[OOC] Nín shì fángdàn (You are Bulletproof) (Cloud & Chupatoasta)

[Cloud]

It was December 2nd, a cold day in New York City. The sound of traffic moving through the streets, and the bustling of people walking and getting their way to work that morning. You would think everything was normal that day, and in a way it was, but if people took a closer look in life, they would see that it wasn't all that normal. A random guy dressed in a suit, calling over a taxicab, a woman on her cellphone walking down the sidewalk. Normal people they were. And even on this day, it was the start of the morning without the sun. Since it was winter, the earth did turn slowly, so the nights were longer and day was shorter. Even so, it didn't disrupt the lifestyle of the people around. If it did, who's to say that time would have been screwed up altogether?

One life in particular though, was a less fortunate one. An abandoned warehouse stood on a lone and abandoned lot. It's paint a faded dark blue that was chipped and peeling off, revealing it's white-silver exterior. It's frame made of metal and possibly rusted here and there from the rain of 3 months ago. Though it wasn't all that old, fairly new since maybe last year? If you looked inside, you would see a large space, with stacks of wooden crates everywhere, tables and cabinets. It use to be a Carpenter's warehouse. The lumber was normally stored over to the West side of the containment unit, but since the wood had started to rot, it was removed. Inside, among all the crates in the back corner, was a mattress with a single blanket on it, no pillow. It's condition looked worn out, but still usable. A guitar case lied next to the 'bed' with it's case a beautiful and shiny black. An acoustic guitar inside in practically perfect condition. On the case, it had a name, Aaron Chen.

Aaron was already up actually, the bed empty but yet, neatly made like a person who lived in a house would make their bed. He was off over to a wall with a slightly shattered mirror, but still able to see from it. He was styling his hair for the day, and his attire was rather casual and simple. Aaron wore a black v-neck t-shirt. He wore loose fit dark jeans, and a pair of black converse sneakers. He also wore a silver locket around his neck, neatly tucked under his shirt. His hair was dark brown with a slight tint of light brown and his eyes were a beautiful chocolate brown color. His appearance was actually well kept and clean, despite his living situation.

Aaron walked toward the corner and picked up his guitar case, then went to the Warehouse door, gripping the side of it and pulling it, sliding it open a little. After slipping through the small exit, he pushed it closed. After that, he went on his way down the pathway and onto the busy streets of New York. He gripped the handle of his guitar case firmly and kept his eyes forward. You wouldn't think he was homeless, in fact, he looked a little too nice to be homeless. But never judge a book by it's cover, right? Walking, he passed by many people, those of a higher class or those in a better state than he was. People rushing to get to work, or casually walking for no apparent reason. The sight of his own breath as he exhaled surely showed how cold it was today, and here he was just wearing a t-shirt. Aaron finally saw a small building up ahead, the Print Shop, where he worked. Upon entering into the building, he went over toward a Copy-Printer machine behind a desk and set his guitar case down against the wall.

A man came from the back room, his boss, Sean Wesley. "Good Morning, Aaron. I see you got here right on time." the man smiled. Mr. Wesley was 5'6" with jet black hair and a goatee. His eyes were a dull blue. "Yes sir, Good Morning to you." Aaron said, bowing his head slightly. "Here's some papers that the school up North wants you to make copies for, better get to it. There's more stuff to be done, it's in the box in the back." Mr. Wesley said as he started to head for the front door. "Where are you going, sir?" Aaron asked after he had taken the packet of paper given to him. "Off to run some errands. I'll be back later this afternoon." With that, Mr. Wesley was gone out the door. Aaron sighed, looking at the papers in his hand. Well, best to get to work, right? With that, Aaron put the stack on the desk and stuck a paper into the Copy machine, and started his daily routine of work.

[Chupatoasta]

Twelve blocks away from the Print Shop sat a small cluster of apartment buildings, mostly those of luxury quality sprinkled with a few modestly-priced rentals as well. On the tenth and top floor of the apartment building, nestled between two newlywed suites perched a one-bedroom rental. The living room of which, was filled to the brim with empty but recently unpacked cardboard boxes. Empty Chinese takeout boxes and wine bottles littered the counter of the kitchen as an alarm clock blared inside another room. A small, manicured hand gingerly pressed the snooze button, a slender body rising from the under the thick down blanket. She pulled herself into a sitting position and sleepily found her athletic shorts and thin compression shirt. Slipping them on, along with a pair of tennis shoes, she pulled her light chestnut hair into a top knot and walked out of the large bedroom.

The owner of such bedroom, Josie Kossak, still drowsy, grabbed her iPhone from her bedside table along with her headphones. She made her way to the stairs, taking all ten flights to the bottom floor. She was a little breathless but soon leveled her breathing out as she stepped out into the fresh New York air. Or, at least, as fresh as New York air could be. Josie set up her workout app on her phone, checked the time which read 5:12 and began to jog down the street. People were already bustling their way to work, most carrying multiple cups of coffee although this was no surprise to her. It was New York after all. She smiled, remembering the days when she was the lackey for her fellow reporters. That didn't last too long, thanks to Roger, her boss. She thought about the older man for only a moment. He was six years older, tall and tan with these large bright white teeth. His brown hair was slicked back, enough to look clean but not so much that he looked like a grease ball. Josie had to admit, his green eyes were to die for but she didn't have time for him. Given, he was her boss, but romance with him was not in her cards. With a small eye roll of her vibrant blue eyes, she shook the thoughts out of her head and focused fully on the music in her ears.

