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Post by KRISTEN MAYOR on Oct 4, 2013 10:48:09 GMT -8
When meeting your best friend for the first time in real life, of course you were going to be nervous and excited. Who wouldn't be, right? Having been on different sides of the planet for so long, she should have been over the moon to just be in the same state as him, never mind the same city. They were going to get to meet up like this all the time from now on, and hang out whenever they wanted, without the need of Skype or worrying about timezones. So how did she feel?
Kris was horrified.
They had agreed to meet in Little Tokyo in front of the watchtower, but Kris was beginning to think that this might not be such a good idea after all. For one thing, she was so nervous she was pretty sure she would never be able to keep down whatever they got for lunch. And for another, she was meeting Neil for the first time in real life.
It was natural to be nervous, but to feel like she was going to throw up was a different thing entirely. The brunette bit her lip as she checked the time on her phone again, for what had to be the thousandth time in the last 5 minutes. She had given herself plenty of time to get there, just in case she got lost along the way- but now she was a too early, and had way too much free time to worry herself sick.
What if she messed up? What if she said the wrong thing, or did something stupid, or- what if she was nothing like who he was expecting? She knew she was different online than she was offline, that just came with the territory. But what if the differences were too drastic, and he decided to stop being her friend because of that-
Maybe if she left now, she could prolong their meeting for another, say, 5 years. She'd shoot him a text- say she was so, so sorry, but something came up, and she wasn't going to make it, but they should definitely meet up some other time! Kris twirled a short lock of hair around her finger as she mulled this over, shifting her weight from foot to foot as if she was going to make a run for it any second now. It might work. And yeah, Neil would be disappointed, but if it meant staying friends instead of drifting apart, then she'd do it.
She checked her phone again, then glanced up to scan the faces of the people passing by. Okay, she'd wait one more minute; if he wasn't here in a minute, she'd make a run for it and say she was sick or something.
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9th May 2012, 12:00 pm |
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Post by NEELANJAN MARTIN on Oct 4, 2013 10:49:35 GMT -8
In an ideal world, this meeting wouldn't even have been happening-- he would have shown up at her doorstep the first day he arrived in Los Angeles, ready to move into the same flat. They'd planned this out together, after all. Months and months of applying and planning, and it had finally come to this: they were actually going to meet up in real life, they were starting to look for houses where they could stay, and then they were smacked in the face with the realization that their days did not match up. He'd almost torn his hair out in frustration when he found out, though he knew he shouldn't have been complaining. They'd managed to get out of their dead-end situations, and living together would just have been sealing the deal. Circumstances changed and shit happened, so he was going to grin and bear it.
Besides, it was probably good for Kris to live with other people and meet them. If she was who he thought she was, anyway; he'd never met anyone he knew online in real life before, though he supposed that he had a rough idea of her personality from Facebook and the fact that they'd both been in the same online college classes. There was only so much that you could fudge, and he at least had the confirmation that she was a real person.
(And he was silly to think that she might have turned out to be any different. Sure, she'd warned him that she wouldn't be the same-- but he'd spent so many long nights messaging her, spoken to her too many times on Skype to believe that who she showed was anything but at least a part of Kristen Mayor. But then again, you never knew what curveballs the world was going to throw at you. Better to be safe than sorry, because he'd been sorry one too many times.)
Nevertheless, he was looking forward to it, to be able to physically talk to someone who he considered a close friend. Neil smiled a small smile as he got off the bus, his pace picking up as he marched towards the statue. He really needed to get a car in Los Angeles; that journey had been far too long, but no matter what happened it was going to be completely worth it. Neil waltzed through the crowd, pushing through to the watchtower where he caught a glimpse of a familiar sight--
"Kris?" he asked. A large grin spread across his face as he took a step towards her, their gazes meeting. "Kris. I have the right person, don't I?" |
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Post by KRISTEN MAYOR on Oct 4, 2013 10:55:00 GMT -8
Crap, she waited too long.
Too late now, he had shown up and spotted her and there was no time for escape anymore- unless she wanted to answer awkward questions, anyway, and she wasn't about to lie to his face. So this was good bye, cruel world, it was nice knowing you while she was alive and not dead from embarrassment. She looked up into bright blue eyes and gulped.
Oh no he's hot.
Not that she didn't know that already; still, big difference between Facebook photos and reality. For half a second, she wished she hadn't impulsively chopped most of her hair off; she quickly pushed that thought away to the back of her mind, where it would hopefully wither away, never to be seen or heard from again. There were a bit more important things at hand at the moment than her shitty haircut.
