A few emails a day and Riston had made a new friend very fast. He hadn't drawn him in a few days so he thought perhaps the meaning behind his ability was done with by having made the friendship. Things he still didn't know were Micah's last name and sexual orientation. These things he was fine with. Last name meant nothing since it wasn't like he was going to go searching his credit history or something and since Riston was fresh out of his first meaningful relationship he wasn't exactly looking to start another, and it shouldn't matter, he decided, because Micah was fun. So hanging out at work on his day off wasn't normally fresh on his mind but they were doing poetry and he told Micah he'd meet him there early. The mic was being set up and artsy people from beggar on the street looking to suits were coming in and out for coffee. Starbucks be damned, Clayground had great coffee.
Riston grabbed a chair in the back and leaned down in it lazily as he waited. His hair was a bit curly but smooth and laid against his ears and every now and then tickled if he moved too sudden. He was wearing a pair of jeans and a long sleeved blue button down shirt that wasn't fancy at all but relaxing and good for the current weather.
Micah had thought about talking to Adam about finding out more about Riston. But all he knew was that his first name was Riston, his last name was Dutch and he was cute. But he felt compelled, even if he had more information than that, the best way to get to know someone wasn't to get whatever the internet and government could provide, but to talk to them. He arrived at Clayground a little early so he wandered into another store till he felt it was a good time to arrive.
He wore a light blue shirt over a long sleeved black one and jeans, skateboarding shoes clad on his feet and the hat that Winnie had given him. The one that was identical to the one Riston had drawn, Micah wanted to show him. He walked into Clayground and spotted Riston immediately, walked over to him with a wide smile, "Hey, what's up?"
"Hey." Riston looked up with a grin and decided it was time to stop acting like he was lazy and sit in the seat in a normal fashion so that his butt actually hit the seat part. "You really do have a hat like that. That's great. It's a good thing I didn't wear any of my hats or else we'd look like... two people wearing hats." Riston shook his head and wondered why he decided to talk when he never had anything to say. "It's going to start in a little while. How was your day... or, you know, whatever." He could have rolled his eyes at himself but instead smiled and pressed his lips together.
"Thanks," Micah said touching his hat and took it off, smoothing his hair down and hoping it at least was a little more tamed than usual. He smiled back at Riston and shrugged, "It's...half done. To be honest, I only woke up a couple hours ago. I have a bad habit of sleeping in a lot. I've been told I'm going to outgrow that though." He doubted it. Micah could be lazy and he'd stayed up late the night before playing video games online yet again. This was a daily occurrence and he actually told himself to sleep so he wouldn't be exhausted when he met up with Riston!
"You?" he questioned moving to take a seat finally. He'd had a backpack with him so he put it on the ground and then pulled out a gallon Ziploc bag filled with popcorn, "Is this allowed?"
"I don't see any rules and I've seen people eating candy bars before, or bottled water we didn't sell them." And they never got kicked out. Possibly if someone came in without a shirt on, though. Which had never happened but must or else there wouldn't be those signs. "You want a drink? I'm going to go get something. Popcorn gets all stuck in teeth and I'll sit here with my hand in my mouth the whole time." He admitted this and pulled off his seat and licked his lips and tried not to stare at the cute guy who was becoming his friend.
Micah was relieved he wasn't going to be given the boot for bringing his own treats. He thought he saw popcorn at the counter but he didn't want to pay for any, and he wanted buttered popcorn, not caramel corn. "Oh, that'd be awesome," Micah said, "Cherry-lime Italian soda. Here, let me give you some money for it." He dug into his pocket and pulled his wallet out again, pulling out more wrinkled bills that had been shoved haphazardly into the container.
"Don't worry about it. I get drinks for free." Riston instantly replied and shook his hand at him. "I'll be right back." He took off and leaned at the end of the front desk and was given two Cherry-Lime Italian Soda's from a co-worker in taller cups than they normally came in. He walked back and handed Micah the red drink and gave him his most traditional side grin before sitting back down.
