At first blush, you wouldn't think that David Castillo and Pepe Mar's relationship could evoke memories of the Odd Couple theme song. But listening to a few minutes of their banter will convince anyone that these two have all the important things in common and are as opposite as can be.

The two are a veritable Felix Unger and Oscar Madison, who found each other at exactly the right time and are living happily ever after -- albeit with socks sometimes strewn across the living room until David deposits them in the hamper ``where they belong.''

Castillo and Mar connected from day one. ''We met on New Year's Eve at a party that neither one of us wanted to be at,'' said Castillo, 32, who studied history at Yale and art history at the Vatican and is the owner of the David Castillo Gallery in Wynwood.

''I was dancing with a friend that I've known since childhood when Pepe came up to me and introduced himself. He told me that he was an artist and I told him I was an art dealer. What are the chances of that? It wasn't like we were at an art party where you'd expect to meet someone in the same profession,'' Castillo said as Mar chimed in.

''We really clicked when we met. We didn't try so hard to get into a relationship. It was just very natural because we have a lot in common,'' said Mar, a 28-year-old collage artist whose recent solo show in New York was heralded in The New York Times as ``evoking Picasso's seminal collage construction Guitar of 1912-13.''

Then the banter resumes.

''We have a lot in common but we're also very different,'' Castillo says. ``I get up very early and Pepe likes to sleep.''

''He's very organized and I'm very messy,'' Mar rallies back.

''If it belongs in the hamper, I put it in the hamper. In the kitchen he's a better cook but I won't enjoy the meal if I don't clean up right away,'' said Castillo. But, he adds, ``I can recognize that it's a bit much and it probably helps to be with someone like Pepe, who's more relaxed. On some level it relaxes me. I am more likely to leave a briefcase out, which I never would've done before.''

More important are the things Castillo and Mar have in common, such as their love of art. Of course it doesn't hurt that they both speak Spanish as well as English. ''Neither of us had ever dated anyone who was Latin,'' Castillo said.

''We had traveled in the same circles and had never met and then we did in one of the oddest places. There was a 4 a.m. first kiss and there was definitely a spark. There was something special,'' Castillo said, as Mar laughed.

''Something special. That's funny to hear,'' Mar said. ``David is definitely the more verbal one.''

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