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 Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2016 3:19 am
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A text (or series of texts depending) would arrive to Asiya's phone from an unknown number, stating the following:
Quote: Um so you gave me your phone number in the other place and I kind of ignored it for a while until it started to smudge off while working on a phone repair so I punched it into my phone and I'm not sure if I spelled your name correctly bc I spell phonetically which just butchers names out the a** so I saved it and then work's been a nightmare bc Will tried to sabotage one of my units and that's when I noticed something weird and it reminded me of magic and other ashdown and I guess what I'm trying to say is hi its, um, erin.
One giant run on sentence that was more stream of consciousness than an actually 'text' but probably held more of Erin's personality than she'd anticipated. Said awkward nerd sat in the corner window of a small coffee shop with a cup of tea and her 3DS, contemplating the very crucial decision of whether or not her Pikachu was going to learn Thunder Wave or not. A precious day off, and she wasn't spending it in pajamas in bed. Erin was actually out of the house for something other than work. The world was ending, it had to be.
No, she was just out of tea at home and had forgotten to order it, again. Her tea - loose leaf chinese style tea of the ginseng variety - came from a small selection of stores in California. Generally meant it took three or four days to arrive so she ordered at about the one eighth mark of the bag. The new two pound bag of tea would arrive with just enough time to switch out bags if she timed it right. With the whole other Ashdown trip and the issues at work, she'd simply forgotten to order more. Unfortunate.
The green tea at the coffee shop was not as good, but it was hot and suited her needs until her shipment came in. Might as well people watch at the same time.
Erin glanced at her phone, anxious to see if Asiya would text her back, or if work would drag her in for seventh day overtime. Again. For the third week in a row. She really hoped it would be the former.
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Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2016 6:26 am
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Asiya's phone lit up with the sound of the tsungi horn from Avatar the Last Airbender playing upon receiving the text message. When Asiya looked and didn't recognize the number, she opened the text message and scanned over it. A smile spread across her lips when she read it and saw who it was from. Immediately, she began typing a response. Her message read:
Asiya's Text to Erin Assalamu-aleikum, Erin! (Peace be unto you!) I'm so glad to have heard from you! I'm sorry to hear that work has been difficult for you. D8 Hopefully, it will get better, insha'Allah (god willing)! Also -- please don't worry about misspelling my name; I get that sort of thing a lot! Thank you for messaging me! I was wondering if I'd hear from you after all that had happened. Would you like to hang out sometime? I'm pretty much free whenever; I'm just working on some art right now. The images of severed feet have not left me since that strange day. Thanks for reading; I hope to hear from you soon! - Asiya
Having finished with her response to Erin, Asiya then leaned back and gave it a once-over. Satisfied, she gave a single nod, and then hit send. Her eyes then drifted over to the canvas she was sitting in front of, and only then did her smile fade. Painted on the canvas was a dark image of a grisly, dismembered foot. Ever since she found the limb in other Ashdown, Asiya had been plagued with such images.
It was not a pleasant experience.
Chatting with Erin, though -- that would make things better. Even if it was just back and forth via text, it already made her day feel better. Things were starting to brighten up already.
a-disgruntled-dragon Apologies for the length. ; n; I'll be posting a longer one once Asiya actually goes out to meet up with Erin.
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Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2016 11:55 pm
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Posted: Fri Apr 01, 2016 9:11 pm
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Asiya's Text to Erin I'll be right over, insha'Allah.
With the address to the coffee shop Erin was located at in tow, the artist proceeded to get ready for her outing. At the moment, she was not wearing any headscarf, and was at a loss for which one to pick. Like some girls might have collected shoes, Asiya collected scarves in a multitude of fabrics and colors, which she used for the different occasions in her life. Some were fancier, while some were more casual. She even had special hijabs for both exercising and swimming. On this day, however, she decided to go for something out of this world. Literally. Asiya had picked out a galaxy print scarf, and then finished getting ready with her usual long-sleeved attire.
It didn't take her long to get to the coffee shop. Having grown up in Ashdown, she was quite familiar with it, and often went there herself from time to time in order to grab some tea. Mint tea was her favorite, and that was what she ordered when she arrived for her meeting with Erin as well. With a hot cup of tea in hand and a smile on her face, Asiya found the girl she had befriended in other Ashdown without any difficulty. She was kind of hard to miss, after all, what with her purple hair.
"Hi, Erin! It's good to see you again. Thank you for meeting with me! As she said this, Asiya raised her cup of tea in hello, instead of a hug or a handshake. She then paused and waited politely, not wanting to be rude or sit down without being invited to do so. Erin was probably a bundle of nerves right now, so if she wanted to back out, now would be her chance. Asiya would have no hard feelings, either, should that be the case. She knew how things could be.
