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Post by Tristan Carter on Dec 24, 2016 0:19:05 GMT -7
Tristan rarely went out into public as of the past few months. The reasons to do so were few, unimportant, and easy enough that he could quietly "not notice" and leave to the various people who would end up taking care of that. The reasons not to do so were plentiful and demanded his focus. Not to mention that his free time had been less than existent. After a certain recent spat, though, a considerable amount of the tasks he had decided to do were no longer anything he found important. As such, in order to fill the newly created void in his day, he decided to go grocery shopping to restock Avaline's pantry. Did it need it? Not really, no, but Tristan could only twiddle his thumbs for so long.
It was relatively early, which meant that there were less people out and about. It was a Malachite Isle store, so there was probably less people than what he was accustomed to anyway. This was not an intentional plot on Tristan's behalf, but he certainly wasn't going to object to a smaller amount of people being around to notice that there was something deeply not quite right about the young man that was obviously out of place. In stark contrast to the rich and fabulous locals with designer outfits, his entire outfit - including shoes - cost him a grand total of fifty bucks. He hoped the apparent obvious cheapness would distract from any other oddities. If not, he expected to be avoided like a plague at the very least.
He was making his way to the store when he spotted a familiar face. The thought that he might not be recognized not crossing his mind until after it was too late to do anything but regret his actions, he jogged his way over to his friend whose name he didn't even realize he didn't know and decided to keep pace with her as he gave a friendly wave. Seeing as of how groceries were just a time killer anyway, he decided they could wait for a while until he was done making conversation. "Hey there," he said pleasantly, and then promptly realized the many issues with the situation he just created. The thought of immediately making an exit so as to avoid issues crossed Tristan's mind, but he quickly dismissed it. That would undoubtedly make things extremely awkward, whereas he had a chance of minimizing damages if he stayed. The odds were slim, but he was willing to give it a shot.
"How's it going?" he asked, simply for the sake of not letting silence settle in.
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Post by Yulia Sokolov on Dec 25, 2016 12:51:29 GMT -7
Now that she was living on her own, Yulia suddenly had a lot of responsibilities that she didn't before. It was difficult to handle at first, but she'd gotten into a rhythm now. She was forgetting important things less often, and was even starting to understand when and where to go to get what she needed. For example, if she went to get groceries in the morning on a Tuesday, there weren't a lot of other people around. She had backup options in case she slept through that time due to other business, but it was still the best time in her experience. Fortunately, she did managed to wake up in time to get to the store in that window today. She didn't need much, but going weekly meant she never had to worry about running out of food. Light days were always nice, especially since last week she had to carry a big tub of water home.
It was nice to go when it was quiet because she looked out of place too. Her clothes were falling apart. Today she was wearing a tan sweater dress that was fraying badly on the edges, and a lot of the patterns in the weave were coming undone. Her black leggings had a thread hanging from the top that she didn't notice, and it was clear that her shoes were being held together with glue and duct tape. At some point she either needed to get her clothes fixed or replace them because they weren't going to hold out for much longer. What she was buying was also unusual compared to what most people got here. Yulia liked sugary cereals and junk food, and beyond a few fruits and a loaf of bread, that was all she got. It wasn't the healthiest thing, but it was a small pleasure she allowed herself to indulge in. Because of that, for the most part she was avoided. It made shopping nice and easy. Today however, someone decided to say hello.
The hair on her neck stood up and she held her breath hoping she was misreading his movements and that he would go away. Those hopes were dashed when he spoke. Yulia slowly turned around, making sure to have a pleasant smile on her face despite her stiff movements. He was talking to her like he knew her, but she had no idea who he was. Even after looking at him for a moment, she was unable to place his face. Yulia took a few steps back to put a little distance between them.
"Hello. Um, I'm sorry do I know you?"
