"Do, do, do... Okay, lets get started." Devin whistled, taking his seat as he smiled to the camera, grabbing the sack of papers lying on the arm rest. "Wassup, this is your man Scott yall! I'm here to- huh?" Devin stopped himself as he checked his phone, tilting his head and dropping the script as he read the text. "Ooookay, Devin's the name and getting into acting is my new game... W-wow, I-I'm bad at winging it." Devin stammered, looking everywhere but the camera before laughing out a nervous chuckle. "Scott must be a lead in another show on the network... Blah, blah, blah." Devin smiled in relief as he read another text. "R-right, old show. Good idea." Devin nodded. "Ridonculous Race isn't coming back. Kinda bummed about that. Really bummed, honestly. I had a great time. Made some good friends. Met the love of my life... realized it, more like. Double R had powerhouse ratings, for the life of me I don't know why they canceled it." Devin focused his gaze back to the camera after reading another text. "I'm on a new show now, ' Devin shook his head at another text. "Show biz, am I right?" Devin asked. "I know i made it sound bad, but don't get me wrong. I'm excited. No real details, but come on! Urban fantasy. Maybe its about the journey of a self made man, or a struggling artist. Personally I'm hoping for a traveling magician. They're so cool when you see them on the street. But in all seriousness, my last show ended with me in a full body cast." Devin smirked at the camera as he finally texted back. "Top it."
Raft clove: Urban fantasy
Chapter 1- Pilot
"Hello. This is Chang, Devin Chang." Devin announced, only receiving static from the door's buzzer. The door's phone plate was implanted on the side of the faded green brick wall of the building, less than a foot from the bright red metal door. Taking out his phone to check and scrolling through the texts to make sure he had the location right, both the apartment number and street address. Readjusting his back pack and setting his duffel, Devin shrugged. "Did you mean afternoon, the e-mail didn't say-"
The red front door suddenly cracked open with a loud buzzing sound coming from just next to the handle, cutting Devin off. Giving a happy shrug, Devin walked in down the hall and a few flights of stairs of the apartment building until he found his door. After knocking on it, the door opened and a pudgy, tired looking man opened the door. While he was about a head taller than Devin himself he was a fair deal wider with a bit of a gut, shaggy red hair with a matching scruffy beard. He was wearing nothing but a worn looking white T-shirt with faded red sweat pants. He looked like he just got out of bed.
"Uhhh, Justin?" Devin asked.
The red haired man gave a low groan. His half opened blood shot eyes staring off into space as he walked back into the apartment, leaving the door open for Devin behind him. Shrugging, Devin fallowed with his stuff. The apartment was fairly standard, if a bit pricey. It was a three bed, two bath. The living room was just big enough for a couch, a side chair, and a TV in the front. Just like what Devin saw on the website. Though, for some reason the couch was flipped over.
A few feet in, Devin dropped his stuff to the side wall before he stepped on something. Under his foot Devin found none other than a hot pink sports bra. Looking around, Devin saw a few more pieces of discarded clothes, all of which were girls clothes. More than one girl's clothes at that given the one and a half pair of pink and white running shoes Devin could see scattered around the living room. Another of which was white and black striped yoga pants that were half covered by the couch as Sam flipped it back up before collapsing on to it. His face buried in the cushion on one end, his feet hanging off the other. Devin suppressed a laugh as he heard bearded guy snoring after a few seconds.
Shaking off the laughs, Devin tilted his head at the thought. Either he had a girl roommate he didn't know about, or the snoring guy face down on the couch had himself a fun time with someone the night before. Two someone's by the double pairs of different sized girls clothes laying around. Deciding not to think further into it as he shrugged before grabbing his stuff again to move to the cleaner side of the room, only to find the missing running shoe under his carry-on bag.
