Welcome to Gaia! ::

Zoe glanced briefly at the watch half-buried beneath the sleeve of her leather jacket, then quickened her step just slightly so that her heeled boots beat a quick rhythm on the floor in her wake. She slowed down just in time to make a calm entry into the room, ever so casually reaching up to tuck an errant hair back into the short, golden-orange locks that framed her face.

A robust, white-haired and balding professor at the front of the room glanced up and away without a second look, coughing slightly into his thick mustache. He picked up his coffee and settled on the edge of his desk, waiting for students to finish up the last of their conversations. Zoe filed quietly into a desk not quite at the back and settled her bag on the floor at her feet. Almost as an afterthought, she reached down to grab her book and happened to notice instead.. an amazing set of kicks that would go great with at least seven outfits she could remember at first thought.

She straightened up quickly and was in the process of leaning over to speak when the professor stood and cleared his throat, signaling it was time for silence. Her open mouth closed silently and she righted herself in her chair.

Damn.

She pulled out her notebook and flipped to the first page past her extensive notes on the assigned reading material. The class was significantly less important for this professor, all of his tests were nearly straight from the book. She had chosen him in particular to fulfill a couple of her humanity requirements before she could graduate in the Spring. She was trying to focus solely on school, but sometimes this Sailor hero thing got in the way. She'd done her research on the easiest classes to pass.

After a moment and a brief scribble, she pulled the blank sheet out and folded it over twice. Then she calmly leaned out the second the professor set down his coffee and picked up the chalk, setting the paper on the very edge of the desk across the aisle from her own. Thank goodness for pushing fire zone codes all the way to their limit! If the aisle had been very big at all it wouldn't have worked.

Inside she had simply signed:
Hey, love the shoes. I'm Zoe.

Zoe scooped the note up with a quick twitch of her fingers, her eyes lingering on the professor so as not to draw too much attention to herself. She unfolded it and glanced down, letting a brief smile turn up the edge of her lips. Anyone that had that kind of taste in shoes was at least worth a cup of coffee, even if all Zoe got out of it was some information about great stores. Friends weren't awfully important to Zoe, they came and went, but she liked to keep them around for the few spare normal moments she got these days.

She didn't risk passing the note back again, but simply nodded and smiled when Raven glanced her way. She tucked the note neatly into the pocket of her notebook, then simply settled back to listen to the professor. Zoe loved to learn, so 60 minutes of listening to a professor wasn't usually a problem for her. Time passed by quickly and before she knew it, the old geezer was dismissing class. It took only seconds for Zoe's mind to pop back to what was really important: talking about shoes!

She pulled her bag up by the handles and slid both of her books into the little satchel. She glanced over at Raven with a smile and stood at the same time that she asked, "do you want to stay on campus for coffee, or take a walk to a little place I know just off campus?"

Zoe smiled at the joke, laughing gently under her breath. Raven had quick retorts, which she liked. At least she knew this coffee experience wasn't going to be a total drag.

"It's not that much cheaper, but it definitely tastes like a six dollar cup of coffee should. That's more than I can say for these places." She readjusted her bag on her shoulder and waited just long enough for Raven to get her things and stand before she headed for the door. She pushed it open and then held it open with her foot to let Raven pass through, quickly assuming the lead and taking them out of the building and towards the first exit off campus. When they reached the first public road, she mashed the crosswalk button with her hand and pointed with one perfectly manicured nail down the street.

"See that third stoplight? It's right past that." She offered a small shrug - the distance wasn't far to her. She could walk all day and not get tired as opposed to how far and often she walked patrols at night. The flashing symbol of a person lit up on the crosswalk box overhead and she tugged slightly at Raven's sleeve. "We should hurry, these things last just long enough to make sure you're in the middle of the road when they stop." There was a small laugh tacked onto the end, but she was definitely scurrying as fast as anyone could scurry in boots.

