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 Posted: Sun May 01, 2016 8:57 pm
Well, that had him perking up a little bit. He gauged Jamie to be entirely non-confrontational; having him ask a question like that caught Shiloh slightly off guard. Maybe he was finally relaxing? He had the same realization Jamie did, and though Shiloh wasn't really ones for smiles and laughs, it was hard not to pick up on the vague amusement in his voice when he spoke, "Repeating my words, huh?"
He leaned forward, arms now folded in his lap. They would be here all night if he gave him the actual answer, besides the point that Shiloh didn't feel like talking about that sort of s**t anyway. Funny as it was, he might have if Jamie was just a stranger he'd knew he'd never see again, but being that they went to the same school... he didn't want that sort of thing hanging over him. Jamie seemed skittish and probably wouldn't even approach him in a school setting, but the possibility was still there and Shiloh didn't want to ******** with it.
"Just wanted an icee." he reached over, grabbing the empty container to wiggle it back and forth as he finally looked over at Jamie again.
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Posted: Mon May 02, 2016 7:48 am
Underneath the timid surface, Jamie held a small spark of life in him. It wasn't often anything but submissive warbling left his lips, but occasionally he could talk as if he weren't afraid he'd be immediately shoved into a locker, even if he couldn't completely keep it up. Maybe it was because there weren't any lockers to speak of right now.
"I guess I was," he answered, scritching his shoes against the ground again, not quite smiling but looking surprisingly calm. "I meant it though." Y'know, just in case it had been a situation like his own, something unusual and not easily shared.
The answer he did end up getting was even simpler than Jamie imagined it would be. He could still see the faint hint of blue on Shiloh's lips.
"I don't think..." and he did think about it for a second "... I've ever had an icee. I usually get, um, peach stuff." He motioned kinda vaguely with one hand, knowing 'peach stuff' didn't tell Shiloh much. "Like uh... smoothies."
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Posted: Mon May 02, 2016 1:05 pm
Shiloh clicked his tongue. Jamie's calmness was near palpable, or maybe Shiloh was just reading too heavily into things again, but regardless it made him settle a little too. He meant it, huh? Yeah, Shiloh was definitely reading too much into this guy. For a second he almost wanted to crack a comment, but then Jamie said something far more concerning.
"What the ******** is wrong with you." it wasn't even said like a question. Shiloh's brow was furrowed in absolute incredulous disbelief. "Never?"
Then again, Shiloh's never had a smoothie before in his life either. Jamie didn't need to know that.
"Do you have any idea what you're missin' out on?" Shiloh wasn't even sure he needed to ask. Jamie, obviously, did not.
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Posted: Mon May 02, 2016 1:30 pm
It felt as sudden and surprising as the moment he'd seen Shiloh sitting alone on the curb a short time ago. That question-but-not-really-a-question jolted Jamie hard and his eyes widened, a small, embarrassed flush lighting his cheeks. He could feel his face getting warm, the heat creeping along to the back of his neck. Hopefully it was too dark to see.
"N-Never," he confirmed, fiddling with his hands in his lap as he pointedly looked anywhere but Shiloh's face. "I-I guess I just never, um, thought about trying it..."
It's not like he didn't know they existed. He'd been to convenience stores, he'd seen signs, but he'd always gotten slushies or smoothies instead, if grabbing a drink even came up at all. If he had to, he'd blame it on his parents, but that seemed awfully petty.
"I guess I... don't know. Must be really good..." he mumbled, his voice getting quieter as his gaze dropped to the street.
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Posted: Mon May 02, 2016 3:53 pm
He wasn't actually mad, but he maybe toned it down after Jamie's blatant reaction. He bit his lip thoughtfully for once. "Well they're pretty common." every convenience store had a machine. If they didn't, then there was nothing convenient about 'em.
Shiloh resolved to rectify this situation immediately.
Jumping suddenly to his feet, Shiloh left the empty icee cup abandoned on the curbside. It had served its purpose. "Come on." he turned to walk, making absolutely no mention of where they were going what so ever.
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Posted: Mon May 02, 2016 4:04 pm
Jamie couldn't argue that they were common, because they definitely were, but he honestly didn't have much time to argue anything before Shiloh suddenly sprang to his feet. The sudden movement was even more startling than the harsh accusation from a moment before, Jamie was like an easily startled animal ready to bolt at the first sign of aggression, but before he could do that he was being summoned. Looked like Shiloh was always going to be one step ahead of him.
