28 Old Habits. (1)

"Especially for a dumbass like you."

"What was that?" Bryant asked as he glared at Sonny.

"You fuckin' heard me. You airy fairy weirdo."

That was all it took for things to pop off in Dawn Logistics HQ, and as Visuveus obliviously made his way towards his bus stop, all hell broke loose at his workplace. As he made his way back to the halfway house after getting off at his last stop, he felt a presence following him. That said, it was a familiar presence, and it didn't take long for the presence to make itself known.

"Visuveus Vincent." A particularly gentle sounding voice called out, prompting him to look back.

"Simon." Vincent responded.

This man Simon was, for all intents and purposes, an absolute unit of a man. He was tall, muscular, tattoos covering every inch of his skin from his neck down, and even though he was dressed in overalls that should have been baggy, they looked as though they were close to bursting. Yet, in spite of all that, he had the most timid, friendly, welcoming face known to man. He even beamed at Visuveus and waved at him sweetly.

"Just getting back from work?" Simon asked.

"Indeed. Yourself?"

"Yup. We were rushing to finish complete all the cars that were right on the cusp of being fixed, so it was a bit of a rush to the finish."

"I see."

Visuveus thought he had ended the conversation with that conversation, but he was wrong. Simon just kept talking, waffling on about coworkers, the workshop, the cars and more. Vincent, who was quite the petrolhead, probably would have contributed to the conversation if he was given the chance, but Simon didn't even give him a chance to open his mouth. It felt as though being able to just talk to someone was something Simon needed, and to his credit, Visuveus recognised and allowed it. The entire walk back was taken up by the one-sided conversation, which even led to the usual approaches and calls by all manner of sex worker that Visuveus had to rebuff on a daily basis being swatted away by the sheer volume of words leaving Simon's mouth not leaving any space for any other words at all. Once the pair of ex-cons arrived at their accommodation, only then did Simon stop talking. He had been talking so much and for so long, he actually appeared to be out of breath.

"Goodness me, I apologise for having gone on like that…" Simon apologised, looking particularly embarrassed by the whole thing. "I just… I can't remember when last I was able to just talk freely, and I wasn't able to stop myself. I'm sorry."

"No worries."

"I appreciate it. Thank you for listening. I doubt I'll see you again today, so take care, and have a good evening."

"You aren't coming in?"

"No… I have to wait. Ash prefers it if we go in together."

"I see. Alright, then."

Visuveus nodded before turning around and starting to walk back inside, however he ended up stopping in his tracks. He turned to face Simon and sighed before speaking.

"This is none of my business, but this walk back is not the first time I have listened to you one-sidedly."

"…w-what do you mean?"

"As you know, we are neighbours in this forsaken hole of a halfway house and the walls are paper thin. It's hard not to hear what happens next door."

"Wait, so you mean…" Simon mumbled as a look of dread spread across his face.

"I hear you get slapped around, I hear you gag… and I hear you cry yourself to sleep. Every night. Again, this is not my business, but I'm not the only person you share the house with, so… yeah. Do with this information what you will."

Visuveus nodded once again and made his way into the house. Later that night, he was still up all night, still heard everything, and still texted back and forth with Evan, who was STILL asking if he wasn't being bullied at work, especially after hearing about the events of the day. The next day, despite having resolved himself to not doing anything and just resting, Visuveus was restless. As it was Sunday, most of his ex-con housemates had left the house, whilst those who were still around were fast asleep. Visuveus however, did not handle silence all that well, and the external peace led to internal noise. Intrusive thoughts plagued his consciousness, badgering him with a plethora of suggestions and orders, some whispered, some shouted, but all unwanted. Whether they were telling him all his efforts were futile, or that his child would want nothing to do with him, they all spoke at once and so much that they not only blocked out any external noise, but also made the inside of his head so loud, it felt like it was on the verge of exploding like a sausage in a hot pan.

In a somewhat surprising twist of events, something that usually sent chills down Visuveus' spine actually snapped him right out of his toxic bubble. The sound of Ms. Mubi's heavy breathing on the other side of the door, as well as her attempts at opening it slightly to peak inside were enough rouse the ex-con from his waking nightmare of a fugue state. It didn't take much more for him to throw on a suit – even on his day off – and fly out of the house with Ms. Mubi in tow. He ended up at a shopping mall which was at the halfway point between work and his place of residence. After finding a place that smelled like it had good coffee and ordering a bottomless cup, the ex-con found a table in the corner and slowly drank his coffee while people watching. The noise of the busy coffee shop, and by extension the mall, the ambient sounds, the many conversations, they all blended together into a thick milkshake of stimuli that kept his intrusive thoughts from going on a rampage and forcing him to keep them in check. Everything became a blur, and Visuveus had no idea just how long he had been sitting there, as well as how many coffee refills he had consumed. Eventually however, his phone went off, as one of his preliminary curfew early alerts. As he was susceptible to missing these kinds of alarms, Visuveus set a series of them to go off, so that if he missed one, the chances of another alarm succeeding in getting his attention was high. This was what happened, as the third one, as well as one of the wait staff managed to snap him out of it. The ex-con paid for his coffee, and proceeded to make his way out of the mall when he suddenly saw two people that were not only familiar, but that he didn't expect to see, either. He was contemplating slipping away without saying anything, but when they made him, he decided to blend into the foot traffic and disappear. Unfortunately for him, the moment they recognised him, they both went from shocked, to confused, to actually beaming before quickly making their way towards him.

"Yo, Vincent!" Morgannin boomed as he waved, with Natalie waving as well.

"Morgannin. Natalie." He responded, as deadpan as ever. "Funny seeing you two here."

"Nah dude, funny seeing YOU here. I never would have figured you as a mall crawler." Nat laughed as she pat Visuveus on the shoulder.

"Yeah man, the mall on Sundays is pretty much families getting something to eat after church, or single dads trying to use their kids to pick up chicks." Morgannin said with an uncharacteristically friendly chuckle.

"Well… close enough. I might not be trying to 'pick up chicks' or anything, but I am single, and as much as I don't have access to my child, I am a father."

The two first stared at Visuveus, before looking at each other, before bursting into hysterical laughter. They laughed quite a bit as their gazes switched each other, to Visuveus, until they realised that he was dead serious, and that killed their laughter almost immediately. The shock on their faces was so thick, it was practically dripping from their faces.

"So, what are you two doing here?" Vincent asked, moving swiftly along.

"Uh… a… date." Morgannin stammered.

"On a date? You two? Together?" Visuveus asked with raised brows, and now it was his turn to be shocked.

"Why is that so surprising to you?" Natalie asked.

"I just… he doesn't seem to be your type. Anatomically, I mean."

Natalie and Morgannin's shock switched focus now, but there wasn't any time to explore things further as Visuveus raised his hand and nodded.

"Anyway, I must be off. You would expect our curfew to be more lenient on Sunday, yet its actually stricter. I will see you two at work tomorrow."