Friends in good places. Micah grinned, "This is awesome, you get perks for working here, huh?" It made Micah want to get a job somewhere. They got perks. But working for Stargate had its perks. Food, friends, a place to live and they gave them enough money that Micah could easily buy things without thinking twice. He mostly bought video games, it was an addiction problem, but it was how he handled his ADHD.
"You should know," he said in a very informative voice. "I have a sugar problem. I can't get enough until I'm practically bouncing off walls. Before you know it I'll have a stash of candy wrappers at my feet and a sloppy grin on my face while I talk a mile a minute and can't stop fidgeting."
"A sugar problem?" Micah laughed, "Nah, you're fine. Seriously, I don't even need sugar. You see this?" His leg was shaking a bit, "I have to do this, or else I'll be all over the place. And I don't mind grins, you have a nice grin. And I said that out loud, didn't I? Right, okay. So you like candy. What kinds of candy? Swedish fish? Chocolates? You like peeps? I like those with chocolate syrup, weird, right?" He was talking fast, and Micah stopped with a smile, "I should probably let you talk now."
"All kinds of candy. I have stashes... like instead of clothes hanging in my closet I have my own cereals and candy. I get depressed and I sit in front of the television with a jar of peanut butter and a Hershey's bar of chocolate and watch cartoons. Cartoon Network. I like candy you can suck on a lot. Like gobstoppers and suckers." He gave him a smile and thought that Micah had a nice grin, too, and wondered if peeps with chocolate syrup would be good. Riston licked his lips and took a large sip of the Italian soda.
"Stashes? You're awesome, end of story," Micah said slurping some Italian soda, "Cartoon Network is great, I like their off channel a lot. Boomerang? They play all the old school cartoons like Johnny Quest and Scooby. Can't go wrong with Scooby-Doo. Unless Scrappy-Doo is there." He leaned in his chair and put the bag of popcorn on the table between the two of them, "I think I have candy though. Hold up." He reached into his backpack again.
He pulled out a couple of bags with a mix of candies. One with things like NERDS, Sour Patch Kids, and Shock Tarts, another with Twixes and other Mars candy bars in mini-form. "Want some?"
"Um... yeah. I do. If you don't mind, which is stupid in saying, because I don't think you do. I should carry candy around. Why don't I? I knew someone who carried slices of cheese in their pockets. I also know someone who twitches and giggles at pineapples and wears cat masks to the grocery store... but, you know. Weird is great." He licked his lips and took more sips of the cherry-lime drink in hopes he might shut up as well. It was cute when Micah talked a lot but when he did he said stupid things that probably made himself sound very lame.
"Dude, go for it," Micah said ripping open a bag and taking out a box of grape NERDS, "I could probably eat those all by myself, but it isn't fair for me to find out you like candy, show you some and then not let you have any." He tried to ignore the fact that Riston licking his lips constantly was kind of hot. He smirked and dropped the entire contents of the box into his mouth, crunching his teeth on them.
The light music being played stopped and someone announced that the poetry reading was now open and a few people, locals Riston knew to be regulars, lined up. He eased back into his seat lazily again and flashed an excited smirk at Micah as someone started to talk excitedly into the mic about roses and violets colors and how much they loved Brad Pitt.
"He's serious," Micah chuckled, "Holy crap, this guy is serious. I mean...Brad Pitt is hot but..." He grinned and chomped on some popcorn, "I don't get it." He shook his head and tucked some of his hair behind his ears again. He laughed as the person finished with a melodramatic finish, "Wow...that was...intense." The man walked off the stage and strolled by Riston and Micah, winking and then going. Micah looked at Riston, "Did that just happen?"