The knot in her stomach slowly unraveled, and she grinned in return; hardly the small, tucked away smiles she used all the time. Her worry from just seconds before suddenly seemed silly. There was a mischievous look in her eyes as she replied, "Nope, sorry, you're looking for the 60-year-old dude with the bald spot and eyepatch."
It was still so hard to believe though- this was finally happening, they were finally meeting face-to-face. Without thinking, she closed the distance between them and hugged him tight. Hopefully this was her Neil, and not a similar looking guy who just so happened to be looking for someone named Kris in the same spot. Boy, that'd be weird. "It's me." She said softly, before taking a step back and smiling at him again.
"And either you're Neil, or I just made an ass of myself." |
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Post by NEELANJAN MARTIN on Oct 4, 2013 10:56:49 GMT -8
She'd told him that she'd hacked all her hair off in a sudden daze, and shown him pictures of what it used to look like before. Back in the day, she'd tied it up in a ponytail all the time, but he had to admit that with her brown locks framing her face like this, she was definitely adorable. Neil couldn't help but chuckle at her statement that he was looking for a sixty-year-old dude. Yes, this was definitely her, all right: there was no questioning it.
"Sounds like I might have the wrong person. Should I be on my way then?" he begun. But before he could say any more she stepped up towards him and enveloped him in a tight embrace. Ice-blue eyes widened at the sudden contact, and for a moment he froze into place, unsure how he was supposed to react. Neil couldn't remember the last time he had actually wanted to hug someone who wasn't family, save for the awkward pats on the back during his high school graduation. A warm sensation burst through his insides, and he soon found his arms wrapped around her as well, hugging her back just as tightly. Burying his head in her hair, he couldn't help but think-- Kris was real. This was real.
This was really the second chance they'd both hoped for, and they'd be doing it together.
The grin on his face only grew as she stepped away, and their eyes met once again. She seemed to be happy as well, which was always a start. "That's me!" he exclaimed. "And I'm going to assume that you're Kris, or I'm going to have some serious explaining to do. So," he grinned, "Food? I heard there are a bunch of great sushi places here." |
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Post by KRISTEN MAYOR on Oct 4, 2013 10:57:57 GMT -8
For about half a second, she wondered if she had done the right thing when she hugged him; had she overstepped some invisible boundary? But shaking hands didn't seem right, not at all. Not after what they had been through. When he suddenly hugged her back just as hard, she nearly let out a squeak of protest- she could have sworn she heard her ribs creak. They stayed liked that for a moment or two longer, before she broke off the hug first to fix him with another happy smile.
And she was happy, if the grin wasn't enough of an indication. This was probably the most she had smiled since she arrived in California, save for the small ones she put on for her customers and roommates. All of her anxious thoughts were so trivial in comparison to the relief flooding her mind. She wasn't going to deny that they were completely gone; they were still very much in the back of her mind, along with that thought about her hair from earlier. But right now, at this very moment? She could care less about any of that.
Kris laughed at his comment, then replied, "Yes please, I'm starving." Mostly because she had been so nervous she had skipped breakfast, out of fear that she wouldn't be able to keep anything down, but details. A teasing lilt entered her voice as she continued to say, "Really? Sushi? Aw man, I was really looking forward to having Italian for lunch." It was clear from the look on her face that she wasn't, but again, details. "Sushi's good too though, I suppose."
(It was funny how she was so worried about being too different from how she spoke and behaved online, when in reality she was acting so much more different from how she usually was offline. Rarely did so many words leave her lips all at once- it just went to show just how much she really did trust Neil, despite this being the very first time she had ever met him that wasn't behind a computer screen.)
"Where to?" She asked, since she hadn't actually done any exploring yet and didn't know where to go to eat. He probably hadn't either, but she could think of worse things to do than walking around until they found a place. Unless he actually had done his research, and knew 20 different restaurants within a mile radius of them. Either way, Kris was hardly complaining. Food sounded so good right now, she had to ignore the small growl her stomach let out at the thought. |
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Post by NEELANJAN MARTIN on Oct 4, 2013 10:58:53 GMT -8
"Come to think of it, I know a couple of good Italian restaurants nearby..." Neil began, his tone just as lighthearted as hers as he shot her a wink. He knew she didn't mean it, and neither did he, but he could play along for a moment. "I heard that there are a couple of places that do this thing called udon, it's like pasta without sauce! And with soup," he added, raising an eyebrow. "We could give that a try." One-up me now, white girl, he thought as he walked up behind her, placing his hands on her shoulder. He shot her a quick glance to make sure she was okay with this, steering her in the direction of the place he'd been thinking of.