As if on cue, she stopped in front of the print shop, the manager rushing out and almost into her. He didn't bother with an apology, though he rarely did. She had been running this route for four weeks and he had apologized maybe twice in that whole period. Josie rounded the block and made her way back towards her apartment. Stopping in front of the doors she looked back at her phone, reading the time of 5:23. A smile spread across her lips and she walked inside. "A whole minute off," she breathed in almost relief. Despite eating take out every day while getting her apartment together, she still managed to shave another minute off her run. Back up the stairs and into her apartment, she shed her clothing and stepped into the shower. The hot water pounded against her back in a massaging rhythm, unable to lull her to sleep now that her adrenaline was rushing from the run.

Josie pulled her hair into another top knot after she washed it and stepped out of the shower. She applied her light foundation and her casual eye make up, sure not to over power it. She pulled her hair from its trap and curled it with her wet to dry curler, wrapping a towel loosely around the curve of her body. Her phone beeped, as an alarm, to tell her that it was five forty-five. A satin, red button up tucked into a tight black skirt and black heels finished off her ensemble for the day. She'd have to come home and change before she went on the night portion of her job later.

She poured her cat a bit of food, scratched his head lovingly and walked out of the apartment. She took the elevator this time to the bottom floor, paraded next door for a coffee for herself, and hailed a cab to head to work.

[Cloud]

Aaron stood there in front of the print-scanner machine. His job was always the same, though he didn't mind it as long as he got paid. Even if the pay wasn't a lot, it was enough for him to live another day. He stood there copying papers, watching as one paper after another was going through. He counted each paper that came out of the machine, then he took the papers, opened up a drawer in the desk and took out a paper clip to clip them all together. Then, Aaron went over to a table in the back to grab some large yellow envelopes, bringing those over and setting them on the desk. He proceeded to put the papers into the envelope, close and secure it. Then he took a permanent marker and started writing the names and addresses of where the papers were to go. Once that was done, he set that in the corner of the desk to begin the pile of envelopes he had to deliver. This went on for about an hour or two. And this was at 5:00AM, now it was about 7:00AM and the stacks of papers that had to be printed went down, and the envelope pile went up. He had written the addresses on all the envelopes. Even if he thought he was done, people would occasionally come into the shop and ask for things to be printed, to which he would have to do first, pausing his recent work and afterwards, count the papers before starting up again. This was the hassle he had to deal with.

"Man, I wish that Wesley would cut me some slack a little. He shouldn't be leaving for errands all the time, I bet he's just letting me do all the work..." Aaron said to himself, sighing. "But I can't argue with him, I need this job more than anything. Better than working at McDonalds though.. It pays better than McDonalds..." Soon enough as time flew by, he had finished the stack of printed papers. Aaron took the time to pick up the envelope stack and move them over to a table with a sign above it that said "Delivery" where they would be delivered. Normally Wesley would be around sometime in the Afternoon or so to go deliver them, and if Aaron was 'lucky' he'd have to go all over New York to deliver the envelopes. Man, now that was Hell. Literally.

Aaron sat down in a chair behind the desk and kicked up his feet for a bit. He closed his eyes, wanting to go sleep for a bit, but he knew that he shouldn't. He just remembered that Wesley had more papers in the back. Great. Sighing heavily by the reminder, Aaron took his feet off the desk and got up from his seat, going to the back to search for the papers. Who knew where Wesley put them, he was always leaving stuff around for Aaron to find like it was some sort of Scavenger Hunt! But what did it matter, it was Wesley. Aaron knew well that Wesley was one to leave them lying around somewhere in the back whether it was in plain sight or hiding in a corner under some stuff. What he didn't know was where they were right now. "Dammit, Wesley!" Aaron mumbled to himself as he rummaged through the backroom, trying to find the papers Wesley had ordered him to make copies of earlier.

[Chupatoasta]

Josie swayed her way into the large high-rise, a smile on her lips as a couple of other people within greeted her. Her name and face had been featured on the television just two nights before after covering one of her many bands she had helped become discovered by big record labels. A couple of young girls, probably around the age of sixteen, occupied the lounge of the building. One made eye contact with Josie on her way to the elevator and turned back to her friends, all of them soon looking Josie's way. Before she reached the elevator they were upon her. "Josie Kossak, right?" One questioned, receiving a curt nod. "Oh my god, can we get a picture?" Josie blanched, her cheeks flushing. Why would they want a picture with her? She'd only been on television a maximum of nine times in the course of the year she had worked with the firm.

They flashed a couple of pictures and thanked Josie again before sitting back down on the couches in the lounge. She shook her head slowly, a smile playing on her lips as she stepped into the elevator. A blonde head suddenly made its way into the building in a rush. Josie put her hand in the way of the doors knowingly as she rolled her eyes. Becky shooed off the girls and practically bolted into the open elevator. "You could have taken a picture," Josie commented to her best friend, cracking a smile. The older girl rolled her brown eyes and made a face.

"Yes, and be even later that I already am." Josie let out a giggle.

"You have fifteen minutes, Beck." The blonde set her eyes in a glare and rolled them with a smile.