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Post by Tristan Carter on Dec 27, 2016 0:56:03 GMT -7
Tristan wasn't surprised that he wasn't recognized. It wasn't as though his friend had ever actually seen him out and about in his current fashion. A proper introduction would be tricky, especially if he didn't want random passerby to overhear information that they shouldn't. A faint echo of being called loose with his identity sounded through his head, but unfortunately it was unavoidable in this situation. He brought it upon himself, and now needed to handle the consequences of not thinking things through. He just needed to act with a certain degree of subtlety. Besides, it wasn't as though he minded his friend knowing his name. After all, who would think to ask her that didn't already probably know?
"Well, yes," he said slowly, deciding on the words as he was saying them. "Don't worry about not recognizing me, we haven't met face to face, though, technically." He cursed the vagueness of euphemisms, hoped that the girl understood what he meant, and moved on to trying to make things clearer. "I'm dating the person who got you your house, if that helps. Name's Stewart."
It probably didn't hurt too much to be safe and use the name that nobody knew him as, though. Just in case.
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Post by Yulia Sokolov on Dec 27, 2016 13:06:52 GMT -7
Yulia stared blankly as he tried to explain who he was. She couldn't make heads or tails of what he was trying to say. The only time she ever went on the internet was to post new music, and even then she hadn't been online for months. She didn't have any online friends, and she hadn't used a phone since she got her powers. How was it possible that they hadn't met face to face? It wasn't until he talked about her house that she started to make the connection. At first, she had no idea how this random person could have possibly known about that. It was Azoth that bought her house, and she was dating someone. That's when it finally clicked, and her eyes opened a bit wider.
"Oh! Oh, yes," she paused for a moment and suppressed the urge to fidget. "I'm doing very well thank you. Did...Did you need something?"
She was a little apprehensive, but tried to look relaxed none the less. If he was going out of his way to contact her like this then it must have been something important and she needed to be ready for whatever task he had. It still felt weird to be acting like this towards him, but she had to listen to him now. If there was something that needed to be done, then she needed to go do it.
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Post by Tristan Carter on Dec 29, 2016 22:55:27 GMT -7
If he listened closely, Tristan could almost hear the cogs turning as she tried to figure out who he was. It took longer than expected, but by no means longer than what was reasonable. He was pleased to hear that she was doing well, though. One could almost say that it seemed like a relatively normal interaction, probably. Tristan was starting to suspect his time out of school and his general lack of interaction with normal people was beginning to have negative repercussions on his social skills. He decided to cite his lack of answer to her question as evidence that supported his claim.
"Well, um," he chuckled nervously. "Not much, I suppose? I was on my way to go grocery shopping for A., mostly for the sake of killing some time. I saw you, decided to come say hi, and you know the rest. I'm, uh, not very good at thinking my actions through, according to recent events." One event in particular came to mind, but that wasn't pleasant conversation material for an introduction. He paused for a split second before an idea came to him. "Oh, hey, what're you up to? Maybe I could lend you a hand?"
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Post by Yulia Sokolov on Dec 31, 2016 0:22:31 GMT -7
Was he still talking in code? Yulia couldn't tell. It seemed unlikely to her that he would just approach her for no reason given what getting close to her meant, so she could only assume there was more to his words. She couldn't figure out what it could be though. It took all her effort not to furrow her brow. She assumed A referred to Azoth, but maybe it was something else? No matter how hard she thought she couldn't think of anything else. Was it Azoth that needed something? Killing time was an idiom, but maybe there was more to it? Did she need someone killed? That sent a shiver up Yulia's spine, but it seemed unlikely that Azoth would choose her for something like that unless she was really desperate. Time then? Did she need her time for something? Did something happen? She really couldn't tell. His words sounded like pure nonsense.
"Um, sure! I need to get some bread. The kind I like is over in the corner of the store. It can be a little hard to find." Hopefully that would make her intentions clear without it being suspicious. "Do you need me to help carry anything back with you?"
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Post by Tristan Carter on Jan 1, 2017 12:44:25 GMT -7
Tristan nodded in affirmation. To the bread in the corner of the store, then. She could've been more specific about the brand, but he suspected he was just going to be carrying stuff for her if she wasn't going to tell him what to be shopping for. He was fine with that, though. Less memorization needed for various brand names and such. If she was in need of help carrying stuff from place to place, she certainly would've had a hard time finding somebody better suited. It would probably be easy enough to find somebody equally suited to the task, but they weren't indisputably better so they didn't count, so far as Tristan was concerned.
