♧ ⋮ LOST BOY.

Bree hadn’t been having the best week, and like a cruel joke she’d somehow ended up locking her keys in her car. Luckily for her though it payed to have had friends in low places back when she was a teenager. Pulling one of the pins out of her hair, she successfully opened the drivers side door. “Ha! Life one point, Bree one point! We’re even!” She exclaimed, looking over at the person on the sidewalk in front of her. “I um I wasn’t breaking in. My car…this is my car.”

His eyes narrowed slightly from his spot against a lamp post, arms folded over his chest as he watched the blonde woman in mild confusion. “The fact that you and life seem to have an even score seems almost hard to believe,” he told the woman plain and simply even if he knew it wasn’t something to be taken literally, “But not gonna lie, dude, you could be breakin’ into it and I don’t think I would have cared. I’m more curious to know where ya even learned how to do that.”

“Alright, cool. Thanks.” His response was simple, but Josh hoped that the appreciation shone through in his face. “Hey, any help’s better than no help, ‘cause you’re right, wouldn’t want to look like a tourist. Especially when you consider the fact that I used to live here. Long time ago, granted, but still…” Looking like a tourist in your home town was a new kind of shame.

With a nod of the head, he only put his hands into the front pockets of his jeans as he listened to the man, shrugging one shoulder as part of his response. “I mean, things change a lot when you haven’t been somewhere in a while. I grew up on the outskirts of LA and I haven’t gone back since I was like... eighteen. Just turned twenty four and went a few weeks ago and it felt like a totally new place. But that’s life, yanno? Nothing stays the same ever.”

Mai’s fingers fiddled with her glass as she shook her head. “No…No, I won’t start quoting Romeo and Juliet. Not unless you want me too. I have that play memorized because I’ve read it so much.” Mai mused lightly. With his morbid thought out in the open, Mai was quick to take another sip of her drink only to scrunch her nose from taking too much in at once. “A big tough boy who ties his own shoes and everything, huh? Alright, Megara…I’ll remember that.” I’m still going to worry, though. She thought to herself while she looked down at her cup. Maybe his quote was an accident or on purpose, but either way she deemed it a Hercules reference if she ever saw one.  So far, he wasn’t asking her and Mai thought that might be for the best. She didn’t want him to ask her about it because, at the end of the day, she didn’t want to have to talk about it. She had known him for so long and managed to keep everything hidden very well. They were just…Them… They were best friends and did a lot of things together. If they talked about her secret, what that meant, they might not be them anymore– something Mai didn’t think she could ever handle. So, when pizza was mentioned Mai let her mind be distracted by that. “Right! Yes, pizza. So, I got us our favorites on each half. I thought it would be fitting for tonight…  If it’s too cold we can always use the oven, that way it’s a little fresher than if we used the microwave.” She leaned forward to set her glass on the table then open the pizza box. She grabbed her self one slice and a napkin then sat back on the couch. She was also incredibly hungry, so this was a good choice on his part. The longer they avoided things the longer it would just…Be okay…Right? That was how life worked.

“You will never catch my ass asking you to quote the cheesiest of all of Shakespeares plays. Maybe if we were talkin’ about Hamlet or something I’d be down but definitely not that one.” Despite his words, Beckett actually didn’t mind Romeo and Juliet, he just didn’t like how they got thrown into a frenzy and ended up dying in the span of less than a week over love that was based on pure infatuation. But maybe his inner turmoil came from his own pursuit of genuine love. That was still filed under to be determined. Dark brown eyes blinked slowly before he let out a small huff at the name she chose to call him, “I hate you,” he murmured as a response even though the reference had been very much unplanned. Yet there it was. But truth of the matter was simple; he didn’t hate Mai nor did he ever think that he’d be able to hate her. Let alone be annoyed with her for more than five minutes at a time. The longest had probably been half a day and then it was back to normal. With the focus on pizza, it gave him time to process his thoughts and figure out why he didn’t want her to tell her something he didn’t want to hear - that being that she did in fact have a crush on him. Mainly because Beckett wasn’t someone who was tapped into his own feelings unless it was literally slapped into him. That, however, was where his doubts settled and he felt himself get more and more uncomfortable. Chewing on his slice of pizza, he fidgeted almost nervously where he sat, “Hey, there’s nothin’ wrong with eating microwaved pizza. That was a lifesaver for me in college and if you get it just right, it could be even better than when you put it in an oven. 

