đđđđđđ đđđđ (iceblasts) wrote in worldsapart_ic, @ 2019-03-05 22:02:00 |
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Entry tags: | shiloh lark, xx_kira ritter |
Are you okay?
WHO: Shiloh Lark & Kira Ritter
WHAT: Bumping into each other
WHERE: Random coffee shop
WHEN: Tuesday; 5th. March 2019
RATING: PG
STATUS: Complete
Wandering wasnât really something that Shiloh did a lot of, she avoided aimless strolling because she regularly ended up in places she couldnât tell from just looking at. It caused a few spikes in panic, and it wasnât the best look on her, nor did it do well for her calmness. She stressed enough as it was, she didnât need her strolls to cause it too.
So while she didnât mind just going out for a walk, she tended to stick to the normal places, streets she recognised, parks she knew, familiar areas that she could tell from one landmark or another just how to find her way towards somewhere local and how to get herself home without making a scene.
She hated making scenes, especially at her own expense.
But sheâd been feeling a little adventurous, and stopped paying close attention for a while, enjoying the weather. And then she noticed that sheâd maybe gone straight instead of turning, or maybe sheâd turned where she shouldnât. It was enough to maybe start her to get unsure before she spotted a coffee shop, figuring that she could cool down inside, and she didnât mean heat wise.
Heading inside, Shiloh scanned the room first for anyone familiar, almost like she could hope she recognised someone, maybe start a conversation, even if she didnât know what it could possibly be about, and let her mind focus on that rather than where she was. In a while she could check her phone, look out the maps, locate her position and work out how to get home and then lock herself inside for a week to reaffirm that she was not entirely helpless.
--
Kira had maybe gone a little too hard last night when she got home from work. Sheâd had a couple of drinks while at work (not that they really did anything for her), and as soon as she got home she sat down with a bowl, which turned into several hits, all in a row, and then a particularly strong rolled joint to follow it up. When she finally went to sleep it was edging on 5AM -- and without anywhere to be in the morning, Kira had overslept until her father came down to the basement about the place smelling, her being lazy, and get outside and do something, for the love of--
And then she tuned him out.
Rather than have to spend an entire morning (well, afternoon, really) listening to all that, Kira got relatively cleaned up, dressed, and headed out into the world to find something to occupy her time.
She didnât need to be at Tooth and Nail until much later, after all.
She had spent about an hour in the coffee shop listening to music and drinking her weight in espressos. When a petite blonde girl walked in, looking relatively lost and non-too-excited about it, Kira popped out one of her ear buds and smiled at the girl as she passed her table.
âYou doinâ okay? You look wicked lost,â and she smelled stressed -- not that âstressedâ had much of a scent, and it was hyper-awkward to say out loud to someone new.
---
With a coffee in hand -decaf, because if she filled herself with anything that would make this worse she might trigger a shift and that was so not what she needed this week- Shiloh stopped as someone spoke to her. Wicked lost, that was probably a nice way for someone to call her a screw ball. But she managed a tight smile, the worry probably coming through.
âYou know that way when youâre just out, and you know where youâre meant to be going, but you start thinking about things, and before you know it you donât recognise anything around you and you canât remember if youâve been walking for one block or twenty, and you canât even track if youâve turned down any streets or just kept walking in a straight path the whole time?â
It was bad that these things happened to Shiloh on a semi-regular basis, bad that she didnât have a phone with a decent enough service that would give her a reliable map that would actually assist her. It was worse that she was over a century old and managed to get lost and feel like a child missing her mother.
âIâm having one of those days.â
---
Kira was holding her coffee and leaning back in her chair, eyes almost comically wide as the girl launched into a ramble about how you know that thing when that the werewolf really couldnât totally relate to.
Iâm having one of those days.
âAh,â Kira offered, sounding wise and knowledgeable, though she was neither of those things. âGotcha. Sounds like a rough one. Iâve had days sort of like that, but Iâm usually pretty baked and trying to find food.â
She shrugged. Sometimes you just had to wander until a scent caught your nose and you knew what it was you were craving.
Kira gestured to the empty seat across from her. âWanna sit? Might help if you relax and unwind a bit.â
---
She had to assume that the offer, kind as it was, was mostly out of pity -and Shiloh could understand that, but at the same time, it might be rude to just reject it, regardless of where it came from. And the other girl seemed so laid back, relaxed, easy going.
