A Sight to See

"You're kidding, right? Of course I have, being there as long as I've been there." It was impossible not to hear some of them, in fact, all of them. He heard from many females all day almost every day, it didn't matter what job, he had to hear from them. He would put a smile on and fake it, he'd bite back comments and he'd stop a glare or some look of annoyance from showing up to how much they got to him. Women were hard to live around, yet population needed them. He supposed some were okay. Some of the girls in his classes were pretty cool. There were a few who were really smart and really quiet in class, but once they got out and they were with friends, they got really loud about something.

Understanding all too well what he meant by that, Draylen laughed. "Yeah. How have you been working there anyways?" he asked, brushing some of his brown hair back. He sometimes thought he should get it cut, but he liked it the way it was, so he left it for now. He had to wonder how hard it would be to work at A&F for a long time, listening to those little girls going on and on for hours a day. That had to be the worst torture ever.

"I've been working there knowing I need the money. When you need something, motivation is just another word for adrenaline rush in working business." College was not an easy price, and when he got to the bigger colleges, that would kill the beaten wallet he had already. He was definitely going for whatever scholarships he could find, he had even looked online for some. He found some sites that offered them for writing a piece, he didn't know if he could make those though. Teachers told him his way of writing, his style, had too much voice in it.

"Yeah. That's a good way to put it" Draylen agreed, browsing the shelves again. "All I know is that I never should have put my application in there. But my mom said everywhere. I guess I didn't expect them to actually accept me" he made a face, picking up a book and reading the back, nodding as his eyes skimmed over it. It seemed pretty cool, so he memorized the title and author as best as possible. He would write it down when he got home.

"I barely applied there. I was in the store out of curiosity and got offered a job if I gave them a resume." He had been dragged into it, and while he could have bailed on it, he chose to use the opportunity to his advantage. He didn't get enough money from helping out his neighborhood, so why not get a real paying job? His brother took care of himself during the day mostly, Nathaniel not being there to hardly look after him wouldn't make much of a difference, in his opinion. His parents thought it'd be fine too, since Leland was old enough to take care of himself.

Drayed laughed at how unfortunate that must have been. "Well, you fill the expectation" the words seemed to fall from his mouth before he realized it, and he clapped a hand over his mouth, eyes widening. Everybody knew that in stores like that, the main priority was that you were hot. That was just how it worked. He had never seen anybody anything less than attractive working in stores like that.

Nathaniel laughed when Draylen put his own hand on his mouth, he hadn't understood why people did that because the words were already out once spoken. Putting your hand on your mouth didn't reverse them or stop more from coming out. "Don't worry about it. When you've got a bunch of useless female fans you already know you fit some sort of criteria. Besides, you wound up fitting that too, didn't you?" Draylen was just stating the facts of how they were chosen to be on the job.

Draylen was a bit shocked by the laugh, and that Nathaniel didn't seem to bothered by his words. He dropped his hands a bit slowly, shoving them in his pockets and looking away, able to feel the colour on his face. He blinked slightly, looking back to the reader a bit curiously. "I do? I guess, well I never really thought about it that way. I tend to exclude myself in my own mind" he shrugged, wondering if Nathaniel was calling him attractive. This was turning into a rather confusing trip to the bookstore.

"Everyone has their own taste, I guess. They just find the people who fit the major quota of it." He didn't get males hitting on him too often, maybe once in a while, rarely at the place he worked at, and rarely at school, but it happened. He didn't mind, people had their own tastes in others, that was fine. The general public appeared to like tall British males, and tall American males with nice builds. "Hmm, well, you are very decent looking. Not to worry about anything." He understood low self esteem, but it wasn't that bad when he compared himself to some of the Americans here.

Draylen shrugged, giving a short nod. He knew that was true, as he was sure anybody was. He had girls flirting with him at work, and had gone through highschool with it happening, occasionally guys as well, the latter being the one he enjoyed. He grinned and laughed slightly, looking up with his bright green eyes to Nathaniel. "Uhm, thanks" he grinned, pleased by the compliment. From most people it wasn't a big deal, but hearing it from Nathaniel, who didn't seem to be the type to hand out compliments for no reason, it was nice.

"So, I don't quite see anything here, shall we go if you're done perusing?" he asked, figuring he'd come back another time in the week to check out whatever might be new or coming in soon. "Is there anywhere else you wanted to go? Or do you have plans later on?" He didn't even know what he was going to do later. Maybe homework, which might not take that long to finish. Then what? Maybe walk his dogs, hopefully his brother wouldn't bother him. He wasn't in the mood to play babysitter for a kid half his age, nearly.

Draylen took a last look at the bookstore before back to his new British friend, nodding. "I'm good. I don't know where else to go, but I have no plans until my shifts tomorrow" he shrugged. He had to feed his cats sometime today, and clean his room, but that would take no time at all. He was a relatively tidy person anyways. "How about you? Need to go?" he asked, tilting his head to the side curiously.

