{CO} Catch Me Before I Burn

[Tim Tawfeek]

This whole thing just sort of pissed Tim off. Everybody gathered around, having fun, eating and doing whatever. Tim didn't really care, and he definitely wouldn't have left his usual haunts if they hadn't been withholding food and his store of ramen had run out the other day. So he'd dragged himself down here to associate with everyone. He wasn't entirely certain that his shirt was all that clean and he might have forgotten to shave in... a while, but what did that matter? He was just looking for a hot dog.

And he'd actually growled at one little kid to scare them off while he grabbed them. Leave it to the school to waste money on stuff like this. All big show, look at us, we're supporting the community. There were real issues, people dying type issues, and these people were celebrating. It was watching people fiddle while Rome burned.

Tim snorted and took a bite of the dog. he didn't care about where the toppings and whatnot got: he actually couldn't remember what he'd put on the thing. Something slopped and he thought he heard a squirt or something. Again: he was more or less beyond caring at this point. as he turned, however, he noticed someone he did recognize: "Hey Onnie," he said around a mouthful of food, nodding a head toward Oneyka A. Duffuor. "Can you believe this?" he turned, gesturing as he did to indicate the gathered crowd, before snorting yet again. Just... all of it.

[Oneyka A. Duffuor]

Before Onnie went about her way to drag Jack out of his room and enjoy the cook-out, she thought it was best if she checked it out herself first. Because now, she considered stuff like how hot or cold it was outside and who would be there, and especially before and after she went with Jack for his treatments.

To her, the scenery seemed really nice. There had been mingling going on about, a few games, and of course food. Though, even though she was hungry, she didn't want to eat yet, at least not until Jack did. Not to mention she had been tired and hid the evidence with makeup, and her head was sore from all of the attempts it took to shift her hair into perfect braids. With the way the sun was shinning, she knew she could last longer out here without needing a nap.

"Hey Onnie,"

The familiar voice caused her to turn around after she grabbed a cold can of soda. "Oh hey, Tim!" Her brows lifted as she tried to see what exactly it was that she needed to believe. "The cookout? It's lovely, I had no idea Americans celebrated the end of the summer." Her petite fingers cracked open the can before taking a sip. "Is the food as good as it smells?" Flashing a smile as she watched him eat. He didn't seem to pleased with it all, according to the snort... but was he not enjoying the food? There were mixed signals there.

[Tim Tawfeek]

Wow, Onnie seemed a lot more cheerful than Tim expected in general, particularly given that she as going through everything he was. He actually had to spend a few seconds staring blankly at her as she kept going, talking about how Americans celebrated the end of the summer. Sometimes he really did forget about that, the whole exchange student thing, and he'd even met Onnie before she'd fully transferred and everything.

"Uh, yeah," he managed, turning to look at the food. "It's... pretty good," because now he suddenly didn't feel quite as angry as he had a few moments before. Unfortunately for Tim, not being angry meant that he defaulted to sad instead. "So, uh, how's Jack doing?" he offered, figuring that would probably get things right on track. That and, well, Jack was one of the two people at the forefront of his mind lately.

[Oneyka A. Duffuor]

After all she had gone through emotionally, based off of how her boyfriend was now, physically - Oneyka couldn't help but to stay optimistic as the days rolled by. Jack might have frowned more often, hardly flashing smiles that she was used to seeing... but she couldn't do the same. She just couldn't.

Not to mention it felt really good being outside, feeling the sun against her ebony skin filled with melanin, heat and sun always made her feel like she was back home. Her old home. This was her new home now.

She'd never understand the need for Americans to celebrate every single thing that happened but she had to admit, it allowed for good times. Maybe times that often distracted them from the real issues, but good times nonetheless. Chuckling, she eyed his food. "Good. I planned on grabbing some food in a bit. While she was going to question his new facial hair, she decided against it. Males usually didn't seem to care about the obvious anyway.

