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 Posted: Sun Apr 10, 2016 4:06 pm
Zack had spent most of his waking hours just barely scraping by; he managed to go to work, and even managed to pretend like he was doing okay now that Evan was gone. He liked to think that he was fooling his girlfriend, tricking her into thinking he was doing better than he let on. He was worried about Evan, sure, but he'd been lying to her about not knowing where he was because he knew exactly what had happened to Evan.
He just needed her to believe that he was okay, staying with friends or something, so she wouldn't get the police involved.
He didn't need them prying into his life.
Usually, when he wasn't at work or putting on a front for his girlfriend, he was in Negaspace, digging through their records, or with Evan, hounding Destiny City for anyone who might know anything about youma. Or how to fix them.
But today wasn't exactly a usual day. Today, Zack was drained. He fully intended to go out and do his usual business later, but for now he had a folder full of paperwork and a broken air conditioning unit (and the repairmen wouldn't be out until several hours from now so, impatient as he is, he took his notes to the nearest building.
Zack usually didn't care at all for sweets, but today an ice cream sundae sounded just fine. Apparently it seemed like it sounded just fine to everyone else in the area, because the place was packed.
But he needed air conditioning to work, so he sucked it up, got his ice cream, and then glanced around.
At a two-seated table just a bit away was a girl, by herself, and showing no signs of expecting company. He wasn't shy by any means, so cleared his throat from next to her.
"Hey," he greeted, not driven to be social but willing to provide that much of a courtesy if it meant securing a seat. "…This place is crowded, you mind if I snag this seat?" he asked, nodding to the empty spot across from her.
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Posted: Mon Apr 11, 2016 8:56 am
Annabelle had stopped at the cafe for a break from job hunting. Something where she could not be doing fast food, and maybe meet interesting people. Other than that, she was an open book. With her split from Lila, she ended up moving out and into this dinky little apartment. While Annabelle had savings, she didn't want to use all of them. Thus the job search. This was more of an ice cream parlor than a cafe, but they had delicious coffee flavored drinks with ice cream in them. That's what she ordered and wandered to a table just before the rush happened. Great. At least she got to sit down. Green painted nails drummed on the table as she sipped her ice cream drink through the straw and then blinked once she heard someone talking to her. Gold eyes flicked up to the man, looked him over, and then just motioned to the seat. "By all means. I'm not using it." That much was true. She had her way too steep heels on the floor next to her and her own feet were crossed at the ankles. "Company can be good."
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Posted: Mon Apr 11, 2016 10:54 am
Sanidine shrugged but nodded and took his seat. He was mindful of keeping to his own space, partially out of respect for her private space, and partially because he was secretive about his project. There was a voice in the back of his head that told him he really shouldn’t be researching youma or working on this in public, but there was another part of him that really just didn't care.
At all.
Let them see. Hell, he was half tempted to start asking around the city looking for information and use the excuse that he was writing an article for the paper.
…It wasn't a bad idea, but he didn't want to risk people thinking he was some lunatic.
…If Evan were here, he could have gotten him to do it.
"Thanks," he said, out of courtesy. At first, he wasn't going to say anything further; he had his own business to attend to and he didn't want to intrude, but she had mentioned company can be good, and you didn't work in a bar and not pick up on social cues.
He ignored his research for a moment, figuring his eyes would appreciate the rest.
"You don't seem like the type of girl who couldn't get someone to go out and get some ice cream with her if she wanted company," he noted. It wasn't rude, just an observation. She looked like the type of girl who could have had almost any man in this room wrapped around her little finger.
But he didn't dwell on that; he did the usual polite thing and extended a hand, offering his name as introduction.