"I dunno, really," Nathaniel muttered, leading the way out. He mentally said his goodbyes to the bookstore and the books, never mind the cashier. The books were cooler than the cashier person. "Hmm, well, I don't have that much planned for the rest of the day, except some homework. No big deal. I don't think my brother will take care of the dogs. I dunno if you wanna stick around or call it a day with me, but I may need to get home soon." He didn't know what they'd do if Draylen decided to go with him, but if not, he'd probably just do what he usually did; hang out in his room alone and more or less doing nothing.

Following the reader out of the store, Draylen nodded once at the cashier, a kid he used to know from school. "I dunno, my mom might want me home soon, since I didn't tell her I was going to be out. Even at my age she insists I tell her where I am" he shrugged. He might go home to get some things done. He would see Nathaniel again next time they were working, depending on their shifts, but he had his number anyways.

"All right, so I'll see you next time at work, huh?" he asked, turning to face Draylen. "You can call me any time, if I'm not at school or working I'm free. That's most of the week, but in intervals." He had work and school to occupy his time, but did have a lot more free time than he needed sometimes. He didn't do anything with it. He had to go home to his dogs and little brother. With his parents gone, not that it bothered him, the house was quiet and dull. With his parents anyway, the house was dull, but at least there was activity in it and not just two males keeping to themselves.

Draylen looked up when Nathaniel turned around to talk to him, used to looking up to people by now. "Yeah, alright. Thanks" he grinned, giving a slight nod. "I'll see you later then. Bye!" he said, smiling the whole time, raising his hand to wave, tossing his hair a bit as he turned to walk in the direction of the exit near where he had parked, all the way back by A&F, but on the opposite side. He shoved his hands in his pockets, smiling as he walked, ecstatic with how his day had turned out.

"Cheers," Nathaniel had replied as they parted ways. He had to find his car and head home. The general parking lot was not by A&F, it as by one of the larger main stores of the mall, just because it was easier to get through and had it's own coffee stand amongst all the perfume stands and clothes racks. He had no trouble getting there, it was finding it again that was the trick. With all new cars around it from when he had gotten here, recognizing it was a task. He found it eventually and got in, taking his time to get home.

Draylen didn't have that much trouble finding his car, knowing generally where he parked it most of the time. He hopped in and turned it on, cranking the air conditioning instantly, against the heat of New York in the summer. He navigated the way through the parking lot, easily steering his way towards home, thinking about how new friend the whole way.

Arriving home wasn't a long time, but it wasn't like a ten minute drive. At least it was under an hour, he grumbled to himself. He parked the car in the middle instead of where he usually had to park on the side so his parents could get in and out of the driveway. He locked the car, hitting the button twice to make sure, then walked inside. His dogs had heard the car beeping from the double lock, they were all eagerly waiting at the door, tails wagging, ready to break whatever got in its way. Those tails were vicious, if you weren't careful. "Hey guys," he greeted them, "are you hungry? Did Leland feed you?" They tried jumping on him a few times, but with a firm no he got them to calm down a bit. He fed them and headed to his room to relax.

Draylen greeted his cat when he got home, scratching it behind the ears. This was his favorite of his two cats, that always waited for him to come home. He picked the feline up, carrying it with him up to his room, skirting the front hall closet, and sitting down on his bed, putting the cat down. He pulled out his phone and the piece of paper Nathaniel had given him with his number on it, programming it into his phone, rather eager to see him next.

Homework took no less than half an hour, and he was bored already. He didn't have Draylen's number to call him again sometime, so he'd rely on Draylen calling him first so he could just save the number when it showed up on his cell or his home phone. He felt as though he'd be seeing a lot more of Draylen now since they'd be seeing each other on a weekly basis for the most part, not to mention Draylen and himself being extremely curious to the other's abilities.

Draylen was in his room for a few minutes talking to his cat before he picked up his phone, deciding to try calling Nathaniel, so the older male would at least have his number. He flipped through the contacts quickly, finding the most recent one and hitting the call button, putting the phone to his ear and stroking his cat almost nervously, always having hated calling people on the phone. It was unnerving to him for some reason. Answering was different though, if that made sense.

The phone rang sharply next to him, vibrating at the same time. He picked it up and answered, not knowing the ID of it but figuring it was potentially Dray. "Hullo?" he asked somewhat uncertainly into the phone. He wasn't big on the phone, he found that some people had a harder time understanding his accent on the phone too. It was a pain to repeat what he had said in the phone, to enforce the words because the machine made his voice odd. He didn't call often, and didn't usually get called, but he answered the phone when he had to.

Draylen listened to the mechanical ringing sound on the other line, followed by the short silence that indicated that Nath had picked up, followed by his voice to confirm that. "Hey, Nath? It's Dray" he said, sure his voice was more confident than he always thought it was. "I just called to ah, well, give you my number I guess" he shrugged, well aware that the other male couldn't see him. He tended to nod while on the phone too, feeling foolsih afterwards.

"Oh," that made sense to him, he'd have to log it now when this was done. "That's a good idea then." He didn't know what else to say, they had spoken less than an hour ago, there wasn't that much to talk about unless Draylen came up with something. "So we've got each others numbers now, I'll give you a ring whenever, you do the same if you like." At least the Americans understood that one, it sounded exactly like "give me a call" to them.