"So what," she smirked and the two women started to laugh together. "So, how was your outing with Roger and the rest of the office Saturday?" This pulled an eyeroll from Josie herself as she shot Becky a look asking if she was seriously asking that question. Her silence was answer enough. Roger had kept trying and trying to get Josie on a night with him alone but she continued to ask the rest of the office if they wanted to come out with them. The last weekend he had wanted to go to the new steak house two blocks over so Josie had sent out an invitation to the other twelve reporters in their normal group. Becky, like usual, had already had a date and couldn't come. The elevator dinged and the two stepped out on their floor, Becky still prying into Josie's business per usual.

[Cloud]

Aaron had started and finished all the papers soon enough. It was a big hassle, but he was thankful enough to be able to finish it. Just as he finally sat down in the chair to relax, the phone rang. Aaron sat up and reached over to answer it, "Hello?" he asked. "Hey Aaron!" It was Wesley.. "I'm gonna be late coming back, could you deliver the papers for me? I'll owe you one later..." he said. Aaron didn't look pleased the least bit. "There's a lot of papers to deliver, Wesley.." he commented. "Then just leave half a stack then, take half of it and deliver it." With that, Wesley hung up and Aaron sighed heavily, sitting in his chair. After a few minutes of sitting there idly, he hung up the phone, stood up and looked at the 2 foot stack of envelopes on the 'Delivery' table. Man, that's gonna take a while... he thought as he grabbed half the stack. Best to get to work again right? Thinking about it, he knew this would take some time, so he set the envelopes down on the desk and picked up his guitar case, slinging it over him so it was easy to carry on his back. Then, Aaron picked up the stack and headed out the front door, closing the doors with a 'Closed' sign, or until he got back that is.

Alright, let's deliver this as fast as I can... he thought as he made the perilous journey around the city. Aaron wasn't one to take taxi cabs, as they were not really what he liked as far as transportation. Sure there were plenty of them but man the traffic here was packed! No way in Hell was he going to get in one of those, mind you he was saving up his money, it takes a while to earn that much anyways. He may as well spend a paycheck on one cab ride, right? But it was fine, he liked walking, as it was a better way to understand the city. If you focused on taking cabs all the time, how would you be able to navigate in case of an emergency without the use of a cab? My point exactly. But while this was also a time to explore, it gave him some good exercise too. Aaron was a well-kept, neat and clean young man, yes this was true. His body was also slightly toned as if he had done workouts of some sort. When really, Wesley had been overworking him. All that muscle was from just moving heavy boxes and crates around in the back because of Wesley's little scavenger hunts for papers. But Aaron did spend some time on his own to keep his body healthy, despite his living conditions in which he knew was the best he could do for himself. Better than being out in the cold getting Hypothermia, right? Well, he wasn't wearing a jacket today, his old one got a bunch of holes and a little bit burned on the back from a few years ago. In other words, the jacket was worn out and wasn't very durable for this weather anymore.

After some time had passed, and countless walking all over New York City, Aaron only had one envelope left to deliver. It was the papers for the CEO Journalism Department down the street. Man, whenever he walked through there, he always got stared at by the workers, especially the girls; why was that? Upon walking down the street, making sure to cross the streets carefully and avoid any 'red light runners' as Aaron called them. Basically, cars that sped through red lights. He called them 'Red Light Runners' for a reason, and a dangerous one at that. Soon enough, he made it to the building, holding the stack in one arm as he pulled open the door with the other and walked inside. This building was always nice looking, the lounge was always nice to look at. Sometimes, Aaron stayed down in the lounge too long just to admire everything and chat. But not today. He made it over to the elevators and pressed a button, one elevator opened with nobody inside while the other seemed occupied. Oh well, right? Aaron stepped inside, and pushed the floor number he would be arriving on. Leaning against the railing, he stared off into space a bit, wondering about his life. Soon enough, the sound of the elevator rang through his ears and the doors opened.

He pushed himself off the rails and left the elevator, walking down the hallways for a bit. He had been here a few times at one point, and he knew were some places were, vaguely. Upon walking at the end of the hallway, he opened up a door that led into a room with a bunch of journalists. Computers in cubicles lined around the room. A few bookcases here and there, as well as a jammed up copy machine. Aaron made his way over towards the copy machine and set the envelope down on a table, telling one of the coworkers that he had finished printing the copies. Another guy was trying to fix the copy machine, to which he said, "I'll fix it for you. It'd be a hassle to waste time here trying to fix something like that." The man looked up at him and said, "Sure, if you think you can fix it.." Aaron nodded his head, "I know how." With that, the man got up off the ground and stepped aside so Aaron could get down upon level and dig around in the machine. Such a machine as this was difficult to fix, and it was time consuming, but Aaron knew what he was doing. Something probably got jammed, and you needed careful hands to fix it without breaking anything.

[Chupatoasta]

"Josie, go check on the copy machine," Roger's rough voice met her ears and her eyes narrowed, pulling herself from her conversation with Becky. She pressed her coffee to her lips and bowed dramatically. Roger set his eyes into a hard glare and smirked, soon rolling them as he awaited her smart-assed comment. She refrained from offering one up, however, and set her coffee down. He was just sour over her open invitation from the past weekend. She strode towards the copy machine, heels clicking across the floor. A large stack of papers sat on the table along with an envelope. Josie cocked an eyebrow and opened the envelope, closing it once again once her eyes had scanned over it.

