+Mind Games+ Fragile/Skitz

“Never again!” Laughter loudly followed the proclamation causing all attention to turn its focus on the group of four young men exiting the theater, three of them taking enjoyment at the other’s expense. “It’s not funny!” the voice of the youngest in the group cried out again as he pulled his patterned benie cap over his short mop of loose curls. “I mean it! I’m never going to let you guys take me to a horror movie again! I would have been better off just sitting this one out and meeting you at the diner later.”

“Relax, Noah,” spoke another man, his hair straightened and gelled wildly, accentuating the purposefully uneven cut, “It’s not like any of that is really going to happen.” He playfully leaned his elbow on the shorter one’s shoulder. “Plus, since you’re such a scaredy-cat anyway, I doubt you’d manage to cross any spirits in your lifetime.”

“What do you know, Reo?!” the younger replied scornfully as he shoved him off.

“Well I know that you squeak like a girlish mouse when startled.” More laughter followed, and at the sight of Reo’s wolfish grin, the curly top let an irritated groan escape him. He pulled down on his cap, attempting to hide himself further as he wished for the life of him that God would take up a disdain for his soon to be ‘ex’ friend and smite him there.

Vincent joined Reo once more in laughing, earning himself a glare from both the embarrassed teen of the group and the stoic blond beside him (who he knew was glaring for a different reason entirely). He strategically chose to ignore both heated looks and only laughed harder to spite them.

“Just so you know, I’m having my number deleted from your cell phone for dragging me to this.” A deep voice broke through his chuckling. Vincent feigned a look of innocence as he turned his attention to the blonde once more.

“You know as well as I do, Stein, that no one dragged you here. You came of your own accord.”

“Yes, but only because you called me, pretending there was some sort of emergency,” the taller, blonde man answered angrily. “Lord, I don’t even know what possessed me to believe you in the first place. You never tell the truth.”

“Hey. It was an emergency,” Vincent replied with a knowing smirk as he linked his fingers behind his head, “It’s been a while since the guys and I have seen you outside of practice.”

“Do you realize I was in the middle of class?!”

“So,” was Vincent’s only answer, suddenly bored with the way this conversation was going.

“Noah and I should both be in school right now. What possessed you to come up with this stupid idea in the first place? Do you know how much trouble Noah could get in for this? His parents are going to freak when they find out someone signed him out for the day. I know you and Reo get a bit lonely because we’re away at school and Gavin has no intention of spending outside time with any of us at all, but that doesn’t give you the right to pull us out of class without our say-so. It’s hard enough keeping…”

The rest of whatever Stein had to say was ignored. It was Vincent’s usual response to his friend’s fatherly lecturing. Honestly, he didn’t know why the blonde bothered. No one in their group ever listened to him, no matter how hard he tried; and they both knew he was well schooled in the ability to turn off his ears when some form of life-coaching came his way. He could only handle so much of it, and that was little to none.

For the rest of the small walk across the street Vincent kept to himself, only laughing when the moment called for it. He wasn’t going to give Stein another reason to lecture him, not anytime soon at least. One a day was good enough for him, and twice was overachieving. His quiet didn’t last too long though, since the nearest diner was only a five to ten minute walk away.

After taking up a day to ritualistically watch movies together, it didn’t take long to find themselves hungry, even for the cheapest food nearby. The food wasn’t anything to brag about, but it was worth the price to fill up the stomach there than to pay for anything at the theater.

“Hello. How many are in your party?” spoke the slightly chipper voice of the diner hostess, who seemed to be happy to have some sort of distraction from waiting tables for a while.

“Four,” Vincent quickly answered, speaking over the others, “And can we get a table near a window please.” The others sighed at the request unable to notice the slight change in the hostess that greeted them as she grabbed up four menus and looked for a table by a window without question.

“What’s with you and window seats?” asked Noah curiously, “You always ask for one nearby, no matter where we go.”

“It’s just for when you guys start to get boring,” he answered through a smile before following the hostess to their table. “If worse comes to worse, I’ll just people watch. That or fall asleep.”

“If you go with the latter, make sure it’s not on one of us,” was Stein’s only reply before they took their seats and the conversation moved elsewhere. It would only be so long before one of them got to complaining about how hungry they were. Hopefully they could manage their own distraction till then.