"We're going to a place called Yakuza Sushi. Is that okay with you? Japanese mafia sushi?" He paused for a moment for her confirmation, before letting go of her shoulders to stand by her side. Neil couldn't help but wonder whether he'd crossed a line by doing that, and he felt a surge of panic worm through his insides, but she hadn't said anything, right? He wasn't crossing some unspoken line, was he? Being anti-social for so long meant that he was starting to realize he had no idea to act around actual friends, and hell if this wasn't difficult.
But still, she was a friend, and someone who he genuinely cared about. It felt like he had known her for far longer than this, and the fact that they had never met in person before almost seemed laughable to him. He didn't usually give out personal information to Internet friends: he preferred to keep his identity somewhat private, but the fact that they'd met on a college course instead of a forum or online game made him feel a little safer about telling her who he was. Neil was happy, and from the wide grin on her face, he could tell that she was probably happy too. With that, he started in the direction of the restaurant, waiting for her to come along. |
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Post by KRISTEN MAYOR on Oct 4, 2013 11:01:04 GMT -8
They were going back and forth like they had known each other from day one, and Kris couldn't help but feel relieved that there were no awkward pauses. Of course, that could change in a heartbeat once she started speaking her mind without a filter, but to be fair Neil was probably used to all the weird shit she said by now. It really was like they had known each other for years though, and Kris was silently grateful that they seemed to be on the same wavelength right away.
"Pasta without sauce?" She asked, eyes wide with shock. "I've never heard of such a thing." She was trying hard not to laugh, even as he placed his hands on her shoulders and turned her around. "And mafia sushi sounds amazing." Any kind of sushi would work for her right about now to be honest, but mafia sushi would at least be interesting.
She walked beside him as he led the way down the sidewalk, but continued talking as she asked, cheerfully, "Should we have worn suits though? What if there's a bouncer at the door who won't let us in?" Kris was hardly dressed to face the mafia at the moment; a tank top and shorts were hardly fitting to have mafia sushi, right? A thought struck her, and she suddenly turned to Neil, her expression dead serious. "What if the sushi's made out of their enemies?" She drew a line across her throat for added emphasis, biting the inside of her cheek to stop herself from smiling. It was a very real possibility! |
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Post by NEELANJAN MARTIN on Oct 4, 2013 20:54:21 GMT -8
But they had known each other from day one, in a sense. He couldn't remember when exactly they had met or what course they had been taking together, but their on and off conversations had always been so fluid, so natural. And when on and off had changed to perpetually on Neil knew that this was a friend, that he had found the thing he had been looking for for years and years and never been able to hold onto. That sense of closeness with someone was something he hadn't felt in a long while, and now that he had it he was going to try to make the most of what he had. Hopefully she was everything he believed her to be, because at this stage he held her in only the highest regard.
"It's in this thing called soup. You might have heard of it in books and movies, or maybe in video games," he said in a sing-song voice. The tone would be familiar to most-- Neil did give off the impression that there was little he took seriously, or to heart. It was true to an extent, though it had likely been the reason for his fall from grace. "It's like water, only salty! You should really give it a try." With that statement, the two of them approached the restaurant. Good thing that it was fairly near where they were. Neil pushed the door open.
"Ladies first," he quipped. Waiting for Kris to walk in, Neil followed after her, before saying in a low voice, "It's okay, they won't catch us. I think the casual scene is part and parcel of the disguise." As for her assertion that the sushi was made of dead enemies, Neil didn't really mind. It wasn't cannibalism if they weren't aware of what they were eating. He'd watched quite a bit of Hannibal in his time, and seen people eat humans enough times for him to be desensitized. "As for the enemies thing," he said as he sat down across from Kris, "What we don't know won't hurt us, will it?" |
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Post by KRISTEN MAYOR on Oct 5, 2013 5:13:46 GMT -8
"Fascinating!" Salty water, huh? Neil sure knew how to make food sound appetizing... yeah no not at all, but she'd humor him. "I'll have to try this "soup,"" she made air quotes as she spoke, "While we're here, and see what all the fuss is about." He opened the door for her and she grinned, stepping into the restaurant ahead of him and peering around. It certainly didn't look like the kind of place where mob enemies were dragged in and tortured, but who knows.
