[IC] La Vie Boheme (Slice-of-Life/Open World)

[Swarley]

Late February, 1995. Richard Linklater's Before Sunrise was released last month to critical acclaim. O.J Simpson is currently on trial. Richey Edwards has been missing for almost a month now, but many still hold out hope he'll be found. It's two months until the one year anniversary of Kurt Cobain's death. It's cold in New York City.

Jennifer sleeps on a pile of clothes that may hold a bed underneath it all. She hears music coming from the other room. “Merde...” She says groggily as she wakes up. Looking around the room she can see how bad the state of her it really is. Clothes lying all over the floor, various tapes thrown around without much regard as to where they would land or if they would break on landing, cables leading from a synth to who really knows where, a guitar lying on the floor while plugged into an amplifier on the other side of the room. Her walls are adorned with pictures of Kathleen Hanna, Kim Gordon, Corin Tucker, Alison Wolfe, and one stray picture of Richard D. James with a small heart drawn in the corner. Jennifer gets out of bed and picks up a black sweater and jeans off the floor and puts them on before she walks out into the main living space.

Zach stands in the kitchenette, making himself a cup of coffee. “Good morning sleepy head, I made you a cup already.” He says as he gestures towards a steaming mug sitting on the counter.

“It's so early, why do you have to play your shitty brit-pop so loud.” Jen says with a bit of contempt in her voice, obviously not really enjoying the sounds of Damon Albarn's voice.

“You've got an opening shift at Vivre sa Vie in twenty minutes, it's not too early for me to be playing Blur.” Zach says with a grin before taking a sip of coffee. It's awful, but it's all they can afford on minimum wage retail jobs. Zach also had an opening shift at 33 and 1/3 that he had to get to in the next ten minutes, but he didn't really think anyone would mind if he was a minute or two late.

Jennifer groaned, knowing her day was probably not going to get much better than this moment. She turned to Zach to ask him about something he had mentioned a day or two ago. “What was the movie you were looking for again?”

“Chungking Express.” Zach said with a smile. “Tell your boss if he gets it in I will stop laughing at how pretentious he was to name his video store after a Godard film.”

“I'm sure he'll do it just for you then.” Jennifer said sarcastically as she downed the rest of her coffee. She places the cup in the sink and walks towards the door of the apartment.

Zach is over taking the needle off the record that was playing through their home and places the cup on the coffee table in front of their very small television. He grabs his coat and heads for the door with Jennifer.

The two walk out of the apartment and down the stairs of the building. “... I'm just saying, if you're going to make a video store that pops out to any random passerby you need to give it a name that pops.” Zach says, obviously passionate about the subject.

“And your suggestion for that is?” Jennifer asks.

“I dunno, like Jumbo Video or some shit like that. Or even Un Film Comme les Autres if he really wanted to name it after a Godard film.”

“I don't know why you think this is helping at all, I just work at the store.”

“Whatever, I just wanted you to know why it's an awful name.”

“You explain it every time someone says the name.” Jennifer says as the two exit onto the snow covered sidewalk of the East Village. She sighs, her breath visible in the cold air. “See you after work.” She says as she turns to the right and walks away.

“I'll try to find us something to do tonight.” Zach calls back to her as he turns and walks in the other direction towards the record store, already running late.

As he reaches the store, Zach roots around in his pocket to get the keys and he unlocks the door. He walks inside the relatively small record store. Though what it lacks in size it makes up for in variety. The store is filled with just about every genre you could imagine, from IDM, to Jazz, to Metal, to Punk, and everything in between, there's something for everyone at 33 and 1/3. The store has two floors, the first for commerce while the second is more empty, and has been used for concerts in the past. Zach could, and probably would, tell you of the parties he'd thrown up there when the store was closed and the boss was nowhere to be found.

Zach makes his way to the counter and looks underneath, at all the boxes that the employees keep the records they'll be using to soundtrack the day. He decides to take out something a little more understated. Zach puts Selected Ambient Works 85-92 on the record platter and puts the needle on the wax. The crackle is heard throughout the speakers in the store and the music starts to fill the air.

---

Jennifer stand in front of Vivre sa Vie and unlocks the door, though she was a bit early it's not like she really had anything else to do. Vivre sa Vie was much bigger than 33 and 1/3 in terms of consumer space. There was shelves upon shelves littered with contemporary and classical, mainstream and art films. There was a section for rentals on one side and purchase on the other.

Jennifer found herself looking through the rental videos for a film she'd watch while she pretended to pay attention to the customers asking her about the latest terrible Kevin Costner movie or whatever. She picked up the box for Alex Cox's 1984 punk film classic Repo Man. It's a film she's already seen tons of times but one more couldn't hurt. She walked over to the counter and put it in in the VHS player, which was connected to the multitude of televisions around the store. Then she sat in the seat behind the desk and propped up her feet on it, not entirely caring whether the customers would see her or not.

