Raisel stood at the entrance to a dark alley, a scowl on his face and a cigarette between his lips. The glow coming off of it threw light onto his face in the growing twilight, showing off the way the orange streaks in his hair nearly glowed against the rest of the blue-grey color.

He was waiting for someone to pass by alone, preferably a guy. It was common sense to steal from a girl. He wasn't the tallest or most imposing guy after all, though he had a solid build and wide shoulders despite his beautifully kept hair that fell just above his shoulders. He just preferred to pick on the boys though. Perhaps it was a deeply rooted desire to gain some control over the male sex considered he grew up under the thumb of a domineering father, not that Raisel was the sort of psychoanalyze himself.

Just then, Raisel saw the kind of figure in the distance that he had been waiting for. He tossed his cigarette to the ground and crushed it under his combat boots. Out flicked his switch blade. When the other guy reached his alley, Raisel stepped out and grabbed the other by the arm and pulled him in, slamming him against the dank brick walls. He pressed the knife close to the other's throat. "Give me your wallet or I'll slit your throat!" he growled as he reveled in the look of fear in the other man's eyes.

Aric walked down the busy street alongside two of his friends. He made quick and steady movements as not to bump, or even graze anyone on the streets. He wasn't one who liked touching strangers, or rather, he didn't like being touched by strangers. It wasn't a phobia or anything, he wouldn't freak out if he did, but he just didn't like to. Sweeping his shiny, but dyed, black hair behind his ear, so that his side bangs which usually covered his right eye wouldn't get in the way, he turned his head slightly, to look at one of his friends. They were currently chatting about the latest Supernatural episode, which they all watched. Shaun was screeching about how Castiel and Dean were meant to be together, while Aidan was making his point across that it was fate that Sam and Dean were going to be together. Aric simply sat in the middle, not really sure who's side to take. He half-shipped both of the pairings, so he wasn't sure which one he liked better.

This was why Aric didn't like being in the middle of the three at any time; he was always stuck in the middle of arguments. If being in the middle prevented him from hitting people, he'd probably like it more, but instead people just walked straight into him. Though, he could never get out of being in the middle; both of his friends were at least a head taller than him, and insisted that they were his guards. Shaun always made the point that Aric, being small, could be attacked and molested in the middle of the street, just because he was so "cute". Aidan simply said that he was too weak to protect himself from any of the "creepers" out in the world. Either way, Aric didn't like it. He didn't like being called cute, nor weak. He was perfectly capable of protecting himself in any way. Just because he was gay didn't mean he was like a girl.

He gave a huff of annoyance at the thought, and both of his friends looked at him with half-worried, half-confused looks. Aric simply rolled his electric eyes that were lined with thin eyeliner. His two friends were good at knowing what the different movements and sounds that Aric did meant. He wasn't much of a talker, he preferred being silent, though he did speak when he needed to--or even on some rare occasions. He wasn't completely mute, after all. He played with his snake bites as the argument between his two friends continued. Finally, the argument was starting to get one his nerves, and he spoke up,

"Guys, shut the fuck up. They'll have a threesome, ok?" he snapped, glaring upwards at the twins.

"Of course the gay one comes up with that idea," Shaun laughed jokingly.

"Your gay too, jackass," the other two chuckled.

"Yea, well-" Shaun started, but stopped mid-sentence.

Aric stared at Shaun in confusion, but followed his gaze. Out in a dark ally, across the street, a rather well built man was pinning a smaller man to the wall, holding a knife up to the smaller male's throat. Aric stood frozen for a second, wondering why the well-built male was robbing another male. Usually people robbed females, right? Because they were easier to get to? Because, well, most girls these days were complete sluts and would get themselves into all kinds of trouble. But after the slight shock was over, Aric rushed across the street, the twins right beside him, Shaun already having his cellphone out to call the police.

"Hey!" Aric called out when they reached the ally, "What're you attacking the guy for? Money? Look at him, he's wearin' rags, he won't have any money with him! Or maybe..."

He paused for a second, wondering if he should say what he was thinking. He'd dealt with thieves before, and he knew that "teasing" them was the best way to make them lose their concentration, but he didn't exactly like using the word "gay" as an insult. It bothered him. Aidan though, caught on, and quickly nudged Aric to continue.

"Or maybe, your gay... and looking for some..." he paused again, as if thinking, but this time Aidan continued for him.

"Some fun?" Aidan smirked.

Raisel's victim was only just starting to pull out wallet with a trembling and wonderfully pale hand when a shout caught Raisel's attention. He whipped his head around to see three people running toward him. Damn, he'd been caught so easily? Although people had noticed him doing this before, he hadn't experienced someone putting this kind of effort into interfering. Normally it would be a half-assed sort of action wouldn't it be? He was equally surprised that it was a person even smaller than him that was doing the yelling.

