A walk around town(OPEN)

[charlotte]

“So what do you say, after all it sucks to be lonely on such a nice day take it from me I know what it’s like not to have a friend in the world”

Charlotte felt a rush of emotions and memories suddenly, flooding her. Kazuma's words had hit her more profoundly than she had would have liked to admit.


She remembered the last time she had cried ... coming home one day a few weeks ago after first learning about her transfer to Hircine. He mother had spent the entire day locked in her room, pretending to be sick while really she was just hung over. Her mother always tried to hide it from her, always said she was quitting, and though it was true that she had cut back, Charlotte knew she was still drinking far too much.

She had stood in front of the stove, stirring a pot of vegetable soup dejectedly; it had been the only food worth making left in the house, as her mother had decided not to get groceries earlier in the week. She stood there, listening to the sound of her spoon scraping the bottom of the pot as she stirred, listed to the sound of cars on the street outside the apartment building, and then it hit her.

She really had no friends. She had no one to turn to but a hung-over mother. She had sealed off all contact, all emotion except for icy, cold, sarcasm. She had bottled every single thought and feeling. She was alone. And there, staring a that tiny pot of soup and the spoon in her hand, she felt it all rushing back to her.

She dropped the spoon, feeling her lips quivering, felt her eyes moistening as the entire room seemed to melt into a wet haze, and then she was slumped on the floor, hearing nothing but her quiet, racked sobs and the slow boil of the soup.

***

Charlotte quickly shook away that memory, realising that for a moment, her grey eyes had lost their shield of frost and she had begun to loose her cool composure. But the moment passed and she composed herself, clearing her throat and closing her book with a sigh, half in anger, half in mock exhasperatedness.
"What would you know about being alone?" she nearly choked, still struggling to remain cool and in control.
"Tell me that, and maybe I could look past how annoying the three of you are and be persuaded to finish the rest of my coffee with you," she said bitterly, shaking her half-empty cup lightly in her hand to emphasize the point. She reached across the table for her glasses again, deciding she could be more convincingly cold if she perhaps wore them.

[Teneile]

Kale answered her question and she smiled. He was so cute, she had always wanted a little brother and somehow Kale just fit the bill she was adopting him. Right here and now the little bugger had become her silent brother, it wasn't like she was going to tell him that would be weird maybe after they got to know each other a bit more but for now it was a silent agreement with herself. He asked her what she liked to do but her attention was caught when Kazuma told the girl that he knew what it was like to be alone. Teneile's face fell as the girl accusingly asked him what he could know of it and Teneile sighed.

"I think.." she said to the girl. "That we all know.. at least a little bit about being alone. I don't think anyone has ever really lived without some form of lonliness. Even if, some people are worse off then others, some people.. may seem like they have all the friends in the world.. or that things come easy for them.. but if you look deep enough you woud find someone lonely."

It was obvious from her face, the soft tone of her voice, and the way she spoke that she was speaking of herself from experience. She looked up at the girl her eyes were saddened, Teneile couldn't help it. The girl had no idea the life that Teneile had lived. Everyone here seemed to have some form of lonliness in their past. But to look at happy Teneile you wouldn't know it, you would think her life had been great. But truth was it was far from great, tragedy filled her life, and still did.

"I'm sorry, if I'm interupting, but, I just.. like Kazuma, know what it's like to have no friends, to have no one to turn to, talk to, confide in. You aren't alone, and you don't have to be anymore, we'd be happy if you joined us." she said softly.

[charlotte]

"Maybe I prefer to be alone," she shot a glare at Teneile. "Did you ever consider that?"

Charlotte turned back to face Kazuma, tilting her head, as if in impatience while she awaited his response. Of course she didn't want to be alone; at least, most of the time. Yet she hadn't expected the trio to try and befriend her or even offer for her to join them. In fact, she had expected an equally cold retort and open hostility.

Now it was she who was pushing people away, being rude and hostile. It made her hate herself, hate what she was doing, but she had worked for so long to create her icy barrier, just to shut out all the unwelcome company and feelings. She simply couldn't bring herself to lift it for the sake of making a few new friends, not when that barrier had become more of who she was than the emotions bottled behind it.

(Or maybe ... I just could ... maybe ...)