It hit her then that they were about to sit down for lunch, which meant they were going to end up waiting for their food, which meant they were going to have to keep talking- oh no oh no oh nooo, what if it got awkward now? She had been so glad that they hit it off right away, what if now was the moment where it all went to shit? Oh nooooo-
There was nothing she could do about it though, so she resigned herself to her fate and sat down, wrinkling her nose at his assertion that they blended in. "Okay, you better be right." She stage whispered in return, as a waiter approached their table with menus in hand. She'd rather not get shot down by a mafia goon just because they didn't fit the mold of the restaurant's regular clientele.
After their waiter handed them their menus, he asked for their drink orders. "I'll have a coke, please." She told him, even as she began to scan the lists of food they had. Kris had the distinct feeling she was going to have to be rolled out of here in the end- her stomach let out another faint growl as she read over the menu. Don't think for a second that she didn't notice that Neil didn't deny the possibility that the sushi was people. She was just too hungry to care.
"How much do you think ordering one of everything would cost?" She asked Neil as their waiter strode away to get their drinks, only half-joking. There was a very real possibility that she really would. |
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Post by NEELANJAN MARTIN on Oct 5, 2013 5:39:09 GMT -8
"Salty water, that's exactly what it is! You can try making some yourself. Take water and then throw some salt in." He was going to neglect the time he'd actually tried to do that as a child: she could hear about it, but later. He did have some sort of a first impression to make. It was as though he felt simultaneously like he'd met her a million times before and that they'd never seen each other in their lives, and Neil honestly didn't know what to make of it. The brunette grinned rather ominously as the waiter approached, if an ominous grin was even possible. Though maybe it was the wicked look in his eyes that did the trick.
"Green tea for me," Neil said, turning towards the waiter and saying oh-so-politely. He was generally polite to most people, he would like to think. No point stirring shit up when he didn't want to deal with it. He could afford to be a little sillier with Kris, however, and he turned back towards her as she asked how much the sushi would cost. "Probably a lot of money, and I'm not sure we'd be able to finish everything." He had a big appetite, but not that big an appetite. "Besides, those bowls of pasta are probably big enough to feed a person as it is. Or maybe this isn't pasta," he said, tapping his chin. "What if they were human brains?"
This wasn't exactly what you would expect a typical lunchtime conversation to be, but it was arguable that neither Neil nor Kris were very typical. He wouldn't have sought her out for friendship if she was, after all. Typical was boring, and Neil was bored of that. "We could just get a sushi platter to share, and some Japanese pasta on the side." He was going to call noodles Japanese pasta from now on. She wasn't ever going to hear the end of it. "How does that sound to you? Is there anything you don't eat?"
He never realized that he was capable of talking this much at once, even if it was just about their next meal. Then again, his mother always did say that when the stomach lay empty, empty too lay the heart. This was more important than one would think! |
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Post by KRISTEN MAYOR on Oct 5, 2013 8:23:49 GMT -8
The thing about first impressions is that Kris sucked at them. Considering how Neil was often the recipient of her late night, scatter-brained messages at 4 in the morning, she wasn't particularly worried about trying to impress him or anything like that. She was more concerned with the idea that she'd be the cause of a lull in conversation- did that count as worrying about making a good impression? Probably, but she didn't want to chatter away, either.
"Is that a challenge?" She asked, bright brown eyes glancing up to meet his as she perked up in interest. Maybe if she had the money she would, since Kris did have a big appetite even when she wasn't starving. But she didn't doubt for a second that she could definitely eat everything on the menu in one sitting if she tried. (Okay, that was a lie, but she could at least eat 65% of it. Maybe even 70%.)
She quirked an eyebrow at his brains comment though, trying not to laugh and just barely succeeding. "Human brains." She remarked dryly, head tilted slightly to one side as she propped her chin up with her hand. "I wonder if eating brains would make us smarter." Not that Neil needed to be any smarter, but she could definitely use some help in the IQ department. She could use all the help she could get, thanks.
"Sounds good to me." She replied, absentmindedly playing with a lock of hair as she went back to reading the menu. Now the question was, what to pick? Hmm... "And I eat everything." It wasn't even an exaggeration; place food in front of her, and chances were high Kris would eat it without batting an eyelash. She was willing to try anything at least once. She wasn't about to pretend she was a dainty eater when she was hungry enough to eat a horse; that'd be silly.
Food was serious business! |
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Post by NEELANJAN MARTIN on Oct 9, 2013 8:11:46 GMT -8
Yet Neil had absolutely no doubt that Kris would be able to carry a conversation on. Despite his earlier doubts, he was starting to feel like yes, this was the girl he'd spoken to on Facebook. This was the friend who he'd chatted with for hours on Skype. Was this how normal people made friends, by reaching out to them online? Probably not, but it was working for him, so this method had to have some form of merit. Then again, she was the only person his age he considered to a friend-- but if reaching out on the Internet meant that he'd find someone like her, then so be it.