Lucy pushed the swinging door open with her shoulder, a pile of dirty dishes in her arms and an easy smile on her lips. She moved to put them in the sink with a flourish, the glass clinking as it settles, and turned back around towards the kitchen. One of the cooks, a young man who seemed to be perpetually nervous, was putting the last of a group of plates of food onto a tray, tucking the receipt underneath the edge of a bowl. Lucy moved to take it from him with a smile, her hand brushing his own as she did.

Yes, nervous. Or more like anxious today, for some reason. She briefly wondered why.

"What table?"

"Four. And I think more people are here, too. I'm not cooking anything right now, so try to get that quick, please." He mumbled, turning back to clean his area.

Lucy nodded and turned back to the door, leaving the hot kitchen to the cool air behind.

The diner was pretty empty today; only an elderly couple that she was bringing food to now and the new group of men that had just walked in were sitting at tables. The diner was always overstaffed; Lucy knew that it was killing the owners, but they just couldn't bear to let anyone go. They were such kindhearted people.

After giving the food to the elderly couple with a smile Lucy turned and walked to the group of men, shoving her red, thick hair behind her shoulders and pulling out a little note pad and pen. They were all very... alternative, but quite attractive, each one of them. She couldn't help but feel a little pleased at their presence; she enjoyed looking at beautiful things.

"Hi there," She said with a big smile, her blue eyes crinkling at the corners. "What can I get for you guys, or do you need more time to decide?"

“I’m fine,” came Stein’s rather reserved reply, his displeasure with his band mates/supposed-friends leaving him less than hospitable to the waitress. Vincent couldn’t help but wince at the fact that his friend didn’t even bother to spare the woman a glance. Despite his rudeness though, the others moved along as if it was nothing.

“Can we still get breakfast even though it’s late? I could really go for some waffles,” came Noah’s reply as he eyed the picture of food on the menu with an eager hunger, before closing it altogether, “Oh and a chocolate shake with it.”

“Geez, Noah, just because you’re not paying, doesn’t mean you can ask for the most complicated thing and get an expensive drink.” Vincent spoke up as he tried to do the math of the money he had in both his wallet and account. Chances are he would be paying for this whole thing since Noah was still in high school and working off an allowance like most kids his age. Reo was prone to making that ‘left my wallet back in some place that makes me incapable of remembering where it is ever’ excuse, and Stein… Well, Stein was just spiteful right now. Most likely he was just going to make him pay solely for ruining his less-than-needed class time.

“I’ll have pity on you the minute I get the last 74 minutes of my life erased from my memory,” was Noah’s only response.

“Yeah, Vincent, be understandable and let the brat have his ‘eat ice cream and cry’ period like the rest of the ladi- OW!”

“Shut it, Reo!” the younger man spoke up again, fist still enclosed and willing to give another punch to the arm if necessary. Reo just rubbed at the offended shoulder and glared back for a brief moment before turning a rather flirtatious smile on to the waitress and speaking.

“I just want a cheeseburger and coke,” he stated simply, “And maybe a pack of ice if the day goes on like this.” He smiled jokingly at her before turning back to Noah sending him a few more mocking whispers, starting them up in their ever constant fighting once more. Vincent only just sighed and took it a sign for his turn to order.

“I’ll take the same,” he said as he collected all the menus together and handed them to her, consciously willing her not to let anything go wrong with their food because of their rambunctiousness and Stein’s strong determination to pretend like he’s somewhere else right now, “Except instead of soda, I’ll have an apple juice or something.”

Lucy dutifully wrote their orders on her pad of paper, telling the youngest boy that, yes, they would be able to make waffles special for him. She couldn't help but give little smiles as she listened to their conversations, either. This group had such a nice feel around them; they seemed to be nice boys. When the last boy, Vincent, turned to her and ordered his food, though, Lucy paused. It felt as if a wave of warm water had passed onto, through, and away from her skin, brushing off as soon as it felt resistance. It was quite odd, and she couldn't help but be a little alarmed.

"Uhm, could you please say that again?" She politely asked, leaning forward a bit as if to hear him better. Of course she had heard what he said, but she needed to act as if she hadn't, right?

Without really thinking about it she reached out to set a hand on his arm, subconciously reading his mood. She was just even more puzzled by what she found there - it was as if as soon as she had touched him he had mentally recoiled. Could he tell she was reading him? Was that even possible?