"W-What?" he choked out, but found himself rushing to a stand regardless of whether he'd receive an answer. In a flurry of confusion and the worry of being left behind, he quickly snatched up the cup Shiloh had left and jogged after him on wobbly legs.
"Where are we going?" he asked when he caught up, clutching the empty cup between both hands. He wouldn't criticize Shiloh for littering, but that didn't mean he was just going to leave it there.
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Posted: Mon May 02, 2016 4:20 pm
"There's a 7/11 right around the corner," Shiloh said with such absolute certainty that it almost seemed inane to not know that was the obvious destination. He hadn't bothered to check if Jamie was following (somehow, he doubted he would have just stayed there, and if he had then it just would have been his loss), and he took the time to look over now that he had sufficiently caught up to him.
"Why did you bring that?" he was looking at the cup clutched in Jamie's hands, "It's trash."
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Posted: Mon May 02, 2016 4:41 pm
Putting two and two together did seem obvious now that 7/11 had been brought up, especially after Jamie decided Shiloh was legitimately offended by the fact he'd never had an icee. Why it mattered that much, he didn't know, but if there was anyone willing to try a frozen sweet treat to gain someone else's approval, it was Jamie. At least getting an icee wasn't something detrimental to his physical or emotional well being.
"Oh, um-" As he looked down at the cup, he turned it between his hands, hmm-ing quietly to himself. "I just.. didn't wanna leave litter," was what he decided on, still looking at the cup instead of Shiloh. "I'm gonna throw it away whenever we pass a garbage can."
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Posted: Mon May 02, 2016 4:53 pm
"Whatever..." Shiloh shrugged noncommittally. Jamie wanted to do his good deed for the day? Sure, fine, he didn't really care.
The store front was about as dilapidated as the rest of the town; parts of the fluorescent lights were flickering, if not buzzed out completely. Sketchy at best, but Shiloh sure as hell didn't seemed deterred, not even when the cashier inside gave him a strange look (probably because he was literally just there not even thirty minutes ago).
Had Jamie not been there, he probably would have snuck a candy bar or two into his coat pocket, but he was pretty sure getting caught would give him a heart attack. Hell, he'd probably stay behind and beg to be arrested rather than running like Shiloh, and since he knew Shiloh's name now then he'd be ******** over too. Yeah, wasn't really worth the chocolate. Bad enough that he was paying for two icees, but it was all in the name of everything-but-God at this point.
"Blue or red?" he didn't mind dawdling outside until the wee hours of the morning, but dawdling inside of the store made him anxious.
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Posted: Mon May 02, 2016 6:35 pm
Picking up litter was a good deed Jamie didn't mind doing whenever and wherever necessary, and honestly, if one looked close enough they'd see the vaguely pleased look on his face as he dunked the cup into the trash outside of the 7/11. It wasn't that hard to pick up after yourself, though he followed through with his plan of keeping any lectures to himself. Shiloh was still somewhat intimidating and they'd only really known each other for about thirty minutes, even if they did go to the same school. That just wasn't long enough for Jamie to feel comfortable nagging.
"Uh... blue?" It came out more like a question than an answer, but he quickly solidified it with a surer answer of, "Yeah... yeah, blue."
It was probably a good thing Shiloh decided against taking the chocolate. Upstanding citizen Jamie didn't even plan on letting him get away with the whole 'paying for two icees' thing. He had a couple bucks in his pocket, if he was remembering correctly. They weren't that expensive, right?
"Oh, um, here." When he unfolded the wadded bill it turned out to be a five. Even better than expected. He held it out to Shiloh. "I hope this will cover it..."
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Posted: Mon May 02, 2016 6:52 pm
Truth be told, Shiloh was so intent on the damn icee machine that he, in fact, hadn't noticed the vaguely pleased look worn on Jamie's face. What did he say? Blue? Well, it didn't really matter, because blue was what he was going to get regardless. It was obviously superior.
At the money being tentatively shoved into his face, well.
He had half a mind to take it, but instead he just looked up at Jamie's face, and back down to the five, and back up to his face, and then finally back to the icee machine as he filled two small cups up. Could he have used the money, no matter how small? Yeah. Was it a question of pride? Yeah, honestly.
"Anyway," he said, totally disregarding the monetary offering, "Blue is a good choice. You'll like it."
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Posted: Mon May 02, 2016 7:15 pm
The look Shiloh gave him and his money made Jamie wonder if there was something wrong with it that he didn't realize or understand. Was it counterfeit? Was he waggling a counterfeit five in his new acquaintance's face? Was it too dirty? Honestly, Jamie thought all money was pretty disgusting. So many questions, so few answers.
