One of Those Customers [Invite]

Night
Day 4

It as far to easy to get too into baseball for her, weirdly enough more so since she was joined by someone. At that someone that wasn’t part of the club, it was unexpected. Maybe she wouldn’t have forgotten her other job for the evening. Sweaty, stale and with tired arms she threw caution to the wind and ran like it. If not for the fact she had a tracksuit to change into it would it would be rather suspicious. Running was faster than waiting for the metro and part of Esra felt good when she was sore all over. Chest heaving, hair tied back and slick with sweat she started to flag as she reached the end of the street.

There was so much of the city that she did not know, so many places that she didn’t even know the names of. She’d run out here before, on Sundays and knew there was a little corner shop next to a hardware one. Tonight it was by streetlights and after she had already been working hard. Already she was on edge from having to deal with people all day but ever since this morning she had needed to sort things out. It would be dark all night unless she was able to get this done. On the clock she almost stumbled up the steps of Sheffield’s Hardware as she pushed on the door.

A bell chimed overhead as she took a deep and heavy breath, legs feeling like jelly. Pulling her forearm to wipe the sweat from her brow she looked around for a moment. Her brain was not firing properly at all, a fuzzy haze. Shelves filled with boxes, trays with screws, bolts, saws hanging on nails. The smell of metal and oil, the faint muskiness of an older style building. Her mouth was sticky, catching at the corners. She smelled of sweat, cheap deodorant and a hint of worn away, sickly sweet cherry. Finally she noticed a young man in a brown apron that seemed more than a little surprised at her appearance. Doing her best to force a smile Esra looked him in the eye. A gasping breath, “Ar, are you still. Open?”

Her tracksuit was yellow, zipped up all the way and those generally cold red eyes were fixed on him. A school bag stuffed into a backpack tight to her, bulked out with two other changes of clothes.

A girl walked into the store just as James was finishing stocking the shelves. No one else was there at the moment due to the time at which the customer had arrived. Yes, they were still open, but not for too much longer, but he'd help this customer. "Yes. We're still open!" James said with a smile, heading behind the counter. "What do you need? I'm happy to help!"

Struggling to stand completely upright Esra started to find land legs and stepped deeper inside the small shop. Eyeing the walls, looking over the stock and trying to pick out what she wanted. The young man with brown hair assured at least they were not closed but it was late.

Patting her pockets she tried to find the list she had written out, only, it was at the bottom of her bag. A belated sigh escaped her, followed by a constrained voice, “Sorry for coming so late,” Surely he would rather be doing something else right now, for that matter. Hadn’t she seen him somewhere before? No matter, she had to focus and not derail onto pointless things. Clenching her fist she forced a small smile, “Thirteen amp fuse wire,” Sucking on her lip she tried to think back to the list, “Some Epoxy, or fabric resin if you have any and, I don’t know the name. Like, bendable wire.” She twisted her hands as if it would make it clearer, “That would hold its shape but not too weak, looks like solder?”

Now she was feeling stupid, was it just called wire? Wasn’t a hundred different things called wire? Nerves fraying a little and less guarded given her tired state a hand touched at her cheeks, they were red from the run.

James nodded. "Of course! We have all of that in stock! I actually just put some on the shelves in fact! Just let me get that for you!" She... Did seem familiar, though James couldn't place why she did though....  He headed over to one of the shelves, grabbing a small container of epoxy, setting it on the counter, and then heading into the back, and looking around for the thirteen amp fuse wire. The whole store looked as though it was in the middle of a large project being worked on, though perhaps it always looked like that.

Esra had recovered a little, it still felt like her lungs were on the sore side and there was a redness to her that made her hidden arms blotchy. Stepping further into the shop she looked at the counter and the stacks of junk littering it. For certain she was not really a hardware kind of person for the most part. She could handle putting up a shelf or building a box but electronics? Engine parts, all that was over her head. She could change the fuse in her antiquated room and that was about it really, other than her sewing machine. It didn't have a whole lot of moving parts either, at least it came with a manual.

Catching her reflection as she walked the girl came to a stop to glower at it. Errant hairs escaped from her, without a brush to hand she merely tried to run through it with her fingers, such a hassle. A hazy twitch shot across the corner of that reflection. Beyond sight but enough that her head shot around to look behind her, nothing. Weird.

By reflex her left hand was fondling the end of an axe haft as a stern voice asked, "Is there anyone else here?"