Hearing the grandfather clock strike five Jadzia grabbed her keys and made her way over to her shops front doors, ready to lock them for the night, when a knock on the glass made her lookup. With a friendly smile, she unlocked the doors, “Is there anything I can help you with?” She asked. Many of her regular customers knew that if the lights were still on Jadzia would happily open the doors to her bookstore, others just happened on Jadzia’s willingness to keep the store open late. Either way, if someone needed a book Jadzia was always happy to oblige when she could. “You’re more than welcome just to browse if you’re not sure what book you needed,” Jadzia offered, knowing how important the smallest of books could be. 

Beckett had never been an active reader. He could quote you the most random things from the bible from how often he’d been subjected to it growing up in a catholic orphanage but when it came to anything else? Non-existent. If it wasn’t a book that hadn’t been turned into a movie, it was a waste in his eyes. But sometimes he felt like he had to read a book before watching a movie like he’d forced himself to do a year ago when it came to The Twilight Saga except this time it was for The Great Gatsby. Watching the store owner open the door again, he shook his head slightly, “Honestly, I wouldn’t even know what I’m lookin’ for ‘cause I don’t know what kinda book it even is. Could you point me to where that gatsby book would be? According to my best friend, it’s ‘great’ but uhm... I’m yet to agree or disagree even if it sounds hella cheesy.”

Faye needed air. It had definitely been the shift from hell. She had maybe half an hour left when she’d stepped outside, lent casually back against the wall, running hands through her already ruffled hair. When she spotted someone she knew from around Santa Monica approaching, she cast a glance in their direction. “Please tell me you’re here to rescue me and you haven’t broken your leg…” she murmured with a small smile.

So maybe skateboarding under the influence was something that Beckett had to add to the many list of stupid things he’d done that led to an even greater consequence since he was now sporting a lovely cast on his arm for the next few weeks. Turning his head, he looked at the woman and only lifted the casted arm up slightly, “Not a broken leg but a broken arm is close enough, right?” He asked even though his tone showed he wasn’t serious, “I mean, I’ve had this thing for an hour and it sucks but my friend drew a pretty dope unicorn on it if that’ll make you feel better?”

“Nope,” he promptly said with a light huff. “You won’t catch me near anything karaoke related even if my life depended on it. Not even if I was wasted. Not happening.” Says the boy that once belted out all the words of Love Story by Taylor Swift in college. 

“Look, it’s not like I’m an alien,” Logan says, somewhat exasperated. “Liking pineapple on pizza is perfectly normal. So is disliking mint chocolate chip ice cream. I like and dislike what I do just like anyone else.”

"You sure ‘bout that?” Beckett was quick to respond since he personally could never understand how anyone could sit and have fruit on their pizza. He also struggled with the concept of anchovies but that was separate in itself. “I mean, pineapple on pizza sounds just as bad deep fried pickles. Mint chocolate chip isn’t even that bad? Not my favorite but if it was there, I’d eat it ‘cause... ice cream is ice cream as long as it’s not really gross like... seafood flavored.”

She watched him cautiously as he poured himself a drink. She wasn’t surprised that he took got himself a drink, just that it took him so long to do so. Following his lead, she poured herself her own. Mai filled her glass a third of the way then sat back on the couch, legs folded under her once again. Very quietly Mai let him talk, taking small sips of her drink. Her eyes danced between him and her glass while she let his words flow through her ears. When he finished and his eyes met hers and he admitted that what she said was a little sappy, Mai felt her heart flutter seeing the smile she had missed over the last week. “What can I say? You make me say sappy things, sometimes. More than usual. At least you’re being safe, Beck… That’s all I could ever ask of you.– I know what policy you live by, and, as you know, I’ve always thought it was a good one. Life can be unpredictable, so you can’t expect anything less than that to happen.” She took another sip of her drink before continuing. Maybe she was should have waited to drink anything because, already, Mai was starting to feel warm and bubbly. With every fiber of her being Mai wanted to believe what he said about nothing happening to him. She tried to believe that, but even she knew that he couldn’t say that and keep to that promise. “I’ll keep my worries locked away in my head, but that doesn’t mean they won’t come out every now and again. Worrying about you is kind of what I do best., but I’ll try to keep my worries at bay.”  She assured him.  At least they had talked about one elephant in the room. That was progress. As Mai made the conscious decision to move over so that she was sitting directly next to him like she always did, she knew very well that now that they had his secret out of the way it was only a matter of time before it was her turn. 

