Burn Out - Chapter 1 Part 1

In life, people are frequently reminded to be careful what they wish for. For each misguided wish they make in hopes that magic will grant that wish to turn their lives for the better, there is a negative consequence that they never could have foreseen. They wish for things to be less boring, for things to leave them alone, for everything to please change because the direction of their life is displeasing at the moment. The realisation only comes after the words have been spoken. Your wish can very much be turned against you.

Mox had heard the cliche before. So many times it had been repeated; by his parents, his teachers, random passersby who had heard a wish being professed. However, it had never really occurred to him that they'd be proven right. Idly, he pressed his palms against the glass of the shop window and looked at the item that his friend was pointing at excitedly, the musings over the cliche and how true it really was slowly drifting away from him as he tried to figure out just what he was looking at.

"Nero..."

"Mox, Mox come on. Please?" Nero pouted at him imploringly, an expression he still didn't seem to realise would have no effect on Mox's decision whatsoever. Still, with a sigh, Mox fished into the pocket of his worn army-issue camoflauge pants for their money stash. Nero's thin face immediately lit up in joy and he bounced up and down on the balls of his feet. "Yay Mox! I knew you weren't so hardhearted that you wouldn't let me have it."

"Oh I'll let you have it alright," Mox muttered under his breath, extracting a ten dollar bill from the mass of wrinkled paper. "This is all the money you get to spend this week. Are you sure you want to spend it on th- Nero!"

The other boy had snatched the bill from his hand and immediately escaped into the shop; rolling his eyes, Mox followed in his footsteps, glancing up at the bell above the door as he entered the building. It was brighter inside than out, as it was getting on in the evening and everything had started fading. All along the walls, bright colours leapt out at him, each attempting to capture his attention with a strange swirly pattern or something of the like. Bright bundles of objects arranged attractively in baskets on countertops, a glass case containing pastel treats... He'd apparently stepped off the street and into Hell's Technicolour Rainbow Store.

Or a candy shoppe. Of course Nero would find one.

"Nero." He wasn't at the counter, nor at the window through which they'd been staring only a moment ago. He'd wanted whatever it was that was in the window, so where had he disappeared to? It should be easy to spot the small, black-clothed man against the ridiculously bright colour of the sweets, but he was nowhere to be seen. "Nero. If you don't show yourself immediately, I'll leave you here."

An empty threat, but Nero never seemed to realise that, as Mox had uttered those very words before many times. The boy stuck his head out from one of the aisles, a very, very sad expression on his face. Visibly annoyed at his friend, he stuck his tongue out and made a rude noise in Mox's direction. Mox immediately started toward him; the woman who was keeping the counter looked very worried for some reason.

"Mox, that's not very nice," Nero muttered petulantly, shuffling backwards into the aisle as Mox got closer. The sad little pout on his face would have made anyone else feel sorry for upsetting him. "You know you can't leave me alone."

There was a bit of a whine in his voice; the woman behind the counter shifted to her left, to get a better view into the aisle. The look she was giving him made it clear that she thought he was going to hurt the smaller boy, or something equally heinous. Mox glanced over his shoulder at her, sighed, and looked back to Nero. This was just... embarrassing. What were they doing in here to begin with? Nero should've known that chocolate, and candy in general, was useless to them.

Silently, Mox pointed at the window, where the object Nero had desired was still nestled amongst fluffy bits of tissue paper used as decoration. They had other things to do. He couldn't stand around while Nero ran amok like... well like a kid in a candy store. Another cliche Mox had never considered the truth behind. Nero's bottom lip jutted out dangerously as he brushed past his friend and headed for whatever it had been, leaving him to muse over the verity of various other cliches before he turned and followed slowly.

"They're chocolate puppies!" he explained earnestly, picking one up and holding it out to show Mox. It was about the same size as Nero's hand, and probably solid chocolate all the way through, Mox thought, eying the thing disinterestedly. It looked more like a rat to him, but if Nero saw a puppy, then Nero saw a puppy, and most other people probably did as well. There probably wasn't much of a market for rat-shaped chocolates, after all. He didn't even bother to point out that the shape of the candy shouldn't matter, as it was all going to ostensibly be eaten anyway... the other man would just look rather scandalised and probably be unhappy for the rest of the night, an emotion Mox wasn't inclined to have to deal with.

"Right. Lovely. Please go buy the thing, if you're going to, so we can go." He looked pointedly at his friend. "We've got to get to Burnout by sundown."

Which totally was not going to happen now, as the sun was already sinking fast behind the horizon, bathing the city in a blanket of darkness. Winter was slowly coming, and with it was coming the ever-irksome shortening of days. Last year the accompanying cold had been a real issue for the pair, but this year Mox was determined that days would not end with them huddled up together to battle it. They would have proper places to stay; planning had ensured this. Burnout had its share of motels on its fringe; they were dirty, but warm.

Apparently lack of appreciation for the puppy shape was just as bad as lack of appreciation for shaped chocolates in general, because Nero frowned deeply, the very expression Mox had been attempting to avoid drawing out, and quietly headed for the counter. The damage was already done, it seemed, so Mox ran a hand through his longish dark hair and headed for the door. He could feel the shopgirl's eyes on his back, following him out. It was almost as if she believed he was going to suddenly turn and run back in to assault her or something, the way she was watching him so intently.

It took Nero another five minutes to buy the chocolate dog. He chatted animatedly with the cashier, smiling brightly and suggesting lord only knew what to her. In the end, he had somehow earned himself a discount, and he exited the shop with nine dollars and two chocolate dogs in his hands. Chocolate dogs that were meant to cost three dollars each. Mox shook his head as his friend bounced in his direction, silently making a note to never pass this area again. Nero would insist on going into that candy shoppe now. Every. Single. Time. He'd make friends with the staff there and get free candy and spend hours helping them move stock. A free and helpful source of labour.

"She gave me two. Want one?" Nero held out his spare chocolate dog as he bit the head off the other. Mox eyed the bit of candy in his friend's hand before turning away and starting back down the street in the direction they'd been heading. The sun was all but down now. They weren't in Burnout yet. He'd wanted to be there before dark, but Nero had... stopped them several times. "Mox? Mooooox come on, it's really good. Try it!"