❛❛       y'can't be here.        ❞     he's off  -  duty.     at  "home"  confined to a space that's just cruel,  unmerciful,   vile.     he thought he'd abandoned this block long ago,   sealed off the edges and pushed away  adolescent recollections  of dirty needles 'neath the carpets,   bacteria - riddled rats pittering in the walls.      mold growing in all crevices.      in his defense,   it's  cleaner  now.       room palatable when confronted to an organized mess than a mattress in corner wall,   a lone stereo,   some scattered papers about ...

as the night draws near dread consumes him,   loneliness overtakes what's left of his beating heart,   of whatever fervor he has left coursing his veins.      jason's quiet,   for the most part,   dry - mouthed and sleepy eyed;   unsure how to carry himself throughout the rest of the evening      (     he dares not to partake in melatonin - induced  nightmares,   twisting and turning in his sheets just to lay awake in pooled sweats until pigeons knock against his window,    looking to ease their starvation from a stranger.      but it's not enough to lay uneased in the dark,   wide eyed and hungry for his next mission. it's doomed,   this night,   regardless     ).