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 Posted: Thu Apr 06, 2017 8:32 pm
Who: Dair, Nell, and Evren
When: Early evening in early April
Where: Smooth Talker, a smoothie stand in Gambino
Weather: Cloudy and brisk
Since the Jammin' Ninja Gym was still on Evren's "too uncomfortable to deal with this" list, he had to resort to other means to stay fit and loose on his off days. Working out at home just didn't cut it. And without another ninja gym in the area, he was stuck trying out normal gyms until he found one he liked. Or until he used up all the free trial offers and one-day passes he found on the internet, whichever came first.
The Port City Athletic Club was a decent enough place, and he felt a little better after an hour with the weight machines and stationary bikes. He felt better still when, just a block away, he found a place to rehydrate. As he waited in line to place his order, a sharp gust of wind made him zip up his Masqued Marauder crew jacket with a shudder. Maybe it would be better to order something warm, but right then he really wanted a cold, refreshing drink.
So, to stay warm, he started stretching. There were still a few people on line in front of him, and he didn't want to tense up from the cold. Besides, most of them probably came from the same place he did, so they'd understand. Probably.
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Posted: Fri Apr 07, 2017 5:26 pm
It had gotten to a point where Nell felt comfortable letting Dair do his own thing while she was at work, but she would often have him meet up with her after her shift was over. And though she tried not to eat out too often, she was often drawn in by the siren call of fresh pressed juice and smoothies. So, with a mostly healthy drink in hand, she hiked her gym bag a bit higher up on her shoulder and stepped around the people still in line with a quiet 'excuse me!'. Dair, meanwhile, was just floating around the corner with his attention focused mostly on his phone and the message from Nell saying that she would be waiting for him at Smooth Talker. He looked up with a small frown, seeing only a line of people mostly in exercise clothes. But after a moment he spotted what he assumed was the top of Nell's head, so he scooted around the edge of the line to join her. Unfortunately he was still mostly occupied with his phone and not paying attention to where he was going, and almost ended up running into a man who was stretching. He managed to back up quickly enough that the man only brushed against one of his branches, though he didn't stop until he was floating next to Nell. "Sorry..."
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Posted: Fri Apr 07, 2017 8:31 pm
Before he even turned around, Evren was already apologizing. "Sorry, I should've been more careful-" And that was as far as he got, because there was a Raevan in front of him and he could feel his stomach hit the floor. Maybe it was some other being with a ribbon instead of legs - the only defining characteristic he knew to look for - but the chances of that were slim to none.
Why here? Why now?
For a moment, he was paralyzed with fear that this was somehow about what he'd done, some sort of collection call for the soul bottle he was still unprepared to deal with. Then the moment passed, as did the Raevan, and Evren began to breathe again. This was a coincidence. He could keep walking, and pretend the whole thing never happened. Life would go back to the dull, faded version he was starting to get used to, and maybe, one day, he would consider it normal.
He thought about it. Then he jogged forward to catch up before the Raevan got too far. "Hey, sorry about that. Just trying to stay loose. I, uh, haven't seen you around here before." Which was technically true, since it was Ev's first time at Smooth Talker. "Are you, um, new around here?"
Honestly, he didn't know what he was trying to accomplish with this. But if he wanted things to change, he had to start somewhere.
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Posted: Sat Apr 08, 2017 5:19 pm
Dair stopped when the man approached him, his eyes narrowing slightly and his shoulders tensing as if he were expecting him to be aggressive. But as Evren apologized he simply shrugged a shoulder, the tension leaving his shoulders as he did so. "No? Not really, um.." He had been here before on several occasions, but he wouldn't go so far as saying that he was a regular here. "I actually-""I usually drag him here," Nell said suddenly, having quickly stepped up behind him when she finally realized that Dair was no longer following her. She gave Evren a broad smile and shook her cup as a means of explanation. "Having a stomach tends to make getting food a bit easier, surprisingly." She gave Dair a small nudge in the arm with her elbow, her playful grin met with an impassively blank stare. "I'm Nell and this is Dair, by the way! I work at the gym over there, can I help you with anything?"
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Posted: Sat Apr 08, 2017 7:29 pm
So far, so good. The Raevan didn't seem upset, and was even with someone else, a friend or guardian perhaps. This was really the perfect opportunity to ask some of the questions that had been milling about in his head for the past few weeks. But that would mean confessing his situation, and that was something Evren still couldn't work up the nerve to do. He wasn't afraid to admit his mistakes to others, but since he still hadn't worked through it on his own, he had no way of explaining it to anyone else.
Instead, he focused on the information he'd been given, looking for some other way to draw the pair into a conversation. "Oh, you work at the gym? I just came from there. Do you know if they have any obstacles? This was my first visit, and I never got around to asking. Not to put you to work after hours," he added quickly, hoping the whole thing sounded nonchalant rather than panicked. Ninja training was a topic he felt relatively safe with, and if he could just keep talking without freaking out or offending them, maybe he'd eventually find a way to get the information he sought.
