Nick is a teenage loner who scours the streets of Port­land for his next "canvas" — the side of a building, train car, or overpass — where he spray paints RUPTURE, his tagger name. When Nick isn't tagging, he's shoplift­ ing aerosol paint and big fat markers, or documenting his graffiti in a scrapbook. He's a brooding guy with soulful eyes that could be displaying deep longing — or acute disconnection. (His first bit of dialogue is 25 minutes into the film, and the line is, "Hey.")

It turns out there's a warrant for Nick's arrest in Port­land, so he heads to Seattle, where he meets Jesse, another tagger he's seen around. The two start "kicking it" and begin a dynamic artistic collaboration. Nick crashes at Jesse's studio apartment, and it isn't long before they're sharing the sofa bed and swapping spit.

But skater-boy graffiti artist love is fragile, and soon Jesse mysteriously flees the relationship and heads back to Portland, promising to return. Eventually it sinks in that Jesse isn't coming back, so Nick risks returning to Port­ land (remember the warrant?) to accost him. They even­tually cross paths, and when Nick confronts him, Jesse acts distant and weird. This triggers an angry clash that unearths fundamental cultural and artistic differences between the boys. It's also the first time their conversa­tion moves beyond "Sup?" and we get a brief glimpse into the inner lives of these solitary artists. Music by Kid Loco.