seth.

Anna simply nodded in answer to his question, drawing a hesitant breath, almost curling in on herself. It was a difficult question to answered, because truthfully, life wouldn’t become uncomplicated until she and her ex came to some kind of compromise and so far, he had no interest in that. “When isn’t it?” she murmured with a shake of her head. “I might try…”

Seth wished life wasn’t so difficult, but it was. It seemed like there was always something in the way whether it was preventing someone from doing something or making it hard. Life was difficult and complicated, and all he wanted was for it to be easy. “I think you should try.”

“I’ve definitely dealt with worse,” Katrina said, swirling her drink around. “What about you? I bet you’ve got stories.”

“You have?” He shrugged a bit, nodding a little. “I have a good amount of stories, you could say. I’d rather not talk about them... They’re not ones I’d like to think about,” he explained with a chuckle. “I’m sure you understand.”

“I mean, I guess I do.” He shrugged his shoulders. He did believe in that sort of stuff, but at the same time, he tried not to. “Uh, I think? Why?”

“If you’re not sleeping enough, you could be seeing things. It might make you feel a little  extra paranoid too, you know?” Seth told him.

Seth poured his friend a drink and slid the drink across the counter, smiling at him. “It’s been a while,” he told him, his eyes moving down to the bar as he wiped it down. “I’ve been working extra shifts lately. How’ve you been?” He knew they should try and hangout outside of the bar, but he wasn’t sure why they didn’t. 

She smiled in thanks, taking her refreshed drink with one hand as the other slid a tip his way. “No, it’s okay– I’m probably being dramatic.” Kat looked back over her shoulder, “At this rate, they’ll be running for a room soon anyways.”

“I don’t think you’re being dramatic. If you change your mind, let me know,” Seth told her, smiling at her gently. “Hopefully they will.”

“I hate walking past the graveyard,” Beckett muttered as he continually shot glances to where the dead sleep. “I swear to god I’ve seen a ghost here before. Not just one but three. Three fuckin’ ghosts, man!”

“You think you’ve seen ghosts?” Seth didn’t believe in ghosts - he believed in science. “Ghosts aren’t real... Have you been sleeping enough?”

@sethzaher

He didn’t know what was up with him. Though he stayed up late at times, he didn’t really have that much of a problem sleeping. But the last few nights were different - he couldn’t sleep at all. He stayed in bed, staring at the ceiling, and couldn’t drift off as easily as he did before. He had tried everything but to no avail. He started becoming irritable because of the lack of sleep, something that his students had to suffer from, and he found himself skipping meals and being more anxious. On top of that, migraines have become common and he had some problems breathing.

He didn’t want to go to the hospital - he hated them. So he decided on the next best thing, crossing his fingers that it would work.

“Hey, Seth?” he said when his phone connected. “Hey, I’m sorry to do this but I didn’t want to go to the hospital… I’ve been feeling weird lately and… I dunno what’s up, but can you like give me a check-up of some sort? I know you’re not practicing but I’ll… buy you a beer or something?”

While Seth wasn’t a practicing doctor, he was still a doctor, and he still had his license. he didn’t want people to know about that part of his life, so there were only a select few people who did know about that part of his life. He had tried to put it behind him, pretend that it never happened, but being a doctor was his passion, and he knew someday he might go back. He loved helping people, and even now, he still have his ‘doctor moments’.  Right now Seth’s just not in the head space to work at the hospital again - or even work at an office. Maybe in the future.

Hearing his phone go off, he saw the name ‘James’ appear on the screen. Picking it up, he furrowed his eyebrows. “James? What’s going on?” Seth listened to the other talk about what was going on, and he nodded to himself. He was happy to help out a friend. “Uh, yeah, sure. I’m at my apartment if you want to stop by.”

“Not at all, it’s just been crying but every time I get close enough, it’s scared and cries louder.” MJ had been similar when he’d seen her at the shelter, scared and curled up in a corner and it had broken it heart. This little one seemed destined to the same fate.

Seth frowned and tried to move a little closer to the animal. “Hey little guy,” he talked calmly to it. Seth moved to lay down on his stomach and he pulled out some of the bread he had from his sandwich from earlier. Placing it in his hand, he offered it to the dog. “I think it might take patience. The more we reach for it, the more upset it’s going to be. Let’s give it some time to trust us.”

