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 Posted: Mon Jun 13, 2016 7:20 pm
Jonah slumped at one of his usual tables in one of his usual coffee shops, tucked in a corner away from the door, nursing a caramel macchiato. He stared listlessly at the glowing screen of his computer, struggling to come up with something to do to keep his mind occupied. A half-completed game of solitaire stared back at him.
It was early Monday morning, and his brain was hours away from being truly awake.
Normally, he would still be at home in bed at this hour, but he couldn't stomach being at home, listening to his grandfather b***h and moan over the news. Jonah hadn't been able to sleep anyway, so he didn't see any point in lingering around any longer than he had to.
With a heavy sigh, he tore his eyes away from the unmoving image on his computer and scanned the quaint cafe. The morning rush was moments away from beginning. People trickled through the door at regular intervals. Most stood in line for their drinks and left as soon as they got them, but a few took seats at the empty tables. This particular establishment was close to the hospital and a short jaunt from the financial district, so most of its patrons wore scrubs or suits. A lot of them were too attached to their cellphones.
Jonah pushed his glasses up his nose a bit, then propped the side of his face against one hand, sat his elbow on the table, and decided to people watch as the morning crowd grew.
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Posted: Mon Jun 13, 2016 9:11 pm
There was very little free time for a resident surgeon and Negaverse agent combined. Although, while the nights not spent at the hospital could have been spent scouring the streets for victims from which to drain energy, August found a way to slowly collect enough energy from those who had been admitted to the hospital.
His occupation just happened to get him in close proximity to a lot of people, many of which wouldn’t even realize they were being drained. He stayed away from stealing starseeds while on shift, though. That could be too suspicious and he didn’t know if any knights or senshi worked at the hospital as well and would recognize the symptoms of a missing starseed.
While he didn’t have much free time, he did like to spend it in various cafes across the city. He didn’t think he was much of a coffee snob, but he did like to try the various flavors and drinks offered. Cappuccinos were by far his drink of choice, and that was what he was currently drinking as he listlessly tapped his pen on the page of the newspaper that showed off a crossword puzzle.
In lieu of scrubs or his white jacket, he wore a long sleeved white shirt and red tie. The black jacket was over the edge of his chair as he worked on his puzzle, occasionally glancing up and around at the various patrons, including the somewhat nerdy looking college student with the glasses and blond hair.
For just a moment, he realized they made eye contact. It lasted all of a second, and then he went back to taking another sip of his drink.
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Posted: Tue Jun 14, 2016 12:05 pm
Oops.
Jonah quickly glanced back at his computer screen, frowning as his face warmed a bit.
He hadn't meant to make eye contact with anyone. Eye contact was awkward. Actually, any sort of contact with people was awkward for him, but it was worse with strangers. He swallowed thickly and took a sip of his drink, focusing back on his computer screen. He filed through the cards again but was too distracted to notice if any of them would help the game along. He wasn't particularly interested in the game anyway; it was just something to do.
He peaked up again after about a minute had gone by, but made sure not to glance in the same direction. Jonah peered over at the line instead. It stretched almost to the door and contained quite a few people in suits, which made Jonah feel a little inadequate. They must have decent jobs, whereas he had none.
He'd graduated one year and one month ago, and he still had nothing to show for his degree.
Disconsolate, Jonah's gaze flicked back over to the man he'd previously made a second's worth of eye contact with. The move was completely unintentional, or so he told himself; he no longer wished to scan the line, and the man happened to be sitting in the complete opposite direction. Of course, he, too, seemed the career sort, if the shirt and tie and the jacket over the back of his chair was any indication. He looked so cultured, sitting there with his newspaper. Sort of posh. Neat and orderly. Very mature.
Jonah felt boyish and scattered by comparison, in his shorts and short-sleeved button-down, with his glasses over blood-shot eyes and his hair a bit of a mess from being air-dried after a hasty shower. Like he was still in college, when he should be out there making some sort of career for himself, too.
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Posted: Tue Jun 14, 2016 9:24 pm
Oh? The blond haired boy seemed to have been flustered by their accidental eye contact. Or at least it seemed that way because when August turned back to watch, the blond haired boy seemed to be trying to look anywhere but over in his direction. It was almost endearing. Almost.
August glanced back down at his newspaper to fill in another word, sipping slowly on his coffee before it got too cold. He made a mental note about the young man; possibly a college or graduate student. He looked like he was a little run down, whether from school or work or just life in general. He didn’t look to be in the best of health, either. Sure, he wasn’t sick, but the bags under his eyes and lacklustre complexion suggested that he wasn’t really taking care of himself.
That was a shame. He didn’t seem to be that unappealing. Maybe if he took the time to brush his hair a little more, or had more sleep, he wouldn’t look as bad.
He could feel eyes on him again, and just as before, August lifted his dark grey-blue eyes to look across the room at the young man sitting in front of his computer. August didn’t say anything, but he didn’t look away immediately. He didn’t smile or frown, just looked, watching to see if the reaction would be the same as last time.
Would he get flustered again? Would he try to run and hide?
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Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2016 1:14 pm
Ugh, he was caught staring again.
Wait, no, he wasn't staring. He was just looking in that direction. Staring was rude, and Jonah made a point of not being rude. It just so happened that the man was sitting in an area of the cafe that kept drawing Jonah's eye. It was close to the windows. Jonah shifted his gaze just a bit, trying to make it seem as if he'd been meaning to look out the window the entire time.
