#42 A Common Thread

It was a bright day in midsummer for the city of San Fransokyo, where Wasabi found himself whistling as he walked down the busy sidewalk. He weaved around the various people on his journey to one of his favorite stores: The Kurieitibu Yarn Shop. Although he admittedly didn't get the chance to do as much knitting lately thanks to his heroic activities and the time-consuming factor that was college life, he still tried to do it when he could; now that he graduated, there was the chance to do more of the hobby he loved.

The physics major's favorite thing to make was of course sweaters, but he also made booties for any newborns in the family as well as scarves, socks and blankets. Something though he had recently picked up was learning to crochet so he could try amigurumi, and so far, had mostly made a few cute dessert pieces that resembled cakes and pies; one that Wasabi was particularly proud of was when he created a set of balls in the color of the rainbow and gave them to Honey Lemon since they resembled her chem balls. She had accepted them with immense joy and gave him a big hug in return, followed by offering to make a portrait of him, to which Wasabi accepted so long as it wasn't a surprise one; now he had come to get some more supplies and possibly see if there were any new patterns that caught his eye.

He eventually made it to his destination, admiring the dark red hues of the bricks that when paired with the forest green trim and door gave it a homey, small-town feel. Wasabi pushed the door open, making the bell above it go off as he let it close behind him. Inside the store, there were four 8ft tall aisles in the center dedicated to yarn while the left side was reserved for different needle sizes and patterns for the customers to browse through; the right side held a hallway for the bathroom along with the cashier station, which currently had one employee standing with short black hair and whose name tag read "Peyton."

"Afternoon," Wasabi greeted them with a smile.

"Afternoon," they automatically replied, briefly looking up from their phone.

The sweater hero didn't need any further prompting as he went off to the left first, browsing the books, pamphlets and cards available. He saw one for various argyle socks, but they didn't pique his interest today. Wasabi also saw one for baby blankets, which had a teddy bear holding balloons on the cover; unfortunately, while it was full of cute patterns, none of his friends or family were currently expecting so he decided against it. He went through swatches for doilies, scarves, hats, and even some mittens, which he decided to take one of those. Wasabi proceeded to flip through a couple of books they had on sweaters and admittedly found some of the vest patterns rather pretty; instead of buying it though, he opted to note into his phone what the title of the book was in case he changed his mind and couldn't find it again.

The physicist started to hum to himself as he made it to the end of the rack where all the needles and hooks were hung on the wall. While scanning over them, he couldn't help but chuckle softly at how big some of them were with one hook he swore looked like it could be used as a harpoon while another set could have been used to joust with.

Alright! Time to get the supplies I actually need, Wasabi thought to himself as he finally started to browse the yarn selection. He started up the first aisle, which contained primarily thinner yarn used to make socks. Hmmm, I think I need something with a bit more weight, he remarked internally as he walked along, unable to resist picking up a few yarn balls as he went to see how soft they were with the baby alpaca wool being exceptionally silky. Aside from the variety of option this store had, Wasabi also appreciated that each brand/type was sorted by color as well, making the shelves appear to have a rainbow-like waterfall of string occur over and over again.

He then rounded the aisle and turned to his left to go down the second one, where he proceeded to stop as he looked ahead because instead of it just being massive spools of plush pastel baby yarn, he saw another young man browsing through the store's wares. The stranger appeared to be in his mid 20s with black hair that was long enough to tie into a small ponytail and brown eyes. For this man's attire, he was wearing a navy-blue shirt with some Kanji symbols on the chest, white shorts that went just below the knees and a pair of sneakers.

Wasabi stood there for a moment, honestly surprised that he wasn't alone in the store as well as the other being a man since it was rare to encounter another in such a place. His delay in saying anything was just long enough for the unknown individual to spot him and give a small "Hey," to which Wasabi promptly shook out of his daze and replied with a "Hi."

The sweater-clad man took a few steps down the aisle, casting a curious glance at the poofy yarn to both sides of him until he inevitably was next to this stranger. Wasabi was anxiously rubbing his hands together during that time, trying to think of a proper ice breaker with this other guy because he was admittedly curious to see a fellow crafter and meeting new people could be fun if it wasn't a force situation. Maybe a joke would be good or should I ask what he's looking for? Nah. Too forward for a first question. I guess I could just do the tried-and-true method. Hopefully it won't come off as corny though, he plotted internally as his chance to introduce himself quickly approached. Okay. Now or never.

"So…you like to work with yarn too, huh? Do you come here often?" Wasabi blurted out, getting the unknown individual's attention as he set down a ball of powder-blue wool.

"Oh, uh yeah, I'd say so. A couple times a month maybe. And you?" the ponytailed man asked with a kind smile, looking a little unsure of the situation but willing to see where it went.

"Me? I'd say only about once or twice a month too, but it might be more now that I picked up amigurumi," the tall physicist answered as he mirrored the other's actions, already feeling some nervousness ebb away.

The other man's eyes went wide for a moment in surprise as he soon remarked, "Amigurumi? Wow. I've always felt kind of intimidated by all the complex shapes they can get with those, but the ones I've seen are pretty cute."

"Yeah, they can be, but I'm still a beginner with it, although I've mainly done knitting my whole life. Then one day I just thought to myself, 'Why not give it a try?' My name's Isiah by the way, but most people call me "Wasabi,"" the aforementioned scientist informed his fellow crafter, extending a hand to shake.