As he raised is glass to his lips again, Beckett took a longer sip that time which almost made the amount he had poured in go down to just about half. And he had filled almost more than half the glass. Who would have thought talking about something that he did so casually would make him feel so damn stressed when Mai was the one person on the planet that didn’t manage to do that. Ever. “Are you going to start quoting shit from Romeo and Juliet now?” he teased momentarily but soon shook his head, “I know. But sometimes you gotta lead with that policy and then realize that every day is different. Full of different circumstances ‘cause not even waking up tomorrow is certain.” A morbid thought, he realized after he’d said it, but a true one to say the least. Bringing one of his legs underneath him, his hand only gripped onto his calf, fingers fiddling with the material of his joggers as an almost unamused look sprung on his face over her worries. “You really don’t have to worry about me, I promise. I’m a big boy, you know. I tie my own shoes and everything.” And again, he was only teasing. A part of him, however, didn’t quite know how to continue with what he had to ask her. He didn’t really want to believe that it was true but if it was true, how was he supposed to react? What was he supposed to do? He wasn’t someone that thought about anything romantic so the last thing he would want to do was hurt Mai with a blunt response that could hurt her feelings. “Uhm...” he began, glancing at her but he couldn’t bring his mouth to form the words he wanted so he went with the next best thing, “We should probably eat some pizza before it gets cold, yanno? Cold pizza is disgusting and microwaved makes it worse.”

His invitation to drink something didn’t go past her, but she wasn’t one to drink when she was nervous. It just made her more nervous, which was the opposite of what she wanted to happen at the moment. Besides, alcohol makes people say things they don’t always mean and that was the LAST thing that Mai wanted to do right now. “I…I know you mean that in the nicest way possible but I’m umm …I’m going to politely decline your offer until you have something to drink first. if that’s okay?”She wanted to calculate her words, think about what she was saying and process properly what was being told to her.  Depending on her reaction to what information she was being presented to her, Mai knew very well that the alcohol might make that information harder to digest instead of better. 

As she expected but also didn’t at the same time, Beck’s words came out blunt at first. Her eyes widened slightly as she nodded ever so slowly then let her eyes fall down to her hands. The color drained from her face as she replayed his ‘yep’ in her head on repeat. Her hands nervously fiddled together as she let him speak his entire truth.  She understood his reasons for doing it, and she could never EVER  be upset with him for choosing to do what he did. Everyone had things they did to earn extra money. Some people were princesses for kids parties…Beck sold drugs.  Then came the part when he said why he didn’t want to tell her and Mai felt her heart sink to the bottom of her stomach. If he thought this would be what ruined their friendship … “You don’t know me well enough if you thought I’d stop being around you or being your friend if I found this out, Beck… There’s very, very little that could mess up us. I promise.” She admitted quietly, letting her hands fall into her lap. “I know the idea of jeopardizing us doesn’t make you happy, but I really do appreciate you telling me. I’d rather find out from you like this than when something terrible is happening to you…” ‘Like getting arrested or killed.’ She added mentally. “And I understand why you do it, and it’s okay. We all have things that we do to earn extra money so that we can keep doing things that we love. At the end of the day, what matters to me is that you…” She swallowed her next thought then lifted her eyes to his. “…That you are safe and that you come home safe every night. I know that’s kind of a sappy thing to say, but like you said, your friends are like your family. Best friends worry about each other. I already worry about you a lot. Now, I’m just going to worry a little extra hard because I don’t want something to happen to you…”

He wasn’t surprised when she declined his idea of drinking something first but that only made him want to drink instead. Not that it was the smartest of ideas but it was something that Beckett personally thought would help in some way or another when it came to expressing himself so he only nodded his head as he leaned forward. “Don’t mind if I do,” he said faintly, grabbing the bottle on the table before he opened it with little struggle, pouring himself some into a glass before he set the bottle down and leaned back to where he was sitting before. Seconds later, he was drinking from the glass with just a minor scrunch of the nose at the taste. Nevermind it helping. Dark brown eyes remained fixated on this one specific spot on the carpet, a hand now running through his hair in an effort to just find something to do that didn’t involve looking at the girl on the other end of the sofa. “You should know by now that I don’t really trust anything and that I live by a very bland anything can happen mentality,” he responded slowly. Having been raised in orphanage had done him more harm than good and it showed clearly in the way that he sometimes thought people would just remove themselves from his life and he’d simply be all alone again. Without anyone. Which was ultimately his biggest fear in addition to who would remember him when he was gone. Would his life have mattered when his own parents hadn’t even wanted him in their lives? When nobody had? “Nothing is going to happen to me,” he assured, “I know it can be kinda hard to believe but I’m actually pretty safe when it comes to it and I know exactly who I deal with which should at least keep your worries a bit... less considering this dude is actually hella chill. I’m not gonna say that I know what I’m doing because, uhm, when do I ever? But just know that you can keep those worries of yours just locked away in that little head of yours ‘cause I’m fine.” His eyes focused on hers as a faint flicker of a smile formed on his lips, “And you’re right... that was kind of sappy.”