Backing up a few step, Raisel shoved his victim away the second he had the wallet in his hand. It was indeed pathetically worn and the wallet felt light enough to be empty. Well, it wasn't like he cared about getting money in this way as he had more than enough of his own. This was just entertainment right? Did he really need some kind of reason to rob a cute poor guy? "Back off. This isn't any of your business!" he snapped. As soon as the poor guy had run off, he moved so that his back was to the wall and turned his knife toward the three that had approached him. If anyone looked real carefully though, they would realize that the knife trembled slightly in his grip.

This could turn really quickly into a situation where he had no control and he couldn't stand that. Two of the guys had some height on them and since Raisel wasn't the sort to actually use a knife in violence against others, he had a bad feeling about this. He found himself gaping, his eyes widening even as his face turned red with anger. "Back off y-you homo freaks! I swear I'll gut you if you tell anyone about this!" He accented this with a vague wave of his knife. "I seriously hate your kind!!" He knew he should make a run for it before cops showed up, but he wasn't sure if it was smart to run past these guys and the alley backed into nothing more than a fire escape and roof tops. The only way out was toward the street.

As soon as the male pointed the knife toward Aric and the twins, the twins firmly pushed him behind them, leaving him to glare steadily at their backs. He was sure that they could feel it due to their somewhat uncomfortable stances. Then again, that could just be because they had a knife being pointed at them. Though, as soon as the taller man started speaking, Aric found himself holding in a laugh. He didn't sound all too threatening with that stutter in the middle of his sentence!

"First of all," Aric heard Shaun's deep voice rumble with slight anger and annoyance, "Being gay isn't being a freak, and you've got no proof that we are indeed gay."

"Maybe he's just assuming that 'cause you've got your hair dyed pink, and Aidan's got his like a mother-fucking rainbow." Aric mumbled under his breath, earning a kick from both Aidan and Shaun.

Well, it's not like he was lying. The twins were a little bit...over the top sometimes. They dressed in bright colours, dyed their hair like a unicorn had thrown up on it, and were just very...them. There was no other way to describe it. They were almost like the stereo-typical all-for-rainbows gay guys. Then again, Aidan was pretty much the beginning of that stereo-type. Aric on the other hand preferred darker colours, not always black though. It could dark blue, dark purple, dark red, dark grey, black, anything. He just didn't like wearing bright colours. No, it's not called being emo. Aric just wore what he felt like wearing. Though, he always had on his rainbow bracelet, that had the words "Support Gay Rights" written on it. He wasn't exactly afraid to show his sexuality.

"And secondly," Shaun continued, "I highly doubt you've got enough gut to "gut us". "

"Look," Aric spoke again, not exactly loving the feeling as he pushed past the large twins, "Just drop the wallet so we can go give it back to that guy you fucking stole it from. Then we'll leave. I frankly don't care wether your caught or not. Go do what you want with your life. Hell, go steal or murder, or whatever it is you fucking do, from more people. I don't care as long as I'm not around. Just give the wallet."

It was true. Aric just wanted to give the poor man back his wallet, and let the thief be on his way. He didn't care if the cops caught him or not. He didn't even care if the guy turned out to be some kind of mass murderer. As long as he wasn't there to see what the criminal was doing, it wasn't any of his business.

"Oh, and don't call gays freaks. Just so you know, studies have shown that most "homophobes" are gay themselves. Wouldn't want that rumour going around, would you?" Aric smirked.

Raisel managed to glare at the rainbow boys despite feeling a bit powerless and....well, he wouldn't say scared...in this situation. Weren't they a bit much? He hadn't even been accusing them of being gay in a serious way. Only because they had accused him and it pissed him off, so he had to throw the words back. It didn't seem to have worked out well for him though.

He never bothered to lower his knife, but he stopped trying to look like he was actually going to use it. He was holding it up more in a defensive than offensive way. There was no point in pretending since he had been found out so quickly that he had no intention of using it. "Stupids...you don't have to yap about being gay so much," he muttered. Even the word 'gay' grated against his ears. "You're so annoying preaching to me."

After the shorter guy said his spiel, Raisel pulled himself up taller even as he suppressed a wince. He was definitely not some kind of homo himself. No one had a right to accuse him of that! Raisel hadn't even thought of himself as a homo-hater before, but he was getting seriously uncomfortable and defensive with what these guys were saying. If he thought it would end well, he'd punch that small guy in the face. He could tell the other two would not take kindly to that though; they had taken up protective stances before after all. He kept all of those feelings to himself though. Without another word, he tossed the wallet onto the ground.

"Whatever, I don't need this shit anyway," he said. "Though what are you going to do? That guy already ran away." Raisel just shrugged though and started inching toward the exit of the alley. He had the feeling that he could get away now. After a few steps, he turned back to glare at the guys. "And for your information, I'm not anything like gay!" With that, he took off running as fast as he could down the streets without a care for where he was running. Just as long as he was running the hell away from there.

