owen teague, bisexual, cismale + he/him â hey look, itâs jesse garner! theyâre 24 years old, theyâve lived in shrike heights for his whole life, and theyâre currently working at tracks. i heard theyâre pretty impulsive, but i think theyâre so imaginative at the same time. can they make it out alive?
Jesse was born to Bonnie Gardner who raised him on her own. Was his dad a welder? bartender? Some weird musician she met when she was running across the country in the early 60s? Itâs not like Jesse ever really got the chance to know. His whole life and heâs only left Shrike a few times. 4 times for vacation. Once for his fatherâs funeral. Turned out the guy had lived two towns over and had made it pretty clear to his mom that he didnât want to know his kid. Theyâd been young and stupid.Â
He wasnât even anything cool. He was a fucking dentist.
His mom had worked more than one job his whole life but it was after finding out about his dad that it started to really bother him. Jesse had always loved music but the more his mom worked, the more he became involved in it. He got a job delivering newspapers just so he could afford to buy more records, casettes, and eventually cds. The older he got, the angrier he got. And so his music got louder and louder.
The one thing that Jesse always loved was music so it was only natural he decided to study it when he went to college. From theory to actually playing guitar, Jesse ate it all up like his life depended on it.
Would he love to be doing something more than working at a record store? Who wouldnât. But it didnât matter to him since he got to spend his days surrounded by the thing that he loved the most. Plus, who wouldnât want to get paid to be able to critique someoneâs music tastes and open people up to more possibilities.
Random facts
Jesse will 100% give regulars to the music store nicknames based on their taste in music
Sarcastic as fuck
Has a secret love and appreciate for ABBA and the Go-Gos. Will die of embarrassment on the spot if confronted about it.
Will lecture you for an hour about the importance of Rapture by Blondie to the world of music since itâs the first song with rap lyrics to chart at #1.
Has a black cat named Siouxsie.
Absolutely on edge with the shit going on in town. Sleeps with a bat next to his bed.
Ianâs life had changed in an instant. The moment he woke up in his hospital bed he was a changed person. The horror heâd experienced hadnât even settled in his brain yet. His focus felt like it was on everything and nothing all at once and the heavy painkillers he was on didnât help him find any clarity right now. All he knew for certain right now was that he was in pain and he hated every night he had to lay his head back down on the thin, sterile hospital pillow.Â
The hardest part of it all was that he felt he couldnât even rest. Every time he felt he got comfortable in bed he was being forced to walk around and move his aching body. It felt like torture and all Ian wanted to do was be home. Heâd never been a patient before but staying in a hospital was shaping up to be even worse than heâd always feared. Ian had already hit his threshold for the day and he had way to many waking hours left. He hurt and was discouraged and he had to remove himself from his room before he snapped at his partner solely because he was the only person there with him. Besides it was about time someone would be forcing him to get up and walk around anyways.Â
Ian had no destination in mind as he shuffled down the hall. Even though his legs were fine his body was still sore everywhere and his ribs ached anytime he breathed. He needed a change of scenery as much as he did to move and he only made it down to the nearest smoking area before he realized he needed to rest. Heâd barely made it to a halt when he started Jesse which in turn startled Ian even more. Ian winced as if he expected something else to come from having startled him. âSorry,â he apologized going a little pale in the face any sudden movements hurt and while he wouldâve loved to have apologized more coherently but his focus was on keeping himself upright.Â
Every time Jesse thought about how the people who got attacked might look, he felt a little bit nauseous. Heâd heard enough gossip around the mall the know that even the ones who were technically still fine had gotten it pretty bad. Still, that didnât stop some of the color draining from his face when he turned to fully face Ian.Â
âJesus fucking christ,â he mumbled under his breath before he could really stop himself. His eyes pinched closed as he reached up to squeeze the bridge of his nose. âFuck. Sorry.â Jesse let out a deep breath as he opened eyes. âThereâs nothing for you to be sorry about. Iâm just...jumpy lately.â An eyebrow raised as he lowered his cigarette and reached his free hand out slowly. âYou look like shit,â he stated flatly as he carefully placed a hand on Ianâs arm to help steady him.Â
âYou alright?â He looked around for a moment; trying to make eye contact with any nurse. Anyone really. âYou wanna sit down or somethin?â
It wasnât like Jesse wanted to be at the hospital in the first place. Hell. Even when he probably needed to go to the hospital he would barely ever really do it. The whole place was way too sterile and it smelled...off. It was one of those places where bad vibes just tended to swirl around if you believed in that stuff. Maybe he did.
