Sidewalk Wildflowers

Halstead had been on his way home from a small walk. It was a little cooler outside than he wanted it to be, but he knew he had to get out of the house. Sitting inside cooped up writing all day was a killer, and he wasn’t looking for the familiar feeling of being trapped and anxious that came with it. He had locked himself up plenty of times to know don’t do that. He wasn’t looking up when he just about ran into someone, stopping in his tracks and looking down at the person. “Shit, sorry.”

Looking down at her now tea stained boots, James let out a quiet sigh. “Oh no, its fine really. I’m sure it wasn’t on purpose or anything.” She smiled. These things just seemed to happen to James more frequently then not so she wasn’t really that upset about it. “I was thinking that it was time to switch to something stronger then tea anyways.” She smiled and tossed the empty cup in the trash near her. She reached in her bag grabbing some tissues and bent down to wipe off the honey tea off her boots. They weren’t nice or new by any means but she wasn’t trying to go out the rest of the night with sticky boots. “I would advise looking up from the street though,” she gestured to the buildings around her “there’s a big beautiful city all around you worth looking at. Prettier then then the cracked up sidewalks at least.”

He could feel his cheeks heating as she pointed out how cold he was. Reflexively, he shifted his coat closer, whether trying to hide or bundle up further, he could not say for sure. “Your boss…set you up, on a date?” he asked, blinking slowly. That seemed like an odd thing for an employer to do. Wouldn’t it be better to stay out of the personal lives of employees? Anything could become awkward if a boss set it up. He shook his head at the idea. “My boss…is a little, similar,” he admitted, “he keeps, trying to get me…to come out drinking, with the other workers.” The last thing he wanted to do was spend all day with people and then go out to watch them become louder. “It, would be worse…I think, to go on a date…you have no interest in.” He shook his head again in response, not really perturbed by her telling him so much. “Nice, to meet you,” he replied, nodded. “Sebastian.” His own name was added on quickly as though he had forgotten he was supposed to say it. “Joining, you sounds…nice. And warm.”

James was happy he decided to join her, even if small talk tended to make her a bit awkward. She started in the direction of the coffee shop. “Yeah shes done it once before, she means well wanting me to get out and be happy and such. I’m fine really though. She’s older and I feel like shes trying to live through me a bit.” She looked over at Sebastion and cupped her hands over her mouth breathing into them to warm them up. “Shes says i’m wasting the best years of my life working there and on my building all of the time.” They had just reached the coffee shop, and she reached for the handle to open the door. They got in line to place their order and she shed her coat. “Really though i’m just determined to get the venue open so I can start making money the way I had intended to when I left everything and moved here. Not that meeting people and making friends and such isn’t important. I do think I would rather her try and set me up on dates that I can cancel, as opposed to trying to talk me in to coming out drinking after work. It’s always so hard to say no in the moment ya know? I hate feeling like I have to do something.” She paused and looked up at him, since she was as short as she was she looked up at everyone. “If im talking to much you can always stop me, I tend to ramble.” Reaching the counter she ordered her hot chai tea latte with a shot of blonde espresso,.“What’ll you have?” she said looking back at Sebastion.

( ❋ && closed starter @hellojamescc​

woody had been seized by the security guards of the grocery store , two rather large burly males grabbing at his tattooed arms to stop him from wriggling away . even with his deft hands it seemed he was caught red handed this time , stolen goods ( a pack of cigarettes , some candy bars and a pack of condoms .. don’t ask ) being tugged from his pockets and thrown with disregard on the ground . spotting james behind one of the aisles , he attempted to wave at the girl to get her attention . “ hey – hey hey hey , you there .. uh , margaret . that’s you . we were jus’ shopping , and these things fell in my pocket . you saw ‘em , right ?? c’mon love , help me out here , “ 

“I…could get you another, cup of tea.” Sebastian offered. It was, after all, his own fault that she no longer had any. The least he could do was rectify that issue. A little smile pulled at his lips when she spoke of socializing. “I think… I can relate to that, feeling. Today doesn’t, seem to be a good…one for being around, a lot of people.” Or really any day if he was being honest with himself. Yes, accidents happened all the time, but that didn’t mean he could shirk his responsibility by not attempting to make it up to her. “Where, did you get, that one?” he asked, nodding toward where she had thrown away the empty cup. Her question made him paused. “Not, really…I was just, going home. Were, you off…somewhere?”

“Well I could use some more tea,” she smiled. “And you look like you could use something to warm you up as well.” She pushed her hair out of her eyes and gestured towards the cold, bundled up man. She had already stated that she wasn’t in the mood for going out and this was the perfect excuse to stay in at her favorite quiet coffee house. “I was supposed to go out tonight on some date that my boss had set up for me. And if i’m being honest she’s not the best at these things. So I just canceled last minute.” She felt guilty saying it out loud. She grimaced, “I know that sounds awful of me, but really I couldn’t go on another date she planned. She’s sweet and really means well. I suppose she feels bad for me not getting out and meeting many people since moving here...” She Stopped talking and began blushing. “And you really didn’t need to know all this you don’t even know my name, i’m so sorry.” She shook her head while placing her hand on her forehead. “I’m James, and if you’d like to get warm i’m going right down the road to this perfect coffee place. It has fire place and i’ll get ya a latte.” She smiled at him again. “You want to join me?”

