x|x Sunsets and Car Crashes x|x

[riley]

The subway. Scurrying rodents, crying children, yelling adults, the screech every few minutes as another subway cart arrives at the station, and then takes off again. The rattle of luggage carts, the chatter, the bright lights. Just why oh why did Riley choose to come here? Even he wasn't entirely sure. He just liked to see the interaction of people when they weren't in a really controlled environment such as work or school. They acted so much different. Plus, it was blazing hot outside and he'd much rather stay underground with all these people and noises than deal with the heat of the blazing yellow sun.

His grey eyes flicked back and forth between each side of the subway, the carts and lights of one flashed past him as it took off. It brought by a nice, chill breeze as his hair whipped his face and blew the bottom of his shirt up slightly. He reached a pale hand down into his pant pocket, pulling out one of his favorite things ever. His cancer sticks, the things that seemed to keep him somewhat sane.

He eased one out of the full pack, flipped it over and took the one next to it. He was a weird one; at least some seemed to think. He always flipped the first cigarette he touched in a new pack over, saving it for the last one. He called it his ‘wish cigarette’; he’d light it up and make a wish. Not many people that were around the area who did smoke seemed to know about it. He shrugged it off and put the filter to his lips, putting the pack in his pocket, he next grabbed his lighter. A Zippo, of course, what other kind of lighters had the most ‘witty’ slogans on them, or retro and stunning designs and pictures? None. He flipped the top open and lit it up. He gazed at the flame for a few moments before raising his other hand up to block the slight breeze that was coming down the stairwell, inhaling deeply, and breathing the flame into the cigarette to give it life.

Snapping the lighter closed, he placed it back into his pocket. He lightly wrapped his thumb and forefinger around the butt of the cigarette, inhaling and then blowing out a cloud of smoke. He could feel all his stress leaving him with every smoke filled breath he took. He moved away from the edge of the stopping area and moved more towards the middle of the area where there were benches to sit on. He plopped himself down, and reclined himself slightly, getting as comfortable as one could while being on a plain metal bench.

He went back to watching everyone get on and off the subways, mostly everyone avoiding him and his cancer laden smoke. He chuckled to himself and smiled slightly as one lady who gave him an odd glare and whispered to her husband something about, ‘children these days, smoking their youth away’. He leaned his head back slightly, and looked up at the lights as they began to rattle and shake as another cart came into the station.

Just another normal, boring day. "It better get better..", Riley muttered to himself as he took another drag of his cigarette, flicking the loose ashes onto the ground.

[LaDon Uniche]

After wandering around for hours trying to find her friends who had started up a game of hide and seek, she found herself in a subway. How she had gotten here she hadn't the slightest idea. But she did know that they might be down here. Camillo, Alex, Mozzy. Someone had to've hidden in the subway station. It was like the perfect spot. Most wouldn't even bother to take a second glance at it. But it made perfect sense! You could just sit on the subway train and ride it all day, no one would find you and you would be declared winner of hide-and-go-seek!

She stood at the base of the stairs, her currently green eyes watching, looking for a trace, movement, sound or look of her friends. For a long time now they'd come up with the bright idea to play this game all over Faer Lake. It often lasted a whole day, this was usually the reason why they did it on weekends only. But if they ever missed school, that would be what they were caught up doing.

LaDon smiled, pulling out a picture of each of her friends. She then ran up to everyone she saw, asking if they had seen any of these boys.

"Excuse me Miss, have you seen this boy here? ...No? How about this one, or this one?" she ran around for about five minutes just asking people. Though she was making no progress, the smile of hope did not fade from her face.

She walked up to a boy who was seated on a bench and flared out the three pictures infront of him, "You haven't seen any of these boys, have you?" she inquired, hopeful, but she doubted he would've seen them. This was a city for pities sake!

She gazed down at the bench he was seated on and frowned. It was a hard metal that was worn down and rusting in spots. You'd think the city could afford more comfortable benches. But maybe they were vandalized, so they figured there was no sense in replacing them.

She then looked at the white stick in his hand and her jaw dropped, "I didn't think smoking was allowed down here..." she thought out loud, "Ah well."

[riley]

Riley watched out of the corner of his eye as a girl came down to the subway with pictures in her hand, going up to just about everyone asking them if they had seen any one of the people who were in the pictures that she was holding. Obviously she wasn't having any lucky, since she continue for a short while. She then started to come toward him. He blinked a few times as the pictures were put into his face.

He looked at the pictures quickly, and then looked up at the girls face and shrugged. "Nope, haven't seen any of them, sorry." He then took another drag of his cigarette and smirked slightly. "No, pretty sure it's not allowed, but hey, worst they can do is kick me out of here." He gave a short quick laugh and looked down at the ground and smiled, blowing out another cloud of smoke.

"So, why are you looking for these kids anyway? Did you lose them or ...?" He asked, looking back up at the girl's face, raising an eyebrow. She had very soft features, then again, almost all girls did, at least from the ones that he actually paid attention to. Taking on last drag, he dropped the butt of the cigarette by his foot and stepped down on it, putting it out.

He raised a hand up to his face and shoved a few strands of hair out of his face, but frowned slightly as they fell back into place right away.

