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 Posted: Sun May 01, 2016 4:40 pm
continued from here
Despite knowing this was an absolutely awful idea, Jamie continued to feel as if it were completely normal to do so anyway. Walking around at night could've been dangerous, he vaguely recalled the warning he'd received from a park ranger at Waite State about kids disappearing from the beach after dark, but it wasn't as if he'd go that far. No, Jamie only planned on walking a few blocks before returning home, just to places he was undeniably familiar with. He just needed some fresh air. Things had been unusual lately and it was beginning to wig him out.
Well, truth be told, it didn't wig him out as much as it likely should've. Life still trudged along like it always did, he still got up when he was supposed to—albeit with increasing difficulty—and still did what was expected of him. Though his parents had started to worry, Jamie tried his best to keep going, because honestly, what else could he do?
With his hands in his pockets (well, one hand in his pocket, because the other pocket was occupied by his 3DS), he paced down the sidewalk, eyes wide and alert as he enjoyed the night air. It almost felt cleaner than the day did. Might've been his imagination, though.
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Posted: Sun May 01, 2016 5:09 pm
Meanwhile, Shiloh "Awful Decisions" Beaumont was busy occupying what appeared to be the most happening street corner this side of 2:43 AM Ashdown. Which was to say, there was the occasional car heading home from the bar, but otherwise it was just Shiloh and his iPod and this cracked curb and flickering street light.
It wasn't the first time he'd broken curfew, and it wasn't going to be the last no matter how many times he'd gotten caught. It was always the same two cents and the same stupid s**t, his pops getting all pissed beyond belief for the night and forgetting about it by the morning and nothing but a bruise or two to remember it by.
He took a sip of his icee, idly counting his blessings for 24-hour 7/11 stores. He'd probably stay out an hour or two longer before calling it quits. Yeah, that sounded good.
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Posted: Sun May 01, 2016 5:38 pm
When this whole late nighter scenario had begun taking a hold of his life, Jamie honestly never thought all that much about who else might keep odd hours. Every night so far had been spent back home, he'd never been quite bold enough to leave, but he could say with certainty he expected his walk would produce streets about as barren as they came. It was mostly true, there were cars here and there, but no people to be seen. Probably a good thing, since who knew what kind of unusual people roamed this late. Wait... did he count?
As Jamie mulled over the inevitability of his own strangeness, he turned a corner and discovered very quickly he wasn't the only one.
The surprise that jolted through him when he saw the hooded figure was enough to freeze him where he stood. There really wasn't any inherent reason to be afraid of someone hunched over and slurping on an icee, but this was Jamie, he was nervous around everyone.
Just walk by, he told himself. Walk by like you normally would and it won't be an issue. Of course, as anyone who's focused too much on one thing can tell you, it's easy to trip up even when you're trying so hard. That was Jamie's problem. That's why he didn't notice the large chunk of cracked up sidewalk-turned-stone that he accidentally kicked straight at the a** of the stranger sitting on the curb.
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Posted: Sun May 01, 2016 5:48 pm
And that stranger's a**, mind you, really didn't appreciate whatever the hell just nudged it. Honestly, it wasn't like it hurt or nothing, but it was enough to garner Shiloh's attention as he slowly turned around, lips blue from icee-slurping but eyes otherwise set into a ******** stare.
This kid seemed familiar; maybe they went to the same school? Well, whatever the case was, he sure as hell didn't seem like the kind of guy to be night prowling like Shiloh often did. He had half a mind to tell him to get lost, but judging by the overwhelming fear and panic presumably present in his eyes, Shiloh supposed he could write it off as an accident.
"The hell someone like you doin' out this late?" it was a legitimate question, even if Shiloh had no right in asking. "You usually go around kickin' s**t at people?"
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Posted: Sun May 01, 2016 5:56 pm
"No!" Jamie squeaked, a little too suddenly, a little to startled. The moment the stranger had turned on him—and yeah, he had the same thoughts about the whole familiar faces thing, but he was far too scared to bother worrying about it now—with those sharply narrowed eyes, Jamie felt like immediately backpedaling the entire way to his bedroom and locking the door.
"I-I don't," he clarified, answering that particular question as if it were a serious one. "I don't, um, try, b-but I guess it happened. I'm sorry. I'm sorry for b-being out here. I'm not usually... I just... I-I wanted to take a walk..."
The entire thing was probably a bit more information than the icee-slurper wanted or needed, but Jamie often found himself struck with one of two kinds of nervousness. One, he couldn't say a damn word, or two, he said way too much. Looks like tonight he'd stumbled into the later.