((Just a little by the way; you may end up hating the twins...and if you do, please tell me. They're gonna be a total pain, nuisance...everything. Maybe add a bit of humour into things if I can figure out how to be funny. xP))

Aric smirked, and picked up the wallet. He knew giving a little bit of teasing to the guy would work. Or at least, he'd hopped it would. "Dunno, give it to the police station. Go find him. Why would you care, your the one who stole it from him in the first place," Aric spoke, his voice already getting quieter. He watched as the taller male ran away, and rolled his eyes, kicking both of the twins in the legs.

"You guys overreact, ya' know. He wasn't really being...homophobic or whatever," he sighed.

"What about you, your the one who made the last comment," Aidan laughed.

"That was to get the whole thing to be over with. I didn't feel like continuing it, and he looked upset with all the gay talk, so I so-called insulted him,"

"Ahh...of course it's our gay little emo best friend who comes up with all the great ideas!" Shaun exclaimed, causing Aric to scowl.

This happened everyday, and he refused to let it start again. They'd always get into little arguments about wether or not Aric was emo. Sure, him being gay was a given, he'd already dated two guys and no girls, but he was not emo, and never had been. But Aric refused to give in this time. He didn't want to talk anymore than he already had. It annoyed him, talking that is. Instead of listening to the twins taunt him about being emo and gay, he simply let his mind wander back to the thief.

Maybe the guy really was gay. He seemed to be really adamant about it, and Aric knew from experience with himself, the twins, and some others that that's how some people reacted when they weren't sure what was "wrong with them". Then again, Aric was only adamant about it for a day, then someone asked him out. This twins only refused because they were embarrassed. The others though...they had their reasons. It wasn't Aric's business anyways.

"...and Aric's our cute little rainbow-emo-gay son~" he heard Shaun coo annoyingly.

Aric raised an eyebrow, before nearly shouting, "I'm not fucking emo! And I'm not cute! Shut the fuck up already, unicorn freaks!"

He gave a short sigh after the outburst, and began walking to the police station to return the wallet, thinking it would surely have ID in it, and not bothering to check. And he had no plans on telling the cops about the thief. If the guy was to go to jail or be fined or whatever happened, Aric would rather him give himself up.

Though if I see him again I'll be pretty pissed....

After grumbling to himself the entire walk home, Raisel slammed the door closed to his one-room apartment. It wasn't a showy place, but it wasn't one of those run down apartments in a bad place so he was happy with it. What was important was that it was his and only his. After changing into his sleeping clothes, he smoked one last cigarette on the balcony before heading to bed. The conversation with the rainbow gays kept replaying in his head though and he didn't fall asleep until a few hours before he alarm rang.

Raisel threw on a plain light blue shirt and nice black pants, brushed his hair into a ponytail, then donned his motorcycle jacket to head to work. He worked at a small photography studio and store. It was the sort of place that people could come to have their pictures taken, but also to drop of film to be developed of by camera items. The place had it's own black room in the back which made it efficient. It was the kind of place that Raisel loved to work at. His appearance was neat and orderly despite his wild hair color and his few piercings and he always had a smile on his face when he was at work.

As usual, he made it to the store just as the owner was unlocking the door.

"Good morning!" Raisel called to him as he parked his bike. The owner was a really nice man. Probably the only nice man Raisel knew and he admired that greatly. "Do you want me working in the dark room today?"

"We should be caught up on the back log now. I want you working the front desk today. Nicky will work the cameras when she gets in."

Raisel sighed, though he nodded his head as he put his bag away and took his place behind the desk. It wasn't his favorite part of the job, but he didn't mind it. He just set a smile on his face and waited for the first wave of customers to come.

Aric ran his freshly pierced tongue on the roof of his mouth, making a rather dissatisfied noise. It hadn't hurt as much as he had expected, which was good, but it still felt really weird in his mouth, on his tongue, even though he had gotten it pierced at least three hours ago. He shoved his hands into his black sweater pockets, blowing a piece of his hair back into place before crossing the street. There was no babbling or arguing from the twins, and Aric was finally able to think, and be alone. It wasn't that he didn't love the unicorns, he did with all his heart, but sometimes he just needed to be alone, to be silent. Plus, if they were right beside him, they'd be teasing him about his new piercing, either calling him emo or kinky. One or the other. They usually did whenever he got new piercings.

Thoughts of the previous day entered his head as he passed the alley. The wallet had been returned to the police, and they had said they'd find the man. Of course, they had originally thought that Aric and the twins had stolen it, but had started feeling guilty, but the the unicorns decided to open their mouths and be...themselves. The idea of them stealing quickly left the officer's mind. The man who did steal it though, hadn't been found. Then again, Aric and the twins hadn't been much help. They had lied and said they'd found it on the street. The officer didn't believe him, but Aric suspected that he just wanted the rainbow unicorns out, so he let them leave.

With another sigh, Aric rolled his eyes. That was why he didn't enjoy people too much. Not only were most annoying, but a lot of them only cared for themselves, not caring if others were to get hurt in the making of it. Aric himself was even like that, and he didn't deny it. He'd only help someone out if they were in front of him, suffering. If not, he'd pay them no mind. He hated the fact that he was like that, and yet, he couldn't change it.

