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Post by MAKARA SOM on Jan 17, 2014 14:18:53 GMT -8
Makara was never going to take advice from his boss again. That much had been decided fairly early on in the night, around the time that Makara had settled down into the speed dating and realized that he was old enough to be the dad of most of the women there. He wasn't the only older man--there were quite a few in their forties--but he seemed to be the only older man who was suitably embarrassed by the whole thing. Most of the women were younger--a few college students, some women in their thirties... had no one thought to put an age range on the damn thing? If he'd have realized, he likely never would have come, if only to save the poor women from embarrassment.
Makara knew he wasn't exactly a catch. He was shorter the most of the women there, which was a definite strike against him. His job was enough to sustain him easily, but it was far from a six figure position. While he wasn't repulsive by any means (and there were a few of those on both sides), he also wasn't a 'catch', and his age alone was keeping him from even managing to take it seriously. Even the format of the dating itself was keeping him from giving a damn. Women stayed still, and the men rotated from table to table, sitting down and making small talk for ten minutes. Then there was another ding, and they'd be off again to the next table. It kept things from getting terribly, horribly awkward, but at the same time, Makara was entirely confident it was a complete waste of his hours off work. No one was going to pick him. There were maybe six women out of thirty that were even the right age for him, and none of them looked terribly appealing.
The bell dinged and he stood, making polite smalltalk as he shuffled away. The woman had been in her thirties, and they'd gotten the 'dating' possibility out of the way fast. The only thing Makara had in common with the heavily pierced and inked woman was his sole tattoo, two small characters on the back of his wrist. Aside from that, there was nothing, and they'd spent the majority of the ten minutes discussing both it, and her tattoos.
The next table did not look promising, and a second glance confirmed it. Too young. Way too young. The blond girl looked like a college student, and she was young enough to be his daughter. Definitely not a possibility. But there was no way to opt out, so he was forced to sit down anyway, introducing himself despite the nametag stuck to his dress shirt.
"I'm Makara. I imagine this isn't going to be much of a date." Smalltalk it was then.
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Post by ALEXANDRIA MADDEN on Jan 17, 2014 15:51:53 GMT -8
ALEXANDRIA MADDEN
tag: MAKARA SOM,
May 18th, 2012 06:00 PM
Alexandria wasn't much of the speed dating 'type', that is to say, she wasn't much of a dating type at all. She did not have a boyfriend, boytoy, or bed buddy, nor was she wasn't looking for one. Her view on relationships was typically a masculine one, a resistance to the idea of being tied down. She moved around too much, changed too much, to allow her happiness to rely on her relationship with just one guy. That wasn't an excuse to just be a town slut either, she had little interest in any of that. There were certainly more exciting things to do. If you asked, she'd tell you that was the biggest difference between her and most of the other women around her. Quite a few of these people—especially the older women—were so desperate to find 'the one', so they could have meaningful relationships, romances, or families. That wasn't something that Alexandria could relate to. Even if she was looking for someone, she wouldn't think of finding him in some cafe's speed dating activity. Not when there was a whole world of possibility left unexplored.
What was she doing there then? Well, a girl from the same floor of her college dorm worked at the cafe and mentioned the speed dating to several other girls on their floor. A few seemed interested in going as long as they watched each others backs, someone mentioned free cake and Alexandria was there! At least it would go down as one of her first experiences, she liked to keep a record of those types of things. So far it wasn't quite as bad as she thought it'd be. She got to talk to people, which was nice. Lex loved to talk about all sorts of things and could get quite absorbed in hearing about new people. She imagined she might have even found potential friends that afternoon which was certainly an accomplishment after going in with no expectations.
Her most recent 'date' had been annoying her though, droning on about his ex girlfriend and why she was apparently a monster from the 5th ring of hell. Though Lex spent most of her time nodding, she honestly couldn't recount most of what he'd said. She wasn't even really trying to pretend to listen. Maybe the poor guy hoped that if he just kept talking she'd eventually tune in, or maybe his girlfriend was just so bad that she'd done the same because he just carried on with his rant until the ding of the bell.
A second slice of cake was already before her by the time her next date approached. He was shorter than the previous guy and possibly a couple of decades older. She wasn't offended by his age but surprised to see such a broad age range was present. She smiled at him. Considering the last two men who'd appeared relatively close to his age weren't even bothered by her age when they'd hit on her, she was appreciative (and surprised) by his greeting.
“Is it because I'm blonde?” she asked jokingly as she flipped her long hair over her shoulder. She picked up her fork and started to go to work on the delicious piece of cake. She didn't want to be too silly to the point that she was immature. She was sure a guy like him didn't come to waste time on little girls like her anyway. “Makara? I like that name. It's unique. My name is Alex—not so unique is it?” |
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Post by MAKARA SOM on Jan 18, 2014 19:29:37 GMT -8
Makara had the same sense of humor as a dead fish, but even he couldn't resist a little snort of laughter at the girl's first comment. Because she was blond? Definitely not. Blonds were fine. So were brunettes. Really, Makara had no preference--he'd never let himself think long enough to figure out if he even had a preference, and he certainly wasn't going to at that moment. He probably never would. It just didn't seem like a productive or interesting use of his time.
