" A Certain Liquidity Of The Eye"

My favourite piece of gay fiction , is Mark Gatiss' theatrical monologue The Man on the platform. 
It's a gentle melancholic piece about the friendship between a World War One army private and his captain and it appeared as the first of four gay monologues in the play Queers which has been subsequently showcased at the Old Vic and on tv.
Percy, the central character talks about that joyful moment when he recognises a fellow gay man in public and describes the mutual acknowledgement as the spotting of " a certain liquidity of the eye"
as told in the tv version , by Ben Whishaw, the words seem to hold a special poignancy

I was sat in the Jaunty Goat cafe in Chester this morning after going to a Spanish class for beginners. The class had been a bit of a disappointment, as it wasn't as structured as I would of liked but the cafe was friendly and trendy enough to be a real treat.
It was a place The Prof and I used to frequent a lot, and it was my first time back alone.

As I sat and ate avocado on sour bread toast and drank coffee, I started to write today's blog in my head and half day dreaming I caught the eye of a man sitting at the bar in the window. He was a little younger than I , but just as scruffy in a more trendy kind of way. He had a beard and wore a beanie hat indoors. He was working at a laptop
Our "look" reminded me of Gatiss's liquidity of the eye reference though I would describe it more as a      moment's glance  that lasts a microsecond  longer than normal.
Most gay men will recognise this non verbal ' flash' within a look and even though it's been a long time since I have experienced one, it made me blush , just a little.

I tapped away on my iPad as the scruffy guy worked away at his keyboard
I ordered another coffee as he finished his, and we swapped a couple more glances inbetween sips and taps and reading moments.
I noticed he had a small nervous tic, a blink of his right eye as he read.

All too soon I watched him get up and get his coat on then slowly wrap his scarf around his neck.
After he picked up his laptop he turned and we caught each other's eye again and after this we both half smiled a goodbye.

Then he had gone.
And I smiled to myself not only because  I had enjoyed a minute flirt with a sweet looking man .
But because I also noticed that I had dripped a sloppy bit of avocado down my sweater front.

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