Dents

[+] Out Of Body

The summer wind was intoxicating.

The air was inundated with the floral aroma of spring. All the birds that decided the weather was alright came back and sang beautifully from the branches of green trees. It was somewhat chilly, as it usually was. My hands were warm. One was interlocked with 2D's. The other held a Styrofoam cup of coffee. Wisps of hot steam escaped from the small opening in the top.

2D smiled cheekily and mused about the success of the album along with the large influx of royalties coming our way. It was obvious that he was trying to distract me from the cloud of despondency hovering over me lately.

He could plainly see how bothered I was that our friends were leaving. Everyone could. I'd been moping around the house for the better part of three days. In an effort to cheer me up, he suggested we walk around town for a while. I reluctantly agreed.

In the end, I was glad that I did.

Our footsteps echoed on the sidewalk. Stray blades of grass sprouted from the cracks, undaunted by the oppressive layer of concrete trying to smother them. We wandered into the far side of town. Neither of us frequented the area. I was confident that 2D was familiar enough to guide us back if needed.

The buildings were significantly newer than the ramshackle ones near our house. The disparity between the two was massive despite being only a twenty minute walk apart. Neon signs glittered vibrantly in store windows, sparkling upon the clear glass like stars in the night sky. Small clusters of people travelled down the road, tied up in conversations and enmeshed in the daily trials of life.

To a past me, they were nameless, faceless strangers that I wouldn't have cared to concern myself with.

I was a different person now than the one I once was. 

An elderly man was slumped against the outside wall of a trendy sandwich shop on our right. He clasped a crumpled piece of cardboard in his grimy hands, his fingernails well overdue for a trim. Soot and dirt stained his tattered peacoat. His eyes were vacant. His cheeks were shallow.

He looked hungry.

I was about to pull 2D along to see if we might buy him a meal. He apparently had the same idea and acted first, steering us toward him. The man didn't acknowledge us when we approached. As we got closer, I saw that his pupils were cloudy with milky white cataracts. I doubted that he was able to see anything that wasn't within reaching distance. 

"'Ello, mate," 2D called to him.

The man craned his neck upward. His gaze met nothing. He responded with a greeting in kind. His voice was rough and scratchy.

"Hello."

"Down on yewr luck, yeh?"

"Much so," he affirmed. I frowned.

"This place looks pretty good," I nodded to the sandwich store we stood outside of, "Why don't we head on in and get something to eat?"

The downtrodden man shook his head vigorously, insistent that we needn't go to the trouble.

He didn't have any idea what he was up against. I may have backed down with enough opposition, though 2D was another case entirely. Once he had become set on buying this man a meal, there wasn't going to be anything that he could do or say to convince him otherwise. 

By the way he was grinning, I knew he wouldn't be taking no for an answer. 

The man made some lukewarm remark about how he wouldn't know what to order anyway. 2D took that as an opportunity to reach his hand out to him and offer to order on his behalf. At last, he chuckled and gave in.