Sleep Deprivation {Alex}

[derker kipp harriston-tramen]

Derker looked slightly less that his usual self today. He had dark bags under his eyes, his eyes were struggling to stay open, and his perfect posture was now flawed by exhaustion. He hadn't slept in 60 hours, though it most definitely wasn't on purpose. Being swamped with homework, while a slight issue, was not the main culprit in his lack of rest. It was obvious that Derker was much taller than most other people, and the bed that was in his dorm was almost a foot too short.

There was no hope of fitting a larger bed into his dorm, so he finally decided to find a large couch. After all, Derker was used to having to adjust. Plus, he usually fell asleep on his couch anyways while he was working on homework. His plan was to get rid of the bed all together, move the smaller couch into the tiny bedroom, and put the larger couch in its place.

Derker stepped into the furniture store and attempted to compose his posture: he straightened up with some effort, but couldn't do much about his eyes. He shrugged and walked to the couch section, but frowned at the first sight of it.

"People just aren't supposed to be tall." he murmured to himself. Finding a large couch was going to be more difficult than he thought. He walked further into the section and began to find some larger couches. He found a black couch that appeared to be about ten feet long. Derker sat down with a satisfied smile and shut his eyes. He almost fell asleep, but he shook himself awake and stood back up.

The price tag marked that the couch was about 5000 dollars. Derker cringed. He could most definitely afford it, but he usually preferred not to spend more money than necessary. He stood for a moment, attempting to decide.

Word Count 314
Notes Sorry it's a bit weird. xD[/size]

[alex michael harrington]

• • • • •
Alex casually walked into the furniture store. How how he loved the smell in there. New. Leather. Mmm. His mother had ordered him to go pick up a new love couch. She told Alex that she trusted his judgement. Instead of finding the couch right away. he walked around the store aimlessly for a bit. He didn't feel like going home just yet. Yes, he lived in a nice environment with nice parents. Alex just didn't want to be home. In fact, he wanted to be anywhere but his house, his room, the same four walls Alex had been staring at for the past few days. Alex needed an excuse to get out, so of course he took up his mother's offer.

Alex pulled out his phone and checked the time. '2:23? I've been gone for a while now. Maybe I should start looking at the couches.' Honestly, he had no idea where to start looking. What if he chose the wrong couch? Woud his mother be mad? She probably wouldn't yell at him. Alex knew his parents were never very good at the disipline thing. Finally, Alex spotted an overhead sign that read, "Couches" and headed in that direction.

Like he expected, there were many couches. Too many to choose from. How would he know what a good couch was? Like he had ever bought one before. As Alex was looking around he spotted a man sitting, almost asleep, on one of the couches. 'I wonder what's up with him..' he wondered. Alex hoped he was okay. The man looked like he hadn't slept in days. Alex bit his lip and started to walk over towards the man. 'Would I be bothering him if I asked if he was okay?' Alex asked himself. 'I better not..' He continued to examine the couches near the man and arguing with himself in his head.
• • • • •

word count; 313
notes; not very good. didn't give you much to work off of. sorry![/color]

[derker kipp harriston-tramen]

Derker looked at the price tag again, then set it down and began to walk away. Unfortunately, when Derker was tired, he wasn't the most observant person in the world. He turned to look at other couches and ran straight into someone.

The boy in front of him was much smaller than him, and seemed to be at least a few years younger. "Agh. My apologies sir." Derker said to him with a small nod. It wasn't like Derker to be clumsy or careless, and some red appeared in his cheeks as he began to process the smooth move that he just made. When he got tired, he looked and felt sick. His face was abnormally pale, except for the color that was now rising in his cheeks, and he felt as though his eyes had completely sunk into his head. Derker had seen this boy in the store for quite a while, now that he thought about it. "Do you need help?" he asked with a small, though slightly weak, laugh. "You've been here for a while haven't you?" he observed, then his brain began to process better and he realized that he was standing incredibly close to this boy. Derker took a step back to give both of them space. The color rose in his cheeks again slightly. "Sorry." he laughed slightly, glancing around at the couches.