"Print shop?" She breathed, a bit confused. A clatter sounded behind her, at the printer, and her attention turned, seeing a guy bent towards the copier. His muscles were obvious through his tight t-shirt but Josie played little mind. Unless he had a guitar strapped across his back, or the vocal chords of an angel, Josie honestly didn't care. She hated to make it look that way, but it was the truth. He maneuvered around the copy machine, seemingly like he knew what he was doing. Josie said nothing, only watching. She laughed to herself at the thought of a article reading "Local Print Shop Worker Saves Journalist Building". With an eye roll she leaned over the divider wall, peering down to see exactly what he was busying himself with. She had to admit, she had no idea as to where she would start in his position.

He huffed in what seemed to be irritation and looked up to wipe his hair out of his face. Josie blanched, realizing she had been caught when his eyes met hers. A nervous laugh left her lips as her cheeks flushed. "Sorry," she laughed, propping her chin on her hand, "I was overly interested in what you were doing and didn't want to distract you from your work."

OOC : This one is short, sorry u.u

[Cloud]

Aaron sat up for a moment, moving his hair out of his face. He took off his guitar case and set it next to the copy machine. From the corner of his eye, he could see someone looking at him, to which he turned his head, seeing a girl looking directly at him as he made eye contact with her. Hearing her apologize, he only gave her a corner smile. "It's alright, curiosity never hurt anyone, right?" he told her. Then he patted the copy machine, "Just trying to fix this for one of your coworkers, he looked to be stressing over it. Shouldn't be that difficult, though he made it seem like the end of the world." With that, Aaron returned to work on it, opening up the machine some more to tweak some things. After a good 5 to 10 minutes, he fixed it, closing the machine back up. Standing up off the ground, he looked to the guy who he helped and patted the guy on the back, "Well, I think this should be good for now." he smiled. From there, he moved over to talk to another co worker, handing them the envelope he had dropped off on the table. "Here's the papers that I copied for you, shouldn't be much of a hassle now that the machine over here is fixed. Though, I wouldn't rely on it very much, it's an old machine that's for sure but if you ever have anymore troubles then don't hesitate to stop on by the shop and I can print some more papers when necessary."

From there, Aaron took his guitar case and slung it over his shoulder, then, started his way out. He couldn't help but look back at the girl who had been spying on him and gave her a smile, bowed his head to her and left the room out into the hallway. There, he leaned against the wall near the elevator and started to check through his phone for a bit. Aaron did ear extra money when he played down in the Subway, so the money he had extra and leftover he often used to pay for his phone. Besides, it was important to have a phone when you had a job, or else, how would Wesley be able to contact him about work? Speaking of which, he probably wasn't back at the shop anyway, as he had said that he'd be late. Aaron sighed, resting the back of his head against the wall, staring up at the ceiling. Well, what could he do now? He had all this extra time now, and Wesley did say he'd take half the stack. Maybe it would be best to go sit in the Park for a bit. That sounded good, besides, he needed some fresh air from that shop anyways. With that, Aaron turned off his phone and put it away in his pocket. Then, he got off the wall and headed for the elevator, pushing a button and waiting for the elevator to come up. When it did, he stepped inside and made his way down to the first floor and out the door back into the City.

Aaron was a bit well known at the CEO building, often coming there to deliver papers and chat with the workers. They knew he worked at the Printing Shop, and that he often played music on his Guitar. They knew that he was Taiwanese and spoke 2 languages, English and Taiwanese. He was smart with machines like Copy machines and seemed to see the brighter side of life, despite a saddened past. Aaron arrived at the park, making his way over to a large Oak tree and lying under it in the shade after taking his guitar case off of his back and setting it down in the grass next to him. Slowly, he closed his eyes and started to drift off to sleep for a bit, he needed the rest right now anyways.

[Chupatoasta]

"Hey, look," Becky nodded towards the guy who had been fixing the copying machine as he retreated from the office. Josie's interest was peaked at the sigh of a large guitar case that what seemed to look like was in pristine condition. She turned back towards Becky, asking who he was exactly. Despite knowing there was someone who came around to deliver multitudes of copies and printed stacks within the building, she never really paid much attention. Becky shrugged as another worker walked by, overhearing their conversation. He stopped behind Josie, leaning against the door frame of her office.

"His name's Aaron, from what I've heard. He carried on a full conversation in Taiwanese last month with the representative of our company overseas, Mr. Huang," he rolled his eyes, "Something else, if I say so myself." Josie nodded, taking note that the company that delivered the papers was the same one she ran past every morning. Languages intrigued her almost as much as music, as she knew Swedish and English alone but had always wanted to expand her studies. She had even tried to learn some basic Japanese in her free time but it didn't pay off very well. She smiled at the thought, realizing she only knew the most basic of a select few languages, mostly just how to say hello. The young worker made his way back to his cubicle and Josie threw a smile back at Becky as they walked to their own desks to actually start their workday.

"Why do you want to know?" Becky pried as she cocked an eyebrow in a teasing manner. "Like what you saw?" Josie coughed on a laugh and rolled her eyes.

"That was the furthest thing from my mind. I saw the guitar case, it's only habit. You know that." Her lips pulled back in a smile as Becky only dismissed her claim, with a soft 'yeah okay'.

