Snippet #2585226

Every time he could feel himself drifting off, more people would either come in or leave making David come right back to being wide awake. He wasn't really bothered by it... okay he was really bothered, but he wasn't actually upset since other people were living down here too. And it was way past the point everyone should have been up. He couldn't help that his sleeping patterns were all messed up and he couldn't blame others for you know, acting like normal people. Still, whenever he found a sudden voice bringing him out of his drowsy state he didn't actually make any sign that they had woken him and instead just laid still with his face buried in his crummy mattress. Of course, each time he tried to get back to sleep he was finding it harder and harder, and soon he found he wasn't all that tired at all. Muttering profanities under his breath, David finally pushed himself up from his bed and looked around the room. Gabriella and Kim were getting ready to go and Axel was just getting back. A quick glance around the room and he saw Nala standing around, seeming to just be observing like he was. The girl was abnormally bright in the dusty basement, but that seemed to be her thing. The unlikely optimist.

Having his plans to sleep the afternoon away apparently unattainable, he decided another walk would probably be the best thing to keep him busy. He didn't like sitting around much, it made him feel nervous. He wasn't sure why, maybe it was because he was so used to being on the move. His belongings were few, he had lost a lot of shit over the years and never tried to really collect much other than clothes, cigarettes, and blankets. All of which one way or another ended up getting ruined or used up at some point. The fact that he had little was only worsened when he dug through his beat up bad for a fresh pair of clothes, only to find that not only did he badly need to do laundry but he needed new clothes all together. His shirts all had holes and stains of varying degrees and his only coat's zipper was broken. The coat he knew he could blow off a little longer with it still being summer, but the shirts would need replacing sometime soon. That is, if he could manage to get the money. He cursed again, throwing his bag onto the mattress annoyed and running his fingers through his hair in as a sort of nervous gesture. Now he was sure he needed a walk, the air would do him good. Maybe he could manage to make a few bucks while he was out too, but that seemed less likely. He wasn't in the mood to go steal from someone or beg for coins.

Opting to just keep what he had on, David left through the back and began to light a cigarette as he walked out onto the sidewalk. At this rate he would need to stop at a store to pick up cigarettes as well as clothes, but he told himself that clothes was the priority. Essentials first, habits later. He'd seen what letting a habit come first could do, especially when it wasn't the person's choice to let the habit be first. Sometimes a habit demands it comes first, and that's when things turn scary.

David looked up and down the street, trying to decide where he would walk to first. He didn't actually have much money on him, a few dollars at most. He hadn't eaten today, so that would have been a good place to start, but he didn't feel like dealing with anyone to get the food. He didn't like the attitude people got when they realized he was from the streets. It was like suddenly, with that one fact, they had some huge sense of superiority over you and could talk down to you. Mumbling to himself, David put out his cigarette against the building and stuck the remains of it back in the pack. There was a small gas station not to far that he could buy a sandwich or something small from, and the people who worked at gas stations rarely ever batted an eye at his appearance or his tendency to pay with small bills and change.

It was a short walk, and like he expected he was in and out of the small "shop" without the guy behind the counter as much as looking at him. He didn't feel like walking back though, so instead opted for sitting out on the curb and eating the cheap ass sandwich he had bought. Occasionally someone would pass by and give him a weird look, and by the third person he began to flip off the people that were giving him looks. Most of them just ignored the gesture and went on walking, but for the few that he got a rise out of it was worth the little extra effort.