Bone Diggers - Chapter Thirty Eight

01100010 01101001 00100000 01110111 01100101 01100101 01101011 (Originally posted during Bi Week)

Loading... Chapter Thirty Eight

Cole's text said they'd pick him up at eight pm. So, around seven the following night Owen killed time by putting on Age of Shadows arena streams and pretended to pay attention. A larger question than why a knight was wearing such impractical armor was what Cole meant by 'picking him up.' He couldn't even remember the last time he just didn't meet someone somewhere.

There was a knock on his door exactly five minutes before Nicole said she'd arrive. Both she and Seth were always surprisingly punctual. It was a feat that always impressed Owen. He assumed they were trained by going to classes. That perfect attendance must have leaked into the rest of their life.

Owen opened the door to Cole and was instantly drawn to her pink and blue hair. Even if he had thought it looked ridiculous, the soft pastels drew attention all the same. No roots showed, so it must be new. "Your hair is actually too cute for words."

"Aww, you are so sweet." Cole's smile grew. "Are you ready to go?"

He patted his pants pockets, feeling his phone in one but the keys were missing from the other. He went back to grab them off the table. "Ready," Owen said as he locked the door. "Where exactly are we going?"

"To an open mic." Nicole took slow steps backwards until Owen caught up, and then looped her arm in his.

"Like a comedy show?"

"No, more like a poetry slam."

Owen paused in his steps, and Cole had to give him a little pull. "Don't be a sour puss. You already agreed to come with us."

"True." His mood lightened, but he didn't look all that convinced as they took the elevator down. Soon after that, it didn't matter since a far more curious sight waited for him. Seth was illegally parked in a newer style VW bug. "Who's car is that?"

"Mine." Nicole beamed. She opened the passenger door, and folded the seat forward. "My dad got it for my birthday."

"Hey," Seth said, leaning forward to see Owen.

"Hi," he said, and got in the back. "Wait, wasn't your birthday like nine months ago."

She didn't answer right away, too focused on watching Seth pull her new toy out on the road. "Yeah, he tends to add a grand for every month he misses."

"Wish my dad did that."

Cole glanced back at him with a small flash of a smile. "I'd complain about him being a shit parent, but it's hard to complain in this beauty."

"Well, you are going to find a reason to complain if you don't remind me how to get to that cafe," Seth interjected.

"Oh." Cole wiggled in the seat to pull out her phone that had been sticking halfway out of her tight jeans. She hummed to herself while checking the directions. "Take the next right."

"Alright," Seth said, and changed lanes like a taxi driver. "Before I forget, can you remind me of my MPRE study group on Tuesday later?"

"At four, right?"

"Yeah—What are you smiling at?" Seth accusingly glanced back at Owen who only laughed.

"You take knowing the law so you can break it to such an extreme," Owen said. He leaned over in his seat so he would be more in the middle. "If you ever get caught you can represent yourself, and be halfway decent at it."

"More like three-quarters of the way decent, but he'd still have a fool for a client," Cole corrected.

"Studying is very important for us lowlifes who don't have daddy's money," Seth started, and Cole stuck out her tongue without even looking up from her phone. "Or have a sweet deal playing video games."

"Urg." Owen leaned back into his seat. "I don't even want to talk about it. Do you ever think something is going to be fucking awesome, and then it's just hell?"

"Yep," Seth said, as he made another turn. "Took E without prepping once, was god awful."

Owen laughed, and shook his head. "Thank you, that was a beautiful and moving comparison."

"Not a problem."

Parking was less of a worry then Owen would have figured. Seth found a paid parking garage so the walk to the cafe in question wasn't too far. Only a block or so.

The Common Grounds logo on the tinted window hid any indication of how packed the place would be. They bottled up together just inside the door, and looked into the full room. Chairs and tables sat in front of the stage, and farther back couches served as not only more seats, but a divider from the rest of the store.

"Oh, I see a spot!" Nicole took off and headed towards the back. She asked a couple if they could scoot to one side of the couch. Without a word they moved over, but she didn't sit down right away. Maybe because it only looked like enough room for two. Unless one of them was planning to stand, this spot wasn't really workable. Owen's thoughts must have been written on his face because Nicole's bright expression dimmed. "Sit."

Owen sat down first, and Seth took the sliver of space left next to the arm. Just what he thought—not enough. Cole sat down on the arm and draped her legs over Seth's lap so they weren't in the way of anyone. Owen glanced down at her galaxy converses. Oh, that did work.

"We'll get started in ten," a woman at the mic announced, flashing her hands to show ten minutes like one might for kindergartners.

"So, when is the big fictional reveal?" Seth asked, while Cole watched the speaker step down.

"Couple weeks," Owen said, "They are doing some publicity before the launch party. fnVR is going to tie it in with a historical world event to really stir up some attention."

"That's awesome."

"It's alright."