Maybe Shiloh could soak some of that up until she figured out where she was and how to get home without having to shift into her true form.
âThatâs so kind of you, if youâre sure, you donât mind. I donât want to--â she had to stop herself from spilling out all sorts about intruding and being a bother and winding up the atmosphere with her frazzled energy and aura. There was no point in voicing it anyway.
âThank you,â she settled on that as she placed herself in the seat across from the other woman, something at least notifying Shiloh that she wasnât a human -didnât smell like vampire either, but that didnât narrow it a lot and there was the overpowering scent of coffee, meaning Shiloh wasnât about to start inhaling to figure out what it was.
âIâm Shiloh. Youâre very kind, since Iâm sure Iâm intruding.â
---
Kira laughed warmly and once again gestured to the empty seat. âItâs notta problem,â she offered, her voice gentle but with a laughing lilt to it. The poor girl was so frazzled, and clearly had the uncanny ability to talk a mile-a-minute (which Kira always appreciated), and the stress-smell was just wafting off her. Offering her a place to sit to gather her thoughts just seemed like the right thing to do.
Youâre very kind, since Iâm sure Iâm intruding.
Shaking her head, Kira sat up a little straighter and began idly twirling a loose strand around her finger. âNah, not at all. I get bored easily, so having some company is alright by me,â she replied. âOh, Iâm Kira, by the way. Nice to meet you, Shiloh.â
Furrowing her brow, Kira inclined her head slightly. âYou new to LA? Itâs really easy to get lost and bamboozled here if you are. Heck, itâs easy to get lost and bamboozled even if youâve lived here your entire life.â
---
âThank you, Kira.â Shiloh wasnât surprised, really that the other girl/woman thought she was new to the city, the area in general. She probably acted more like a tourist than any tourists really did. But if Kira wanted some company, a little bit of conversation, then Shiloh was sure she could push her insecurities to the side and trust that, if she were bothering Kira, then sheâd be told so. âIâm not, I live here, thatâs probably what makes it worse.â
Sure, she hadnât been there long, a decade or so, and in her lifespan, that wasnât long at all. It was only just a tenth of her overall life so far. But it wasnât like she was the life and soul of the party, she didnât attend lots of gatherings or go out to all kinds of places. She was, by many standards, a bit of a hermit. With a terrible sense of direction.
âI just get lost easy, and then itâs hard finding a landmark, and I get a little bit anxious,â which was the understatement of the day, âbut I donât go out much either, and I suppose that doesnât help.â But then it wasnât like Shiloh wanted to spend the time with Kira talking about how much of a disaster she could be.
âAre you a local?â
---
Kira sipped her coffee, nodding at appropriate moments, and genuinely listened as Shiloh explained her difficulty -- easy to get lost, easier to leap to anxiety. That wasnât really Kiraâs approach to life (when she got lost, she tended to enjoy it, to enjoy the challenge of smelling her way back home), but she could at least empathize with how that might be stressful.
âDoesnât make it worse, promise,â Kira laughed. âMaybe I just need to help you get your hands on a better map of the city, huh?â
Though going out infrequently would certainly make everything that seemed to stress the poor girl out more challenging. âBit of a homebody, are ya? I get that. When I donât have to put on pants and leave the house, I always want to take advantage of that shit.â
The werewolf nodded and leaned her elbows against the table. It was a chance to get a little closer to her new companion, to catch a whiff of whatever she might be -- but it was difficult. It was different. It was new.
What was she? Other than stressed out, of course.
âYeah! Been here for, like, ever? Got no real reason to leave. LA is the best city on the planet. New York can suck it.â
---
âI think a map would be better than the one on my phone, since it never seems to know where I am anyway.â Maybe she should just get better cell service and be done with it. But she didnât like spending on things she couldnât physically see, or use of crafts. She wasnât sure if it was a dragon thing or not, but it was just something she found herself struggling to do.
âIs homebody a nice way of saying hermit? Because thatâs probably what I am.â She could go days without leaving the house, sometimes she did. It wasnât like she was depressed or locked in or anything, she was always busy, she tended to get very caught up in things. But she didnât always think it was the healthiest way to live either. There were just so many other things she could be doing.