It still felt wrong to leave when everywhere he looked, there seemed to be someone he knew from the mall filtering in and out. Visiting or going home looking exhausted. He was feeling pretty beat himself. Jesse never found it easy to sleep when the killers decided to show themselves around. So he was a little paranoid. Someone could sue him over it.
At least he could smoke in somewhat peace as he decided what to do. Maybe he could go to the gift shop and get some snacks for Nick. But he wasnât even sure if that was the right thing to do. Jesse almost jumped out of his skin when he noticed something move out of the corner of his eye. âShit,â he turned his head quick as he started to cough. âJesus, you scared the fuck out of me.â
        desi had every right to take proper breaks , just like everyone else in the mall - if not more than a few , considering his job as the head of security was sure to be much harder than those at a new chapter who just gave book recommendations , for example . despite this , however , desi rarely found the opportunity to sit for more than five minutes while inside the mall ; there was always someone making trouble or needing him to be in a certain place at a certain time no matter how little he had eaten that day or how much he craved the chance to get a cup of coffee .Â
jesseâs presence had caught desi by surprise , the surprise just as unexpected as his ability to sit and enjoy his break was . both happened to be of the good kind , thankfully . â i donât know , is he ? â desi could be characterised as grumpy even at the best of times - especially by those who wronged him by kicking up a fuss on his shifts - but there was still humour left inside of him . even desi himself was at a loss in trying to figure out how that humour could remain at a time like this . â iâm not confident enough that itâll last long enough to call it a break , â he finally gave a more serious answer . â in other words i hope youâre not here to cause me any trouble . â he jested lightly .Â
he didnât really think that jesse would be causing him any real trouble , as capable of doing that as he might be . he simply just felt comfortable enough to speak in this light-hearted manner with him . when it came to people like jesse , desi wanted to make sure he didnât come across as as stern as he might usually . â no , iâm good - thank you . iâm trying that whole â eating healthier â thing . turns out it actually matters what you eat when you get to my age . â his lips curled up into a smile . â howâre you doing ? â
It wasnât like he was great at impressions or anything, but the mock stern expression was something heâd mastered by the time he was ten. Safe to say, he shot that exact look at Desi as he responded. âIt would look like it to me!â He held his composure for about two seconds before a small smirk lit up his face. âI feel ya.â Jesse nodded as he took a sip of his soda. Sometimes it felt like he had to sight for every second of his 15 or 30 minute breaks. âMe?â A hand flew up to his chest as he stopped mid reach for a french fry. âCause you trouble on your break? Desi, please. Itâs like you donât even know me at all!â
He laughed quietly as he continued to eat his lunch. Jesse shrugged his shoulders slightly. âAlright fair enough. More for me then, old timer. Guess chowing down on nuggets and fries wonât exactly let you keep up with all the little troublemakers, huh?â It did actually make sense if he tried to think about it. How he was doing was a whole different question. âUhhh good I guess. Staying out of trouble, if thatâs what youâre really asking.â He shot the older man a joking wink. âBut not too bad, I guess. I canât complain. How about yourself, huh?â
Jesse, admittedly, did not do well when it came to dealing with the news anytime someone died at the mall. The only way to say it was he felt like his safe place was violated. The rug ripped right out from underneath him. It felt even worse when his friends, or more likely people he tolerated, got involved. He couldnât really wrap his head around everything that he heard happened the night before. Even with the blasting music it felt too quiet in the store without his favorite coworker around to harass. Then he heard about Alicia on top of it too.
