& start again;

Skewers had always been one of his favorite places to eat growing up. He was glad the hurricane didn’t take away another thing so personal to him. AJ stopped by the restaurant some time after the hurricane, stepping around the debris and broken glass that used to be the entryway and stopped in front of some of the family who owned the restaurant. “You know, I could probably help with the reconstruction if you have the tools? I can’t wait for you guys to be up and running again.”

AJ finally calmed down a bit and decided to sit against the wall away from the other people who took refuge at the high school. He had his pack beside him and a towel balled up in his lap. He was still soaking wet and a little dinged up from his trip but he didn’t much feel like talking to anyone and although the wind had died down a little, the rain picked up again like it usually did after and the dull sound was only adding to his headache. He saw Ben come not long after to help and tried not to draw too much attention to himself. There were other people who needed more help than him. His wounds were mostly superficial anyway, but eventually Ben walked up to his corner of the gym and crouched in front of him. “Hey Ben ... you didn’t happen to see how bad it is out there did you?”

It had been raining for about an hour. The soles of his shoes slapped against the deck as he hopelessly boarded up what he could of his home. Realistically he’d known for days that the hurricane was coming, but he foolishly hoped that the hurricane would change course. Now there wasn’t much he could do to save the only home he had since coming back to Asteria. He packed a couple photos and valuables he’d collected but the rest was left. He could almost pretend that when this was over he would come back and nothing would change.

With his pack over his back, and long hair sticking to his forehead and the back of his neck in the doorway he made one more last look at his temporary home. The wind was picking up a bit in burst. The waves rocked the boat harshly, but he’d gotten used to keeping his balance. Rain pelted against his back then returned to just a trickle before picking up again but AJ still couldn’t leave. It wasn’t much, but it had worked for him. He’d been more comfortable here than he thought he’d be. He didn’t need that much space after spending 12 years in small cell but he didn’t think he’d be able to sleep without the gentle rocking he started to grow used to.

Suddenly he couldn’t abandon his home without leaving a part of him to go down with it. AJ grabbed a jar of paint from one of the cabinets and poured the paint over his hand and hastily slapped the print over the top of the door. Stepping back, he let a few tears slip and disappear with the rain pouring down his face as he realized that he didn’t know what was going to happen next.

The sirens were finally what had managed to get him to move. He’d wasted enough time and now he needed to find somewhere safe out of the rain and wind that was picking up more and more. Some burst propelled him forward until he was practically tripping over his feet to keep his footing, threatening to send him over the dock and into the tremulous water below him.

Through the howling of the wind he heard panicked meowing coming from behind the crab cages and quickly uncovered the docks usually ornery stray, pitifully cowering against the rain and wind, seemingly frozen in fear. AJ dropped his pack and pulled a couple items out, mentally weighing the value of a couple trinkets compared to the life of the stray cat who, if he was being honest, never liked him. His hesitation didn’t last long. He dumped a couple of his belongings on the ground, scooped up the stray and zipped her snugly into his pack before getting up to once again try to find shelter.

Mingyu seemed to brighten up at the mention of his art. “I can show you.” He said and leaned over to the other side of the chair quickly, grabbing his messenger bag he always brought everywhere with him. Mingyu pulled out his sketchbook, it was a pretty new one seeing how he filled them up pretty quickly, but it had a good quart filled with drawings of around town, of people and of random things he’d seen around the town the last few days. It was usually mostly people. The artist held out his sketchpad, letting AJ take it from him. “I can take your phone number into my phone and I can let you come to my studio sometime. I would like to draw you if you’d be willing sometime.” He told AJ. Mingyu was a pretty shy guy but when it came to drawing others, he was confident. He loved life drawing so much.

AJ took the sketch book and flipped through the first couple of pages. He recognized a couple of the residents around town and places he visited on a near daily basis while he listened to Mingyu talk about his art. Art was a talent he never had. “You w-want to draw me?” AJ blushed, and stammered nervously. “I’m hardly an interesting subject.”

“ I went to Duke. So not to far away from home but far enough. “ She loved her family and did not want to travel to far from them. Duke was a great school and had an excellent art program, “ I loved it. It was a great school and Raleigh is a great city, I guess I really just missed the small town life. Living in a big city on your own is not cheap. I am lucky my job allows me to travel and work away from the city, What do you do for work? “

He sighed and reluctantly admitted, “I don’t. Not right now at least but I can sometimes get a couple jobs in Williamsburg or work under the table in places like this, bussing tables during their busy times in exchange for food and coffee.”

“I didn’t sleep much. I usually don’t. Figured that was just what it meant to be almost 30.” Ivy offered a shrug, taking another sip of the coffee as she settled into leaning on the counter on her elbow, surveying the little clusters of pre-teens and teenagers lingering around playing on the old machines. “If I was gonna lock the place up, I’d want all of them out first. Besides, we still have, like, three solid hours before closing, so I haven’t even thought about cleaning yet.” Pausing, she offered him a little nudge with her shoulder. “And since when do I clean? I’m the manager, I just make other people do it. Why are you so eager for me to get out of here, anyway?”

“Well, as a 30 year old I can confirm sleep is impossible. I feel wide awake almost the whole night.” AJ shrugged and noticed out of the corner of his eye that he had picked up his coffee cup to take a sip of coffee at the same time Ivy did then AJ stifled an annoyed groan. “Three more hours? I don’t see one of those teenagers you hired? Is it just you here tonight?” He was bored back at the docks. It was getting colder so there were less people visiting the beach. “I’m just bored and don’t have money to pay for a game. Maybe you could let me get away a free game?”

“It wasn’t my first choice however I will admit that this city has definitely given me a lot of inspiration for my art.” Mingyu replied, “Learning the language was not as hard. I know more than one language but English is interesting. I still don’t understand some words.” Mingyu played with the wrapper of the marshmallows, “Ummm… it is hard… but I’m trying my best to make friends.” He replied honestly.

“I still can’t imagine. I had a couple classes in high school, but I didn’t do well in them if I remember correctly. You’re an artist? That’s cool --could I come see your art sometime?” He didn’t have much to do during the day and wouldn’t mind spending some time with someone other than the stray cat that prowled the docks for scraps. 

“I’ll let him know.” Ben gave AJ a nod and left the topic there. His eyes lingered on the way the water moved with the river in front of them and he could almost swear that he could see the fish swim around the baited hooks attached to the fishing lines. He couldn’t imagine living day to day like AJ did, but if Ben hadn’t joined the academy he would’ve been in the same place. “Ever thought about going to Charlotte to train and join us at the fire station?”

“That’s probably not a good idea. You might not mind hanging out with me, but my arson conviction is public record and I don’t think the people on your team would want to work with me? And what happens next time there is an arson case? The first person they look at is the firefighters and I’m not going to jail again.” The last time he was accused of something proved that it didn’t matter if he was telling the truth. 

Thea: At time point, if you break the door down… I would buy you dinner lol. Thea: Also, I would just buy a new door. I’m kind of sick of it anyways.

Jack nodded “Makes sense.” Jack said as he roasted another marshmallow and made a s’more. As he was about to take a bite, he heard his name be called by a friend and turned back to the guy he had been sitting with. “Because you are closest, you get the chocolate” Jack said with a laugh, handing it over. He got up, taking a bit of his creation as he headed over to where he had heard his name being called. 

Apparently his name was Jack. “Thank you!” AJ shouted over his shoulder as Jack was called to see someone else.