Josh’s expression softened as the other attempted to remember where the place he’d mentioned even was. He held back the laugh that was bubbling up inside. “Sure, that’d be good,” he answered with a nod. “Only if you’re heading that way. I can probably figure it out if not.”

Shaking his head, he soon started to just take a few steps, “Nah, dude, I literally have to go there anyways so it’s really not even a bother. Like, I’m no tour guide but at least I’d be able to get you there without having to resort to you using your phone or anythin’. Then you’d really look like a tourist and that’s embarrassing.” He paused, extending out a hand for the other, “I’m Beckett, by the way. Or Beck. Whatever works.”

“Did you ever think that maybe, just maybe, someone else might care about the aesthetic of a person as well? Like video game designers or casting directors? Every day is an audition so everyone cares on some level.” Well, wasn’t he just a pleasant fresh breeze on a Spring day? Had he never learned a thing or two about manners? “How do you know that you’ll never see me again? What if we meet again? What then? Going to pretend that I don’t exist? How nice.” Elysa rolled her eyes as she switched her weight from one foot to another.  She made a mental note for the next time she saw him: make no noise and pretend he doesn’t exist. “Judging by how this conversation is going, I can bet that there’s very little you actually want to hear unless it involves video games or people skate boarding off the sides of buildings.”

"Every day is an audition?” He responded back with a confused look in his eyes as he withheld the need to let out a groan. “Not everyone lives in a world where they live that little palace in the sky mentality so imma have to disagree.” Beckett wasn’t exactly trying to be rude to the woman but a part of him just felt like he just had to let it take it’s course. Worse case scenario, he’d say something and end up being slapped. Wouldn’t be the first or last on that one. “’Cause Santa Monica is a pretty big place so the chances of us running into each other again just doesn’t seem right considering just how many people live here. It’s simple math. I don’t even know your name so pretending you don’t exist wouldn’t even be hard since I don’t know you to begin with.” Taking a moments pause, he tilted his head and blinked at the woman a few times before very dryly saying, “Actually, I just want to hear the word next so I can get my fucking coffee. ---And to be honest, you look like you know about neither of those things anyways.”

Was it too late to run into her room and never come out? It was way too late for that…He was in her house. He was more than likely not going to let her run away from him that easily which mean that she had to stand there and face her fears. “Yeah…Your bank account needs to know that, for the future.” She laughed nervously, letting her feet continue to shuffle in place like the nervous duckling she was. When he moved to lean against the door frame, Mai smiled but found herself taking the slightest of steps back. It wasn’t anything bad…Just to give him space. Nothing else. “Yeah…yeah I know. One night is good. One night, cleaned up. Here you are now all…Facial haired again. It’s nice. I’m glad you like the compliment.” Her large doe eyes followed him as he walked into her house. For a moment, Mai stood in the doorway staring out into her dark neighbood before she sighed and closed the door. Her attention turned to Beckett again, her hands shoving into the pocket of his hoodie as she slowly shuffled her way over to her little setup. “I’d…Like to think I’m pretty proud of the fact that there isn’t anything sugary. I thought serious discussions meant serious food selections…So, here we are.” She shrugged a little, looking down at her food. Leave it to Beckett to be the one to take charge of the situation, of their situation. Mai could always count on him to do it because, at the end of the day, she was not going to do it– especially when she could feel her heart in her chest. She took his invite to sit down on the couch. She picked a spot, exactly one couch cushion away from him. She stared straight ahead, letting her mind formulate how she wanted to ask her question as she folded her legs under her. Mai swallowed, then shifted herself in her seat to be looking him directly in the eyes. “D-…Do you sell drugs, Beck?” she asked quietly, “I’m not upset if you do, and I’m not judging you if you do I just… I just have to know because it’s been eating at me all week and I wanted to hear you tell me the truth instead of just assuming some rumor was right about my best friend. We tell each other everything. So, I thought you would have told me this too, if it was true.”

