Been a Hot Minute [Alex, CJ]

Thu May 14, 2020 2:23 am

Alex

All things considered, for having been in the hospital for like 3 months now, Alex was feeling pretty alright. Now, mind you, he couldn't really touch his girlfriend outside a hug here and there without putting himself in some serious fuckin danger, but you know, baby steps. He was still workin' on things, and he figured eventually he'd figure out how to deal with, you know...the cancer with a little more effort.

But, in the meantime, he was just takin' it easy. Not much else he could do when he was liable to collapse with too much effort, so he dropped his little girl off at home to get working on her homework, and took a walk to the store. He wasn't really sure if he actually needed anything, but it was nice to just get out, clear his head sometimes, think about the simple things.

He wasn't exactly a city boy, but he didn't totally hate the capital of Vastime, either. Maybe part of that was just familiarity, and maybe the memories he'd built up here had a lot to do with it. It was hard to say, but he liked it here. Taking a little stop in the park Vegas always asked him to take her to, Alex crouched down by the creek running through it and watched for the fish. He wasn't really a fish guy, but when your daughter asked you to check on the fish...

Well, you checked on the fish.

Thu May 14, 2020 3:08 am

Childhood Friend - Cirrus Janower

She could hear the crumbling of gravel being crushed under the slowing tires of the vehicle, even through the black metal facade. The numbers—these addresses—meant little to someone like her, a foreigner, but her driver was scanning every one of them as they passed by. He must have found what he was looking for, because at once, they pulled in close along the sidewalk in front of one. Something like a cross between a restaurant and a house, to which CJ did not know what to think of. They came to a stop, but her chauffeur did not get out. He had explained things briefly before they began this journey, but left so much unsaid that it really was a wonder that she followed him this far. Something about him that made her trust him...

Clearly this was where they were meant to part. At the least, he had made no illusion about the finality of this trip... she was going to get out, and he was going to drive off, and then... that was it. No more Kentucky, no more Bowling Green, no more trips down to the local bakery. He'd said this was the most he could do for her, but she hadn't yet figured out what all positive he'd done for her at all? But... because she was an idiot, she got out of the car anyways. She pulled out all her bags, setting them out across the sidewalk, and closed the door. As she turned around to gaze upon the building in front of her, she heard the engine whir behind her again as it took off down the street at a painfully slow speed.

She left her bags behind for now as she walked up the path to the front door, full of trepidation the entire way. She tried to peer through the windows for some enlightenment to the significance of this place, but to no avail. Biting her lip, she shuffled onto the front porch and raised an arm. If there was anybody home, they'd hear her timid knocks on the door, announcing her presence. In case they weren't heard, CJ decided to press the doorbell once as well. She hoped that whoever or whatever was here... it would take her poor self in. She didn't have anything else to fall back on at this point.

Thu May 14, 2020 3:55 am

ALEX

Hmmmmm? Wasn't the bakery closed this time of day? That was kinda weird. Well, whatever, no biggie! Dad was off checkin' on the fish for her and mom was busy, but Alex was a smart enough girl that she could at least keep someone busy in the meantime! Setting her pencil down on top of her homework and hurrying over to the door, Alex opened it up with a big cheerful smile on her face, frankly ignoring any particular safety precautions one might take in a situation like this.

"Hi! Um, the bakery's closed right now, but mom or dad should be home soon. Ya need something in particular?"

Now Alex wasn't a smart girl by any stretch of the imagination, but she was smart enough to recognize all the suitcases lined up on the sidewalk. Someone else wandering? Well, dad would probably be fine letting her come in, right? Right.

"Oh, I'm being rude! You can come in if ya want. My name's Ve- Alex! Alex um..."

The redheaded girl put a finger to her forehead as she focused on her last name, a difficult one to pronounce when you were as...lacking in formal education as she was. Her tongue was stuck out just a touch, and she seemed profoundly focused on this line of thought for a little while longer before her eyes brightened, a youth coming from them that seemed far too innocent and earnest for a girl of her appearance.

"Vaugrenard! Alex Vaugrenard. Ya want anything to drink? We have tea and coffee and um...a few other things too."

END POST | I STILL BELIEVE IN MIRACLES

Thu May 14, 2020 4:24 am

Childhood Friend - Cirrus Janower

When the door opened, CJ was confused at first, maybe a little bit spooked, to be staring straight ahead and see nothing on the other side to greet her. That is, of course, only because she had been staring straight ahead and expecting something of equal height to appear before her. It wasn't until a small, squeaky exclamation drew her gaze downwards that she realized that a young girl had been the one to answer the door. With that, the surprise was wiped away, and CJ instantly was smiling. She liked kids, honestly. They were truly adorable balls of energy that she would never grow tired of watching. One of her favorite pastimes had to be sitting on a park bench seeing them play at the local park...

"H-Hello," she responded, clasping her hands together and crouching slightly to even out their gazes to one another. She didn't come all the way down, though, for fear that she'd lose balance and fall backwards in front of her... She didn't have to say much more though, because apparently the girl was able to catch on to her predicament rather quickly. Even if she did not fully understand why she was meant to be here, in this country, at this place... she'd rather not figure out while sitting on the edge of a sidewalk in a foreign land.