After putting away his stuff again, Devin grabbed the pairs of girls shoes and put them on the side-chair next to the couch. Picking up the hot pink sports bra he stepped on off the ground, Devin heard the door open on the right side of the room and out walked a couple girls who looked like they also just got out of bed... and half naked.
The taller one looked to be about eye level with Devin himself. She was on the thinner side, her leanness seemed to be only enhanced by her darker complexion, her ebon shoulder length hair in straight hanging dreadlocks. The other girl had paler skin, a little on the pudgy side like the guy sleeping on the couch, was about a head shorter than Devin, and her shoulder length black hair was all bunched up on one side. Devin could guess what side side she was slept on. Both girls were in a state of undress. The taller girl was in only an olive green V-neck shirt that reached a little below her waist. The shorter girl was in a simple blue hoody, since it was a bit small for her, it wasn't zipped father than her belly button.
Walking out of the room, one yawning and the other rubbing an eye, instantly stopped as they spotted Devin. Devin himself turned to the side, the girls still in his vision, but he didn't look directly at them. Devin's face reddened as he remembered he was holding the sports bra he stepped on from before.
"Uh," Devin turned back, trying not to stare at the girls as he held out the sports bra. "I was cleaning up."
"Ummm, like thanks." The taller girl said, pulling the V-neck shirt down to her thighs, trying to cover herself. The shirt itself already comically large on her, barely held on to the girl's shoulders. Thus showing Devin ample cleavage over her considerable chest, that Devin did not mind noticing, as she walked over around the couch. Around the sleeping guy, who's snoring stopped when the door was opened. "Sorry, we didn't know there was anyone else here."
"I could wait outside if you want." Devin suggested, grabbing duffel bag again. "No problem."
"Its fine." The shorter girl said, zipping up the hoody, which if anything showed even more than when it was unzipped. As it was now skin tight on the girl, especially around the chest, her nipples pressed against the fabric. The rest emphasizing the larger gal's generous curves. "We'll be leaving soon."
"We're already running late for work."
The taller girl said, sliding on the sports bra through the V-neck. Devin looked away again, if anything else trying not to look creepy, but couldn't help enjoying whatever view he could. Devin tried to focus on anything else, but there wasn't much in the small room, aside from seeing the shorter girl find a pair of pink and black yoga pants and slipped them on. With no options, Devin just shut his eyes and counted to ten.
"Sooo, you two and Justin have fun last night?" Devin opening his eyes. The shorter gal now fully dressed, if still in the tight hoody. The taller girl now wore the shirt around her waist like a long skirt, the large neck opening just small enough to stay on, the hot pink sports bra tight against her chest. "He was barely awake when he let me in."
"Um, what?" The girls looked at Devin confused. He pointed at the couch beside them. The girls look startled for a moment at the sleeping guy, still faced down on the couch, before confusion returned to their faces. "We had no idea he was there."
"We were with his roommate down the hall." Blue hoody said, pointing to the room they just came out of. "Still sleeping like an angel."
"Well, uh, sorry to disturb ya. Sooo, do you guys live here or..." Devin asked, turning from redbeard on the couch to the girls. Devin grabbed the sneakers on the lazy boy, handing them off before gesturing at their obvious gym clothes. "Here you go."
"Haha, no. We met JayJay at the gym." Sports bra shook her head as she grabbed her sneakers. "If we knew he had roommates we would have invited him to our place. Sorry."
"I-its fine..." Devin stammered shrugging, looking away for a moment before turning back to the girls. "JayJay?"
"It was on his name tag" Sports bra shrugged, her and blue hoody continued looking around the rest of the room. "Its cute, but don't let that fool ya. He's such a naughty boy."
Devin awkwardly nodded as he turned away, he knew what they were looking for and walked over to the far end of the couch, redbeard's feet hanging over the yoga pants that were stuck under the back leg. Lifting up and setting down the couch as quietly as he could, Devin held his breath more to avoid the smell of redbeard's feet then for the lift itself as he pulled out and held up the yoga pants.