Just once, just this once, perhaps she could drop that cruel ice sheild and try to be a person, regular, nice, and friendly. (Just once couldn't hurt, could it? ... Could it?)

She lowered her head, sighing softly. She turned once more to face Teneile, her tone lighter, less severe.
"Thank you ... anyway," she said, avoiding a direct apology for her earlier statements. "But I wanted to hear what Kazuma had to say for himself before making any decisions about joining you three."
She cleared her throat, turning back to face Kazuma, instantly switching back to her patronisingly cool gaze as she regarded him.

[Kazuma]

Kazuma shook his head as Charlotte made her first statement asking what he knew about loneliness. He could feel a tear wield up behind his eye, as he thought about his life remembering how he cried himself to sleep for years and how it sometimes still happened at times. As she jiggled her coffee cup in front of him he could feel his pent up rage begin to focus on her, part of him wanted to just reach across the table grab her by the back of the head and slam it into the table. Obviously he stopped that urge from happening he would not allow that version of himself loose in public if he could.

Just as he felt himself slipping slightly Teneile broke in. The way she spoke the way her voice sounded and her bright eyes just kind of dwindled. He could tell she must have had some experience in the subject as he believed every one did some to a far worse extent then others. It was then that Charlotte made it clear that she wanted to hear what he had to say, his head just slightly tilted downwards “Fine have it your way”

His words and tone were filled with a shame, it was the only feeling his past ever brought up. “For most of my life I have been crying myself to sleep… I was abandoned by my real parents at birth only to be adopted by a coked out Japanese couple who saw me as something to only show to there friends at parties. I don’t know why they did it but every day since I turned four they ignored me outright, But I guess it was probably because they were so stoned they had forgotten about me. It made me learn how to be independent from a young age though which was a plus I guess” He paused for a moment not wanting to get into every little detail he thought were he could pick up again. “From the time I started pre school till my first day of high school people thought I was mute including all my teachers, but lucky for me some one decided to take a chance on me and for the first time in 9 years I was speaking…. But even with a sliver of hope in my life my parents managed to break me down every night reminding me I was worthless and that my life had no meaning to them or any one else” He screwed a cigarette between his lips as a few graphic memories flooded his mind lighting it quickly not caring if it offended any one.

“Between the mental stress and the shit I got at school to many it wasn’t a surprise when I ended up in prison for manslaughter charges…and how nice it was of my inmates to teach me if I cried I got the shit kicked out of me” he inhaled and exhaled upward away from Charlotte “After I got out people I once knew wanted nothing to do with me as if I was some leper and then me and my so called family moved to Varron were they finally just decided to leave me altogether and abandoned me in a strange city” Kazuma knew there was much more he could go into some of it he did but this was not the setting or the people he wanted to speak about it with. “I do know what loneliness feels like to some degree”

His shoulders went back and the expression on his face changed to a much happier one, even letting out a small smile “Now if that’s all I hope you will join us….if you still need convincing though I can show you the scars on my wrist I gave myself when I was 11” he said in a joking tone, even though he knew there was truth to what he said .

[charlotte]

"... No ..." Charlotte replied slowly, recognising the sincerity in his tone and remembering what it was like to be in such a position. "You've made your point."

She stood, something nagging at the back of her mind, something about a certain look Kazuma had given her before he had answered. Although the look had only lasted for a moment, and had long since passed, she recalled how it had made her feel: afraid. She reached for her glasses, putting them on, offering a still wary glance at Kazuma before retrieving her coffee and book as well.

Charlotte sighed, shaking off that lingering feeling of dread, and made her way to the other table, turning her back to Kazuma after a final look at him over her shoulder. She sat down across from Teniele, beside Kale, and placed the book flat upon the table, taking a slow sip of her coffee.

"So ..." she mused, sitting there, waiting for Kazuma to walk over as well, as she debated about what to say, if anything at all.

[Aden Allett]

Kale smiled back at Teneile. Though they both seemed to try and ignore Charlotte, they couldn't help but hearing over what she was saying. The blonde boy watched as Teneile spoke back towards Charlotte, having a good point. Even Kale at times felt very lonely. Being in a new country made that feeling worse and living in an apartment by himself did not help either. But he lived through it and now he finally had friends that he could spend his school days with.

