Some old people come and go [from the New York Port Authority bus terminal near Times Square] like characters in a dream, having fixed roles to play. Two are known as "the lovers." They come in separately, meet, sit and hold hands a while, then leave.

FICTION: The image of people who meet, hold hands, then leave is a resonant narrative scene — could inspire a story about strangers whose only connection is a scheduled moment of intimacy in a public space.

Lyn H. Lofland, World of Strangers_ Order a…, loc. 731