Unlikely turn of events

[Emery Yong]

Emery works at Circle K gas station off of Stine Way and Frist street. He has worked there for a few years now, they have him working graveyard. They have the girl's work in the mornings and mid shifts for safety reasons. They were more likely to get robbed during his shift, he knew it and it didn't bother him. But his did get boring, it was very slow and he had to keep himself awake some nights.

It was a Saturday night so it was pretty busy he and two others were working this shift with him. They were only allowed to sell alcohol till 2 am so it was pretty busy until then. And after they had to keep an eye out for beer runs, people coming in and running off with cases of beer.

Emery stepped outside to sweep the parking lot and checking the trash. There were a few cars in the parking lot. One was at the pump getting gas and two were parked by the entry. Emery kept an eye on the cars. The other two were inside working the cash registers. One of the cars had a driver in it so he was wary they were about to get robbed or they were stilling. He didn't want it to happen but he was always on high alert.

Something caught his attention and he looked over his shoulder to see what was going on.

[Kaiden Sima]

Fumbling with the items in his hand, Kaiden walked unsteadily towards the counter. A four-foot walk seemed to take forever. His vision blurred at the edges and the world tilted alarmingly on its axis.

For a few seconds, he paused. Blinked hard. Without knowing it, his body listed to the left and at the last moment he shot out a hand to brace against the nearby shelf, pushing it over with an alarming crash. Kaiden stumbled with the shelf, tripping over his own feet, and fell over to sprawl among the bags of candies and jerky and other junk food so ubiquitous in small gas station convenience stores.

"Sorry," he mumbled to nobody in particular. An annoyed gas station attendant came over to check on him and from the glimpse that Kaiden caught of the guy's face, it was clear that he thought Kaiden was another drunk customer. While he extended a hand, Kaiden pushed it away and struggled to his feet. He dusted himself off. "Sorry," he muttered again, head lowered to let his hair hide his face. Best if nobody around here knew who he was.

"Hey, Em! Come in for a sec!" The attendant was at the door, yelling for somebody, while Kaiden clumsily righted the shelf and tried to put everything back.

[Emery Yong]

Something seemed to be going on inside, a coworker was calling him in. Emery made his way back in and when he got inside he saw it, a shelf had been knocked over. He looked at he coworkers for an explanation since he had been outside when all this took place. "Are you okay?"  He asked the guy that was picking up everything that had fallen on the floor.

He himself started to pick up the stuff that was on the floor and putting it back up.

"We'll take care of this, it's not a big deal," He said as he continued to clean up. The guy seemed to be out of it probably drunk or high. This town had its fair share of druggies, not a single day will pass without a tweaker coming in getting their big styrofoam cup, what was up with tweakers and the cups?

[Kaiden Sima]

"I'm fine," Kaiden mumbled almost incoherently. He wasn't so far gone that he didn't feel embarrassment or shame--both prominent as some other guy came over to help him put everything back onto the shelf. "Just... tripped." Which wasn't a total lie. He tripped... after he fell over from the dizzy spell.

Luckily nothing was too damaged, but he saw that one or two bags had burst from the fall. Kaiden stooped to pick them up, then slowly straightened. "I... I guess I'll pay for these," he said as he held up the broken bags, shuffling aside some pieces of spilled candy with his shoe. He didn't really have enough money to buy everything, though, and reluctantly Kaiden sifted through the other items--the things he needed like real food, a bottle of water.

[Emery Yong]

Two of the workers, Emery and Josh, were dealing with the mess and Casey was working a cash register so they were all kind of distracted.

That's when two guys that were in line with 2 cases of beer each bolted for the door. Casey yelled out, "Hey!" Emery looked up and to see then fly out the door and jump in the car with the dude sitting in it.

This happened so fast Emery had no time to react. "Fuck," He threw his hands in the air. "That will be coming out of our paycheck."

He had no idea if this guy had something to do with it or if they took advantage of the situation. He didn't run off with them so maybe not or was that part of the plan. Emery really was over thinking what just happen.

[Kaiden Sima]

Kaiden watched with a sort of detached interest as some punks made off with two cases of beer, the only indication that he even noticed what was happening around him the raise of his brows. He followed their progress out the door and heard the squeal of tires as their getaway car sped off into the night. His gaze fell back onto the clerk who swore, bemoaning the theft.

It wasn't really his business, so he side-stepped around the irate guy and went up to the counter, plunking down the half-empty bags of candy and one bottle of water. Kaiden rummaged through his pockets and came up with a couple of dollar bills and some change, which he jingled absently in his palm. The other gas station attendant cursed too as he came to ring Kaiden up, giving him a suspicious look as if he might have been in with the other two.

"...what?" Kaiden looked over his shoulder at the other one. Em? Somebody called him Em earlier, he remembered that much.