But as Kale thought about it, the day he felt the most lonely was when he wasn't alone at all. It was the day he was raped by his 'lover'. To most people, it wouldn't make any sence. But Kale was in love with his ex boyfriend Ray, but he did not want to sleep with him, he was a virgin and did not feel comfortable with it. Though Ray didn't listen to him and went right on ahead, feeling bad when it was over as Kale sobbed his eyes out. But the sophomore let him go. The black and red haired Ray did not respect his decision and took away something from Kale that he was not ready to give away. But even after that day, Kale still smiled and enjoyed people's company, though being much more bitter then before.

After he snapped out of that thought, Kale continued to listen to the conversation going on around himself. Charlotte was still in a bad mood. From what Kale could see, she was so emotionally damaged that she did all in her power to look tough and bother others whom were having a good time. Though that was no life to live, all she had to do to stop being lonely was make a few friends and have one or two of them being very close, one whom she could tell anything too, someone she trusted with her life. Even Kale was still looking for that person. It used to be his older sister but she was in Canada right now with his mother and father, so he needed to find someone else to replace her in that maner.

But eventually Charlotte seemed to have decided to join them. Kale smiled, happy to see that she would most likely let them have fun, she most likely enjoying herself also. She sat beside the blonde boy, Kale smirking a little and then looked at the two others.

"So, we have another. It's starting to seem like a party! Heheh." Kale giggled a little.

[Kazuma]

Kazuma got up from the table. he thought about what he said and how jumbled it must have come out, it made him laugh softly to himself but ether way he was happy he was able to convince Charlotte to join them. He walked over to the ever filling table he was at before and sat down.

Sitting now he had Charlotte to his right and Teneile to his left with Kale across from him. Sitting just in time to hear Kales remark he chuckled softly, trying not to let his deep laugh out to loudly. He then realized he still had his cigarette clenched between his left index and middle finger, not even bothering to try and enjoy the half finished menthol he flicked it away. "Sorry about that, it's a terrible habit I've been trying to quit" he said in regards to his smoking.

He then took hold of his coffee that was still on the table and took a large sip of the still hot liqiud, his mouth had become so acustomed to it that he no longer burnt his tounge as he did when he was younger. With his lips still on his coffee cup his left eye, the only one that had any kind of vision in it shifted to the side and took a glimpse of Teneile. He did think she was beautiful part of him saw them hanging out in the future another part saw them possibly dateing, but he quickly dismised the later of the two ideas (You Just met the girl you dope) he thought to himself.

His eye then shifted to the center and he leaned back slightly allowing himself to see both Kale and Charlotte in the same frame. He was unsure of exactly what to say now, so many things he could have said so many topics he could have brought up out of the blue but he didn't know how the new addition to the group would react.

"Speaking of parties you guys should come over to my place some time and have some drinks with me" He just kind of blurted out not even realizing it had slipped from his lips before it was to late, it was something he had planned to bring up later when they were all better aquanted but it had already been said, he hopped they would not veiw him as creepy for it

[charlotte]

"Let's not get hasty," Charlotte smiled in mock sweetness, but clearly sarcastic. "I only agreed to share coffee in a public place, not alcohol at your house." Then, remembering her resolve to be at least a little nicer than usual to this particular group, she softened her tone to a more casual sound.

"It's nothing personal," she assured, "but we've only just met. I know you understand that."

She delivered her last lines with more of a patronizing tone than she had again hoped, but again, she had spent so long a time being icy and distant that when she made an effort to life that sheen, she had to struggle not to slip back into sarcasm. Charlotte shot a glance at each member of the group:

Kale, who was clearly cute and seemed to be the most expressively outgoing and flamboyant. He had a likeable ring to his giggle ... that is, getting past how utterly obnoxious it was. Kale wasn't that bad, she surmised, and probably very fun, but fun, outgoing, "happy" people were most often the ones that made her angry, annoyed, and perhaps slightly jealous.

Teneile, who was almost flawlessly beautiful, and carried herself with incredible poise. She too seemed outgoing and generally good natured, and though her advice had been good (I hope it was good advice) she had delivered it with an almsot cushy tone - as if she were looking at the world through a rose tinted lense. Out of them all though, Charlotte figured she could like Teneile most.