Something was off with this man, she just didn't know what.

Suspicion and concern was all Vincent felt at first, her way of asking him being somewhat strange and difficult to assess. He didn't say anything that would be that confusing, did he? All he had ordered was the same that Reo had, and she managed to pick up on that order. Sure he had been a bit vague with the juices, but that was really nothing right?

The minute she touched him his hackles rose instantly, his body behaving of its own consent in a way he found completely unfamiliar. His muscles tightened and a rush of discomfort ran through him, leaving his mind panicked and shaken. A mental haze clouded around his mind, choking out thoughts and reactions with an amount of effort that left him weary and weak. He could feel a pulling inside his body as if something was tugging him every which way, and as if on survival instinct alone he pulled himself away, yanking his arm from her.

"Excuse me," he spoke lowly as he blinked away the fog that seemed to have formed around his mind, "Was I unclear?" He paused to look her over a bit, ignoring the suddenly interested looks of the men around him as he slowly straightened himself. It took a bit for him to try to get himself together enough to order again, but after a few seconds or so all felt normal again. So with some hesitation and a concerned eye on her he continued. "I’m sorry," he started, making sure she would never touch him again, "I asked for a cheeseburger as well… cept I would like apple juice, please."

The same strange sensation washed over her again as he spoke, but this time Lucy was a little more prepared to pay attention to what was really going on. This instance, she actually seemed to 'hear' him wishing for her to not touch his arm again, but it was hardly convincing. All she wanted to do was cling onto him and keep reading his moods, and she would be hard pressed to do otherwise.

After apologising sweetly for the small misunderstanding she gave a little nod and walked back into the kitchen, slapping the order onto the counter. The cook read it quickly and almost immediately groaned, his voice rising an octave into a whiny tone.

"Waffles?! Why did you let them have waffles? Now I'll have to go and dethaw some and everything!"

"You said you were bored, so now you have something to do." Lucy raised an eyebrow at him, pulling her red hair over one shoulder. "And if we can keep any customers, we should. You know that. But I'm going to go check up on the others and see how they are doing. Ring the bell when you are done!"

"As if I wouldn't..." The cook grumbled as she skipped out, looking quite perturbed. Lucy couldn't help but feel a bit annoyed at him. He was such a poor sport.

The elderly couple seemed to be enjoying their food, like usual. They often came to the restaurant and were one of the regulars there, and at this point Lucy saw them and already knew what to order. They were so sweet - and still in love. They would sit on the same side of the table so that they could hold hands. Lucy couldn't help but have her mood raised around them. When she was done fussing over their coffee, though, she looked back towards the group of men, and particularly at the peculiar Vincent.

Her big eyes traced from the top of his head to the soles of his shoes, trying to discern anything different from him and the others. She couldn't tell why he felt so different, though... she just wanted to go over and talk to him again. She didn't bother to try and hide her staring, outright watching his movements.

“Well that was weird,” Reo declared boredly as he toyed with the uneven bangs of his hair.

“Not really,” Noah spoke up before smirking mischievously, “Vincent always attracts the weird ones.”

“No, you attract the weird ones,” Stein interrupted in a factual tone, “Vincent attracts the psychopathically committed, stalker ones.”

“How is that not weird?” asked Noah.

“Because most women fall under that category,” Reo answered through his own laughter, holding his sides in hilarity.

“Your girlfriend would be proud,” quipped the blonde, causing Reo to stop his laughter immediately and look shamefully elsewhere. The conversation continued on from there, Vincent less than interested in the subject.

Usually, he would have put his two cents in and brought up the story of how Noah received a love note with a heart-shaped key glued to it and a bunch of nonsensical words that basically stated that he held the key to her heart. Then he would compare it to the fact that Noah only got those weird letters once, while he got them nearly every night. The difference was that Noah’s were endearing. His were terrifying.

Still he said nothing, his mind more drawn to the little waitress from earlier. He didn’t normally mind being touched. Hey, when you’re in a pretty decent band… or play an instrument altogether it tended to happen, especially when on a gig, but never had it felt like that before, suffocating and constricting. His nerves were still on end and his muscles tense as he watched her disappear into the kitchen.

