@abottomfeederjustlikeme ( from answer! )
❝ I don’t know. I wasn’t ʟɪꜱᴛᴇɴɪɴɢ. ❞ Adam replied idly as he lit his cigarette. He didn’t mean to be so blunt, but what came with his tone was ʜᴏɴᴇꜱᴛʏ. He wasn’t quite sure what was going the other, and he didn’t pretend to care. But he had been rambling on for a few minutes now before his words wrapped up, the air becoming dead. Nothing but the click of his lighter filled the tiny space, Adam only ʙᴏᴛʜᴇʀɪɴɢ to look over at him once he had taken his first drag. His eyes flittered over to the Joseph, who’s posture had shifted slightly in the time between their last exchange. The smallest drip of guilt slid its way into the back of the photographer’s mind as the space became quiet once more. He couldn’t ꜱᴛᴀɴᴅ it. He tried to lighten the mood, cover his tracks as he spoke with a weak smile and a small cough. ❝ Probably something ꜱᴛᴜᴘɪᴅ❞
Oh. Well...then it wasn’t important that he’d forgotten about...what he’d been talking about, again. That’d been happening more often, lately. His manager at work said he was keeping his head in the clouds too much, had probably started ‘smoking something a bit more potent than your menthols, Joe.’
Still, the embarrassment made his shoulders budge up a bit, his hands finding their way into his slacks. He was still in his work clothes. Hadn’t even gone home to change. Adam’s comment brings him back into his head and he scoffs, smirking.
“Yeah, probably. S’not that important if I can’t remember it, right?” He inhaled, about to clear his throat, but stopped, caught off guard by Adam’s cigarette. Joe patted his breast pocket and felt his pack there. Nice. He didn’t used to smoke, but Tyler had gotten him hooked.
“Mm,” he hummed, quiet, short, and throaty after getting his cigarette lit. “We still on for drinks? Or did I...bore your brains out talking about nothing?”
Joe’s boss had hired Adam on as a short-term contractor for local car wrecks--after the victims were removed from the automobile carcasses, of course. They needed verification of the damage so Joe could play his numbers game, and... Joe didn’t know. Adam wasn’t the nicest guy, but...Joe felt like he could talk to him, at least.
Clearly. Apparently.
