Get Out, If You Can

Defanging the Copperhead

He couldn't remember the last time that he was able to sit alone, without anyone trying to speak with him, without anything to distract him. He had almost forgotten how peaceful it was, to be completely and utterly alone. He sat there not focusing on anything in particular, but allowing himself to release anything that could cause him to feel. That nothingness, that loneliness, it never left him, but he had abandoned it for some time, how long he couldn't tell anymore. But it always welcomed him back, he was embraced by it. And he wanted to embrace it in return. With his headphones tucked into his ears, he allowed the music playing to play idly even though he wasn't listening, it was a sign for any intruder to know that he was listening, and yet again not listening at all. These were things that he picked up over time, it had taken him so long to be able to be invisible amongst others, to be nonexistent in the face of common habitation. This was something he had studied of another from his days in grade school, it seemed to work for everyone else, as if it were a set of caution tape wrapped around the individual, and it appealed to him. So he had adopted this habit, and it was comforting, knowing that he wouldn't have to be there in a sense. Even if he was.

He allowed the cigarette to burn in between his fingers, the coils of smoke floating amiss into the stillness of the air. It was getting cooler out, which also meant that he would have to return to school soon. His perception of time was already faltering, what day was it, what time was it.. it didn't matter for now, but eventually he would have to pick up his daily life as a student attending college. He wouldn't even bother if he didn't have to, but he had made a promise, and somewhere he had read that promises weren't meant to be broken, even if sometimes that they were.

There were so many guidelines that went unspoken in humanity. Sure common courtesy and morals were taught at a young age, but that ever-present question was the one he was always asked, and yet what he also inquired about, why? Living appeared to be nothing more than constantly hounding for the answers to some incoherent meaning. Existence in itself was something to question, such as why anyone was there, for what purpose, and why was it set up in such a fashion that no matter how hard you worked, you always struggled to gain more. This world was fucked. That's just how it was, and there was no easy route, no cheat codes, everything was set in stone. The only thing that could change that was if existence were to cease, and many people took that way out. So in this time, he could both exist and not exist.

He stands up from the wall edge he had been sitting on and removes his headphones in a swift motion, now having spotted the copperhead walking out from her place of work. The night was late, but he didn't care, he had to right what had happened almost desperately. He had waited a couple of days since the confusing incident to approach her. Upon Eiji's advice, he had tried to contact her via text, but all she said was that it was "ok" and nothing else. So he was taking to a more aggressive approach that would force her to be near him.

He crosses the street with a light jog and falls in step with her along the sidewalk.

"They say you shouldn't get in a car with a stranger, but how about an estranged friend?" He offers up causing her to jump at his sudden presence that she hadn't noticed sidle up beside her.

Cyren's emerald eyes snap up to his face in surprise, the energy around her that of bafflement as well as evasiveness. TJ looks up to the night sky, not chancing a glance at her and nods. He turns around on a pivot only for her to grab his elbow impulsively. He smirks to himself before looking back over his shoulder to her with a raised eyebrow. She stammers and looks down at her feet though her fingers still clutching to the material of his hoodie. TJ drops the smirk as she looks back up to him and then around searching for his car. Without a word he leads her back down the street and across the way. Helping her into the passenger side he can't help but chuckle once the door was shut and she could no longer see his face.