“So…is it, like, a club?”  He asked, still not really sure what he was looking at.  But then, Braxton wasn’t good at looking at things for what they could be, only what they had been before they were destroyed.  The destruction was really what he focused on.  “No, no, I’m sure it’ll look awesome.  Just gonna take some work,” he reassured her with a shrug, taking the hammer and walking over to the banister.  He took one swing at it half-heartedly, but the hammer barely put a dent in it.  So after a while he just stepped up on the stairs and leaned against the wall behind him, kicking at the banister with all his might.  It wasn’t much faster, but with enough effort he managed to take out a couple of the columns.

“That’s good because I hate those names. I never understand why you want a pet if you are going to give them a basic name. Give them unique names, it’s not like the dog has to apply for a job or something.” He chuckled softly at the girl. “Ah, yes. This place a little down the road. It is really good. Maybe you and I should go visit it sometime, or you can.” Preston replied with a smile. “Or I can walk with you and little maxter here and show you where the place is. I would hate to have you get all lost in this city.”

Sebastian had just gotten off of his shift and he was exhausted. The drive to just get home was strong, but he was also freezing. His car was in the shop and thus he had taken a taxi to work. Afterward, his coworkers had wanted to go out and, thankfully, their choice had been in the direction of his house. However, now that he wanted to leave early, he was stuck walking. It’s not that cold, he had thought. I’ll be fine. Of course, the weather had been hell bent on proving him wrong. Pulling his coat closer around himself, he realized a little too late that he had effectively blocked his sight from behind his jacket. A soft gasp left him as he felt himself knock into another person. “S-sorry,” he stammered, scooting back and immediately letting go of his coat. So much for that plan. “Are you, okay?”

Braxton looked around the place as politely as he could, looking semi-interested in the idea.  Honestly, he did think it was really cool.  She owned the place, that in itself was pretty awesome.  But he had no idea what ‘Sweet Bees’ was supposed to be.  And he wasn’t sure if he was supposed to ask.  Looking at the hammer, he rose a brow.  “Do you have anything bigger than a hammer?”  He asked, cocking his head to the side.  “Taking out a banister is, like, a sledgehammer type of situation, I’m pretty sure.  I’ve destroyed my fair share of properties, but not with a hammer.”

“I can’t blame him, honestly. It’s a pretty good food.” He chuckled, looking over at the dog. He seemed like a sweet dog, he didn’t bite him so that was a good thing. “Ah, I see. It’s an interesting name. At least he didn’t have one of those common, lame names like Max or Rex. Those dog names are so damn common, it’s not even funny anymore.” Preston looked over at the girl before nodding. “That makes sense. It’s kind of cute, honestly. Nice to meet you, James. I’m Preston.”

Truth be told, Braxton wouldn’t have expected the girl to come back, except she’d handed him her dog.  Which was no problem for him, he loved dogs.  When she did come back, he had the dog practically in his lap, petting and scratching and giving the thing all the attention it could ever want.  “A hammer?  I mean…yeah, I guess?  It’s just used for nailing shit, right?”  He shrugged, letting go of the dog and letting her take the leash back.  After a moment’s hesitation, he stood, the offer of temporary shelter and beer too good to pass up, and followed James and the dog.

Braxton nodded, taking another drag of his cigarette.  He watched her put one behind her ear, and one eyebrow rose, wondering what she planned to do with it if she no longer smoked.  “Look, I’ll give you this whole pack for a couple of beers,” he offered, looking at her and wondering if she’d even bother taking the pack.  After all, she did say she didn’t smoke anymore…but she’d taken one, so why not take more to not-smoke?  “Oh, cool.  I’m from Cordele, originally.  Never been outta Georgia,” he rolled his eyes and looked back up at the stars.  “It’s nice to meet you, James.  I’m Brax.”

“Just one of those nights,” Braxton repeated, a little firmer this time.  There wasn’t much else to tell her, honestly.  He wasn’t one to blurt out his entire life story to a stranger, and besides, this was something he figured she was better off not knowing about.  “Sometimes you get your ass handed to you on a silver platter.  It just happens.”  He shrugged, looking down at his cigarette in his hand and then holding it out to her.  “You smoke?”  It was the only thing he had to offer her, unfortunately.  And he was hoping she’d be sharing her beer, because he really could use a drink right about now.  “Nine months doesn’t sound like new, but I guess it depends on how you feel about the place, right?  Like, if it feels like home, then it’s home.  If it still feels strange and unusual, then it’s that,” he looked up at the stars again.  “Where’s Chattanooga?”

Preston smiled softly at the dog and the girl when they had approached him. He wasn’t really an animal person, sure he had his fair share of family pets and pets growing up but with him being on the road and all now, he knew he couldn’t keep one. “Oh , it’s alright. I guess he smells the Pepperoni on me, I just left a pizza joint.” He chuckled. “Maxter is an interesting name. Where’d you get that from?”

Gingerly, Braxton placed his fingertips over his split lip, wrinkling his nose and frowning at the sting.  Then he pulled his hand away, shrugging.  “Yeah, I guess you could say that.  Just one of those nights.”  They weren’t all that uncommon, unfortunately.  It’s not like what he was doing was totally legal, so what was he going to do, turn the guy in?  Nope.  He just took the occasional beating.  “You both new here?”  He asked, raising a brow and holding out his hand without the cigarette to the dog, so he could sniff him and hopefully realize that Brax wasn’t dangerous.  He gave off some thug vibes, maybe, but he wasn’t actually nearly as tough as he came across.  Glancing up at the six pack, he sighed, and then nodded, finally bringing his cigarette to his lips for a drag.  “Yeah, yeah I do,” he replied, exhaling the smoke away from the girl.

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