“Was there something strange about that girl to you?” he asked aloud, interrupting whatever pointless conversation his table was having. The three other men turned their attention to the kitchen and watched he walk out and head to another table with somewhat interested looks.

“Not really.”
“You mean other than the fact that she was creepy with you?”
“She’s a redhead. That can be considered strange.”

They all answered at once, but despite the differences the answers were still the same. There was nothing uniquely special about her. Then… was it in his mind? Did he just happen to have a dizzy spell or something the minute he caught her attention? Deciding that was probably it, he brushed the encounter off, choosing to forget about the whole thing entirely.

“Wow. You’re right, Stein. He does attract the stalker ones,” came Noah’s voice.

“Huh? What are you talking about?” Vincent spoke up again as he lifted his gaze up from the table to see all the others taking glances over his shoulder and back. Neither of them answered with words, only signaling where he should look with a few not-so-subtle nudges. Curious, Vincent turned his head to see what they were talking about and was met with the very blue eyes of the waitress staring back at him. Quickly flustered and shocked, he turned his head away and tightened his posture, unwilling to take a second glance.

“How long has she been staring like that?” he asked worriedly.

“Since she stopped serving that couple,” answered Stein, who seemed to have lost interest entirely and opted to stare out the window.

“Yeah, and she was taking a few glances this way before then,” added Reo boredly, “Maybe we should take it as a good sign and hope we get our food faster.”

“Can we stop looking at her, please?” Vincent pleaded uncomfortably as he looked to Reo and Noah who seemed to have no shame in staring back, “It would be better to not draw more of her attention.” At his discomfort all three of the other men couldn’t help the amused smirks that formed on their lips before Reo waved his hand excitedly in the air to flag her down. “No… No, Reo. What the hell are you—?”

“Yoo-hoo! Miss waitress!” he called for her, causing Vincent to rest his head in his hands in aggravation, “I have a question for you!”

Lucy smiled when she watched the boys glance up and down at her in intervals, finding it amusing how they all seemed to have different expressions on their faces. Vincent seemed embarrased, though, looking away on purpose and hissing something at the others. He really was an interesting man to look at - Lucy thought that he must have many an admirer. He was probably a player, too, to think of it. Oh well.

She was just debating going to the kitchen to check up on their food when one of the boys called her, raising his arm with a smirk on his face. He looked like he was wishing to cause trouble, something Lucy liked to participate in on a semi regular basis. So, flipping her thick hair over her shoulder once more, she walked over to the table, a radiant smile on her face.

"Yes? How may I help you?" She asked, placing her hands on her lap with a familliar gesture. "Would you like a drink? A change in your order?" She made sure to look at the one who called her, not Vincent. No, she would ignore him for now. She resisted the urge to touch the boy in front of her, too, knowing Vincent would notice.

At the red-headed waitress’s eagerness to serve Reo could only smile, taking his time to shamelessly let his eyes roam over her before stopping at the nametag displayed on her chest. The other three men could only roll their eyes or scoff at his behavior. Seriously, it was a wonder his girlfriend stayed with him.

“Yes, Miss Lucy, my friends and I are having a debate on an important matter and we’ve decided that we can’t continue it without a woman’s opinion. So what I need to ask you is…” He paused for effect ignoring Vincent’s aggravated groan as he kept his eyes on the table and his head in his hands. He also chose to forget the fact that aside from Vincent all the other men at the table seemed to be resisting the urge to slap their palms to their foreheads. “… What time do you get off work?”

“Noah, hit him please,” was all anyone could say after that. What followed next was a sadistic slap to the back of the head followed by a startled yelp from Reo himself.

Lucy gave a laugh, a delicate sounding thing. She wasn't sure whether to answer him or not, or whether she should answer him honestly, but she decided it wouldn't hurt. The group didn't seem dangerous, and she would be able to tell as soon at the atmosphere changed, anyway. If that happened, she could just bail.

While the group was making a bunch of noise and hitting the man, she pulled out her little notepad and pen, scribbling down the time she got off work, as well as a little note that said 'I would love to spend my evening with you, actually. ' Might as well add a little interest, right? After putting the note directly into his hand she gave a little curtsey and turned back towards the kitchen, knowing the food was probably done by now. They could talk amongst themselves.

