I don't know what I'm doing here [Tenchi]

[David Moore]

I don't know what I'm doing here. The thought echoed loud and clear in Dave's head. He had spare time after work and had ended up passing the store on the way home from dinner. He had never been in a fabric store, so he figured he could take a look around. It probably wouldn't hurt. Probably. It might.  Dave blew air from his lower lip up into his bangs, causing them to shift slightly. He barely even comprehended what he was looking at in the display shelves. Uh, shirts and pants and other clothes stuff, I guess... But they look kind of different. Different tags indicated different kinds of threads used. Dave had delicately touched various pieces of clothing, careful not to ruin their value If that's how it works.

His discomfort was not helped by the fact that he was still wearing his work uniform. The butler-esque garb always attracted attention, but Dave could never get the time to change before the restaurant closed. He tugged at the collar of the formal white shirt. He had removed the tie and unbuttoned the top button, but he still looked unbelievably formal. With my luck, some gang member is going to bust through the door and beat me up for this. But things like that never happened.

[Tenchi Lui]

If there was one thing Tenchi hated most was when his old man actually required him to close up shop for him or to watch the place in general. Had his old man not notice yet, that whenever he left the shop tended to Tenchi that they never made any money? People just often step into the store, take one look at the jackoff in the leatherjacket and immediately leave to live another day. Those that were brave enough to stick around were face with an impatient temperament. Tenchi was not a business man nor a person who should be allowed to managed any type of store.

Needless to say, after the first hour that his old man had left the store and no soul dared to enter, Tenchi had moved to the small room in the back where he could just mess around with his paints. He had stayed back there but didn’t put his headphones is so that he could hear the bell from the door in the event that someone entered the store. It took quite some time before he heard someone enter and even then TEnchi didn’t leave the backroom until much later.

When he finally got up to see who had walked in, he noticed he had managed to get some red paint on his white tank top and quickly threw his leatherjacket on over it to cover up the mess before he headed out to the front. He got behind the counter and leaned against it, arms crossing and bored expression slipping firmly into place as he scanned the store. His sites landed on a some dude dressed like a butler. Either the guy had a really craptastic job as a domestic engineer or he came from some kind of costume party.

He waited patiently for a good solid twenty seconds as he drummed his finger on the counter top. When potential customer in question reached out after probably leering at the clothing (in Tenchi’s opinion that’s what it looked like), the blonde snapped. ”Hey! What part of the sign that says ‘Do Not Fuckin’ touch’ doesn’t compute? That shit is for another customer. You wanna touch it, order y’own. And quite just standin’ ‘round, y’gonna buy somethin’ or not?”

[David Moore]

Dave had averted his eyes from the clothing just in time to see a guy in a leather-jacket yell at him. His mind di not process the information well. Standing before him was what looked like a gang member, just like he had predicted. The guy seemed like he was about to beat someone up, just like he had predicted. The only response that Dave could immediately provide was a combination of confusion and fear, a pitiful and utterly stupendous sound. "Uggwasrgg..." He shut his mouth. That was awful.

He tried to process what the man had yelled at him. He had not seen a sign that said "Do not gucking touch." He felt that it would be pretty noticeable if it was there. But the guy yelled as if it was. But why would a clothing shop use such coarse language in its signs? At this point Dave realized that the sign had probably not included the expletive, but that the guy was just seriously pissed at him. That made sense.

Then Dave came to terms with the fact that this guy was seriously pissed at him. Any hope he had of throwing up a professional facade like at school or work was shattered instantly. He could feel his stomach drop and he gulped, nervously pushing his glasses up. "I-I'm so sorry," He choked out, barely audible. "I didn't s-see that, I-it's my fault. I'll p-p-pay to make up for it.

[Tenchi Lui]

Some incoherent gibberish came out of the man’s mouth and Tenchi quirked a brow in response as he wondered for a moment if it had been some foreign language that he wasn’t use to or heard of before. He started to apologize and offered to pay to make up for it. ”The hell, man? Jus’ said that crap is for ‘nother customer. Y’can’t pay for what’s yours. Y’wanna pay for sumthin’ then buy sumthin; or order sumthin.” The store wasn’t really much of a store at all. There were fabrics out on display but they were mainly used as a visual guide for people when they were trying to figure out what materials they wanted to use for their order. There were clothes out, most of them finished that his old man had already constructed but customers hadn’t picked them up yet.

