No More Sorrow (Anthony) (SLIGHT graphics!)

[Waddle]

Evan had his iPod on and ear buds in as he walked home from work. It was nighttime, 10:12p.m. exactly according to his iPod time. He didn't really care though, he was enjoying the music much too much. The inhabitants of Pine Street weren't unused to seeing him going somewhere, either listening to his iPod or deep in thought. But it was late that night, and, thinking that no one was going to be bothered by a little randomness, he started playing air instruments with his music.

Guitar solo meant for a lot of finger moment, drum solo equaled a lot of head banging and fist pounding, so on, so forth. You get the idea. He was very hyper and happy then, for it was Friday night. He wouldn't have to work on Saturday. He liked his job, for he worked at the music store at the mall. Music was part of his life, after all, and his job could've been much worse. He could've been picking up trash for a living. His job paid more, or at least he figured it did, but picking up trash was not on his dream job list. Still, having no work was more fun than having to work.

[Anty]

Anthony dragged his feet clumsily down the sidewalk. He wasn't going anywhere, for he had no where to go. That day he had gotten fired from his job. Apparently they weren't allowed to smoke at work. Well, screw that, he thought, and he quit. Well, he wasn't quite sure if he quit or was fired. But it seemed as if it was both, so he'd stick with that. He then walked to his apartment to crash early, and what did he find? It was no longer his: he had forgotten to pay rent... again.

What was he to do? No job, no house. The sensible thing, right? Wrong. He spent all his money on beer. Anthony chugged down the remnants of his beer, throwing it to the ground brutally. He stumbled along, looking like a crazy drunkard. Then he looked up on impulse to see a tall figure before. He rubbed his eyes in disbelief. It was Evan. He stopped, staring at him with amazement. He looks great, he thought to himself, not sure if he was being nice or he really did think he looked nice. He went with the latter.

What was he doing just standing there? His wish had come true! He began to run, gaining speed, then he jumped into Evan's arms, taking in his scent.

[Waddle]

Evan didn't see the random figure racing toward him until it was too late to do anything but catch the man that leaped into his arms like a child. He grunted with surprise, and heard a popping noise as his ear buds came out of his ears. He looked down a the strange person he was holding. Was he retarded or something?

Completely dropping the stranger, he picked up his headphones from the ground and slung them over one shoulder, looking at him with a very freaked out expression on his face. He took a small step back. One hand reached unconsciously into his back pocket to pause his iPod, an action he didn't realize he had done until the faint sound of music coming from the buds disappeared.

"Umm... Who the crap are you?" he demanded uncertainly. The man looked like a drug dealer. He could smell cigarette smoke and beer scent easily. These didn't discomfort him in the little - he drank when he got the chance, but not much. He also smoked when he could, but he was trying to keep himself away from it. More than he had in the past. He was trying to change a lot about himself, and was doing pretty well with it. It appeared that this guy, who looked like a lost puppy, had no such luck.

[Anty]

Anthony fell with a thud onto his butt. This was not what should have happened... was it? Anthony didn't even know if he was conscious, for all he knew he could be laying dead in an alley somewhere. He rubbed his now sore butt, dead people couldn't feel things, could they? He looked up at Evan, sorrow in his eyes. Sure, Anthony had hit a couple rough patches since he had last seen him, but he wasn't unrecognizable. "Evan? Don't you remember me?"

Obviously he didn't. Anthony shouldered past Evan, he had places to go. Actually, he had no where to go, but Evan didn't know that. Head down, he pulled out a small package from his back pocket. Out of it he took a cigarette. He stuck the cigarette between his lips, searching his pocket for a lighter. He must have dropped it, because it obviously wasn't in his pocket. He turned slowly around towards Evan. "Hey, you got a lighter?" he said, the cigarette hanging loosely between his teeth.

[Waddle]

How did the stranger know his name? One word rang inside Evan's head. STALKER! But what would a stalker want with him? He had nothing much to give. Which was what made it all the more creepy. He was forced to take a step to regain his balance after being shouldered out of the way. Well, it wasn't Evan's fault if the stranger was insane and angry at him. Evan had no clue whatsoever as to who the man was! He glanced around to see if anyone was near, but everyone seemed to have lights out and blinds pulled. No one was on the street. The place felt oddly... cold and... abandoned.

Evan's eyes went wide as the stranger turned around. Something in his memory was shaken loose. The crooked nose... He, himself, Evan, had been the one to deliver that blow. It dawned in him. The stranger knew his name because he wasn't a stranger after all. "ANTY!!" Evan shouted, grabbing the smaller man and giving him a noogie like the old days. "Ant! It's really you!! I- I thought you were dead!" Letting go of his friend, Evan searched his pocket and quickly located his lighter. "Here," he said, handing it over to Anthony.

