As much as he hated it, Jonathan forced himself to leave the game, again vaguely telling his younger friend that he was "busy."
He could tell that Evan was disappointed, but he merely laughed lightly, "When will you not be busy?"
"Hopefully soon," Delirious smiled, "but I won't be long I promise, this will only take me an hour, then we can continue with the guys."
"Nooooooo…" protested Evan, and Jon couldn't figure out if he didn't want him to leave, or he didn't want the others to join. Either way, it made him feel important and wanted as he exited the call and game. Jonathan stood up and grabbed his phone before heading out the door.
"Ok, you said there's a shop where?"
"When leaving the hotel, take a left and it's about a mile and a half that direction, you know the name right?" Luke replied in a flash, as if knowing exactly what his friend would ask and when.
"Yeah, got it, thanks."
"No problemo, just remember that I said it MAY be there, no guarantees."
"Well I need it in 2 days, so I'll take every chance I can get."
Meanwhile, Evan was also leaving. Delirious would be back in an hour, which gave him time to walk around, stretch out, and get active. It was unusually warm, and he had changed into a black T-shirt and dark jeans before leaving. Evan slipped his hand into his pocket, checking messages and shit on his phone. There was only one cool breeze that ruffled his hair and made him shiver slightly. He couldn't shake the thoughts from his head as he scrolled down the screen. All he could think about was Delirious, E3, and food.
Like Tyler and the rest of the crew, he had hoped this time Jon would come with them, but they had failed again. Trying to cheer himself up, Evan convinced himself that next year was the charm, yeah, Delirious would be there next time. But these hopes couldn't shake the sick feelings deep in his stomach. His mind studied carefully on Marcel's words from the night before:
"Endless hole of ships."
Of course Vanoss knew that his friend had only been joking around about ships, mainly ones that wouldn't—or couldn't—happen. But even if Basically hadn't seen the real meaning in his simple words that just laughed out for the hell of it, Evan did. Each time he thought of those words he realized is wasn't just ships, it was everything he was missing out on.
Deeply lost in thought, he barely noticed both the man strolling in front of him and the teen that was trying out a brand new skateboard. In an instant, the teen rammed straight into Vanoss' shoulder blade as the board hit the curb. Evan stumbled into the man in front of him, knocking him over. Out of pure instinct, Vanoss let one hand catch the metal pole nearby to support and balance his weight, while the other hand he threw out to grab the falling man's jacket. He helped the slightly shorter individual stand straight as he turned to see the teen running as fast as possible, skateboard under arm.
Evan quickly apologized as the man turned to face him, "I am so sorry, sir!" immediately the other tensed up, his hands trembling with his mouth open as if trying to find words to say. It didn't take long for Evan to notice the small cut above the man's eye from where it made contact with the pole during his fall, "I am so, so sorry! Are you alright?"
The man simply continued shaking, nodding quickly as his skin faded white. He turned and tried to run, only to trip and catch himself on a wall. Evan caught up, putting his hand on the man's shoulder gently, "Hey, you okay, man? You look pretty shaken up!"
He looked at Vanoss, trying to alter his voice, but it was obvious he was hiding something behind the fake accent, "Y-yes I'm fine, I'm fine, I-I'm okay, I-I just have t-to go now!" Evan narrowed his eyes, searching through mental files in his mind before it clicked and it was now his turn to freeze and hold his breath.
"D…Delirious?"