Word Count 239
Notes No, it's okay. Beginning posts are always difficult. Especially if your character is shy.[/size]

[alex michael harrington]

• • • • •
Alex felt somebody hit his back and he turned around quickly. It was the man he had seen almost sleeping on the couch. "Oh, uh. Don't worry about it. It was an accident." Alex watched as the man turned as red as he probably was too. The man seemed to be processing, so Alex turned back around to continue "looking" for a couch. Surprise fluttered through him as the strange man began talking to him again.

Alex turned around to face him and felt unreasonably close. Of course, this made him all the more uncomfortable. Alex figured the man felt uncomfortable too when he backed up to give him more room. "Well, sort of," Alex rubbed the back of his neck. Alex figured he would let the man help him. Maybe he knew more about couches than he did. "My mother sent me out to get a couch," he paused and looked around at all of the couches surrounding the two of them. "And I have no idea what she wants," he sighed. Carefully, he sat himself down on the back of one of the couches he was near. "It's supposed to be a love seat. I just don't know what a good couch is. I also just didn't want to go home yet,"As soon as that came out of his mouth he felt stupid. 'How could somebody not know what a good couch is?' he asked himself. Colored filled his cheeks.
"Do, uh, you know what a good couch is?" He asked the man.

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word count; 247
notes; again, short. but like you said, it'll pick up.[/color]

[derker kipp harriston-tramen]

Derker shrugged as his apology was accepted. Indeed, it was an accident. What kind of creep would run into a random, not to mention younger boy, on purpose? He nodded at the accepted apology and smiled cunningly, though all of his facial expressions seemed a little bit understated today. He had no reply to the accepted apology, so he decided not to reply to it at all, aside from the nod that he had given a few minutes ago.

Derker listened as the boy explained what he was looking for. He'd had some pretty good experience with furniture since he and his brother, Marc, had completely remodeled their house and had spent many days picking out furniture. After that, they both knew what to look for fairly well. "A love seat..." Derker repeated as he pivoted around slightly, looking to see where those may be. He was sure that there had to be a section set apart for them. Height did have it's advantages: Derker spotted the section quickly. "Let's go over here. Most of the loveseats will be over here." He chuckled as he was asked a question. "Unfortunately I can say that I do know what to look for in a couch. Though I don't think it's nearly as complicated as you seem to think. It's simply a matter of personal preference more than anything." he walked slowly over to the section, and motioned to all of the couches. "Love seats. The ones with two cushions." He grinned at the boy. "The tiny ones." he mumbled to himself. "If your mother sent you here for a couch," he began, turning back to the boy. "She's probably okay with anything..." he grinned. If there was one thing Derker prided himself in, without actually realizing that he was doing it most of the time, it was knowing far too much about... Well... Almost everything.

Derker glanced back at the love seats. "Alright, I suppose we should start with style. What room are you planning on putting it in?"

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Word Count 353[/size][/color]

[alex michael harrington]

• • • • •
Alex was slightly amazed at this tall man. His choice of words, his size, and his knowledge. (Even if all they were talking about was couches.) Alex listened closely and followed him to the 'love seat' section. "Well, thanks!" Alex smiled. He started observing the couches. They were all so different. Alex looked back up when the man started talking, "You're right. I guess if she trusts my judgement on a couch she'd really be fine with whatever," Alex realized and grinned back.

Why didn't Alex realize something as simple as that? His mother probably didn't really care what couch he brought back, as long as it looked fairly nice. "Style," Alex said quietly back. He sort of let the word swish around in his mouth before replying. "She's putting it in our new basement. You see, we just moved in. She wanted a little bit of a renevation," Alex answered. He bit his lip as he looked around the pool of couches. Only a few couches struck him as nice looking.

"Hmm..." He mumbled, "What about that nice leathery brown one over there?" Alex made his way towards the couch and sat on it. "It's pretty comfy. What do you think...uh.." Alex paused. "I don't think I know your name, sir. I'm Alex. It's a pleasure to meet you." He smiled brightly and stuck his hand out. Why did it take Alex that long to realize that he didn't know the man's name?