"Looking for this?"
"Thank you,"
Sports bra smiled, shimmering into the stretchy tight pants, the olive colored V-neck around her waist swayed around like a hula skirt. Devin probably should have looked away… but the girl was good looking and the scene wasn't really something people see everyday. It was then through the corner of his eye that Devin saw the door the girls first came out of crack open. The guy in the room stopped frozen, his mouth still open from yawning, as he spotted the girls.
"Sooo," Blue hoody greeted, the sweatshirt now unzipped revealing a white tank top, Devin had no idea where it came from. Blue hoody waved as she slipped into the matching pink and white shoes before pointing behind her to the door, the guy silently and slowly closed his mouth. "How do you know JayJay?"
"Roommate, or will be." The guy's gaze switched to Devin, shaking his head with shushing gesture as he slowly shut his door closed. Devin smiled at this, trying to hold in a laugh. "Haven't met your guy yet, but how'd you meet?"
"Oh wel-"
"Hhheeyyy..." Redbeard yawned. "Quiet down."
"Sorry." Blue hoody whispered at redbeard. As she did, Devin felt a faint tingling coming up his hand from his bag. Lifting it up, Devin saw a hello kitty decorated smart phone vibrating on the floor. Holding it up so the girls could see it, Blue hoody bit her lip as she grabbed it, wincing at the screen. "OMGod! We are so late."
"Oh crap! That's like the third time this week."
Sports bra cringed as she ran to the door, only to trip and falls as the olive green shirt got tangled around her ankles. Sports bra jumped back up to her feet only to almost fall back down again before Devin managed to catch her. Holding Sports bra up with one hand as he pulled off the shirt from her ankles with the other, but once Sports bra had one leg free she kicked the shirt off the other and right onto redbeard's face, though that last bit was probably by accident. Redbeard hadn't even noticed as he just kept on snoring under it.
"Key's. Key's." Blue hoody asked, desperately looking around the room, getting down on her knees to peak under the furniture. Blue hoody even tipped over the lazy boy, only to find balls of lint. "Where are the keys?"
"I don't know. I don't know. I don't know." Sports bra panicked, all but bouncing on the balls of her feet. Devin tried not to notice how her actual sports bra was bouncing up and down with her. Pulling his gaze away, Devin pulled out his own phone from his pocket. "We need this job. What are we going to do."
"Mmmmarrppphhh." Redbeard chuffed, turning to his side on the couch, completely oblivious to everything going on.
"Ummm, any chance you guys didn't drive here and just called a ride?" Devin asked, both the girls immediately stopped what they were doing and stared at him, wide eyed with blank stares. Devin shrugged as he held up his phone to them. "Well, uber app. Should be outside in a few minutes."
Surprisingly, the girls didn't say another word as they all but jumped out the front door.
"They're gone buddy." Devin smiled, speaking just loud enough down the hall not to wake up redbeard on the couch. "You can come out."
"Holy crap." The door opened, and out walked the anti-redbeard. The guy was a little shorter than Devin, messy dark brown hair, clean shaven face, along with a healthy tan complexion… Oh and he had a full blown six pack, well defined shoulder and arm muscles and Devin would swear that his pearl white teeth looked like they were glowing. Devin wouldn't have been surprised that under the olive green sweat pants were just as toned leg muscles. He looked like the lost Greek god of body spray commercials. Quite a contrast to the hairy pudgy pale dude passed out on the couch. "I thought they'd never leave, and they took my hoody too. Great… was my favorite shirt." \
"Couldn't have gone that far." Devin shrugged, smirking at the guy as he walked into the living room. "I could call'em back if you wa-"
"No no, that's cool." The guy shook his head as he held out his hand, Devin shook it. "J-just a hoody... that my mom gave me. Anyway, I'm Justin. I put out the add. Sorry you ran into that. Lost track of time."
