ATTN: @shnvk
LOCATION: st. mark’s comics, manhattan, ny
DATE: april 22nd, 2011
♪♬♪ I MADE A WRECK OUT OF MY HAND, I PUT IT THROUGH A WALL…
I MADE A FIST AND NOT A PLAN, CALL ME A RECKLESS WRECKING BALL ♪♬♪
An earbud dangled from Sid’s neck as he bobbed his head to the beat, flipping through comic books with a long-practiced expertise. His iPod rested safely in his front pocket (an outdated, bright purple, banged-up Nano), and Mother Mother blasted from it, part of the never-ending loop of music Sid had on constantly. The world was a very loud place, and while he couldn’t stop it or abstain, he could certainly drown it out. “The Gods are loud,” he mumbled, not quite realizing he was speaking aloud, “but this bass line’s louder.”
His classes ended two hours before Sasha’s did, thanks to his status as a senior and the chance for spare periods that came with it. That meant that most of his afternoons were spent working after school, and killing time until his best (and, for the most part, only) friend was free. He’d been lucky, to have nabbed a job at his LCS in his sophomore year. It was just a station away from his grandparents’ Gramercy Park townhome, so it had been on his route anyways, and he’d been going there for years when they offered him a job.
He just restocked and resorted comics, mostly. It wasn’t anything exciting, but it was a good way to get spending money, a great way to get cheap comics, and a terrific way to kill time. Some days were great, like New Comics Day, when the shop would flood with readers, scrabbling to get their hands on the latest issues of their comics of choice, where it would be so busy Sid wouldn’t have a moment of standing still, occupied with light conversation and lots of tasks from the start of his shift ‘til the end.
This was not that kind of day, and he was just waiting for the clock to strike 3:30, which was when Sasha usually got to the shop. He knew Sid was working, and they had agreed to meet, though it hardly needed to be said — it was the routine. They’d bum around until nightfall, which was when their days really began.
Sid was so wrapped up in his music, he hardly heard the bell on the door ring, signalling the arrival of a potential customer. It took him a beat to look up, but when he did, his mouth spread into a wide smile, and he waved, knocking down the stack of comics balanced precariously beside him. “Bitch! Took you long enough,” he called across the empty shop, over-confident that his boss or a customer wouldn’t hear him. “Give me a minute to finish up and grab my shit, and then we’ll go.” Technically speaking, he’d been off the clock for half an hour. He’d just been waiting around — but Sasha didn’t need to know that.
now that sid left school a few hours before him, he became so bored that he actually started to pay attention in his last classes. before, he found himself either cutting class or skipping entirely so he could go and meet sid sooner, but.. there were rare occasions where he grew tired of the mischief. despite this, as soon as that final bell rang and signaled the dismissal of the school day, he was already up and out of the front entrance and on his way to meet sid at the end of his shift.
to pass the time on his way over, he pulled out his phone- a black iphone 4- and decided to play a game or two of fruit ninja so the journey would be a little less painful than it already was.. though he suspected it was more painful only because he knew what was to come at the end of it. sasha had never worked a job in his life, and whenever he met sid at his, he almost felt a little embarrassed of that fact, but he could also say in full honesty that he would rather jump in front of a train before he let himself take on a part time job. maybe he was being dramatic.
and finally, his adventure came to an end, practically throwing himself into the shop so his presence was rightfully acknowledged. he waited with his hands on his hips for a moment before sid noticed him, his grin wide as ever at his oh so friendly greeting. “good afternoon, my love,” he gushed in an overly goofy tone.
“oh, i’m so sorry for being late, i was going and getting my edu-ma-cation,” his voice rang through the shop, strolling over to the front counter so he could hoist himself up and sit atop it. “dude, there’s, like, nobody in here. i don’t think i’ve ever even seen your boss before. what do you even do all day?”
he didn’t quite wait for an answer before his next sarcastic and somewhat childish response (not like he ever did). he picked up the first book he saw left on the counter top, bright letters reading ‘captain america’ across the top, “sit around and get intimate with steve?”
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