As he got into the busier part of town, it had become harder to avoid bumping into people. He tried sticking close to walls, but apparently people just thought that that meant it was ok to just slam him right into the wall, or even worse; slam right into him, head on. He gave a somewhat loud growl-like sound, hoping the people around him would hear and back off. Unfortunately, no one did.

As he was slammed into a glass window to a store, something caught his eyes, or rather someone. He turned his head slightly, seeing the thief from the day before. Once again, he ran his tongue over the roof of his mouth, and played with one of his snake bites slightly. It was a bad habit, yes, but a habit nonetheless. It was why he had so many piercings in the first place; he played with them whenever he was curious, thinking, anxious, everything. The taller male looked so much different now that Aric couldn't help but stare. It was amazing how some people could transform within just a night.

"Yes, just fill out this information and we'll have the photos to you in a couple of weeks. You'll be contacted with a call," Raisel was in the middle of saying when something to his right caught his eye. Instantly the bright smile on his face fell. He had to force it back up so he could finish dealing with the customer, but his eyes drifted back to the person he could see outside of the store.

Although Raisel hadn't gotten gotten a good look at the person at the time, he was sure it was one of the guys from the alley last night. What was he doing here? Raisel's eyes trailed to the door. No one new coming in. No more customers within the store. Nicky was boredly flicking the photo lights on and off in a wasteful manner and still he could see the guy outside of the shop. It really seemed like he was looking at Raisel and it made him feel nervous, persecuted even. He couldn't stand those eyes on him!

Standing up abruptly, he called out to Nicky, asking her to take over for a few minutes. He was going out for a smoke break. But rather than heading for the back door, he went to the front. He walked slowly toward the short guy with the piercings, pulling out his cigarette pack as he walked. "What are you doing, staring like that?" he asked in a mild voice. There was just a thread of danger hiding deep in his voice though. "I hope you're not intending to cause trouble." Raisel liked his job too much to let that happen, so he wanted to make it clear that he didn't want the other to be blabbing Raisel's secret to his co-workers.

Aric looked up towards the other male, his eyes narrowing slightly, as if judging him. His stomach turned slightly at the scent of the cigarette, but tried his best to ignore it. He still couldn't quite grasp the sudden change in atmosphere. Even now, it was slightly different. He gave a short sigh, not wanting to answer him, but feeling the need to.

"Just wondering how the atmosphere around you changed so drastically," he rolled his eyes, "And don't worry, I won't cause "trouble". I didn't even mean to find you, I just did."

He looked back at the crowd of people and gave another sigh. He really didn't feel like being pushed around, but the moment felt so awkward he wanted to walk away. It wasn't as if he'd ever see the taller male again. Or maybe he would, who knows. As if on cue, another person rammed his small body into the window once again. He gave a short glare, before fixing his posture.

"Anyways," he spoke with a soft growl-like noise, trying not to be annoyed by the crowd, "Go back to you fucking job. I'm just gonna be sitting here for a while."

He didn't bother explaining further than that. It wasn't any of the other man's business about why he was going to sitting on the ground by a photo store. He fixed his bangs one last time before sliding down to the ground. If he had to he'd call the twins to come and save him from the overpopulated streets, but for now he'd just wait. Even if it only died down a little bit, that was good enough for Aric.

Raisel walked past the other male without taking his attention away from him. Once away from the shop window, he lit his cigarette. It would be rude to smoke right in front of the shop after all since he normally smoked out back. "Of course my atmosphere is different. Are you the same person at night as you are in the daylight?" he asked with a puff of smoke. He didn't think the discrepancy in his personality was a problem or even strange. Naturally he could be neat and friendly during the day because he was not at night. A person had to get these things out somehow.

Although he was irritated with the other guy, he was also perfectly content to stand outside and smoke like this. His body still relaxed, he leveled a glare in the other's direction. "You really can't go sit somewhere else?! I'll be paranoid if I keep seeing you here!" He didn't understand what was so interesting about this spot and who sat on the ground like this anyway. Maybe the other had just found the store by accident, but staying had to have some kind of motive. Until Raisel knew it, he was going to stay outside where he could feel less paranoid. He glanced back into the store. Still no customers and Nicky was filing her nails in perfect contentment at the desk. "I don't like you lurking here."

Aric refused to look up at the other male, intent on keeping his eyes on the busy crowds. "Hn," he mumbled, "I don't change. I'm me, and that's it." He sighed, feeling the cool glass behind his back. It was a comforting feeling really. Aric didn't know why, but he liked the way it felt cool against him, despite the warm air of the day. As the other male let out another puff of smoke, Aric found himself scrunching up his nose. He really couldn't understand how people could take those things. They smelt disgusting, and all they did was ruin a person's lungs. He couldn't even imagine them tasting good.

