Zosime Onasis (morethanchaos) wrote in summerview, @ 2019-01-28 11:47:00 |
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Entry tags: | complete, lalo villanueva, mckenna jones |
It had gone from hums to hollars real fast for Kenna. The world was never silent, even in the dead of winter. Even on campus, where most of the decorative trees were not evergreen, their slumber rumbled low in her soul. But there was an arrival that caught some of the plant’s attention and it was as if the normal world of the humans was alight. It was an earth energy, and the plants were chirping and buzzing about it. She had turned to find where the source of this sudden activity was, only to see a form climb into an ambulance with long dreads and drive off. She asked the juniper bush beside her if that was who they were going mental over, and it showed her that it was. She hurried to the people he had been next to and breathlessly asked what his name was. When they asked if she thought he was hot or something, she just replied, “Of course,” hoping it would get her a name faster. It did. Lalo. And he was an EMT. If he responded to a campus call, he had to be close by. And Kenna knew for a fact that she would have noticed Lalo before if he had been in Summerview. She made a point ot at least know who everyone was, after all.
After her studio art class, Kenna climbed into her car and drove off to where Google Maps told her the nearest fire station. She knew it was a long shot, as there were dozens of stations throughout the city and they were filled with dozens of workers, but she parked her car around the corner and immediately sat on the ground beside a small median strip in the parking lot with trees. And focused on that thrum he had caused. If he was here, the earth would be just as energized as it had been on campus. It was, though faintly. Which meant he had to be indoors. Kenna got up and headed to the entrance when she saw a figure around the back on the pavement by the loading area for the ambulances. It was the same hair, and all the concrete would explain the disconnect. She jogged over to where the figure stood and swallowed. “Lalo,” she called in a hopeful tone with her eyes wide. Turning, his brow furrowed, “Yes...?” he asked slowly, unsure who the girl was. She wasn’t someone he recognized anyways and apparently she knew his name. His last name was on his nametag on his shirt, but she was too far away to see that, plus, last name. “Can I help you?” He was leaning against the back wall by a cigarette catcher, smoking. It was a nasty habit and an unhealthy one, he knew that, but quitting was hard and he wasn’t there yet. He was however trying to smoke less, which was hard when several of his coworkers were chain smokers. So far though, he wasn’t smoking more, which was sometimes all he could hope for. Stubbing the butt out, he tossed it in the container for safety. When he replied, a thought his Kenna like a ton of bricks. She had no plan. Like. At all. Not even the hint of a plan. All she had thought about was find the guy. Address the guy. And now part one and two were done. She stared at him with her almost unnaturally green eyes watching him looking a bit like a deer in headlights. She had no way of not sounding… weird. But she was also a pink haired girl in light, glittery rainbow combat boots and probably paint somewhere on her person.Really, maybe calling out to him for no reason would be the least weird part of this situation? She wiggled her fingers a bit, trying to feel out what to do. She could just blurt out the truth, but there were people around. Too risky. Maybe… she could… ask him to meet up later? That sounded like her hitting on him. Or… she groaned mentally. Why did hit on stranger seem like the most logical result? What’s the worst that happens? He laughs at her (not like she never had that happen, just not in this way) or tells her to piss off? Really, it’s not like he’d hurt her at what was probably his job. And, you know. He was an EMT. That meant he was not prone to hitting people, right? Right. So. Awkward not-hot on, not-date time go? “I uh… I saw you on campus. You helped my friend, like? An hour… ish minutes? Ago?” Super smooth, Ken. Keep it up. “And I uh. You want to meet. Later. I’m Kenna?” Nailed it. Could the ground just eat her now? The shrub to the left said no. Figures. Was he being hit on? For running a call? That was....odd. Sometimes it happened, patients wanting to thank their EMTs or something and trying to do so with a date, but he had definitely not worked on this girl. She didn’t even look familiar, not that he had paid much attention to those around him other than the patient. Raising an eyebrow, Lalo stubbed his cigarette out and put it in the container. Littering was bad. “Hi, Kenna,” he replied, “I’m Lalo,” she knew that, but just to make it official. “And....you want to....go on a date?” Random. “I get off early tomorrow morning. We can do coffee then?” She was cute and he liked her style. Bold. That was a good thing in his opinion. That… worked…?! Kenna was flabbergasted at how… easy that was. Sure, maybe she expected it to be a quick answer, but more like the ‘this is not really appropriate’ or the ‘I’m flattered but not thanks.’ This type of thing only happened in like… the weird fanfictions she did not absolutely read and cry over at the early hours of the night when she should be sleeping. She’d never do that. He probably wanted an answer. She smiled through the shock and felt her face heating up. Thankfully, the biting cold hid the fact that some of the pink hue was blush. She tucked her hair behind her ear and nodded. “Uh, yeah. Yeah that’d be great. Coffee is great.” How many times was too many times to say great? Seriously, this was out of control now. Summerview. Possible magical person she did not know. Focus, Kenna, and ignore the fact that he is kind of not entirely aware that this is less of a date and more of an impromptu, unofficial recruiting effort. Oh gosh. Did she have to tell someone about this? Like Jay? Jay was scary. She should tell someone. Maybe. Oh, bother… The girl tucked her nose into her scarf to warm it up as she crossed over to the man and dug her phone out of her small bag. “You can program your number in if you want and I’ll text you? So if anything has to change because well.” She gestured to his uniform meaning his job kept him. Kenna unlocked her phone and offered it to Lalo to take. Taking the fluffy phone....it was a rabbit. A fluffy pink rabbit phone case. Well. The internet apparently did have everything, including things that it shouldn’t. “Sure,” he agreed, grateful that despite the case, it was an iphone and he entered his information easily. “I’m off at 6am. Maybe tomorrow afternoon?” That would give him time to shower and get a little sleep at least. Sleep was important. He didn’t offer her his own phone, figuring if she was serious, then she’d message him. And if she got cold feet, no harm, no foul. He had to admit, he was curious why this little rainbow pixie was asking him out. He was cute, at least, he thought he was, but it wasn’t like cute little rainbow girls asked him out regularly. Or ever. Actually, never. There may have been too much entertainment at the fact that he was using her phone. It looked ridiculous in every amazing way. Mental image acquired, she looked at her shoes on the pavement a he typed the number. No need to watch him like a creep or anything. It was already bordering on weird that she followed him. In her defense, this was a completely logical thing. And, maybe when they got to the bottom of why the earth chirped about him, he would see it too. And coffee was always nice. Though, she would defend her phone case, as it was not the weirdest thing on the internet. She spent plenty of time finding out how alarmingly weird the internet was in high school. Super cute, fuzzy bunny cases with lace ears were practically normal. Gosh. She smiled up at him. Even with the good few steps between them, Kenna had to crane her neck up a bit. Weird that he was the tree and not her. She was like… the sad sapling. She took her phone back and held it in her hand for a moment before glancing at her screen. Yep. Entered. Okay, now to text in a bit so it is not totally weird. Yes. “Noon is good, I have a class at 9 anyway, so I’ll be in the area. I should probably let you go back to your shift or break.” Oh gosh. Did she interrupt his break?! “I’ll see you tomorrow,” she offered with a shy smile and tucking her hair behind her ear again. Kenna swayed a bit awkwardly before turning and heading back to her car with a quick glance over her shoulder. And miraculously not tripping over the curb. The instant she was back in her car, she buckled up. Turned on the radio and sent a text. To Timpani. And y was nothing more than incoherent key smashing. An hour later when she was back at campus and eating some dry pumpkin bread at the cafe, she sent Lalo a message, as well. Figuring it was enough time to not seem weird or creepy… er. Kenna: Hey. It’s the pink-haired girl. And she went back to her dry loaf. Getting off work at 6am and then meeting Kenna for noon meant that Lalo got less of a sleep and more of a nap, but he was showered, in regular clothes and napped by the time he was supposed to meet her. Granted, he didn’t know where, but he had her number since she texted him. Lalo: Hey. It’s the dude with the dreads. Sorry about the late reply, needed a nap. Where you want to meet? When there was no message for