Josie's fingers clicked across the keyboard as she accessed her schedule for the night, transferring it over to her iPhone in a few button clicks. She had a busy Monday night ahead of her, stocked with covering two new up and coming bands along with spitting out a report on the venue they were being held at before she came into work the next morning. She did a little bit of research on the two bands, compiling the basic information along with a couple of their fans 'need-to-know' questions. Most were nothing short of a couple of teenagers trying to find personal information such as girlfriends, first dates, et cetera. Josie rolled her eyes as she scrolled past the fifteenth 'Is Mack seeing anyone?' and shoved herself from the computer. Becky's eyes amusingly looked over the top of her computer screen, one eyebrow raised in question.

"I'm going to get Chipotle, want anything?" Before she knew it she had a text from both Becky and Roger with what they wanted. She rolled her eyes and shouldered her purse as she made were way back out to the busy New York street. She didn't bother with a taxi, and instead started the short walk to Chipotle. She noted the park to her right, deciding a short cut wouldn't hurt. As she walked, she could barely make out a form laying under the large Oak tree in the middle of the park. Her heels clicked against the walkway, cheeks flushing from the brisk exercise. As Josie closed in on the Oak tree, with intent to walk past it, she noticed the form laying beneath it as being the same young man in her office. She glanced at her phone, seeing the time of 12:43 blinking back at her. Taking a moment to admire the guitar case, she took a sharp breath, reaching one foot out to tap his in hopes of waking him up. Surely he'd have back to work soon, she assumed, and he looked far to comfortable to have only been there a few minutes.

[Cloud]

Aaron felt rather comfortable underneath the tree, lying in the lush green grass. Well, it had seemed that way for awhile with him wanting to get some fresh air and a good nap. That nap however, was soon interrupted when he felt something tapping him. He groaned a bit and slowly opened his eyes, looking up to see a girl staring back down at him. His vision was blurry due to waking up, so he sat up a bit with his back resting against the large oak. Rubbing his eye with his index and middle fingers, his vision soon cleared and he could see it was the young woman from the CEO building. Aaron gave her a small smile and bowed his head tiredly to say 'Hello' to her. "Hmm? Well would you look at that, nice to see you again. I thought I had just recently seen you back at the CEO building" he spoke, stretching a bit. Sighing in content, he admired the nice feeling of being in the shade under the tree. Looking at her for another moment and then out around the park to see that only few people were actually wandering. Times like this was nice, few people and lots of peace and quiet. The perfect place to sleep actually, and he would have considered it if the cops wouldn't throw him out that is. Which is why he chose a Warehouse, an abandoned one at that.

Looking over at his guitar case, he reached out to grip the handle and pull it over to him. There was a bunch of writing all over the case, written in Taiwanese in what appeared to be white paint of some sort. "It's really quiet out here, I like the peace and quiet sometimes because it's a good place and time to nap. You get the best sleep in complete silence." he spoke, running a hand over the guitar case. His fingers touched some of the characters on the case, one that said, 'Faith' written in Taiwanese characters. He reached over to unlatch the case, pushing it open to reveal a beautiful acoustic guitar. Aaron pushed the case aside a bit, and afixiated the guitar, propping it up as he ran his fingers over the strings a bit. It made a beautiful sound with each string, each chord. Though, he was just testing it of course. "So, what brings you here, Miss...?" he stopped a moment, as he hadn't actually heard her introduce herself. Shaking his head, he smiled again, "Name's Aaron Chen" he spoke.

[Chupatoasta]

Josie's breath caught in her throat at the site of the guitar, which pulled her attention from his tired eyes. "I'm Josie, Josie Kossak," she acknowledged and offered her hand for a hand shake. He took it, rather gently, and gave it a slow shake. How polite. She smiled and squatted before him, arms wrapped around her knees as her lips curled into a smile. "I was just on my way to pick up some lunch for myself and a couple of coworkers. I decided to take a stroll through the park and ran across you, I guess. Quite embarrassing if I do say so myself, but I didn't want to leave you here. There were a couple of park police strolling over there," she pointed in the direction she had seem them and laughed softly. He smiled and drew his fingers across the strings again, the melodic tunes hitting her ears. Each string sounded to be perfectly in tune with the last. He had a good look to him, nice smile, foreign. Girls would go crazy if he had a good enough singing voice. Josie pushed the thought away, inwardly chuckling at the thought of getting a story over this random print guy.

"Well, I should be on my way. Watch out, they're coming this way," Josie smiled and stood back to her feet as he picked at the strings a little longer. She fought an inward battle with herself to stay and submerse herself in the music but shot him a smile instead. "It was nice to meet you, Aaron Chen." She made a mental note of his name for future reference, hoping maybe she'd come across him in another setting that could inspire a story. Her heels clicked across the pavement as she walked away and towards Chipotle to buy lunch, immersing herself in the emails she hadn't checked while sitting at her desk.

[Cloud]

Aaron acknowledged Josie's presence, accepting her hand with a handshake. He was a gentle hearted guy no doubt. After she had left, he knew that he would have to take her words into consideration, the Park Police were never the nicest towards Aaron. So, it was probably best to get his stuff and leave, cause they were coming in his direction anyways. He stuck his guitar back into it's case, latched it shut, picked it up by the handle and slung the strap over his shoulder. Standing up from the ground, he started to walk off back the Print Shop. Strolling down the streets that he knew far too well, allowed him to understand that he quite enjoyed his life, even if it wasn't an easy or simple life. Sure he had good looks, he was foreign, kind.. But would anyone want someone who was homeless? Maybe those who were crazy for people like that, thinking of him as some homeless animal probably. But he was a good guy overall. A rare one at that. Nobody knew of his past, unless they were to ask of course. If anyone brought up a question about the silver locket around his neck, it'd draw him right into his past fairly quickly. Even though Aaron was one to see the brighter sides of life, he tried to live it happily, even if it wasn't the best life for him right now, it was a life.