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Posted: Sun Apr 03, 2016 6:12 pm
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The best think Asiya could have done was lifted her cup in greeting. Erin was such a bundle of nerves that any other sort of greeting would have sent her running. Asiya seemed like a conscientious sort, Erin began to realize, something that helped her nerves and anxiety. It also helped that Asiya wore a wonderful galaxy print scarf.
"Hi! I like your scarf, it's very pretty," she said, gesturing to the chair with her cup as a way to let Asiya sit down. Erin fiddled with her own cup for a moment, closing her DS to be polite.
"So... um... how's been things? Since..." she said, trailing off in a 'I'm not sure if we're supposed to talk about other Ashdown' sort of way. She figured it wasn't something you talked about, but did they go all movie style quiet about it - hushed whispers, code names, staring over their shoulders - or simply just talk in broad terms? Or not even care at all?
404 protocol not found!
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Posted: Sun Apr 03, 2016 6:31 pm
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"Awww -- thank you. You're too kind!"
In one fluid motion, Asiya slid into a chair opposite of Erin, and set her bag down on the table as well. As she sat down, her eyes caught sight of the 3DS that Erin was closing. She, too, had a 3DS, though hers was at home on the nightstand next to her bed. It had been a long time since she had played it, sadly. When was the last time, actually? She couldn't remember, but seeing someone else with the handheld video game console made her smile. "What game were you playing? I need to finish Majora's Mask."
When the conversation turned to the trip to other Ashdown, Asiya went quiet. It had been a little bit since the strange occurrence, and try as she might to forget, something always made her think of it. "I'd like to say okay," she replied openly and honestly, though taking a point from Erin to tone her voice down to a soft hush. "But what happened has been giving me a major art block, and it's frustrating."
The artist then shook her head and expelled a heavy sigh. She was sick of drawing and painting pictures of severed feet, honestly.
One could only paint so many.
"How about with you?"
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Posted: Sun Apr 03, 2016 8:24 pm
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Erin smiled at the inquiry about her current game, taking a sip of tea before replying. Asiya played video games, or at least played 3DS and knew of their existence. She couldn't quite place why this made her happy, but it did and she brightened considerably.
"Alpha Sapphire, actually. Decided to pick it back up again. Most of my other games aren't doing it for me right now, so figured I'd go back to my roots... so to speak," she said, tapping the 3DS briefly with a shrug. Her expression fell a little as Asiya gave her response, frowning at the art block.
"I'm sorry..." said Erin, taking a drink of her tea again. She thought about it for a moment, attempting to reign in her perchance for run on sentences. "Have you... noticed anything odd since then? With your painting or otherwise?" She purposely clamped down on her mouth then, trying to not flood Asiya with entirely too much at once.
Baby steps Erin, baby steps. Maybe you can get a second date/hangout out of this if you don't scare her off. Maybe even a friend!
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Posted: Sun Apr 03, 2016 9:06 pm
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Oh, Pokemon.
How she both loved and loathed that franchise.
Asiya had gotten into it when the games first came out for the Gameboy all those years ago. She had been a tiny little thing back then, but she had loved it, regardless. The different types of pokemon were what she really loved. She also loved exploring the various regions and learning new skills. What she didn't love, on the other hand, was the grinding it took to level pokemon.
Ain't nobody got time for that.
"We should exchange friend codes. I have Alpha Sapphire, too, among other games."
Asiya sipped at her mint tea after mentioning friend codes. The tea was refreshing and hot, warming her body as it went down her throat. Not as good as Moroccan mint tea, but hey; it was better than nothing. A frown tugged her lips downward at the questions Erin asked. She wasn't bothered by the questions, of course. Erin could probably ask her anything, and Asiya would be okay with it.
It was her answer she was going to tell that unsettled her.
"...I had a strange dream the other night. Aside from that, no."
A shrug followed after she said this. Had Erin been experiencing any odd happenstances? If so, then Asiya was eager to know. It'd be nice to know that she wasn't the only one.
The last thing she needed was for others to call her crazy for all the stuff she had seen. Her parents hated her already. She didn't need to become a social pariah on top of all that.
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Posted: Sun Apr 03, 2016 9:46 pm
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Thankfully, most of the grind had been pulled out of Pokemon, and while the hardcore gamers whined, Erin quite loved the ability to just straight EV train from the beginning and not having to spent hours grinding out levels. She nodded, making a note to do the thing. The thing being checking what her friend code was at all. Could they even do that with this generation... hmmm.
