take a look at myself through my third eye

Kaycee: Are you in hiding again? My mom said you need to get your butt over here and have dinner with the family.

Nathan: Yes, ma'am. ;) I'd love to! It's been too long. What day/time does she have in mind?

It was nice to know Nathan wouldn’t mind the fact Atlas would have to tag along wherever the two of them went to hang out. The excitement on his face at the mention of the dog caused a similar smile to spread across Waves’s features as their eyes trailed down to watching him pull out his phone and pull out a picture of what they assumed was his dog. They were about to ask what his dog’s name was when they saw him reach for the marker board again and write down a name. “Cooper.” They read the board. “Cooper is adorable.” And they meant that. The brunette thought all dogs were adorable. They thought all animals were adorable. Their eyes trailed back up from the marker board to watching Nathan’s lips as he began to speak again. It took them a moment to piece together what they’d caught of his words; but once they did, their smile widened once more. “You want to learn to sign?” They both signed and spoke the question aloud. “I guess I can show you a few of the basics.” They’d gladly introduce him to the beautiful language that was ASL. They’d show him a few things themself and then direct him to different resources for learning further as they really didn’t have the spare time to fully teach someone themself. 

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Nathan wasn’t sure if it was okay to pet their dog, so he didn’t, though it was very hard not to. Atlas was adorable and he smiled every time he looked down at the dog. “Yeah, I’d love to learn something new and it seems like a valuable thing to know,” he said, forgetting to write it down, but hoping the other caught it anyway. If not, he’d be glad to repeat himself. He offered them a smile and shrugged a shoulder. “So where do you want to hang out? What kind of stuff do you like?” he asked inquisitively. “And you’re getting off work now...” he said, making sure they were reading his lips first, “so I should probably give you a little space before we hang out, huh?” he chuckled. He wrote on the marker board, do you need a few minutes to shut down or is that pretty much done? for good measure. 

With so few pastries left in the display cases, it was easy to tell exactly what someone was pointing to. Waves didn’t need to read ‘pain au chocolat’ on Nathan’s lips or have him write it down. They gave a small nod, glad to see him holding up one finger—which also happened to be the proper sign for ‘one’. They briefly turned their attention away from the repeat customer to get a small box out from behind the counter and then fetch his one pastry from the display. As they went to grab the pastry, they stopped, their eyes trailing to the single madeleine still in the case. It was a simple vanilla flavored one; so they figured it was a safe flavor to offer to Nathan despite him having not ordered it. They picked up the other pastry and placed it in the box with the pain au chocolat. “This one’s on me; but your pain au chocolat will be $1.50.” They told him the price, moving to the cash register to ring up his order total after placing the box on the counter in front of him. Their attention then turned to what he’d written on the marker board. “Hang out?” They tried to read his face, see what sort of motive might be behind such a suggestion. If he was trying to flirt with them, poor guy stood no chance as the brunette was very, very queer. But has face didn’t appear flirtatious at all. It simply appeared genuine. “As friends, sure…. As long as you don’t mind my dog tagging along.” They knew some people had fears or allergies to dogs; but Atlas went everywhere with them. That was non-negotiable. 

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“Oh, sweet, thank you.” He grinned, making sure they could see his lips as he spoke. As he paid, he looked at their face carefully and saw where their thoughts were maybe going. “Oh. Yeah, friends, definitely. Can’t have too many friends...” he offered a kind smile. “Are you kidding?” he offered softly, cracking a gentle laugh. “I love dogs. That’s more than okay.” He gave a thumbs-up and took the food that she gave him. Just for good measure, he pulled out his phone and showed them a picture of his golden retriever, then wrote on the marker board his name: Cooper and added another smiley face. “I’d kind of love to learn a bit of sign language... I suck at it, so hopefully you can help me,” he added, making sure to speak clearly and slowly. 

“ i guess the environment is pretty cute . you can be whoever you wanna be in here , y’know ?? gay , straight , alien .. the doors are always open , “ although milena didn’t necessarily believe in the extraterrestrial in the way most roswell natives did the premise of planet 7 was one she could get behind – no judgement , regardless of who walked through that door . sure , milena was quite often the judging type , but that was more based on people’s actions rather than pre-existing bias . in short , if you were an asshole she’d grip onto that fact with perfectly manicured nails and never let go . “ planetary punch is neon green . super cool . it has vodka , melon liqueur , peach puree , orange juice , pineapple juice and a maraschino cherry on top . one of my favorites , “ 

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“I don’t mind it tonight because it means I get to hang out with you earlier than I thought. Normally, however, I’d be a little bummed.  I like working behind the bar; it’s always a fun way to pass the time and get paid.” He laughed as he took a seat in one of the bar stools, settling in a bit, offering the new bartender a friendly smile. “I bet you thought you were getting rid of me,” he joked with them, laughing a bit more, before turning to look at Nathan, “I think I’ll take a rum and coke. Simple and sweet. Are you sure that you don’t mind buying me a drink, though?” 

The gesture was appreciated; Ian was not used to someone being so kind and considerate with him. The ordered rum and coke seemed to come in no time, time always deciding to speed up suddenly, it seemed to be the case often when he was in good company. “It does feel nice to have good company,” he agrees, offering Nathan a warm smile. “Oh, I’m not that exciting. I like to game, watch Netflix, hit up whatever party is in town, smoke, explore what Roswell has going on, and sometimes, I also enjoy stargazing. Glitter, weed, laughs, spontaneous kisses, it’s all kind of my thing.” He lifts the rum and coke to his lips. taking a decent sip from it, “what about you, Nathan? What are you into outside of your work schedule?”