And finally there was Kazuma. Muscular and fit despite his smoking (and drinking, I assume) habits, he seemed to care about his appearance, both physical and phsycological. There was something she found disturbing about Kazuma, probably that look he had given her after she had shaken her coffee cup tauntingly. That look scared her, and there was something beyond his gaze with - though it hurt to admit it - reminded her of herself.

Finally noticing she had been staring at them too long, she averted her gaze from Kazuma to stare at the cover of her book forlornly. She took a sip of her coffee and reached across the table, pulling the small hardcover novel closer and flipping it over, staring at the back cover aimlessly.

(I could say something ...)

Charlotte decided against saying anything more, however, and took another careful sip of coffee with a resigned sigh, staring at the book cover, but really staring at nothing in particular.

[Teneile]

Teneile felt visibly slapped as Charlotte turned on her and basically threw any words Teniele had said out of the goodness of her heart right back in her face. Teneile's eyes fell and she didn't let the tears show but that didn't mean they didn't burn her eyes. She sighed softly, perhaps it was just that she was meant to be alone. Then the girl finally seemed to decide maybe lashing out at her wasn't the best idea and appologized saying she wanted to hear what Kazuma had to say and Teneile nodded not sure if it was heard or not but that mattered very little.

Kazuma began to tell his story and Teneile looked up watching him with soulful eyes. She liked him, she didn't know why but it wasn't just that he was really attractive it was his outlook on life. The more she listened to his story the more she found that she could admire that, in him. The fact that despite everything he could still laugh and smile. He was.. a lot like her only to a worse extent. Her past wasn't pretty but it wasn't as bad as his. When the girl got up and joined them at the table Teneile offered her a kind smile and then her eyes darted up to Kazuma who joined them.

Silence seemed to fall on the table as they all came back together. It seemed awkward for the first time since she had run into Kale and Kazuma. She dared a glance up at Kazuma who was.. looking at her. She blushed and smiled softly at him placing her hand gently on his before she knew what she was doing. She could understand where he was coming from in the lonliness department. She offered him another reassuring smile before turning away and moving her hand gently but it stayed close she didn't want to be weird or anything, but she was damned attracted to him.

"We could drink at my house for that matter. No one is ever there. I live there alone, so, my house is always up for grabs." she shrugged looking back up to Kazuma before she looked back down again. She probably sucked at this subtle flirting thing but she didn't want to be too obvious in front of the others though she probably was.

"So.. Charlotte, what kinds of things do you like to do, in your spare time of course?" Teneile asked breaking the ice since it seemed that everyone else was afraid. One thing Teneile wasn't was afraid of talking, not really. I mean she wouldn't spill the beans on some secret but she found that sometimes people needed a break in the ice to get things started back up and she didn't mind being that person.

[Kazuma]

Kazuma still had his eye on Teneile just long enough to catch her blush when they made eye contact, she then placed her hand on his own. As much as he liked it part of it made him feel just the slightest bit uneasy, it had been such a long time since some one had made physical contact with him in ether a caring or flirting way he was not at all used to it. She then gave him one last smile and turned away moving her hand off of his and moving it slightly away from his own. Kazuma was a bit dense when it came to such things but right now his gut was telling him that Teneile was subtly trying to flirt with him. He would not carry on with such things infront of the others but once they got walking or entered the bookstore later he planned on making some kind of advance. Ether he would do something as simple as getting her number or asking her to get a bite to eat after school some time, he knew he had to do something.

Coming out of his own thoughts he heard Charlotte shooting down his offer for drinks at his place. He could not blame her and he admired the effort she was trying to make as not to sound to cold in doing so. Kazuma understood about drinking and how some people his age refused to do so. He himself was already past the beer guzzeling drunkard phase of his life, now he was more of the (Let me have a scotch on the rocks while I watch T.V) kind of person, one really good drink could last him twenty minutes and he would then refuse to allow himself another.

He then heard Teneile’s offer which he nodded to “I’d love to come over for a drink sometime” he said to her with a smile on his face. She then asked Charlotte a question he guessed it was to break the silence and the ice around them. He thought it would be good to learn alittle more about her figuring once they were able to find some common ground maybe they would have something to actually talk about.

[charlotte]

"I read quite a bit," Charlotte said, motioning with her eyes to hte book lying flat upon the table before her, though trying to avoid sounding bookish. "That, or I'm usually running, down along 4th, by the overpass a few blocks down from the apartment where I live."

