Welcome to Gaia! ::

A voice rang out through his mind clouded with facts and figures, disrupting his hyperfocus. The words awoke him with a start and the book flew from his hands, clapping closed mid-flight only to flutter open once it crashed to the floor. “Oh! Oh I’m sorry, man. I didn’t mean to. I’ll clean all these up and…” He began to stand, only to bump into the bookshelf behind him and knock more books onto the floor. “So that settles it I’m never coming back to this store.” Manny laughed a full-body laugh, brimming with the humor one can only find in laughing at themselves. He finally peered up through long, dark eyelashes to gaze upon the person who had interrupted his thoughts. The guy was undoubtedly a worker, considering the formality of the ‘sir’. His blonde hair reminded him of sunlight, but not the kind that's all UV rays and sunburn; the kind that you look forward to after a long storm, the kind you pray for on your day off. He had eyes that were like his own, yet somehow so, so different. Probably the most beautiful person he’s ever seen in his life.

“Maybe I will come back,” he gave a lopsided grin, showcasing one of his pointed canines. “I’ll pick all these up, no worries.” Manny bent over to pile books in each of his arms. Given the weight of the textbooks, the strain of collecting them highlighted the muscularity in said limbs. His musculature was only contrasted by the softness of his stomach that visibly pooched over his pants when he bent over. All the books in his grasp, he stood to full height. There was an extremely apparent height difference, which suddenly made him feel much like a clumsy oaf of a giant.

“I don’t think there’s anything I really need besides not to be so uh… me. Yanno? I just got carried away. There’s a lot of options here.” He turned a quarter of the way towards the bookshelf to put a few of the books back in their rightful homes. “I’m not gonna force you to call me sir. Most people just call me Manny.”

“Ben, huh? I like it. Short and sweet. I feel like a jerk for not saying my whole name, but I mean, there are only so many names that you can derive the nickname Manny from. Still though. Technically, my name is ‘Emmanuel,’ “ Manny made a jazzhands motion that insinuated he wasn’t really a fan of how prim and proper his full name sounded, “but I don’t think I’ve yet to hear my full name in positive context. Parents always pullin’ out the full first name and middle name when they’re mad, yanno? Not that I'm always getting them mad or anything, but, heh, you get it.”

He hadn’t even realized Ben had organized all the books until his mind registered his hands gesticulating without the weight of textbooks holding them down. “Wow, uh sorry I probably just ruined your day by knocking all that stuff over. Not the best way to start off, huh?” Manny’s eyes widened a bit, mimicking the look of a puppy who’d been told they were bad. “I’m not gonna get you in trouble, am I? For like, taking all your time or… making you clean up after me?”

Manny’s arms folded loosely over his chest, their definition again flaunted both by their positioning and his choice of shirts. “This is why I never leave my house.” An anxious chuckle left his lips.

Manny uncrossed his arms to offer a slight shrug and a humble smile. “Cleaning up a mess I caused is the least I could do. Now if only someone could clean all of this,” He uses his hands to motion to all of himself, “up. Get it? Because I’m a mess.” His demure smile morphed into a more confident smirk. If you can’t laugh at yourself, who can you laugh at?

He was grateful for Ben's patience and kindness. He didn't even want to imagine what that whole fiasco would have been like if someone else was on this shift. “Thanks for being so understanding. I swear sometimes I just feel like Godzilla. Being tall is a gift and burden, man.” Manny then pondered on whether or not crushing all those buildings was really Godzilla's fault. He's seen as a monster, but maybe he just doesn't know what he's doing? Maybe he's just really clumsy. Really, what is a giant lizard supposed to do? Stand still forever? Manny could relate to that sort of struggle. At the subtle inquiry of his lodgings, a flicker of recognition sparked in his eyes. “Oh! You live in Ombre? That’s super close to where I live I think, right? I moved here recently, so I’m not sure, but I’m up in Etoile.”

A lock of hair popped out of his makeshift bun and he sighed heavily. He supposed he wasn’t reading anymore. No need for the updo. He reached behind his head to take out the hardest working hair tie in the world, and his fluffy ringlets happily sprung free. “Can’t tame the beast.” Manny commented as he slipped the rubber band back onto his wrist. " You probably don't have that problem with short hair, huh? You could wear a hair band and be good. Or maybe a hat? But for some reason you don't strike me as a hat person."

Manny’s jaw went slack in awe of this person’s otherworldly connections. “Like, for real? Taller than me? A half-giant, as in the mystical, fairy-tale type, half-giant? That’s...that’s pretty woah. I mean, I’m from a small town whose main export is probably denture cream and uh suspenders or something. The majority of people are over sixty and all of ‘em human, myself included. And my parents.” He smoothed a hand over his hair, still a tad starstruck. Even his old town was no stranger to the stories of these parts, but he never imagined any of it to be true. “I heard this area was magical, but not in the whole supernatural being type of way. More-so in the ‘eat this fruit and find true love’ type of way.”

He listened attentively to Ben’s comments on the other districts and his friend who now lived in Doux. “My parents live that way, I think. We originally all lived together in Etoile, but it was pretty cramped, and it was closer to their practice and all that. They’re dentists so it’s a comfortable life for them up there.” Manny missed his parents on occasion, but it’s not like they didn’t see each other. Every other Saturday they got together for dinner; more like every other Saturday they got together so his mother could make sure he was eating enough, and then proceed to stuff him like a Turkey. "And if you miss them, call them? Or visit them! It's not prying if you just wanna know how they're doing. Can always join that Charmblr site thing Soleil has. Maybe they're on there?"