Feeling a glare directed towards him, Aric turned his head to look up at the taller man as he spoke. His eyes slid back to the crowd wearily; it only seemed to be getting busier. He gave another sigh. There was no way he was letting himself be pushed and pulled through a crowd. He'd rather sit here and do nothing, well nothing except for trying to not gag from the smell of the cigarette, and talking to this guy despite his hatred towards talking. "I'm not moving," he said lowly, fumbling to get his iPhone and earbuds out of his pocket, "And I won't do anything. Your life is yours, it's none of my fucking business. Unless you decide to try and kill a guy again, or whatever."

Finally getting his phone out, he slipped in a single earbud, and pressed play.

Raisel hummed to himself in annoyance when the other man told him off. That's how he interpreted it anyway. Did that guy have to be so stubborn and against moving? But that wasn't really what bothered Raisel. Especially during the daylight, he liked to think of himself as a good person. He was the sort that made a lot of bad and stupid choices. He broke hearts, got stupid drunk, or threatened people. He had gained that kind of bad boy reputation among those that knew him, but actually, he hated to be thought of in that way. And of course, this punk guy was also thinking of him in that way.

Squatting down to be level with the smaller man, Raisel turned a scowl in his direction. "Try to kill someone? Is that what you really think? No...I don't care if you think I'm an asshole, but I'm not that bad of a person! I'll leave you alone after this cig, but only if you take that back!" he said. His gaze was intense on the other male, his blue eyes unblinking. Already he had forgotten about and disregarded the need to know why he was lurking outside the window. Fixing up this misunderstanding was much more important.

Aric's cloudy eyes slid up once more to look at the other man. He had really just said that for lack of other words, but for some reason the other male was taking it very seriously. Then again, Aric would too if he had been accused of trying to murder someone. He ran his tongue over the roof of his mouth for the umpteenth time, simply staring up. Letting another sigh slip out of his mouth, Aric spoke unwillingly.

"You realize you were holding a knife up to a man's throat, yes? You robbed him, yes, but in someone else's view it could be attempted murder," he spoke with bored, unwilling eyes. He felt his eye twitch slightly, just from speaking.

He didn't understand why the man kept talking to him. Aric wasn't doing anything except for sitting out in front of the store. Sure, it may seem a bit unnerving, and suspicious, but Aric himself thought it fairly obvious that he wasn't going to do anything. The only reason Aric was even speaking to him was in hopes that he'd just go away. Sure, it had partially been Aric's fault for staring in the first place, but the taller male could have just gone back inside after Aric said that he wouldn't cause any trouble.

Aric really didn't hate speaking...well, maybe he did. He was a quiet person, content with sticking in the background. He wasn't shy, far from it, he just didn't like people. Some people called it a sort of social anxiety, though Aric knew it wasn't that. He didn't get anxious in front of people, he just had a strong dislike for them. He hated touching others because of all the germs, sickness and God-knows what else people carried on them. He hated talking to people because that only made others think that Aric actually liked them, and that he was approachable. It made people think that they were, for some odd reason, "friends". Aric was perfectly fine with having two friends and himself as company. He didn't need to talk, touch, approach, or even care about anyone else.

And yet, he had a somewhat strong sense of justice that wouldn't let him walk by someone in trouble. That was the worst thing for Aric, because whenever he did help someone out, he'd end up in odd situations, such as this one.

"Look, I said I wouldn't do anything, now leave me alone," he spoke through gritted teeth, some annoyance and anger finally reaching him.

Of course Raisel know that he had been holding a knife to a person's throat. It did look bad. He never thought deeply about it because he didn't like the thoughts that came when he did, but it did look bad. Still, he was bothered. He wanted to be a good sort of person.

"It can't be attempted murder since I've never wanted to hurt a person. It's just a scare. It's not so bad in the end," he said. His words were confident, but also not. A placation for himself like he was trying to convince himself as well as the other man that they were true. "Don't misunderstand me. I don't need another person thinking I'm only a bad apple." He sighed. The ashes from his cigarette tumbled to the ground, the spark dying. He tossed the cigarette butt down and stomped the last of the dying ember out beneath his boots, then stood.

"Fine, I'll leave and go talk to people that actually like me. I just wanted to clear that up." His words were stiff, but he wasn't lying. He headed back to the store, never once looking back. He shooed Nicky away and sat back at the front desk with a smile plastered on where it didn't want to be. He very studiously ignore the window no matter how much his eyes wanted to stray there.

Aric raised an eyebrow, his eyes staying on the crowd. He didn't truly believe, or care about what the other male was saying, especially because it seemed like he was trying to convince himself more than Aric. He waved his hand dismissivlely, muttering a small, "I don't think anything of you..." at the man's comment about him being a bad apple.

