What. The. Everliving... (Zach, Malachai, thread crashers)

[Alista Sabina Castillo]

Alista's boots made prints on the lightly frosted ground. She had to get to her night job, but she had a rare bit of time beforehand, so she had chosen to walk the streets alone with her thoughts. It was a luxury she didn't often allow herself, but that night she couldn't resist the crisp, cool night air. Putting on her warmest clothes and tucking her work bag beneath her arm, she had set out, a roundabout path in mind.

Apparently she had deviated from that path quite a bit, as she had ended up in the club district nearby the Churchkey Bar. Alista paused at the streetcorner, glanced around, shrugged, and continued down the street. With how cold it was, she didn't think any belligerent drunks would be wandering the streets, so she should be safe.

Alista walked past the buildings close to the windows, absorbed in her thoughts. She had started her night job a month or two ago, and... well, it seemed to be going okay so far. She knew sex work put her at greater risk, but she knew what precautions to take to improve her physical safety. As for everything else... well, yes, customers projected all kinds of things onto her, all kinds of slurs and third-gendering. But was that really all that different from what she faced every day, just living as herself? Sure, it was more concentrated, but it was ultimately the same thing as holyshitdoorDOOR

"WHAT THE FU-"

She didn't have time to step back, and BAM. The door hit her right in the face, handle digging into her stomach. Alista fell to the ground with a loud cry as pain bloomed from her stomach and face, clasping one hand to her bloodied nose and the other to her midsection. For a moment her mind was stunned, conscious thought failing to register through a shroud of agony. Momentarily, a thought pierced through the shroud - WHATTHEFUCK WHAT IS YOUR FUCKING HURRY ASSHOLE

However angry she was, she didn't dare exclaim anything here - the last thing she needed on her way to her night job was to get into an altercation that had any risk of involving the police or further physically damaging her. Panic bloomed in her breast as she realized how vulnerable a position she was in. Alista quickly stumbled upright, scraping her coat on the brick wall behind her, and looked around for the fucker that had slammed a door on her face.

[Deleted]

There was absolutely nothing wrong with this. Two guys, friends, hanging out and having a drink together. A little bit of food. Maybe some karaoke. And these two friends just happen to kiss sometimes, though those were all absolutely not what Zach wanted to.....

Zach fiddled his fingers and bit his lip.

No point in asking what was wrong with him anymore, Zach was still no closer to an answer and was firmly going for the explanation that he was crazy. That this was just a phase. One that he never went through in high school, so he's getting it out of his system now. He'd always been a late bloomer, he didn't even manifest until he was halfway through his 15th year. So, logic dictated that....oh, who the hell was he kidding!? There was no logic to any of this and Zach was just insane!

He dropped his head to the table for probably the 5th time since he arrived at the Churchkey bar, the place where he was, once again, meeting with the guy that had started out as a random, unnatural hook-up and gradually(quickly) developed into their strange kind of friendship. Kai said he wanted to take Zach out. He said he wanted to hear Zach make a fool of himself with karaoke. And maybe feed him. And nope, at the end of the night, Zach was definitely not going back to Kai's apartment for wine or anything else that the stupidly tall asian man had in mind, nope. Because this was not a date.

And since it wasn't a date, it didn't matter that Kai was late and Zach had no explanation yet not even a text or a phone call or nothing to explain why and no Zach was not checking his phone to grumble at the fact that Kai was already 20 minutes late. And no Zach was not worried about the normally, supernaturally punctual man.

Five more minutes and Zach was so going to leave and go home....maybe 10 minutes. You know, maybe he'd better go outside and wait for him?

Zachary Bishop stood from the booth and signaled the server that'd he was just stepping outside a moment. It wasn't that busy yet, but Zach didn't want anyone to steal their table. He stuffed his hands into the pockets of his thick blue hoodie and started for the door, taking one out just to push the door open as he went out.

He heard a thud. Felt it too. Shit! Did he just...? On someone? Zach peered around the corner of the open door, letting it shut about halfway and keeping it there with his foot. And like an idiot, the best he could do was stand there, staring down at the girl who had taken the blow. A girl who looked incredibly familiar. Actually, this whole situation seemed familiar. He blinked, standing like a frozen fool, as he pondered the strange nostalgia and tried to place it in his memory.