"You could give it a shot." His grin was wicked, his tone was teasing. "One day we could try a sushi buffet. That'd be fun." They'd both stated that they had massive appetites. But whose would be bigger? Who would give up first? Those were the kinds of questions that you didn't get to answer with the Internet to separate you. The waitress came over, and Neil pointed to one of the sushi platters. The largest one, naturally: it was slightly expensive but he was getting his first paycheck soon enough. His wallet could take the hit, and more importantly, they'd probably need the sushi platter to keep them kicking.
"And one teriyaki udon for me. You?" he asked Kris, the smile on his face ever-present. Already he could feel some of that zest in his tone, the spring in his step returning. The past year hadn't been easy, but with every passing moment he was starting to wonder whether it had finally started to turn around. It wasn't going to be a cakewalk either. No, Neil wasn't expecting that. However if he pulled through and did his best, he'd find some sort of a way out of this dead-end. He had to: his life goals were absolutely dependent on it. |
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Post by KRISTEN MAYOR on Oct 14, 2013 17:26:13 GMT -8
"I'd love that!" She replied quickly, ignoring the pang of hunger just the thought of a buffet brought on. Buffets were god's gift to men, don't argue with her on this. Her mom tried to say that they were disgusting, that buffets had more bacteria than a hospital, but her mom just couldn't appreciate the concept of paying a set amount of money in order to eat as much as you possibly could. Besides, Kris had never gotten sick after eating at a buffet, so her mom's argument was null.
Kris had only met a handful of people who could match her appetite, and considering one of them was her dad, the rest were few and far between. So yes, she was fairly positive she could eat more than Neil. Or at the very least tie with him? It'd be interesting; next time they get lunch together, this was going to happen, and they'd finally determine who was the bigger eater. What was an eating contest between friends?
Their waiter magically turned waitress returned with their drinks, and asked for their orders. Kris stopped herself from wincing at the platter Neil picked, but that was due to the price, not the sheer size of the thing. They were splitting the bill between the two of them, right? So it wouldn't be that bad...? No that was just silly, of course they were- he wouldn't have ordered that otherwise. Right? Right.
It wasn't until Neil directed a question at her that Kris realized she hadn't actually picked out what fancy salt water Japanese pasta soup she was going to have yet. Woops. Quickly reading through the menu for what had to be the thousandth time by now, she stumbled to say, "Err, pork udon for me." She busied herself with her coke as the waitress collected their menus and walked away; she had the glass half empty in seconds. Playing with her straw, she glanced up at Neil with an evil grin.
Right, she had been meaning to ask him...
"Sooo, have you told your mom yet?" The question itself was entirely innocent, as was her tone and the smile on her face. But there was a look in her eyes that spoke for itself; it seemed to scream just what she thought of the hole her friend had dug himself into. He was so fucked. The only person more fucked than him was his dad, and that was only because his dad was still in Australia with his mom. True friendship was laughing at your friends when they screwed themselves over. |
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Post by NEELANJAN MARTIN on Oct 17, 2013 21:57:06 GMT -8
He'd never heard of there being bacteria at buffets and probably wouldn't have cared even if there was. Neil had an iron stomach-- it came from digesting lashings and lashings of his mother's curry. Besides, he'd always been taught to eat as much as he could if he went to a buffet dinner. His mother always said that it was best to not eat the whole day before going for dinner, so that he could eat his money's worth, but she'd never had the heart to try to starve him. Besides, his entire family was capable of eating a lot even when they weren't starving.
First world problems? First world problems indeed. Neil took a sip of his water, allowing the silence to hang in the air for a moment. While he knew that it wouldn't have been possible for him and Kris to keep the conversation flowing the entire time that they were both here, he sincerely hoped that this wouldn't be the first of many awkward silences to come. He frowned a little. Then again, silence didn't necessarily denote awkward. It was just hard to read the atmosphere. Not since it had been so long since he'd last interacted with someone his age that he actually cared about--
"What."
It was a relief that he hadn't been halfway through sipping his drink when Kris made that statement, or he would probably have spat the water all over her face and onto the table. Neil prided himself on being quite put together 99% of the time. The 1% of the time was when his mother was involved, but it wasn't as though he was going to make that public knowledge. Blue eyes widened with her statement, and he managed to stutter out, "Uhh. Uhh..." He smiled, but he had a feeling that it looked sheepish rather than charming.
