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 Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2009 5:58 pm
It was too late for dinner, too early for a midnight snack. Orli wandered into the Moonworks Coffee Franchise on the intersection of Helson and Main in Durem and surveyed the menu board. It wasn't like she really needed to - you could walk into a Moonworks Coffee anywhere on the planet and feel comfortably familiar with the items offered - but hesitating before ordering made it seem like she wasn't such a pro at this to the cashier.
She didn't care for coffee, and caffeine didn't affect her one way or another - being a Star, she slept very little as it was. But she was hungry and cold from the night air. It wasn't quite Spring yet, and Winter was shouting its last blustery words before being banished for another year.
Orli approached the counter and ordered a tall hot chocolate (this was one of those fancy places where they called a small a tall) and a cupcake. They gave it to her on a plate, with a fork. She took her food, sat down at a corner table, and wondered who in their right mind had ever heard of eating a cupcake with a fork.
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Posted: Sat Feb 28, 2009 3:04 pm
Leviathan was cold, hungry and grumpy. It was past the boy's bedtime (as much as he hated to admit it, the lobster-boy got incredibly drowsy after 10 PM and usually tried to crawl into bed before then). Yeah, it was past his bedtime, but he had a point to prove. If Ishizuke was allowed to wander in and out of the household at any godawful hour, Leviathan wanted to be able to, too. So the teal-haired lad slipped out the front door shortly after his housemate and found himself with no where to go.
The only logical place was to head into the city, and once there, Leviathan discovered he was hungry. Unfortunately, most of the places open this late did not cater to people in the boy's age-range, but after a while of late-night wandering, the child finally happened upon Moonworks. That would do. Stumbling out of the cold, Leviathan bumbled up to the cashier and ordered himself a hot chocolate with a shot of espresso and a cookie (it was not often the boy got to eat a cookie practically as big as his head).
After he paid, Leviathan took his food and looked around for a place to sit. Hm. Frowning, the drowsy lad puttered over to the only other person his age in the entire cafe and just looked at her for a moment before shaking himself out of his sleepy stupor. "Can I sit with you?"
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Posted: Sat Feb 28, 2009 3:11 pm
Orli looked up from her cupcake and nodded. It wasn't often she saw someone her age (he was a little older, maybe. Not too much. Vague term.) out this late. She kicked a chair out for him.
"Sure," she said. She took a sip of hot chocolate.
"Isn't it past your bedtime?" she asked. She felt clever. It was something Ranza would say. Ranza had sass and spunk. Orli watched her from afar and felt like she was learning from the best, except lately Ranza had been irreversably gloomy and Orli couldn't tolerate to be around her for more than a few minutes.
She smiled to show she wasn't actually that mean. She could be charming, endearing, even, if she really tried.
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Posted: Sat Feb 28, 2009 3:19 pm
Leviathan stared at the girl blankly, biting back the 'duh' right before it left the tip of his tongue. She was sharing her table with him. It was better to smile and play nice until his chocolate concoction breathed some life back into him. He set his plate and his cup down to pull out of his chair. After he settled down, he took a sip of the drink, yelping when he realized just how hot it actually was. Sable always put milk in his cocoa; he knew how sensitive the lobster-boy was to heated liquid. Obviously the barista did not. Leviathan tried not to leave home without a hoodie or a pair of gloves.
"Isn't it past yours, too?" the boy finally mustered, nibbling on his cookie while he waited for his cocoa to cool down. "Not that it's past mine," he added sulkily, giving his drink a dirty look before he settled into his cookie.
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Posted: Sat Feb 28, 2009 3:24 pm
"Haven't got one," said Orli, which was a lie. She had a bedtime, it just wasn't strictly enforced and she chose to ignore it. "I don't sleep much." She pulled a piece off her cupcake and popped it into her mouth. She chewed thoughtfully, trying to evaluate the icing - to -pastry ratio. Not enough icing. Maybe. She wasn't an expert on this. She swallowed.
"I'm Orli," she said.
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Posted: Sat Feb 28, 2009 3:31 pm
Oh right! His name. "I'm Leviathan. Leviathan Dagon-Hazard." Leviathan always introduced himself with his full name. "But you can call me Lev." He also understood his name was a complete mouthful and he didn't mind the nickname. He had picked it himself; in fact, he had grown rather fond of the name. ( It didn't hurt out when it was pointed out that Lev meant 'heart' in another language. Coincidence? Leviathan Dagon-Hazard did not believe in coincidence. )
After a nibbling a few more bites off his cookie, Lev finally looked up to meet Orli's gaze. "So, what brings you out here so late?" he asked, wondering idly if he should try his hot chocolate again, or let it cool down for a few more minutes. He didn't want another burn, it was already making his sugar cookie taste weird.
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Posted: Sat Feb 28, 2009 3:44 pm
Orli shrugged. "It's cold. This place is warm," she said. That part seemed kind of obvious. She sipped her cocoa, trying to get the warmth to spread down to her toes. Her boots were sturdy, but they weren't necessarily warm.
"And I was hungry," she added. "Moonworks is open really late, and as long as you buy something every three hours or so they don't kick you out." From the way she said that, it seemed like she might actually still be here in three hours. If her wandering didn't get the better of you.
