Days Off (Open)

[Jacob B. Dole]

Looking down he exhaled sharply, feeling the pain room his back and ribs tinge, the wrapping around his upper torso still fit tightly to hold his ribs in place. Straightening up to his full height of 6'4 and tossing his head back he slipped his hat back over his hair, holding it in place as he looked to his right, eyeing his opponent.

"You've done well so far, but what'll you do when I stop holding back?" Smirking softly they both looked back at the screen, Tekken fighter Jin was facing off against Kazuma, son fighting father as the third round began.

"Agh! How'd you pull that off."

Giggles and cheers erupted around the machine as the only person above five feet picked up his seven year old opponent and put him up on his shoulders. The rest of the kids chanted and raved for their turn at the machine as Jacob fullfilled his part of the deal and carried young thomas around the arcade, singing: "Here comes the King" Over and over until they reached the tekken machine again.

"Alright, go defend your crown my leige." Scooping Thomas up under his arms he lifted him up and over his head and put him down in the center of the crowd, more giggles and cheers from the youngsters as jacob turned and made his way out into the rest of the mall.

Between his trip to the hospital and the explosion of his 'soon-to-be-high-school', as well as it's counterpart Paragon Institute, he found himself with a great deal of time on his hand. He couldn't even push through and complete half the set of his usual nightly workout. He found himself bored and unable to continue to do anything he usually would. He couldn't quite hold the pressure of his compound bow yet, and tennis involved to much running and stretching for him to get clearance to play. Worst of all he couldn't begin his hunt for the bastards who attacked him in the first place.

And so he found himself at the mall, window shopping, spending a few quarters in the arcade, eating one of the most unhealthiest lunches he could, overall having a good time for what it was worth. At the moment he was heading towards HMV, looking for some new CD's, something that could fill out his current selection.

[J.T.]

Joey walked through the mall alone. Despite his confident demeanor, he still hadn't snapped out of his loner phase. It was a hard thing to part with after what good all that time to think had done him. He was a good person now, or at least as good as he felt he could be. Nobody can come out of the extreme situations he had gone through over the years and still come out clean. Who he once was would be a scar that would follow him forever. An ugly reminder of who he can become if he gives up on this new life. But he was different now and ready to rejoin the human race. Not that he necessarily knew how to do such a thing, but going out in public seemed to be a nice start.

He was headed toward a sports store with his mind in the clouds when he accidentally bumped into a boy, knocking his UFC cap to the ground. "Sorry about that." he said sincerely, dusting off the hat and returning it. "It's what happens when two people don't pay attention in a crowded place I guess."

At a glance Joey noticed that this boy was only a bit shorter than he was, a welcome change after having to tower over people so often. He seemed to be in good shape, not quite the same muscle mass as Joey but not very skinny either. The boy seemed to be in a bit of physical pain, he hoped that it wasn't from their run in, though that was very doubtful.

"I'm JT by the way. I haven't seen you before, did you just move here or something?"

[Jacob B. Dole]

"Umph." The sudden bump caused his chest to exhale, making it feel as though his ribs were puncturing his lungs. The pain felt as though a wave of heat from the exhaust of a car was being pumped down his throat.

'Damn, I should pay more attention in crowds.'

Cussing at himself he remained as carefree as he could on the outside, though his eyes still winced in pain as he smile and took back his hat. He ran his free hand through his hair, pushing it back as he slipped his cap back on.

"Sure is, though you'd think one of us would've seen the other considering we stick out like unhammered nails."

He let out a soft chuckle despite the pain in his ribs, though he held his elbows up against his ribs as softly as he could without applying to much pressure, even more so to keep others from noticing.

"Jacob." He replied, flashing a smile and patted him once on the shoulder with his right hand. He wasn't much for handshakes, liking to always be cautious and aware, so he moved on from that to short salutes, shoulder pats, and the occasional nods.

"Naw, nothing like that. I've been in San Fran all my life. It's just a big city, and I never went to any of the popular schools." He paused for a moment, considering what JT had said. "What about you? I take it you went to Hircine before it blew sky high?"

[J.T.]