"That... just happened." Riston was wide eyed and a little weirded out by the Brat Pitt fan. "Who thinks writing poetry about Hollywood actors and reading it in public is a good idea? That's like me going up there and listing off reasons why Hugh Jackman is far more hot." Riston said and scratched his ear and giving Micah a sad yet amused and also disturbed look. " Winking is kind of freaky, if you ask me. Unless you are doing it to signal someone during a boring conversation that it's time to skip out and make out, but then, the other person would have to know that's what it's code for and I'm babbling. Look, I bet this old lady is going to read poetry about her cats." He said looking up at the stage at a round woman with a cat faced sweater on.
Micah nodded, "Hugh Jackman. It's a pity he's married." And straight. He laughed a bit and nodded, "Winking is sort of a last resort though. I mean, head nod or just the comment that you need to talk to the person should suffice enough I think." His attention turned to the stage where an old lady started to read. Micah's eyes widened at the subject which turned out not to be cats but a very poorly written poem that bordered on erotic. He couldn't really laugh all that much except the nervous sort of laugh that had him shift in his seat uncomfortably.
"Is this even allowed?" he leaned over to whisper to Riston.
Riston was wide eyed himself and went to whisper something to Micah when he already was and got a bit close. He inched back and bit his tongue before laughing very softly. "I'm not even sure if that lady could possibly have any sanity in her mind. I feel like I should report her... if there was, you know, such thing as the crazy police. She'd be on the most wanted list. Did she really say that she cuddles her black and white pussy like it was her husband? I'm imagining... way too much."
"Do not want," Micah cringed and shivered, "She's still reading too." He tried to focus on the stage though because leaning in that close to Riston had set off a light color in his cheeks. He was half tempted to stick his hat back on. If Riston asked, he'd say it was warm, which it sort of us in there. "That...was part one of eight, she's not going to read all of them tonight, is she?" Micah's question was answered as the woman said she would return another night for the next installment. Once she left, Micah laughed.
"Okay, I was expecting bad poetry, but not quite that," he stopped, "Gosh, my friend Winnie probably would have loved that. She's got a really weird sense of humor." He smiled at Riston, unconsciously bit his lip and kept smiling, "What about this guy, do you know who he is?" he pointed to the stage where an older man dressed all in black with a beret stood. Sunglasses on his face and he snapped his fingers loudly to gain everyone's attention.
Riston licked the side of his mouth and laughed along with Micah and a few other people in the small crowd were also whispering and snickering. The next person up was a regular and Riston made a face and gave Micah a closed mouth smirk. "He's going to talk about war, how we should condemn psychics, and how the government is a big conspiracy and we are all going to die on the fourth of July, which I suspect is because he wanted something to rhyme. Same thing every week."
"Same poem every week or just same ideas?" Micah raised an eyebrow and shook his head, "I'd rather hear about Brad Pitt though. But I don't think it'll be bad enough I want that other lady to come back on stage." He took a handful of chocolates and started to gobble his way through. The Twix bars were his favorite, despite how puny they were and how the 'fun size' wasn't all that fun. "What do you like to do other than watch bad poetry here? Do you like bikes? Not like...motorbikes, but, you know, bikes." He wasn't all that interested in the guy on the stage, despite the fact that he used 'douche bag' in his poem.
"Sometimes the same poem... I think. I don't exactly care for him so I don't pay much attention. People sometimes treat a fun poetry reading as a way to scream their political views and it's just not as fun that way. Aren't there blogs for that and whatever?" He ate some candy because it was there and he desperately needed a smoke, so that was a good way of hiding that frustrated desire. Riston shifted in his seat so it was more close to Micah so they could walk without annoying people. "Sure, I like bikes. I have a friend who is running a marathon and I'd much rather ride a bike than purposefully run for miles ... well, I suppose doing things for causes isn't bad." Riston just wasn't very motivated lately. "You ride? I like to take walks in the rain. That's probably a bit emo of me, huh?"
"Yeah, sometimes I just go anywhere, but I like to try to do tricks on them too," Micah informed and added, "That's not emo. Well...not too much, I guess. Rain feels good, and we need rain." Being a hydrokinetic, Micah naturally favored things like rain, pools, and random thunderstorms during hot summer months. He smiled, "Whenever there's going to be rain and I'm going out somewhere, I purposely don't bring an umbrella." He smirked. Mostly because there was so much water he could practice with his ability and do fun things.