Quirking an eyebrow, the second individual firmly took it and properly shook Wasabi's before saying, ""Wasabi" huh? I bet there's an interesting story behind that, aside from liking green, I'm sure. As for me, I'm Brandon."

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Brandon. I hope I'm not being too forward in asking you about what you're working on? I'm just curious since I'm usually a sweater maker myself," the physicist asked as he gestured to the jade-colored one he was wearing, flashing a small smile.

Looking a tad surprised, the other man quickly recovered as he returned the smile and answered, "I actually was looking into making a baby blanket. I've got a cousin who's expecting and wanted me to make a star-shaped one for them."

"Ooo. That sounds nice. Making baby stuff is usually my job in the family too," Wasabi told him.

"Well, someone has to I guess, either that or buy it, but when you know how to make them, it kind of feels like taking the easy way out," Brandon commented as he put a hand to his hip, enjoying the casual conversation now too as his task was sidelined. He then proceeded to inquire, "So, you working on anything in particular or just doing it for fun?"

"Eh, nothing special. Figured I'd use some of the free time I've got now to get better at crocheting since I'm still pretty much a novice," the physicist casually responded.

Brandon nodded in understanding, followed by tilting his head in intrigue at the wording the other used. "Got some free time, huh? Did you finish school or just taking a break from work or…" the ponytailed man trailed off, making Wasabi get a tad flustered a few seconds later when he finally realized he was supposed to answer.

"Oh, sorry. It's kind of both of them. Just graduated from SFIT and are currently looking for a job," the superhero quickly replied, scratching the back of his head as he sheepishly grinned.

"Wow, that's incredible! Only geniuses are supposed to go there. I've taken some classes at SFAI myself," Brandon said before he gave a short laugh. "I guess that means we're enemies then."

Wasabi briefly chuckled as he made a dismissive gesture with his hand. "It doesn't matter anymore and besides, it was supposed to only really be serious during rivalry week," he assured the other, who let out a small snort and conceded with, "That's fair."

Wasabi copied Brandon's action and asked, "It's all good. I've got a friend who's gone to SFAI as well and she loved it there. So, what did you study?"

The blue-shirted young man shrugged and replied, "I wouldn't say studied so much as just went to learn more about sculpting. I think it's really cool how intricate they can get and being able to create something from literally a block of clay or wood or whatever." Brandon got visibly more excited as he spoke, smile brightening and Wasabi found it infectious.

"That's great you got to do something you love. For me it's physics, lasers, photons, all that sciency stuff, but it's still nice to have things outside of school to enjoy like my knitting and yoga," the superhero told the other, giving off the same energy and enthusiasm.

"Yeah," Brandon simply said, almost quietly as he found himself briefly avoiding the taller man's gaze. They then both stood in the quiet, mostly vacant store as silence hung between them, neither sure what else to ask. After a few seconds of mixed giddiness and wariness, the moment was broken by a vibrating ringing coming from Wasabi's front pocket.

"Oh, excuse me. One sec," he said as he quickly reached into his pants and nearly fumbled the phone as he pulled it out.

"Hello?"

"Wasabi! We've got Noodle Burger Boy and fam trouble in downtown! Get here as soon as you can," came the frantic voice of Fred.

"Alright. I'll be there as soon as I can," Wasabi replied in a serious tone before he hung up. He then turned to see Brandon staring as him with a puzzled expression, causing the scientist to give a sheepish grin.

"I'm really sorry Brandon, but that was my friend and he needs me to help with an urgent matter," Wasabi explained/apologized. He proceeded to briefly flit his eyes to the door as his sense of urgency fought with wanting to stay; with resolve though, he smiled more genuinely and said, "But I had a nice time talking with you, so…would it be okay if I got your number?" He immediately switched gears a moment later as he added in a more flustered manner, "If it's too forward or too soon, I'm sorry and I understand completely. I just thought it'd be fun to see what you're working on and I can show you what I'm doing; it's rare to find people that actually care about what I makes and I'd hate to end this so soon, and-" Wasabi stopped his ramble when he noticed Brandon holding back as a snicker, followed by him holding out his hand to have the other give him his phone. The sweater-wearing man gave a short "Oh" as he opened the device up and created a new account for his fellow crafter. Brandon smirked as he took the cell phone and inputted the 10-digit number before giving it back to Wasabi.

"There. Now go help your friend with whatever and text me later whenever you're ready to chat," the ponytailed man stated with an almost teasing smile.

Wasabi let the corner of his mouth tug up again as he gave a quick "Thanks," followed by turning and briskly walking out the door, making the bell above it fill the store with its ringing.

"He seems nice."

NOTES

Wasabi knowing how to knit I thought was a really nice thing to learn about him as I knit too, so it's sweet that someone on the team shares my hobby. :) We admittedly don't know a whole lot about Wasabi aside from a few miscellaneous things like his dad being an orthodontist and him having OCD, so hopefully you like the liberties I took with his real name and him having more family members than just his parents. I currently don't have plans to write a follow-up to this story, but that may change in the future; it all depends on how I feel. :)

The next "Cutscenes" will be about Megan interviewing a couple reformed criminals we know. ;) ^_^ 3