"Hmm?" He appreciated the offer, but last he checked he had been the one trying to help her. Then again, she was probably just trying to be polite, so there was little reason to think that anything was strange about it. "No, but thank you. Like I said, it's more to fill some time so I'm not just sitting around for too long anyway than actually because it's needed. I doubt I'll be grabbing more than a few items myself. The past few days or so, I've had nothing but free time and there's little that anybody actually needs done. How about you? Managing to keep yourself busy here lately?"
The thought of getting too close to her didn't really register in Tristan's mind. He still left a few feet in between them, though, without thinking about it. It was simply how he was around new(ish) people; pure habit, without a really discernible reason behind it.
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Post by Yulia Sokolov on Jan 1, 2017 14:38:58 GMT -7
That made even less sense than what he said before. It was nice to confirm that Azoth didn't need to see her directly, but what did that mean? Did he already tell her and she didn't notice? She fidgeted with the basket of food she was carrying. The display rack she walked past moments ago collapsed, and the sound made her take extra precautions in keeping her distance from him. Stuff like this always happened when she got nervous. Fortunately, they were in the corner now. Yulia could tell that no one should be with in ear shot at this point, she she picked up a loaf of bread and turned towards him.
"I-I can't understand what you're trying to tell me. If you're nervous about other people hearing, you can go to the other side of the store and whisper. I'll still hear you."
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Post by Tristan Carter on Jan 1, 2017 23:08:58 GMT -7
Tristan visibly jumped when a display randomly crashed to the ground. It was then that he started to actually remember what happened around her. Her attempts to make sure there was a little extra distance met was met with no complaints on his part; in most of his interactions with her, he was usually able to feel how his condition was worsening. Now that he couldn't, he had absolutely no reason to press his luck.
He found, ironically, that he didn't understand why she couldn't understand what he was saying. As far as he could tell, he was speaking plainly now. Ever since the issue about his identity, there hadn't been very much in the way of deeper meaning to his words. It was just simple small talk.
"I'm sorry, you've got me confused," he chuckled awkwardly. "I'm not sure what you mean. I'm just trying to make conversation."
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Post by Yulia Sokolov on Jan 2, 2017 14:53:41 GMT -7
Yulia set the bread in the basket and frowned. She still couldn't understand what he was trying to say, but he had no reason to hide his words anymore. Why was he doing that? After a moment's thought it finally clicked. He really was just talking. Her face flushed a little at this realization, and she turned around as if to look at the food on the shelves. The reality was she was too embarrassed to look at him.
"Oh, I see. Um, yes everything's fine. I have a lot to do." She paused and shifted awkwardly. Yulia already felt stupid and the silence was too much for her to handle. "Are...Are you sure you don't need anything?"
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Post by Tristan Carter on Jan 2, 2017 16:10:09 GMT -7
Tristan was dumbfounded. She had thought he was implying stuff, hidden meaning in his words or whatever. He wondered briefly what she had been thinking he had been trying to say. Ultimately it didn't matter, though, and it wasn't long before he decided on a course of action. He simply hoped his attempt at convincing her to go along with his scheme would work.
"I'm fine, thank you," he said, "but it's now come to my attention that you are in need of something else. You need more practice at being normal. When's the last time you simply spent some time with a friend or two?" He paused a moment, his voice turning quiet and thoughtful. "Your ability would be perfect for infiltration. You go someplace, make conversation for a while, and weaken a target so that it would be far easier to take them down or abduct them or whatever else the higher ups would want. I'm actually kinda surprised nobody's thought of doing that with Pandaemonium, but that's a moot point if you're too much into the Keeper mindset to convincingly play a different part. So, after we're done with your shopping here, we're going to go do normal teenager crap, like watch a movie or something. Trust me, I know what I'm doing, and that's why I'm not going to take no for an answer."