"Devin. So I'm guessing those aren't the roommates I don't know about?" Devin asked, smiling as he pointed to redbeard still passed out on the couch. Devin tilted his head as he walked back over to redbeard and pulled off the shirt over his face. "Believe this is yours."
"Thanks." Justin nodded, grabbing the shirt only to cringe as he saw a glob of slobber right in the middle, probably the part that was over redbeard's mouth. Justin sighed as he tossed it. "Perfect, but yeah. We got another roommate. Probably should'ah mentioned that in the add. Dude's name is Sam, cool guy. He works nights, you'll barely see him. He actually got here about an hour before you did."
"Oh, poor guy. I feel bad for waking him up." Devin turned to the sleeping redbeard. "Did you not hear the buzzer?"
"Oh I did." Justin nodded. "I've actually been up since before Sam came home. But I was smothered between those two. Couldn't risk waken'em up. Swear to god! First time I ever wanted to put ear plugs in."
"They didn't seem that bad."
"Cuz they were in a hurry." Just shook his head. "Give'm twenty minutes, you'd rip you're ears off. Its what I get for bringing girls from work home."
"Let me guess." Devon sarcastically tapped his chin. "A door to door nutritionist, trying to educate people the benefits of being a couch potato."
"W-what?" Justin tilted his head confused at Devon as he pointed to his bare stomach. "N-no, what part of these abs told you that? That doesn't even sound like a real jo- joke. Its a joke. Got it. Ya might wanna work on it. Had to think for a bit to get it."
"I'll keep that in mind for my stand up."
"Let me lose my ticket to your free improv skit in advance." Justin shrugged. "You want some coffee?"
"Ha." Devon snorted, nodding as he fallowed Abs out of the living room and into the kitchen. Leaving redbeard alone to sleep in peace. The kitchen itself was fairly small, which was no real surprise. Just enough room for a sink, a stove, and a shelf with a mini-fridge taking up a third of it."S-sure."
"But yeah, I'm a personal trainer." Justin explained pulling out a couple of mugs from the top shelf and setting one in the coffee maker on the second shelf as he turned it on. "I got off work as their yoga class was wrapping up. You know the story. We got talking, one thing led to another, yadda-yadda. I landed in my apartment with two lovely ladies with me somehow coming to regret it the next morning."
"Wow!" Devon chuckled, unable to hold back his laughs. The sheer upbeat tone, and the blunt way he was saying it, made it impossible as the half naked walking deodorant model grabbed his now filled mug out and replaced it with empty one. "I don't really know what to say to that. Ever thought of writing your adventures down and giving it to a publicist?"
"I'm sure it would bite me in the ass later." Justin shrugged, ignoring Devon's joke as he took a sip of his cup, grabbing Devon's mug and handing it to him. "Hope you like green leaf espresso."
"Awesome! My new favorite." Devon said, grabbing the coffee mug. "I'm sorry french vanilla. You'll always have a special place in my heart."
"Y-you're one of those 'glass half full' types aren't ya, Dev?"
"Meh." Devin answered, looking down at the dark drink in his hand, shrugging and took a swig. To Devin's own surprise didn't taste that off, the coffee was just less sweet than he was used to. "J-just trying to make a good first impression. I'm sure I'll be less insufferable after we get used to each other."
"Ha!" Justin laughed, almost spitting out his last sip, thankfully without spilling anything. "Dude, you're fine. The very fact that you're trying means you're a step up over my other roommates. Yeah, Sam's cool, but when we see each other, one of us is a sleep. Best I get out'ah him is a yawn."
"Works for me.*" Devin yawned jokingly, before finishing off the last of the coffee in his mug. "Can I get another cup of that?"
"S-sure," Justin snorted, refilling Devin's mug. "You can't tell a joke but you can make me laugh. I just might not lose that ticket."
"Thanks." Devon nodded, dinging his mug against Justin's own. "Cheers."
