Empire Records; Monday [ 01/22 ]

[senor-chado.livejournal.com]

It was one of those days when Chad slept until he had to be at work, rolled out of bed, and just went right in. He didn't want to deal with anyone, he didn't want to be asked if he was normal, or be reminded that other people weren't.

It was one of those days where Chad did minimal work and spent most of his time behind the counter, plucking along to Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Guns'n'Roses and singing all the depressing lyrics in Spanish.

//"Some say I'm crazy
I guess I'll always be
But it's been such a long time
Since I knew right from wrong
It's all the means to an end, I,
I keep on movin' along."//

He wasn't depressed, though. Just...really thoughtful.


[[ empire's open ]]

Comments

[notthehulk.livejournal.com]

So, waking up and realizing that you totally ditched your boyfriend after a very nice date wasn't very fun. Teddy really hoped there was some sort of clause in relationships that said people couldn't be blamed for when Fandom weirdness turned you into another person.

After class, he ran down to the store, looking for Chad.

"Chad?"

[senor-chado.livejournal.com]

Chad looked up at the sound of his name, and then stopped playing when he saw who it was. "Oh," he sighed a little, unslung the guitar and set it aside as he'd figured he she probably help him out; he was sure he was probably real excited to see that, even in wanting to get music, the not!Teddy couldn't escape him. "Hey, Justin. Need help with anything?"

[notthehulk.livejournal.com]

Crap. That didn't sound good at all.

"It's me. Teddy."

[senor-chado.livejournal.com]

Ow. That little sudden leap of his heart kinda hurt. Chad's shoulders straighened as he looked over at the other boy, almost worried that he'd heard incorrectly. Y'know. One of those 'hear what you want to hear' things.

"...Really?"

[notthehulk.livejournal.com]

Teddy nodded, shifting from one foot to the other nervously. "I'm sorry about this weekend."

[senor-chado.livejournal.com]

Chad promptly put a hand on the counter to help vault him over, to put him in a position to better glomp Teddy with a great big, feet-off-the-floor, potentially lung-crushing hug.

[notthehulk.livejournal.com]

Hugs were something Teddy was all for after the weekend from relationship screwing up hell. He hugged Chad back just as tightly.

[senor-chado.livejournal.com]

There was lots more hugging to be had before Chad said anything, and, when he did, it was just a comforting confirmation of what had already been established. "You're back."

[notthehulk.livejournal.com]

Teddy nodded into Chad's shoulder, happy himself to be back and that there wasn't any awkwardness with Chad over what happened. "Worst weekend ever." Then he corrected himself. "Worst Saturday and Sunday ever, Friday.." He snuggled into Chad. "...was really nice."

[senor-chado.livejournal.com]

"Friday was very nice," Chad corrected him, and then hugged him just a bit tighter for a fleeting moment as he also added, thinking of what happened with Ranma. "An' it coulda been a lot worse. I'm just...glad..."

[notthehulk.livejournal.com]

Teddy looked up at Chad, concern showing on his face. "What happened?"

[senor-chado.livejournal.com]

"Setsuna..." Chad sighed, frowning, as he wasn't quite sure how to explain, because he still wasn't quite sure what had happened. He paused, tried a different approach. "Ranma's really gonna need some friends right now."

[notthehulk.livejournal.com]

Frowning and resting his forehead on Chad's chest, Teddy said, "I'll talk to him."

And he made no move to leave, instead he continued to hug Chad for a while.

[nadiathesaint]

After her class, Nadia headed to Empire, forgetting that Chad would be working.

Call it morbid curiosity, but she was determined to hunt down a Brian Slade album. If for no other reason then to make fun of it.

[senor-chado.livejournal.com]

Chad gave Nadia a wave as she came in. "Hey."

[nadiathesaint]

Nadia waved back. "Do you know where the 70s British glam rock is?"

[senor-chado.livejournal.com]

"Uhhh," Chad rubbed the back of his neck, took a quick look around in case he'd missed a 70s British glam rock section. He didn't remember seeing one, but he wasn't always exactly the most observant guy in the world.

"Imports, maybe?" He guessed. "Or classic rock, possibly...."

[nadiathesaint]

Nadia laughed softly. "Walter's performance might have been classic in one sense, but I doubt it'd end up there. I'll check, though. You make it through the weekend alright?"

[senor-chado.livejournal.com]

"Releatively unscathed, yeah," Chad grunted, rubbing the back of his neck a little. "You?"

[nadiathesaint]

"Other than apparently being knocked unconscious by a squirrel while doing radio, getting hit on by one of my favorite professors, and having to convince my suddenly glam boyfriend that I was worth being around . . . it was okay."

[senor-chado.livejournal.com]

"Ouch," Chad symphathized. "Everything workin' out, though?"

[nadiathesaint]

"I guess. Aziraphale was very apologetic. So was Walter. Not so much the squirrel, though. Were you . . . you all weekend?"

[senor-chado.livejournal.com]

Chad rubbed his forehead, phantom pains from his own squirrel attacks. "Yeah, I was me. Pretty sure of it, anyway."

[nadiathesaint]

Nadia nodded. As they talked, she'd located the imports section, and one particular album: "The Ballad of Maxwell Demon".

"//Holy mother of God and all her blessed, attending saints. Get a load of that ass!//"

Indeed, gracing the cover was a shot of Brian Slade, bare as the day he was born, lying face down on a luxurious swath of red velvet.

[senor-chado.livejournal.com]

Chad was a bit confused by the sudden exclamation, looking over his shoulder at his own ass for a moment before realizing that Nadia was talking about the album cover. Which made him pretty glad it wasn't evident when he blushed.

He took it that she'd found what she was looking for.