any way the wind blows

“I’ve been to a few.” It wasn’t like he was wildly popular or anything, but he had always been friendly enough to get invites to a few of the weddings of people he went to high school with, or because they’d been friends one of his siblings or something along those lines. Nick guessed it was just part of having a social family that mostly stayed put in the small town over all these years. “Stuffy suits aside, I think they’re pretty nice, you know, just a group of people coming together to celebrate someone else’s happiness. Plus the cake is usually pretty good.” He said with a small chuckle. “I’m sure you’ll probably get invited to some down the line. Outside of family friends, I think it was a while after I graduated high school before friends and such started having them.” With his mind on the topic he silently wondered if people were holding off on having them right now because of how larger events seemed to draw in tragedy or if people were more likely to have them now with how uncertain the future was.

Nick nodded in agreement, not seeing the point in deciding you could no longer having fun or enjoy certain things once you reached some arbitrary age. “To be fair, that is sort of what we do when there’s nothing else to do there.” He joked, making the record store sound more appealing than it actually was to him these days. “Not that that happens too often. This place always seems to find business.” Which was surprising at one point, but by now he wasn’t sure he was too surprised people kept coming back to the mall. “It also helps that it’s a place no one ever really causes any trouble in, even if they’re distraught because the album they wanted is out of stock.” At least when he was working, maybe his co-workers would say otherwise.

He couldn’t help but laugh at what Jake said about his siblings. “I don’t know if the youngest in my family would feel similarly,” largely because Nick might’ve spoiled her, feeling awful that she was only four when their dad left, “but the middle two might.” Though he didn’t boss them around too much either unless they were getting out of hand or he was a little overwhelmed trying to raise all of them and needed a hand, which he rarely tried to do if he could help it. Just because he had to grow up fast didn’t mean they should’ve too. “Yeah, it’s probably easier to plan for something that you don’t have to worry about like that, which I kind of prefer. That, and like I said, I don’t know enough about flowers to make them feel all that personal.” He always liked that more, when gifts had more of a personal touch to them. “I don’t think I would mind that too much, at least the shift would fly by if we were that busy.” Not that his shifts ever felt painfully long, but there was the occasional lull that always left him feeling restless.

“i love love,” jake tells him, not afraid to be vulnerable and honest, not even when sharing a fact other guys his age might not be comfortable with expressing so proudly. “i think i’d love to go to a wedding,” he decides. “what’s not to like about a celebration of love, you know? of course, this is coming from someone who’s never experienced a real wedding, but the idea at least sounds wonderful,” he smiles and laughs softly. “hopefully i’ll get to go to one soon, i mean, it makes sense that i’ll get to eventually,” he shrugs. if his siblings don’t get married anytime soon, he’s sure that he and his family has enough friends to make it possible; long gone are the days where jake can no longer attend the weddings his parents are invited to, at least, as no guidelines about children not being invited can affect him in his adulthood. 

jake laughs at nick’s honesty. “well there you have it! working there really seems to be awesome,” he keeps laughing. a job like any that you’d find in the mall is a job regardless, but some of them certainly come with perks that sound pretty appealing to jake. “does anyone ever fight?” jake asks; he’s a lover, not a fighter, but the question pops into his head as he they speak, and he asks it immediately without a second thought. “like over music preferences and tastes?” he elaborates. “i’ve overheard more than enough passionate arguments between music lovers who think their taste in music is better than others,” and that’s why he wonders whether or not it would be a problem at tracks. 

“It’s something you discussed?” Eisa asked, not having expected that answer. Maybe she had been wrong to assume that it had been Jake’s decision alone, but he had sort of made it sound like that. “I thought it was something you, you know, promised yourself, to look after your sibling?” She was a little embarrassed that she had most likely offended the other, without meaning to. Eisa wasn’t necessarily a judgmental person, but she did have a bad habit of speaking her mind without thinking. “My friend got hurt in the Halloween attacks.” She then confessed, deciding that maybe sharing her own experience could mend the mess she had found herself in. Even if she hadn’t been involved herself, she had the tiniest experience with the Shrike killers through other people. “They haven’t spoken much about it, but I know it affected them a lot. I don’t know what I would have done if I was there with them.”