"Not to pry on the first day, but'ah... its a pretty weird time to move." Devin set down his mug, but before he could so much as open his mouth something on his face must have answered for him as Justin winced, and it wasn't for the coffee. "Bad break up."
"Yuup," Devin shrugged. "Wasn't working between me and her. Moving out just seemed like the right call."
"Oh that sucks." Justin laughed, a sad tone in his voice. "Its always the girl who gets the best stuff in the break, but the whole apartment? Damn. Hope she found a roommate fast."
"Meh," Devin tilted his head, drinking the last of his second cup. "She was my neighbor before we moved in. Can I get another?"
"Sure," Justin nodded as he refilled Devin's mug. "That's why I never hook up with anyone in my building... they'd know where I live."
"What about those two-"
"A couple of girls who can't remember my name, pretty sure they won't remember my address." Justin shrugged, handing Devin back his mug before pulling out bottle of brown liquid from inside a cheerios cereal box. "Want some irish spice with that?"
"Nah, I'm cool." Devin shook his head, before taking another swig of his mug. "I got work soon."
"You got any pics of your ex?" Justin asked.
"Just on my phone." Devin answered. "Why?"
"Damn!" Justin cursed, his teeth showing. "One of the drawbacks of the digital age, you don't get the satisfaction of burning pics of your ex. So much as post anything bad about them online, at best you a creep."
"Never seen that done in real life." Devin said, ignoring the last part of his speech. "The burning pictures thing."
"Got the idea from a rom-com myself." Justin admitted. "Its surprisingly satisfying. Have the perfect way to do it too. Hint. It involves alcohol, and not the drinking kind."
"Uhhh, what?" Devin asked, as Justin knelled down and opened up the cabinet under the sink. "You gonna dip the pictures in rubbing alcohol, the kind you find in first aid kits?"
"H-hold on. Hold on. Justin said, digging further into the cabinet. As he did, Devin just shrugged and finished off his coffee before pouring himself a fourth cup. By the time Justin finally gave up, over half his upper body was under the sink. Standing up, Justin shrugged, disappointed. "Huh, must be in my room."
"Its cool." Devin took another sip. "I don't really have any pics to burn anyway. Well aside from my phone, but ah..."
"Its a trick, man." Justin folded his arms at Devin. A lil something I whip out at parties. My version of a first impression. Thought I'd brighten your morning with a little panache. I can still get it out'ah my room if you want."
"Nah, its cool." Devin said, finishing off his mug before showing Justin the time on his phone. "Besides, I gotta get going."
"Meh, good point." Justin nodded, heading out the kitchen back toward his room. "Mark my words Dev, you'll see my trick before you know it Fam."
XXXXXXXXXX
"Okay, please sign here." Devin said, pointing at the bottom of his smart phone's screen before handing it off the large orange cylinder package to the customer. "Here you go."
"Good, this came in just in time." The customer said finishing off his signature and handing back the phone, which Devin noted had no tip added. Devin grew a lopsided frown at the customer as he pulled off the plastic covering the package. The customer himself had a full beard and his long brown hair pulled into a man-bun on the back of his head. He was about the same size as Devin himself, if a little taller, but he was much, much thinner. The well defined arm muscles sticking out of his T-shirt didn't do much to help. "Camping season is just around the corner."
Man-bun soon gave up on trying to pull off the plastic, and just before he was about to use his teeth, he walked back behind the counter and pulled out a pair of scissors. As he did, Devin looked around the rest of the shop. It was a military surplus store, the kind of shop that sells old equipment and civilian cleared weapons. There were racks upon racks of different types of uniforms spread out along the store, some going back decades and couldn't still be in modern use. Old equipment ranging from tents to boots laid out on top of the shelves. Even a small section dedicated to shiny and colorful medals that Devin knew nothing about.
All of it was old, all of it was used, judging by the wear and tear each piece of merchandise. Even the weapons hidden behind glass cases told as much. Ranging from the smallest faded Swiss army knife, to the rusted swords, to the worn but clean pistols. The last of which, Devin noted, there was plenty of.
