-talan- tagging along.

[zoink!THERIOT]

“Ya know what?” Zoink Theriot asked, a broad smile on his face, “I’ve been working on my muscles. A good work out could be nice. Mind if I come along?” The nineteen year old walked beside Talan McInnis in pure amazement. Zoink had always looked up to Talan. Talan was his role model, basically. He was amazed about how many girls he got and all. Zoink had always wanted to be like him. Stalker? Oh, no, my friend- let’s just put it at…following him like a dog would to his master.

He turned at the corner. The winter day stung Zoink’s eyes momentarily. He was covered in a huge hoodie- black with flames on the back- so he was quite warm. His knuckles jammed into his pockets, he kept walking with his hood on. “I haven’t been to the gym for a while, actually. I’ve just been working out at my place. You know how that is, ‘eh?” he thumped Talan on the back- a bit hard. Zoink tended to gabber on and on when he was around Talan. Talan never really said much as far as Zoink could tell. So, Zoink just talked for him. “God, it’s cold out here. I wish it was summer. Well, maybe not. During the summer, it’s much too hot for me, you know? Well, how has business been at The Garden of Eden? I suppose it’s been good. I went over to Bash the other night, I met this girl named Dahila Rose. She seemed pretty nice. Much too young for me, though, you know? I think she was 16 or 15. Well, maybe she’s not that young for me. Well, she was nice but she’s not really my kind of girl, you know?” Zoink said rather fast, saying ‘you know’ at the end of each phrase every of time. Okay, so Zoink did go on a lot with Talan. It’s not like Zoink noticed, though.

“Well, since we’re here,” Zoink said as they arrived at the gym, “I might as well join you.” He pushed the broad glass door open, holding it open for Talan. Zoink invited himself, as he usually did. He would do anything just to say one word to Talan. He held the door open with his foot. Oh, did he hate his big feet. On his feet were the usual- converse. This pair was bright red. He wore converse a lot. Actually, it was the only type of shoe he wore. He had around 10 pairs of converse- the only thing different was the color or design on the shoe. They were all lined up in his closet at his apartment.

The gym was nice and warm. “Whew boy, it’s hot in here. Sheesh. Well, it feels good. You know, since we’ve in out in the cold, you know?” There was the same old, ‘you know’ again.

[Talan♠McInnis]

Talan was in his apartment and he was tired. He’d been up all night. There was just too much on his mind lately. He had recently made things exclusive with Destiny, and he thought about her a lot, but Sydney kept coming back to his mind too. He knew he had to stop thinking about her. He kept trying to convince himself that it was only that she needed help that made him think of her so much, but it wasn’t just that. There was something about her. He couldn’t get those eyes out of his head. When he told her on the IM that she was under his skin, he didn’t realize how true it was.

Destiny was his girl though, and he had some very strong feelings for her. Very strong. Maybe even love. He didn’t know though and it was hard to sort out his feeling when there were two women on his mind. He had a terribly compulsive need to help Sydney. He just didn’t know how to help her. How can you help somebody who doesn’t want to be helped? Simple answer. You can’t. Yet, Talan kept thinking about her. He shook his head as if to get rid of his thoughts. He stood and made his way out of the club.

Wearing some black athletic pants with a teal stripe down the sides, his Nikes, and a white wife beater with a grey hoody over it, he headed out the door and almost ran into Zoink - unfortunately. He was always following Talan around and he didn’t know what to do about it. He was to nice to be mean, so he just put up with it. He wasn’t so bad, he just never shut up and was immature. Talan didn’t say anything, but as he started walking in the direction of the gym, which wasn’t far, Zoink fell into step next to him.

He raised an eyebrow at him and listened to what he said. He merely shrugged as an answer. It just wasn’t like Talan to be mean and tell him to bug off. Besides, sometimes he was ok to talk to. If he ever let Talan get a word in that is. His back was thumped and Talan gave him a tad bit of a glare, but hardly noticeable. Rubbing his forehead, he just kept walking, and Zoink kept following. He didn’t understand why the younger male always followed him around. It would be interesting to see him trying to work out with him. He said he worked out, but he didn’t seem like the type. Working out took discipline and Zoink was… well… Zoink.

Entering the door that Zoink held open, Talan said a simple, “Thanks.” He didn’t need him holding doors for him, but whatever. He wasn’t going to make a deal out of it or something. Talan just felt like shooting hoops today, he headed straight for the indoor basketball court. He didn’t pay attention to if Zoink was following, but he knew he was probably right at his heels. He entered the gym and grabbed a ball from the rack. He tossed his hoody to the side and jogged up to the hoop to do a lay up.

Turning to Zoink as he walked back to the three point line, he turn back to face the hoop as he shot. He didn’t look at him as he spoke, but he asked, “Do you always go on and on so much?” He wasn’t mean about it or anything. He did always try to be nice to him. “Normally it doesn’t bother me much” he added, “But I got a lot of crap on my mind today.”

[zoink!THERIOT]

If there was anyone in his life to make him smile for hours, it would be Sydney L’amore. Being childhood friends, Zoink and Sydney stayed best friends throughout elementary school and junior high. However, when she left L.A. Zoink was heartbroken. He had loved Sydney for ages, but he didn’t have the gut to tell her that. When they ran into each other at the park not to long ago, Zoink felt pure ecstasy. He felt like a little kid- jumpy and hyper. That night he had finally told her that he loved her. However, she just left him after he had said those words- she just left him standing in the park. He hadn’t seen her since. He tried calling her countless times. They finally met up at the Beach.