"I'll do you one better," he responded, "I was inside Hircine as it was collapsing. I would have been dead meat if a total stranger hadn't helped me out at the last second. Just when I was starting to give up on people too." He allowed his gaze to fall to his feet only for a moment. He still hadn't come to terms with the fact that someone he never met had died to save his life. But he took it as yet another brick added onto the weight of the world on his shoulders, something to overcome that would even further set apart his high school experience from that of an average person. As he looked back at Jacob he cleared his mind of these thoughts. No need to bother others with it.

"So what schools have you gone to? I probably wouldn't have heard of them but it's worth a shot."

[Jacob B. Dole]

"Cartford Jr.High, then Cartford. That basically covers the last four years of my life. I was suppose to be transferred to Hircine, but my first day was suppose to be the one after the collapse."

He looked around, fisting both hands and pushing his fingers against his legs, popping his knuckles from pinky to index. Standing in the middle of the crowds was a difficult way to start a conversation with someone. He began to fidget around, patting his pockets and searching for something less despressing to talk about then what had happened at the two infamous schools of the city.

From patting his pockets he began to fidget with his cloths, sliding his hands into the pockets of his zip-up hoodie, swiping his hair back, and then even rubbed the nick in his ear. Sure, battlewounds were something he had plenty of, but that wasn't quite good conversation material when first meeting someone. Tilting his head back he looked up at the second floor, noticing a few people from Cartford he use to know. Watching them for a second he saw them head into a store, then realized the whole point of a mall.

"Where were you headed JT? Which store caught your fancy?"

[J.T.]

Sure enough, Joey had never heard of either of the schools Jacob had attended. He noticed that this guy seemed to be very fidgety, likely because their loud surroundings weren't the most welcoming to conversation. "How were they? You don't seem like the especially violent type, why would you want to transfer to a rougher school like Hircine? I was actually on my way to the sporting store to pick up a couple t-shirts, care to join me?"

It appeared this making friends thing came a bit easier to him than he anticipated. He was slowly remembering that it was never very difficult for him to meet people. In fact, back when he was one of the bad guys, it was fairly common for the higher ups in the social ladder to be the ones to find him. Though his old friendships were usually forged from a fight or sharing common pessimistic views. Due to his new found peaceful nature, these weren't necessarily the friends he hoped to remake. Not that avoiding them would be possible in an area like this.

[Jacob B. Dole]

"They were okay. The highschool has a higher gang affiliation then any of the other schools in San Fran, but besides that it was fine. Sure, leads head that way." He replied to JT's last question first, or rather second in this case, because it lead them out of the crowd. As he walked towards the sporting store he caught a glance of a full sized poster of Roger Federer hanging on the back wall. Right below it were Wilson rackets, the type he used in praise of his tennis idol.

"It was actually due to the gangs that I was forced to transfer." Having spoken several minutes after the question was aired felt weird, but his voice didn't strain to get about the chatter of everyone else. It was definately easier to talk now that they were inside. "It was about two weeks ago now that I got into a fight with one of their members. I broke his nose and embarassed him in front of half the school."

Remembering the sight on Louies face made him smirk. For three years he had been so smug and ontop of the world while attending Cartford, and in that instant he was dropped to the bottom of the pile. Having walked into the cloths section he was admiring a pair of camoflauge MMA shorts from the Quientin Rampage line as he continued.

"Well that was all fine and well, but I should've known he was going to try something. After school a group of his gang members found me and my Ex. I held them off for as long as I could until Kim tripped or something. They made their way toward her, branishing weapons like steel pipes and two by fours. I jumped ontop of her, trying to sheild her from harm. Next thing I knew I woke up in a ambulance on the way to the hospital."

Grabbing the waistband of the shorts he opened them up and checked out the price tag attached to the tag. Way to expensive for him today, not to mention he already had tons of other shorts just like those, only from the lines of different fighters. Putting them back on the rack he turned toward JT. His story was finished, and up to date with the bandages under his shirt.

"Wanna know what the funny part is though? Kim dumped me not because of the fight, but because I was going to Hircine. Ain't that a hoot."

[J.T.]

