‟-- out of the cold | kji&&lyj
The cover of thick, dark clouds cast a shadow over the boy as he spun through the final stages of his dance, largely improvised to the beat radiating from tinny, shitty speakers- an ancient iPod plugged in to the top of them betrayed his lack of funding, so to speak. The darkening sky threw a sharp contrast to the line of his cheekbones, the cut of his jaw, the hollows of his cheeks, illuminating a certain gauntness that didn’t belong on formerly rounded features. His shoulders slumped weary as he came to a halt, the tiny crowd around him dispersing in moments as he bent to scoop his snapback up off the ground, flicking quickly through bills and coins, tucking them away in his pockets. The humidity in the air weighed heavy against him, left him slightly stooped beneath the weight of his backpack as he winced an eye closed, hefted it up against his shoulders. Long fingers swept fast through dark hair, tugging the strands properly into place as the wind whipped them into disarray. It was fighting a losing battle, and he quickly focused his energies on finding a place to shelter for the night, rounding a corner to find a familiar alleyway, swept clean by the compulsive shop keep and largely shielded from the elements by the buildings that loomed high on either side. It wasn’t the most posh of places, frankly, but it was better than nothing, better than lying out on the sidewalk to let the rain pound against his face. He’d probably also get arrested for that one, or at least prodded at by an angry ahjumma. So he was in the process of readying his alley-way-bed when the sound of footsteps stopping behind him had him turning to find a decidedly pretty girl, one that he recognized in passing from the group of people that had been watching him before. A distinct sense of awkwardness set in, and his face arranged in the sort of tentative grin a child caught with their hand stuck in the cookie jar might produce, biting at the corner of his lip as he exhaled. “Uh, hi, can I help you?” he offered, his voice cracking in the middle, like the cosmos had specifically aligned to create the most awkward situation possible as he let his toes curl in his sneakers, nose crinkling at the bridge.