ℝ𝕖𝕖𝕕 ℍ𝕒𝕣𝕣𝕚𝕤

for someone who usually feels so misunderstood, paulie feels sincerely seen as he hears reed's words. "that's the best way i've heard it be described," he begins, 'it' meaning his own feelings and thoughts. "i'm not some jerk who doesn't feel for the people who've gone through shit, but i can't let what's happened completely ruin my life," it sounds dramatic to paulie, and he almost feels embarrassed saying it, but he hopes reed can understand. "i'm gonna adjust my behavior because of it all, like i said, i'm not going near the mall after dark or anything, but to be too submissive, letting fear completely dominate my world, it doesn't feel right to me," he feels good about sharing his opinion, a rare feeling, but one that's accompanied by the not so rare, common amount of insecurity. "paulie," he introduces himself in return. "as much as my back would probably love to be given a break and an empty case to carry, yeah, i play," he smiles. "working at key of reason, too, which is why i actually lug this thing around with me every day. not that guitars are sparse at the store, there's just something about your own instrument, you know?" if music really is reed's thing, then paulie assumes that he'll definitely know what he means. "i'm more of a personal player than someone who likes playing for a crowd, but yeah, maybe you could bribe me," he chuckles.

"Oh, trust me, I feel the same exact way. I was talking to a friend the other day and said the same thing more or less. It's hard not to want all this stuff to just suck you into a rabbit hole of digging up information," he said. Reed was sympathetic to Paulie. He didn't seem like a jerk or anything like that. When he introduced himself, Reed smiled. "Nice to meet you, Paulie," he said, then listened to the other tell him about his work. He grinned when Paulie said he was a personal player as opposed to a performer, and he nodded. "I completely understand. Me too, I guess you could say," he mused. "I haven't been back at Key in a while, but I go there sometimes to see if y'all have any new synth decks. My music is more electronic right now, but I'm always looking for more inspiration everywhere," he explained, continuing to walk with Paulie. I was a nice night out thankfully, with no bad weather on the horizon. Peaceful, even. "I know what you mean though, with your own instrument. I don't carry any around, but there's something about being familiar with your own stuff, you know? Knowing how it works, having it kind of... weird as it sounds, become an extension of yourself, right?"

Reed nodded in understanding. "I get that. But just because you only just moved back, it doesn't mean you can't make your own observations or have your own feelings about everything. You should be allowed to talk about it, cause you're experiencing its ripple effect, too," he said. When Lucy asked if he'd wondered about other news outlets not reporting about it, he nodded. "I think... maybe there's some kind of information suppression, but I can't really say that for sure without sounding like I'm completely crazy," he said. "It can't be that this isn't interesting enough for the rest of the country, cause this is the kind of shit they just eat up everywhere else, you know?" he said. "Makes no sense..." Just like Lucy, Reed had given thought about all of that, too. But he never really gave it much voice, given he'd yet to personally experience an attack himself. Not that he was inviting one to happen. He quietly tapped the check out counter with his fingers. "I really hope we get answers for all this. But we won't if everyone's spooked into never asking questions," he added, raising his brows a bit. "You know, I'm tempted into looking deeper into things sometimes, seeing if there's a pattern or something, but it's hard not to let stuff like that consume your entire life."

Keanu hadn't expected to sit down next to someone so nerdy when they picked their seat at the bar. Sci-fi movies weren't exactly Keanu's cup of tea but they frequented the cinema enough that they'd seen a few of the biggest films in that genre over the years. "So it sounds like you want to be the next Toto?" Keanu joked referencing their work on Dune. "I'll admit I've always been a bigger fan of the stuff they release on their own." Keanu took a moment to sip at their drink in front of them before nodding their head. "I did for a time. My father was one of the head architects for the construction of this mall. He's moved back home and is onto bigger and better projects already," Keanu explained. It'd been the man who'd gotten Keanu their job in the first place. "I haven't decided yet. Maybe I'll continue westward to L.A. or return to Miami. That'll always be my home," Keanu expressed. They weren't actively looking for new employment but if another opportunity fell into their lap they'd be sure to take it.

Reed raised his brows when Keanu referenced Dune, but he shrugged slightly. "Something like that, you could say," he said. But he was a one man show. "Toto's work on Dune was a film score, not so much a soundtrack. What I wanna do is make an album that makes you imagine this movie fully in your head, however you want it to go, but the music itself inspires you to let your imagination go. Maybe someday it could be used in an actual movie inspired by the music or something," he chuckled. "Less ambient shit, more The Message, but in space, you know?" It was always a challenge to explain his vision to others, which is why he hesitated to do so with people he'd just met. But he was up for the challenge that night. Something about Keanu intrigued him, but Reed wasn't quite sure why yet. "Well, you better get movin' if you're plannin' on going to a big city like that again. Else you'll get stuck here like everyone else," he teased, wondering if that wasn't the case already.

🌈 Skittles || 1986

Aaron nodded, already looking forward to the potential opportunities to hang out. Making friends was something very new to him, especially in such a casual environment. "Yeah, I will," They promised with a hopeful smile, though Reed's refusal to talk about his second job had them insanely curious. "Oh? You're not working as an escort too, right? Because you did say it had been a while. Unless it doesn't count, which I understand. I imagine that it feels different if it's not a job. Does it?"

