Welcome to Gaia! ::

Harker all but fell through the door as it opened into the small shop. A shriek and a solid thud off to his right are the only thing that alerts Harker to the poor clerks existence. He can only assume his less then graceful entry startled the shops resident cat, Belmont, who had apparently took a very similar exit. Oops... Oh well, not like he meant to do that.

With a grunt he trudged further into the store. "It's not very big at the moment. We're trying to get the building next door since its been vacant for so long but its been a struggle." The man waved a hand dismissively. "It's got a little bit of this, little bit of that. There's... kind of a little bit of everything??? But over all no real theme." He shrugged listlessly, poking his head around shelves, half paying attention. "As you can see though... It's not your typical book store."

Where the ******** was this a*****e?

With an agitated sigh, that sounded much more like a growl, Harker called out. "Jean?"

"Over here, Chérie."

"Thank the stars..." Harker groaned, hobbling in the direction it came from.

Harker grunted in response. The shop was... something. It still needed a lot of work but it was something. "It doesn't get a lot of foot traffic but... Maybe someday."

Who's Jean? He paused, turning to look over his shoulder in confusion. Jean was... a lot of things. Friend, family, coworker... It was hard to explain. "...Sure..." Harker said slowly after a moment, before turning back and hobbling down an aisle. "Jean, I need the back room keys. Now."



"I'm a great many things." Said the source of the voice. "Though I suppose what depends on who you are and services you need of me." Jean looked up from the stack of books he had been replacing on the shelf, only to frown. "You look rough. What did you do?"

Harker whined, agitation and fatigue setting in quickly. "Come on Jean can we not do this right now?" He scowled as he was met with a stern stare.

"Why?"

It was Jean who spoke first.

"You're Tristan right??? Sorry if that's a bit creepy." Jean chuckled lightly, fishing out some keys. "Again, I apologize. This sorry sack has no friends." He said turning and throwing a snide grin over his shoulder at Harker's glaring form. "Short of one. And let me tell you, I could probably recite your childhood better than you could at this point."

---

Harker scowled. There was little else he could do. As it was he felt like he was gonna fall over if he so much as took a step. "Shut. Up." He hissed, reaching out and putting a hand on a nearby shelf. If he fell, the shelf was going with him but with any luck maybe he'd take Jean out with him. Jean's grin only grew with his snarl. Little ******** knew he couldn't do anything. At this point he was all bark, no bite. "Can you, please, just open the back room for me. I'd rather not pass out face first into this grimy carpet if it's all the same to you.

"I mean, he said you had a nice a** and well." Jean waved a hand before dropping his chin in it, smug grin still in place. "He wasn't wrong about that, so no. I would say it's not all terrible things."

--

"I'm going to ring your neck in your sleep." He hissed quietly, so anyone else couldn't hear. That was the last time he tells Jean anything. And then Tristan had to go and open his mouth. "No!" He growled, wheeling around on the other man. Except he moved too quickly, and Harker's world spun as he crashed to the ground, taking a few books with him. He groaned against the floor. "Y-you don't get... to call me that. Not after.." Everything.

--

"Enough". Jean sighed, moving over towards Harker and preforming a quick check. "Did you eat anything today??" Jean was not none to surprised when Harker tried to push him away, giving him no answer. "Fine, be that way." He turned his attention to Tristan, fishing out his keys. "Pick him up will you? Dumbass didn't eat. And knowing him he's been up for a day and a half...."

Harker made a noise as he was scooped up, letting his head thump against Tristan's shoulder. "I'm fine..." He muttered, closing his eyes and shrinking in on himself under the look of concern. A lie. "Just have a chill..." A very common truth for him.

"It's alright..." Harker said with a sigh. "Really... I don't know why I got so upset." Harker shot Jean a scowl when the other man made some a snarky comment about being a 'pining, sentimental fool.'

"Oh my god I'll be fine. Just let me sit on the couch for a little bit." He grumbled. "Ask Jean if he'll make some tea or something, honestly I don't want to think about food, but I'll humor you with a drink if that makes you stop fussing." Harker yawned against Tristan's shoulder.

"Understatement of the century." Harker sighed, fighting to open his eyes.

"Just toss him on the couch. If he falls on the floor again, he deserves it." Jean muttered, gesturing towards the couch before disappearing to make tea.

"You're gonna have to follow after him if you want me to eat anything." Harker sighed. "Not that me eatting anything is gonna accomplish much." He was tired, and things were beginning to catch up with him. "Better make sure he puts on enough for two. Feel like we could both use some. "

"I told you... Tea would have at least would have warmed me up.." Harker muttered. He sighed quietly, rubbing at his eyes were a few tears had formed in the mix of the chaos. He fell into silence then, his eyes slipping closed. Everything was quiet for a bit, Harker seemingly having fallen asleep when he stirred. His eyes fluttered, eyes glassy and unfocused.

Oh... It was this dream again, okay.

He sighed, sitting up before laying his head on Tristan's shoulder. "I hate this dream..." He muttered, rubbing at his eye again. But whatever, wasn't the first time he'd had it. "Hate waking up from it... " Harker hated remembering that he'd lost Tristan. Hated remembering the fight and everything that went with it. "I'm sorry..." The brunette said. For everything. "Can I stay here a bit... I don't want to wake up just yet..."