ᶜʰᶤˡᵈʰᵒᵒᵈ ᵇᵉᵈʳᵒᵒᵐ

Well, it was a good thing Jordan only had one earphone in at the moment else he may not have heard Kieran. He had been sitting on a bench listening to music before he caught his name somewhere in the crowd. Glancing up in surprise, he then smiled widely when he noticed Kieran and his dog. “Oh, hey!” he greeted, pausing the music and stuffing his phone and earphones in his jacket pocket. He stood up, shaking Kieran’s hand. “I’m good, thanks. Hey, Icarus!” Jordan chirped to the dog, petting him. “Oh actually, I haven’t been shopping much, um... mostly just looking around and stuff.”

During the holidays, Jordan tended to make an effort to go visit his mom at some point. Of course, she was still unaware that he was a werewolf. She knew he lived in in the Bronx and was working at Riverdale diner, and had a group of friends he met that shared similar interests. Aka the Eclipse pack and by similar interests, he meant species. But at least he wasn’t alone for most of the holidays. He had his pack mates, and they were even there somewhere around the market. “Oh, it’s okay,” he promised. “I’m Jordan. Ah, would you... like to sit?”

“Yeah, it’s been fun. Lots of people but... it’s nice that you guys are around.” Aka his pack mates. Nish’s face was quite the sight, and it was clear that Jordan was attempting not to laugh. But he just beamed back at his pack mate. “I like it!” he said, and it was true despite it being far from a professional looking art piece since it was by a child. “The artist who did mine said it brings out my eyes,” Jordan explained with a smile. “It’s a little hard to tell at night but I trust her.” 

Jordan had just taken a bite of a soft pretzel, only to spin around when someone spoke to him. “Hm?” He mumbled before chewing and finishing what he had in his mouth. His mouth gaped in wonder at the question, blinking before glancing at the sweatpants rack. Of course, Jordan was still confused on why his own size needed to be a factor, but he wasn’t just gonna ignore the guy either. “Oh, um, I usually wear medium,” he responded. “But, ah, I’m not sure about the other uh... dimensions and stuff?”

“Oh, uh,” Jordan sputtered, still looking unsure. “What if it’s still kind of... weak faith?” He was still doing that thing of not believing in himself, a common occurrence. He could say he was trying to work on it, but it took more than just telling himself that. “Sorry,” he added, finally just giving Amelia a smile in return since she seemed dedicated to them playing that game regardless. “Okay, we can try that.”

The grip on his shoulders wasn’t even that firm, but Jordan still managed to feel like he was being rocked back and forth. He forced a laugh, looking back over at the game where another pair was just finishing up their own round. “Not that I don’t believe in your good luck knot,” Jordan promised, biting the inside of his cheek as he finally glanced back at Amelia. “I just don’t believe in my ability to have good coordination?” He offered. “I... barely have any without a blindfold.” 

It seemed like there was an endless amount of things to do around the market, but Jordan figured it was good to take breaks too. Take a breather, away from the craziness of the crowded place. He was sitting at one of the tables, his sketchbook open as he casually drew some animals. From the corner of his eye, he noticed someone near and glanced up, only to realize he recognized the face from a coffee shop not too long ago. “Oh, hey,” Jordan said in surprise, sitting up a little more as he offered the guy a smile. “Uh, Santiago, right?”

It had to have been weird, the way Jordan was just standing there, staring up at a string of lights as if they were the most interesting thing in the world. But he was eyeing something specific, having noticed some of the bulbs were starting to go out. From the corner of his eye, he noticed a presence, jumping slightly at the sight of another near him. “Oh, uh, sorry,” Jordan blurted, apologizing for something he didn’t need to. He gave a sheepish smile, pointing up. “They keep flickering. I just... got distracted by them.”

Somehow, Jordan had been convinced to sit down and have someone put some face paint on him. Thankfully, they weren’t doing anything extreme, and just painted small but cool little black swirls and designs along his right temple, near the corner of his eye. A mirror was handed to him, and Jordan was in awe as he looked at the artwork. “Woah, cool,” he breathed, nodding several times at the artist. “That’s really pretty, thank you.” Jordan glanced over to where Nish was standing near him, sending them a big smile as he hopped off the stool.

“I guess you’re right...” he said with a sheepish smile. “Philosophical stuff doesn’t always come to the rescue.” Jordan joked, sipping at his club soda again as he continued listening to the werewolf. He was surprised, honestly, by how genuine she was acting. Not that he didn’t think she would be on a normal basis, but he just wasn’t expecting an Alpha to wanna hang out with him just for the sake of hanging out. “Okay,” he surrendered and nodded. “Oh, um... have the Alphas been busy lately? With all of the crow stuff?” Jordan was out of the loop, not knowing if any information had come yet.

Jordan pondered the question, shaking his head slowly in thought. “Oh, no, I haven’t,” he admitted. “I hadn’t really thought of that... but maybe.” Maybe that was something he’d look into, or maybe one day he’d just grow to get past his insecurities. He smiled at the other’s reassurance and he nodded before unzipping his backpack. “Ah, I hope you don’t mind...” Jordan began as he carefully pulled out a sketchbook. “I was gonna draw for a little bit.”

Her excitement seemed to gradually be peaking and he felt like he was becoming even more nervous because of that. But she wasn’t done, and her confident and chirpy declaration made him nearly choke on air. I want to give you a tattoo. Jordan’s eyes flew wide open. “You’re gonna do it?” He blurted weakly, staring at the witch and continued in a quieter tone. “Woah, hold on. I mean, can’t you just do a bit of magic and do like a temporary tattoo? You know... like the fake tattoo sticker things kids get?”

He nodded slowly, mulling over the comments as if trying to relate to them. “It’s kind of everywhere for me,” Jordan admitted, for even if he were at a party, he still wasn’t that social. Whenever he would talk to strangers, he usually ended up rambling about something until he made a fool of himself. And he was trying his best not to do that now. “Okay, that’s good...” Jordan murmured in relief, offering another smile. “I just never wanna bother anyone.”

Yeah, it was just Jordan being Jordan. He couldn’t help but be a little nervous and awkward upon interacting with a stranger. It was like he was constantly worried he’d be bothering the other person, which was fair in general but his concerns were just heightened to an unnecessary extent. Jordan carefully sat down and mulled over the question as if an answer really was expected. “Oh, well,” he started, giving an uncertain smile. “A busy or introverted one?” He offered slowly and laughed quietly, rubbing the back of his neck. 

Not having a shift at the diner that day meant he was able to go do other things, including visiting a friend. Jordan’s initial text had been unnecessarily long-winded and concerned with him saying he didn’t want to bother Danny and that it was okay if Danny was too busy at the record shop to have visitors that weren’t customers. But he was convinced it was fine, now leaning against the counter in the store as he studied a stack of vinyl records. “Wow,” he commented, looking through them in curiosity and smiling. “You guys really have stuff from all decades, huh?”