honestly, yes, though that's not always a bad thing. he loves being this dependent on his family, because that means that he doesn't have to ever go through something alone. while the dependency might be unhealthy in ways, it's not only one sided, so there's a lot of love and a lot of support in the family that jake doesn't think he could ever live without.

jake is pretty open-minded when it comes to the people he finds himself with - or hoping to be with. he doesn't have a set type, as he's been raised by parents who couldn't be more different, but who also couldn't be more in love. he assumes that love will likely come to him in a surprising form, much like how it happened for his parents, and so he is open to the idea of most - as long as they have values and morals that align with his own.

he hopes for a partner who is loving, kind, affectionate, and good-hearted. these traits can come in so many different forms, but jake really looks for someone who is good to him, good to themselves, and good to others; he doesn't need somebody to be perfect, or immune from such typical human feelings such as insecurity, but as long as the person cares to try, that's all that really matters to him.

Eisa nodded in agreement. “I definitely think that experiences are very underrated.” She often tried to convince herself that her past hadn’t shaped her as much as it had, but there was no denying that most people tended to deal with things that happened many years ago, despite the changes in their life. It could become easy to forget everyone had been raised a certain way and carried those values and experiences with them for the rest of their lives. Perhaps that why she didn’t worry too much about what others thought of her; she knew who she was and knew there was no use in wishing to be someone else. “I also think we can help ourselves feel more confident and useful, with the advice of others. You can now share the knowledge I taught you with other people.” She added with a wide smile.

Her smile faltered however as she watched his face while he spoke about his sibling. She could feel guilt creeping up inside of her, though she tried to ignore it. Of course she couldn’t speak about experiences she had not had, but the logical part of her brain was trying to argue that willingly putting yourself through the same trauma surely couldn’t help. “Would it not be worse for them if you’re involved and they have to watch you get hurt as well?” She questioned out loud. “Of course it’s good to have support, but they could feel guilty if you get badly injured.”

“oh absolutely,” jake nods his head. “i especially notice the people who let experiences go so underrated and undervalued are those who’re high up in businesses or those who’ve gone to school to study for a long time, at college, or whatever. don’t get me wrong, i think those people can be brilliant, and especially if you’ve spent a long time studying something at college you’re going to know a lot, but i’ve just seen it too many times - those kinds of people underestimating the power of lived experiences,” he shrugs his shoulders. he’s not sure what eisa will take from what he’s said, if she even cares for his opinion, but it’s something he’s thought about quite a lot before that he’s glad to finally be able to voice. “and that’s how the world keeps turning,” jake smiles, nodding his head again, glad to have learnt something new today. 

Nick chuckled a little at the description of the customers who frequented King of Diamond. Maybe it was a childish view, but he couldn’t say that he didn’t think the same thing and with the way things were in Shrikes right now, he was glad he didn’t have to talk to a lot of wealthier, older men who probably had some sort of investment in the mall and some say in how things were handled. Before he could fall down that rabbit hole, he focused back on the conversation at hand. “I think I have one, but only for special occasions like weddings.” Or funerals more recently, but again, he was trying very hard not to focus on that right now. “I never really understood that. Sure, when you grow up you have more responsibilities and obligations, but that doesn’t mean you can’t still have fun.” He supposed that maybe he just thought that because he had plenty of responsibilities as a kid too and still managed to find time to enjoy things. He nodded, agreeing that work was always going to have some sort of boring element to it, at least here in the mall where it was almost all retail. “I think it helps if you at least have some sort of interest in what you do or there’s some sort of perk to working there. Like with Tracks, I’m definitely not going to complain about getting a small discount on records there.” And he did genuinely enjoy talking about music with others, feeling like you could learn a lot about someone based on what they enjoyed listening to.