[Dragonbud]

Mary had already been awake for several hours, as that was just the kind of person she was. Early to bed and early to rise was her way of life. She had already completed her morning chores to the highest degree of cleaning. She had made her bed, twice, and then brushed her teeth. The sand timer on her sink telling her she had brushed for exactly two minutes and thirty seconds. She then mopped the kitchen tiles three times. The first two times didn't seem good enough. Mary had a feather duster in her hands, about to dust the furniture, when suddenly the phone in her living room began to ring. It was the best cordless phone that 1995 could offer. It was a gift from her current boyfriend so he could check in whenever he wanted.

As Mary walked to the telephone she silently prayed that it wasn't her boyfriend, maybe someone trying to sell her a better vacuum or someone trying to get her to join a cause. Her hopes fell quickly as she took a deep breath and answered the phone with a soft, meek,

"Hello?"

It was, in fact, her boyfriend, calling to check up on her. Making she she was dressed, looked presentable, and had cleaned the apartment. Mary calmed reassured him that she was dressed and ready for work, and that the cleaning was just about done. Their phone conversation was just about to conclude when he reminded Mary that she shouldn't be hanging about after work, as she could be sucked into things that didn't involve her. He instructed her to finish work, clock out, and return home to start evening chores. He then hung up, and Mary let out a shaky breath she wasn't aware she was holding.

Mary walked quickly to the video game rental store which doubled as an arcade in the back. She loved working there. There was no strict dress code, so Mary happily wore a loose fitting sweater, jeans, and sneakers, and the other employees were friendly. She also got to play video games, so that helped add to the benefits. She walked slowly past the other stores on the block, record rentals, movie rentals. Everything could be rented.

It had been a whole year since the release of Sonic the Hedgehog 3, and it was still one of the more popular rentals in the store. The younger customers always rave about Knuckles the Echidna but Mary thinks his design is just silly. It had also been an entire year since an arcade cabinet had been wheeled in for Super Street Fighter II Turbo, which Mary would admit is a favorite of hers. Last summer Need for Speed debuted, but Mary didn't see the appeal very much. She doubted it would go on to make any sequels or become one of the most well known racing titles in the future. A game that quickly suckered Mary in had to have been Donkey Kong Country, the newest 3D game from Nintendo.

The end of 1994 came with another new arcade cabinet, Tekken. An immediate success.

And even though the world was only about two months into the new year, new games were already coming out, as well as companies promising for new concepts and sequels to their old concepts.

Mary stood behind the counter at work, struggling to pin her "Hello, my name is MARY" name tag onto her shirt. In the background a coworker began turning on the quarter guzzling arcade machines. Mary sighed, resting her hands on the counter. She only hoped it would be a long day.

[Metronome]

Sunlight filtered in through the window of Yoska's makeshift bedroom. It was essentially a cleared out storage closet in the back of the bookshop where he worked, but it was a novelty to the young man. For one, he'd never slept inside a day in his life before starting his job here. Before, he had either laid out under the stars, huddled on a stoop or beside a dumpster, or slept in a barn full of animals. Even if the old mattress beneath him laid on the floor, it was softer than all of his past beds combined. The indoor pluming was an interesting change as well. Yoska had to get used to the idea of showering every day.

He got up and went into the small bathroom across the hall. The bookshop must have been a residential building at some point, because the bathroom had a shower and a linen closet. The man pulled off his loose sleep pants, also something he'd never had before, and stepped under the hot spray. Yoska had to admit, this fancy high-life these people had was pleasant. Although, to him, it was hard to think of himself as anything other than a street urchin. A waif that nobody really wanted. After all, that's what he'd been told most of his life.

After getting out of the shower, Yoska combed his wildly curly hair and got himself dressed. His clothes were cheap and ill fitted over his wiry frame. Most of them had come from a Goodwill store, except for those that had been given to him. He didn't mind. It was a lot more than he'd used to have. As he brushed his teeth, the orange cat that shared his home at the bookstore wandered in. She rubbed against his leg and meowed softly, making Yoska smile. After he rinsed his mouth out, he bent down to pet her affectionately, saying good morning in a language that wasn't English.

Yoska then stepped over the cat and went to put his shoes on. He had work to do today, after all. The shop had ordered a few new bookshelves, and they weren't going to put themselves together. He was trailed by the feline as he walked towards the space at the back of the shop, where the new boxes sat. Yoska tore the first one open and discarded the instructions. No matter how many languages the manual was printed in, the young man was unable to read it. It was okay, however, because he could do this by heart. Yoska sat down with his screwdriver and began to assemble the shelves as a few customers strolled in. It wasn't really his thing to go and greet them. They probably wouldn't want to see a dirty Romani boy like him anyway.