About five steps from the other side, the flashing person immediately faltered and a giant red hand went up. She leaped up onto the sidewalk's edge with a laugh, got her footing beneath her, and turned to face Raven with a look that simply said 'told you so'. She grabbed the strap of her bag with one hand and held it there to keep the weight from dragging it off of her shoulder as she walked, but seemed content to stroll and chat now that she wasn't being forced by a timer.

"So what are you studying? I mean, other than Intro to Anthropology obviously."

Disappearing hobbies - that was something Zoe could sympathize with. She flashed an apologetic smile at Raven while she listened, but they were fast approaching the second light. Just as she reached to push the button, the crosswalk flashed 'go' and she fell into silence while the pair darted across the lanes.

Once safely on the other side she fell back into a leisurely walk, listening to Raven's questions. Part of her felt.. old, honestly. Though she knew she was far from an old maid, it was still odd to her that someone wanted her advice about college. There were days where she felt like a senior and others where she still felt like a fresh-faced highschooler, jumping into the college world and without a second thought for those silly sailor-clad women on the news all the time. It was strange that college had become the normal part of her life.

"I'm an English major," she shrugged a little as she said it, but offered no further explanation as to why. "Unless you're going after something pretty specific, it's not always about the degree. It's about.." she paused and let her eyes roll up to the sky as she thought about the best way to word it. "It's about knowing who you want to be, more than anything, I think. College is a necessary evil in my life, but once it's done I can concentrate on what really matters."

As they approached the third light she just laughed, pushing the button and waiting for the light to change - it'd be a while, judging by traffic patterns. "Sorry for the abstract answer. I'm mostly in college because my father demanded it. I've just been trying to make the most of the experience."

Her eyes were averted ahead of her as they passed through traffic stop after traffic stop, listening to the words Raven was speaking but not so much that they missed a turn or walked past it.

Zoe hated wasting time, even if she didn't have the rest of her time planned out.

"I was about to tell you that model life doesn't always end well," she threw a thin smile at Raven then, "but seems like you figured that out already." She laughed softly under her breath, pleased that someone else knew that a glory life wasn't always an easy one. She'd known a lot of girls in her age group (through her mother's friendship pushing) that had been models before they graduated highschool. The eating disorder pressure alone had been enough to make Zoe sure that was nothing she'd ever want.

She raised a hand and pointed at a two story shop ahead of them, affectionately named the 'The Morning Cup'. It was covered in a pleasant off-white stucco with vines crawling up the support beams that stood to each side of the glass front door. It was still at the end of the block, but could be seen.

"If you say so," she smirked and looked back sideways at Raven. "I've never had much of a head for romance though, myself. My last serious boyfriend ended up with a broken hand after he tried to steal some money out of my purse." She shrugged it off slightly, it didn't bother her much. She'd never been a good girlfriend.

Superficial and popular.

Zoe cast a sideways glance at Raven as she made the close-by comment about the shop, unable to resist picturing a younger, more irritating Raven. She could see it. Obvious growth or not, Zoe was sure Raven didn't have to try too hard to fit that stereotype even now.

Still, Zoe knew from experience that the girls with the cutest shoes rarely were the ones that did much walking in them.

"I run every morning. I found it the first time I moved into my own apartment in this area, it's on my route." It was a simple enough answer, though also partially a lie. She'd accidentally thrown a Negaverser through the front window one night on patrol as Midas and changed her route the very next morning because she felt badly. One good 'oh my goodness!' and the owners had believed she was just a very generous and concerned citizen. "I also paid for their front window after some local kids tried to break in."

She shrugged a little but reached for the handle of the front door, holding it open behind her for Zoe as she passed in. The inside was cozy, full of plush chairs and loveseats arranged haphazardly around large, low tables. The walls were lined with book cases, hand-painted subjects marked the shelves. A half-circle counter was arranged at the very back, with a single door into the kitchen.

"I just couldn't let this place get vandalized like that."