a while, Kenna began to wonder if he had just been polite. Or accidentally typed the number wrong. She had gone to bed, figuring she would just try to tell someone else there was a possible magical person out in Summerview. And with the issues going on with the town, she was not entirely comfortable with the idea of making that public. No need for this poor guy to be hounded. But she got to school the next day and sat through her art history class. She was about to head to the school cafe for food when her phone chirped. Literally, like song birds. She got a text. It was not one of the people she normally text, all of whom had their own personal sounds. She stopped and took out her phone, shuffling to the side so no one would walk into her. Kenna: It’s no problem. Unless you’re partial to Starbucks, there’s Bean Town, which is less busy. She turned in her spot and headed to her car, instead. Either way, the two options that were closest to the station and the campus were in the same general direction. Now, to actually have a plan about bringing this up. Like. Something better than ‘So yeah, you’re magical.’ Then again, Kenna had a feeling the whole “Winging this” method was working out better than having a plan could. Lalo: Bean Town sounds fine. see you at noon! Shoving his phone in his pocket, Lalo checked his plants quickly and then grabbed his keys and jacket before heading out. He'd likely be early, but better early than late. Parking, he headed inside to grab a table and wait. He liked the atmosphere, it was warm and inviting without being corporate like Starbucks. Then again, he was an EMT, he drank shit coffee and liked it. His taste was clearly suspect. When she got to the cafe, Kenna locked her car and took a moment to massage her temples. This was going to be positive for him. This will be good and he will benefit greatly from this. And it was a good deed to put out to the universe. Yes. She shivered in the winter air for a moment longer before taking in a deep breath and stepping into the interior. She liked places that were less… corporate machine. Of course, she enjoyed their delicious, free-trade coffee like the next basic girl. But there was something nice about smaller places like this. Again, it just reminded her of back home, where there were so many cool little shops to check out and love. She spotted Lalo easily enough. It was sort of the mix of the fact that he personally stood out and the fact that she had taken the time to focus on that weird little blip he gave off. She approached in a way she hoped was cool and not like she was suddenly wondering why the hell she was doing this. She raised her arm up at the elbow in a vague half wave of recognition before getting up to the table. “Hey,” she got out with a shy smirk. “How are you?” Yes. Smooth. Still nailing it. Even if she stood for a bit too long before putting her bag on the back of the chair and sitting. “Hey, good,” he stood, then realized she sat. Awkward. “I’m gonna grab a drink. Maybe a pastry. You want something?” Sure, she had asked him out, but he was a gentleman. Mostly. And there went the blushing. Kenna blinked at him a few times before burying her face into her scarf to hide it from happening before digging into her bag for the reusable porcelain mug she bought here last semester when she shifted here from Starbucks. She emerged from her scarf before shaking her head. “Thank-you but. I have one of those overly complex… orders? And I wouldn’t wish remembering it on my enemies…” She tried to smile earnestly. She did, after all, have a weird order. And she did not want him to have to remember it all. Even if he got part of it wrong, she’d drink it. “They have really good scones and stuff.” And now she was babbling. She put the mug down and took off her gloves and scarf, which were tucked into her bag, and she stood to bring it with. She was on a recruiting mission. Not a date. Just… this was getting ridiculous. But she smiled through it as they made their way to the front. She realized how small she was next to him again. Why was everyone on the East Coast so… tall? “I hope the rest of your shift went smoothly… ish.” you know. As smooth as an EMT shift could go? Ah, so, hippy manic pixie girl. The stereotypes were building. That said, she was still adorable and there was nothing wrong with stereotypes in moderation. He was one himself in some ways. “It was alright,” he agreed, “it was a slow night overall,” getting in line to order, Lalo continued, “So you go to the university here? What’re you studying?” He had gone to college, but hadn’t finished. He didn’t regret the decision and figured he could always go back later if he wanted. Finding your own path was important to him. “Slow is good, I’m guessing. I