[R] I Don't Get You (Uuni & Grant)

[Kaelyndra]

It was 11am. Uuni had been up for roughly the thirty minutes it had taken to lace her boots up, throw on a black and yellow tank and a short skirt that hugged her a**, and walk to a cafe. She'd flirted with a boy for a discount, and was now enjoying the warmth of a hot, steaming cup of black coffee.

Week Three.

The bells chimed as she pushed the large, glass door out into the city's sidewalk. A gust of wind made her suck in a breath, and she finished sliding a hand into the sleeve of a long, charcoal jacket. It was a breezy, overcast, miserable day.

It was quickly interrupted by a sound, an awfully strange sound.

Whir, kathunk. Whiiiiiir. Kathunk, kathunk.

Balancing on the length of her heels, Uuni's eyes followed the sound left and down the street. A blonde head of hair was moving her way. Her eyes moved down, slowly, until they found the culprit. Heelies. Really? He was boyish, sure, but he had to be more than twelve. And twelve was definitely the cutoff point for heelies. If that was a fashion in this town, Uuni was getting the ******** out of dodge.

"Hey," she called out, as he neared. "What's with the shoes?"  

[Lithiasaur]

Grant was oblivious to the social stigma surrounding heelies and their use. He was, in fact, very much a fan of the rolling shoes, and he was lucky he had small enough feet to find pairs that fit him. He would have them specially made for himself if he had to, but he didn't. He wasn't a basketball player: they did heelies in his size.

Which was good!

Sure, he could get something more respectable for the same effect, like roller blades or a skateboard, but what use was that? He'd have to wear pads and a helmet, which were inconvenient, and he would have to take roller blades off or carry the skateboard around whenever he went into a building or somewhere where skating wasn't allowed.

No, heelies were unobtrusive and convenient, as well as fun. That made them perfect.

"They've got a little wheel in the heel!" He explained when someone asked him about them. He thought she didn't understand how they worked, and stopped in front of her, smiling brightly. He was a very nice guy, and was eager to help with anything at all.

"They're very fun!"  

[Kaelyndra]

Both of Uuni's eyebrows moved upwards and she raised the cup of coffee to her lips. The boy pulled to a stop in front of her, and the brunette couldn't help the wry smile that split her lips.

"Are you advertising them?" If he wasn't, he should have been. 'Wheel in the heel' was a catchphrase if she'd ever heard one. She bent her body to the left, peering down at the back of the shoes to take a look at the heel. Another sip of coffee followed.

"What happens if you hit a really big crack? Or a fallen stick?" Or a pebble, really. Heelies didn't look very stable. She shuffled out of the way of the cafe entranceway, and leaned again a locked newspaper box instead. She was really having trouble finding what was so thrilling about heelies.

"I dunno kiddo. You don't get out much, do you?" She moved her hand in a rough circle, fingers pointed down. "Other than, well, wheeling from one place to the other." The look she gave him was apologetic.  

[Lithiasaur]

Grant blinked in mild confusion for a moment.

"Advertising? Not on purpose! I just really like them," he laughed brightly, nodding his head at her enthusiastically. He certainly did like them, and he was probably underselling just how much. But he also wasn't trying to push them on anyone if it wasn't their thing. Sharing was one thing, but he wouldn't force the issue.

It was supposed to be fun!

As she asked him about the pitfalls of his shoes, he looked down at his feet and pondered his answers.

"Well, I've hit a few potholes before, but you just... start walking! It's not too hard to keep your balance, though sometimes if a stick or a rock gets in there by surprise I do fall over. But I don't mind! I should be paying more attention, really."

"I do go out a lot though. I go out every day, almost! I mean. I don't understand what you mean, I guess. Do you go some place special?"  

[Kaelyndra]

Uuni gave an involuntary wince at the idea of suddenly falling over when you were supposed to be skating along with ease. No thank you. She'd done a bit of roller-blading here and there, but wheelies could stay on shelves where they belonged.

"Yeah," she answered, clicking her tongue against the roof of her mouth. "You do that."

The conversation had moved on, and Uuni could already feel a feeling well up in her throat. It wasn't quite pity. He didn't sound like he'd even know what to do with that. He reminded her of a labrador. Maybe she could train him to do things. . . .

"Uhhhh." It was the best stall she'd ever come up with. "Sure, someplace special," she agreed. Don't roll your eyes, Uuni. That's mean.

Instead, she cleared her throat. "And I bet you don't have a girlfriend, either? Oh. Wait. It's boyfriend, isn't it?" She pursed her lips for a moment. Maybe there was someone equally cute and spacy for this one. He looked like he might accidentally run her over on the street with his wheelies. "Either way."

The coffee was sipped at again. "You really should try selling some of those, you know. I bet you'd be good at it."  

[Lithiasaur]

Grant smiled brightly, as ever. He was simply not one to fuss too much about what might or can or probably will happen. Everything came to him in turn, and he dealt with it in stride. Nothing happened that wasn't supposed to, so who was he to get upset about what he was being given? Chances to improve himself, to grow, struggles to learn from, difficulties to overcome.

Even the hard parts in life had silver linings, as it were.

He smiled at her brightly, oblivious to her inner struggle with pity.

"I do have a girlfriend. Her name is Lydia, she goes to the same school I do. She's very pretty," he smiled dopily as he thought about her, his feelings strong and his adoration of her deeper than he could share. Lydia was the reason he had been awakened as a dark senshi, and the reason he was so willing and eager to serve his new queen and cause.

She was patient with him, and taught him things he had never thought he could learn. Never had cause to, for one.

"You think? Maybe I'll see if the shoe store wants some help! I do need a job" he had lost his, a bagger at the local grocer, when he'd been taken into space for a long time.  

[Kaelyndra]

"Lydia, huh?" Uuni feigned interest. "I'll bet." He wasn't exactly 'ugly' himself. You know, if you liked awkwardly boyish boys on skates. Which, hey, Lydia did! Uuni wasn't going to judge.

"Yeauuup," she agreed with him. All those smiles he made, effortless, would probably land him jobs like candy. Lucky b*****d. Then, they might also find him a bit creepy. Or just assume he was high. Uuni took a good look at his pupils.

"Well, good luck with that. My coffee's getting cold. And you're cute, kid, but I've got s**t to do." Like plan all the ways in which she could do nothing, for example. She was going to check out that part-time school at noon. "See you around, wheelies."