But then there was a question about Jack. Her eyes looked a bit more forward. Everytime she was asked that, she instantly went into a flashback frenzy but played a smile on her face. Every single time. "Jack is, he's alive - and he's doing okay." Her glance went back to Tim as she slightly nodded. "Alive." Which wasn't a promise but it was something she kept telling herself. "How about Lux? I haven't heard from her. I assumed you you were keeping an eye on her and her well being?"

[Tim Tawfeek]

"Yeah, you definitely should eat," Tim offered, nodding. He actually meant that, and was almost surprised by it. he didn't want Onnie to join the lengthening list of people in his life who were having a rough time of things. There was just enough to deal with between Jack and Lux and, well, everything else, Tim guessed. Hell, Erin still had her own thing and he kept feeling guilty about not really being there for her with all that.

Jack was alive. Okay. Alive. "Good, good," Tim said, rubbing at his face and nodding. Then came the question he hadn't wanted, even if he'd all but set himself up for it. "She's, ah, it got worse," he offered, feeling his voice crack slightly. "She's put up and... I'm sure Jack told you all about it," he waved, finding he didn't want to go further. "I'm... I'm keeping an eye. Jack is too, I guess, but, you know, shit's gone south with him and... I got it, really. And him."

Tim felt like he was already not making sense. He rubbed his face again before looking down at his food. Ugh, now he didn't even want to eat. But it was like he told Onnie: got to keep the machine running. He bent down and took another bite, chewing, not tasting but, well, chewing.

[Oneyka A. Duffuor]

"Yeah... I should..." Nodding in agreement, but of course... "But I think I'd just rather wait until I can drag Jack out here later on. I just feel uncomfortable when I've eaten and he hasn't." Which she was sure he hadn't yet. She understood how complicated hunger was when you had to deal with what Jack and Lux did. Being hungry but not being able to hold food down, or just being too tired to. Oneyka just felt weird if she didn't allow herself to hold out until Jack managed to get something in his stomach.

Onnie failed trying to keep the content look on her face. Her head turned slightly to look back at Tim and all she could do was take a deep breath. She was now more than concerned. "It just never gets easier, does it?" Which wasn't her usual outlook on life but it was hard now that she was standing next to Tim, knowing little to nothing about the fact that Lux had gotten worse. Christ, it hadn't been too long ago that she had just found out about Jack... from someone else but him. But she didn't want to tell Tim that, that was unnecessary. Plus, she could only imagine what he was going through. "And me." Nodding, she continued. "You've also got me. For moral support, back up, if you will."

"Everything will get better." She swallowed that hard statement as she glanced back at the groups and others of BA, enjoying themselves. "And not to mention we all get to start college together? I imagine it'll be an exciting year for us, right?" The drink moved back to her lips as she tried to become as optimistic as possible and it was the hardest thing ever. "...so much excitement."

[Tim Tawfeek]

It was somewhat reassuring to hear that Jack was still in a decent enough condition to be dragged out into public. The same couldn't be said of Lux, which made Tim feel even more alone just to think about. Still, he couldn't fault Onnie just because she actually happened to have her SO around and stuff. She should take advantage of it while she could.

"No, no it doesn't," Tim said, "and lately it's just been getting worse," he didn't know how else to put it, and the exhaustion with the world just sort of dropped off his lips without thinking about it. Onnie offered up her support; Tim looked to her, almost not seeming to really notice her standing there. "Thanks," he managed.

Though her optimism had him chuckling, shaking his head. He kept silent while she kept going, the optimism almost painful. "Right, better. Things have only gotten worse since we got started. Shootings, fires, cancer, and all this shit and what are they doing?" He gestured forward where a group of older people laughed with one another. "They're letting everyone die and it's just... it's so much shit," he felt like crying now, and instead just let out a noise of frustration, realizing that he was still holding the food, which soon went into the trash. Yeah, he definitely didn't feel like eating now.