Every day, Alfred would take his Nintendo 3DS handheld gaming console to work with him. A lot of people seemed to think he was too old for video games, but Alfred would be happy to explain to any of them that they were so totally wrong. People could never grow out of video games, because it was a medium of entertainment that was always evolving!

And besides, what else was Alfred supposed to do on his daily commute? His 3DS actually helped make the crowded train journey home the best part of his day, because that was when he got to play StreetPass.

StreetPass was a special function that came on all 3DS consoles. If you passed someone in the street who carried their own 3DS, the other person's avatar, called a Mii, would appear on your system, and you could use them to play games and win little prizes.

It was pretty addictive, and Alfred loved opening up his 3DS on the train home to see all the people he'd inadvertently met during the day, and trying to figure out where he might have met them and who they might be in reality.

Today was a Monday, and Alfred actually managed to grab a seat on the train home. That always made him feel like he was going to have good luck for the week, so he sat down with a smile and wriggled out his 3DS from the debris in his suitcase. He flipped open the dual screen system and turned it on eagerly to see how many StreetPass hits he'd had today.

The little StreetPass game opened up, all bright colours in a sunny setting – very unlike the drizzle outside – and a parade of nine Mii characters appeared at the gates to Alfred's StreetPass Plaza.

Alfred had chosen to make his avatar look like himself, so that people who met him on StreetPass would be able to know instantly who he was. There were quite a few customisation options, but it had still been a bit of trouble getting his character to sport that cowlick that made him so noticeable. But along with the bright blue eyes, golden hair and tan skin, he felt he was pretty recognisable as his Mii.

But a lot of people decided to get creative with their avatars, like the first couple of Miis on Alfred's StreetPass hits parade: some kind of cat-faced girl and someone who's features literally made a picture of Mickey Mouse on their face. Clever!

And then there was this little guy! Alfred laughed to himself as he looked at the clashing blond hair and giant black eyebrows on the last Mii in his daily parade. Nobody had eyebrows like that, and even if you did, you wouldn't want them reflected on your Mii! The avatar must be based on a cartoon character or something.

The big eyebrows made the new Mii look permanently grumpy, but that made the little avatar's smile all the more adorable when it greeted Alfred's character at the gates of his Streetpass Plaza.

"I'm Arthur from England," the Mii said. "Nice to meet you! Gallifrey Stands."

Alfred's eyes widened at the message, and he smiled giddily. A fellow 'Doctor Who' fan! Sure, many people in England loved the famous sci-fi show, but this guy was obviously a big fanboy to use such a slogan as his StreetPass message. Alfred had the utmost respect for such geekiness.

"Recently I've been playing Pokémon X," Arthur continued, which caused Alfred to perk up again (it was his favourite game series!). "By the way, I like cats. My dream for the future is to be a wizard."

It was an ordinary enough encounter, but still Alfred was drawn to this Arthur guy. He seemed to be an adult (judging by the fact that they'd met during commuting hours), who loved Pokémon and Doctor Who. What wasn't to like?! Alfred hoped they'd StreetPass each other again tomorrow.

Alfred kept his eyes open all morning as he travelled to work, but there was no sign of anyone who looked like the new Mii from yesterday. He didn't spot anyone on the way back in the evening, either, but when he popped open his 3DS on the train, there was Arthur waiting for him at the gates to his StreetPass Plaza! They must have passed again on the crowded city streets, and Alfred just hadn't noticed.

"We've met 2 times now," said Arthur's Mii at the gates of Alfred's StreetPass Plaza.

And that meant Alfred now had the chance to put in a special new greeting message just for Arthur! He whipped out his stylus and typed out a personalised message eagerly.

"LOVE Doctor Who!" he entered into the box, hoping the small 16-character limit of the message could convey his excitement. Now, if he met Arthur again tomorrow, that greeting would be sent to him. Maybe Arthur would even write a special message for him!

It went on like this for a whole week. Alfred and Arthur passed each other at some point every day on Alfred's way home, but never actually saw one another. They did begin exchanging messages via their Miis, though.

"Fav. episode?" Arthur's Mii asked on Wednesday.