Suddenly, there was the sound of footsteps from the storage area, as the boy stepped out, carrying the last few items that she had asked for. He set them on the counter, before also pulling out a bottle of water. "Hey! I've got the stuff! Just up here at the counter! And... You seemed exhausted and hot, so I got you some water. Ya know... So ya don't.... Get dehydrated.... And whatnot." He said, basically to the almost empty store. It was just her and him at the moment, no one else was in the building. There was, however, a set of large shelves filled with tools and materials between her and the desk, so she would half to walk back around.

Reluctantly Esra let go of the shaft and walked around to the counter, cursing her imagination. She had managed to cool off while he had looked, at least a little. Tensed from the shadow that cross her vision she looked at the young man with ambivalent distrust. Taking the bottle of water she made no effort to conceal the fact she was checking the plastic ring around the lid had not been tampered with. Her index finger rubbed against it as she lowered the bottle to her side.

Curtly she answered, "Thank you," puzzling together why he might care so much. She was the one causing him hassle, even if she was the one paying him. Blinking she tried and failed to smile in kind, "How much is it?" It was easy to feel locked into the transaction now, not knowing the price and with the effort already expended. Esra did not exactly have a lot to spend however, her remittance was barely enough to cover day to day life. Only so often did her repairs pay for themselves, she didn't like spreading the word she could sew.

Her mind occupied and her throat dry suddenly her hands unscrewed the bottle on their own and lifted it to her lips. Its presence surprised her slightly but she did not drink, just looked suspiciously at it.

"Don't worry. I'm paying for it. You just... Seemed like you needed it. The rest will be..." The boy promptly tells you the moderate price of the items you have selected, and rings them up on the cash register, smiling at you... Yeah... He's familiar... But you STILL can't place where you've seen him before! After you're done, he puts on a green windbreaker, and begins the process of locking up. "You can stay and talk if you really like, but I'm locking up."

A sceptical frown of her face the entire time Esra counted out the money from a small change purse. Black velvet and covered in small white roses, stitched out of ribbon. Placing the two folded notes and a small stack of coins on the counter she finally broke her stare and started to put the item away in her backpack.

What he said next, that was just confounding. He had said the water was free, charged her for the rest. Yet now he was all but asking her to stay? Was that why the water was free? Because he was being nice? People as a general rule, including herself were only nice when they wanted something in return. The fact that he had directly pointed out that she could stay meant that was what he wanted. How come he couldn't just say it then?

She already owed him for the water, so, whatever. Bag back on her back and slouching slightly Esra blew out her cheeks, "So you go to a school right?" She couldn't think of anything else she remotely cared about right now. Maybe that would let her place him.

He quickly ran to the back, and shut off the lights before running back up to the front, thanking her for staying. He tended to freak out a bit when it came to locking up alone. He heard her question, and responded rather casually with "Where most people go I assume, Seven Stars Academy. And you?" He asked, shutting off lights in the other areas as he spoke, but always staying within view of the girl, once all the lights (excluding the entrance) were out, he opened the door, and held it for her. "Ladies first." He said, thanking her for staying once again.

"The same," Esra stepped though the door at his offer, drinking the water. That must be where she had seen him, though she could not place him anywhere directly. There were a lot of new faces, then again just as many seemed to disappear every few months. Why was that only striking her as slightly odd now?

"Where do you live?" It seemed that for whatever reason he would be walking with her, that would be entirely pointless if he lived somewhere out here.

"Oh. I live nearby, my house is basically just down the road." He says, continuing to walk along, he wasn't wearing the apron anymore, and he seemed to be carrying a bag full of books and other miscellaneous items. He does something on his phone, before slipping it into his pockets, back to where it came from.

That was the same way she was going, there didn't seem much harm in walking him home before she thought about jogging back home. Breaks were important and he could serve enough of a distraction for now. Matching her pace to him, "My name is Esra Dean." If they were going to be talking socially rather than him just serving her.

He noticed her walking with him, and... Just kind of accepted it, not much harm that could come from it after all, he listened to her stating her name and... Decided to return the favor. "I'm James. It's nice to meet you Esra.... You run a lot?" He asked, trying to make conversation.

Catching a figment out of the corner of her eye Esra turned away from him, "Yeah, I guess." Nothing there again, weird. In fact there was no one anywhere, just the two of them. Was that normal for this part of town at this time of evening? In the main city there were people around at almost any time of day, here though. She couldn't even tell if anyone lived in these homes, barely any lights on, no sounds. Like the entire place was a stage, was it really like this before?