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Sun beat down on his face, warmth on the cusp of discomfort. Boombox shoved his hands into his pockets, trudging into a crossroads convenience store. His dirty shoes scraped the pavement on his way in, dragging his feet along the ground.
Meanwhile, Hyperlaser had been scouting around crossroads for his new target. He hasn’t been very successful, and his hope was draining ever so slowly. Hopping from building to building, the mercenary decided to grab a quick bite. He despawned his gear with a ‘fwshh’ sound, silently making his way into the very same convenience store Boombox was in. Heavy boots thudded against the ground, and Hyperlaser was suddenly very aware that he stood out against the scenery of crossroads. He gave a curt nod to the cashier, signifying that he meant no harm.
Hyperlaser didn’t typically go into convenience stores very often— with them not being a very common occurrence in blackrock, and he already had enough rations to survive anyway. But the thought of having a fizzy drink or a cheap pack of fruit flavored gum enticed him, perhaps even a bag or two of oily potato chips that got crumbs all over his perfectly ironed uniform.
He began searching for a quick snack, walking up and down various aisles shelved from top to bottom with processed food products. While scoping the shelves for something desirable to eat, Hyperlaser noticed that only one other customer was in the store. A young inphernal with bright green horns, and a strange visor on his face stood stagnant, with an almost bored expression plastered on his face. His hoodie was a nondescript shade of green, and his tattered jeans were dark grey with a felt star sewed on one of the legs. The stranger’s appearance was raggedy, slightly unkempt. Hyperlaser could infer that he wasn’t very well kept, and probably made below average in terms of wages. His appearance was quite intriguing, one that told Hyperlaser so much in so little time.
They both ended up in the same aisle, awkwardly standing a few feet away from each other. Neither of them looked at the other, simply reading the labels of various snacks; grabbing some, and putting others back. Eventually, the green-horned one moved to a different aisle, the fridges with drinks to be exact. Being a bit nosy, Hyperlaser peered over the shelf he stood in front of; watching as the stranger grabbed a bottle of water.
Boombox looked around, making sure nobody was watching him before shoving the water into the pocket of his jacket. He carried on as if nothing happened— as if Hyperlaser didn’t just watch him with suspicion. The mercenary’s antenna twitched ever so slightly, brows furrowing beneath his helmet. He continued to browse for items, glancing up once in a while at the stranger.
Once finished, he had conveniently ended up at the checkout counter at the same time Boombox did. They both stared at each other awkwardly, Boombox’s LEDs shifting to the side as if to suggest that Hyperlaser should go on ahead of him.
“You can go ahead, I am in no rush.” The mercenary’s deep voice was muffled underneath his helmet, but wasn’t nearing unintelligibility. Hyperlaser nodded at the stranger, shifting to the side to allow him to move to the counter. Boombox shuffled a bit, hesitating before eventually placing his items on the counter.
“will that be all?” the cashier began placing Boombox’s items in a bag as they spoke, unsuspecting of him. The DJ replied with a quick nod, placing a wad of bux on the counter.
However, Hyperlaser noticed that the stranger had not yet placed the bottle of water on the counter. The mercenary silently took note of that, and watched as he made his way out of the store.
The cashier caught Hyperlaser’s attention by clearing their throat, reminding him that he still had to pay. He quickly took out his wallet, shoved a few bux on the counter and told the cashier to keep the change. The cashier gave him a quick look of confusion, before he sped-walk out of the door and around the corner.
Now typically Hyperlaser isn’t one for confrontation, but this time felt different. He wasn’t sure why, but it was different. His heavy boots thudded against concrete, cracks winding throughout the sidewalk. It eventually led him to an alleyway, where he found the stranger sitting near a dumpster and eating a turkey and cheese sandwich. Hyperlaser took note of the surrounding objects. A backpack that sat nearby the stranger, some old cargo boxes, a few burnt out cigarettes scattered along the floor; everything here was what one would expect of an alleyway.
Hyperlaser cleared his throat, “I saw you at that convenience store,” he stated plainly, “did you happen to.. pay for all of your things?” Cocking his head, the mercenary peered down at the rather unkempt looking stranger. His tone was flat, indicating little hostility, but still managed to make Boombox’s blood run cold.
With a mouthful of sandwich, Boombox quickly swallowed and blinked a couple of times. His eyes kept averting away from the inphernal confronting him, LEDs awkwardly shifting to the side. He knew he was in trouble— cold sweat running down his neck.
“i—uh.. sorry i.. i just - really.. ” The DJ stumbled over his words, raising his hands up to defend himself from an attack that never came. “,I really.. needed that water a-and it’s not like i could exactly.. cough up the bux for it.” Hyperlaser simply took a couple steps forward, blank gaze staring down at him. His antennae twitched out of interest. Even though the gesture wasn’t meant to be threatening, Boombox still tried to scoot back further.
“I'm sorry, I really am! Please don’t hurt me- I know it’s my fault, I'm sorry!” The DJs speech was hurried, jumbled into one big mess of a sentence. A tear slipped past his visor, dropping onto an arm that covered his face. Boombox cowered in the corner between the dumpster and the brick wall behind him, bringing his knees up to his chest.
Hyperlaser could do nothing but watch with pity, standing stiff on the dirty alleyway ground. He had no intention to hurt Boombox, really. A hand reached out to grab the (stolen) water bottle placed by a cheap plastic bag; giving it a quick toss and handing it to Boombox.
“Drink it, I can tell it’s needed,” Hyperlaser said plainly. Boombox peeked through a gap between his fingers, hesitantly reaching over to grab the bottle. Struggling to unscrew the cap, he resorted to using his sharp teeth to open it. The DJ hurriedly drank almost half of the water, gasping and wiping his mouth afterwards.