Over the course of the day, Aaron had been making more copies from papers that were sent in by people. He worked hard and diligently of course. And the stack of papers under the 'Delivery' sign had been taken care of. Apparently Wesley hadn't come back till a little later in the Evening. But, it was alright, Aaron delivered them by himself without a hassle, or, much hassle that is. Tiring as his job was to stand around and copy and print papers, he knew he could make his life a little bit better if he so chose to. When his day was over, his day being the end of his job, Aaron had taken his guitar from behind the desk, said goodbye to Mr. Wesley and headed off to the Subway Station. Many people knew that down in the Station was where Aaron Chen would go to play his guitar. And believe it or not, he was there today. He was always down in the Subway everyday after work.

Aaron made his way down the steps into the Subway, a few people whispering to each other when they spotted him. Making his way to a large stone column, he set his guitar case down on the ground, opened it and took out his guitar. People who knew of Aaron had already gathered around to sit on nearby benches to listen. A good many families, some kids here and there with their parents sat or stood to watch and listen to Aaron Chen. He strummed the strings on his guitar a bit, a special tune. Since Aaron was Taiwanese, he decided to sing a song in his native language. But it wouldn't matter to the people or kids around, they loved Aaron and looked up to him. The song he decided to play and sing was called "Beloved"

[Chupatoasta]

"Come on Jo, just one drink," Roger leaned in the doorway of her office as she reapplied her light pink lipstick. Her sapphire us met his with a flame of slight anger.

"Roger, sir," he rolled his eyes at her joking formalities. "I have to be all the way across town by seven thirty. I've got to take the subway to get there because no taxi cab will take me through the traffic of that area and get me there in time." She picked up her iPhone and a stylus, the only things she really ever needed in this day and age. Roger walked into her office, now leaning against her mahogany desk, his arms crossed. He wore a light blue Oxford button up, sleeves rolled up, with a dark blue tie and matching dress pants. He huffed in irritation and Josie sighed, putting her hand on her hip and the other on her desk. "Fine, if you're going to be grumpy about it, you're welcome to accompanying me to the show."

Roger guffawed in laughter and he shook his head. "With all due respect Josie, I simply look over the story." The slender twenty-two year old rolled her eyes and weaseled her way around her boss.

"Fine, I'll see you tomorrow, Rog," she threw him a smirk over her shoulder and left the building.

Josie took a taxi home and quickly made a change of wardrobe, pulling on a pair of tight black jeans and a razor back tank top with the Rolling Stones symbol on the front of it. She pulled on a pair of combat boots and made her way back down to the main street and into the subway terminal. As she stood there, waiting for her ride, melodious music met her ears, followed by a silky smooth voice. It sand in a language she didn't know, but was still beautiful. She pushed her phone into her back pocket and walked around the stone column, gaping almost immediately when she saw the recently familiar face. She crossed her arms, leaning against the column and listened, noting the fact that most of the people around him were enjoying the song.

[Cloud]

Aaron was enjoying the presence of the people around him listening to the music. This was how he got extra money to help him live another day. One would think that it was foolish, but in fact, it wasn't. You could consider this a time for him to express his own emotions here. Well, of course he did sing what he could. Just like at the park, there were also cops here at the Subway. He remembered having a run in just a week ago and it wasn't fun. Hopefully he wouldn't get caught this time, right? When the song finished, many people around were clapping and even some people would put money into his guitar case. He gave a warm smile to a little girl who wandered up to him, no older than 5 years old. "Aaron" she would say, smiling and hugging his leg. Aaron looked down at the child and got down on one knee to be at level with her, "Hey there, Madison" he spoke, wrapping his arms around the child giving her a gentle hug. "You're doing well in school, yes?" The child nodded her head, "I want to grow up and sing just like you" she spoke. He smiled more at the kid, watching her let go of him and take a step back. "Yǒu xīwàng hé nǐ de mèngxiǎng nǔlì fèndòu." he spoke to her as her mother came over to take her hand. The child smiled, understanding very clearly what Aaron said and said it back, "Yǒu xīwàng hé nǐ de mèngxiǎng nǔlì fèndòu." In english, it meant 'Have hope and work hard for your dreams.'

Soon enough, he looked to see from the corner of his eye, someone looking at him. He turned around to see it was Josie. "Hey.." he greeted her with a gentle smile. "Guess you heard.. and.. saw that.. huh?" he spoke, rubbing the back of his neck. "I didn't know you'd be here actually." As he spoke to her, you could hear the loud thunder outside of the station, the sound of a storm raging through. A thunderstorm. He sighed, looking around him, "Well would you look at that, thunderstorm today, eh... And I forgot to check the news too..." he started to mumble a few things to himself, but that feeling soon cleared away as he looked back at Josie.

[Chupatoasta]

Josie covered her mouth to hide a small laugh as he rambled on. He seemed to be all over the place, mentally and physically both. There was something interesting about him. She couldn't place what it was, but it was refreshing. The little girl looked back over her shoulder one last time before she and her mother left the subway terminal. As he rambled she let a smile grace her lips. "It's not supposed to last too long. It's a touch and go, or so the weather reporter said this morning," she smiled down at him, raising an eyebrow. "Do you... usually hang out in the subway?" He answered her with a nod and Josie smiled, her eyes dropping to the guitar case that was piled halfway with paper bills and a couple dozen of coins.