[Anty]

Anthony watched him grimly, waiting for an answer. How could you know someone for almost a decade, and forget them completely? One thing coursed through the back of his head: amnesia? No, that was crazy. He watched him as recognition came to his face, and he couldn't help the crooked smile that spread across his face. He heard the familiar name his friend so often used to call him, though he didn't like it much then, he loved the sound of it now, it brought back old memories.

He ducked underneath the noogie and straightened his hair out quickly. "Heh. I thought I was dead too." A grin slid behind the cigarette. He took the lighter and lit it quickly. He took the cigarette from his mouth, and placing it between his fingers, he grasped Evan's face. He quickly kissed his cheek and placed the cigarette back into his mouth, grabbing him into a hug.

[Waddle]

Evan chuckled to himself at Ant's reply, and only laughed even more when he was given a kiss on the cheek. He was used to his friend's antics, similar in some ways and different in others when put side-by-side with Evan's own. So the kiss, that might have normally really freaked someone out, only made him think Thank goodness, he's still somewhat the same. He hugged Ant back, grinning from ear to ear with happiness. Oh, how many years had it been since they had last talked? Evan had been piled under while at college, when he had heard that Anthony was in jail. He hadn't been able to contact his friend much during those days. After that, Evan had completely lost track of Ant. It had seemed as if he had just died unexpectedly.

"It's great to see you again," he said, taking a step back and looking Ant up and down. "No offense meant, but you look like... crap." Evan thought his friend looked worse than crap, reaching a new extreme perhaps, but he was going to try to keep things to the truth, with only a few twists and bends in his words here and there. "What happened? You alright?"

[Anty]

"I could use a shower, I guess." he said, chuckling. "And a place to sleep, a job, something to wear besides these old rags, and something to eat would be nice to," he smiled helplessly at his friend. Anthony sniffed his own shoulder, then he took a step back in disgust. "Didn't know I was that bad... " Crap? He could deal with that, so long as he was still alive and not in some alley, dead.

"I joined the army after I got out of jail a few years back, somehow I ended up here through my job, or something. I got fired from my job today," he said, taking a puff from his cigarette. "Now I know I'm no genius, but since when is it illegal to smoke at work?" He didn't wait for an answer. "So I go to my apartment, apparently I'm fired from there to? So, here I am, roaming the streets."

((Lots of talking. I hope this makes sense ))

[Waddle]

He listened, nodding sadly when Ant came to the end of his story. He almost said something about being able to smoke at work as long as you were on a break, but decided that that wouldn't help anything with Ant's situation. It anything, it would only worse. Ant had no where to go. It was probably the luckiest thing in the world that had brought them together again. Okay, that was a little awkward piece of thought. But I guess it's true. Evan had no choice but to help his friend. Heck, he would've helped him any day.

"I've got an apartment somewhere around here," he said, looking at all the buildings. "They all look so alike, it's impossible to tell them apart!" He huffed angrily. "Well, I guess we're just gonna have to wing it and hope we don't get chased away by some angry old man waving a walking stick at us." He paused for a second, contemplating. "On second thought, that might be very fun..." He cackled evilly, glancing at Anty. His friend might have not slowed down with his cigarette use, but hopefully he hadn't lost the urge to annoy the devil out of people.

((It made sense xD))

[Anty]

Evan had an apartment? That was the best news Anthony had heard in... a long time. It had certainly taken the large weight from his shoulders, he had never wanted to be a homeless old man with a walking stick. And if it wasn't for Evan, he probably soon would have been. It would have been near impossible for Anthony to pick himself back up, if not completely impossible. He wasn't one for picking himself back up when he fell down, but rather to just sit ans wait for an opportunity to come, metaphorically speaking. Evan was that opportunity.

Anthony tapped on Evan's head lightly, "Are you sure you aren't a little high- err, drunk too?". he scoffed, trying to cover his wrong choice of words. "I don't suppose you'd happen to have a shower and a spare change of clothes?", he said, looking at him with hope in his eyes. He might not take perfect care of himself, but he would certainly enjoy a hot shower and a clean pair of clothes. He looked down at himself, he had lost weight. A lot of weight, but he could still fit into Evan's clothes.

"You know, I wish I had a walking stick... And I could beat people with it. And I could give little kids black eyes, and I could dance with it... I'm rambling, aren't I?" But Anthony was still glad to see that Evan hadn't changed an ounce, though he might have become a little more mature, if that was possible. He yawned.

((OOC: Heh. Wow, rambling works. ))

[Waddle]

Evan cackled with amusement. Same old Ant, at least in the ways of personality. He, too, noticed how thin his friend was. Too thin. "I'm sure I'm clean, no matter how unfortunate that may be," he said, unable to still his laughter. "Walking sticks would be fun... Maybe not the beating up little kids part, that would be just too cruel for me, but dancing would be very fun. To answer your question, yes. But just to hear you're alive is a relief the likes of which I haven't had in a while." Still with a grin on his face, he put an arm around Anthony's shoulders and started walking in the direction he thought his apartment was. He would need to talk with the landlord about the option of painting the house a different color.