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Posted: Sun May 01, 2016 6:02 pm
"Jesus christ, I didn't ask for your life story. Calm down." he rolled his eyes, pretty accustomed to this sort of s**t really. People either found him naturally intimidating like this Jamie was doing, or they just found him insufferable. Shiloh tried to stay out of peoples way really. At least, he minded his own damn business most of the time.
"Like, really, I don't care." that was probably a little more blunt than Shiloh meant; he didn't care what the hell it was Jamie was up to, that is. "Walk if you want or do what your doin, just watch where your kickin' s**t." there was a pause as he looked Jamie up and down again, "Though uh, just a little advice, you probably shouldn't be walkin' around with expensive s**t like that hanging out at two in the mornin'. Someones prolly gonna jump your a**."
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Posted: Sun May 01, 2016 6:27 pm
"S-Sorry... I'm sorry..." Telling Jamie to calm down never worked. Telling Jamie to calm down only made him more anxious. Even though realistically he knew he'd be better off calming down and looking at the situation through rational eyes, it didn't change the fact that he couldn't relax enough to slow the wild beat of his heart.
It's not like his new company was helping, though. Jamie didn't expect everyone to be friendly rays of sunshine. Correction, Jamie didn't expect anyone to be a ray of sunshine, but it was rare to come across people who seemed to care so little for social correctness that they were as blunt as this guy was. Even his friendly advice spooked Jamie right out of his skin, a hand shooting to the 3DS in his pocket, far too large to fit without sticking out. It was the only expensive s**t he had on him, so it had to be that, right?
"I-I... didn't think about that," he admitted, gaze sinking to the ground. He should've thought this through a bit more, he realized. He was small and weak looking, an easy target for bullies, so why not for street thugs, too? Now he didn't even want to walk home. No, he didn't even want to move from this spot. "I, um, I'm... I don't usually do this sorta thing... I didn't even think..." He was repeating himself in his nervousness.
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Posted: Sun May 01, 2016 6:37 pm
Well, the intention had been to spook him sure, but more in the 'run home with your tail tucked between your legs' way and not in the 'oh god time to never move until the sun rises' sort of bullshit that it looked like this kid was going to pull. He was like a statue if you looked past the obvious trembling and awkward bumbling as words fell from his mouth. Shiloh sighed.
"Obviously." honestly, he wished that the world was a safer place. People shouldn't have to worry about s**t like this, but them's the breaks; "Look, just 'cause I said that doesn't mean I'm gonna jump you, so stop actin' like I am alright?"
He took the opportunity to pull his hood down, wildly fluffy hair floofing in almost every direction now that it was free from its former fabric prison. "If you're gonna loiter there, you might as well sit down. You're makin' me nervous." Jamie wasn't really, but it was kind of awkward. Shiloh didn't necessarily want the company, but he didn't want this guy running off freaking out or whatever the hell either. Maybe he'd calm down a little. Maybe not. It wasn't really Shiloh's problem in the end, but he didn't want to go to sleep guilty about whether or not this guy made it home safely.
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Posted: Sun May 01, 2016 6:46 pm
It was obvious Jamie wasn't a child of the streets. After the warning, he'd been more worried about other strangers jumping out of dark alleyways, not the one standing right in front of him until it was waved right in front of his face, even if it had been an assurance he wasn't plotting anything.
If he hadn't looked vaguely familiar, Jamie might not have taken him up on his offer. He might've run home with his tail between his legs.
"Oh, um, sorry... I guess I..." he looked around, reminded all over again how dark and empty the streets were. There was some kind of safety under the glare of the streetlight, wasn't there? "... I guess I will." Stiffly and awkwardly, Jamie sat down, noting on the way how considerably less threatening the hooded stranger looked sans hood. Not that he wasn't still intimidated, of course.
There was a good bit of breathing room between the two of them when he was settled, not wanting to impose more than he already had. Now that he was down here, he had no idea what else to say.
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Posted: Sun May 01, 2016 7:29 pm
Sluuuuuuuurp.
Damn. Getting empty already?
Shiloh didn't really mind the silence, and after Jamie had sat down there was a decent amount of it. He wasn't one much for talking, and neither was the guy next to him it seemed. "So, uh," when he broke the silence, it was a sudden one, "Why are you even out walking around?"
He had sort of asked before, and sort of got an half assed answer, but it still left a lot of open ends that he couldn't quite piece together. "None of my business I guess really, but," he turned to give Jamie a once over; he was small, frail and unassuming, and he looked exhausted despite the nervous energy that was propelling him around. "You just look real tired." Can't sleep?
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Posted: Sun May 01, 2016 7:41 pm
Jamie wasn't sure if he really wanted to know the full extent of his reasons for being out here. It struck him as a weird thing to admit to, so he thought briefly about his answer as he shook his head in response to the later. "I'm not really, um, that tired." Not right now, at least. Honestly, Jamie knew his eyes betrayed an exhaustion he didn't currently feel. The mirror had told him that much. "... I went to bed early and woke up after dark."