The 'no stomach' comment was hard to ignore, though, and he took another look at the Raevan. When he'd met Vesna, he'd been too distracted to notice much more than the general lack of legs, but it seemed there was even less of this one than he'd imagined. "Yeah, eating's gotta be tough like that. Or is it like photosynthesis? I mean, if you don't mind my asking."
There. One question down, only a million to go.
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Posted: Mon Apr 10, 2017 6:41 pm
Nell idly scratched the back of her calf with the toe of her shoe, humming thoughtfully for a moment as she took a sip of her smoothie. "Mmm, obstacles? Not really, unfortunately. I can recommend a few places if you're looking for them, though." She had taken a step closer to Dair as she spoke until her elbow jostled against his, though she never took her eyes off of the stranger. Nice as he seemed, she still felt mildly suspicious, and couldn't help but have some of that show on her face. Dair frowned slightly as he glanced up at her, sinking a tiny bit lower before looking back at the man. "It's different for everyone," he said slowly, his fingers picking absently at the cuff of his sweater. "But I guess like photosynthesis? Kind of?" Similar enough in the fact that there was something being absorbed without having to be consumed, but his knowledge of how he ate ended at that. Actually, so did his knowledge of photosynthesis, when it came to it.
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Posted: Wed Apr 12, 2017 7:14 pm
"Oh, that's a shame. But I guess it's silly to expect every gym to jump on that bandwagon. I was hoping to branch out..." Evren trailed off, looking at the Raevan again and looking mildly embarrassed. "Er, no pun intended. You probably get more than your fair share of plant jokes, huh?" He chuckled a little, hoping the others would laugh with him, but when he realized it might look like he was laughing at them, he stopped abruptly.
What the hell was he doing, anyway? This wasn't helping him at all. He wasn't learning anything new, he wasn't becoming more comfortable with his situation, and judging from the woman's suspicious stare, he wasn't making friends. If he wanted to get anything out of this chance meeting, he needed to up the ante.
He opened his mouth to explain himself. And closed it again, wordlessly. He knew this might be his one chance to get information he felt he desperately needed, but he couldn't bring himself to say why he needed it. If his attempts at fostering small talk didn't work, it was entirely possible for the duo to walk away thinking he was nuts, but that was still preferable to having them walk away knowing he was a terrible human being.
Which left him shifting from one foot to another, wracking his brain for something else that he thought could pass for being a safe topic of conversation. "So... got any recommendations? I'm up for trying something new today." Technically any of Smooth Talker's offerings would be new, but hey, they were in a smoothie shop, so talking about the menu was the obvious choice.
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Posted: Wed Apr 19, 2017 9:33 am
"Yeah, it'd be neat to have something like that, but they just renovated the whole place a few years ago, so I'm guessing it'll be a while before they'll do it again." She wrinkled her nose slightly as she took another sip of her smoothie, her expression clearly disappointed at the thought of not getting any of the newer stuff she was seeing pop up in some of the other gyms around town. Dair gave the man a half-hearted shrug, but couldn't quite keep the corners of his mouth twitching up a bit in a smile at the pun. Both he and Nell watched Evren quietly as he seemed to struggle to think of something to say, their expressions nearly identical ones of polite patience. Nell eventually gave him a small smile and shook her quickly-emptying cup. "I'm a bit of a traditionalist, I usually go for the strawberry banana one.""I'm sorry, I don't think I caught your name..."
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Posted: Wed Apr 19, 2017 6:52 pm
As long as the subject was ninja training, Evren was fairly comfortable. He relaxed a little, ran his fingers through the end of his ponytail, and shook his head. "There probably isn't enough of a market for it. Which is a shame, if you ask me." They hadn't, but he was on a roll now. "Not to disparage other sports, but I really think ninja competitions are the tops. It's just you against the course, and some people might find that lonely, but all it does is make everyone an ally, rather than an opponent. It just shifts the axis of teamwork, so by helping each other, when one person wins, we all win, in a way."
And that, in a nutshell, was what kept Evren coming back to the world of ninja. Part of it was that many of the challenges were catered to his skillset, but really, it was all about the camaraderie, the one for all, all for one mindset. Knowing that not everyone saw things the same way did nothing to dampen his enthusiasm.
What did give him pause was the very innocent- and very obvious- request for his name. Normally, Evren would have no problem introducing himself, and would apologize for having waited this long to do so. But this time, the mention of names made him think of the list of guardians the lab had given him. If everyone was provided with such a list - and it was kept up to date - could a simple introduction reveal his true motives for striking up this conversation?