She shrugged, noting the less-than-subtle flirting and steamy glances flashing back and forth between Kazuma and Teneile, and resisting the urge to roll her eyes at what was, to her, an obvious display of affections between the two.

"To be honest, I still wonder why so many people keep trying to talk to me," she commented dryly. She sighed, taking another sip of coffee.

Talking about her hobbies was her absolute least favorite subject to converse about. After all, it was talking about her hobbies that had made her so introverted in the first place. In her formative years, it had been her differing sets of hobbies that had made her a target for some teasing, which in turn had resulted in her closure to the outside world. Of course she hated talk about her hobbies.

Charlotte took in another quick account, glancing at her new 'friends', finally giving into her urge and rolling her eyes, half at the effortless ease with which they all seemed to converse and get along, half at the ridiculous flirting of Kazuma and Teneile.

[Teneile]

Teneile noticed that Kazuma didn't seem to really react to her flirting. Perhaps he didn't like her as much as she hoped after all but one thing Teneile wasn't going to do was back down just yet. It wasn't that she was annoying, it was just they were in the company of others and it might not be the best place for mutual feelings to come out. So she would keep to herself for now. Though she couldn't help stealing glances in his direction every so often wondering if she was going to catch him looking at her again, because she really did like him, he was good looking and upbeat. He accepted the offer to come over and she smiled looking at him full on.

"You're welcome any time." she said with a smile.

Charlotte soon answered her question and Teneile should have guessed the girl like to read considering not only did she have a book with her but she also had been reading it while they had been talking. Teneile still, offered her the best kind of smile as she told them that and running were her hobbies. There had to be more, but Teneile wasn't going to pressure her about it, that really wasn't the way she did things, she liked to just let things flow.

"I'm a reader myself. I really enjoy good books. I have so many at home it isn't even funny, but I can't stop buying them because every time I turn around someone has come out with another book that sounds fantastic." she smiled. "And instead of running I'm a dancer. I do ballet and broadway dancing, at the studio on 7th street. It's not like the one I had at home, but it's nice. And I enjoy dancing so really any place is good enough so long as there is room to move." she chuckled.

"What about you two, Kazuma.." she stole a glance up at him and smiled. ".. and Kale." she finished as her gaze flittered over to the boy that was next to her.

[Kazuma]

Kazuma was not at all happy with Charlotte’s answers but there was not much he could do so instead he just smiled and nodded his head hopping she would open up a little more later. After that Teneile mentioned two of her hobbies. He had caught a glimpse of her legs before so he was not surprised when she mentioned dancing, nor was he surprised that both her and Charlotte were readers. Kazuma hated to admit it but he had not really opened a book in months, his last venture into written text was actually a muscle world magazine and that was only because there was a section of it that featured him.

He could not help steal a quick glance over at Teneile as he sipped the last of his coffee, he almost wasn’t able to swallow it as he noticed her doing the same thing. Forcing the last of his coffee down he was glade he was tanned since birth making it very hard for him to visibly blush. He was smiling as he put the empty cup down in front of him just as Teneile ask both him and Kale the same question.

He thought about his own hobbies which were not to exciting in his own eyes. He spent half of his time training at home in his basement gym trying to become bigger and stronger, and the other half training at the watchman dojo trying to become a better fighter. The only other joys in his life was his dog Rocky, knitting, and his guitar. “Well I am not to much of a reader, I do a lot of weight training which has turned into more of a career then just a hobby… I will say that I am a big swimmer and I spend a lot of time playing with my dog Rocky”.

He thought about what else he enjoyed to do and then it hit him. “Also I do love to cook, though I don’t normally cook for anyone but myself I consider myself to be pretty good in the kitchen and on the grill”. He gave a small smile and looked around at everyone on the table (Who knows if every thing goes well here maybe I can have them over for dinner) he thought to himself his eyes traveled to Teneile and a small devious smile cracked across his face (I’ll have to make sure to keep her overnight and make her breakfast as well), His eye widened alittle as he realized what he had just thought to himself, sure he knew he was a bit bad in a sense but he never thought like that when it came to some one he just met. He was just glade this last thoughts didn’t accidently slip out of his mouth