He hated hospitals but he wasnât about to let anyone else know that as he stomped through the hallway after a long day of work. Someone had tried to talk to him but that was the benefit of wearing headphones. He could always just pretend he couldnât hear someone even if he didnât have music playing. It didnât take him long to find the room she was in. The tip of his boot nudged the door open as he peeked around the corner into the room.Â
His hand reached up to push the headphones back from his ears. âKnock knock. Special delivery,â he whispered. A small smirk slipped onto his face as he help a McDonaldâs bag up and waved it in the air. Jesse finally stepped into the room and shut the door quietly behind him. âShit if I knew it was this bad, I wouldâve sprung for a sundae too.â
Ever since the mall opened the environment at Late Risers had changed completely. He still got plenty of regulars like he always had but with the influx of shoppers and people coming from out of town to visit the mall it was hard to guess whoâd be walking in at any given time. The only trend Ian could follow with the restaurant now was that by the time he rolled into work most people no longer had a craving for sunny side up eggs and buttermilk pancakes.Â
When JesseâŚ(that was his name, right?) walked in for food this late he expected him just as much as he did anyone else in this town. Ianâs feelings towards him were still mixed. He associated him too heavily with High School and that was a time Ian actively tried to forget in his life still he wasnât exactly like every asshole he grew up around and he was starting to come around⌠in due time. The question had him shrugging his shoulders. The place is open all the time for reason. I donât think itâs ever a bad time for breakfast food,â he argued. He grew up in a household where breakfast for dinner was a common offering from his grandma and he certainly continued that trend into adulthood. Whenever he was working at the diner he ate breakfast food for dinner. More often than not he was making up some hash for himself too. Ian often didnât take orders directly from customers but with how slow it was and the fact the server on shift was taking a break he didnât mind sliding an order in on their behalf. âWhat do you want in your hash?â Ian asked. The dish was a speciality of his.Â
In all honesty, Jesse liked to avoid thinking about high school as much as possible. Heâd skated through by pure chance without it being absolute hell. It was no secret to him that it was only because he took up baseball as a more productive way to get his anger out than busting up mailboxes and having his mom get hell. The vibe he gave off still didnât make having friends the easiest thing in the world.
Still, it wasnât like Ian had done anything personally to him so he didnât see any reason to be a total jackass. Jesse made a face before he nodded his head in agreement. âGood point. I mean if someone wants to judge someone else for wanting to enjoy cereal for dinner, fuck em. Right?â He bit back a smirk as he looked over towards the person sitting closest to him. Trying his best to hide the fact he was looking for some kind of reaction before he turned his focus back to his order. âThatâs a million dollar question. I can always go for some bacon. I donât think that bacon can ever go bad with anything.â His fingers tapped on the counter for a few seconds before he snapped his fingers. âBut I mean shit. Youâre the expert at this, right? Whatâs the best combination you got?â
âNo, is that a thing? I had no idea.â Sawyer reached his hands up to hold onto the straps of his backpackâa beat up little rucksack from high school that certainly looked its ageâand pulled the straps forward off his shoulders slightly, now holding the weight of his backpack by the counterweight of his arms pulling downwards. âI havenât watched the Wizard of Oz in, like, a long time. Is there some sort of connection between them? Because that would be super creepy.â
Sensing that he might need to make a few trips to the store to get his music taste up to speed, according to the man in front of him, Sawyer patted down his pockets until he found a pen and jotted down a couple of notes on the back of his hand. âUmâI donât know if I can listen to that much music all at once. Though, I do like Jimi Hendrix. I think itâs so cool how he played his guitar upside downâlike, can you imagine just being able to listen to and figure out an instrument like that? Play it completely wrong but also, like, totally right at the same time? It blows my mind. I have no fucking clue how anyone can be that much of a genius.âÂ
âOh yeah, dude. Or they say it is anyway.â Jesse shrugged his shoulders. Heâd never really tried that whole urban myth with Pink Floyd and the Wizard of Oz. It just so happened that his roommate in college was super into that kind of stuff, had done it, and never shut up about it. âMe either, man.â Jesse scoffed and shook his head. âHuh? No not a creepy one anyway. People just think that Dark Side of the Moon syncs up with the movie and itâs supposed to be like...super trippy and shit. I guess.â