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word count; 244
notes; bleh. short again. it will get better! promise. [/color]

[derker kipp harriston-tramen]

Derker nodded. The boy seemed incredibly chipper: something that he hadn't experience in quite a while. "I doubt she's incredibly picky on what she wants. Otherwise she would come and pick it out herself." he laughed. This boy Derker was obviously younger than himself, and he hadn't encountered a boy of this age in a while.

Derker listened and nodded. "Well, I suppose if you're renovating and you just moved in then you wouldn't have much of a style for the room anyways." he said, more to himself than to the boy. He looked around. "Alright then. Remember that, for the most part, you need to ignore the color of the couch. Simply look at style and comfort." he looked around, not incredibly fond of any of these couches at the current moment. But he had already found the one that he wanted.

As the boy moved toward the couch, Derker nodded and raised an eyebrow. "It looks nice. Do you think it would look well in your basement?" Helping this kid was a lot more difficult than he had expected it to be; he had no idea what kind of room he was attempting to buy the couch for. Derker also wasn't going to mention that he wasn't a large fan of leather. Still, he sat down on the couch next to Alex and tilted his head. "It's not bad..." he said thoughtfully. When the boy mentioned that he didn't know his name, Derker grinned. He appreciated that this boy talked politely: adding a sir onto the end of the sentence much like Derker did. "Derickmain Harriston." he said, holding out his hand as he introduced himself. But he smiled humorously. "But if you call me Derickmain, I can't promise you'll keep your limbs. I prefer Derker. And you?"

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Word count 314[/size]

[alex michael harrington]

Alex took in his advice. He realized that it seemed kind of silly that he was getting help from a stranger about a couch. It's not everyday somebody helps you in a furniture store. Alex nodded at what he said about the style for the room. It was true. How does a person pick up this kind of knowledge? Practice? Alex shook it off and continued to examine the couches. He would sit on one for a moment, then move to another. He hoped he wasn't annoying the man by taking too long on his choice.

Once he had found a couch he thought was comfortable, he asked the man's opinion on it. Alex stood up to try to picture the couch in his basement. It seemed to fit well enough. Alex sat back down on it. "Yea, I think it'd look just fine in the basement." Alex slunched down. He hadn't really realized how tired he felt until he sat down for a while. Alex turned his head to face the man. He laughed a little, "I'll be sure to avoid calling you that. Derker. I don't think I've ever heard that before." Alex took his hand, "I'm Alex. It's very nice to meet you. Thanks for helping me with the couch. I know it's probably not the best way to spend your day," Alex said with a big smile. "What kind of furniture did you come here looking for?" Alex realized he hadn't really talked about Derker much, their conversation was mainly about the couch for his own basement. Then he thought about how silly they must sound to others. Talking about couches. It made a small smile come to Alex's lips.

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word count; 283

[derker kipp harriston-tramen]

As the boy moved from couch to couch, Derker simply stood in front of them and watched. He wavered slightly, not able to keep his stance incredibly strong due to his lack of energy. He cracked a small, crooked smile as the boy moved around. He felt as though he was working here, and helping this kid because it was his job and he was getting paid for it. On the contrary, he was going to leave the store with a much lighter wallet. He couldn't imagine doing this all day. He could handle one kid taking forever easily enough. But if he had to do this multiple times a day, he wouldn't be able to handle it. Derker didn't even know what to say as he was moving couches, so he simply stood and watched, judging each couch that thee boy sat on in his head.

Derker nodded. "then, judging by the fact that you have tried out almost every love seat, I think this is probably the one." he said with a small chuckle. "Congratulations." he said flatly, loosing energy for a second. "You have yourself a couch." He nodded gratefully as the boy said that he had would call him Derker. "It's unusual... I know." he laughed. He used to be called Derick, long ago, but he hated it. He didn't feel like a Derick. "Oh right... You told me your name." Derker laughed. He was really out of today. "I came to look for... the longest couch I can possibly find." he laughed.

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Word Count 255[/size]