[Whirlwind]

Yvette rolled out of bed, barefeet hitting the cold floor and making her shiver. Her dirty blonde, messy wavy hair fell into her face as she made her way over to the shower and began her morning ritual. In two hours, she’d transformed, out of pjs and into some flared jeans over some chunky heels. Her shirt was long seeved, white button up and collared, and her hair was pressed back by a black headband leaving her blonde tresses to fall behind her ears and down her back. Her light green eyes had been played up with makeup, and she wore a pearl ring and silver watch on one arm, pearl earrings in her ears.

She sat down at her kitchen table where a little white black and white tv set with annoying long antenna played, while she ate her cereal and watched. She wasn’t scheduled to work today for Dessange Hair Salon, but she knew she could be called in if a high profile client walked in and asked for her or something. She didn’t feel she was anything special, but some people were very particular about their hair who touches it.

Yvette finished her breakfast and pulled out her planner, not thinking she actually had anything to do today that she could remember. She flipped to her contacts section and stared at the phone numbers of people she barely talked to, letting out a small sigh. She was just no good at being social. She shut the book and grabbed her purse instead. She should just walk up and down the streets, try to find something to do, meet new people, check out more local places. And with that, she stepped out of her apartment and locked the door.

[Razboinic]

The sun could be seen through the clouds today. Quint agreed this was a good thing as it was a rare occasion lately that the sun peaked through at all. Sprawled across a park bench she enjoyed the luxuries of having no where to be with no one to order her around. The wind blew across her face upsetting her hair, but making a consented sigh leave her lips. At her side sitting on the cold sidewalk Quest let out a yip reminding Quint she still had many responsibilities to attend to.

Letting out an embarassing groan that showed how a few sit ups would do her some good, Quint pulled herself off the rickety old wood bench warm from her body heat and clucked her tongue to Quest who obediently followed her as she walked through the deserted park leash trailing behind him. Though she should be carrying it, she figured if anyone took alarm she would have her hand wrapped around it in a matter of seconds.

It was almost lunch time, which meant that a battalion of overworked old men in suits were going to invade Quint's thinking spot. She did not want to be there when this happened. So she evacuated the premisis making her way back to her apartment to grab her camera. She should have brought it with her, but was loath to bring work into her thinking time.
_____________________________________________________
The rising of noise around the coffee shop awoke Ryan from his daydreams. After those imbeciles forced him out of the office he dreamed of leaving, but he had signed a contract and would see it through. With a sigh he looked down at his watch a citizen ecodrive. It had been twenty minutes since he fled the mongrels and he best be getting back before they came looking for him.

Taking his time to cross the street he plodded into the low built building loath to look like he was rushing to his fate. Passing through three sets of heavy wood doors he walked into the studio they put him in. The whole room was a blinding white with all kinds of unique types of lighting that Ryan had no interest in learning. His perusal was interupted by a short balding man also known as the most useless man on the planet.

Barc, a name way better suited to a dog or maybe a rodent was the director of this carnival ride otherwise wise known as Ryan's latest modelling gig. Bark made a show of staring at his watch.. Or maybe he was trying to tell the time whatever it was he was doing or wasn't doing, he stopped soon enough and pointed toward a chest near the wall. "Sit".

[Miss24601]

April was awoken to sunlight filtering through her pale curtains, kissing at her face and dappling her duvet with freckles of light. As though on queue, her alarm suddenly broke into a buzzing fit, urging her to awaken despite her already open-eyed state. Sliding from the bed, April slipped on her dressing gown, before wandering into the kitchen. Her ebony-haired roommate was nowhere to be seen, but assuming from the black jacket that usually adorned the coat-rack by the door, April assumed she'd already taken off. An peculiar occurrence, considering Ana's hateful relationship with mornings. One shower, a cup of coffee and a bowl of cereal later, April knotted her hair into a messy bun atop her head, exciting the apartment with a small smile.

When April entered the bookshop, the little bell atop the door rang in greeting, and April walked casually into the shop, resting her bag behind the counter before sighing and leaning back. So it was only her at work today? Considering her reputation for breaking things, April was surprised. Her surprise quickly vanished however, when she noticed the man working on the bookshelves. "Oh, hi, Yoska." She had never actually spoken to Yoska before, having only gotten her job a week before, but she had seen him a number of times, and learnt from Donna, her self-proclaimed 'superior', that he lived in the building.