Though he neglected to include that this had been happening for a while now, that was basically the gist of what had happened. After that, he went quiet for a moment before continuing.
"I, um, I kinda meant it when I said I just wanted to go for a walk." He shrugged.
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Posted: Sun May 01, 2016 7:49 pm
Well, that was fine. Shiloh gave him another look over, read into the situation just a hair further before silently relenting. He looked up at the sky, which honestly seemed a little barren under the street light. Go any further out and the stars were pretty wicked; Shiloh liked them a lot actually.
"Fair enough." he settled on finally. He went and romped around outside after dark himself after all, except for him it was common. Though his sleep troubles were sourced from stress and anxiety more than the weird happenings that were going on with Jamie.
He set his empty icee cup down on the pavement with a hallow sound, arms stretching above his head before he leaned back on his hands. He considered his words carefully. "I mean, I guess I kinda get it. It's nice out this time of night... you just have to be a little careful."
Any annoyance he had before was strangely settling. There was still a vague awkwardness there, but Shiloh did good not to show it, or at least seem bothered by it. Though there was one thing...
"Do you go to Central High?" he wasn't looking at Jamie when he asked. He assumed that's probably where he saw him (or at least why he found him so goddamn familiar). That or in passing on the street, but he doubted his face or disposition would have remained in his memory for that long had it been the case.
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Posted: Sun May 01, 2016 8:13 pm
"It is nice..." he agreed. Though he hadn't looked the other's way since he sat down, he took a moment to do so now before glancing away again, out at the darkened streets. When he'd first left his house he'd thought the very same thing. It was cool and quiet, not at all like it was during the day. They both had their good qualities, but the night air had been fresh and he'd felt at peace. That peace had been stirred and tumbled into knots after this fateful encounter, but it was slowly beginning to ebb into calmness again.
Very slowly, admittedly, but it was. When Jamie looked out at the world around them, it was clear again, and it felt like he could see the interesting little details in the building across the street.
"I, um... I will be. I mean... thanks." Part of Jamie also wanted to apologize for freaking out before, but he couldn't quite bring himself to. "I do, though. G-go to Central, I mean." Scraping his shoes against the pavement, he looked over again.
"My name's, um, Jamie..." After a short hesitation he added, "D-Delacroix. I guess you go there, too?"
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Posted: Sun May 01, 2016 8:25 pm
Ah, so he was right on the money then. Shiloh knew better than to doubt his intuition, but at least it was settled.
"It's... Shiloh." he said after a pause, not bothering to divulge his last name. "And yeah, I do." wish I didn't, he added silently to himself. For as necessary as everyone made it out to be, it sure seemed like a huge waste of time. At least it did when he way more important things to worry about. He sighed again, short and huffy.
It wasn't in his nature to throw out a cordial 'nice to meet you', so he refrained, tapping his fingers on the sidewalk. "You just looked familiar." he was pretty sure at this point that they shared a class, but he supposed that would just have to wait until tomorrow till he could actually see for sure. Then again, Jamie looked pretty young. Maybe he wasn't a senior... well, whatever.
He turned his attention back down to his iPod, shuffling through a few songs until he found one he wanted. Shiloh was starting to feel a little tired, even though they'd only been sitting there for going on fifteen minutes or so and he'd already resolved to staying out another hour or two. He yawned, not minding the silence, and surprisingly the company that came with it.
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Posted: Sun May 01, 2016 8:45 pm
"Oh," Jamie laughed, but only a tiny bit. "Y'know I... thought you looked kinda familiar, too."
So that's what it was. Like Shiloh, Jamie couldn't quite recall whether they shared a class or not. Truth be told, he spent a lot of time staring at his shoes or his hands clasped on his desk or pretending like he was doing something to avoid being fooled with. It didn't always work, but it went over well enough that he continued to do it.
While Jamie wasn't quite as receptive to silences as Shiloh might've been considering the ones he usually had with people were the awkward variety, but now that the adrenaline from earlier had largely subsided, he thought maybe he didn't mind so much. It gave him time to enjoy the fresh air he'd wanted to get all along. Actually, that got him thinking. He'd shared, and though he held himself back from going into crazy detail, it made him think maybe Shiloh would share, too. Jamie had to admit he was a little curious as he watched him fiddle with his iPod out of the corner of his eye.
"So, um... how come you're out here?" he asked, though it was hard not to backpedal a smidgen, too. "I-If you wanna tell me... since it's um, not really my business." Hadn't Shiloh said the same thing a few minutes ago?
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