"Definitely that. Can't stand blonds, sorry. If you dyed it, maybe, but otherwise no." He joked right back, pleased that the 'date' had started off pleasantly enough. Considering how terribly most of the others had gone, it was nice to start off with a joke, and with him essentially prefacing the fact that he wasn't going to be a lecherous pervert who was going after a girl half his age.
He had left his own piece of cake a few tables back, and he'd found it too rich to bother trekking back for it. He did have a glass of water, which he lifted to sip, but otherwise he wasn't really eating. He'd just eat when he got home, or perhaps pick something up when all was said and done. "There's not many of us here, but it's a common name back home." In Cambodia, it was a common enough one. "It's considered a girl's name in America. 'January'." He explained, giving the actual meaning of his name, but not being entirely clear about it. "Alex would be quite unique elsewhere in the world." How many Alex's were there in Cambodia? Maybe one or two, if that. Plus, they were probably men. Did that add to the uniqueness, or did it take away from it?
It had taken Makara a bit of time to come to terms with how plain the names in America were. In Cambodia, all names had meanings. You didn't just call your child something because you liked the sound of it. You chose the name because of some significance, and the only names that didn't have some direct meaning were names from other countries that were imported over. You got used to hearing things as names, even if they were also common words. He was January. One of his cousins was 'Good health', a second was 'Power', and a third was 'Heart'.
"Are you named after Alexander the Great?" It was a foolish question, and he knew it was so, but it would be nice to have some kind of idea of where the name was coming from. It probably wasn't Alexander the Great though, a man Makara knew little of, beyond that he was considered a great man.
ALEXANDRIA MADDEN | MAY 18TH, 6PM | SINGLE LADIES PROMPT |
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Post by ALEXANDRIA MADDEN on Jan 19, 2014 20:53:38 GMT -8
ALEXANDRIA MADDEN
tag: MAKARA SOM, 505 words
May 18th, 2012 06:00 PM
The girl was pleasantly surprised when her newest date fired back with a joke of his own. A smile played upon her lips and she chuckled softly. In these sorts of things, one never knew what kind of situation they would get into and she was rather glad she was met with someone relaxed enough to joke and not take things quite so seriously. Alex herself was rather carefree, always looking to laugh. With the dating expectations cast to the side, she was looking forward to having a normal discussion. What they'd talk about, she didn't necessarily care provided that they maintain the casualness. She took a few moments to chew before swallowing down her cake. She could have wolfed it down, and honestly wanted to, but considering most others had barely finished their first slices, she was trying to control herself. It was basically her dinner though. A third slice was certainly in her plans but she was going to take a break and make the most of decent company. “Makara, January,” Alexandria repeated, trying to remember that association. She repeated it a few more times in her head. She loved being able to name things in various languages. She didn't even know what language it was being translated from, she just knew that she wanted to retain it for the next time she was so casually talking about months to a friend and could share her newfound knowledge and how she came about it. She grinned, nodding. “Hey, you make a good point about that, I'd imagine the name would be mostly European,” she admitted, “So then home for you isn't in the states??” She was somewhat relieved that she was out of earshot of the girls from her dormitory. If they were near she would have had to eventually admit that it likely looked weird: her at twenty-one sitting across from a man somewhere around his forties, laughing and smiling, and having a decent time. She could just guess what was on the mind of whoever stole glances their way. Cradle Robber. Jailbait. But then maybe she was projecting these thoughts onto people? The only thing that made it all weird was the setting they were in—one that all those same people shared and also participated by the rules. They were hardly the first to be paired with a significant age gap. She pushed the thought away, those were irrelevant. “More like Alexander the carpenter and Army veteran. I was named after my grandfather which is—I guess kind of odd—considering you'd think my parents would name my brother after him. But no... For whatever reason they waited until they had a girl.” She snorted, amused that they both had names that were more common for the opposite gender. “But really? Gosh! I do like the association to Alexander the great! He is to blame for the spread of ideas between numerous different cultures. Even in today's time that is notable and fantastic. I would just... love to live up to that namesake!” |
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Post by MAKARA SOM on Jan 20, 2014 16:38:46 GMT -8
Makara would have had a hard time staying totally serious considering how absurd the situation was. He wasn't ever going to take advice from his boss again, but he was treating the whole thing as a learning experience. It wasn't as if he had lost anything--the ticket to the event had been provided by his boss, and his time was plentiful and rarely required. He wasn't the sort of person who was going to be upset over his time being 'wasted'. No matter what was happening, his time certainly wasn't being wasted, and while it felt like he was getting more social interaction in the past hour then he normally got in a week, he was doing alright for the moment. Later in the evening he'd probably be exhausted, and he'd want nothing more then to go home and curl up in bed, but the night was still young, and he still had his energy.