"So, uhh whats it like working here?"
"Meh," Man-bun shrugged, the scissors back on the desk, unscrewing the top of the package and pulling out what looked like a handful of grey rocks. Setting them down in a bowl next to rolls of green fiber cord on one side, and a small shelf of colorful pamphlets on the other. Dropping the package into an open filing cabinet, Man-bun sat back down in the swivel chair behind him in a slump, doing two full spins before he pulled out a snickers bar. "Its a store. You worked in one, you worked in'em all. I'm only here because of employee discounts."
"Okay." Devin nodding at the army rain coat, which the rack labeled 'GORE-TEX' for some reason. "There is some cool stuff in here."
"Yup, each and everything in here is tried and tested. Meant for utility and endurance. Unlike those lousy sporting good stores." Man-bun said bitterly, biting off a chunk of his candy bar. "Won't find anything there but glorified costumes, meant to be used once and forgotten about in your closet. Sure, you'll pull off a millennial Elmer Fudd at a Halloween party, but none of it'll keep you alive in the field. Especially during winter."
"I'lllll have to take your word on that." Devin shrugged, taking a step back. Eager to look at anything else, Devin took a better look at the row's of pamphlets sitting next to the bowl of stones he just delivered. Picking up the dark green one in the middle, Devin saw what looked to be balding college professor in bad zombie make up chasing someone out of frame, a giant foam ax on one side, and an orange paintball gun on the other pointed at him. "Zombie park… sounds like a great movie title. Just spitball'n here, but maybe starring Jesse Eisenberg and Woody Harrellson. Something with a banjo."
"You laugh, but Z-squad's been doing that before the movie." Man-bun pointed at the pamphlet Devin was holding. "You can probably guess which holiday we do it."
"Z-squad?"
"Think doomsday preppers with a zombie theme." Man-bun explained, finishing off his candy bar before pulling out some beef jerky. "Really brings in the kids. Believe it or not, they're in pretty much every major city."
"Huh," Devin asked, setting down the pamphlet where he found it. "They got a TV show?"
"If we were a bunch of crazy survivalists, held up in the woods waiting for a zombie apocalypse maybe." Man-bun smiled at Devin, he knew what the delivery boy was implying. "Think boy-scouts but way cooler, and instead worrying about being molested by the a creepy scout master in the woods, you worry about getting your face bitten off in undead suburbia."
"Wow," Devin laughed. "Dark, but I'll be damned if its not hilarious."
"And true." Man-bun nodded, finishing off his jerky. "You never know when those dead eyed freaks are gonna get ya."
"Ha." Devin laughed even harder. "So which season is your favorite? I admit I haven't really kept on with the show... they've been on for a whil-"
"I actually hate those shows." Man-bun shook his head. "I mean sure, the plots are...whatever. But I've only seen a handful of the cast actually preparing for a zombie hoard. And the movies-Gah. They don't even try."
"Makes sense." Devin nodded. "Kinda like talking to a solider about battles in war mov-"
"Don't even joke about that in here man." Man-bun shushed, looking over Devin's shoulders to the customers shuffling through his store, to check if they noticed. Apparently, none of them did. A lot of the customers looked like Man-bun, full beards with their hair long, pretty in shape with all their movements stiff. Devin could only guess that at least a good chunk of them were ex-military. "Once you get them started they'll never leave."
"Makes sense. Like giving an engineer a star wars comic." Devin smiled, holding back a laugh, before taking another look at the zombie park brochure. "So, every Halloween?"
"Yup, but if you don't wanna wait that long to try it out." Man-bun said, reaching over the counter and pulling out another pamphlet. Grabbing it Devin could see it was sapphire blue, spotted with stars and in the center was gray wide rimmed pointy hat with a silver 'W3' stamped on it. "That's coming up soon."
