [b]"Also, I think the Internet made people read a lot more, actually,"[/b] he commented absently, as if Brendon truly cared. [b]"Writing is more readily available, most everything is public domain... it's kind of incredible."[/b] 

Ryan looked like he was still dwelling on that for a few moments more, then suddenly gestured around the room as if they'd only just arrived rather than having stepped inside a minute and a half ago. [b]"I hope this is okay. The guest rooms all sort of look the same, so... if you need anything, just say so, no problem."[/b] As if he'd told Brendon he'd be staying here already, beyond a couple of implicating words. Honestly. It'd been a [i]long[/i] time since he'd spoken this long with a person around to hear it. [b]"What's your place like back in the city? I could try to get the same stuff here."[/b]