[Alista Sabina Castillo]

Alista's face was a mix of shock, fear, and bafflement as she looked around for whoever had literally slammed the door on her face. Her eyes flitted over a few people leaving the Churchkey bar before it landed on the boy in front of her- wait, that kid... Why did he look-

Oh. Shit.

Her mind briefly, wildly flew to the conclusion that it must have been on purpose this time before fully registering Emo Kid's blank, baffled expression. No, that wasn't the face of someone malicious, just someone really fucking clumbsy and clueless. Who, regardless of intent, had given her sizeable bruises- ah fuck, was that blood dripping from her nose? Alista blinked and gingerly rubbed her sore nose, drawing her hand away to see crimson streaks across her skin.

Fuck, had Emo Kid actually broken her fucking nose? The adrenaline hadn't worn off quite enough to feel the extent of the pain, but fuck that was a lot of blood.

Something in her snapped, and she just laughed. It was a strange, vaguely scary laugh - the kind that comes from holding in weeks of stress and physical pain. Okay, so I have to break my fucking nose just barely after healing from a twisted ankle, all because of the same kid who rammed me into a bookshelf a month ago? Nice. Just great. Awesome. When she finally got enough of a handle on herself to say something, she fixed the boy with a stare that was simultaneously tense, amused, and pretty pissed off.

"Zach, was it?" Alista asked after a momentary mental search, voice slightly nasal from the blood clogging her nose. Yeah, that was his name. She had no idea if he would remember hers, but hopefully he remembered something from their last encounter.

[Deleted]

"Yeah..." The fact that she knew his name confirmed that he had probably met this person before, but still he couldn't really place it. Though he had to admit, that irritated glare definitely seemed familiar. But more than that, although it took him a second to react, the girl he'd opened the door onto was bleeding severely out her nose. To which he responded with, "Shit! Uh...hold on!" and darted inside, grabbing a cluster of napkins from the table closest to the door and then coming right back out, practically diving down and holding the mass of tissues out for her to use. "Uh...sorry...! I didn't mean to...I mean, I didn't see....Are you okay?" Great question to ask the girl with blood gushing from her face!

At least this incident had taken his mind from the agony of waiting for his date(not date!!).

[Alista Sabina Castillo]

Oh God, this kid was unbearably awkward. And he didn't seem to really recognize her. From the looks he was giving her it looked like he was trying to place her... which either meant he at least vaguely recognized her, or was clocking her. Fuck, this is really bad time, please don't let that be what this is... Alista glanced around, a ball of stress and anxiety growing in her breast. It was really fucking cold out here, her noze was freezing and bleeding, going inside would expose her to belligerent drunks, the dude she just ran into had possibly clocked her. But she had to get inside, she couldn't stand outside with a bloody, possibly-broken nose...

Zach sputtered something and darted inside to grab something, and re-emerged with tissues. Alista snatched them from his hands and gingerly held them up to her nose, trying to keep the blood from smearing her hands any more. "Look, I really gotta get inside," she said with a sigh, voice muffled by the paper. That would at least be warm, even if they did have to deal with drunks. "Are you leaving, or are you waiting for something?" She could at least try to deal with this on her own if he had something to do. Given how he had acted last time, though, she doubted he would leave her alone until he knew she was doing better.

Speaking of which... "Do you remember me at all?" She just had to know what he was thinking, because this was too fucking awkward.

[Deleted]

Zach still couldn't place this girl, even though he knew he should, he knew he knew this girl from somewhere. But it didn't really matter at the moment because it was more important to get the bleeding to stop. And inside, apparently. "Right! Sorry…" Zach said with a nervous nod and offered a hand to help her to her feet.

Huh? What? Question, brain, function! Zach fumbled through a few incoherent syllables before finally coming up with, "W-waiting. For. Someone. Kinda." God, he sounded like a robot. A non-functioning one.

Zach started leading her inside when she posed her next question and he sort of stared at her blankly. "Uh…Yes! Of course! Maybe….." Which sounded very unconvincing. He smiled awkwardly. "….Honestly, I can't quite remember…." And now he sounded rude. "But, I mean, your face! I remember that, just….don't know where from…."

Ugh, Zach was a horrible person, wasn't he. "Sorry…" Once inside, he went ahead and led her to the table he was already at and stole more napkins from a nearby table. "Did you…want to maybe…take care of that in the ladies room?'