He felt his face go warm and tried to ignore it. Be brave, Jonah, he told himself. Be brave.
He wasn't brave. He was the complete opposite of brave. He was nervous and anxious and fearful, and though he insisted it wasn't his fault, he didn't exactly try to fix the compulsion. He let himself draw further and further into his shell because he thought it was easier.
And safer.
He liked doing things that were safe.
s**t, that guy probably thought he was so lame. Jonah tried very hard to stare at a dog someone had tied up outside while they came in to place their order, but he inevitably found his eyes flicking back to the guy with the red tie.
For absolutely no discernible reason. Clearly, Jonah just liked doing things that made him feel awkward—and, therefore, like a heaping pile of s**t.
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Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2016 8:49 pm
The more awkward the young man became, the more intrigued August became. He would almost say he was amused, but there wasn’t much that amused him, so it was probably just intrigue. In fact, just because this blond haired young man seemed to be getting so flustered over looking in his direction, August didn’t bother looking away.
It was probably mean of him, since it was pretty obvious that the other had not intentionally made eye contact with him at first. But now he kept looking in that direction.
For whatever reason, he didn’t think it was anything to be flustered about. Maybe it was because he knew he looked horrible and not very well kept, but that was hardly August’s problem. He dealt with physical injuries, not poor self-esteem.
August glanced down at his paper to jot another word down onto the puzzle, although he could see from his peripheral vision if the young man was still looking his way. Next, he would have to figure out what he wanted to do about it, if anything.
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Posted: Fri Jul 01, 2016 10:43 am
Jonah shifted uncomfortably and wondered why the man kept looking back at him.
Was he angry? He was probably angry. He definitely had not smiled in greeting or expressed any other sort of social nicety to put Jonah at ease. Not that Jonah had done either of those things either, but, then again, making eye contact had been an accident, and it wasn't in Jonah's nature to smile over accidents. For a moment, he thought maybe he should try, but there wasn't anything in the man's demeanor that made Jonah think his efforts would be appreciated.
So Jonah did nothing. He stared for a little longer, then tore his eyes away and returned his focus to his computer screen. He took a swig of his drink and tried to pay attention to his game of solitaire. He should be minding his own business anyway. He had absolutely nothing to offer anyone, so it would be for the best if he just kept to himself. Like he always did. Like he always had for... well, as long as he could remember, really.
Unfortunately, his game did nothing to keep his attention. Jonah ended up sighing heavily as a result. Irritated with himself, Jonah gave up and pushed the computer screen closed. That was a bad idea, of course, because it meant he had no source of distraction other than the cafe's patrons, most of whom came and went too quickly to be of much help. Even the dog he'd seen out the window before was already gone.
Though his eyes flicked briefly back to the man with the red tie, Jonah was much quicker to glance away this time.
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Posted: Sun Jul 03, 2016 6:25 am
Whatever the young man was doing, August had no idea. He looked definitely on edge, probably up to no good, although he looked more like a goody two shoes than anything. Just the way he behaved was jittery and uncertain. Perhaps he'd had too much coffee.
August glanced up to watch as the young man fidgeted again and closed his computer and then had nothing to do but look around and pretend to be interested in something else.
There was a part of August that thought this young man was rather pathetic. Or at least he gave off that vibe of not really knowing what he was doing. It looked as though he was having some kind of mental breakdown, really.
Pushing his newspaper to the side, August lifted his drink to his mouth, and when he caught the eye of the same blond haired young man again, he slowly shook his head at him.
Yes, he was fully aware the other kept looking his way, and now the other knew that he knew.
Now he was curious as to what the other would do now.
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Posted: Tue Sep 06, 2016 12:25 pm
Jonah really did have absolutely no idea what he was doing.
He also was quite possibly very close to a mental breakdown.
Which was totally embarrassing. He felt like such a loser. Part of him wanted to get up and flee, either grab his things and run out the door or go hide in the bathroom for a while (or forever), but he felt rooted to the spot and couldn't seem to move. The more he thought about how awkward this situation was, the worse it became. He had no idea what the other guy was thinking and could only assume it was something terribly unflattering. Here Jonah was, a uselessly shy twenty-something with no friends and no hope for the future, making awkward eye contact with someone who, by his nice shirt, and slacks, and tie, must be successful enough to have a job where business professional attire was the norm.
When their eyes met briefly again and the man shook his head at him, that was the end for Jonah. First, he ducked his head and stared hard at the table, willing his eyes not to well up with embarrassed tears. Then, when sheer stubbornness didn't work to stave off further humiliation, Jonah pulled his glasses off, curled his arms over top of his closed computer, and dropped his head down on top of them.
If he couldn't make himself move, he'd just hide there in broad daylight.
God, he felt like the worst person alive. Utterly pathetic. A complete waste of space. Stupid. Just some dumb kid without a clue.
Entirely worthless.
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Posted: Fri Jan 06, 2017 1:14 pm
Ah, so it seemed as though he was going to have a mental break down. Perhaps social anxiety of some sort? Not that August really blamed the guy, but if he was going to be out in public, he should expect to be faced with the potential for socializing.
Then again, August wasn’t really the type to socialize either. If anything he was simply amused by the young man’s inability to not look in his direction.
Not that it really mattered. He was done with his coffee anyway. August carefully folded up the newspaper and left it on the table as he stood, taking his jacket and slinging it over his shoulder, and turning towards the door before the blond haired young man had a chance to notice him leaving.
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