"What color do you think I should ask the overlord to paint my apartment? I keep losing it... Every time I come home, I swear it moves! It's insane! One night I was out here wandering around until 3 in the morning, looking for it! Then I showed up late for work from oversleeping and had my pants on my arms and my shirt on my legs because I only got one hour of sleep!" He huffed angrily, still annoyed at that incident. "Though the girls at work thought it was very amusing. They will never let me live it down and keep the story alive in every single new person who gets hired!" At least he wasn't fired from that day... Only three other workers had seen and no customers, so the boss had let him off with a warning.

[Anty]

Truthfully the only reason Anthony had despised little kids was from the memories from his God-forsaken childhood, and those kids who had so often picked upon him and his birth mother. He shook his head, trying to clear away all the memories, but he knew they would always be a burden to him. Always there. His childhood was the reason for the way he was: a drunk, homeless man who was half starved and badly needed a bath. Anthony didn't answer the last comment. Maybe it was because he had often hoped himself dead, as a teenager. Sometimes he still wished he was dead.

Anthony put his arm around Evan, likewise of what Evan had just done. He gripped tightly onto his shoulder, mainly to keep himself from falling flat on his face. He stumbled along after Evan. "Black. I like black." He was still a dark person, even if he didn't attempt suicide every other day. Still puffing at is cigarette, he stumbled on. "And that is why I don't have an apartment. I'm too stupid." That was a lie, and they both knew it. The real reason as he had forgotten to pay 1 too many times and had been given the boot. "Man, wish I coulda seen that," he said, chuckling drunkenly.

[Waddle]

Shaking his head with laughter, Evan thought Kinda like the good ole days... Kinda, but not really. This is the real world. Back then, we were both kids and really stupid. It reminded him of how he had first met with Anthony. At a bar, both drunk, getting into a fight and throwing punches like crazy. But after that, Evan had felt very guilty and had found Ant again. It was something he didn't fancy to think about again. So he didn't.

He wasn't going to ask his poor friend why he had lost his apartment, mainly because he already guessed it had to do with the money. Whether Ant had forgotten to pay rent or didn't have the money to pay rent, it didn't really matter. His friend needed him, and he was going to be there. Evan wasn't one to take in strays, but this stray happened to be his long-lost best friend.

"You seeing it would have probably killed me," he said with a laugh. It had been bad enough with only three witnesses he didn't really care about, other than being work friends. He neither conformed nor denied the rumors, just shrugging and leaving the questioner to their own imagination.

Looking at the numbers on the mail boxes, he steered Ant to the walkway of the one he thought was his. "I think this is mine..." he mused as he pulled out his keys. Trying the lock, he was relieved when the door opened. Pulling it wide, he said, "Excuse the mess... It's always like this."

[Anty]

Anthony threw his stump of a cigarette into the street, not really caring about littering at the moment. "Bad habits are hard to get rid of," he said, chuckling and watching the smoke escape from his mouth. It would probably easier now that he wouldn't have to become a homeless person living by the dumpsters, though now he actually had money to buy cigarettes and beer. It'd still be all the more difficult.

"I think I would've died of embarrassment, too. One never wants to see their best friend half naked." Truthfully Anthony wasn't quite sure if he had wanted to see him half naked... He could imagine how embarrassed Evan must have been, and he certainly didn't want to kill him.

Anthony peered into the doorway carefully, not sure what he might see. It was nice. It was clean, in Anthony's opinion. His house had been a wreck. Clothes a beer bottles strewn everywhere, he never spent much time in his house, liking to wander the city at night. He stepped in, looking around curiously. "Heh. This is the best thing I've seen since fried chicken. And fried chicken is good." He said, winking.

[Waddle]

Evan pursed his lips as he looked around after shutting and locking the door back. He didn't doubt that it was better than wherever Ant had been living. They were in the small living room. A small TV occupied one corner, with two armchairs facing it, an end-table in between them with a lamp on it. The small kitchen that held only the smallest of appliances was to their left, and the bedroom and bathroom were trough a door across from them. Not much to it. It was small and simple, just the way Evan liked it. Chuckling, he said, "Better than friend chicken is a great compliment indeed. Now, you need a bath and some clothes."

Taking Anthony by the shoulder, he steered him inside the bedroom and opened to door to the bathroom. "I'll have some clothes laid out on the bed by the time you get out. You can sleep there, I can take one of the chairs." Pushing Ant inside, he didn't wait for an answer or argument before shutting the door and heading over to his small closet. Pulling out random articles of clothing, he found some that would hopefully fit Anthony and threw them on the bed like he had said he would. Going out of the room, he went to the kitchen to start cooking something, even though he had no clue how to cook.