“I agree! But my personality doesn’t get in my face when I’m trying to read.” Manny’s eyes sparkled with joy as his laughter rumbled in his belly. “I’m not really one to try and please others with my looks. I think it’s important that you’re okay with yourself, yanno? You’re the one who has to live with you forever. So I go to the gym for me,” He flexed in an attempt to humorously imitate a Grecian statue, “and I eat pizza for me.” Manny pat his stomach. “In all seriousness though,” his tone was not at all serious, “do you think my hair suits me?” With a shake of his head, his curls flounced in a near picture-perfect hair flip.

“I think it’s pretty obvious that I love everything: tea, coffee, definitely chocolate, and definitely definitely dessert.” He smiled. He would hate to assume, but it almost sounded like Ben was asking him to go to this Moonbucks Cafe. With him. Together. Maybe a date? No, not a date. They’d just met. A friend date, maybe. Either way, Manny was going to take a risk and put himself out on the line of inner emotional destruction. “Sounds like a place I’d totally be into, but I’d need someone to go with me. Save me the embarrassment of eating like five desserts alone and come with?” Not as smooth or well put together as he would've liked, but accurate. He had that going for him.

Manny scratched at the back of his head in wonderment. “I guess I do. I’ll just add ‘oblivious to the supernatural’ right next to ‘clumsy all the time every day’ on my list of attributes.” He paused thoughtfully. “You’re really knowledgeable about this stuff. The first option here is obvious, you work in a book store. Could’ve read up on all of it. Second, you’ve lived here for a while and you’ve picked up on the activity around here. Three, you’re an otherworldly being yourself! If it’s number three, dude, I called it. I mean I didn’t obviously, but no human can be this pretty.” The comment, although could be construed as flirtatious, flowed with an innocent effortlessness off of his tongue that spoke of true sentiment rather than flattery.

He held both of his hands in front of him, wordlessly conceding to Ben’s argument. “You’re right, you’re right. I’d say I’m a healthy mix of all of it, and a dash of the fact I’m close to a beach. Beaches are a spiritual experience. You can feel alone even with so many people around. Amazing. And, not to brag, but my swim trunks are,” Manny made the symbol for ‘okay’ with his hand, “the best. They have surfboarding dogs on them.” A tilt of the head. He traded in silly humor for a fervent curiosity that hastily staked its claim all over Manny’s face. “Not a fan of that new wave of technology in general? Or just sites like that? I use it, not gonna lie, but to each their own, yanno. No shame in that.”

“You know royalty? Dude, who are you and why are you talking to me, a lowly peasant who knocks over books, when you could be talking to the prince of Golden Retrievers or something, dang.” Manny offered a light chuckle, but cut the joking short to place a comforting hand on Ben’s shoulder. “No matter how much they’re pampered, I’m sure you’re still friends. Could always use good ol’ fashioned snail mail to get in touch--- letters, written on real paper. No one can deny a princess her letters.”

He could probably cry. Someone who shared his pizza lovin’ views. Soulmates, clearly. Manny’s previously resting hand joined the other, but on Ben’s opposite shoulder. “Right? Hawaiian pizza’s the bomb. Pineapples get a bad rap as a topping for no reason. Unfair.”

At the compliment, he retracted. He became the definition of the ‘deer caught in headlights’ look. He hadn’t expected that. “Oh. Thank you.” He had internal self-confidence in spades. He loved how he looked from the tips of his curls to the tips of his toes. However, other people were another beast entirely. He couldn’t believe another being would like something about him.

Manny was expecting to be shut down, but that never came. It was irrational to think someone who had been so kind to him would set him up in such a way, but he’d been proven wrong before. Multiple times before. Don’t think about that. He snapped out of his daze with a grin. “Friday’s perfect. I’ll even wear an actual shirt with sleeves, and without food puns on it.” He waggled his eyebrows for emphasis, “Fancy.”

Manny nodded, and hung around for a bit after Benjamin had left. Deeming himself no longer a danger to the organization of the shelf, he meticulously plucked out one of the textbooks he’d put back earlier. He’d taken approximately ten from their lodgings, and only skimmed half of one, so he’d figured now would be the perfect time to finish his light reading. One text at a time, however. He learned his lesson. No more playing Icarus, flying upon paperback wings into the sun of glorious knowledge. Maybe he should stay away from the mythology.

He lingered near the section he’d met Benjamin, blue eyes lifting up from white pages to sort through his surroundings, engaging in a game of ‘Where’s Waldo’ with the boy with blond hair. It was clear Ben had his hands full with customers, and staying in the store just to get another chance to talk to him was a little lame, a little creepy, and a little too loiter-y for his tastes. Manny returned the book exactly where he found it, then shoved his hands in his pockets, searching for the smallest scrap of paper. A piece of lint, crumbs (possibly from a cookie), a pen with a chewed cap, and a napkin-- jackpot. The napkin and the pen. He couldn’t really use the lint or the crumbs in this situation. Using his dominant hand to write, and the opposite as a stable surface, he scribbled out his name, his phone number, and a little note: “Text me some time. See you tomorrow ❤︎” Manny debated adding a heart or a simple smiley face, but he decided the heart was fine. It expressed his excitement, and smiley faces always looked too sarcastic to him anyway.

Benjamin seemed to be speaking with someone else, so he would have to be cool about it. A deep breath to calm the nerves, and combat boots plodded over to where he stood. “Excuse me, sorry for interrupting, but you dropped something over there.” He handed Ben the folded napkin with a smile, a wave, and made his way out of the book store. Manny would worry about his own brazen actions for the rest of the evening.

--EXIT--