[LaDon Uniche]

The boy took a quick look at the pictures and shrugged. "Nope, haven't seen any of them, sorry." He then took another drag of his cigarette and smirked slightly. She sighed, dropping her shoulders and taking a seat next to him on the bench. "No, pretty sure it's not allowed, but hey, worst they can do is kick me out of here." He gave a short quick laugh and looked down at the ground and smiled, blowing out another cloud of smoke.

LaDon didn't know whether to smile or frown. Smoking was bad and it hurt her eyes and throat...but at the same time it looked so darn cool! The way the clouds puffed out. Everyone had a different way of blowing smoke out of them.

She pulled out her nintendo DS and began to play mario cart. It was what she always did when stuck in a rut with no one to turn to for help. It seemed to calm her and send her back on the right track.

"So, why are you looking for these kids anyway? Did you lose them or ...?" a voice asked. LaDon shrugged her shoulders as the male squished the cigarette beneath his shoe.
"I was playing hide and go seek with them," she half smiled, her eyes still glued to the game, "I was kind of cheating by asking people if they've seen them or not. But so long as they don't know that everything will be fine." she frowned, pressing the pause button on her game. She looked up at the guy, "You aren't going to tell them are you?" she questioned, "I sure do hope not. That would be horribly mean. We've been playing since nine o'clock this morning! I haven't found any of them!" she set the game in her lap and sat cross-legged on the bench, facing the boy, "We play this game all over town! It can get pretty crazy. But for the person who is IT, it can be pretty boring. Sometimes we don't end up finding each other. But there's always interesting adventurs that sprout from this game. That's why I love it so much." she smiled.

"So what's your name? I've never seen you before.." And of course LaDon had seen a lot of people. Some even got to know her just by her constant playing of this hide and seek game. She was always asking people if they'd seen her friends. She probably seemed like a broken record to them by now. But oh well. What did that matter anyways?

[riley]

The girl's voice rang through his head a few times every time she replied. It seemed to over power the rustle and bustle that was around them. He reached up a hand and rubbed one of his ears for a moment before letting it drop back down to his side. He then watched as the girl sat down by him and started to play a game. He looked over at the screen and recognized the game at once, it was one of the games that he played non-stop on his Gamecube. It was an addicting game, so there was nothing wrong with it.

"Hide and seek?" He questioned, trying not to laugh. He couldn't even recall the last time he played that game, it had to have been when he was 6 or so, and him and his little brother would play. Then again, at that time it was only those two, and only around the house. Not all over the city, basically anything goes rules. He had to admit though, it did sound fun, when people were actually found. But by the look on the girl's face, it really wasn't that fun to be it and have no luck all day so far.

"Ah, n-no, I wouldn't", he stuttered slightly when she asked him so suddenly if he'd tell them. "I don't even know them, so I probably wouldn't even bother. Plus, I’m not the kind of person to find enjoyment out of spoiling over people’s fun." He shrugged; it always seemed to be his trademark. Shrugging, it could answer everything for him.

He placed both his hands behind his head and used them as a headrest, leaning his head back once again. “Well, it sounds like you and your friends have tons of fun playing the game”, he said after a short pause, stifling a yawn.

“My name? It’s Riley. And no surprise you’ve never seen me, I really don’t tend to stick out of the crowd too much. Then again, it’s not like I even try to do that.” He chuckled once again. “Then again, other people do try to stay away from me. They think I might bite their head off since I’m known to have a ‘temper’. Not my fault people catch me at bad times..” He trailed off, staring at the empty train space, as people started o get into line waiting for the next one.

[LaDon Uniche]

"Hide and seek?" He questioned, trying not to laugh. LaDon looked at the station around her. There didn't seem to be anything funny going on. Maybe he was just easily amused.
"Yes, Hide and Seek." LaDon repeated, quite serious.

"Ah, n-no, I wouldn't", he stuttered slightly to her question, "I don't even know them, so I probably wouldn't even bother. Plus, I’m not the kind of person to find enjoyment out of spoiling over people’s fun." LaDon smiled at this, "Well that's good because Mozzy would probably throw a fit. He doesn't exactly like me very much. I think he's scared of me. Nah, probably just jealous that I'm friends with one of his friends. He gets jealous easily. But anyways, I think you'd get along great with the three of them! They're so much fun to be around!"

He placed both his hands behind his head and used them as a headrest, leaning his head back once again. “Well, it sounds like you and your friends have tons of fun playing the game”, he said after a short pause.
"You bet we do! I remember one time he raced through the mall with water guns!" she laughed uneasily, "I don't think people were very happy with us...."

“My name? It’s Riley. And no surprise you’ve never seen me, I really don’t tend to stick out of the crowd too much. Then again, it’s not like I even try to do that.” He chuckled, “Then again, other people do try to stay away from me. They think I might bite their head off since I’m known to have a ‘temper’. Not my fault people catch me at bad times..” He trailed off.

LaDon grinned, showing off her near perfect white teeth, "I have a friend who has a horrible temper. Hahaha, you should have seen him the other day getting all made at people in class for being too loud! But what do you expect from students when assigned a group task?" she paused a moment, "You wouldn't actually bite off someone's head would you? Are you a vampire?" she asked pointing a finger at him. She remembered one time when she was in the library Camillo had a friend who had a horrible temper and he was a vampire too!

"All vampires must have tempers." she muttered, "But you seem like a friendly person!" she held out her hand, "And I'm LaDon, by the way..forgot to tell you that. Sorry, that was rude."