"Huh. Well. I was repairing this unit at work - a real rustbucket if I've ever seen one; there were cobwebs in the case, and Will - insufferable Will who is so displeased I get all the commission and sales and just about show him up at work - came over and started messing with it, and broke it like he always does. What does he do, he overloads this poor computer's RAM so badly he damaged the actual circuit boards. So I rummage around for something, anything to replace it with but we're not stocking DDR1 and DDR2 RAM anymore unless its special ordered. I found two sticks of two different sizes and plopped them in the rig and it ran like a beauty.
The weird thing is though, those RAM sticks aren't the same type of RAM. Somehow I got DDR1 and DDR2 to mix and work properly in this computer. I don't know how. I tried it a few more times, with other units. It's... weird." She buried herself in tea after that, realizing she'd just sort of rambled on and word vomited at her. Whoops.
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Posted: Sun Apr 03, 2016 10:00 pm
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I-...
Uhm...
Wat?
Unfortunately for Asiya, the majority of what Erin had just explained was well over her head. It flew over it like a baseball flying over the heads of fans eager to catch it. But, while she didn't comprehend a lot of the things like DDRs (wasn't that a video game) and RAMs, she did understand the gist. The computer was broken, and Erin fixed it. With pieces that shouldn't have fixed it.
Huh -- that was weird.
"Well..." Asiya started to say, her words a bit hesitant and uneasy, "I'm glad you were able to fix it! You must be a computer genius." She then let out a laugh, which helped to soothe her discomfort over the subject she knew nothing about. The artist then went on to add, "If any of my stuff ever gets broken, remind me to take it to you."
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Posted: Fri Apr 08, 2016 8:44 pm
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Most computer repair shops charged an arm and a leg for their services.
Back when she was still in college, her laptop stopped working all of a sudden. The blue screen of death would show up, and she had no idea what to do in order to fix it. After taking it to the campus computer shop, they told her it would be $50 in order to run diagnostics, then whatever else it would cost in order to fix. Talk about frustrating, but what could she do? Her computer was important to her, and so she ended up paying the $50 and then some in order to get it repaired.
"That's very kind of you. I appreciate it," she said with a smile and a polite nod. Although she didn't say it out loud, having Erin repair her stuff at home would be way better for her bank account. Art supplies, food, and rent were expensive enough the way it was, let alone the cost it would be to get an electronic fixed. Why did everything have to be about money in this day and age? It made her so sad.
Sipping her tea, the artist allowed herself to relax some. She then gazed about her, peeking at the other coffee shop goers who were conversing or meandering about. People watching was fun in and of itself, and maybe she could get some inspiration for some art for later, if something caught her eye. "It's nice to have made a friend after everything that happened..." This came from Asiya in a quiet voice, seemingly out of no where. "I fell out of touch with my college friends after graduation. But now I've made friends with you, so that's made me feel better."
Things were starting to feel normal again, for whatever it was worth.
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Posted: Sun Apr 10, 2016 3:35 am
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"I... don't have friends, not really," she admitted after a moment, staring down at her cup. None of the guys at the shop were her friends, and no one from college or high school had ever really been her friend to begin with. High school, they'd used her for answers on homework, or bullied her. College, they just sort of ignored her entirely. Except when it was necessary for group projects.
But.
Asiya said they were friends now. So she had a friend, who hadn't gone running at the first sign of techno babble or run on texts. Erin smiled down at her cup, wiggling in her seat. She made a friend.
"My, um, awkwardness tends to get in the way. You just roll with it. It's... nice. To have a friend," she said, looking up at Asiya with a goofy little smile, talking with broken sentences and more than a little glee. In the back of her mind she wondered how long that would last, how long it would be until Asiya inevitably found her annoying and moved on. Erin smothered it with the hope that maybe this time would be different. Maybe this time it would stick.
If it did, free repairs for life.
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Posted: Sun Apr 10, 2016 10:12 am
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Erin found her awkwardness as a hindrance. It was always something that had gotten in her way. It was something that made people avoid her, but Asiya thought the opposite of it. Asiya found it endearing - as something special. It made Erin who she was, and that was great. "I like it -- your awkwardness. It makes you, you. Everyone has quirks," she told the techie sitting opposite of her. "They make us who we are."
At Erin's wriggling, Asiya could help but smile. She then grabbed the bag she had brought with her, set it on the table, and slipped a hand inside. After a moment or two of rummaging, she pulled out a small slip of paper and a pen. "It is nice, isn't it," she murmured, writing her address down on the slip of paper. "You have my number already, so here is the address to my apartment. Stop by anytime." Asiya explained, sliding the paper over to Erin.
Erin would be welcomed to stop by anytime. Asiya's door would always be open and she would be eager to have the company.
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