"Alex. That's a cute name."

Not an uncommon name to have, even for a girl. Certainly, CJ guessed she'd heard it before herself in Bowling Green, as little as she'd traveled up until this day, so she didn't bat an eye at that. There was a small voice in the back of her head wondering when and where exactly that memory was coming from... but ultimately she couldn't pin that vestige down. Her deep contemplation was evident, scrawled over her face as she inched slowly into the cafe. She tip-toed about as if her very presence was dirtying the floor and air. Every movement deliberate and cautious.

No one else around. It reminded her of her own local trappings, strangely enough, the ones she'd just been reminiscing about. What they would look like without all the activity and bustle. This was definitely the restaurant half of the building she was in right now, but it clearly wasn't serving anybody at the moment. Weird. Except her, apparently, as the girl asked her what drink she might fancy. CJ's response was immediate upon hearing the selection, if not a little bit rude the way she interrupted her. She was never one to turn down a free beverage.

"Coffee! Coffee, please. W-With whipped cream, and lots of chocolate syrup, if you have that... ehehe..."

Thu May 14, 2020 10:47 am

ALEX

"Thanks! Dad picked it out for me, that's his name too. Me n' him are pretty similar. Gimme just one sec, I'll have it ready for ya in no time!"

With a nod energetic enough to send her hair bouncing around a bit, Alex went off into the back, rather glad to see the pot of coffee that dad always kept on was still there. She wasn't really the best at all this, but she had a pretty good hunch of how all this work! She said coffee with chocolate syrup and whipped cream, right? She could do that, no prob!

Though it took her a moment or two, eventually the girl returned with a rather large mug filled nearly to the brim with coffee, sweetened with a good deal more than a reasonable amount of chocolate syrup, and with a surprisingly neat spiral mound of whipped cream coming at least three inches off the surface of the drink itself. Alex had to walk rather slowly to make sure that she didn't spill any, and she had her look of extreme focus on her face once more, but after some careful steps, she set the mug down with a profoundly confident look on her face, one that could probably be called smug.

"Alrighty! There ya go. I'll send dad a text so he knows you're here and it's not just me n' you here. I still got homework to do so I'm not sure I can help ya too much."

END POST | I STILL BELIEVE IN MIRACLES

Mon May 18, 2020 12:16 am

Childhood Friend - Cirrus Janower

Even more charming, sharing names like that! If it wouldn't be rude, she'd have captured and squeezed the girl then, just to get it out of her system. CJ loved little things like that, the delightful quirks that blossom from love, the whims that just happen to stick the more you think about it. She was a sucker for them, content with the thought of it alone. She could do nothing but nod and smile as Alex scampered off into the back way, presumably to carry out her order. Well, this did nothing to solve the mystery behind why she was here, but it did everything to allow her to relax for the first time since beginning this journey.

In her patience, she wandered over towards the nearest seat and table, folding her skirt flat underneath her as she plopped into it. Her eyes wandered the area, partaking of the decor down to the simplest patterns, getting a feeling for atmosphere of the place. Africa... a whole other continent, across the sea from her homeland. Just hearing that name had her thinking of a much more alien, much more shabby place than what she was used to. She was surprised to see that things didn't really change all that much. On first impressions, she thought this could be a place to settle down in without too much effort. Like only as bad as moving to another neighborhood, really.

Coffee! Of all things. She didn't think she'd find such a cozy trapping here!

Speaking of, CJ's entire demeanor seemed to shift once her gaze caught sight of the delectable cate in Alex's hands, looking no worse than one of the treats she'd order at the Bowling Green coffeehouse. Sparkles in her eyes, a sharp intake of breath, her entire body rising from its slumped posture. When it was placed on the table in front of her she was like a child given a handful of candy. She brought the drink to her lips and tilted it back, smearing some of the whipped cream against her nose, but it didn't matter. It was delicious, and her throat released a sound of pure contentment at the taste. This was definitely something she needed right now.

"Hmmm...? Oh! Yes... That's fine... I'll just..." she barely finished what she was going to say before the cup was pulled to her mouth again, completely entranced with it as she was. If she had to be honest, she wasn't thinking too far ahead about the situation she was currently in. Right now, all she needed to focus on was the taste and warmth of her coffee.

Sat May 23, 2020 4:34 pm

Father-Daughter Dance

The young girl grinned just a bit to herself as she watched CJ enjoy her drink, a youthful pride very much coming over her at the success of making an actually good cup of coffee. Alex's eyes sparkled as she watched for a moment or two, before returning to her homework on the table, seeming intently focused on what was, at a glance, fairly simple work.

"Ya got somethin' on your nose, by the way. Dad said he'll be here soon, so that should mean he'll be here any second. He always gets home pretty fast, dunno why..."