Without looking, Aric heard the other male go back inside, after putting out the cigarette--much to Aric's liking. He shifted uncomfortably before popping in his second earphone and shoving his hands back into his pockets. He felt the intense pull to simply look behind him and watch the other male again. For some reason, Aric felt as though something was off. The man seemed like he didn't want anyone to think he was a bad person, and he seemed to be a nice enough person in the store at least, so why was he going out and robbing guys? Not even girls, like most people would do. He knew that most robbers--well, most criminals really--did what they did for a sense of power, which is why most people chose girls, because it was easy to over power them. Yet, this man was choosing males, at least from what Aric could see that is. Did that mean he wanted to feel power over the male? Or was there some other reason?

"Maybe...maybe he really is gay..." Aric whispered to himself.

Yet as soon as the thought came, he shook it out of his head. It didn't seem all too likely for some reason. Aric found the man to be as straight as a metal pole. Then again, he could be closeted.

Ugh.... What does it matter? Wether he is or not, why should I care? He ran his hands through his hair furiously, gripping at his black locks for a moment. He didn't like thinking about one person too much, it always seemed to annoy him. So, he attempted to keep his mind off of the other man by watching the crowd. Of course, it didn't seem to do much.

Raisel went back to work with his smile firmly in place on his face. He did his job in a way that made it seem like he was going through the motions, but it was a slow day anyway, so why did it matter? He actually though he was doing a good job of looking like normal even if his mind was no more than a jumble of thoughts. He didn't think he was showing his confusion and irritation on his face, but then the owner made a big deal out of asking what had him so distracted. Raisel had to lie to the one person he never wanted to lie to. He really did admire the owner, but he couldn't say that he was thinking about a strange guy who had seen him rob a guy a knife point. If Raisel said that, the owner would never smile at him again.

But really, Raisel couldn't stop thinking. Normally he just avoided thinking about his night time capers entirely. This other guy had got Raisel thinking though. Maybe he should stop? There was no good reason for it, but at the same time, Raisel didn't think he could stop. He'd been doing it off and on for years and it had become a part of his life. It was the thing he looked forward to at the end of the day and he didn't know if he could safely extricate himself from the activity. Maybe it was just stress relief. But he thought for sure, he'd miss the look on the boy's faces when he was close enough to them to see their wide, bright eyes.

By the time the work day ended, Raisel was still in a dilemma. He quickly gathered his things and headed home. Rather than going out robbing tonight, he decided he was going to go find a bar to get drunk and flirt endlessly with all the pretty girls. Maybe the reason he was so bored lately was because he was in between girlfriends. He'd been avoiding dating considering the last mess he'd gotten himself into with girls a month before, but it seemed like a good time to try again even if the thought of doing that left a grimace on his face.

It had taken roughly three hours for Aric to build up the courage to stand up and make his way through the crowded streets. They--the streets--hadn't gotten any quieter, in fact Aric dared to say they had gotten busier, but he couldn't stand sitting by that shop any longer. He had made it to the closest bus stop, unable to take the pushing, pulling and touching any longer. Luckily, the bus had been nearly empty, and it had delivered him only a few blocks away from the apartment he shared with the unicorns.

When Aric had finally gotten through the door, though, he had been attacked by two strong pair of arms. The twins dropped thousands of questions on the small boy, mainly asking where he had been for so long though. Aric had simply said nothing, and just stuck out his tongue, showing them his new piercing, before heading over to the couch and plopping down on it.

Their apartment wasn't much; it just had two bedrooms, a living room that was attached to the kitchen and a washroom. Yet, that was all the three needed. They were able to pay off the rent together--despite the fact that the only one working at the moment was Shaun--and they lived peacefully together. The only bad thing was that there was only room for one bed per room, so Aric had let each of the unicorns have a room, which left him with the couch. It wasn't terrible though, since he was small enough to fit on the large couch comfortably, whereas the other two wouldn't have been, it also let him have the only TV right in front of him, which was nice.

"Hey," he heard Shaun call, "We're heading out to the bar. Come with us?"

Aric laughed at that. He had not just sat three hours in the middle of a busy street so that he could go out to a bar, where drunk, stupid, feely-touchy people would be. He didn't even like drinking, let alone being in a room of sweaty, idiotic people! He made a grunting sound, and turned over onto his stomach, burying his face into the cushion of the couch. Hopefully the unicorns would understand that he was trying to say Oh fucking Hell no! Though, Aric highly doubted that the twins wouldn't be able to understand what his random sounds and noises meant; they were extremely good at reading him.

"I get it, I get it," Shaun laughed, "We'll give you a call later, in case we need a drive home or something."

With another grunt, Aric waved his hand dismissively. Hearing another pair of laughs right before the door was opened then shut, Aric rolled back onto his side and turned the TV on. He actually wanted to be in the twins' company right now, but he didn't want to ruin their fun. If need be, he'd end up just going to pick them up before either of them got drunk, and then he'd hang out with them. He didn't exactly feel like being around two drunken unicorns anyways.

Raisel went to his favorite bar early, dressed more casually in his leather jacket, boots, and a stylishly ripped tee. His wild appearance drew in woman like he was firelight. Before long, he had a pretty blond sitting half in his lap while an interesting girl with a boyish haircut was vying for his attention as well. He had only a cursory interest in the blonde, but he did like that she was throwing herself at him. Apparently he still had his charm and it felt good to drink and laugh loudly again. The night was only just beginning though. Raisel was the bar hopping type.