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Posted: Mon Apr 11, 2016 3:06 pm
Annabelle just continued to sip at her drink while he sat down, apparently not sparing him much more of a glance. However, he apparently felt the need to keep talking. She took her eyes off her phone and looked up at him again before she realized what he said. ...and she couldn't stop herself from giggling. "Ah," she said, shrugging a little. "...Perhaps, but my friends are all wishy washy right now since ..well. For reasons." Her slender shoulders raised in a shrug. Slowly she pushed her hair off her shoulders and to one side, exposing the shave. She made quick work of putting it in a low tail and then watched him. "Well, I'm not going to be rude. I'm Annabelle Leigh. Ann, Anna, whatever for short." Her manicured hand reached out for his and she shook it quite firmly. "You don't seem the type to be alone, either."
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Posted: Mon Apr 11, 2016 5:53 pm
Zack offered a shrug. "Usually, I'm not. Though, usually I'm not out for ice cream, either. My AC's busted and they won't be able to get in to repair it for a few hours. I hadn't expected this place to be so busy or I would have headed somewhere else. But," he shrugged. "All I needed was a chair and I guess that’s good enough for now."
He could always plug in his headphones if he needed to.
"I'd have hit up a friends place, but," he snorted and laughed—some brief, cynical huff. It was mirthless. "Don't want to answer their questions, so I'd rather just keep my distance."
His hand rested atop the papers he'd brought; their contents were concealed, but he still seemed protective of them and their secrets.
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Posted: Mon Apr 11, 2016 6:07 pm
"From what I learned," Annabelle said with a low noise, going back to her phone when her hand was released. "Is that friends can be both a good and bad thing. If you break up with your significant other of two years you really learn who is your friend and who isn't." She looked unhappy as she talked and drummed her fingers on her phone a bit. "Sorry. Not your business." She dropped her phone on the table and then rubbed an eye. "So. What flavor did you end up getting?"
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Posted: Mon Apr 11, 2016 7:20 pm
The topic of what ice cream flavor was far less interesting than the other topic she seemed to broach. Zack was poking at his chocolate ice cream and then shrugged. "Plain old chocolate," he said; he knew it wasn't anything fancy. Still, he settled his elbows on the table, making himself a bit more comfortable.
"Bad break up?" he asked, poking at his ice cream.
He glanced up at her face for only a fleeting second, trying to gauge if it was too sensitive a topic still or something he could get away with prying at. While he generally didn't care if someone around him was unpleasant or unhappy there was a dark part of him that took solace in the fact that the world wasn't a perfect place.
People got hurt all the time. It was satisfying to know he wasn't the only one with problems right now.
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Posted: Tue Apr 12, 2016 7:52 am
"...Not with her. With the friends, yes," she said simply, shrugging. "..We just sort of.. grew up and apart. So it was ...sort of mutual in a way. But our friends don't apparently take kindly to me." Annabelle's lips pursed at that and her leg bounced, showing her irritation growing. "I don't know why they don't. I was just as good as a friend as she was. I guess she's more 'approachable' or something." When Annabelle got into these moods her face twisted and she looked like a royal b***h and a pain in the a**. The white haired girl's tongue clicked before she glanced to the side. Her arms crossed just under her chest and she leaned back in her chair. "I mean, I had my rules too, you know? Is is it so unreasonable I say don't call before noon because I'm probably asleep? And yeah, that meant no breakfasts or brunches, but like..." Then Annabelle seemed to remember herself and where she was. She stopped talking and took a deep breath. Her face slowly went red before gold eyes looked back to Zack. "Anyway. The point is, I'm still friends with her."
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Posted: Tue Apr 12, 2016 12:18 pm
Zack listened, not intently, but casually. He knew all the social cues; when to purse his lips in thought, when to nod or grunt or scowl or shake his head. He listened for a living. Well, and got people drunk, but it didn't matter; the better listener he was, the better tips he got.
"Well, good riddance to them, then," he said. "You don't need that baggage. You shouldn’t beat yourself up about it. You're still friends with her, and if they're going to have a fit, forget about them. You're better than that, and if they're lucky they'll grow out of it soon." He spooned another bit of ice cream into his mouth. "You should go out, hit the clubs, do something nice for yourself and forget about them. You'll make new friends, better friends. Right now you've got a clean slate. You can go be whoever you want and see who sticks around for the party."