âI donât think anyone would expect you to listen to it all at once. That would be awful powerful of you if you could though,â Jesse joked. âCool! So you do have taste.â He nodded as he crossed his arms in front of him. âYeah that was pretty rad! I guess some people just have an ear for shit. Some of the best musicians are all self-taught anyway. I guess if you do it for a living, itâs like riding a bike or whatever the fuck they say.â Sometimes he had to remind himself to slow down a little bit. Jesse could talk about music for hours if someone let him. âFavorite Hendrix song?â
Sometimes Jesse could make Nick work a little extra hard to keep the peace in the small record store, but the older man didnât really mind the other too much. In fact, his attitude often reminded Nick of his younger brother, who certainly didnât make his life easy when they were kids. âHey, I was just saying that I personally donât think theyâre that bad. You have to admit some of their stuff is kinda catchy.â He tried not to laugh again as he lightly poked fun of the subject. âSure, I think something subtle like waving me over would work. Iâll try to keep my out for it so you donât have to end up whistling or something.â Though there was a good chance he might find himself a little too distracted to notice it.Â
âTold ya, their stuff is catchy.â He had another theory as to why all the generic, upbeat, pop records flew off the shelves these days, but it was too morbid for him to bring up. He took a thoughtful pause. âItâs not a problem, whatever makes things around here easier.â It was the least that everyone deserved after the hell theyâd been dealing with since summer. âI think Iâll be fine ringing up whatever, but if I do find a record that starts to irk me, Iâll let you know.â
If he had to pick out of his history of coworkers, he probably liked Nick the most. Or at least top 5. He was a nice enough guy, even Jesse couldnât deny that. In fact, that was probably part of the reason why he liked to test him. Push his buttons a little bit and see if he could make him break. He didnât mean any real harm by it ever, it was mostly just for fun. Jesse rolled his eyes. âYeah I guess. Cruel summer is tired at this point though. Itâs the middle of winter. Why do people still want to listen to that shit?â Now he was just looking for something to pick at. âAre you sure? I could always try to whistle an actual tune.â He joked.
âYeah yeah. I didnât say it wasnât catchy! Thereâs a difference between catchy and annoying, dude.â He might make fun of peopleâs music choices, but he wasnât stupid. Jesse was well aware that not everyone got enjoyment out of listening to music that was closer to people screaming sometimes when they were already pretty stressed out. âDude. Youâre like an actual saint. How the hell are you like this? Seriously, inquiring minds want to know.â
     blakeâs eyes slightly narrowed as she tried to look pensive, though the smile on her lips gave away that she enjoyed their banter far too much. â Iâm just not gonna say that youâre totally completely and utterly wrong because I donât think I can hear Cindy Lauper telling me that girls just wanna have fun, â she chuckled making a fake annoyed expression. truth be told, her taste in music was mainstream, if anything, which always made her excited to see what jesse had in store for herââ music-wise. the blonde pushed herself from the wall she was leaning against and approached him until they came face to face.  â please donât ever get in detail about those dreams, i think iâd rather not hear them. â she teased with a wink.
â oh my god, jesse, youâre such a music snob! â if asked she would admit that she knew some of the names, for someone who worked at a radio station blake did not know enough about music, current, future trends or past ââ if she told her favorite band was the beatles she would probably get kicked out of her job. so far she had been researching as she needed, but as someone who usually took care of commercial breaks and product placements, she hardly needed to know the full 9 minute version of paradise by the dashboard light.  â tell you what, if not during commercial hours, iâll tell them to play their indie favorites to kick everyone out the mall, what do you say? â she offered with raised eyebrows. blake enjoyed whenever jesse approached her, it made it easy to keep her mind off of things.  â okay, i have a question only you might be able to answer. what was the weirdest band name or song youâre found since you started obsessing? â
Jesse let the snort of laughter slip out. âWell thatâs because thatâs probably a song you choose to listen to. Whitney just happened to sing one hell of an earworm that Iâm unwillingly subjected to daily.â He shrugged his shoulders. At least when he talked to some people about his music taste, they didnât seem to think he was a total jackass. He liked music outside of the punk and rock he listened to most of the time, absolutely. But would he ever really admit it? No. âThose dreams are very private! You better watch someone doesnât hear you and try to sue me for corruption or something.â He quirked an eyebrow with a smirk before he shook his head.
