Street Surprises -- Trevor, Shade [Complete]

“Oh.ok.” It didn’t ease him though. He agreed she was perfectly capable of taking care of herself, probably even more than him at the moment. Her power was probably more useful in a fight than his judging from the coil of wire he had glimpsed during their first meeting. But if you had others waiting for you, you shouldn’t keep them waiting right? He didn’t know it’s been too long since he had relied on anyone, much less relying on him. In summery he felt guilty that he was keeping Shade from getting back to people who cared way more about her and deserved her attention much more than some random stranger.

"What about you? Is there anyone at home for you?" He paused to think. Person wise, definitely not unless there had been some customer who was waiting until Trevor returned and could do his job but he highly doubted that was what she meant. Well…there was one thing that might possible count. So in dead seriousness he responded; “Does a pet gerbil count?”

He nodded his head more in acknowledgement than agreement of sorts but he had to glance down for a second with a raised eyebrow at the strange mention of being a “pet”. There could be many meanings, almost none of them good but the evident smile still on her face was off putting. A slipup maybe? If so he shouldn’t prod, he wouldn’t want anyone poking into his past and so he carried over the courtesy to others.

He shrugged, “This girl I hunted a bounty with left me with it. And sure.” He agreed with her, he just was one of those people that didn’t seem likely to have any type of pet. He’d surprised himself keeping and taking care of it.

Night had just fallen when they were finally standing in front of the entrance of what would technically be called his “home”. The door was, unfortunately, still broken. Hanging off one rusted hinge even when Trevor had tried to make it appear solid earlier. He nudged it open with his shoulder, the room dark. “Sorry, there’s no lights in here…” The main part of the store had used those large light sockets that almost all stores used, he had no clue where to even get one of those and it was probably too expensive to afford anyways.

Moving past that, he moved further in; behind the counter and unlocking the office where he kept his few more personal items. The light flickered for a moment when he turned it on. It was nothing special. Desk.chair. that’s about it. Except for the box resting on top of the desk’s surface. Inside was a pretty well improvised gerbil home. One of those rodent water things hanging off the side and shredded newspaper covering the bottom. The inhabitant inside was squeaking and trying to climb up the cardboard walls eagerly to its owners return.

He doubted that Flara had left him the gerbil just to be “nice”. Though with Shade’s strange track record of odd thinking it might have just been something she said to fill the silence.

Not a lot of light? Odd quirk especially considering the dark goggles he saw her wear. Now that he thought about it she was wearing them last time too, and the hood and a pair of gloves. It was a little more than odd in heat. He’d heard albinos were sensitive to light, but they had white hair and her hair was practically the exact opposite. He tucked away the curiosity for later. Wait, later? He shouldn’t even be assuming he will ever meet her again after this.

“Funny , the girl who gave me it said the same thing.” It wasn’t that funny. He didn’t get the comparison at all, he looked nothing like a small furry rodent. He really is never going to understand girls. Or at the very least any ones he came in contact with.

“Her name is Ievan.” He’d dropped the bag and its contents in one corner; standing next to Shade- both their eyes set on the gerbil.

A pretty name? Yeah, he guessed he would agree. The name was more nostalgic now than anything, it’s been a few years after all since she had left. It…wasn’t odd to name pets after people you knew right? Though truth was half the reason he had name it that was because he wasn’t really creative with names and would have probably been named blacky or some other generic stupid sounding name.

Though even this Ievan had gotten attached to Trevor pretty quick and preferred him over Shade or something as she tried to jump the sizable distance between the two of them. He reacted, reaching to catch her before she fell and probably killed herself. But Shade reacted fast; albeit in a more… supernatural way.

He stared at the black blob that had appeared out of nowhere, assumingly from Shade. "I'm pretty sure that didn't hurt her, but I don't know how to tell. I'm sorry if she is." He dragged his eyes away from the black… whatever it was. He cupped both hands together near Shades. Ievan jumped right into his hands, and it looked like this time she would be staying there since she still remained obediently in his hands when he brought her closer for examination. Yep, definitely ok.

But now that that was taken care of… He looked at the blob of black still floating in the air. He looked at Shade, raising one eyebrow, “I’m guessing that has something to do with your power?”

The result of her actions seemed to finally hit her as her cheeks turned a light pink while the black thing dissolved. What had she to be embarrassed about?

"I can manipulate shadows, changing their shape and how deep they are. And I can solidify them into simple objects."

Shadows. Shade. Made sense. Clearly she was embarrassed by her power, he doubted it had to do with the simple reason of being a harbinger since she already knew he was one himself. Some bad experience in the past then? He lowered Ievan back down into her box, “Sounds useful.” He could list off ten reasons easy where such a power could be very useful. It was more useful than his power for sure. And honestly the idea that she would seriously try to hurt him was almost laughable even if this was their second time meeting.

But regardless of strength she should be off, it’s starting to get late and the building didn’t exactly have a guest bed. He looked back down at her, crossing his arms and taking a firm tone, “Unless you plan to watch me sleep you should probably go back home.”

Her cynical snort surprised him. In truth he really didn’t know exactly what he was supposed to expect as a reaction but it definitely wasn’t that. Though he’d probably have the same reaction if he was told his power was “useful” too.

"Well, I could if you'd like," If she hadn’t frowned right before speaking he probably wouldn’t have known she was teasing him. He reached out, and gave her a small flick to the forehead, “It’s getting late idiot, and this place doesn’t exactly have a secret bedroom.” In fact there’s not even technically a proper sleeping place for himself but hey, he’s used to that at least.

He knew she couldn’t insist on staying, Shade said it’s ok if she returns late but that means she still has to return. He’s glad for that at least. He’d probably walk her part of the way as well but she had been stubborn enough to follow back so doing that would be kind of against the whole point of why she had followed him. He waited for her to make a decision, hopefully not teasing him again.

Every sarcastic teenager instinct in his body told him to roll his eyes; met only twice and she thinks she’s his mom or something. He’d make the effort if it really would make her feel better, he’d certainly call her only because it would probably be troublesome if she felt obligated to drag herself all the way out her again.

"I'm sorry for running into you earlier and the entire thing with the kiss. But I'm happy to have met up again." She suddenly ran up and hugged him, he automatically tensed but it didn’t look like she was doing this specifically to make him uncomfortable. He could feel his cheeks start to heat up but it wasn’t … exactly a bad feeling this time. He pat her head gently, “It’s fine…” Whether he was happy to have seen her again… that isn’t a question he’s sure he can particularly give an answer to.

He watched her leave, returning a small wave in farewell. He turned to head back inside, shoving his hands into his pockets and something crumpled when he knew there was nothing in his pockets before. 20 credits she somehow snuck into his pocket, the little… Why did she even care about him so much?
Sighing he shoved the cash back into his pocket. Turned locked the office door and shut off the lights. He’d call her alright, and the first thing he’d do was tell her he’s definitely returning the money she shouldn’t have given him in the first place.