"Sooo," Devin raised his eyebrow confused. "Willie's winter wonderland?"
"Close. Its a fantasy flavored comic-con. Its in Raft clove this year." Man-bun explained. "Ever since that show with the pointy chair came out, zombies are part of the action. They call'em 'wights' now, but Z-squad's got a booth. We've even got a 'round table' roundabout where fans can slaughter those dead eyed freaks."
"Well, I've never been to comic-con."
"Don't give your hopes up, fantasy only. Gotta tell ya, the only 'wand' I'll be using is this finger." Man-bun gave a rude gesture. "Magic. Takes all the fun out. I kill my undead with bullets, thank you very much."
"Fantasy shows. Zombie shows." Devin smiled. "You got another one so I win 'ruined genre that won't die' tick tak toe?"
"Meh." Man-bun shrugged. "There's a million police procedurals. They always sucked but won't die."
"Wonder if there's a fantasy cop show with zombies." Man-bun stared up at the delivery boy and cringed before taking out a small silver flask and poured what was in it into his coffee on the desk. Devin tried not to laugh as he saw Man-bun take a swig of it and cringed again, fallowed by panicked blinks and an exhale. Biting his lip, Devin pointed at the bowl. "How much?"
"You going camping?" Man-bun asked, setting down his drink. "Its a fire stone. Rub it against anything and -phoom, sparks. They're not good for much else."
"I could always use a pet rock." Devin shrugged. "Besides, I was taught that you always buy something when you go into a store and a better chance of repeat business if they sell."
"Okay, but can I ask a favor?" Man-bun asked, his tone jovial and his words a little slurred as he grabbed one of the fire stones from the bowl, but apparently still sober enough to catch after tossing it into the air. Devin wouldn't have been surprised if the coffee wasn't the first thing he poured his flask into."If you go to the fantasy con thing, please try to find the most annoying dungeon masturbater in there."
"Bit of a tall order." Devin smiled back. "Finding 'that guy'."
"Fair enough." Man-bun nodded, pointing at Devin. "How about a guy doing pretend spells a lot?"
"Why?"
"Lightning bo-" Man-bun said, winding back his hand holding the firestone, while not half way through the first word, Man-bun shaped his other hand shaped like a pistol and made a shooting motion. "Bang."
XXXXXXXXX
"Okay. Okay… Almost g-got it." Abs whispered, his head out the window as he backed into the parking space. Devin looked out his window and covered his ears, waiting for the screeching sound of sheet metal scraping together, only to be met with silence and an awkward bump as they hit the curb. "Nailed it!"
Devin could only shake his head and smirk as he heard the sound of sheet metal against sheet metal he was waiting for, thankfully it was only a smack instead of a screech as the drivers side door hit the car next to them.
"Yup." Devin nodded, looking out his window and saw that his own door was only a few inches to the car on his side. "Ya nailed it."
"Well then." Abs smiled, closing his door shut before she slid between the two front seats to the back. Fallowing Abs, Devin shielded his eyes as Abs opened the rear doors and flooded the vehicle with light before they both jumped out. "Careful man."
"Justin?" Devin asked, turning back around tilting his head at the sight of the large van squeezed between two compacted cars, and from the new angle looked like they had even less room than Devin thought. "I still don't know how you sandwitched that thing in there. If I didn't know better, I'd say you slathered the van in butter or something."
"I know right." Abs cheered, closing the van's rear doors shut as he walked around one of the compact cars to the meter on the sidewalk. "Nailed it."
"Hey Just," Devin asked, fallowing Abs and finding him digging through his pockets. "...You forgot to bring the quarters, didn't ya?"
"...Maybe. Weird thing, I always carry around a silver dollar." Abs shrugged, pulling out his necklace from under his shirt, and in its center was a shining polished chrome disk. "You'd think it'd be lucky."