He knew that she would know what he was feeling. Imminent doom.
"As a matter of fact... No." His smile widened, but the sheepishness remained. "She doesn't have to know, though. It's not like I'm not getting college credit fo this, so I'm telling her the truth. Right?" Only he was hoping that he'd find a way to not go back to his college, and Kris knew that for a fact. "I mean, I've got my dad in cahoots with me." The waiter laid the sushi down, and he raised a brow. Wow, that was fast.
"So we should be okay." He gestured towards the food. "Dig in?" |
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Post by KRISTEN MAYOR on Oct 18, 2013 10:22:19 GMT -8
(Woops, she hadn't even noticed the awkward silence. Was it awkward? Woops woops woops, she hadn't meant to put him on the spot or anything like that- although arguably, her question put him way more on the spot than any awkward silence. She was just thirsty, okay, leave her alone!)
Kris had to bite her bottom lip to stop herself from snickering at his reaction. Gone was the calm smile, now replaced by wide eyes and stuttered words. He didn't have to answer her question for her to know that, no, he had not told his mom yet. Her cheeks already hurt from smiling so much in such a short amount of time, but she couldn't help the Cheshire cat grin that spread across her face. She was glad there was an ocean separating her from Mrs. Martin. She didn't want to be anywhere near the coast when Neil's mom ultimately found out what he'd done; if what he had told her about his mom was true, anyway.
"Right, right." She agreed, nodding sagely as she continued playing with her straw. There was no way this could possibly end well, but Kris wasn't exactly complaining. She just hoped she could be there when it all went down, because it was going to be hilariously entertaining. She might even just make some popcorn for the event. It was now Kris's turn to widen her eyes as their food was placed on the table in front of them. Okay that was... insanely fast. Did she want to know how that had happened? Probably not. It more than likely involved dark magic.
Well, she didn't have to be told twice to eat; the brunette snapped her chopsticks apart, and was about to go right on ahead and dig in when she paused at his statement. This time, she couldn't help but laugh at him. Oh man, he was so delusional if he thought he was getting out of this in one piece. "You're fucked." She chirped with a wicked little smile, before carefully plucking a roll off the platter and popping it into her mouth. Oh well, he'll be fine. She was a lot more worried about his dad to be perfectly honest; at least Neil had the Pacific between him and his impending doom- nah he was fucked no matter what, sorry Neil.
Once she was finally done chewing she remarked, "If these are seriously made out of brains I'm going to have to rethink this whole cannibal thing." Despite how quickly their food came out, it was really, really good. This was doing nothing to contribute to her theory that dark magic and witchcraft was being used in the kitchen. It was doing absolutely nothing to stop her from snatching another roll off the platter though. |
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Post by NEELANJAN MARTIN on Oct 18, 2013 16:01:59 GMT -8
"It'll be fine," Neil said, waving a hand dismissively as he lied through his teeth. He really was going to be screwed, but at least he was an ocean away from the woman. The worst that could happen was that she would yell at him over the phone or Skype. No, his father was likely to bear most of the brunt of her yelling and screaming... Right? Then again, you never knew when it came to her. She had a habit of showing up when you least expected her to, armed with a million spices and the endless insistence that he'd missed a spot while cleaning. Quickly changing the subject, Neil decided to dig into the sushi. Picking up a massive chunk of wasabi, he stirred it into his soy sauce, noting that Kris had kept hers wasabi-free for the moment.
"Not good with spicy food?" Yes, it was definitely a good thing that his mother wasn't here. She would probably be so excited that he had a friend at all that she would start feeding Kris incessantly, shovelling heaps and heaps of curry in her direction. The older woman had always said that when a curry was hot, it served the purpose of warming the heart. It was mostly a joke and his mum playing up on the stereotype, but he couldn't help but wonder whether she believed it was real from time to time. "You'd better be careful next time you go out to eat with me, then," he winked as he dipped one of the sushi pieces into the soy sauce, before putting it in his mouth and chewing thoughtfully. Raw fish and rice and soy sauce spread across his tongue.
"I like it. It's fresh." He'd had better, but that had been in a fancy restaurant for a birthday treat. For something that was of a normal price range, this was definitely one of the better places he'd been to. "As for cannibalism, just remember, it isn't a crime unless you're going to get caught!" He was quite sure that he'd be able to steal her away and hide her. There had to be some way to smuggle fugitives away that he hadn't thought of yet. Not that he gave matters like that a lot of thought, but details, details. They could cross that bridge when they came to it. The bridge of crazy, human-eating beings.