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“If I weren’t working at a tattoo shop, I’d probably work in a bar or like, a record shop,” he noted, a smile turning his features as he shrugged a shoulder. “It’d be really cool to learn how to make all these different drinks.” He was still in classes to become a personal trainer, and it was something he was still mulling over even if he was pretty sure he wanted to do it. “Simple and sweet is kind of my life motto,” he joked before offering a reassurance. “I don’t mind at all. It’d be my pleasure.”

eyelashes fluttered in an eye roll of disappointment but , despite personal feelings toward the rather lame order , it was milena’s job to make it . as she busied herself mixing the rum and coke an ear remained tuned in to nathan’s words beneath the blaring disco tunes overhead . “ i’m paid to promote our newest intergalactic conquests so it’s mostly down to my boss , but if you’re looking for something simple like a jack and coke i’m sure the wild pony would be more your scene . i mean , isn’t it a bit too colorful here for you ?? “ the glass was handed over and milena busied herself with wiping down the sticky bar top , collecting coasters and stacking them neatly one on top of the other . “ it’s more fun mixing the crazy cocktails , i must admit . “

-

It was 2:55. That meant the Teal Pumpkin Café would be officially closed in five minutes; though the café appeared to be already gave off the air of being closed… save for the ‘OPEN’ sign still hanging on the door. The dining area was empty; and the staff had already began cleaning up for the day. Waves took their usual position behind the counter just to oversee things and tend to any last minute to-go customers that might come through the doors.

As the door swung open, the brunette let out a soft sigh. They’d hoped to have no more customers for the day as they were feeling quite fatigued and just wished to go home and relax. But upon seeing who it was who had walked through the door, their dementor changed. “Hello, Nathan.” They greeted the newly familiar face, glad when he reached for the marker board and wrote out what he had to say. “We’re pretty cleared out for the day; but what can I get you?” The pastry displays up front were heavily picked over; and the time for sandwiches and rice bowls had passed { they stopped serving those at 2:45 just to ensure proper closing time }. 

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“Just, uh, one of these,” he said, pointing to the pain au chocolat behind the display case, then holding up the number ‘1′ with his pointer finger and offering them a smile. He erased what he’d previously written on the marker board and after some thought, wrote down, “Can I make it up to you for forcing you to serve me right before closing?” With a ‘:P’ face added to show that he was being somewhat playful. “Maybe we could hang out,” followed the previous words and then he showed them the marker board. After he knew that they had read it, he erased it and wrote something else. “You could even teach me some sign language if you’re feeling up to it. I kind of suck.” He chuckled at this and showed them the marker board again. 

“Why thank you, I’m glad you think my face is nice to look at, too,” he playfully replies, laughing along with the other. He couldn’t help the happy grin that came the moment Nathan agreed to hang out tonight, and his excitement only grew the more he listened. He gave a silent answer with a small nod when the guy asked if he smoked. “Suggestions? What else could a person want? All of that sounds amazin’, man,” he admits, giving another nod of his head.

Just as he was about to say something else, his attention is called over to where one of his coworkers stood, “I’ll be right back, Nathan.” Then, he walks off to speak to his coworker for a moment. After a couple of minutes, Ian returns, “I guess tonight is your lucky night. It turns out I just got cut to save hours.” He shrugs, laughing a little, “I’m ready when you are. Unless, of course, you’d like to have a drink together first? Either way, I’m down.”

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“Sweet, it’s a plan then,” he responded, his grin widening at the other’s enthusiasm. It was contagious, and he enjoyed being around the guy. “No problem, man.” He appreciated the other’s politeness, even found it attractive. “Yeah, for sure, let’s have a drink first. You okay with the whole being cut thing?” he asked, checking on him, knowing some people got upset over that. At least he personally did. Not ‘upset upset’ because Nathan rarely got visibly upset. But Nathan genuinely liked working, which was probably strange, and he needed all the money he could get, so it sucked when his hours got cut. 

“yeah… you can say that’s happening to me just a little bit,” hazel said with a chuckle. she propped one of her hands up, leaning her chin on her hand as she listened to him. “good enough for me!” she nodded, smiling at his offer. it was a great suggestion, she could definitely use some outdoor time. “yeah, i would love that.” hearing him say that she earned it brought some relief to her, the reassurance of a job well done wasn’t one she usually got. “anyways, besides me and my job – how have you been?”

“Dumping over plants sounds far messier than spilling books everywhere,” Marcel agreed, but quirked an eyebrow as Nathan relayed the title of the book.  “Wow - that’s quite a mouthful.”  As the other read the back of the book though, it was impossible to stop the absolutely confused expression that made its way across his face.  “I - wow.  Alright well that definitely sounds like a book I’ve never picked up in my life.  Not in a bad way - but that is a lot of different things.”

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“See, so you’re good, dude. At least as far as I’m concerned.” Nathan chuckled. After reading the back of the book, he turned it over in his hands and looked down at the cover. “I know they say not to judge a book by its cover, but this cover is beautiful, honestly. But...yeah. It’s kind of hard to tell what the book’s going to be about exactly. What kind of books are you into?”