There really wasn’t much a person COULD buy at the store. There were basic sewing supplies: needles, threads, used machines that were unfit for business use but perfect for someone who wanted to buy it with the intentions of learning to sew and only have it as a glorified paperweight instead. Tenchi was a hard business man, he wanted decisions to be made instantly. In his mind, if someone couldn’t figure out what the heck they wanted within the first five minutes (which was thirty seconds of reality due to his impatience) than the odds are they weren’t going to be spending money in the first place and should just get the hell out as not to waste anymore of his time.

”Y’lookin’ for sumthin’ in particular? We ain’t got much to just pay and go with. And if y’don’t know what the heck y’wanna order than look through the catalogs or sumthin’ to see if anything in particulars catches your eye or sumthin. Otherwise y’can stop wastin’ our time and just head back where y’came from.”

Yep, excellent businessman.

[David Moore]

Dave felt chills run down his spine when the man spoke to him again. It took him a second to process the shortcuts he was taking with the language. He jerked his head around, looking the shop nervously, looking for something interesting that he could just point to, pay, and leave. That was weird. Things weren't supposed to be foggy like they were. That was what the glasses were for. He reached a hand up to his glasses. They weren't there. He began to panic. He couldn't see things at a close range without any glasses. The guy had to be still staring at him. He had to buy something now. He had wasted the guy's time, after all.

He gulped gain and began speaking, still talking in the nervous whisper. "U-um, w-what would you, want me to buy? I mean, w-what do you th-... What do you recommend?" His social skills were breaking down by the second and his mind was desperately trying to figure out what had happened to his glasses. He had reached up to adjust them, but they should still be there. That is, unless he was so scared he forgot to release his grip on them and had taken them off when he returned his hand to hiss side. But his hand didn't have them now, so it was pretty likely that he had haphazardly thrown them somewhere in front of him like an idiot. Considering his previous prediction had been right, he was pretty confident he would be right about this too. He wanted to move forward to look for them, but that would require to move closer to the man, the guy that still probably hated his guts.

[Tenchi Lui]

What did he recommend? Why would he want something that Tenchi wanted. The guy just didn’t seem to get it. He released an annoyed breath and dropped his forehead down onto the counter before moving out from around the counter. What the heck was the guy looking around for anyway? He actually looked dazed or something to Tenchi’s eyes but he couldn’t be sure. Did he really frighten the guy to the point that he wasn’t sure where he was anymore or something?

”Well. If it were my decision, I’d jus’ He paused in his speech as a dull cruunnnch came from under his foot and cut him off from what he was saying. Tenchi backed up and lifted up his boot only to see a pair of glasses, one lens now freshly broken, on the floor. ”The hell, y’leavin’ crap in my store now?” He wasn’t the least bit apologetic about stepping on the pair of glasses. Tenchi squatted down and plucked them off the floor. The left eye lens didn’t receive any damage but the pieces of the right lens held for just a moment before falling out in three sections. ”Well, hope y’didn’t need these because their busted. Y’need to get a pair that can actually take a poundin’ rather than this frail crap. Here.” He held out the pair of useless glasses toward the younger male.

[David Moore]

Dave felt his jaw drop completely. This can't be happening. This can' be happening. This can't be happening. This inner mantra, of course, did absolutely nothing for the situation at hand. It was happening and there was nothing Dave could do about it except try not to drop dead with despair. That would probably only make this guy even angrier. He could only stretch a shaking hand towards the glasses that the man offered him. He took them in both hands and raised them to his face, checking if they were somehow salvageable, or at least able to give him partial vision.

It was no use, the capability of his eyes were too different. One eye couldn't focus in the lens without the other eye focused in its different lens. He lowered the glasses with a sigh. The other man's words were completely lost on him, he was too busy focusing on the current trial. He lived a while away from here and he wouldn't be able to find his way home without being able to see. A new pair had to be special ordered because of the special type of lenses needed, costing him a hundred at least. He felt his eyes begin to water and he blushed, suddenly remembering that he was in front of some random guy that probably wanted to kick his ass. He tried to hold back the tears.

[Tenchi Lui]

The man in front of him took the pair of broken glasses from Tenchi and despite the fact that they were clearly broken, attempted to try and put them on. He seemed to catch on fairly quickly that they were basically useless at this point and couldn’t do much about it. That was until the look on the young man’s face caused Tenchi to raise an eye brow, ”Hey, y’ain’t gonna start cryin’, are ya?” That was disturbing. What kind of guy actually cried? That wasn’t how men were supposed to act. Nope, that’s not the way he acted. ”Y’need to toughen up an’ just move on with it. Ain’t like ya can’t replace them.’