Seth pressed his lips together, and glanced away as someone walked too close on their way to get to the rest of the cafe. "You love Age of Shadows, why aren't you excited?"

"I have to work with my ex."

"Andreah?"

Owen nodded.

"That bites."

"Hey, I'm getting coffee," Cole interrupted, "Do either of you want anything?"

"Coffee sounds great," Owen said, as Cole swung her legs to the floor.

"Can you get me a smoothie?" Seth asked.

"You have no respect for the name of this fine establishment," she teased, before walking off to place their orders. There didn't seem to be a line, but it took so long to get back with the drinks that the event was introduced, and the first poet went up. It was an older woman who read an erotic poem to a room full of twenties-somethings. Strange, but any objections were made in hushed tones.

Nicole handed a Styrofoam cup to Owen, keeping the other in her hand since there was no patch of table anywhere for them. "Hold on, I have to go back for the damn smoothie," she whispered, so she wouldn't talk over the emcee. When she came back for the second time her lips were over the bright orange straw that was stuck in a pink smoothie. "Mmm, this is so fucking good."

"No trades," Seth said, smiling as he held his hand out.

She handed it off and carefully sat down on the arm of the couch again, this time letting her legs hang over the other side. A band got up to play and a few in the crowd sprung to their feet. What started as a cheer soon turned into full fan mode as mid-song they stood on chairs to get a better photo. The whole audience wasn't excited, but the front row was hyped as fuck.

"Thank you, Stage Against The Machine," the emcee chuckled to herself getting the pun, before introducing the next person up to the mic.

Owen's coffee finally felt cool enough between his hands to try a drink. He took a small sip, and instantly his expression went askew.

"How is it?" Cole asked, speaking softly as someone read a poem off their phone.

"Bitter."

"I meant the coffee, not you."

Owen opened his mouth to object, but glanced over to the poet realizing now wasn't the time to disagree. By time there was a break where he could talk without being rude, it felt too out of the blue to bring it up again.

A new girl stepped up, hands nervously adjusting the mic. She looked just barely old enough to be allowed in a place that served alcohol. The overhead light harshly showed that her long hair had been dyed several times. Nothing too out there as she stuck to close shades of brown and red.

"I fall to my hands and knees, eyes lifting to the skies to let out a howl," she started reading, eyes never glancing up to the crowd. "A prayer to the moon for a change in the tides. I don't know if my constant companion can hear me, but it is always there even in the light.

"The constellations above hold stories and promises of those guided before. Such visions light years away now as I fear that their brightness has already died. Their light now a siren that calls people to the darkness."

"Hey man," someone close-by said. Owen glanced over to a guy in a beanie, but the stranger's attention was solely on Seth. "Do you have anything?"

"Pick yourself up, fall back down, pick yourself up, fall back down." The words from the microphone easily carried louder than the misplaced question.

"Do I look like I do?" Seth said. Cole slid down fully into his lap, currently looking over her shoulder to the stranger. Seth however, didn't stand out in any notable way. "You know I don't deal here."

"A timer that ticks as it counts off each hit the drugged masses can take." Owen glanced over at the speaker, her words a world apart and yet... "This land is filled with its own loops. Eat, work, sleep. The world's cycle moves so much slower than the gears in my head. With no tangible prize besides making our hearts beat faster."

"Right, sorry," the guy said with a little nod, anxiously rubbing a hand over his forearm. After a slight hesitation he wandered off.

"I fuck'n tell ya," Seth mumbled to himself.

Owen leaned forward in his seat watching silently. He didn't see where the guy went, but he did spot someone smoking outside. "I'm going to go smoke," he declared, and headed outside catching the end of the poem on the way.

"Tragic tales, and noble narratives of past successes and failures, that we hope will entitle us to the same divine right. My name is Andromeda, chained to these rocks as the tides ebb and flow."

An act or so later, Cole came out too. "I have a question for you," she said, sidestepping around the man watching the door.

"Shoot."

"When did you start smoking again?" Nicole leaned against a patch of wall away from the window next to him.

Owen carefully watched her as he exhaled a plume of cigarette smoke. "Recently," he said. She raised a brow, but didn't any say anything more. "Should I share?"

"Nah, that shit will kill you."

He grinned.

"What?"

Owen took a final drag before knocking the ashes off. Carefully, he tapped the lit end against his finger to put it out. It wasn't an instant thing, but it worked, and he didn't burn himself. "Should I go back to smoking what you guys do?"

"Um, yeah," Nicole continued as Owen brushed his finger clean. "Weed is a bronchodilator. Tobacco only hecks up the works."

"Is that true?"

"You are a researcher, look it up."

Owen broke into a smile. "Putting your classes to good use?"

"Nah, I watch a lot of documentaries. All my textbooks are outdated, they still think Christopher Columbus was a cool dude." Nicole reached her hand out for his, leaning on one foot to suggest they go back inside. He took her hand and headed to the door without any resistance, except a minor detour to throw away his cigarette.