When she got into the kitchen she saw that she was correct - the last of the food was being placed onto a white glass plate by the cook, who was grumbling. Almost before he was finished she scooped up the dishes and loaded them onto her arms, balanced neatly from years of practice.

"Oh," She suddenly said to no one in particular. "I forgot to get them their drinks!"

"Well then get on that." The cook murmured, already cleaning up the kitchen like an obsessive compulsive monkey.

Vincent and the others watched with mild interest as the waitress left them at the table with surprisingly more smoothness than they first imagined her capable. Maybe she was getting used to being asked such a question or getting asked out while on the job. Vincent guessed he could imagine that happening. After all it wasn’t like she wasn’t attractive. Also past experience had shown that quite a few guys out there had heavy fetishes for read-heads.

“Phase one complete,” Reo said smugly as he waved the paper about like a flag between his fingers before handing it off to Vincent, “There you go.”

“There I go for what?” he answered as he looked down at the paper, “It’s not like I could use this info. It’s not like a phone number.”

“Also she probably thought the information was for you since YOU were the one who asked,” Stein pointed out, “Which by the way I think your girlfriend will kill you over after she finds out.”

“That girl was CLEARLY more into Vincent. Plus if Emi knew the cause she would be in full support,” Reo defended cockily before turning to Vincent, whom looked more than ready to hammer a train stake through his temple, “Plus, you don’t NEED her number, just give her info for tonight’s gig.”

“Why? So she can watch me on stage and have more of a reason to stalk me?”

“Yeah… that’s true,” Reo paused thoughtfully before smiling and grabbing the piece of paper, “I’ll give her the information!” As the sadist pulled a pen from his pocket, Vincent moved to jump over the table and grab the note, only to be pulled back into his seat by the blonde next to him and held there.

“Why are you helping him?!” he asked through gritted teeth, knowing Stein easily overpowered him.

“Divine justice,” the older man stated with a smirk, “Don’t ever pull me out of class for a fake emergency again.” Vincent struggled despite himself, while Noah and the others looked on in interest as Reo’s chicken scratch covered the paper. He wrote down Vincent’s cell number, pretending it was his own as well as the time and address of the small bar they would be performing in for the night. The words ‘Dress nice. We won’t have problems finding each other. ’ accompanied the information.

“Alright. That should do,” the man with the uneven hair cut spoke as he pocketed both the pen and the note, preparing to pull them out once the waitress returned. “Maybe we should have you kiss it just to make it more authentic,” he spoke jokingly causing Vincent to glare half-heartedly at his friend.

“When this is over I’m so going to pay you back.”

“You’re welcome,” was all Reo said in reply.

Lucy expertly balanced the plates of food on her slender and freckled arms as she walked out of the kitchen and into the dining room, giving a little smile to the elderly couple (who was leaving) as she passed them. When she reached the boys' table she placed each plate of food infront of its owner, giving little smiles to each person as she did. She made sure to give a much longer smile to Reo, though, and almost ignored Vincent completely. Regardless of whether it made him interested or not, she was going to try.

"There you go! I'll come back with your drinks right away - I'm feeling sort of lightheaded today and forgot them." She gave a little shrug and a laugh, lifting her arms to pull her thick hair into a fist and then dropping it again, absentmindedly. It seemed like they wanted her for something still, but insead of giving them time to interrupt her she quickly sped away and back into the kitchen. There, she filled the glasses with the appropriate liquid and sped right back out, ignoring the cook completely.

"Here you go!" She said as she gave them their glasses. "Sorry about the wait."

"No worries, Miss Lucy," Reo spoke up immediately as he leaned back within the booth, ignoring the hateful look he was receiving from the raven-haired man across the way. He pulled the note he scribbled on out from his pocket as the others took too their food easily, aside from Vincent, and handed the little note over to the waitress smoothly. "Listen, if you're interested we would love to see a pretty woman like you at one of our performances tonight... We're in a band, have I stated that?"

"No, you didn't," growled Vincent from across the way before he took a sip of his juice, not willing to look at the waitress.

"Oh I didn't?" Reo asked with a feigned innocence before turning to the waitress named Lucy once more, "Well we are, and we would all love to see you there at the show if your willing." He handed her the note with his chicken scratch. "There's the place, address, and the time, and if you get lost we have a way for you to contact us so we can help out. So... should we be expecting you at all?"