mean. Yeah, it drags but… Yeah.” Yeah. Something told her that there was much worse things to the job. Like all the hurt people. Ken knew she could never do that job. It would hurt her to see so much pain. Even the fact that she would be helping could not curb the sting. But he seemed to be able to manage it. Or, at least enough to do the job. So, that was cool. “Yeah, I transferred from California a while back,” she replied while spinning her mug and smirking into it. “I’m studying studio art and art history. And a minor in graphic design. You know. Because digital art is just as big as physical, if not more now.” She shrugged. It was not like she had a time limit for her studying. She had a few hundred years to figure out her path. And she could always keep going back when more forms of art were made into popular medium. When they got to the front, Kenna handed over her mug and ordered her blonde latte extra foam, almond milk with nutmeg on top and smiled at the barista who had been in her English class last semester. She asked for a pain au raisin, as well. Oh, okay, yeah, that was an order. Lalo just got a cafe mocha because he wanted to be fancier than black coffee without getting espresso. He did not need that sort of caffeine right now. He also got a lemon cranberry muffin. Lemon blueberry was better, but lemon cranberry was interesting sounding. Pulling out his credit card, he paid for both orders, then headed back to the table. “So....” he sat, the number for their order on the little table between them so the barista could bring out their orders. “I guess you like art a little,” he smiled, “Have a favourite artist then?” Kenna blushed when he paid for both and rubbed the corner of her nose. Her eyes flicked up to him and she murmured a bashful thank-you. She smiled up at him and gave a small shrug when he said she was a little into art. Really, that was one of the big reason she wanted to go to school. She found out schools taught that stuff. The desire to get better at her craft and interact with others. “I like Andrew Salgado. His portraits are really cool. I tend to do landscape or still life, but I’m taking a few life model classes.” She tucked her hair behind her ear and looked over at the barista as she brought the order over and smiled. “How about you? I mean, what do you like to do when not at work?” Time to try and guide this toward maybe being productive? Would she be okay if he mentioned that he had no idea who that was? Art was not really his thing. He liked it and could appreciate things that appealed to him, but analyzing it, studying it? Not for him. Not much into the creating it either. Still, he definitely had opinions on what he liked, but it had more to do with content. “Ah....” that question, about what he did outside of work. Always an interesting one, “I spend a lot of time gardening, actually. I have plants inside right now, but I want to make a greenhouse in the backyard for next winter once it warms up. I’m big into herbal remedies and things like that,” no need to mention being a Santeros yet. Not only was it not something mainstream, it wasn’t really something discussed casually with strangers. He still wore his necklaces that marked him as a Santeros, but if she did not recognize them, he wouldn’t mention it. Her head cocked when he sighed and blinked slowly. That was an… odd response. Then again, maybe he thought it would be more small talk first? Should she have small-talked more? She really should have asked how to do this whole… thing. But Timpani had been busy and she couldn’t get in touch with Everleigh… Well. No turning back now! So, Kenna dropped her gaze from his eyes to the tip of his nose so her sometimes intense stare was not boring into him awkwardly. But, then he mentioned gardening and her face lit up, and her eyes literally brightened with excitement. She smiled brightly at him. “I love gardening. I actually work as a florist. My poor apartment is overrun right now because of the cold,” she told him. That just helped solidify for her that he had to be some kind of Earth-based magical person. There was too much coincidence. “But herbal remedies, that’s cool stuff. Do you dry your own ingredients, too? I know that can be a pain sometimes with how humid it is out here.” Maybe it was for the best this meeting was not in the spring or summer, she could feel spreading and any plant around her would start gravitating. And that would be weird. And bad. “It’s not as bad as New Orleans,” he was from Atlantic City, but he had lived there for a long time. Sipping his coffee, he considered things. She was cute and all, but this was kinda awkward. The question was - was it more or less awkward than other first dates he’d been on? The jury was still out on that. “But