"Prob Don't Blink" was Alfred's reply.

"Acceptable." said Arthur on Thursday, and Alfred laughed out loud. He'd passed some sort of fanboy test, apparently.

"Excited for 12?" Alfred replied on Friday evening (meaning the 12th actor to play the show's titular character, who would begin his role later on in the year).

By now it was the weekend, so Alfred wouldn't be hearing Arthur's reply till Monday. He found himself actually desperate for the working week to begin, just so he could do his commute and see Arthur's avatar again. He knew it was stupid, but it was exciting actually meeting someone, making a real friend, on StreetPass.

Monday finally arrived, and on his way home from work Alfred met Arthur again on his 3DS.

"U dont even know" read Arthur's message, grammar and punctuation all gone in favour of expressing his fanboyish excitement.

And that was when Alfred resolved to meet Arthur in real life. It would be a tricky process, but he was determined.

So Tuesday evening, Alfred kept his 3DS out as he walked back to the station after work. Every few seconds, he'd flick to the StreetPass application to see if he'd passed Arthur, hoping that he looked at least a bit like his Mii so Alfred would be able to recognise him in real life and say hello.

But no such luck. Alfred looked away from his 3DS for all of twenty seconds as he rummaged in his pickets for his train pass, and in that short time, Arthur had been and gone. And although Alfred looked around eagerly, it was impossible to see him through the rush hour crowds of the train station.

But at least that let Alfred know he usually passed Arthur at the station. So on Wednesday, he decided to delay his journey home and camped out on a bench beside his platform gate. Sitting still for so long he met a bunch of extra Miis on StreetPass, surpassing his usual daily total. At one point, he even hit 10 as a group of teenagers passed him on their way home from school. 10 Miis was the limit for StreetPass, and you couldn't meet any more avatars until you'd cleared those from your plaza gate, so Alfred hurriedly mashed buttons to get rid of the teens' Miis so he could wait and see when Arthur's showed up. And, of course, that was precisely when Arthur walked by, so Alfred didn't see him until a few minutes later when the first group of Miis was gone and Arthur was standing ready at the gate.

On Thursday, Alfred was held back after work, and didn't see Arthur at all.

It was shocking how much that depressed him. This one little avatar had really brightened up Alfred's life these past two weeks, and the short personal messages they exchanged on their way home were something Alfred looked forward to every day.

On Friday, getting a bit desperate, Alfred decided to check his own train, just in case. He knew it was probably a long shot, and it was pretty embarrassing prowling up and down the aisles of the train cars, peering into every face to see if it was Arthur. But he was just that determined.

He'd reached the last car and his heart had long since drooped miserably in his chest. What were the chances he'd be able to recognise Arthur in real life, anyway? He probably looked nothing like his Mii character. And there were so many trains going out from this station at 6 o' clock every evening, Arthur could be on any one of them!

Alfred struggled to lift his head and examine the passengers in the final train car. But suddenly his head snapped up as Alfred spotted tousled blond hair poking out from behind a seat-back a few rows ahead of him. Arthur's Mii has hair like that, Alfred thought to himself, hopefully. The man was facing away from him, but as Alfred tiptoed closer, he spotted a 3DS sitting in the man's lap.

A spring burst into Alfred's step and he almost skipped over to the stranger, standing next to his seat in the aisle and looking down at scruffy fair hair as the man focused on his 3DS. The passenger must have noticed someone standing next to him, though, for he glanced up, and a pair of bright green eyes widened in surprise as they met Alfred's brilliant, victorious smile.

So the big eyebrows were real, after all. Alfred found he was actually really glad to see them. It wouldn't be the same Arthur without them.

"You!" the man exclaimed, and Alfred beamed at him.

"Hello. I'm Alfred. Recently I've been playing StreetPass Plaza. By the way, I like cats. My dream for the future is to be a hero," Alfred recited, copying his Mii's greeting. Then he blushed, scratching nervously at the back of his neck. "And I couldn't really fit this into a sixteen character message so I've been trying to meet you so I could ask…do you wanna go out sometime?"

A/N:

Written for the 365daysofusuk drabble calendar on tumblr. Posted on March 9th, 2014.