Lifeline [Pierce]

[Waddle]

Evan scratched behind one ear, perplexed. Why did this stupid cash register keep messing up? "I'm sorry, sir, give me a second, if you would," he mumbled to the young man standing on the other side of the counter. Pressing several buttons on the register, Evan succeeded in only making things worse. Glancing at the blond-headed youth opposite him, he growled something about scathing technology and pressed two more buttons. "A-ha! Here we go!" He managed to get the boy's CDs scanned and in a bag. Handing the bag over to him, Evan scanned the store briefly as the teenager left. You're a twenty-eight year old man with a four-year college education and where in the world are you? Working at some music store? So what if you're assistant manager? It's not much of a better pay than it was before...

Of late, he had begun to wonder where his priorities really lay. He wanted things to change, but didn't know if he would survive those changed. He liked his lot, it was alright, but surely where was something more for him out there than following whisps of dreams about Talismans. Maybe a real job, a real home, a real life. Things he had thought he would have, five years ago. Five years is a long time, Evan Xander Ikron... And yet it passes in the blink of an eye.

Someone caught his eye. A young man, squinting down at the label of a CD. He'd been there for some time, picking through the CDs, spending more time staring at the labels than examining the covers. Evan came out from behind the desk and approached the kid, smiling kindly. "Anythin' I can help you with?" he asked, taking a glance at the album in the boy's hands. Good pick, he thought briefly, then looked back at the boy, eyebrows raised in question.

[Anty]

Pierce pulled his hood over his head as it began to rain. He was bored at home, so he left. He hadn't decided where he was going until now, which was the music store. He had stopped by only a few times before, but he never bought anything because he can hardly read. It's his dyslexia, you see. All the letters jumble up and it turns into a guessing game. But this time... this time was different.

Pierce stepped inside the mall, relieved to get away from the rain. He peered around the mall, trying to remember where the music store had been. He was horrible with directions of any kind. He always got them mixed up and turned around. For that, he blamed the dyslexia. Maybe he blamed it a little too much. Apparently it's the reason why he never tried in school, why he doesn't have a job, and why he hasn't been hanging around with his girlfriend lately (okay, now that is just ridiculous). The music store had been right in front of him the whole time, but he couldn't make out the words until now.

Pierce took a look around the store as he entered it. At first glance he saw the comfy looking couches, and thought about heading over there. But no... it was occupied with younger looking girls, which made him feel creepy. Plus he had a girlfriend. He turned towards the CD's. There were so many of them! There is no way you can pick one of so many, it'll forever to read them all! Just turn back now. In spite of the voice in his head that told him what to do, he took a step closer to a shelf of CD's and scanned over them. To him, it looked like a foreign language.

Five minutes had passed by and so far Pierce had deciphered the word the. This... this was hopeless. He was about to give in and leave, when the man who had previously been behind the cash register took interest in him. "Huh?" Pierce spun around to face him. He decided that if he were gay, he would definitely go for him. Something about him was familiar...

"I just need help reading this," he said. He turned back to the CD, trying to hide the fact that he was blushing. Change the subject! He looked at the music store worker's name tag. "Nave. Is that Native American?"

[Waddle]

Evan found himself staring at the boy's tattoos on his neck. Wow. That's impressive. He jerked his eyes from the boy's neck and back to the CD in his hands. Having trouble reading this? The kid didn't seem foreign. And he didn't seem stupid in any way. He looked back up at the boy. Woah... I know his face! Had Evan seen him before in the store? No, surely now. He would have remembered that impressive display of tattoos. No, he just looked like someone else... But who else? The answer was a punch in the eye. He looks like Anthony! The resemblance was slight, especially with the lack of Anthony's crooked nose, but it was there. The though made his eyes narrow, the smile disappearing as quickly as it could come.

He was distracted from his thoughts as the boy called him 'Nave'. Blinking, Evan shook his head slowly. "No," he snapped. "It's Evan. E-V-A-N. It's a common enough name." He knew he shouldn't be so upset over a slight resemblance, and he instantly felt guilty. His blue eyes slid from the boy's green pair and he started at his feet awkwardly. "I- I'm sorry. I didn't mean to- but, it's just- I-I..." He couldn't very well tell this complete stranger about his problems. It wasn't fair. Stop being a bitch, Evan. Man up. He looked back at the boy, cleared his throat uneasily and stepped back. "Um, yeah, right. That's - that album's Papa Roach's 'To Be Loved - the Best of Papa Roach'. Pretty good album, I think." Wow, could you be more of a complete douche, Evan?

[Sorry for really bad post... Really sorry...]