guide me towards salvation | tinsley/goldsworth

chapter six

Kwo Wey has been up even before the sun has risen, his only companions being only pens and a paper. In his journal, doodles of blood, leather, and forest green eyes fill the pages. As the sunlight seeps from his window curtains, he's still mindlessly pencilling in shades on his sketches. He doesn't hear his door opening, nor sense that there was a person inside his home.

Ricky flops on the bed, and lets out a loud, drawn out yawn. He's still wearing the same suit a day ago, which he probably should dispose of. There might have been spatters of Lugo's blood on his slacks still.

Kwo Wey jumps on his seat, and turns around. He glares at Ricky, squawking out a, 'You scared the hell out of me!'

The other man sits up lazily, an amused smile on his face. 'Did you just say hell? I've never heard you curse before.'

He just sighs, resting his face on his arms. Ricky narrows his eyes at him, lying on the rickety bed once more. 'What's wrong with you?'

Kwo Wey mumbles something, but it comes out muffled. The criminal just rolls his eyes, 'What?'

'Well, Xue left me.'

Ricky frowns, trying to remember who Xue is again then chuckles when he does. 'About damn time.'

The lanky man just ignores him, 'And I think my friend is mad at me.'

Ricky just snorts, resting his arms behind his head. Kwo Wey suddenly rouses from his seat, and looks at the shorter man in alarm. 'Hey, how did you and Tinsley become friends?'

The criminal furrows his eyebrows in confusion, 'You know Tinsley?'

'Yeah,' He flops on the other side of the bed, his long legs stretched out to the floor. 'At first, he was a little antisocial, but—'

'Did he say anything about me?' Ricky asks eagerly, his eyes have a renewed brightness in them.

Kwo Wey looks at him curiously before answering, 'He was suspicious. He thought we were tricking him or something—'

A wide smile spreads on the criminal's face.

'—and when I visited him in the coffeehouse just yesterday, he seemed really mad.'

Ricky quirks an eyebrow, 'Coffeehouse?'

'That's where he works.'

'Is that so?' He rests his cheek on his palm, smiling even wider.

Tinsley wakes up with a hangover. When he goes outside, his cucumbers have gone yellow. He groans as he picks them, sighing disappointedly. He's been neglecting his little farm for a while now and he can't help feeling guilty. Deciding it wouldn't hurt to be a little late for work today, he takes the time to fix his crops, discarding those which have gone rotten or worse.

When he finally arrives for work, his coworker Doug is manning the counter, looking bored out of his mind. It's barely nine in the morning, yet the coffeehouse looks empty. He flicks the newspaper that he's reading just as a customer enters the establishment. Doug grumbles in annoyance and points accusingly at Tinsley, 'You're late.' He greets the customer before turning to Tinsley again, 'Where have you been?'

'I could ask the same thing.' He raises an eyebrow.

He ignores him, 'I had to haul ass this morning.'

'That's your job.'

'Our job.' He points out, while taking the customer's order. He repeats the order to Tinsley, and he gets started on making an Americano.