“Oh no, this is a great way to get outside and just get some fresh air. I think I sometimes completely forget that my pace is definitely not for everyone.”

“I’m not in the worst shape, but your pace is much faster than I can handle,” he told her with a light chuckle. “Maybe someday.”

“Yeah, I guess that’s true,” answered Anna with a thoughtful smile and a nod of her head. “It is definitely tough from what I’ve seen, but I kinda feel like you should always try and follow your dreams.” Well, it was fair enough saying it, but she hadn’t exactly carried on with her own. “Oh… art,” she answered. “I was doing it for a while, but life got complicated.”

“Art? That sounds fun. Is life still.... complicated? You should try getting back into it,” he encouraged her. He loved seeing people do what they genuinely wanted to do rather than settling. Seth wished he could be doing what he wanted to do, but he couldn’t, because he had a lot going on, and his life was... well, complicated.

“Nope, he’s so scrawny that I feel like i’d spot it. I think he maybe got separated from his mom or something.” Leo sighed, already knowing a shelter would have to get involved. The last thing he could handle is another dog. “Think you can get him to come out? I’m striking out.”

“I could try...” Seth moved down to where the other was and looked over at the dog. “Has it shown any signs of aggression towards you...?”

A smile was dancing across Anna’s features as he told her about the goings on at the bar and she nodded her head in response before she said anything. “That always confuses me,” she said. “They need to get out there and show people their talent. Then again, I guess if it’s just a hobby, you can’t really berate them for that.” She’d stopped doing what she loved, after all, just gone and picked up a random job to pay the bills. “It’s okay… It’s a job, you know? It’s a stopping post.”

“I think a lot of people come to these karaoke bars, because it is a hobby, or they don’t think they could make it big.” Seth thought for a moment and shrugged. “It makes sense, because it is a tough business, but I think they should have more faith in themselves. Some of them are really good - so good that I’d buy an album from them.” He tilted his head a little when she mentioned it being a stopping post. “What’s your dream job?”

“Very nice of you, but not an excuse to fall behind –– If you’re not gonna keep up then why did you come out here.” 

“I wanted to try and get out more, I suppose. This seemed like a good way, maybe I should try something else.”

Kat pushed her empty glass out of reach, making a face. “He’s like, basically inside her.” The bartender stopped to grab it and she gestured for him to make another. “You can’t be okay with this.”

Katrina cradled her chin in her palm, glancing around the bar to gauge if anyone else was overhearing the conversation that she was. A couple leaned into each other, limbs tangled and voices a touch above a whisper– I love you snugglekins. You’re my wubby bear– prompting her brows to shoot skyward. Physically turning, Kat found the features of a kindred spirit, mouthing her reaction. “What the fuck?”

Seth let out a light laugh when he heard the stranger beside him drop the F bomb, noticing that she was referring to the couple not too far from them. “They seem like a happy couple.” 

“I mean, yeah?” Laying on the ground next to a dumpster was not in his ideal afternoons but… “there’s a dog, hiding under here. He looks abandoned.”

Seth got down beside the other and tilted his head. “Do you need help? Maybe I could try calling a shelter? Does it look like he has a name tag?”

Anna decided to do the polite thing and pretend she hadn’t heard what he’d begun to say. Obviously there was a reason in why he was choosing to hide that particular part of his life. She had a lot to hide, after all, and especially so when it came to meeting new people. “I know it. The karaoke bar, right?” It wasn’t somewhere she’d ever been, not enjoying singing herself, but in the past her friends had always tried to talk into it in the past. “I’m a guidance counsellor at the college,” she told him with a shrug. 

He wasn’t sure if she had heard him, or if she was choosing to ignore what he said. Either way, he was happy about it - and if it was the latter, he appreciated it. “Yeah, the karaoke one. It’s not too bad, actually. Sometimes we get terrible singers, but sometimes we do really good ones. There’s this one person that comes in all the time, and they can really sing. They don’t even drink, they just come in for the karaoke.” Seth smiled when she mentioned being a guidance counselor. “Really? Do you like doing that?”