He was honestly more excited about making a new friend, and seeing Aaron actually experience Shrike for all the good things it had. There were no real ulterior motives on his behalf. Aaron was cute, but something kept Reed from chasing that too quickly. Like there was something more just below the surface that he couldn't see but he could certainly feel. It was nice to know they'd hang out soon, and maybe he'd get to know what that thing was, and just get to know more about him in general. For now though, the question of is other job took him off guard and he couldn't help laughing. Reed shook his head. "No, no!! No way, I'm not a prostitute or anything like that! Just... I'll tell you next time we meet, okay? If you don't figure it out on your own first. I promise," he said smiling.

He was glad to know Fitz was tuning in to the show and thought that his music was good. "Hey, if you ever wanna put in a request, call up the station any time and I'll play something just for you," he mused. When Fitz admitted there wasn't much going on in his life, Reed nodded. "I feel that. It's sort of been the same old for me, too. Although I'm finishing up a few tracks for an album I'm working on. Maybe I'll see about playing something at the next open mic. I just gotta work up the courage to do it."

he laughed at reed's reaction to him swaying over to his side of the argument , especially as it was something that hedwig did often . he loved to debate when he was amongst trusted individuals , in safe spaces , perhaps because he was such a quiet and reserved person otherwise - unless he was on stage , of course . despite enjoying a debate , or more enjoying sharing his ideas and opinions , hedwig wasn't usually one one strict side of an argument . he laughed once again at reed's comment about chokehold needing to be played on every show at the station , and despite laughing , he sincerely did appreciate reed thinking so . " you'll definitely be given a copy of anything we come out with next - though i'll absolutely hold you to your words and make it excessively clear that it's your idea to play us , " he chuckled . " the last thing chokehold needs to be wrapped up in nowadays is a payola scandal or something , " he shook his head , grinning as he thought about it ; it'd be just their luck , huh ? not that any of the members would genuinely bribe any at the station to play their music .

Hearing that Hedwig would give him a copy of anything the band came out with next made him smile. "That'd be dope, and if I play your music on my own account, everyone'll be too busy focusing on how damn good it is to worry about whose idea it was to play it, I promise," he teased with a little laugh. "I believe when you make something good, something worth sharing, it should go as far and as wide as you can push it out into the airwaves, and into the universe," he said with a nod. "Maybe the aliens out there will hear these jams and spare us from total destruction when they realize we've actually got taste." He smiled as the 'On Air' lights came back on and he rolled the next song over, leaning into the mic. "I just got to thinking about what aliens would think of us if they came out to our corner of the galaxy to try and take over. Maybe we can talk to someone about cleaning up all the junk floating in the atmosphere. Are we the only galactic litterbugs out there? Speaking of, here's a little something from an album I've been kinda revisiting lately. 'Space Junk' by Devo," he said, then flipped the mic back off as the song rolled along.

"Hey, don't apologize, we were both talkin' about it, right?" he mused with a small smile. "It's been like this for a while. You know, the taboo surrounding surrounding the attacks. For me at least, the more I know about something, the less scary it becomes. Maybe that's my own way of coping with it, or why I speculate sometimes, even if I don't have answers," he shrugged. He supposed things could be different if he had personally experienced an attack, but something told him that maybe he would be questioning regardless. "I just hope we can all get those answers sometime before the next century rolls over," he mused.

" man , it must just be one of those days , " iggy concluded with the help of reed's information . he had wondered if it was only the grocery store that was so empty , wondered if there was something fun or interesting happening elsewhere in the mall , but to hear that radioshack was slow as well confirmed iggy's other thought - that it must just be a slow day in general for shrike heights . despite the hustle and bustle surrounding the mall , and the horrific events that happened so frequently , iggy couldn't say that he was completely surprised that there was such an uneventful day going on in such a small town . " did they pick out good birthday gifts , at least ? " they asked with a chuckle . " oh yeah ? " iggy couldn't picture what the seasoning would taste like exactly , but hearing the enthusiasm in reed's voice , he figured it must be good - at least to his taste . " what's it taste like ? like , " he paused to chuckle for a second . " like is it close to anything that i would maybe know ? " he asked , trying to place the flavour to figure out if it really was worth trying for himself . though he wanted to scan the ingredients on the bottle , he continued on with scanning reed's items .

"Oh, dude, this stuff's the best. It's got your basic salt and pepper in it, right? But it also has like, garlic, oregano, turmeric, and something else, I don't now what else is in it. But it's really good, not too heavy, just enough to make your mouth water whenever you have it," he explained when Iggy asked about the seasoning. "I'm not exactly a chef or anything, but I do know about lovin' tasty food, so trust me on this. It'll change your life, dude. Like, what do you usually put on stuff?"

"Cheap beer says a lot about a person," Keanu confirmed and they weren't shocked when their story lined up almost perfectly with what they'd assumed about him. "You make space music? Like electronic?" Keanu asked for clarification trying to parse out what this guy was trying to say by 'fictional futuristic'. When the question was turned around back at them they simply smiled and nodded their head. "Big shot straight from Miami, Florida," Keanu confirmed. "Been here two excruciatingly long years though but I'm only here for work," Keanu explained. Shrike definitely would never be a home base for Keanu. They were only here as long as the money was and until their father found them another gig somewhere bigger and better than this place.

Reed supposed Keanu was right. But he personally didn't read too much into it. He smirked and shook his head at that. When Keanu asked for clarification, Reed nodded. "Mhm," he said, putting his beer down for a moment. "Electronic, kinda experimental. Looking to make some music you'd hear in a sci-fi movie soundtrack," he said. Then they were talking about Keanu and he smiled. "Big shot from Miami, huh? You must really know people here then, if they pulled you out to the middle of nowhere," he said, raising his brows a little. "So you've got one foot out the door already, I take it. Any idea where you'll go next?"