"Play another song, mister!" One of the older kids that had gathered around Aaron's set up cheered. Aaron began to pick at the guitar strings again. Josie pushed a wavy lock of hair behind her ear and smiled softly, closing her eyes to let the music overtake her. She leaned forward, noticing the somewhat popular yet older song he sang, and almost silently sang along with it. She glanced at her phone, seeing that she had a mere four minutes before her subway train came. When he finished the song, she leaned toward him to speak.

"If you'd like, I'm going to scope out a show tonight. You're more than welcome to come with me, if you having nothing better to do of course." Josie noticed the dinging that signaled her train coming. "This is my ride. Come on, it'll keep you out of this rain." She smiled, hoping to persuade him into going to the show. With a voice like that, she could see him in such a place if he ever really wanted to be. Maybe she'd get a story out of him eventually as well. Despite the story, however, he was interesting. There was just something about him that Josie couldn't place.

[Cloud]

It was true, Aaron did spend most of his time here in the Subway as it was a place of relaxation. Even when kids would ask for another song, Aaron had a soft spot for kids and would often play songs for them. Old songs even since he enjoyed most music. When that song had ended though, he heard Josie ask about a show that was going on tonight. "A show, huh?" he spoke, pondering the idea. "I don't think I've been to one of those in... maybe 12 years?" he said. Man, it sounded really long ago, but it was true, he hadn't been to any concerts in a long while. Watching her go to catch her train, he wondered on the thought.

Soon enough, over the crowd he could see some police coming his way. "Uh-Oh, time to go" he spoke, putting his guitar back into it's case, closing and latching it shut and slinging the strap over his shoulder. Then, he high-tailed after Josie, practically running into her into the train. He had to wrap a arm around her waist and use his other hand to grab hold of those handles that hung down on the ceiling for those who didn't have seats and had to stand. Sighing in relief by a quick save, and the train doors closing just in time when the police had come to see that Aaron wasn't there. When he felt safe, Aaron turned his head to look and see he was still holding her, to which he avoided eye contact immediately and quickly removed his arm. "Sorry.." he spoke, taking a step back and holding onto one of the handles above.

If you looked hard at him, you could be able to define each thing about Aaron. He was about 5' 8" or so. His hair was styled neat, he had beautiful brown eyes too. His body and frame were to die for. You would think that he was the most attractive guy that any girl could ask for. The only downside, he was poor and homeless and lost his family in the past. He lifted his eyes slowly to look at Josie for a moment and said, "You know..." he started to say, "There's this.. saying.. It's a Taiwanese Proverb of course..." he spoke. "a beautiful person might not have a beautiful life" pausing for a moment, then he said it in his native tongue, "Yīgè měilì de rén kěnéng bù huì yǒu yīgè měihǎo de rénshēng"

[Chupatoasta]

Josie felt the breath leave her chest when his arm made its way around her waist, fingers trickling across the exposed skin on her side. When he noticed that he had done such, he quickly pulled away and looked down, taking a step back while voicing an apology. "It's totally fine, really." He lifted his eyes to meet hers as spoke of a proverb, soon translating it to his own language. Josie practically felt herself melt at the unknown words.

"That's beautiful," she commented, her lips curling into a bright, white smile. What did she expect from someone that everyone in her building had said was fluent in Taiwanese. "Maybe we can get to know one another a little better sometime." The subway lurched to a stop and Josie fell into Aaron's chest, having not been holding on to any handles or rails. Her 5'3 frame slammed against his taller one, knocking the breath from her. She quickly apologized with a small laugh and took a step back, glancing up at him. He smelled nice, but the scent of paper was distinct from his job.

"This is our stop," she smiled and stepped onto the platform. "Come on then," she urged and hurried up the stairs behind her, on a tight schedule. Just so she didn't lose him, Josie grabbed fingers in her hand, not meaning anything by it in her mind. "You're so slow," she teased and picked up the pace, coming a bit short of a job as they hurried down three blocks towards the club where the show was being held.

[Cloud]

Aaron nodded his head when Josie had said that they should get to know one another better. Which would be nice, if they were seeing each other this much now, maybe it was a good idea. Soon the subway had stopped, and he was surprised when he saw Josie being flung into him, he had to catch her to make sure she didn't fall. After she had pulled away and apologized, it seemed that they had arrived at their destination. Following her out onto the Platform, he followed after Josie who seemed to urge him to go up the stairs. But if you were someone who literally stood all day, you probably didn't want to move any faster than you could already. But it was ok with him, he didn't mind it much.

As he followed her, it seemed she had to grab his hand to pull him along. He couldn't help but smile about it, a little eager, she seemed to be. "I'm not slow," he commented back to her with a laugh, "If you had my job, standing for practically over 12 hours I am sure you would not want to run either." In a way, he was saying 'my legs hurt but since you keep pressing me on I will keep moving'. Soon enough, the two arrived towards a club where he assumed the show was being held at. Aaron stopped for a brief moment outside the club, breathing heavily for a bit. When he could catch his breath, he stood up straight and looked around. Even if it was a thunderstorm that would clear up soon, there was also the potential threat of gangs out at night. This was New York, and New York had trouble with gangs for sure. They lurked everywhere if you were in a place you knew you shouldn't be walking at that hour. But, he'd find a way around that after the show.

