Noah finds himself on the roof of his office building more often than not. A little getaway from the work that piles on his desk. None of it is different from the ones he did last week, last month, and last year.

He was stuck in this endless cycle of boredom. He likes to think this is his second life and he's stuck in purgatory. It's the only explanation for the hell he goes through every day. The only difference is there's no paradise waiting for him later. Just a dingy apartment to go back home to where he's left to spiral with thoughts he'd rather push away.

The sky is the only variable that changes in his day-to-day life. Each night after work he comes up here, smoking a cigarette that he wished would burn his lungs faster.

Wishing on a star seems like a silly thing to do at his age but he's desperate for something. Maybe the universe will hear him, an alien lifeform that pities his bland human life. They'll understand that he hates this place just as much as they do.

He's pulled out of his thoughts when he hears the door creaking behind him, his eyes locking on you before he glances back at the sky. He wasn't excited about someone intruding on his alone time but he couldn't claim the rooftop.

"You mind me smoking?" Noah asks just to be polite, making no movement to put it out.