Well, as for the why, there was a very simple answer for that. The elder Alex simply loved his daughter, and if she asked him to come home, he would come home at the drop of a hat. It helped that he didn't really have much else to be doing with his day or anything. He just went shopping, made sure the cafe was clean for Nel so she could at least relax a bit, all that. But by and large, his life right now was pretty relaxed, which was really good, considering he was still technically recovering. But of course, when his daughter told him there was some lady at the cafe with a bunch of bags, that made him the faintest bit suspicious, and so with a bit of urgency that was just short of kicking in the front door, the man himself returned to the scene.

"Yo, kiddo, you all good? Homework giving you any trouble?"

It was a pretty inane question to ask one's daughter when he had been concerned for her safety, but there were a few reasons he wasn't too terribly concerned. The first was that he was pretty certain that she could handle the average person if it came to a fight, and the second was that he didn't feel like scaring her with any serious intensity. But the sight before him gave him a bit of pause, mostly because he wasn't sure he'd ever seen someone that he was so absolutely positive was completely harmless at a glance before.

"Oh, hey. Name's Alex, think she probably already mentioned that to you if I had to guess. What brings you to the Tundra?"

There was a faint nagging at the back of Alex's mind that he shouldn't be bothering with introductions, like he'd met her before, but frankly he wasn't good at keeping track of all the people he'd met in over a decade of just walking around. Still, there was something a bit different about this one, as if he definitely should have remembered. Well, maybe he'd figure it out eventually.

Wed May 27, 2020 8:43 pm

Childhood Friend - Cirrus Janower

How nice would a coffee wonderland be? It was the kind of place that could take root in her imagination, a utopian construct of fluffy white cream and warm seas of rich cocoa brown. CJ woke from a bed of marshmallow, bobbing along the coffee's surface as it serenely sailed to a nearby chocolate coastline. The skies were sepia-tinted and filled with foamy cloud like those found swimming across the top of a freshly brewed cup. It was particularly temperate in the air but not uncomfortable, strangely. More like being covered in the warmth of a heated blanket in the middle of winter—a warmth always sought.

She knew not where she had been taken, but this world was an inviting one, promising delight to those who dared to explore it. Eagerly she took a step off her marshmallowy haven and onto land, an uncommon spring in her step. Pastry hills broke up the monotonous landscape, while the flora that would have covered it seemed to be replaced by chocolate delicacies. There wasn't a thing in sight that wasn't edible... This was Paradise Lost.

CJ's sleeping bubble burst with an emphatic pop, as the sound of footsteps entering the premises roused her from her brief nap. She lifted her head from her arms to see an empty cup staring her in the face, only droplets of brown liquid clinging to the inner walls of the ceramic still. Shaking her head, she tried to brush of the drowsiness that had beset her... She was someone who was so used to sugary delights that its energizing effects no longer had an effect on her. The least she could do was sit up straight in the home of a stranger.

So it seemed she would be meeting the girl's father. A man with hair no less red than that she had been greeted with, and perhaps somebody who could enlighten her to the truth of her situation, but from an initial glance... CJ's memory was resolutely static. Of course she knew his name, as she had been spoiled by the child that shared his moniker, Alex. And now she knew his face as well. Yet still her gaze remained as uncertain as ever; not even a slight change. Wasn't this a bit worrying?

Nonetheless, something unspoken was telling her she could completely trust him. Perhaps that is why she was able to keep from panicking. This was the middle of Africa, an ocean and some miles away from her hometown, with nothing but what she was able to pack along for the ride... but it was going to be fine, right? She decided to trust that singular instinct over all evidence pointing to otherwise.

"Alex... Nice to meet you, s-sir? Uhm... you see... I'm a long way from home. Never strolled too far past my own parish... but a very polite man in a suit took me away and brought me here. Ehehe... i-it sounds weird but he said that I would be safe here. I didn't really catch the details..." A perfectly pitiful situation for a totally inept girl. Many different things were wrong about the short story she just spun, but it never occurred to CJ for her to question any of it. Were these unexplored lengths of trust being witnessed? With smiling eyes and a sheepish grin she looked up at him.

"Maybe you could help me out...?"

Wed Jun 24, 2020 11:49 am

Alex

"Ah, don't call me sir, that sounds weird. Just Alex is cool."

Pulling a chair from another table, Alex took a seat, crossing his arms in an entirely relaxed manner. He didn't feel especially on edge with regard to this woman, and that in itself was a little bit surprising given his usual temperament. Maybe Nel'd just been mellowing him out, maybe it was how calm his little girl was. It was pretty impossible to say for him, but that didn't matter too much.

"That's uh...weird. Not to sound like a dickhead or anything, but you gotta admit that's a pretty weird story. Not that I don't believe you. I've seen some weird shit in my days, so honestly that's so out of the ordinary I'm pretty inclined to believe you."

Alex gave the girl his usual cocky smile, an honesty to it that few could show so easily to what was effectively a total stranger. He really was going soft, wasn't he? Oh well.

"Where you from? Guess I didn't catch your name, either, that'd probably be good, yeah? I'm not exactly an influential guy, but I figure I can help you out."

Been a Hot Minute [Alex, CJ]

Been a Hot Minute [Alex, CJ]

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