"So, what have you been up to since you got here? It's been a while, hasn't it?" They'd both been fairly busy, so this was one of the first times they'd been able to really catch up in the past few weeks. And while they'd had the occasional message from each other, there had been little time to actually sit down and talk. "Gone to Disneyland yet?" He knew that she loved it, so why not ask? He was planning to go check it out himself. |
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Post by KRISTEN MAYOR on Oct 18, 2013 17:32:36 GMT -8
"Suuure." She drawled, wincing at the huge chunk of wasabi Neil was stirring into his soy sauce. She hadn't touched her's yet, but just watching what he was doing to his made her teeth hurt. "Not really..." She replied slowly to his question, before busying herself with another roll. If she was too busy chewing, then she couldn't reply right away, which gave her more time to think of a reply. A full-proof plan, if she did say so herself. "I'll keep it in mind." She finally said, raising a brow at him. To be fair, she could handle some spicy food, but she had the feeling the kind of spicy food Neil liked would kill her.
Ew, how was he doing that. Kris made a face at him as he dipped his sushi into the soy sauce and chewed away like it was nothing. Fuck that noise, she wasn't touching the wasabi at all. She just lost all taste for soy sauce in general. She'll eat her meal raw kthnx. Helping herself to another roll, she replied in a teasing tone, "That's not very reassuring." And it really wasn't- between her suspicions of witchcraft being at play here and the sushi being made of corpses, Kris was half-expecting a police squadron to show up outside the restaurant any second.
And there was the question she had been anticipating since they sat down to eat. Truth be truth, Kris hadn't done anything remotely exciting since she arrived in California. To her, the small things that she had to muster up the nerve to do that she treated like victories in her mind were hardly anything to brag about. Never mind to someone working at one of the top businesses in the country. Kris hurriedly stuffed another roll in her mouth, shrinking slightly in her seat as she mulled over what to say. She couldn't lie of course, so she resigned herself to the truth.
The, uh, really dull, boring truth.
"Umm, not much." She finally mumbled, pausing long enough to drink some more of her coke before continuing to say, "Work, mostly." It was punctuated with a half-hearted shrug, but that was really all there was to say. Oh, wait, that wasn't necessarily true- she suddenly sat up, eyes lighting up as she suddenly launched into a run-on sentence that would make English majors cry. "We got this really cute cat at the shelter who'll curl up in your lap and just fall asleep right away, she's so sweet and I love her to death she'll even eat out of your hand sometimes and-" No, wait a minute, what was she saying? Kristen, no.
She quickly stopped herself, grimacing as her face flushed ruby red. Yeah, she really wasn't sure what she had been expecting. Of course she was going to fuck up- no one wanted to hear about the latest stray animal she had fallen in love with today. She fumbled with her words as she quickly answered his question, eyes trained on the platter of sushi, "Err, not yet. I- I really want to though." She had only ever been to Disney World growing up, and while she loved the park to death, she had heard Disney Land was infinitely better. Needless to say, she was curious. |
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Post by NEELANJAN MARTIN on Oct 18, 2013 19:45:43 GMT -8
Neil frowned as he shovelled the next block of sushi into his mouth. It was good, but a little more wasabi would probably make it even better. "Hmm," he muttered as he took some more of the wasabi from the large chunk at the side, stirring it into his soy sauce. "I think I need a little more seasoning. Sure you don't want to try some?" he asked, pushing the plate in her direction. At this point, his soy sauce looked more like a paste than actual sauce. It was probably hot enough to start a small fire in the Sahara. "It's really very good. It might take a little bit of getting used to, but you're fairly adaptable. I'm sure you'll be knocking it back in no time."
Call him masochistic, call him whatever you wanted, but he'd consumed so much spicy food in his lifetime that he was probably now immune to its effects. Neil laughed, a loud, genuine laugh that he hadn't felt himself do so in the longest time. This first meeting was going okay so far-- the silence earlier on probably hadn't been awkward, he hoped. He was just glad that she thought of him as highly the way he thought of her. Kris was one of the few people he respected, after all. It was then when she mentioned that she hadn't been doing much. Neil shrugged.
"Well, that's a pity. It's okay, that means there will be more you can look forward to later on, right?" He wouldn't have expected her to be partying it up every night, from what she'd told him. She'd mentioned that she could be shy and withdrawn, and while he could see it there was definitely something else behind the mousy surface. He'd seen flashes of it here and there throughout this meeting, anxious as she seemed to be. Such as now, when she was blabbering on and on about a cat. A smile quirked at the edge of his lips as she went on about how adorable it was, how it would eat out of her hand, and then--
"Wow."