He loved Sydney with all his heart, really. I mean, what was there not to love? She was perfect. She had beautiful, brown locks and gorgeous, shimmering eyes, and a petite body that you can’t help but want to feel. Sydney seemed so perfect. She was drop dead gorgeous. No, they had never had sex- but Zoink wanted to many times. He would go off in space when he thought about Sydney. He felt as if he was on the clouds- just floating in the air.

He was thinking about Sydney constantly nowadays. She never gave him an answer- did she love him back that way? He pushed away these thoughts as Talan stepped through the door. “No problemo.” Zoink said as he shut the door by removing his foot. He followed Talan to the courts. Zoink was really athletic at all. He had no coordination or muscles or anything it took to play sports. He watched Talan. He couldn’t feel a little hurt at his question.

“Well…” he started, feeling a bit of guilt. “…sorry.” he said, shrugging, looking rather hurt. “What are you thinking about?” he asked his friend, trying to change the subject. “I’ve been thinking loads, too. You know Sydney? Sydney L’amore?” he asked, picking up a basketball. Being incredibly poor in basketball, he attempted to shoot. He missed, for he couldn’t get the ball high enough, plus it was way off. When Zoink was little, he stunk at basketball, so he just stopped playing for the sake of his dignity.

“That’ who I’ve been thinking about- Sydney, I mean. She’s my best friend. My partner in crime. My soul mate. But lately," Well, not necessarily lately, his whole life- “I’ve been having...err…feelings for her, I guess you could say. I don’t know if she loves me back. I mean, I told her I love her and all, but she didn’t answer me.” He scooped up the ball again. He made a small jump and he attempted to make another goal. He missed.

It was inevitable, really. Zoink wasn’t the kind of person who played any sports at all. Heck, he couldn’t even play something like ping pong. Zoink is the kind of person who enjoys reading comics. Yes, my friend- he’s quite immature for his age. Being nineteen, he acts as if he’s nine. However, he does crack dirty jokes rather then saying things like, ‘Why did the chicken cross the road?’ sort of jokes, which is probably the only way that people know he’s nineteen.

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[Talan♠McInnis]

Talan felt bad as he looked at Zoink. He truly wasn’t trying to hurt his feelings. He really didn’t mind listening to him talk so much. Honestly, he was quite used to it, so it wasn’t a problem at all. It was just that Talan had a lot of complicated things on his mind and Basketball was a way to sort out his thoughts. With all the talking, it was kind of making it harder for him to think because he was trying to be polite and listen to Zoink at the same time. He sighed as the younger male said sorry. “Don’t be sorry,” Talan said reassuringly, “I don’t normally mind. Really. You’re a good friend. I just… have a lot on my mind and I can’t seem to sort anything out.”

Maybe it was a stretch to say he was a good friend, but really, he was. Even if he could be very annoying. As he retrieved the ball once more, he listened to his question about what he was thinking and then his next statement made Talan pause. What were the odds? Here Talan was thinking constantly about this girl, and suddenly Zoink is asking if he knows her. It was to strange for him to believe. He still had to wrap his head around the idea that this guy knew Sydney. It just didn’t seem possible. They were so not alike it wasn’t funny. Now he had a lot of questions.

He watched as Zoink shot and the ball failed to make it to the hoop. Talan could care less if he was good at basketball or not. It was no big deal. Some people were, and some people weren’t. Before Talan could say anything, his little tag along continued, only causing even more curiosity. It just didn’t seem possible that Sydney could know this immature nineteen year old. He had nothing against him for it, but him and Sydney? It was unreal.

Talan watched him miss again. If they were talking about the same girl, was it wrong that Talan felt happy that she hadn’t returned the feelings to the nineteen year old? She hadn’t answered him. That usually was a pretty good indication of her answer right there. He had a girlfriend now, and he shouldn’t be thinking about Sydney so much. He couldn’t help it though. Just as he has told her, she was on his mind and under his skin. He needed answers from Zoink, who, apparently knew Sydney.

“You know Sydney?” he questioned with disbelief, “Beautiful, long brown locks, alluring eyes, and does a cute little kink with her eyebrow. Sound about right?”

[zoink!THERIOT]

Zoink’s eyes widened at least 10 times bigger, or so it seemed. ”Yes.” he said simply. ”She’s even better then that. She’s….a goddess of the heavens.” He took a deep breath. This was probably the only moment Zoink would ever say silent around Talan for more then 2 minutes. His thoughts lingered on Sydney’s perfect face that just wanted to touch, feel, and even more then that.

His eyebrows raised. ”How do you know her? Sydney, I mean.” He threw the basketball behind him. Shooting didn’t matter at the moment. He was positive both their minds were concentrating on one and only one thing: Sydney L’amore. ”It’s a small world after all.” Zoink murmured to himself. What were the odds that Talan and Zoink knew the same person? Zoink didn’t know any of his over 20 friends.

He leaned up against the wall. His arms crossed. On his chest he whipped his hoodie off. The gym seemed to suddenly get very, very hot. He supposed that’s how it always was when he thought about Sydney.

(unfinished, obviously)

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