The more he looked at her the more Beck realized that what she was doing was out of nerves. Maybe there was some awkwardness lingering in her but she was definitely nervous about something which was almost surprising for the boy considering he’d never really seen her get nervous about anything related to him before. Aside from when they’d first met maybe but that felt like ancient history. It really kicked him in the gut when he watched her take the step away from him, brow furrowing slightly in confusion. “Uhm... right...” was all he really said since her sentences were far too short for him to do much with. Normally, she’d babble enough where he could build on but this? This wasn’t that. Once he was sitting on the sofa, however, he leaned back and managed to get comfortable as his eyes soon focused on the box of pizza, “You know, a part of me feels like you should have something to drink because you’re kinda making me feel some type of way about this when I’m trying to do the exact opposite. And I mean that in the nicest way possible.” He’d been expecting her to sit next to him like she normally did but instead she was as far from him as she could possibly be which didn’t exactly sit well with Beck, a slightly frown forming on his lips but that was the consequences of the actions he’d chosen to hide for so long. 

Eventually, she finally asked one of the elephants in the room which made him let out a sigh, eyes focused on a spot on the wall in her home but there was no point in hiding something that was true. “Yup,” he said initially, slightly blunt but his head bobbed regardless, “I do. It’s not like an... all the time thing but it once was. It kinda started as a way for me to have money in college since, well, it’s not like I have a mom or dad to give me money so it was the easy way out even if I had a normal job at Panera. Now? It’s more so just there for when I need the extra cash when my business isn’t exactly giving me much and I have apps I want to make and can’t really do that without money. No money means no apps which means no portfolio which means no money which means no apartment. And I’m not trying to be homeless.” He paused them, a hand scratching as his cheek slowly as he blinked a few times, “--I didn’t want to tell you because a part of me kind of felt like that’d fuck something up, I guess? All my friends are basically my only family and you especially should know that so the idea of jeopardizing that kind of... I don’t know. Doesn’t make me happy, that’s for sure.”

And with that one little remark, Elysa’s smile was wiped clean off her face. “The kind of bullshit where I ask what your look aesthetic is like because I’m curious.” She responded rather shortly as she hung up on her assistant. She texted them a quick ‘I’ll call you later. Dealing with…People’ then brought her attention right back to him. “If you feel like death is coming for you, maybe try being friendly to people asking you simple questions in public and you might avoid it for another day.” Elysa shrugged. “Just a thought. That’s how I’d describe it, anyways.” She gave him a rather dissatisfied once over. “At least you still look presentable, even if you feel like punching a person in the throat or dying. That’s what being an adult is all about– There. I taught you something before you have even had the chance to have breakfast.”

"Did a part of you ever stop and think that you’re the only person that actually cares about someone’s aesthetic and nobody else is gonna stand there and try to cater your ideas?” He returned as he looped his headphone around his ear so he could still listen to the woman but only partially given how loud his music was playing. “Don’t have to be friendly to people I don’t know, it’s not like I’m ever going to see you again.” His face remained barren, tired and unmotivated but he lacked the sleep needed to even have a normal conversation. “Nobody said anything about punching someone ‘cause violence isn’t exactly my thing unless it’s in a game. I already know what being an adult is like considering I’ve been doing just fine but I’m allowed to complain. Take your little life lessons and tell someone that actually wants to hear them ‘cause I don’t.”

Knock. 

      Knock. 

            Knock. 

Mai stared at the door for a solid ten seconds when that knock rang through her house.  She thought she had more time before he actually showed up. Heck, he showed up and there was a part of her that had hoped that he wouldn’t. Yet, he did. He was here. At her house. On the other side of that door stood one Beckett Marsden. She NEVER  got nervous around him …Why did it start now? Oh right, because Mai knew that he knew that she had a crush on him – a fact she was DETERMINED to take with her to the grave. Of course.

She took a deep breath. How bad could it be, right? It’d only been one week, not a century since they last talked. They could do this. She could do this. Swallowing her nerves, Mai opened her front door to reveal one of her best friends.  He was making jokes. Jokes were good, right? They meant things were okay… Right?

“Oh! Right yeah …” She said sheepishly, putting her right hand in the giant pouch. “It’s a nice hoodie? Really soft…You pick out good hoodies.” Mai smiled warmly, scratching the back of her neck. “You …Grew out your facial hair, like you said you might do. It’s nice – you look nice with it. It’s a good look for you – Do you want to come inside?” She gestured abruptly into her family room, moving aside to allow him room to pass if he so chose. “I got us pizza and I even picked something alcoholic that we both might like that hopefully isn’t too sweet. It’s from a brand we liked before but umm… I asked the employee at Target for help so…It should be good.” Stalling. They were stalling. Mai knew it, as she shuffled anxiously in place. Surely Beck had to know it too. The thing with Mai was, she could stall on this topic all night, even though it was her who said that they needed to talk. She had stalled on telling Beck that she had liked him for a very long time, before Casino Night. What’s one more day? 