“So you’re.. you’re not mad at me? Not even gonna like.. hurt me or anything?” Boombox stuttered, setting the bottle in his lap. The mercenary simply shook his head no, crouching down on the ground with a grunt. “so um, why’d’ya even.. come here? I saw you in that store earlier, by the way. You’re really scary.” The DJ made a small gesture with his hands, averting his eyes away from Hyperlaser.
“Well, to answer your question, I thought to confront you,” Hyperlaser made a small pause, “but as soon as I got here, I figured otherwise.. you don’t seem to be in good condition.” Boombox was a bit taken aback, looking down at his clothes and making a small noise of confusion. Did he really seem that way? By all means it wasn’t intentional..
“I uh.. do I really? I mean, I don’t think I look too shabby!” Up close, Hyperlaser could see sporadically placed stains upon the DJs jacket, along with a few holes here and there. His dark grey jeans had a torn pocket, and were tattered at the bottom.. perhaps from heel bite. What seemed to be all of the strangers' belongings were scattered around the area of the dusty concrete ground; that led Hyperlaser to only assume..
“are you.. alright?” Hyperlaser cringed as the words left his mouth. Was that too invasive? Insensitive? It probably was— Boombox seemed to open and close his mouth like a fish, a perplexed look drawn across his face. Hyperlaser quickly tried to form a cover; softening the situation and trying to make it less awkward. “Sorry, I must’ve thought aloud. you.. don't have to answer that”
Biting his lip, Boombox averted his gaze away from Hyperlaser, and instead looked at the floor. “erhh- well, that’s kinda.. hard to explain? Yknow? Uhh.. so actually im um. Doing pretty good? ehh…” hands fidgeting with the strings of his hoodie, Boombox looked everywhere but at Hyperlaser. The situation was awkward enough, and that tension was heightened as the DJ stuttered his way through his sentences, quite obviously lying through his teeth.
“Look, I just.. I dunno.” Cracking under zero pressure, Boombox lifted his hands towards his face— concealing his expression as far as the eye can see. He tried his hardest to hold back a tear or two, the reality of his life coming into his view with one simple question. A question from a stranger of all inphernals. Boombox pursed his lips into a thin line, gritting his teeth and shutting his eyes tightly. He wanted to say something.. he wanted to say so much, and yet he couldn’t.
Hyperlaser reached into his coat pocket, pulling out a few spare bux. He placed a hand on Boombox’s shoulder, holding the wad of cash in front of him. It wasn’t enough to get the stranger back on his feet, but money was money. Much needed money, at that.
“Here, I figured you’d want to take this.” With a short gesture, Hyperlaser motioned for Boombox to take the bux from his gloved hand. Boombox had not dared to look up yet. He peeked from the gaps in his fingers, reaching out a shaky hand to gently push Hyperlaser’s hand away. The mercenary’s antennae lowered with confusion while he looked up at the other’s covered face.
“Really you.. you don’t gotta- you don’t gotta do that, man. I’ll be fine without this.” Hyperlaser still insisted, placing the bux into Boombox’s free hand without a word, silently advising him to hurry up and take it. The LEDs on Boombox’s visor hastily shifted between Hyperlaser’s blank-faced helmet and the crumpled money in his own fist. He hesitated for a moment, before pulling the mercenary into a hug. A few sniffles came from Boombox, tears now flowing freely.
With a quiet grunt, Hyperlaser awkwardly placed a hand on Boombox’s back in an attempt to be soothing. They sat there in comforting silence, with muffled sobs coming from the DJ. It felt like forever, until a beeping sound echoed in Hyperlaser’s ear. An urgent radio message from Subspace, filled with angry shouting from his scratchy voice. Hyperlaser winced, and reluctantly removed himself from Boombox’s proximity. He turned his head away to properly hear what Subspace was saying; something told him this was important.
“Where have you been?! I thought I told you to come back within the hour. You're 20 minutes late, what could you have possibly done in that time that was more important than commuting back to Blackrock? I expect you to be here ASAP!” Subspace practically shouted his ear off. Hyperlaser begrudgingly sighed, and looked back at a rather confused Boombox. He cocked his head, LED eyes switching to a question mark.
“I must be on my way.. I hope life treats you better eventually. You’re a great kid.” Before Boombox could get a word in, Hyperlaser had already used his voltaic phase to get up on the rooftop of a building. He left the DJ to simply watch as he left so abruptly, hopping from building to building.
Hyperlaser’s boots thudded against the flat roofs, eventually hopping down into a street and all the while communicating with Subspace through comms. He had tried to reason with the scientist, explaining his interaction with the young inphernal. Unfortunately, Subspace was not the easiest to reason with..
“You WHAT? You gave bux to a- a filthy Playgrounder of all inphernals!? That is completely absurd of you! I can’t believe-” Hyperlaser couldn’t bother to listen, now making his way to the Blackrock entrance tunnel. “-Are you even listening to me? Hyperlaser? Hyperlaser, answer me! I demand you answer me this instant!” He turned the corner, finding the tunnel just up ahead. With a frustrated sigh, Hyperlaser sent a message back simply to get rid of Subspace’s useless nagging.
“Gods, calm down. I’m almost back, there’s no need to chew me out.” Phasing through the light of the tunnel, Hyperlaser found himself at the cold entrance of Blackrock. He trudged through the snow, following a familiar route back to the main Blackrock industry center.
“Whatever. I don’t see why I should dedicate my time much longer to someone who is nothing more than a tool.” As soon as the words left Subspace’s line, he cut Hyperlaser off before he could snap back. Not as if he’ll see him again within the ten minutes or so.. and the mercenary will go right back to being yelled at. A brief feeling of dread creeped up on him, before he continued his way down the dimly lit road. Over the horizon, and out of view.