"Why are you here?" she asked. Million dollar question or something. It wasn't prying if he asked first, right?
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Posted: Sat Feb 28, 2009 6:43 pm
Hey, the reason was good enough for him. "Same," he replied, taking another bite of his cookie. It was half-gone? How did he manage to whittle away such a large cookie so quickly? Lev frowned at his sugary treat before adding, "And to prove that I could. If Ishizuke can stay up late and go wherever she wants, so can I." It didn't occur to Leviathan that Orli might not know who his roommate was, but that wasn't really important anyways. Anything she could do, he could do better.
"I'm pretty sure Juno doesn't actually know I'm out," he mused, inspecting his hot chocolate again. Leviathan exhaled on it before taking a hesitant sip. Hmm. It was better. The boy downed half the drink before setting it and taking a deep breath. Please wake him up. He really needed a good kick to the nervous system. "But I'm not actually sure if he's going to care, either."
Oh well. It was kind of like a little experiment.
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Posted: Sat Feb 28, 2009 9:08 pm
"Ishizuke?" Orli asked. Did he mean Ishi? "About our age, blonde hair, pale as all get out, scar over half her face?" This required some investigation. Did he know her friend?
"My Mom doesn't know I'm out," she nodded. "Or maybe she does. She doesn't care. She knows she can't stop me."
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Posted: Sun Mar 01, 2009 12:15 pm
"...yeah, that would be Scarface. Her mom left or something, so my dad is watching her until she gets back." Leviathan sighed and scowled. It absolutely wasn't fair, having the share his spare with that little demon. He didn't care how nice or whatever she seemed, Leviathan and Ishizuke were like rams butting heads. (It could very easily be a case of bad blood, his father and her mother where known for rivaling each other fiercely.) "...we don't get along." Understatement of the century, maybe.
"I don't think Juno knows I'm out. He knows Ishi is out, Ishi always gets to go out late at night. But I didn't tell him I was heading out." Maybe he should have said something. But wouldn't that defeat the purpose of this little expedition. "I kind of wonder if he'll even notice. He's really into his lab work."
Lab work before children? Definitely.
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Posted: Mon Mar 02, 2009 5:22 pm
"Oh," said Orli, sipping her chocolate. "Ishi's my friend. I know pretty much everyone who wanders around the city at night. Like, there's a guitar-playing hobo over in the square? He's really good. As soon as he gets an agent, he's gonna be really famous."
"The city's really fun to wander around at night," she continued, and took a bit of her slowly-vanishing cupcake. "Once you start exploring it, I know you'll be hooked."
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Posted: Mon Mar 02, 2009 5:44 pm
"...oh." Yeah, oh. Way to go with your big mouth, Leviathan, spouting off before you really got to know the girl. He rubbed the side of his face and looked away, feeling like a complete jerk. "So, there are a lot of people who come out this late at night?" he asked, grasping at straws. Anything to steer the conversation away from stupid Ishizuke and his stupid temper.
Leviathan finished the end of his cookie and regarded Orli curiously. "Um, isn't it the same as going out to the city during the day?" he questioned, frowning. It wasn't like anything disappeared and nothing came out. There were different people, and there were clubs and stuff, but there was no way someone there age could sneak in.....right?
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Posted: Mon Mar 02, 2009 5:51 pm
Orli shrugged. She couldn't explain it well, but the city took on a whole different feel at night. Every alleyway became a portal to another world. The old-style streetlights turned everything orange and gold and she felt like a character out of some Steampunk novel she filched from Ranza.
"It's nothing like during the day," she said. "It's a lot less crowded. And everywhere's a ton cooler. And, like, everything's a lot more magic feeling under starlight."
She took another bite out of the cupcake, which was disappearing faster now.
"We could go outside and I could show you around?" she suggested.
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Posted: Mon Mar 02, 2009 6:21 pm
"A magic feeling?" Now that got Leviathan's attention. He was always intrigued by magic. Neither of his parents believed in it; if they couldn't prove it with science, it wasn't real. Juno was always one to belittle things he didn't support. Leviathan would never mention his curiosity to his parents, but if Orli was offering? Well, he'd be a fool to pass it up!
"Sure, that sounds okay. Just let me finish my hot chocolate," he said, taking another careful sip. He was going to need all the caffeine he could get if he was going to be touring the city. The Original Plan just called for going out, going somewhere and going home, but this sounded a lot more promising. Three sips later, Leviathan looked at Orli expectantly. He was ready!
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Posted: Mon Mar 02, 2009 6:48 pm
Orli finished off her cupcake and chased it with her last few mouthfuls of cocoa. She stood up, lobbed her cup at the trash can, and grinned at the boy. She wasn't sure if he had expected her to be so short - barely three and a half feet, at last measure - but they were in this together now.
"Okay," she said, waving him towards the door. "Thank you for joining me on a Durem by Starlight tour!" She pushed the door open and held it for him, thinking nothing strange about the role reversal. Out of the cafe's lights, it became apparent that she was glowing. She pointed to her chest.
"I'm the Star, and I'll be providing your light for this adventure! First up, let's check out the singing hobo."
She started down the street towards the public square.
"You coming?"
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