[Metronome]

Yoska had only a few more screws to go on the new shelves when one of the newer employees came over to talk to him. Yoska startled slightly as she pulled him from his thoughts. The cat that had been watching him work strolled off, leaving him on his own. He smiled at her crookedly and held up a screwdriver wielding hand in a half wave.
"Hello," He said, his voice thickly accented. Where said accent was from was hard to place.

Yoska cleared his throat and stood up, moving to haul one of the newly assembled bookshelves upright. He tried to wiggle each shelf, making sure they were tightly in place. All looked well.
"Where does Donna want this?" He asked, hoping April would know. He didn't want to just leave them here on the floor.

[Miss24601]

April was relieved to be met with a smile, considering the man's usually seemingly reserved personality. Having never heard his voice, was was shocked to find it heavily touched by an accent she didn't quite recognise. However, she could still understand what he was saying, and so glanced at the shelf a brief moment before remembering what Donna had said about the new shelf. "By the 'young adults' section, I think.
Do you need any help moving it?"
Considering her slim frame, April doubted she'd be much help, but felt inclined to offer any way.

[QT]

After packing all of Lucas' clothes into one of his over-sized gym bags, Grady hurried to the kitchen and started preparing a small meal for the boy. He pulled out two slices of bread and spread peanut butter on one side, jelly on the other. "Daaaaad.....I told you, gently, not rough, gentle, like this" the boy stated, taking the butter knife from his father's hands and tip toeing to gently spread the filling over the buns. Grady chuckled to himself as his son finished making the sandwich. "Alright, alright, gotcha" Grady said as he put it into a small zip lock bag, then into a lunchbox along with a sixteen ounce bottle of orange juice. "Now make sure to eat once you get to grandma's house okay?"

"Yeah dad, I know" the boy exclaimed as he took his lunchbox and signaled his dad to get the bag full of clothes. Grady was allowing Lucas to go with his grandma for two days. She was already outside waiting on him, so Grady was in a hurry. He left everything for last minute, like most men. After getting the clothes bag, Grady rushed and opened the front door, letting his son go into the hallway first. He quickly followed after locking the door, to find his neighbor - Yvette - walk out of her place as well.

"Hey!" he smiled at the woman. Lucas just waved without saying a word, tugging at his dad's pants for him to hurry. Grady didn't even feel his son tugging at him, and continued to speak to Yvette. "I was hoping to see you today. Forgot to say thank you for watching little guy here yesterday" the father winked. "Are you headed out? My mom is waiting outside to take Lucas to her place, wanna........I don't know......get something to eat? I'm going to the gym tonight, so I've got all the afternoon?"

"Daaaad! C'mon! Evelyn is waiting!!!" Lucas begged, tugging at Grady's pants even more. Grady made an oops face to Yvette and started walking towards the exit in a power walk. The passed the double doors to the bright sunny day out in the open where his mother awaited for her grandson in a black luxury vehicle. She came out and hugged Lucas, then went to her son and planted a kiss on his cheek. "You're late" she said with a smirk. "You know how I am mom" Grady laughed as he put his hands in his pockets. "We'll bring him back......well, maybe we wont. Hahaha" Grady's mom chuckled. By this time, Lucas was already in the backseat eager to get going. "Let's go Evelyn!" he called out. "I see you still haven't taught him to call me grandma?"

"I try mom. He's just as stubborn as you" Grady joked. He then waved at his son as he rode off with Evelyn. The father then turned around in hopes of seeing Yvette behind him.

[Whirlwind]

Yvette was stuffing her keys into her black handbag when the door across the hall opened. She smiled a bit at seeing Grady and Lucas, waving at the two. “Hey there,” she replied, looking down and seeing how Lucas seemed to be in quite the hurry. She looked back up in time to see Grady wink at her and her cheeks became a rosy color before shaking her head and giving a light laugh. “It’s no problem. He practically watches himself,” she admitted. She hesitated to answer him, surprised he was asking her out at all. “Well, I…” she said softly, when Lucas interrupted and yanked Grady a bit. She stifled a chuckle and nodded, in a way telling Grady it was fine to just go ahead. She didn’t want to keep them. She stayed back just a little before heading down the same stairs and going outside, the cold of the February air hitting her. Why did she always forget her coat?

Her eyes lifted to see Lucas getting into a car and Grady waving, the car driving off. Yvette looked up and down the street. She could admit it wasn’t the best neighborhood, but she enjoyed it. Her feet brought her to stand next to Grady before she looked up at him and gave a coy shrug. “Where should we go eat?” she asked, hoping the offer still stood. She was a genuinely kind person and it stood out in her facial expressions and smiles, hands folded in front of her on top of her bag. “I honestly don’t have any plans, so you’re making my day a lot more eventful,” she admitted as well, not one to put up fronts. Although she had a crush on the man, she would also count it a great reassure to simply have him as a friend and get to know him better.