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 Posted: Sun Dec 06, 2009 10:47 pm
The last thing he was expecting that weekend was a call. More so when it wasn't Dem, whom happened to be missing at the time it came in. Probably good all things considered. He -hated- explaining himself sometimes. And since there was a -girl- involved, if he remembered the number right... he'd defiantly hate it. Actually he half envisioned sulking, since they were "Dating"
"Zac Bantock...." He answered flipping open the phone and cutting off the ring tone of "Panda Bear" by owl city. In all honestly he hoped no one owned that CD, or if they did that they wouldn't note that the title, which took up all of one line in the actual song, had ANYTHING to do with the small charm on his cellphone.
"Khalla?" He added to make sure. Perhaps not the BEST phone etiquette but still. They called -him- so he felt a -little- entitled to be blunt.
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Posted: Mon Dec 07, 2009 1:55 pm
"Yeah, hiya Z!" the girl from the other end of the line said pleasantly, not put off at all by the blunt attitude with which he answered his phone. "Sorry to bother you like this, but I was wondering if you could do me a little favor?" Khalla frowned slightly at this, chewing at her bottom lip as she let the call fade into a momentary silence. She hated asking for help, almost as much as she loved to give it, and only because she felt that it was her job to be the exact opposite of 'needy'.
Yet, as she ran one finger along the dark edge of the paper bag, she finally let out a sigh. She'd really run out of options here. "I really hate asking, and if you're busy I completely understand, but I was wondering if you wouldn't mind meeting me at the grocery and helping me carry groceries home to my Gran? I'm kind of.. ill-equipped at the moment." She sighed and leaned against the counter, tapping her free hand against the top and offering an apologetic smile to the patient cashier. It was a lazy little store on a lazy day and there weren't many other customers to come rushing her out of the way at the moment.
Thus, she just waited, hoping Z wasn't too busy. She wasn't sure she had any other options.
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Posted: Mon Dec 07, 2009 11:13 pm
A fraction of hesitation, but it was accompanied by the sound of a cupboard or door closing.
"Be there in a few, same place as we met?" he asked shrugging into the hoodie before frowning, realizing that the -sleeves- were too long, a glance at the design revealed it as Dem's. Once he might of taken it off in a rush, but for 'some reason' he just rolled his eyes that it had ended up in HIS closet, and used it anyhow.
"I was just doing a little... reading." He said glancing at the layout for his latest 'plans', but she -really- didn't need to know about those.
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Posted: Tue Dec 08, 2009 2:25 pm
"Yeah, the same place as before," she said, hearing the closing sound on the other end of the line and smiling to herself. It wasn't a smile of triumph, but one of appreciation. She was just glad she had people she could depend on when she needed them.
"Well, I'm glad I didn't interrupt anything too important. I'll see you when you get here, alright?" She felt awkward staying on the phone, especially with the way her ribs were bruised - holding her arm up stretched out muscles she didn't particularly feel like stretching. "I'm up at the front, by the check out, you can't miss me."
She glanced down at the floor, tapping her foot against the cheap tiles of the grocery. She didn't know how she was going to explain her current predicament to him when he arrived, but she couldn't do this without help. She supposed she'd just have to lie and tell him the same story as Serah - she did hate lying though.
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Posted: Tue Dec 08, 2009 5:35 pm
"No, nothing big..." he answered with a shrug and then rolled his eyes at himself, she couldn't -see- him shrug. Dem must be rubbing off on him.
"See you in a min..." He added before hanging up and heading out.
It didn't take long for him to make his way to the market.
It wasn't too far a walk, and he shoved his phone in his pocket and his hands in his hoodie and tried to look invisible so he wouldn't have any 'run ins'. Either he was lucky or it just worked because soon enough he was pushing into the door to the market and scanning the area by the registers for her.
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Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2009 4:10 pm
Khalla smiled with relief as she tucked her phone back into her jacket pocket, fussing with the unzipped sides like she had done so many times before. Everything about her outfit was very.. un-khalla, from the jacket to the loose t-shirt underneath, right down to loose-fitting sweat pants. For once in her life, Khalla wasn't the picture of perfection and it was obviously driving her crazy. Still, there was nothing for it, because anything else was difficult to put on and more painful to wear.
As she heard the ding of the bell on the front door, Khalla let her attention drop from toying with her outfit and instead looked up to see who it was, hoping against hope that Z had finally showed up to save her. Upon seeing him, she brightened visibly and waved him over in her direction.
"I'm so glad you're here, you've no idea how humiliating it is to stand around like this and have people staring," and she didn't just mean staring at her outfit, which probably wasn't all too terrible by anyone else's standards. Despite most of them being covered by her clothing, there were still visible fading bruises around her eye and over her nose, as well as a gash and some redness that indicated a break no doubt. Still, her smile didn't falter and she only turned to grab up one of the lighter bags, offering a small frown to Z as she did so.
"I guess I just didn't plan on not being able to carry them home, kind of silly actually."
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Posted: Tue Dec 15, 2009 11:47 pm
He frowned a little and scooped up as many bags as he could. "What -Happened- to you!" He hissed through his teeth trying not to draw too much attention to either of them.
"Here... put that on top..." He said juggling the bags. this was -ridiculous- hmmmph!! What -was- it with people not telling him these things. If he found out who did this... oh the plots, devil take it he'd contemplate finding someone to tamper with their -car- over this if they had one.