[Chupatoasta]

Josie pushed twenty bucks into the hand of the guy at the door as he greeted her by name, eyes dropping down over her outfit. She had a nice body, even for her short frame, and she knew it but tried not to acknowledge that she knew it. She was tone, tan with long and lean muscles that stretched across her limbs. Her curves were usually hugged by clothing that was tight, however not too tight that she looked as if her couldn't breathe. Her wavy hair framed her slim face and bright blue eyes stood out from her tan skin. With a roll of her eyes, she pushed away the urge to snap her fingers near her face to draw his attention back up. She thanked him and pulled Aaron into the club, not noticing him trying to catch his breath still. It wasn't the regular night club. Crowds gathered at the front, around the stage, and a few bodies littered the rest of the open room, mingling with drinks in their hands. Josie pulled her phone out, leaning back against the railing as she tapped the screen with her stylus. She looked back up at Aaron with a smile, watching as he watched the stage. "They were called Farewell Doll, but we've been talking about a name change ever since I introduced myself to them. They changed it officially to Farewell My Love today, which is good since they've got two record label representatives here." She nodded over to the two men in the corner of the room. One wore a black denim vest over a plain black long sleeve, a very casual look. The other, however, wore a button up with a tie. "They're going to go with Tommy Abrams, who is here for Standby records." She noted, "They're young guys, so they're more likely to entrust a record deal to someone they can view on their level."

Josie closed her eyes for a couple of moments, letting the lyrics wash over her as she stood there, swaying her head. "Now," she breathed, eyes still closed. "The other band is going to take note of their choice and based on their drummer's decision, they've got a fifty-fifty chance of going with either record label. Their drummer started the band, so they somewhat leave big decisions to him. The drummer can even see the decision as a good one and go with their gut to go with Standby, or they can go with Khaos records, to keep this rivalry they've had with Farewell for years, despite not seeing the representative as some they can be open with." She opened her eyes and looked up at Aaron, a flush crossing her cheeks. "Sorry... this is what I do," she laughed softly, "You pick up on kids like these and their choices, especially if you were one at one point." Josie shook her head with a soft smile as Farewell, My Love's song came to an end. "Would you like a drink? I've got a tab here so it won't be much of a big deal."

[Cloud]

Aaron was pulled into the club where he saw a lot of people standing around and talking to one another while a band was playing. He had taken note of the two gentleman off in the corner. Aaron however, wasn't really much interested in such record labels as those. If he had a choice for one, he probably would decline them. He liked performing for sure, but wasn't one to be caught up in fame and money like that. Maybe it's because he lived in 5 years worth of being poor and homeless? Then again, maybe it was his mind telling him to not bother in general. But just by looking around the area, there were a lot of people who seemed to have dressed quite nicely. Aaron was semi-formal in a way, semi-formal, semi-casual. Then again, even when he looked around to admire everything around him, often times some girls would look at him. He had gone to a place like this with a friend once maybe a year or two ago, and girls would always try to hit on him. Anyone would be surprised that he was still single, with his complexion, body, talent. Maybe because he felt guilty of himself for some reason?

When Josie had asked if he wanted a drink, he thought for a moment, then nodded his head. "Yeah, sure..." he gave her a small smile. It seemed that he was thinking about something, wondering. He could feel the eyes of girls around the club eyeing him. Even hear whispers that were nearby, or those that were audible that is. "Do you... remember that saying I told you about back on the train?" he asked Josie, looking at her for a moment. "That saying... a beautiful person might not have a beautiful life? What do you... What do you think it means - to you that is" he spoke the last part quickly as he sat down at an empty table to rest for a bit.

[Chupatoasta]

Josie sat down beside him as she handed him the coke in her hand. He hadn't specifically told her he wanted alcohol, so she settled for soda. She lifted her own Cosmo to her lips, eyes drifting towards him as he asked his question. She mulled the thought over in her mind for a moment, thinking only a few seconds of the question. "Honestly, it sounds as if you're saying that although you may appear lovely, put together... you're not. You could be a very well known, well liked person, but not have a good past, or home life." She shrugged, growing bashful. "Sorry if I'm not hitting the nail on the head, I'm just not quite sure." Josie smiled weakly up at him, nibbling on the straw of her Cosmo. Bodies were pulsing to the music around them, and since they had sat down, she couldn't see the band. She could hear them, though, and that's all that mattered. With a smile, she turned her attention back towards Aaron, growing intrigued as he spoke.

His lips moved like fine wine, as if he knew exactly what he wanted to say before he said it. He occasionally used his hands to talk, and she noted the calluses covering his finger tips, probably from picking at guitar strings. She was well aware of the women eyeing him around the bar, a bit of jealousy trickling within her. Although she had physically stolen him away to this place, she was certain these girls would have no problem doing the same. A tall, wide body moved through the crowd, towards their table, as a young man, maybe twenty-three tried to smooth talk a slightly amused Josie, her eyebrow cocked. "Would you like to dance, pretty lady?" His eyes were glazed over, as if he had drank quite a lot that night.

"Would you like to apologize to my friend for interrupting him as you so rudely did?" His glazed eyes looked to Aaron and he 'tch'ed between his teeth before making his way away from the two of them, leaving Josie to giggle softly. "I'm sorry," she turned to Aaron, "please continue." Her smile lit up her face.