He leaned over slowly so he could talk at a lower volume, the people at the table next to them were giving him a rude look. "I could really go for a burger...did you want to stick around for more poetry or would you care if we want to go get some junk?"
"I think that's the best idea I've heard all day. As amusing and disturbing as this is it's just going to go downhill and if I sit any longer I might lose my mind." Riston had been tapping his foot impatiently without realizing it and now that he did he stopped and sat up and sucked the very last of his drink in one of those annoying straw-getting-nothing noise attacks before biting his lip and waiting for Micah to gather his things together. He slid off his chair and stretched and once Micah was ready headed for the door and out into the semi-nice afternoon air. "Did you drive? Or we could walk somewhere? I think there's a place."
"I have a car," one he borrowed from Stargate. It was a simple sedan meant to be unnoticed, different license plates to be used at different times. Leona just colored it a dark blue. It had been a pale beige color before. Micah gathered the candy back in the backpack, most of it spilling out of their bags and would probably just make a giant candy mix. He paused, "Did you drive here?" He was standing, the person on the stage didn't seem to notice that Micah and Riston weren't the only ones leaving.
"Yeah, I drove. Although my car smells. Previous owner had a huge dog... I don't know if dogs can throw up, but I ended up getting a lot of different kinds of air fresheners and I'm not sure it made it better so much as just very smelly." He admitted. "Some days it's not as bad as others. Depends on the temperature, I think." He liked his car, so Riston wasn't going to give up. He'd get the smell out!
Slinging the bookbag on his back he grinned and waited for Riston before heading to the door. "So what's your last name?" Micah asked casually, "You said it was Dutch, right? Mine's Goldstein, my dad is Jewish. Though...that's a religion. I guess we're Hebrew? Israeli? Distantly..."
"Van Dousen. When I say my full name to people they tell me it sounds like an obscure band or something. I have no idea what it means. Probably a towns name or maybe I'm too lazy to try and find out what a Dousen is because it's probably really lame. Like my first name means shrubbery or something." Riston grinned and stuck his hands in his pockets because he didn't have anything with him.
"Van Dousen...Riston Van Dousen," Micah said and nodded with a satisfied look, "It does sound like it'd be a band. Some underground indie band that'll eventually make it big. I mean, a band with the name Franz Ferdinand could, right?" He was grinning yet again and walked outside, feeling the slight chill in the air and replaced the hat on his head. It was a mostly clear day so Micah hadn't concerned himself with a coat. Placing his hands in his pockets, unintentionally mimicking Riston's pose, he pulled them out, "We can walk there if it isn't too far, I know there's a Friendly's right down the street. Their burgers are decent and their ice cream rocks."
"Well... Franz Ferdinand was a prince in the 1800s. I don't think I'll ever be a prince, or ever was, er... right. Don't babble. I'm trying." He bit his lip with an intake of breath and nodded down the street. The walk wasn't far and he could really go for some ice cream. Maybe a burger as long as there were lots of french fries. "Walking sounds good. Everyone should do more walking." He wondered when he became a walking after school special. Riston pulled his hands out of his pockets and rubbed his chin.
He felt like a cigarette and he had nicotine gum in his pocket. Habits he half wanted to kill. Again. He gave Micah a smile as they crossed the street. "Monday's are eat whatever you want. Sunday's is do whatever you want. The rest of the week is normal. So, I'm definitely getting a burger, fries, and ice cream and maybe even one of those loaded brownies. So it's a good thing we're walking because by the time we're done I'll end up looking like Santa Claus."