The chance that anyone would have the current, up-to-date list memorized was minimal to nonexistent, but there was still a chance. For a few moments he was paralyzed with a mixture of fear and indecision. Then, slowly, the gears in his head started to turn again. "I'm... Ev," he said finally, offering his hand. Most people he was friendly with called him that anyway, but he hoped it was different enough from his full name to keep an immediate connection from being made, in the extremely unlikely event that he was dealing with a human (or Raevan) rolodex. "And it's a pleasure to meet the both of you. Strawberry banana's one of my favorites too," he added, trying to keep the ball rolling, "but I was thinking of trying that orange papaya one. Can't decide if it's worth the risk, though, papaya's so hit-or-miss."
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Posted: Mon Apr 24, 2017 7:44 pm
Despite everything, there was a spark of interest in Nell's eyes that she couldn't hide. "You think so? I honestly never had a chance to visit one. Do you have any recommendations?" Now that she was on more familiar territory, some of her wariness was quickly replaced by her usual enthusiasm, and the clear enjoyment of the subject in his voice piqued her interest. Truth be told, she hadn't paid too much attention to any of the various ninja competitions that had popped up through the years, but she might have been a bit mistaken in overlooking them. She gave him a hearty handshake, seeming to not notice the pause before he said his name. "Well, nice to meet you, Ev," she said warmly. Dair, slightly behind Nell, narrowed his eyes slightly before bobbing his head in greeting. "I'd say go for it, life is short, yeah? Sometimes you just gotta live on the wild side." Her smile widened at the exaggeration of the importance of a smoothie choice.
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Posted: Mon Apr 24, 2017 11:42 pm
"Oh, you should try it! I'm sure you'd be great at it!" Not that Evren had anything he could say to back that up, other than her word that she worked at the gym. For all he knew, she worked reception, or washed the towels or something. He wasn't about to judge by appearances.
The question of whether to make a recommendation or not had him hemming and hawwing for a few more moments. On the one hand, he always wanted to introduce people to the sport. On the other, would that incriminate him somehow? If she went to one of his haunts, could she find out who he was, and put pressure on him to make a decision?
Even he realized how ridiculous that sounded. "My favorite gym's called the Jammin' Ninja. It's in Aekea, and they have a newcomer night the first Wednesday of the month, if you want to see if you like it! I help out sometimes, but, uh..." Crap, why did he have to run his mouth off about that? "I'm taking some time off to, um, see what else is out there." The truth of that claim was shaky at best, but it was hard to talk about the Jammin' Ninja without mentioning that he was avoiding a workout buddy, and that brought him right back to the bottle on his counter.
So he let that topic go, and tried to do his best with the smoothie track instead. "You're right, why not go for it? I mean, you only live once-"
And that was what was bothering him. That simple, throwaway line managed to invoke all of the pain and guilt over his soul capture that he was trying so hard not to drown in. How did he have the nerve to try to make nice with these people after making such a mess of things?
"I should, um... I should probably go order that orange papaya, then." Right? That was a reasonable out, right? "Thanks, though. I'll, uh, see you around? I guess?" He started backing away shakily, his pace uneven, waving and nodding and trying not to totally freak the hell out in public.
Subobo I am so sorry about this idiot he'll be less of a spaz in the future I swear
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Posted: Tue Apr 25, 2017 8:09 pm
"Ooh, I never really go out that way, but I'll have to see if I can make it to the next one." If nothing else, she did sound truly interested in attending and it seemed as if her attention was slowly being drawn away from his previous awkwardness. However, a moment later her smile faltered as Evren's attitude swung back around to awkward once more. "Oh. Um, yeah! At one gym or another, probably! Hopefully the papaya's good," She did her best to give him a comforting smile, but couldn't quite cover up her nervousness at his erratic behavior. A gentle elbow to the side brought Dair's attention back to what was in front of him with a start. He raised his hand in a farewell with a quiet "It was nice meeting you," before drifting towards the exit of the shop. Nell followed a moment later after giving Evren a wave of her own. Well. That was certainly unusual. DivineSaturn Nell will pretend like it never happened to not embarrass him lmao
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Posted: Mon Jun 05, 2017 11:45 pm
In the time it took him to order a smoothie, Evren managed to get his breathing back to normal. Not before he got a weird look from the cashier, but at least it didn't seem like he was about to have an imminent panic attack. He spoke clearly when asking for napkins, took his change without shaking all over, and even remembered to put some of it in the tip jar. All in all, a speedy recovery. Maybe he'd screwed up temporarily, but he could still fix this.
Except, when he turned around, drink in hand, the Raevan and guardian were nowhere to be seen. Maybe they'd been spooked by his erratic behavior. Or maybe they just had better things to do than talk to a nut like him.
Whatever the case, his shoulders drooped, as he realized he'd blown his chance to find out more about what he'd gotten himself into. And worse, once again, he had no one to blame for it but himself.
Evren took a sip of his smoothie, too lost in beating himself up to taste it, and shuffled out of the shop, more exhausted by this debacle than any workout.
Subobo And finally a wrap on my end sorry thank you ;-;
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