"Who did this?" He added with a jerk of his chin.
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Posted: Sat Dec 19, 2009 12:05 pm
She frowned a little at Z's reaction, scuffing one of her shoes against the tiled floor of the grocery. She had somewhat expected this reaction, as she'd gotten the same one from Serah. Thus she had no choice but to lie again. She couldn't even use the lie that she and Gabbie had used at the hospital about being mugged because she was afraid that if either of them thought someone had done it on purpose they might go looking for the offender.
"It was just an accident," she said with a small shrug, chewing at her bottom lip as he offered to take even the one bag she was carrying. "I can take this one just fine, it's just bread and little things like that, you don't have to take it all." She didn't want to be completely useless - it was enough that she already had to call and ask him to help. "You have to be able to walk too," she reminded him, waving one hand at all the bags he was trying to juggle. He was close to needing a third arm from the looks of it.
She'd also carefully tried to avoid going into detail over her 'accident', mostly because she didn't like to lie. If he kept pressing she'd have to tell him the same story she told Serah though.
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Posted: Sat Dec 19, 2009 2:33 pm
Z gave a little huff of "I don't quite believe you" that kind of suspicious look sometimes reserved for abused housewives.
"Sorry... I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable" he said after a moment, reluctantly allowing her to take the last bag. He should have borrowed a wagon or something he was sure of it.
"Your the second person I know to show up with... 'accidents' he admitted with a small frown, not adding that he suspected that both were leaving out details. It was more than enough to make him -wonder- but not nearly enough for him to even -start- to go on. I mean, what... she and Dem, two of the most -mild- people he knew as... what
those 'senshi' terrorists? -HIGHLY- improbable. The very thought would have had him rolling his eyes had someone suggested it.
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Posted: Sat Dec 19, 2009 8:47 pm
Khalla could read the disbelief on his face - it was plain and clear as a flashing neon sign. If she reacted to it, however, it would make her unlikely story even more suspicious. So instead she simply smiled and pretended that she had no idea what-so-ever of his suspicions.
"No, no, that's okay. I know you're just trying to help, and you should be, right? That's why I called you after all." She laughed softly and shrugged a bit, ignoring her urge to wince as she felt bruises along her back protest. Instead, she turned and started towards the door of the grocery, making sure to stay close to him and keep an eye out in case all the bags he was carrying became an issue.
She pushed the door open with her arm and moved to hold it open for him, standing off to the side to let him walk through with the bulk of the bags. "I suppose I should have thought to call you before I came shopping."
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Posted: Mon Dec 21, 2009 3:36 pm
He eyed her body language like he was just waiting for some other sign, she just lived with her grandmother though right? It didn't make sense that an... elderly woman would have done the damage, so it probably wasn't -home- issues, he calculated. He thought female bullies preferred -words- but he could be wrong... but...
-sigh-... oh he'd get to the bottom of this somehow... somehow.
"It happens" He said quietly. "I'm happy to help either way." He said and was a little surprised to find me meant it.
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Posted: Mon Dec 21, 2009 4:08 pm
She felt bad, there was nothing else to say about the situation. She hated lying and knowing that it was absolutely required of her to do so felt like someone was tying her wrists. What she wouldn't give to be able to tell her friends the honest truth, just once. Just looking at his expression made her heart ache dully.
She let go of the door once he passed through it and started on the familiar trek back to her grandmother's house, carrying her one bag carefully in her arms and making sure not to set the pace too quick in case his large burden became a bit too much for him.
"I'm glad it's not an inconvenience," she said with a soft laugh, her smile spreading now that the awkwardness was slowly ebbing away. "I guess I should probably think more about how I'm going to go about doing everything until all this heals up a little better." She sighed and brought a hand to her nose, touching it gingerly before wrapping her arm back around the bag she was carrying. "I don't know how on earth I'll manage to do any of the events that I have lined up at the homeless shelter over the next couple of weeks." There was actually a visible frown on her lips as if this had just occurred to her and was deeply troubling.
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Posted: Mon Dec 21, 2009 4:14 pm
Erk...
There was always a catch, he'd just said he had no issues helping her, that he enjoyed it, by default he should, to be polite... assist her with the shelter.
... perhaps, it was time to introduce her and Dem as well, if he was going to be polite he wasn't doing it -alone- by god.
"I can, see if I can round up some people to help out." He offered quietly.
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Posted: Mon Dec 21, 2009 4:28 pm
"Oh no!" she shook her head at him, wincing a little as she remembered that head-shaking involved a lot of the most tender areas at the base of her skull. "Really, that's not necessary. You're already helping more than you need to."
She hadn't really been asking for his help, she had simply been more or less thinking out loud.
"I'm sure I can find one of the other volunteers to help me out or something, it's not that much trouble." She offered him what she hoped was a reassuring smile, attempting to assure him that she really did have this under control.
She'd have to make a note to stop thinking out loud in the presence of easily-worried friends.
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Posted: Mon Dec 21, 2009 4:33 pm
"I'll ask my roomie..." He said flatly... ((and maybe the rest of the band... such as we are, it'd be an interesting experiment to see how we all interact together.)) he thought... but he wasn't quite ready to say 'I have a band' yet.
"And I know a few others I'll ask too..." He added rather than say 'band'. "What did you have in mind for activities?"
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