Joey headed straight for the t-shirts and tank tops when he arrived in the store. He only needed a few darker ones. It was surprising how fast the light colors were ruined after a few good workouts. Sweat stains were more subtle in blacks and dark blues.

As his new acquaintance told him his story, he understood the reason behind the pained body language. Jacob had been on the wrong side of a beat down that left him in the hospital, and by the looks of him, it seemed reasonable to assume the wounds he had covered up were worse than the visible ones. "May I ask what possessed you to break a gang leader's nose?" he asked with a hint of amusement. He was sympathetic toward the boy's situation, but knocking out a man of power did not seem a very bright course of action in his mind. At least not without good reason.

It was rather depressing to hear that his girlfriend had left him over something like that. He noted that people were most mysterious creatures, logic was oftentimes not a part of their thought process.

Having picked out everything he needed, he headed toward the register, digging his wallet from his pocket. He paid the cashier and had his things put into a plastic bag. He never knew what the proper way for a man to hold shopping bags in public was, as it always seemed awkward to him, but he figured holding it at his side would suffice. Jokingly he thought that it was too bad he had decided to be a good person. The old him would have wished for someone to say something offhand so he would have any reason to clobber them. Still, it felt nice to have to face the little problems that regular people went through. He was definitely making fast progress in becoming more normal. Hopefully this pace would not be impeded on anytime soon.

[Jacob B. Dole]

When the question of 'why' came up he could only go about smirking. Why was it that he decided to beat up one of the faces of the most reknown gangs at Cartford, he almost couldn't remember. Heading towards the register with JT he took a few moments to collect his breath, having twisted the wrong way when he pivoted towards the cashiers.

"Well, for the most part it's because he deserved it." Another brief pause followed by a short cough. Grasping his ribs he did well to keep his elbows pressed against his body, doing his best to stop stretching the bandages. "But he wasn't their leader, just a loud mouth. He, along with the rest of the gang, harrashed the freshmen and sophomores, beat on whoever they wanted and thought they were invincible."

Putting to much emphasis on his words he took to sharp a breath, forcing another cough as he winded himself. At this point he was feeling as though he'd be better off without the bandages, but he'd have to live with them for another week before his next check-up.

"But that's old news," 'For now.' "Now that I'm suppose to be attending Hircine I've found myself with all the free time in the world, just unable to do what I usually do. So, I'm here trying to keep myself amused."

[J.T.]

"From the looks of it, you didn't teach them much of a lesson." he teased. "In fact I bet seeing you, someone who stood up to them, getting pummeled into the concrete taught the other students to fear them even more."

Despite how he was acting, he liked that Jacob had tried to do something to help his school. Joey himself hadn't done any real good around the city throughout his stay. His periodical good deeds were meaningless and of no consequence to him. They were the equivalent to nothing in the long run and he knew that his thoughts would amount to more of this guilt and self scrutinization without actions behind them. His main problem in changing this came with the realization that he didn't even know where to begin.

Still, he took Jacob's story as a cautionary tale for what would happen if he tried to do things on a larger scale without the proper preparations. "I seem to have some time to myself as well. Here's my number, call me when you're a little more healed up. I could use a training partner these days."

With this, he said his farewell and headed out of the store. He could cross out 'make a friend' on his day's to-do list.

[Jacob B. Dole]

"I guess it's lucky for me that only Kim saw me like this, huh?" He jested, a defense mechanism to get by the casual teasing. Really, it was just the truth that was getting to him. Despite all his internal boasting he had still been beaten down, and that smited his ego back down to ground level. Putting JT's number into his cell he smiled, giving a small wave farewell, barely raising his arm above shoulder height before he turned back and headed deeper into the store.

He headed past the cloths, straight to the back wall where he had seen the poster of Roger Federer. While he wasn't planning on buying anything he did want to see how much a new racket would cost. After getting a number he continued to move around the store, hardly glancing at anything else until he found a 'miscellaneous' area. In that section he came across bags of marbles, cheap marbles that came in a large mesh bag. Grabbing three of the bags he headed to the counter. He bought them, saving a few bucks because he bought them in groups of three, then headed back out into the wide selection of the mall.