Marshall & Sage
A thin, brown-haired artist didn't really give Marsh much to work with when it came to looking for Sage's friend so he supposed he'd just have to hope Sage would notice him when the time came. The question was a good distraction and he gave Sage a mix of a grimace and a smile. "I don't know yet," he replied. "I just know I had come back so now I'm here. It's nice to see the family but most of my friends are scattered around the world so, yeah. It's a little weird to be back." He had his reasons for returning and they were - to most people - weird as hell so he kept them to himself. Being told he had a purpose here by a self-proposed shaman was easily dismissed as just drug induced nonsense, especially since drugs had been involved, but Marsh really believed the guy. Even if he was just some Swedish dude with powerful tea. "How about you? Did you leave for college?" he asked, trying to gauge Sage's age and failing.
Sage knew that look, and he knew that story, or some variation of it. Almost everyone he knew that had gone away had come back for some reason or another, and none of them were completely pleased with the decision. He didn’t blame them. Point Pleasant appeared idyllic from the outside, but it was all a mirage. Anyone who stayed there long enough knew better. “College was too expensive and probably would’ve been wasted on me. I took some online classes, but never actually finished,” he said. “I still should’ve left though.” Getting away from Point Pleasant would’ve been good for him, even if it had only been a few years. Maybe things wouldn’t feel so dire now, though if he’d still gotten stuck in the fog place, he didn’t think it would matter how good the last few years were. That place would fuck up anyone.
"College is too expensive," Marsh agreed. "But it's not wasted on anyone. It's an experience at least - but so are a lot of things." There was more to this than regret for not leaving and he couldn't help the curiosity tickling at his senses. Point Pleasant was kind of rife with misery, but this boy's emotional turmoil was really quite something. It made Marsh wonder just how much of the craziness the town had to offer Sage had seen. "Never too late to finish those online classes," he offered up with a little smile. "What were you studying?"
“Music,” Sage said, a small smile cracking with the word. If there was ever a waste of a degree, that was probably it. A good musician didn’t need to go to college, and a college degree wouldn’t actually help him in the music business. “I enjoyed the classes. Musical theory, history, culture. Music in films and video games. Classes on electronic media and shit. I love it all, but even if I’d finished, I’m not sure it would change anything.” Having a degree wouldn’t increase the chances of someone taking piano from him, or guitar lessons, not in a town like Point Pleasant. He could never make enough of an income doing that anyways. He needed something to fall back on, even if bartending and waiting tables was both draining and depressing at times.
"A degree in anything opens up a lot of doors," Marsh said with a little shrug. "Do you play? Sing?" They'd stopped near the bar and to Marsh a few guys around them fit the vague description of Sage's friend but he wasn't about to point them out; Sage would spot him when he spotted him and Marsh wasn't exactly in a hurry to get back to anyone. He'd just hate finding out about Sage's suicide the next day if he left him in turmoil, even if the taste in his mouth was milder now than it had been when he first followed him into the bathroom. He hated the way that sounded, even in his head; following someone into the bathroom conjured all sorts of ideas and most of them weren't this pleasant and innocent.