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Post by Yulia Sokolov on Jan 2, 2017 20:40:30 GMT -7
"You were talking all weird, so I thought..."
Yulia frowned and continued to fidget with her basket. He was talking to her like she was a stupid freak of nature even though he was the newbie and she still didn't understand how he got in in the first place. She'd been working hard to treat him like everyone else, even though it still felt weird. She offered to help with his problems today, and was even trying hard to make sure he didn't need anything from her. She didn't have to take this. With a quick spin on her heel, she turned back towards him and frowned.
"I have friends, you even know who they are!" she said defensively. "You know I can't just...do a lot of things like a lot of people. I don't need to do anything, there's nothing wrong!" She turned around and started walking towards where they kept the cookies. "And I don't need to do anything with you, so you can go finish your shopping already."
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Post by Tristan Carter on Jan 5, 2017 0:04:38 GMT -7
Tristan winced internally as it became increasingly clear that he had put his foot in his mouth somehow. He wasn't sure exactly which thing he had said was the wrong thing, but it was obvious that he had screwed up. He hadn't been trying to say anything mean or anything, which was exactly how he was pretty sure he had come across as. He considered his options carefully. He could let her stew, wait for her to calm down, and apologize then; or he could try and smooth things over now and hopefully convince her that he did indeed know how to help her be of better use to the Keepers. Even if helping the Keepers really wasn't a goal he had at the time. The choice was clear, even if he didn't exactly have high hopes for success.
"I'm sorry," he started timidly as he followed her. "I wasn't trying to offend you. But, um... I meant normal friends. I love A. to bits, don't get me wrong, but she's not exactly your average everyday teen. Sin doesn't really count as one either. I'm not saying anything against them for that, I swear. I mean... when was the last time you just went to the park and spent time with someone without worrying about what they wanted you to do? Stuff like that."
He paused for a few seconds as he absently scanned the bread. "How about something like hiking or something out in the woods? There's less people to hurt out there by a bunch. Or... I don't know, admittedly, but I'm sure there's other possible options here. I'll get out the old drawing board later. I suppose it depends on how long it takes for things to really start going bad..." he trailed off, getting lost in thought.
"Oh," he added distractedly as he remembered something a few seconds later. "I said I'd help you with your shopping. You may not need to do anything with me, but I'm not going back on my word. You're stuck with me for now. Sorry 'bout that."
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Post by Yulia Sokolov on Jan 9, 2017 20:36:35 GMT -7
"Last time I went to the park I spilled ice cream all over someone because the cone fell apart, then hurt his hand because he tried to help me clean up. I had to give up my other friends because they liked to do things like try and hug me or look over my shoulder when I'm doing stuff."
Yulia looked down even more irritated that he decided to follow her now. She set these thoughts aside a long time ago. They were pointless to think about and did nothing more than make her feel bad. It was why she stopped pretending like she could just be normal. It was why she accepted that she was just a freak of nature and would nothing be anything more. There was no point in denying it anymore. Even if she had accepted it, having it all shoved back in her face wasn't pleasant. Her gaze was firmly planted on the basket in front of her. Enough so, that she ran into the display with the cookies on it.
"I don't want to talk about this. Go find someone else to make you feel less bored."
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Post by Tristan Carter on Jan 12, 2017 22:57:18 GMT -7
"That sounds pretty rough," Tristan said quietly, his train of thought having been derailed. "I'm sorry you had to go through that." Besides the expected platitudes, though, there really wasn't anything else to say, he found. He supposed he could talk about when his powers first manifested, but what good would that do? It would probably come across as bragging about how he never actually hurt anyone when he wasn't fully in control of his power or how now he does have control and doesn't have to worry about accidentally causing people pain with them. It was probably better to just listen to her wishes and drop the subject.
Unfortunately, he wasn't willing to listen to absolutely everything that she wished. "Sorry," he said awkwardly, "but, like I said, you're stuck with me. It's not about me being bored, now. I said I was going to help. I'm bound to my word, so on and so forth. I said I was going to help. I'm now obligated to help. Again, sorry."
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