He feigned a hurt expression as he dragged a finger down his cheek. âWords hurt, blondie. Did anyone ever tell you that? Iâm not a snob.â He definitely was. Jesseâs eyebrows raised a little bit in surprise. âYeah? Iâll try not to be offended at the fact that you think my taste in music will make everyone scatter like the mall rats they are. Iâll take that as a win.â In all honesty, he was pretty happy with that deal. It was probably part of the reason why he enjoyed talking to Blake in the first place. At first, heâd just liked to mess with her but now he actually enjoyed their weird little talks. Maybe some of it was just because she wasnât from Shrike but she didnât seem to hate on his music taste so much. âHm...â He tapped his chin as he paced back and forth. âGood question! Thereâs lots of weird band names. Some of the tamer ones are like The Dead Kennedys. Theyâre pretty good. Song titles are a whole different ball park though. Anyone can have those. Like who the fuck thought of Octopusâs Garden? She came in through the bathroom window? Those are totally out there, man.â
Nat fixed Jesse with a glare, not interested in yet another incident of an employee having some sort of upper hand over the mall. It was already bad enough with every one of them looking traumatized as hell as they walked through the mall (which, she knew, had to be bad for business, but everything in this town seemed to be bad for business at the mall. perhaps that was what the killers wanted, though Nat wasnât interested in trying to suss out anyoneâs motive). She glanced down at the puddle and back up at him. âYou have a phone in there, donât you?âÂ
She knew that she was probably garnering a reputation around here of being a shrew, of being a horrible, evil, no fun disciplinarian, but from where Nat sat, it seemed like this place needed a little discipline. It was what had carried her through her adolescence and college years, and it was what served her to this day. She was responsible, consistent, and reliable. Most of all, she was a perfectionist, which was usually what other people, especially people she worked with, tended to see. Nat didnât care. She was more than willing to be the bad guy if people needed a bad guy to blame.Â
Jesse tilted his head to the side. His eyes squinted slightly as he attempted to maintain a more serious expression. âChill. Itâs called a joke.â He let out an exasperated sigh, âDidnât realize joking was against the rules of the mall now! My apologies.â He pushed off of the doorway slightly before he turned and looked back over his shoulder. âYeah. We got a phone behind the counter and one in the back.â
His expression relaxed just a little as he turned back to face her. He didnât exactly want to apologize but Jesse was more than aware that he could be a little temperamental to say the least. Especially with authority. But Nat was just doing her job. Brows furrowed slightly, he reached out a hand as he stepped forward. âYou want me to escort you across the puddle or something? You might have to make sure I call the right people. Or report the stupid puddle the right way or whatever.â
Anjali and Jesse were bound to get in trouble for this sooner or later, but until then, she was happy to just have someone on whom she could unleash her wild theories about the residents of their small town and generally get a positive response. It was one of her vices, gossiping. There was a guilty pleasure in knowing everything about everyone around her. Growing up in New York, sure, she knew people around the neighborhood, but there would never be the feeling of truly being in the loop there. No, in Shrike Heights, there was no escaping scrutiny.Â
Which, of course, was a double-edged sword, but Anjali didnât want to think about that.Â
She jogged up towards Jesse and tapped him on the shoulder as they walked into the mall. âHey, look, donât expect this everyday, but I brought you some joe today.â If she couldnât wait until their breaks later on in the day, it was bound to be good gossip. âCome on, Iâll take the long way to work today,â she added, heading towards the stairs going up even though Perkinâs was on the ground floor.Â
Anyone who knew Jesse well enough knew that the last words out of his mouth would probably be talking shit about something or someone. It didnât seem likely that anyone expected any different. It wasnât like he was the most friendly person that worked at the mall but hell, he could pretty much talk to anyone if he was in the right mood for it.
It had just so happened that he met Anjali on a good day and she liked to talk as much shit as he did. Lucky him! He didnât even have a chance to fully remove his sunglasses and adjust to the obnoxiously bright mall lighting before he felt a tap on his shoulder.Â
The sour look on his face disappeared quick when he realized who was trying to get his attention. âWow, free coffee? For little olâ me!â Jesse grinned. âAlright Iâm coming!â He huffed as he started off after her. âI hope this is really good from how excited you are! You better not be getting my hopes up!â