They walked toward the Friendly's down the road and Micah ended up slipping his hands into his pockets again, "Santa Claus? Nah, you'll be fine. You probably have one of those fast metabolisms, worst you'll get is a food baby." Which is what he ended up with after going to McDonald's. He took a hand out and patted his stomach, "Sometimes I go to McDonald's and...pig out. Or really anywhere. I have an eating problem in general. I love to eat and one day, I'll start gaining weight." When he did take his meds, it gave him a loss of appetite.
"Okay, favorite ice cream flavor," Micah said opening the door to Friendly's and motioning for Riston to walk in.
Riston laughed. "Vanilla. People make fun of me but I can eat it alone but the reason it's my favorite is you can add almost any candy to it and it will taste so much better. Even, say, graham crackers. Although I do have a Ben & Jerry's problem." They sat down at a table and a waitress came and he ordered water. The Italian Soda was enough for sugary goodness and he was going to eat so much more so he was playing it safe.
"Random food fact. I don't like Jello." He pushed the sleeves of his blue shirt up to his elbows.
"Jello is okay. What don't you like about it? How it jiggles? The texture? I'd rather have pudding," Micah shrugged after ordering his food, "I like dirt. Not like...actual dirt. But my friend June makes chocolate pudding with crushed Oreos and gummi worms sometimes. It's really good. They have stuff called 'sand' too which uses vanilla pudding and graham crackers. Have you ever heard of those? Maybe I can bring you some to try another time, if you haven't. I'll bring sand, since you like vanilla."
He eased back into his chair a bit and smiled, "What is your favorite movie? And why."
Riston wondered if it was normal for the random twenty questions sort of game because people usually asked favorite color, band, class. He was having fun, though. "Favorite movie changes as often as some people change favorite songs and whatever. Right now it's been Death to Smoochy for a while. I have this weird thing for Edward Norton, I think that's pretty much why. It makes me laugh, fun cast. What about you?"
"Death to Smoochy is classic. Robin Williams was genius in that movie. My favorite right now...don't laugh. Nacho Libre. I don't know what it is about that movie, but it makes me laugh really hard. Probably Jack Black. Not that I dig the guy, he's a little too...round, for my taste, but he's ridiculously funny in that movie," Micah played with the paper left from his straw, "For awhile I considered trying out Lucha Libre. I'm sorry I'm asking all these questions, just...you can learn a lot about people from the movies they watch, and music too. Which brings me to the next question. Top five bands."
"I like Nacho Libre. I remember when it came out people were disappointed but I thought it was an instant classic. At least to my DVD collection. I love the theme song." Riston bit his lip and wondered about what his top five bands would be. He never could decide on things like that and he ran a hand through his hair with a guilty laugh. "How about the five bands I have the most CDs stuffed into the backseat of my car? That would be... Weezer, Vampire Weekend, The Kooks, Blur, They Might Be Giants, and, er... Led Zeppelin."
"That works," Micah smiled, the food arriving as Riston started to list the bands and he smirked, "Doesn't Vampire Weekend only have one CD out? They're supposed to release another soon, I heard. And crap...They Might Be Giants, those guys are classic. Well, not as classic as Led Zeppelin, but still, good band. I'm glad I don't have to shun you because you have poor taste in music. Because, you don't. I don't actually shun people." He took the ketchup and put some on his plate, "What's your favorite song by Vampire Weekend though? And Weezer. For me...I think I like Bryn a lot, I don't know why, but I do. It's different, their music is fun. And Weezer, probably Slave from Maladroit. I always felt that album was under appreciated."
"Not till the fall, which sucks, because I really like their album. I actually have a bunch of their stuff in acoustic and some live shows that people recorded on their own. B-sides, stuff like that. They played one of their new songs on Jimmy Fallon recently and it's really good. I like bands that go around playing with a lot of instruments and not just the typical stuff." Riston nearly groaned at the sight of his burger and decided it was a good thing he hadn't ate lunch. "I actually would shun someone for bad music. Just a little. It's an honest truth to me that I just couldn't get along well with someone who made me listen to Billy Ray Cyrus or something. Deep down I'd despise them a little." He grinned as he ate some fries. "I like Mansard Roof the best. It's upbeat and catchy and makes me smile. Weezer, though, I have to go with Undone, The Sweater Song. It's just something that always stuck with me."
