He comes in every other week or so.
He looks a bit like John Liithgow - a younger version, 30 something with long, prematurely greying long hair.
He comes in alone, in the early hours, dines usually alone, tips well. Friendly enough, he's not one of our usual clientelle. He works for a living.
And he stares long at G, or me, he has this huge smile on his face, he's by himself and it's not busy and so I make light conversation.
He's in IT, a programmer, he's on his way to either a D&D game or Ballroom dancing lesson. And I've figured out why he stares long - too long - at G or me, it's not (necessarily) that he's gay, it's that he has no rudimentary social skills.
G has grown to hate him, thinks that the prolonged eye contact is a come-on, maybe it is, but IT folk, and I've known a few, they're weird.
He comes in one night with a few of his friends, more IT folk, they are all fucking weird. Strange glances, abnormally timed social skills, you don't realize what socially awkward is until you meet someone who inadvertently thwarts all the norms. Some of them we've served before. They're all a bit too friendly, they all work together, all play D&D together....
They take forever to eat. We need the table. And after dinner, no coffee but they sit and chat, there's the fear they're going to pull out the Monster Manual and Dungeon Master's Guide and start playing D&D at the table.
They're an odd bunch, eventually they leave and we all breathe a sigh of relief. Nerds.