"I know another bar nearby. Come on, Raiiss!" the blonde cried, pulling on his arm. He finished his drink and let her pull him out of the bar, unfortunately leaving behind the more interesting girl who would rather go home at this hour. Raisel didn't want to be only in the company of this floozy girl. Hated being given a nickname, but he didn't have a chance to tell her so. He just let himself be pulled into another bar.

Raisel blinked for a few seconds in the dim light as he scanned over the place for a new group to party with. His eyes caught sight of something unexpected though. Two unforgettably colorful men were here and their sight had him freezing in his tracks.

"Cindy...this bar is no good. Can't we go somewhere else?" he asked, trying to pull away. She was insistent though and surprisingly strong for a girl. It was probably an insult to himself that she was so tall, making him seem pathetic being dragged to the bar. The girl flopped down onto a bar stool and yelled for the bartender to bring them two blue hurricanes. When the drinks arrived, Raisel downed his nearly all in one gulp so that he could grin and pretend to the blonde that he was having as much fun as she was. He was definitely not drunk enough yet.

Aric felt a slight buzz in his back pocket, and instantly took his phone out. He looked at the text that Aidan had sent him and let out a sigh. "You better come now. Shaun's drunk. I'm not, be ... that guy is here and Shaun.... well he's drunk," he read the message out loud. Of course Shaun was drunk; unlike Aidan, Shaun didn't know when he had to stop drinking. He got up off the couch, turning the TV off in a fluid motion, before slipping his shoes and heading out the door.

He fished for his keys in his pockets, knowing that they were there. He wasn't a fan of driving, so he normally walked, but he always had the keys on him--unless one of the twins needed the car for some reason. He hopped into his car--a used, '69 black Chevy that he and the twins had bought together--and drove out of the parking lot. He already knew which bar to go to, considering that the twins rarely went to any other bar. It was only a couple minutes of a drive.

He was soon there, and he had barely gotten out of the car before he spotted the two unicorns. Shaun was walking up to the robber--or rather, he was staggering--and Aidan looked as though he was desperately trying to get his brother to just walk away. With a sigh, Aric made his way into the bar, stealthily avoiding the people. He hadn't wanted to go in, he had wanted to simply wait in the car for the unicorns, but with Shaun drunk...he felt that he had to. Shaun was an unreasonable drunk, and he'd often do completely random things without even thinking.

He walked over to Shaun, who had just made it to the robber--who was currently with a blonde girl who was looking at the unicorns as if they were freaks. Grabbing the taller boy's arm, he tugged slightly. Aidan looking pleased to see him, as if hoping that Aric would be able to get Shaun to simply get in the car. Aric had to hold in a laugh at the thought. Shaun was a kind guy, but he was strong, a lot stronger than Aric, and he would always do whatever he wanted. Though, that didn't stop him and Aidan from trying to get him to stop doing idiotic things.

"Shaun...don't do anything stupid..." Aric spoke lowly, hoping that the tall unicorn would be able to hear him over the crowd and music.

He wasn't quite sure what Shaun wanted to do; maybe he just wanted to have a nice little chat with the robber. But, based off the look in the tall male's eyes, Aric had a feeling that Shaun wanted to do more than that.

"Just listen to Aric, you're an idiot when you're drunk," Aidan spoke up.

"Which is exactly why I tell you not to go to bars!" Aric muttered under his breath, not nearly loud enough for anyone to hear.

It didn't take Raisel long to start drinking with more than a casual speed. He could feel the presence of the unicorn boys not far from him and it made him irritable. Because of this, he was subtly sabotaging his date, not that he noticed he was doing it. So the second he saw one of the unicorns start toward him, he was actually a bit glad. In a sort of, out of the frying pan and into the fire sort of way. He realized he didn't have any drink left in his cup, and he really needed a drink before that guy came near him. So without thinking, he grabbed Cindy's glass right from her hand and finished it off. "What the hell, Rais. Don't you have any manners!?" she snapped at him, but he had already turned his attention away from her. He would probably get slapped later, but he was used to such things.

Raisel was already a fair bit drunk himself so he pulled himself to his feet as best he could. He didn't want to be sitting down when those guys made it to him and it was pretty obvious now that they weren't going to pass by. He noticed that the small guy had joined them as well. That was fine. He could deal with them all at once, since he figured by the drunken look of one of them that they wanted a fight. "Hey you freaks! Can't you leave a guy to get drunk in peace?" he called out to them, his voice full of challenge. "Well if you're looking for a fight, then come at me!" This was way better than dealing with the girl who was now looking seriously angry with him. Even if Raisel got beat up in the end, at least he'd have had some fun.

