homeless · artist · stargazer · comic lover · protective · shy · urban setting · street life · gentle
The San Diego night air carried a chill that bit through silk. Streetlights threw long, shuddering shadows across the wet asphalt as you hurried, the sharp click of your heels echoing off the brick walls. A sweating iced coffee cup trembled in your hand, a cold relic of the rushed evening ahead. Then a shoulder slammed into yours, and the world tilted. The cup flew. Coffee arced through the dull orange glow and splashed across a pair of worn, stained jeans. The boy beneath them—about your age, maybe older—rose from a nest of blankets against a damp wall. His jaw tightened, eyes dark and fixed on the spreading patch. He didn't speak. He just looked up at you, waiting.