When you’ve been friends with someone for as long as Beckett had been with Mai, you learned to pick up on the little things that somehow managed to come out in situations that didn’t come out before. And as he looked at her, he could tell something was off. Something about her lacked the same happy and darling aura that she seemed to carry on her shoulders and it had been replaced with almost an... awkwardness? Was it awkwardness? Mulling it over quietly, he only tilted his head as he was soon leaning against the door frame, “Thanks, I’ll make sure to let my bank account know that I at least have some good taste,” he continued to joke, instinctively rubbing his cheek at the mention of his facial hair. “I mean, I kinda hated the way that I looked without it so one night was more than enough for me, yanno? I know I do but I appreciate the compliment,” he soon smiled, a smile as warm as ever when he was around Mai despite everything in his head. Nodding his head, he only made his way inside with a simple silence as he noticed the food and beverages that she was talking about, “Wow, look at you. You clearly weren’t lying when you said you wanted to talk since I don’t see anything sugary and girly in sight.” Moving himself, he soon plopped himself down on the sofa and gestured for her to sit, “I know what you’re doing and I’m going to tell you right now that this was your idea.” His words came off blunt but he didn’t want to beat around the bush, not when the curiosity was eating away at him, “So, if you want, you can ask me anything you want first. We can go from there, I guess?”

Word had gotten around quickly about that night and it hadn’t taken long for the whispers to start at work. First it had been the looks, which she had ignored because she had better things to do but then the remarks had started, people wondering if she even deserved her place at the hospital or if she’d just ‘slept her way through her degree’. It obviously wasn’t true, she’d worked just as hard as everyone else but the truth didn’t seem to matter to anyone. The gossip was far juicier and though she’d rather have laid low and hidden away, she had a job to do.

Her last shift had been terrible, to the point where she’d nearly ended up in tears in the on-call room. In the end, she’d been sent home sick, and the first place she’d headed was the nearest bar, ready to forget the entire day, and week, by getting drunk. Sat at the bar, she felt someone sit next to her. “You might not wanna sit there, I’m an emotional drunk and believe me, the tears will start soon,” she said while staring straight ahead, glass at her lips. 

Glancing over at the woman with a glass of his own in his hand, Beckett didn’t really do much to start with as he let out a small hum before raising his glass to his lips and taking a sip. He had no solid reason to be at a bar outside the realm of the fact that he was bored so why not make conversation. With a moments pause, he soon shook his head as he fully gave her his attention, “So... what’s you’re point? Everyone cries once in a while so if you cry when you’re drunk it’s not the end of the world. If people can’t handle it, they can move away. If I can’t handle it? I’ll get ya a tissue then move a chair down or something. Sometimes ya just gotta do it.”

There Elysa stood in Starbucks, her Bluetooth headset in her ear as her best friend, and personal assistant was GUSHING to her about their newest project together and about their newest client. “I know, I know, it’s exciting! We have to stay focused. We can’t let our happiness get in the way or we will do a terrible job. I’ll start on roughs since we already know what concept they are going for. We can go fabric shopping later this week so that we can pick samples and send them to–” Elysa’s eyes roamed over the person in front of her in line catching something that made her stop mid-sentence. “To…–One moment, babe.” A manicured finger reached forward and tapped the person standing in front of her on the shoulder. “Yes, hi. I love your look,” She smiled before continuing, “It’s very… Vintage? Fall-Chic? How would you describe it?” 

With his headphones in his ears, Beckett was barely paying any mind to the world around him as he waited (not so patiently) in line at the closest starbucks that he could find. His eyes were droopy and the bags under them only indicated further just how tired he actually was from spending a night coding a part of his latest project. Feeling the tap, he rolled his eyes as he slowly did a half turn and looked at the woman as he pulled out his headphone. An eyebrow soon raised at her question, eyes glancing down at his clothes - ripped jeans, vans and a hoodie he got at Hot Topic. “What kind of bullsh-- I guess it’s a I didn’t know what to wear but I have to look somewhat presentable even though I feel like fucking death is coming for me. That’s how I’d describe it anyways.”