"Yeah, Mansard Roof is in my top three from them. Undone...that's classic. I used to get it stuck in my head all the time. Anyone who listens to any member of the Cyrus family deserves shunning though," Micah made a face, "Especially Miley. That girl is a big stain on music. A bad stain you wish never happened and probably will never come out. Curse Disney for that." He shook his head, shoving a large amount of fries into his mouth and chomping them down before deciding it was time for the burger.
After taking a bite he spoke, "You haven't smoked the entire time we've been hanging out. So are you just a seldom smoker?"
"Seldom smoker. I like the sound of that." He shifted in his seat and licked ketchup from his thumb and nearly dropped the entire burger with his other hand because he wasn't paying attention. "I've thought about it a few times, actually. I'm getting used to not smoking for hours when I'm at work and I have some nicotine gum, the stuff... it's shit. It tastes horrible and makes me moody but all that anger usually keeps me from leaving the cash register to run outside and smoke." Riston admitted.
"So you're trying to quit?" Micah pressed his lips together. He didn't care one way or another if someone smoked, but if Riston was trying to quit, Micah could at least try to be a bit encouraging. He wanted to ask why Riston had started in the first place but felt maybe that was treading into some tragic past. But it was just smoking, right? Some people smoked because they wanted to appeal to others and some just like the oral fixation. "You don't have to answer but...what got you started in the first place? Smoking, not the whole...quitting thing."
"I'm trying not to smoke so much. I quit for a while... but for stupid reasons. Not because I wanted to, or because of my health, or future health anyway. More like I quit to make someone else happy. So I sort of started back up with a bang." He lingered his hands over his plate and picked up two fries at a time and ate them before answering the question. Tell a new friend your mom is dead and that you smoke because it was something that reminded you of her and things might get silent. He took a long sip of water.
Riston had told Micah this before and Micah remembered telling him that he needed to quit for his own reasons. So he gave a small nod of his head, not getting directly the answer he wanted but was prepared to take it as it was. Micah learned from watching other kids growing up that doing things like getting rid of a bad habit or trying to lose weight for another person often met with disaster. He wanted to ask to that person was.
"I guess there isn't a real reason. My mom smoked and I used to steal her cigarettes so she'd stop. Her husband caught me so he did that 'smoke all of them at once' punishment and instead of hording them or throwing them out after that I started smoking them." He smiled.
Micah bit his lip and was quiet for a small moment, despite the fact that Riston was smiling. "That sucks," was what he said first before finishing to swallow, "I mean, I don't get how people can do that to a kid, let alone a teenager. But life isn't perfect, and there are going to be people who think that's a good way to punish a kid for trying to help someone." He shook his head, and then tucked his hair behind his ears again. Micah wasn't dumb enough not to realize that Riston referred to what could have been his dad or step-dad as 'her husband'. There were a lot of things that Micah wanted to know about Riston, but it was too soon to ask. But Micah already felt like he wanted to hug the other guy and tell him things got better.
"I live by the 'couldve been worse' outlook. It could always be worse. I've got some good friends," And was making some new ones! "and they don't make me do things I don't want to so that's, you know, a plus." Riston bit his lip to stop from talking anymore. Babble babble babble.
"So you said that the gum tastes bad, huh?" Micah tried to move it to a safer topic and not turn this meeting into a one time thing by scaring the guy off with his curiosity, "I've always wondered about that. Did you ever try the patch?"
"You want to try a piece? I don't trust the patch. I don't really want to quit that badly. I'm not even sure I want to quit." Riston pulled out the pack and his cellphone and slid a piece across the table with a grin before checking the time. He ended up with a frown. "We should do something else this week. If that's, you know, not smothering you with our newfound random friendship and all. I've gotta get back soon. I have," sigh. "homework and practice for Grease. I've never danced so much in my life. I don't know that I like it. Espesially wearing such tight pants." This was more of a thought inside his head that came out.
