like you're running out of time

        “   no time to waste and yet you stay here talking to me. horton hears a fuckin’ LIAR. sounds like you’re scared of ghosts. and how do you know they don’t exist if you haven’t every tried to find one   ?   joe’s later. first this.   ”

        “   why don’t we call it a little bit of both,  yeah   ?   plenty of people hate me enough.   ”   they paused in their talking and frowned the slightest.   “    i don’t understand why you’re so curious though.  it’s a bit FREAK-ISH, honestly.   ”   aksel took straightened up and crossed their arms across their chest.   “   everything and nothing are ANTONYMS.  they can’t be the same.  are you trying to be poetic   ?   ”

         “   no,  no dead things in here.  that would be pretty sick though,  wouldn’t it   ?   DAMN.  i should ask for that next time.   ”   they laid out the grainy pictures on the counter,  trying to see what they could decipher from what little they could make out.   “   i’d kill to get my hands on murder scene pictures.  i’ll contact someone else for those.  good idea,  quentin.  finally,  you’re useful.   ”   they grinned at him before looking back at the photos.   “   you see that one   ?   ”   aksel pointed at one particularly dark one.   “   right there,  between the trees.  look at that figure...   ”   they picked it up,  narrowing their eyes at the small area before handing it to him.   “   what do you suppose that is   ?   ”

          they perform a one shouldered shrug.   “   fine,  i guess i have faith that i’ll die a gruesome death.  does that make you feel any better,  hearing that i have some sort of faith or some shit   ?   ”   aksel snorted,  making eye contact with her.   “   i also believe in aliens. what about you   ?   anything you’ve got this faith in   ?   ”

         “   of course not.  karma is a bunch of bullshit made up by adults who want to give kids hope that there’s always an ending that will leave them feeling selfishly satiated.  how many ‘bad guys’ do you know of that never got what they deserved   ?   here’s a HINT: too fuckin’ many.   ”

          “   you wouldn’t happen to have with the grave and the guard would you   ?   i THINK, don’t quote me on this, it’s by jason e. rochester.” was it narcisstic to ask if the library had their book of short stories   ?   quite possibly. did they care   ?   definitely not, the last time they cared for anything was approximately twenty-five years ago.

         “    you know i’ve never done drugs.  that’s because i was always afraid i’d see weird shit.   ”

          “   people get what they get.  it has NOTHING to do with what they deserve.   ”

          “   so we were both  w r o n g,  but not equally wrong.  you were at LEAST six more wronger than me.   ”

          “   it's a BASIC truth of the human condition that everybody lies.  the only variable is about what.   ”

         “   well damn. calm down.   ”   they leaned back in their chair and crossed their arms over their chest.   “   not my fault that your growth stopped at 5′6.  the fact that you think i wouldn’t send you an email in MLA format is disgracing.  i OWN the MLA handbook,  just so you know.   ”   aksel pulled out a pen and a slip of paper from the depths of their jacket’s right pocket.   “   i’ll need your email if you want the essay.   "   the items were held out to her.   “   there’ll be no sucking up in the email,  though there will definitely be six years worth of well-intentioned insults.  i’m already  p l a n n i n g  it in my head.   ”   they smile in a fake-polite manner.

        “   how big is your ego   ?   ”