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Post by TrueBlue© on Jul 31, 2008 23:45:37 GMT -5
It was a cool Wednesday evening in the medium city one alien had suddenly found himself in. The breeze smelled of rain past, the skies weary and grey-navy.
A young man in his twenties strolled down the damp sidewalk. His new demon was content in blue jeans and a grey hoodie as little cars zipped by on their business, and said demon had his own.
He swung an arm out to his right, pulling open the door to an independent coffee shop as a bouncing blonde flounced out. He stood to the side, they exchanged polite smiles, and the man cast one extra appraising look over her retreating figure before stepping inside.
It wasn't unlike your average Starbucks, really, college kids with their laptops, pairs of giggling, smartly dressed single moms, and weird art on the wall.
The man took his place in a line one couple long, waited his turn, asked for some tea or the other and paid. He stood by the register, half scanning the room for pleasurable company as he waited.
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Post by Ninmast on Aug 1, 2008 11:06:22 GMT -5
A girl, maybe fifteen or sixteen, was sitting at one of the tables, sipping at something steamy ocasionally while scratching out her homework. The man might have noticed something odd when she went to pick up her coffee. Not only was the girl strangely very, very pale, but - perhaps it was a trick of his eyes - he might have thought he'd seen the joints of her fingers.
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Post by TrueBlue© on Aug 1, 2008 19:58:48 GMT -5
The man by the register felt his heart leap. His dark eyes followed the girl back to her table a little less than discreetly, but they only fell below her waist once, and that made it okay. He claimed his drink when the cashier in a blue apron announced a name she couldn't pronounce. Well, he thought it sounded suave when he gave it.
He only vaguely glanced over the room for a seat when he started walking, steps weirdly inaudible. Weaving his way around tables, he'd instantly decided on the one that could be impolite to take. Maybe he could sit with her. Yay!
"Excuse me," the alien uttered in a careful tone once he made it, like he was talking to some heavenly dove that might flutter away. He was sure it was just some trick of the light, but he couldn't check, too busy making himself only look at the girl's eyes. Oops, bumped the chair. "Do you mind if I join you?"
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Post by Ninmast on Aug 2, 2008 19:25:45 GMT -5
She smiled up at him when he spoke, a polite, civil smile that suggested nothing. "Go right ahead, it's not taken."
There was something odd about her face, now that he was in front of her, though it might be hard to pinpoint for one not open-minded enough. It seemed hard, bonelike. But it couldn't really be bone, could it?
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Post by TrueBlue© on Aug 2, 2008 22:10:54 GMT -5
And oh, he was more than open-minded, just barely resisting the urge to reach out and tap it.
He smiled back and seated himself, taking a second to enjoy his beverage, still scalding hot, but it didn't bother him. He set it down close to him, still clutching it in both hands.
Generally, it is rude to bother people while they're doing homework. He leaned forward, just a little, to eye her hands. "What subject is that?"
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Post by Ninmast on Aug 3, 2008 11:41:03 GMT -5
"History," she answered, making a face that should have wrinkled her nose but didn't. "My worst subject. Math, you can reason. English, you do every day. Science, you just remember definitions and weights. History, you have to remember faces, names, dates by the month, day and year, events, and you have to keep it all sorted into what happened when."
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Post by TrueBlue© on Aug 3, 2008 21:43:08 GMT -5
"What? History's easy. It's just remembering one giant story." He tilted his head sideways as if to see her work better, though he was actually quite good at reading upside down. "College stuff?"
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Post by Ninmast on Aug 3, 2008 21:54:51 GMT -5
She shook her head again. "No, I'm studying for a grade placement test. To find out how much I know so they know what grade to put me at. And one giant story, that'd work, except, how many stories have you read that you remember the precise page number, paragraph and line of a specific event?"
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Post by TrueBlue© on Aug 3, 2008 22:04:41 GMT -5
"Well..." The man rolled his eyes upward, like he was trying to count. "That depends on how broad your definition of 'story' is. How old are you?"
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Post by Ninmast on Aug 3, 2008 22:09:43 GMT -5
"You see, that's the problem." She held up the first page of her paper, where he could see her name, but the slot beside it, age, was blank. "If I knew, I wouldn't be taking this."
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Post by TrueBlue© on Aug 3, 2008 22:46:52 GMT -5
"Amelia Earnheart," the name on the paper read. He frowned lightly, as if trying to place it. "That's neat. Like the pilot, almost."
He sat back and took another long swill of his tea, eying her, but again, careful to keep the eying exclusive to facial features. "Oh." He set it down and extended one hand halfway over the table. "Sorry. My name's Luke."
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Post by Ninmast on Aug 3, 2008 23:01:54 GMT -5
"Um ..." The girl hesitated to shake hands, but finally did so, though only quickly and skittishly before tucking the hand back under the table. "A pleasure. And yeah, almost like the pilot. Except I don't know an altometer from a fuel gauge."
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Post by TrueBlue© on Aug 3, 2008 23:25:43 GMT -5
"I can only guess what either of those are." He smiled warmly. It was genuine, but how he kept the crazy, maddened glee out of it was unknown even to him. Her hands were bone. Yep!
"What do you do for a living?" He wasn't going to wash that hand for the rest of the day, either.
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Post by Ninmast on Aug 3, 2008 23:30:27 GMT -5
"I don't, actually," she answered. "I get an allowance for helping out. I wanted to put in an application here, but they weren't sure they wanted me to get a job yet. I probably couldn't get hired, anyway. When you can't fill out half the application, employers tend to choose others."
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Post by TrueBlue© on Aug 4, 2008 0:02:34 GMT -5
"Oh." What does that mean? "So, you live with your parents...?"
Any answer she gave immediately and anything else he said was lost for a split second, suddenly drowned out.
BOOOOOM.
Almost as one, the other patrons shrieked and ducked under tables, like they were rats all of the sudden. Luke's attention only snapped out to the world outside the window, looking to pinpoint the source, for now looking like some billows of smoke off in the distance.
"I'll call you." He mumbled distractedly, standing up and taking one last, long swill.
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