Micah shrugged when Riston offered him a piece and took it, staring at the little square piece of nicotine gum before tossing it in his mouth. As he began to chew he cringed and spit it out into his hand, "That's disgusting. You've got to be really pissed off while you chew that. Ugh, gah." He made a gagging noise and put the half chewed piece of gum onto the napkin and put it to the side. He was smiling again, though it fell a little when Riston spoke of having to get back to school for homework. Micah's lips parted slightly at the mention of tight pants and a smile tugged at the edge of his mouth. Yes, his mind went there. And he felt a little warm in the face.
"Yeah, we'll definitely have to hang out again sometime this week," preferably sooner than later, "I guess we'll email and figure what exactly then."
"Sounds good. Ice cream reaaaal quick and then we'll walk back. It's probably getting cold and I don't want to, you know, catch a cold. If that's even possible." Riston needed to smoke really bad and wanted out of there. "I work most of the rest of the week, but, you could stop in if you're passing by. Make your friends a duck collection or something." Riston grabbed his spoon wondering if it was okay to hound a new friend or if it was just the fact he drew the guy and he was cute. Maybe too much at once. He sighed with a small smile. "Yeah." Riston ran a hand through his hair.
The ice cream in front of him, Micah was sure he could finish it fast because he didn't want to have Riston walk out while he was still shoving frozen dairy in his mouth. Thankfully he didn't get himself a huge sundae so he progressed through it at a good pace. "I'll stop by and visit. Maybe I'll be in luck and get you at a time when you're getting off work and not going to go to a play practice or have mountains of homework to go through. We could catch a movie. But I wouldn't want to stop you from hanging from some of your friends too..."
"That sounds good. I get off at eight at the latest so... well... now you know that." He finished his ice cream and went to pay for his half of the bill and slid out of the bar slowly, not entirely wanting to go but knowing he had to. "That sounds like fun. Pepper went and saw Monsters vs. Aliens with a guy and she said she'd go see it with me but it wouldn't be the same thing going with someone who, you know, already saw it. So we could plan that."
"Would Pepper be going too?" Micah asked, unsure if Riston was going to bring his friend. If she was going to be there, Micah'd try to be friendly with her too. Best friends knew everything. Or most everything. Micah finished off the last of his ice cream, taking the receipt the waitress left and getting up, "I'll cover the bill. You look like you're ready to go." He smiled crookedly, knowing that he was keeping Riston longer than he should.
"Probably not. She's generally more busy than I am." He wondered if he should bring her that way it wasn't like a date. But... "Oh, well... if you are going to pay, I should at least, pay for the movie and whatnot. Later this week." like a date. Riston pulled his pack of cigarettes out so he had something to do.
Micah smiled to himself as he paid the bill at the register, "I guess that works. All's fair then, huh?" The lady handed Micah back his change and he turned to the door, "I guess...I'll see you later this week then, huh?" He saw the cigarettes but said nothing, because it was Riston's choice. Maybe one day he'd quit, Micah wasn't going to force him to stop, not unless he really wanted to. He was still learning about the guy.
"Yeah. I'll email you, I'm sure. Or... I could call you. Although I'm not that interesting, really, so..." He trailed off and smiled. "But thanks for being... nice? Man, I don't know. I'm bad at goodbyes. I never know what to say. Once I high fived someone and they rolled their eyes at me so I know that doesn't work. Come on, though. I'll walk back to the parking lot outside of Clayground. Tell you about last weeks crazy cat lady poem."
"Sounds good," Micah smiled, "I mean, you can call me. I'm okay with that, I don't really do much to be honest. I'll be playing video games most likely. Doing a bit of studying on my own, but...yeah, I wouldn't hate it if you called me." He paused, "I think...you're a lot more interesting than you think you are. And that fact that you don't think you are, well...just makes you that much more. To me."