[David Moore]

The words cut through Dave like scissors through something really easy to cut. He stood there frozen for a moment, still unable to make out the man's face or expression as the tears in his eyes further distorted his vision. What did I do this time? What do I do to make people dislike me so much? A spasm of anxiety erupted in his stomach and he clutched his stomach from the sudden inner pain. He doubled over, tears falling from his face. "4... no 5 weeks of work for new ones, unless I take from my savings, but that'll run on my credit." He groaned. "I'm so sorry to have bothered you, sir. I have no business being here, I'm so sorry please don't hurt me! I won't bother you again, I promise! If you could please just turn me in the direction of the high school I should be able to find my way there even though I can't see! I'm sorry, you don't have to. I'll just leave money and go."

[Tenchi Lui]

The young man doubled over and tears streaked down his face. Tenchi didn’t deal with people crying well, at least, not unless he punched them in the nose first. To have them start crying over him just talking at them was a whole other story. ”What? I ain’t taken your money. Y’didn’t even buy anything.” It’s not like he went around fighting people for their money or anything. This is why he shouldn’t be left to tend the store because bad crap always happens when he does. Here he was making this boy, who was far too pretty to be male, cry in front of him over broken glasses.

”Shit look, I broke the damn glasses so I’ll give y’money for new ones. S’only right, right? Just friggin’ calm down, I ain’t gonna beat ya or nothin’.” Really, people were far to sensitive these days. What the hell happened to the way men were supposed ot act?

[David Moore]

"No! It's my fault for bothering you! I'm stupid, I know! I'll buy whatever you want to make up for it!" Dave gasped through his sobs as the tears streaked down his face. It had been well over a year since he had suffered from a complete breakdown like this. It was quite a surprise. He almost felt a sense of relief with each sob as he let pent up emotions out, it would have been quite therapeutic had it not felt like utter shit. He ducked his head between his arms as he cried, pushing his arms together in a crushing motion against his head. The entire time, he kept muttering a new mantra, this time out loud and audible. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Really I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

[Tenchi Lui]

It was official, the guy totally lost his marbles and had gone crazy. ”Jesus, I ain’t takin’ your money, jus’ use it to buy new glasses if my money ain’t good enough.” What was wrong with taking his money anyway? He did break the damn glasses. Maybe he should just give the guy some table and tell him to try and fix it.

Maybe y’should like… siddown or sumthin.” He said in his confusion. Weren’t dudes supposed to try and hide how they felt? He certain knew that crying in the presence of another man was a big taboo because that had often brought out insults and teasing directed at the blonde when he was a kid.
[/b]

[David Moore]

Oh God, he had insulted the guy again. "Please, I'm fine, you're money is good enough, I mean, I don't want it, but it's good to have, but I won' take it, but not because it isn't good." This wasn't getting anywhere. "Please stop being nice to me, I don't deserve it after all the trouble I'm causing you, just let me make up for it please! If you don't want my money then I'll do anything you need me to do until I make up for it, just please forgive me!" Dave didn't know what to expect. He sincerely meant every word. He hadn't had his professional facade ready and now this person had to deal with the way he really was, awkward and broken, and he shouldn't have to make other people deal with it.

[Tenchi Lui]

”’Kay… Wanna make up for it? Start by stop cryin’ an’ start actin’ like a man.” What did he expect Tenchi to say to that? Did he expect him to tell him to scrub the floor? Hell, he had half a mind to tell him to just leave the store so he didn’t have to deal with it. It was making Tenchi feel all awkward. With his luck, a few cops were going to waltz into the store and see the state of the young man, and Tenchi standing here and immediately assume he had beaten the snot out of him.

”An’ clean yourself up. Y’ain’t got a reason to be acting this way,”

[David Moore]

Dave heard the command and immediately began to do as he was asked. He had practiced holding back tears, but never how to actually stop crying in full swing. He forcefully held his breath to choke back his sobs and began wiping his eyes on his sleeves. When he could no longer hold his breath any longer, he let out a huge gasp, followed by a deep inhale, then a slow exhale, then another deep inhale. He was trying to calm himself down. His heart had been racing the entire time from the intensity of the situation. He kept wiping his eyes, drying all the tears before they could begin falling again. He sat up on his knees instead of huddled this time, but kept his eyes solemnly on the ground. "I'm sorry you had to see that, sir. It won't happen again. What else would you like?" His eyes were red and burning, but he didn't care anymore at this point. The only thing that mattered was making it up to this guy for having to deal with the mess he was.