Nick found himself nodding along again. With everything going on, he thought it was especially important now for people to have small things that they enjoyed and for others to let them enjoy those things without expecting perfection. “It makes sense.” He reassured the other. It only made sense that Nick would think so, so much of his life was dedicated to doing things for the happiness of others like his family, and it was never something he took issue with because it  made him happy. “Some times it’s the small things like that that really help your co-workers out and make the workplace a little better for them.” He said with a small shrug. Especially right now with how horrible things had been at the mall, he wanted to do things that made his co-workers’ job a little easier. He chuckled a little, “At least someone’s day will be made. I might fair the same way, though I’m not too sure how many people really go to Tracks to find records with romantic songs on them on Valentine’s Day.” They’d maybe get a few customers here and there looking for something to set the mood, but he assumed the vast majority of the customers they’d get on that day weren’t going to be shopping for the holiday specifically.

it’s always been jake’s opinion that people are better off holding onto their youthfulness and their childishness for as long as possible, within reason of course. people have so many years to be adults, and such a short time in the scheme of their lives to be children; jake is still an adult, and acts as such when needed, but he feels better being able to let loose at the same time, holding onto the spark and the happiness and the honesty of his childhood. he’s experienced a few people in conversation who are completely against the entire idea, but nick doesn’t make him feel bad about his childish comments, and while it’s not something that jake takes the time to properly think about in the moment, he does notice that it’s a nice interaction. “i’ve never been to a wedding before. i suppose i might have to get one then, if i’m ever invited to one.” the only funerals jake has ever attended were hosted by the commune, which needless to say, didn’t have the strict attire guidelines to follow. 

“you’ve totally gotta always have fun with life; why else would you stick around if you have to give all the good stuff up when you turn eighteen, or twenty-one, or whatever they’re calling ‘adult’ nowadays.” he chuckles. “yeah, i bet working at tracks would be awesome. i mean, not to make it sound like i think you just get to sit around listening to records all day, but the discount there would be great.” maybe if jake didn’t have posey to consider, he’d be working at tracks instead, though with that being said, there are so many stores in shrike mall that jake can easily think that about. 

“That’s why we will always need people,” Eisa agreed with a smile. Though she had her moments where she had a tendency to isolate herself, she preferred not to be alone with her thoughts or the disembodied whispers in her ears. They didn’t always bother her and they meant she never felt truly alone, but not much of their words made sense and she much preferred talking to people she could actually see. “Because nobody can learn or remember everything. I think it’s a beautiful thing - not to have to rely on other people, but to always be able to help someone.” The blonde preferred to look at things in the more positive way, even when things seemed dark. Perhaps that was her way of dealing with events of the past, though it had been a while since she had encountered anything difficult to deal with.

She tilted her head to the side as she listened to Jake’s response. Maybe it was because she couldn’t relate to having siblings, but she didn’t know how she felt about the whole idea of ‘sacrificing yourself’ for someone else. Was it selfish to feel like she couldn’t do that? “I know people shouldn’t have to go through things alone, but I don’t know if it would do them a favor to experience it together, necessarily. Because then two people have to deal with the same trauma, instead of one person being able to stay grounded and truly help the other get through it.” Maybe she was wrong - she hadn’t encountered the killers herself and though she had a strange wish to know what it was like, she knew it had to be a lot to deal with. “Besides, then you both would have to worry for each other whilst you’re in that situation, wouldn’t that be worse?”

At the question, she briefly averted her gaze and lifted her shoulders. “I’m not… new new. I’ve lived here for five years, I just- I don’t make friends very easily. I know a few people who were attacked, some co-workers and stuff, but I don’t know that many people.” She wondered if she maybe sounded really naive or out of touch, which she supposed she was, most of the time. “I know it’s a small town and everyone knows at least someone who has been affected, but, I don’t know, maybe I’ve been lucky? As horrible as that sounds.”

“and it also extends out further than just knowledge and information. everyone has different skills, different experiences, different abilities, different talents. you can’t do everything alone not just because you don’t know everything yourself, but because you have talents and skills that i don’t possess and vice versa, so it makes sense that we’d be better together.” he uses the two of them only as an example, and even though he knows that there are also very incompatible people out there in the world - and even here in shrike - he truly believes that people are better off when they work as a team. jake can be quiet and reserved at times, and he can be completely comfortable like that, too, but he’s always reminded of how much better he is with others when the situation presents itself - and in shrike heights, it seems that situations are always popping up that remind him of that.