"You sure its cool to take out the company car like this?" Devin asked, tapping the yellow 'A' in the purple stripe on the van's hood. "Pretty sure all-time fitness is going to have your balls in a vice for this."
"Duuude, its cool. Its totally cool." Abs nodded with a grin as he pulled out a card from his pocket. The card was green, holes punched in neat rows, and a sandwich in the center. "Its company policy that if personal trainers get enough holes stamped in their 'client above and beyond card' they get to take the van out, no questions asked. It took me years to build this up. Quite frankly, you're lucky to be along for the ride."
"Uh-huh," Devin smiled, pointing at the card. "And from the looks of it, you also get a free five dollar foot long. I thought they discontinued that."
"Good eye." Abs smirked, grinding his teeth as he put the card away. "But man, if there's anything I learned as a personal trainer, the less questions asked, the happier everyone is."
"Makes sense I guess, but I got three for ya." Devin shrugged, holding up three fingers with one hand as he pointed to Ab's belt with the other. "Why are you wearing a fanny pack, and why does a gym need a company van?"
Justin was wearing what looked to be the same olive green V-neck shirt the girl had been wearing as a dress that morning and Sam accidentally used as a napkin, Devin could only hope that he washed it or it was just a matching shirt, blue jeans and a pair of black shoes. Now thanks to pulling out his necklace his silver dollar pendant shined in the gleaming street light. All of that seemed fine, but for some reason the personal trainer and lost Greek god of spray tan commercials was wearing a fanny pack that matched his V-neck. If he was wearing an old film camera, aviators, and a fisher's hat Abs would look like a stock tourist in an action film.
Though, Devin had to admit he wasn't much better. The delivery boy was wearing his vintage earth Kingdom shirt and an old pair of jorts. Devin probably wouldn't have made it past the first audition.
"Sorry bro, no spoilers for the fanny-P." Abs smirked, both hands pointing toward his a... Devin could only hope he meant the pack. "Second, a number of reasons. The gym gets hired by companies for all kinds of stuff: trust building camps, self-defense classes- I personally teach Tai Chi. Just last year, the city sponsored charity group workouts at Dyson Memorial park. That's just the usual stuff, one time the military hired us for a spin class at their base."
"You know tai chi?" Devin asked.
"Its a great way to start and end the day, but you're focusing on the wrong thing. When you're the only dude everyone around is looking at, the bright morning sun shining off your muscles-" Abs gestured down his arms and, well, abs. "telling people what to do through the speakers while pump up music is blasting in the background... I might've taught a class on fitness but the real workout was right after in the van."
"O-oh, heh heh." Devin stuttered, his laughs sounded full of disgust, even to him as he turned back to the black company van. "I'm officially calling permanent dibs on shotgun."
"Unless your the DD."
"What?" Devin asked, turning back around.
"Uhhh, nothing." Abs shook his head. "Wait, what was the third question? You never asked."
"Well," Devin pointed back at the dorky everything repellent. "any chance that the money for the meter is in the 'fanny-p'?"
"R-right. Yeah, great idea." Abs stuttered, opening up the pack a little too quickly and after a few moments of pretending to search Justin pulled out a few coins duller and smaller than the one around his neck. "Well whadduah know? Good call."
"Nuther fallow up there mate." Devin crossed his arms, growing a lopsided smirk. "Were you also gonna forget your wallet was in there and stick me with the tab?"
"Uhhh, look du-"
"Did you like pulling o'l roommate into your shenanigans?" Devin asked, tilting his head to the side and waving a hand at the personal trainer. "Want me to keep going... I think you're right, i would be good at improve."
"I got no doubt man. I might just not lose my ticket to that show." Abs smiled, turning away from Devin a little too quickly again as he put money in the meeter. "But today isn't about me. Its about you. This is your welcoming party, and I'm taking you to the best joint closest to our apartment."
XXXXXXXXXXXX
"Well that's not exactly a high rise zip-line, but its a start."