She paused, flushing a bright shade of red, but all Neil did in response was grin. The edge of his lips twitched, and he let out a laugh; and then another, a louder one this time. And another, and another again. Neil covered his face with his hands to stop himself from bursting out into inappropriate peals, but he was practically guffawing at this point, eyes transfixed on her stunned reaction. "Oh god," he muttered. "I'm sorry but--" He never finished the sentence, but he was thinking cute. Cute. Was he being too forward, thinking like this? He was glad for the change of subject when she mentioned Disney, however.
"You should. I mean, we're in SoCal right? Might as well pay a little visit to the happiest place on earth!" |
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Post by KRISTEN MAYOR on Oct 18, 2013 20:15:22 GMT -8
Wow.
Wow.
W o w.
If it was possible to die from just one word and one word alone, Kris would have died on the spot just from that one-syllable remark. Oh god, she couldn't remember a time she had ever been so embarrassed before- or maybe she could if she sat down and thought about it, but right now? At this point in time? If it wasn't bad table manners to do so, she would have crawled under the table out of complete and utter embarrassment.
Instead, Kris buried her scorching face in her hands and ducked her head down, pressing her forehead against the cool table. The fact that he was laughing at her only served to add fuel to the fire; she honestly wouldn't have been surprised if she had smoke coming out of her ears. Why didn't she just leave when she had the chance? Why did she wait? She could have avoided all of this, and this never would have happened.
She stole a peek up at him as his laughter finally died down, though her face was still flushed scarlet. Great, he must think she was some crazy cat lady now. Kris slowly sat up again, not quite meeting his eyes as she fiddled with her chopsticks. And there went her appetite- her stomach was twisting itself into knots as she replayed the previous scene over and over in her mind. She was so stupid, holy crap. See, this was why she was better off communicating with people from behind a screen; talking to her face-to-face led to awkward moments like that.
Still, she couldn't exactly run off. Steeling herself, she mumbled a soft, "Sorry" under her breath, before plucking up a roll of sushi and popping it in her mouth. Just because she wasn't very hungry anymore didn't mean she could leave Neil to eat all this food by himself.
"Y-Yeah, I'd like to." She stammered quickly, latching onto the change of subject like it was a lifeline. She could accept that she had totally messed up, and that he was probably never going to want to do this ever again, so the least she could do was try not to fuck up anymore. "Maybe I'll go if I can get time off work during the week. I don't really want to go on a weekend, but if it can't be helped..." She shrugged helplessly, shoveling another piece of sushi in her mouth. The blush on her face was finally fading, thank god, but she still wanted to die. |
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Post by NEELANJAN MARTIN on Oct 19, 2013 18:43:50 GMT -8
Oh wow. Cute. Very cute. He couldn't help but smile to himself as his friend went bright crimson, probably wishing she was an ostrich so that she could bury her head into the ground. Neil debated whether he should prolong his misery by pointing out just how adorable it was, but decided against it. He still didn't know her all that well, not in person at least. People reacted differently on the Internet, he knew, and he didn't want to invest too much too quickly. They were friends, yes; close ones, of course. But the self-doubt that surfaced from the feelings of friendship, the sudden panic where he found himself too worried about what to say and do was something that he hadn't anticipated.
Maybe he wasn't as good with people as he believed. Not that he particularly enjoyed being around most people, but he'd always thought that he would be good at it-- and he had been. He knew what to say and do to make someone at least respect him, if not like him, so why was he starting to actually worry? Neil was quite confident that he'd be good in the workplace, smart enough to handle almost any situation thrown at him, but when faced with someone he cared about this was actually kind of nerve-wracking. He nodded as she mentioned the weekend.
"Yeah, I think I'll probably have to go on a weekend as well. Good luck trying to get a day off at Google," Neil laughed. Though he did like it-- he liked working with Google very much. The people were friendly and they knew what they were doing, and he was learning more and more with every passing day. And before he knew exactly what he was doing, he found himself tacking on, "If you don't have any solid plans, we should go together."
He felt a sudden lurch as he made the statement. Had that been appropriate? They had just met, after all. But then again, he was probably just overthinking this. For heaven's sake, they were friends. Good friends, at that. Still, how to friendship? Now that was something he'd never thought he would ever have to worry about. "It'll be crowded but I don't think school's out just yet. Only college. So maybe it won't be as bad as we'd think!"
The waitress came over with two hot steaming bowls of noodles, and laid them in front of the two. |
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