The thought of 'home' was a bit of a melancholy question for Makara. He'd spent the majority of his life in America, but to him, 'home' would always be Cambodia. There wasn't even a specific place in the country he thought of as home--he'd spent his childhood moving from place to place, and the whole country was home. It was easier to think of a country as small as Cambodia as home then it was to think of a place as large of America as so. After all, Cambodia wasn't much bigger then California itself, and it had felt a lot more connected. It had been easy to go to and from places until things had fallen apart, where as even going as far as San Francisco seemed like a terribly long distance to him. The fact that he didn't have a car only made it seem longer, but then he'd never had a car in Cambodia--it had just been a lot easier to walk places there.
He picked up his glass again, taking another little sip as she explained the origin of her own name. A grandfather? Makara couldn't relate to that at all. He didn't remember his grandparents. They had died when he was still young, and he knew little about them. He didn't even know why his parents chose the name that they did, and he knew only what he'd been told, which he opted to repeat. "My aunt things I was named because I was the only child in the family ever born in January." Certainly no one in the family had a birthday in January, and no one could remember anyone who had. It was a bizarre oddity that he'd been named for, the simple fact that his month of birth was unique.
ALEXANDRIA MADDEN | MAY 18TH, 6PM | SINGLE LADIES PROMPT |
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Post by ALEXANDRIA MADDEN on Feb 9, 2014 15:53:45 GMT -8
ALEXANDRIA MADDEN
tag: Makara
Month 18th, 2012 06:00PM
“Wait, wait,” Alexandria said. She wasn't trying to cut him off or appear rude. Alexandria was just direct in conversation and she wasn't afraid of redirecting the conversation when necessary. Maybe her interruption could have been pulled off more politely by someone less impulsive but she was friendly enough that most people just overlooked it. “So when you say only child born in the month of January. Do you really mean, like, ever as in for generations you're the only one to pop out of the oven at that time? Or do you just mean in your immediate family? I ask because that has to be like some weird sign. Maybe you're super lucky. Or something.” She smiled at her own odd comment. Her travels had exposed her to all sorts of foreign superstitions and gave her a mind to conjure up a few of her own. These days she amused herself by thinking any strange coincidence might have been due to an anomaly in her colorful world brought forth by knocking over the salt shaker. Makara either avoided or didn't hear the question she'd asked about where he called home and so she decided not to press the matter, after all, he was still a stranger and didn't want to invade his personal life. Small talk was good and actually rather appropriate for their setting. She'd stick tot hat as best she could by restraining her curiosity. What could she talk about then? She socialized mostly by to and about other people. She supposed she should offer up something about herself but there was hardly anything she knew that the man would find remotely interesting. This is where there age gap became a bit awkward—what sorts of things did people his age even care about? Alex put her fork down onto her plate, sliding her tongue over her teeth as if to check they were clean of frosting. Her hands fell idle in front of her and folded. She looked up at her company with full attention upon him. She didn't want there to be a lapse in conversation so she sputtered out the first thing that came to mind. “I have three other cousins born in May, same month as I was. So January makes you a Capricorn, yeah?” She wasn't a girl who followed horoscopes religiously but she supposed she knew enough about them to have a conversation about them. “That's what? Practical and ambitious, I think. Sound like you?” |
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Post by MAKARA SOM on Feb 9, 2014 20:25:00 GMT -8
It was a bit unfortunate that Makara couldn't answer her question. He really had no idea--he knew only what his aunt and uncle had told him, and that had been years after the fact. They had never been terribly close to his parents, separated by several hours worth of travel. They knew that no one they knew of in the family was born in January, which wasn't terribly surprising considering that April temperatures could hit 40C easily. What other reason could his parents have behind his name, beyond a comment on the odd month of his birth? They hadn't been able to think of anything, and they'd spent the majority of Makara's life using that explanation, only admitting they weren't sure why he was named that years later. Names were important, and it was vaguely odd among his fellow Cambodian's that he didn't know the real meaning.
"I'm not sure. As far as I know, no one in my family was born in January, but I don't know them all. It's possible someone did and I didn't know about." A cousin perhaps, or someone on the other side of his family he'd never really met. Birthdays weren't kept track of very well, and most people knew only a general idea of when they were born, especially if they were older. The younger someone was, the more likely they'd paid attention.
He'd heard her question about home, but hadn't realized he hadn't actually answered. It was the sort of simple question that had left him lost in thought, and as far as he would recall later, he'd answered it. He didn't even mind the lull in conversation, even if it was obvious the girl in front of him did, and she jumped in with a pair of questions that made him raise his eyebrows. Capricorn? Wasn't that... well, he couldn't remember what it was called. Something about stars and the date of your birth. A bunch of hogwash as far as he was concerned, and he actually found himself giving an apologetic smile when she asked. "Not at all on the second account." Practical? He supposed he could be considered that, but he was more or less the opposite of ambitious. He had to be shoved kicking and screaming up the corporate ladder, and he was entirely content with the small apartment he'd taken as his home. "I can't say I know much about such things. Horoscopes, right?" He couldn't have even told her he was a Capricorn until she'd asked.
ALEXANDRIA MADDEN | MAY 18TH, 6PM | SINGLE LADIES PROMPT |
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