Aric felt Shaun tense under his grip. He looked up at the other man--the robber--with eyes that were narrowing into a glare. He did not want to play this. All Aric wanted to do was drag Shaun and Aidan back to the car so that they could go somewhere, or at least do something. He let go of Shaun, running a hand through his hair. He had a feeling that he wouldn't be able to stop the two drunk men from fighting, and Aidan seemed to think that same thing, based on the way he was looking at the scene.

"Look, if you two wanna fucking fight, then do it. But at least go outside so you don't hurt others," Aric spoke, trying to reason more so with Shaun than the robber.

He didn't know the robber, therefore he didn't know how to make him do something. But at least with Shaun, Aric knew that he wouldn't want to intentionally hurt someone who he wasn't trying to hurt. Shaun looked down at him, as if saying that he wasn't going to budge.

"Ugh!" Aric sighed, running his tongue over the roof of his mouth again, "Fine then, whatever."

With that, he pulled Aidan down onto a seat, and sat right beside him, only a couple seats away from the girl who seemed like she was going to have a fit any moment. That was one reason why Aric was glad that he was gay; he didn't have to deal with girls and their constant mood swings and anger. Sliding his eyes back to Shaun and the other guy, he almost took back his words. Men definitely had anger issues too, probably worse than woman. He watched as Shaun shifted his wait slightly, and Aric began to count down.

"Five," Aric began, "Four. Three. Two..."

"One," Aidan finished.

With that, Shaun sent a punch flying. There was no way in hell that Aric was going to get himself involved in a fight in a bar. He wasn't about to let himself get hit, wether it was Shaun involved or not. The unicorns knew that very well; if there was any physical fight, Aric would be happy to help with the after math, but not the fight itself.

Surprisingly, it was Raisel that saw the logic of moving the fight outside. He wasn't much of a fighter despite looking like the type and he didn't want to be barred from this establishment, but of course, his drunkenness made him slow to express that. Not that he thought the other guy wanted to head outside and it would put a real damper on the fight atmosphere. So y the time Raisel thought about heading that way, he noticed that the other two guys were counting down. Counting down to what exactly?

He never actually figured out what they were counting down to. A punch came flying at Raisel, killing his ability to think deeply. He barely had the mind to move out of the way, but he managed to move enough so that the fist caught him in the shoulder instead of the face. "Asshole!" he snapped, stumbling back against the bar. By now, many gazes had turned to look at them. He thought he heard a wild, drunken cheer and that fired him up. Raisel clenched his own hand into a fist and threw a punch toward the other guy. He jumped toward the other guy after his fist, somehow managing to knock them both to the ground. He didn't even know why they were fighting, but he wasn't going to back down. "It's not like I did anything to you!!"

Aric heard Shaun make a drunken slurred sound, that he assumed was supposed to mean something. He shook his head, watching the two men fight. He really had no idea what he was supposed to do in this situation. Waiting was always what he did, despite the fact that he knew he shouldn't. His eyes slid to Aidan, who was currently leaning his head against the bar, probably cursing God at the fact that he and his brother were identical--minus their differently dyed hair. He watched as Shaun threw slow punches, but he was too drunk to get them to be on aim. They all hit the other man in the chest, or the shoulder, but never the face.

Aric couldn't help but think that that was good. Thief or not; the guy had a nice face, and Aric wasn't afraid to admit it.

"It doesn't matter if you didn't do anything to him," Aric spoke with a bored tone, "He's drunk, and an idiot. He saw you do something he didn't like, and he recognizes you. In his mind, that's enough."

From the corner of his eye, he saw Aidan look at him weirdly, probably wondering why he was talking so much. If anyone knew him, it would be the twins, especially Aidan since he was more observant than Shaun. They knew about his hatred for talking, and he didn't talk unless he felt the urge to, or unless the situation called for it. Aric simply shook his head, showing Aidan that it was no big deal. He felt the need to explain things to the thief, only because he seemed...Aric didn't really know the word. But there was something about him.

Raisel was having enough issues with trying to fight a person when drunk. He barely heard what the small guy said to him and paid even less attention to it, although he had a feeling that the words made sense. A voice in the back of his mind was saying how funny this fight would look on youtube and that should have pissed him off. Neither of them were landing any real punches, rather, it looked more like flailing. Only hitting the largest target of the torso, or even more tragically hitting the floor. Raisel was too drunk to care that he looked ridiculous.

The fight lasted barely a minute before security intervened. "Break it up, drunks!" A big guy yelled, dragging Raisel away. He was pushed toward the exit rather rudely if he chose to think about it. Wasn't this day going great? "If you want to fight, then do it outside." And with that, Raisel and the guy he'd been fighting with were left on the sidewalk just outside the bar. Raisel plopped down on the ground with an indignant look. He was done with fighting now that it had been interrupted "This is so not my fault!" he yelled to the sky in his typical chatty drunk self. The night air wasn't even refreshingly cool. It was hot and sticky, almost more so than inside the bar. The feeling of the air clinging to his skin like that made him want to puke, though he knew he wouldn't.