yeah, I dry my own stuff as much as I can. Haven’t been able to get the same quality I’m used to down there,” but then, everything had been homemade nearly, or from shops that specialized in what he needed, which wasn’t how it was up here. “That’s really cool, that you work as a florist. Where?” “I heard it gets pretty bad down there,” she mused. She hated having grown up where she did. Sort of made her jaded to other places. Kenna did not want to be one of those people who said where they lived was the best. But that did not mean she did not think it now and then. She nodded as he said he did his own drying. That meant he knew what he was doing, and good at it. She nodded, getting that feeling of having a hard time working in a new climate. She had that issue as well. While she was a dryad, she was not exactly the best at her craft. Marsi was always more intune with herself. She said Kenna was trying too hard to be human. “It’s a little community,” she replied. Yes. This is perfect. Mention Summerview. Get a chance for him to go there and see if he can sense the barrier and everything. Fates align! “Like how Smithville? Is like a little historic village? It’s called Summerview, but it’s kind of out of the way.” “Summerview?” Lalo wrinkled his forehead trying to think if he had heard of it, “Never heard of it. I grew up here, just went south for college and stuff....nope, never heard of it,” he had a good lay of the land here, his family almost all being in community service in different ways. His father had been fire chief, brother following in his footsteps, he was an EMT, he had a score of extended family scattered about the police department and other areas....nope, never heard of Summerview. “It’s uh…” Now this was the fun part. How to explain this. Maybe he had noticed the drive out toward the bridge? Or seen someone from that direction? She knew no one ever noticed when she turned from that long stretch onto the highway. And no one followed her when she went. It was as if people just… ignored that it was even there. Probably a magic trick in that. “It’s sort of like the private spiritualist areas like… okay not quite like this but a Scientology campus village… thing… Only you know. No… family abandonment, taking your money, secret and made up texts, and you know. Aliens.” she paused and cocked her head with her eyes looking at the ceiling. “So. Nothing like Scientology at all now that I say it. That was a terrible example.” She groaned and rubbed her temple before going for broke. He could walk away. She would find a way to venmo him the five dollars for her drink and snack and avoid ever being injured on campus again. No big deal. Not like she did sculptures, anyway. “I am… this is literally why they have people for this. I’m telling you about this place because you. You’re. Uh,” She paused. Well, why not? “Yer a wizard, Lalo.” Scientology? The fuck?! Setting his mug down, Lalo stared at Kenna, mind-boggled, “A wizard,” he said flatly, trying to decide if she was serious or not. He was going with ‘yes,’ which was really, really bad. “You’re not Hagrid. And this isn’t my Hogwarts letter come late,” not by far. As a follower of Santeria, he believed a great many things, like in multiple gods, divination, herbal remedies and in the healing power of spirituality in addition to Western medicine. He believed in past lives and in reincarnation. He was open to aliens because there was no way that humanity was the only intelligent life in the universe. He was open to the idea of multiple-universes and other dimensions even. But he did not think himself a wizard. “I’m a Santeros,” he finally said, touching his necklaces lightly. “That’s not the same thing.” Was she making fun of him? “I mean, technically it’d be Ilvermorny,” Kenna replied. “And I mean, actually you’re a witch? But some guys I guess get all up-in-arms over the insult on it.” She looked back to him and noticed that there was something off. She had… yes, shocked him. Obviously. Not like ‘let me get your number’ is usually followed by ‘hey you have innate magical skills that are harnessed through proper channeling and learning.’ At least, she’d really hope not. This was looking like there would be no second date or new member to their community. Then he mentioned being a Santeros and her head ticked to the side and she let out a soft, “huh,” as it was just another thing that lined up. “That… actually makes sense you would find a connection with a natural belief system like that,” she mused. “I promise I am not being a jerk. Or… no, I am being weird there is no escaping that. But I’m also an… earth-based person.” Let’s not drop the I’m not human here, Kenna. “And I knew when I saw you that you were. You don’t have to believe me, but I can tell you how to find the island. Or I could show you but I am doubting that… a bit.” Feeling the shame and embarrassment. And also her skin starting to tense. She looked down at the table and back up to Lalo. Her fingers were already starting to get harder from the fight or flight response. “I should… I’m sorry.” She stood suddenly and fumbled for her things with her heart pounding. She switched her mug out with a five and tucked her hair behind her ear. “About. Sorry. Thank you for. Coming at least. You’re. Really.” She coughed. “Cute. I’m just. Gonna..” Yeah. And she turned and headed for the door, feeling her bark forming faster. That ended abruptly. And bizarrely. This was possibly the oddest date? Not date? Of his life. “Wait - “ Lalo didn’t get any further than that as Kenna basically slammed herself into the glass door. Ow! He was up and over to her in a flash, “Glass door,” he pointed out, pausing as he realized some of her skin seemed to be...white? Not pale like caucasian, but a greyish-white like...”Birch?” he murmured, eyes narrowed. Helping Kenna up, he pushed the door open and guided her to his SUV, unlocking it so she could sit in the passenger seat while he checked her responses. That was a hell of a slam into the door. “What are you?” he asked, using a small penlight from his glovebox to check her pupils. Right. Doors. They sometimes were pull and not push. Normally it would hurt, but she barely felt more than her form meeting sudden resistance. Well. And the sting of her tailbone now that she dropped to the ground. And being completely mortified that everyone had seen that. Well, that’s fine. She would laugh it off later. At least her mug didn’t break. Then she would also be wet. Her eyes widened when she heard Lalo above her. Kenna could only blink slowly at him identifying what tree she became and let herself get guided to her feet and outside to his vehicle. She was a good patient. Let him check her over, even if it was nowhere near as bad as he thought it could be. At her question, she focused her unnaturally green eyes at the his fingers rather than his face. “I’m a dryad,” she told him in a quiet voice. “A… tree nymph. It’s how I… know. I’m just bad at the whole… people. Part of things.” She gave a deflated sigh and fiddled with her sleeves and willing herself to calm down. Normally, if someone ran into a door like that, he might snicker if it wasn’t too bad, not check them for a concussion, but Kenna had managed to hit it solidly and also, if he could see her turning into a tree then likely others could, too, so he had to get her out of there. “A tree nymph,” he poked her hand, feeling the bark-like texture. “You’re a tree nymph and you’re calling me a bruja.” He stated it as a fact, not a question. “Well, Cariño, I think you’ll live. You need a ride somewhere? Back to campus or something?” Because he needed to go ask a lot of very difficult questions right now. And get shitfaced. “Probably thought a painter was as weird as I could get, huh,” she joked half-heartedly. Kenna did smirk at the fact that he poked her hand. She extended it from the sleeve of her sweatshirt so Lalo could see it extended up her wrist. “But yeah, I guess I am. Saying that. Surprise?” To his offer, Kenna blew a long breath out of her nose and shook her head. “My car is here. I don’t really feel like grabbing the bus to come get it later. Thank-you though.” She looked up at him and chewed her lip. “You going to be okay?” “A painter is not at all weird,” he assured her. Being a wood nympth or whatever, turning into a tree, that was weird. It was all a spectrum, “I....will be okay,” he assured her, considering his words carefully. He wasn’t about to take her at her word without a second opinion, but at the same time....she was kinda a sentient tree. Kinda. That added weight to belief. Moving so she could get out of his car, he closed the door, “Drive safe then.” Kenna gave an unsure smile to his comment and huffed out a sigh. She was back to normal skin finally and her heart settled down. He wasn’t about to hurt her or damage anything. But she could tell that he was shaken. But she also could hear again how the outdoors, the plants around him, adored him. And Ken wished he could hear it for himself. All the same, she figured it was time to take her leave. She had turned his world upside-down enough in an hour, after all. So, she slid from the seat and adjusted her bag onto her back. “Yeah, you too,” she told him in a quiet voice. “And… you know where to find me.” She smiled up at him before walking towards her car. She only gave one more look back before sliding in and buckling up. With a sigh, she bounced her head twice off the steering wheel before starting the car and driving off. Hoping for the best. |