Kiraâs enthusiasm at LA being the best place on the planet, possibly a little biased, but no less enthusiastic for it, had Shiloh smiling. She wasnât too sure about New York, sheâd never been, her mother informed her of a red dragon who lived there and tended to be a see-you-next-tuesday to other dragons in, what she called, her territory. Shiloh had no desire to go there and test that. âLos Angeles is rather wonderful, and you get a lot of things from it, the city, the beach, the night life, the tourist spots.â It wasnât like there was anything really missing from there.
âI like it a lot. Even if I get lost more often than I donât.â
---
Kira retrieved her own phone out of her pocket and unwrapped the headphones from around it, cramming those back into her pocket. âMaps on these things can be good, but maybe a hard copy will do you some wonders,â Kira remarked as she pulled up the map app and scrolled through it. âNah, see? Theyâre garbage,â she leaned across the table, showing Shiloh where the GPS marked her location, âWeâre actually two blocks away from where they say we are. Technology is awesome but dumb.â
She shoved her phone back into her pocket. âWeâll get you a real map, then.â
Shiloh was right, of course; LA had it all. Everything she said, the city, the beach, the touristy parts, the were all aspects of the greater whole that Kira loved, appreciated and which made up her home. âNot to mention the music festivals, the bars, the Walk of Fame, the ObservatoryâŚ,â she smiled fondly. âAnd countless other amazing things. Gotta love La La Land, yâknow?â
Kira chuckled and shook her head. âGetting lost doesnât have to be bad. When you find yourself somewhere unfamiliar, what better time to explore new things? You can find some of the very best things, things you never knew existed, when you get lost. One day I should take you out for a Get-Lost-in-the-City afternoon, show you what I mean.â
---
It struck Shiloh that this girl sheâd only just met was going out of her way to make a stranger feel a little better, like it wasnât Shilohâs fault that the maps didnât help her at all, offering to get a proper map, like they were old friends and this was just one of Shilohâs little quirks.
It made her beam a little at the woman, the friendliness setting her a little more at ease over another day getting lost. She could understand where Kira was coming from, how many opportunities were laid out from it, new experiences and adventures. But Shiloh wasnât very good at solo adventures.
âYou make it sound a lot more exciting than I think I find it.â Maybe with someone else, not feeling that cloying anxiousness at not seeing anything familiar, maybe that would be stopped if there was someone else with her.
âI wouldâ I mean, if you were sure about wandering around with a relative stranger,â one that she just met in a coffee shop, âI think the way you describe it is more alluring. I definitely never feel that way when I get lost.â As seen by her whirlwind panic.
â-
You make it sound a lot more exciting than I think I find it.
Kira had a tendency to do as much; make things seem better, more grandiose, regardless of whether or not they were worthy of such exuberance. At the very least, for Kira, it was sincere. She was so pleased with her lot in life, with where she came from, and who she surrounded herself with, that it took a pretty egregious doldrum to get her down.
âThatâs just my kinda vibe,â Kira replied as she did a full body wave in her seat. âBut if my dad is to be believed, then the go-with-the-flow attitude can be significantly grating at times.â She shrugged. It wasnât often Kira put much faith in what her father criticized about her, and she wasnât about to start now.
She laughed. Even if Shiloh smelled a little different, Kira wasnât worried or afraid. Shiloh didnât seem to be the shady type. âWouldnât mind at all. How else are we supposed to make friends these days? I sure as hell donât take any classes and I use Tinder for entirely different purposes.â
Kira nodded towards the door. âWhat do you say, want to take a walk?â There was an edge to her smile; a slyness, a promise that if Shiloh went along for the ride, she would not regret it.
Or maybe she would. That was the whole point of a little adventure, a little risk.
---
Shiloh wasnât sure how someone could be irritating if they just went with the flow, she figured that would be one of the least irritating things ever. Shiloh was too planned out, always planning. Kiraâs attitude was refreshing, something that Shiloh was starting to see in more people, something enjoyable.
The mention of Tinder had Shiloh blushing a little bit, but she was an adult and she could see why people who were adults and free would use something like that. âThatâs true, itâs like people donât have ways to meet each other any more.â The age old bar meet up was less and less after all.
Biting her lip, since this was not planned, there was no agenda for this, she hadnât worked out an approach. But that was the point, wasnât it.
Adventure.
âOkay,â she knew she sounded like she was steadying herself for something, but she shook that off, âYes, yeah, letâs go and walk.â It would be good to get to know Kira a little better too, and maybe see something interesting. And if she wasnât alone, she wouldnât get the same anxiousness from being lost.
---