Welcome to Gaia! ::

((Hm... Maybe some kind of force is trying to work it's way into our world... Yeah, and it needs hosts, always in twos so, should one die, there's another for it to survive in. The trading injuries thing is an unavoidable side-effect. And, there are people who wish this force upon the world, for reasons unknown. What do you think?))

A shake? An odd request considering what all had happened. I then mentally conceded to myself that there was nothing about our situation that wasn't odd. Also, she brought up a few good points. I would like to think that someone would help them, someone would understand, but there just was no guarantee. I wanted to say that governments abducting people for stuff like this was right out of a comic book, but so were we.
"Yeah, a shake sounds great." I said, sighing. I ran my hand through my hair subconsciously. Today was proving to be very gruff.

((Awesome. That should work.))

"It's okay, don't worry about me." I said, covering up the new scars with my shirt sleeve. I knew what other people would think, and there'd be no way to disprove them. Most likely they'd even seem self-inflicted to a doctor. But, that didn't matter to me, just like most things that people thought of me didn't matter. You grew a tough skin when you were as odd as I was.
I peeked outside the bathroom door to make sure no one was around before walking out. It would only cause unnecessary problems for them if they were caught coming out of the girl's bathroom together.

((Oops, LOL! Will edit.))

"No, my fosters won't care where I am, as long as they get the check." I said, refusing the phone. He would try to get a hold of some of the other foster kids there that looked up to him, but he wasn't sure they'd get to the phone before the adults did. So, he wouldn't bother, and would explain later.

I watched the exchange with slight annoyance. Guys who cheated were all scum in my book. So, when Reka stood behind me, I sidestepped to make sure I was completely between them.
"Hey, maybe you should just back off." I said to him, looking him in the eye as I said it. "You're just making things worse for yourself." As I said it, I held on to a lingering hope that he would try to fight me. Then, a thought occurred. If I fought him, wouldn't Reka take all my damage? My attempt to protect her could end up making it all worse for her. But, it wasn't the time to rethink my strategy. My move had been made.

I was surprised to say the least when I felt her arms around me. It was strange feeling, especially in front of her boyfriend. Well, I guess that word didn't apply to him anymore, but the awkwardness was felt. As was the man's rage.
When he left, I was silently relieved that he hadn't thrown his punch. Glad that the bounds of our... relationship wouldn't be tested in such a way. I heard her thank me and turned to tell her that it was no problem. I was stopped by the moisture in her eyes.
I didn't know what to say at the moment. Not knowing her very well, there wasn't much going for me. But, I wanted to make her feel better.
"You shouldn't be upset over a guy like that." I said, jerking my thumb toward the b*****d's dwindling form. "He's scum. You can do better. In fact, most people would miss a cold more." The more I talked, the worse it got, it seemed. I mentally facepalmed myself for walking that fine line between comedy and malignment.

I let her lead me to the diner. I'd never been there before, so it was nice to be someplace new. Have new experiences. But, I remembered, there was more to this than just fries and drinks. Milkshakes were fine, but they had a bit of a problem. As such, the tone of the diner felt strange to me. Like there was a big, fat, albino elephant in the room that only the two of us could see.
"I've been thinking" I said, after taking the first slurp of my shake. "Well, can we really rule out the, uh. the supernatural?" I didn't want to sound crazy, but I realized that I did. But, it wasn't like I had heard of anything like this happening to anyone before. I couldn't think of a scientific explanation. But, that didn't mean anything. In fact, I felt stupid for even bringing it up. But, something had to get this dialoge going.

Experiment. That seemed to be a loaded word. What exactly would the experimentation do to us? What would we be doing to ourselves? Each other? The implications... Plus, we really had no idea how or why it worked. It could be already over for all we knew. Hell, it could fade in and out randomly. But, I guessed, that was the purpose of experimenting. We needed answers.
"I think your right. Experimentation seems, well, necessary." I said, nodding.

"I think maybe it's a slight case of ataraxia. Besides, I haven't totally decided that this is really happening right now." I say, producing a weak smile. Taking this well, she says. But, now that she's said it, the more I think about it, the more I have to resist the urge to scream. I give myself a mental shake. I've kept it together so far, and it's no time to fall apart now.
"Your own behavior is slightly less than normal." I added, taking another drink of my shake. It really was quite good, and the sugar felt kind of soothing. It's hard to feel tense talking over ice cream.