It never dawned on him that Shiloh's pride kept him from accepting. He even managed to stutter out a short "b-but-" except Shiloh had already turned back to the icee machine, all but snubbing Jamie's offer to pay for his own without even directly saying so.
"U-Um... I believe you," he bumbled, because he wasn't quite sure what else to say. The five was stuffed awkwardly back into his pocket; he'd held it out expectantly long enough and it had started to get embarrassing. Hopefully the cashier hadn't been watching. "T-Thanks... For, um, buying I mean."
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Posted: Mon May 02, 2016 7:26 pm
There was only a noncommittal 'mhm' from Shiloh's part as he delicately placed the lids on the two precious drinks. Unfortunately for Jamie, the cashier probably had been watching, because despite his minimum wage prison he still found it fit to minimally patrol his job responsibilities. There was an impatient clearing of the throat that surely didn't come from Shiloh and definitely not Jamie, and even though Shiloh didn't seem pressured he was quickly on his way to check out.
"It's nothing." he said quietly as they walked out of the store, handing one of the icees over. "Just enjoy it."
He took a nice, long sip of his own, the enjoyment obvious on his face. For once, he didn't look so agitated or disgruntled. Just pleased.
"You should prolly be heading home soon." he mentioned out of the blue as he stepped away from the door (didn't want to get coughed at for loitering either). Jamie seemed like a good kid with a decent head on his shoulders and that probably included being somewhat prepared for school activities. Then again, here he was out here like Shiloh was. Actually, from this angle under the light fixtures, he really could see those bags under Jamie's haggard eyes. He doubted Jamie's situation was anything like his, but there was probably something more to his story.
Wasn't Shiloh's business.
"I can uh..." he trailed off awkward, "Walk you? If you want."
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Posted: Mon May 02, 2016 7:44 pm
All it really took was that one impatient throat clearing to find Jamie's gaze immediately on the floor, lips pursing in embarrassment. It was as if the world had answered his worries with a big ******** you. Then again, he should've expected it, because even at the relatively young age of eighteen, he'd already experienced how cruel people could be. It made small encounters like this one sting much more than they should.
"I, um, I will..." he promised, holding his full cup between both hands the same way he'd been carrying the empty one earlier. Sometimes it was hard to shake things off, but he did his best for the both of them. After all, Shiloh had been kind enough to buy this for him. Sulking was no way to enjoy a treat. Huffing a bit to himself, he finally took a sip.
Though he hadn't known Shiloh for long at all, Jamie thought in that instant that he had pretty good taste. While he might've been the biggest fan of peach anyone could hope to meet, he had to admit the blue raspberry icee tasted like dreams on his tongue. Yeah, he'd be getting one of these again sometime.
"Wow..." came a surprisingly whimsical mumble. It took him a moment to realize Shiloh mentioned something about going home, he'd been distracted by his icee. "You're probably right," he admitted, but while he would've sounded disappointed before, he sounded pleasant now. "This is really good, though, um, in case you were curious..." Hah, who was he kidding, Shiloh already knew it was good. "I can't believe I never had one before now."
Spinning the cup idly between his hands and took another sip, and another, and then looked up at Shiloh with genuine surprise. "O-Oh, um, w-would you? I mean, if you want... I um, think that might be nice." He looked back to his cup a little too quickly, busying himself with the straw. The thought of walking home alone was still a little scary after Shiloh's warning from earlier, even if Jamie didn't want to admit it.
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Posted: Mon May 02, 2016 7:53 pm
Another surprise that night: while Shiloh had looked content earlier, now he looked downright... well, almost excited actually. Jamie was definitely right; he knew it was damn good, but he was still assured when Jamie clarified it definitively. Blue: 2, Red: -1 (That was what Ollie's input counted as, anyway).
Even the little wow was kinda cute. "They're my favorite." he mentioned idly, barely catching his look of surprise. For all the times they'd taken turns to look at the other, Shiloh felt like this was the first time they actually made eye contact (well, not counting the wild look Jamie was giving him after he literally kicked his a**). His own eyes were equal parts tired, but vivid. Blue.
"Y-Yeah, I don't mind." did his voice waver? That was a little unusual. "I mean, I dragged you out even further than I'm sure you meant to go."
Nothing would happen to Jamie, probably, but it didn't hurt to make sure. It wasn't like they were friends or anything; they barely knew each other, and Shiloh didn't have friends—but he had to at least do the universe a favor and preserve a fledgling blue-raspberry-icee connoisseur.
"Just lead the way." His icee was already half gone, beads of condensation barely dripping down his hand.
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