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Posted: Fri Jun 03, 2016 7:03 am
Well, she was prattling on about nothing, wasn't she? Annabelle watched him as she talked and she got the feeling he didn't care. Why should he? They just met. She pushed some of her hair behind her ear and then took a deep breath and gave him a smile. At least he acted like he listened and did spit back some correct information. Maybe he did listen. "Well. Sorry. I just sort of went off and told you all my life problems at once," she said with a bitter laugh. She took a deep breath again and shifted before shrugging. "Sorry. Look, if you need to get somewhere, that's fine. I mean.. You don't have to stick around and listen."
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Posted: Sat Jun 11, 2016 11:42 pm
Zack just shook his head. "I don't mind. I'm not in any rush. We could sit here talking all day, if you wanted."
It was a nicety, not a thought he was actually entertaining. Air conditioner broken or not, he still had work to do and he couldn’t just brush it aside so easily. But socializing with someone who didn't know a damn thing about him—and wasn't s**t faced drunk—was nice for a change.
"Talking helps," he added. "…Especially when you don't have anyone else to listen. Or, worse. You do have people to listen but don't want them meddling in your life."
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Posted: Wed Jun 29, 2016 6:59 am
When he said he wasn't in any rush, Annabelle looked at him in a judgey kind of way. "What, no girlfriend to rush back to?" She was teasing him, sticking her tongue out a little bit. "....Well, that I get. So. Let me listen to you know that I've whined at you about my life." She pushed a hand through her white hair, fluffing it out somehow. Annabelle knew her hair would never be tamed no matter what she did to it. It would always drive her absolutely bonkers. "I promise not to judge you too harshly."
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Posted: Tue Jul 05, 2016 8:51 am
"Girlfriend's busy," he shrugged. It wasn’t something that worried him; they were just living their own lives. Worrying about Evan in their own way.
"Not sure there's much to even say. Air Conditioner's broken so I'm here trying to figure some stuff out. See," he leaned forward a bit and propped his elbows on the corner of the table. "I've got a friend who disappeared a while back. I'm just trying to figure some things out, that's all. Got some weird leads, found some weird things. Just processing what's believable and what's worth pursuing."
He spoke like it wasn't interesting, that it wasn't a big deal; he didn't want to hype it up. He didn't want someone meddling, or asking too many questions. He just wanted answers, and he just wanted Evan back—normal.
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Posted: Sat Jul 09, 2016 6:47 am
Ah. So he really didn't have a girlfriend to rush back to. At least not right now. Annabelle tilted her head to the side and let her fingers tap against her own jaw a moment. As he continued to talk, her brows knit. A friend disappeared? "Weird leads? Like... what kind of weird leads? Something to do with some of the strange things going on in DC?" She tapped a finger against her lips in a worried manner, a little crease between pale, plucked brows. It was really surprising, the way he mentioned it. Like he was talking about the weather or something. Did he just not care about his 'friend'? Was it a loose definition? "s**t, I'm sorry. I shouldn't pry into something that personal on a first meeting." She held up her hands and then shrugged.
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Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2016 8:30 am
Zack glanced up and debated actually answering her but eventually shrugged. "No, it's fine. I don't care. But it's not like the police can do anything, and I figured, you know." He sighed and some hidden fire in him seemed to spark angrily. "I was supposed to take care of him. Sort of."
Not like he ever protected Evan from anything unless he got something out of it. Zack had been a bad friend who showed that he cared in terrible ways. He had hurt Evan, and he had enjoyed it. Except, now he'd hurt him on accident—in a way that he couldn't take back. He didn't mean for this to happen, and more than anything he just wanted to fix it.
"But, yeah. Weird things happening in DC. He got hurt, and now he's gone. But I want to find a way to bring him back. To find him again. To bring him home."
He wasn't vague about it, but he didn't exactly specify what he meant. He figured it wasn't really a lie—he did want to bring him back. Did want Evan. Wanted him home.
He just couldn't say he was presently a monster and what he was researching was how to undo it.
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