[Emery Yong]

Emery's adrenaline was pumping from the theft that just happened he was also pissed that they got away. He still had to fix the shelf that was knocked over too but with the way he was feeling at the moment he wanted to kick over the shelves and yell. He took a deep breath in and his jaw tightened as he shut his eyes to calm himself down. He then let the breath out and opened his eyes, he just happened to open his eyes at the same time the guy that knocked over the shelf looked over at him.

Emery furrowed his brow, awkwardly staring at him. "What?" He asked back, both hands on a hip he tilted his head slightly to the left.

His shift was over in an hour be he was going to have to call the manager and he was going to have to come down and make a report So he was not going to be getting off in an hour. And he wasn't going to get paid for the time he had to spend filling the paperwork either.

That's when it came to him, he had an idea. "You!" He said pointing his finger at him. "How old are you?" Emery approached the guy and pulled his wallet out, he was going to have them ring him up for the two cases of beer and Emery was going to pay for it. That way he didn't have to call the manager and he would be going home in an hour still.  It's a win win.

Now, as long as no one told the manager what really happened and he never looked back at the footage to see it all take place they were in the clear.

[Kaiden Sima]

Kaiden shrugged. What? The guy was looking at him funny. After an awkward moment, he turned away but the weird guy was speaking again, and when he looked over his shoulder, he was being pointed at.

"...old enough." Old enough to be buying a bottle of water and candy, at least. Kaiden pushed the items toward the guy behind the counter, wanting nothing more than to get the hell out of the gas station convenience store. He was more comfortable out on the streets--where he belonged. Before the guy could ring him up, the other one was coming over, wallet in hand.

Kaiden looked over at him, then down at the wallet, then up at him again. "I just want to buy these," he gestured to the sundry items on the counter. "And go." Whatever this guy was planning on doing, Kaiden wanted no part of it.

[Emery Yong]

"Okay, so you know how those guys stole the beer, I have to call my manager in so we can make a report. But if I have you buy the two cases," he motioned as his wallet, that he would pay if he agreed. "Then we won't short and I won't have to call him in." His mouth wide open and his eyes wide waiting for the guy to agree.

It was a bit out there but he really wanted to go home. He was so close to clocking out.

"What do you say? Help us out" He pulled his shoulders in and gave him the puppy dog eyes. "I'll cover the cost and pay for your stuff."

[Kaiden Sima]

"...what?"

Maybe he was still a little buzzed from whatever the witches gave him earlier but he could've sworn the guy just said that he would pay for the beer out of his own pocket--and Kaiden's sad little pile of crappy candy and bottled water. He gave the guy a Stare of disbelief, a brow slowly rising.

"Can't you just ring the beer up separately and pretend somebody bought it?" Kaiden's brows lowered, furrowed. He didn't really want to be involved in anything. He didn't even want to be back here in Hazleton; the whole reason he moved to Portland was because he wanted to spare his family and friends the shame of seeing what he had become.

Kaiden lifted a hand and scratched at the back of his neck. He knew that these guys were in a bind, but... getting involved even with this didn't sit well with him.

[Emery Yong]

Emery scratched the back of his head, "Ah, you are very much so right," He slipped his wallet back into his pants pocket. And stepped back to give him his space. The thrift had him riled up and he hadn't been thinking clearly.

It's just he was really looking forward to getting off work and chill for the weekend. Work was getting a little bit stressful and it was taking a toll on him.

"You have a good night, sorry for all the trouble tonight brought, would you like a free soda?" He felt bad for all the guy had gone through already.

[Kaiden Sima]

"No, it was..." He turned to gesture to the rack that he'd tipped over earlier. "My fault." The beer thing not so much, since he wasn't involved in the theft, but probably if all three guys hadn't been distracted, those punks wouldn't have gotten away with it. Kaiden pushed his mound of change and bills towards the cashier, who rang him up and pushed back some change.

"I'm good on the soda but thanks anyway." A rusty smile worked its way across his lips. "Hey uh. Just. Quick question." Working at the one and only gas station, this guy had to come across most of the town's citizens. "Do you know anybody called Kinley Sima? Does he come here...?"

[Emery Yong]

"Nah, can't say I do. I know a lot of people by face not name. So I might know him." He looked at his coworker to see if he knew Kinley Sima.

But the name didn't ring a bell.

[Kaiden Sima]

"Oh that's okay." Kaiden shrugged helplessly. Even in a small town like Hazleton, it was impossible to know everybody. He was disappointed--he'd hoped to find out about his brothers, whether they were still okay. Kaiden left when his brothers were still just kids and he hadn't been home in years. He was too ashamed to go home, or to even get too close to them, but he'd been secretly asking around about them.

"Thanks anyway." He took his water and candy (what a dinner, seriously) and turned to leave.