arturodelisle

[arturodelisle]

[arturodelisle]

"Taro's like...it's a type of root that's in a lot of the ocean and southeast Asian countries, like the Philippines...Vietnam," He gave a little nod towards Sofia, "It tastes kinda of like a savory vanilla, slight taste of cashews. Hard to explain. Most important, it's a lavender purple color. It's so good. Especially if you mix it with coconut flavor too, if you like that."

Arturo was rather pleased to be able to show off some more knowledge he had. He hoped Sofia would find him intelligent, and more worldly than he was.

"But they have plenty of other flavors too. Strawberry, matcha, chocolate--really anything"

Arturo nodded once more when Sofia declined his offer to carry her books. He worried that perhaps he had far overstepped, or possibly insulted her. It would just be his luck if he had.

"Ok, cool, just thought I'd offer...I didn't mean it as an insult, I believe you're strong I just.....sorry, my bad." Art frowned for a moment. "Class was good though. Lot of memorizing a whole lot of Latin vocabulary that is used in different laws. It feels like there's a million terms, and I have to memorize like, fifty to one hundred a week and how they're applied, as well as the name of a case that term was used in. I'm going to be up studying a lot, that's for sure. How was your class?"

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Jelly bubbles. It sounded so wonderfully peculiar... But Sofia knew it was a pretty popular thing, so she just nodded, wondering what flavor she would end up picking.

"... What's Taro?" she asked, hoping it wasn't too much of an obvious thing, and that it didn't help to confirm how ignorant she was. Still, if Art liked it, she figured she could give it a try.

"Oh, no, thank you," Sofia said with a smile, hoisting the bag's strap over her shoulder. Despite being rather short and unimpressive, she had quite some experience carrying heavy bags. "I'm stronger than I look." Besides, she didn't want to be a bother, though she did truly appreciate Art's thoughtfulness.

Sofia gave a couple steps towards him, so they could walk side by side. Walking with a boy she liked. "Alright, I'm ready." She could barely contain her grin and turn it into something she suspected was more appropriate to a nice afternoon with a potential new friend. "How was your class?"

[arturodelisle]

Arturo was not sure what was so funny, but he could not help but smile softly as the sound of Sofia's giggle. She was beyond cute; Sofia was adorable. It gave him butterflies just thinking about how precious and sweet she was.

Arturo was nervous as he waited for her response. Everything had been going so poorly in his life recently -all the time, really- that even hoping this would go even a tiny bit well felt risky. Finally she answered, with a yes too!

"Oh rad, cool." He said. He fought the urge not to wince at how painfully aloof that sounded. He perked up his tone a bit. "Oh it's really cool, there's all these different flavors, and these little jelly bubbles in it at the bottom-I like Taro flavor best."

He was going to keep talking, but he found himself getting distracted by her as she got ready to go. When she finished putting away her text book and eating her apple, he spoke again.

"Want me to carry your book bag for you? Since we got a bit of a walk and it looks pretty heavy-not that I don't think you can carry it or anything like that, and only if you'd like, I just thought I'd offer--"

It felt to weird to say "because that's what men do," so he left that out. Too outdated. He then worried the whole thing sounded patronizing. He just knew it was considered polite for men to offer to carry things for women, such as heavy books. He may be a Lost Boy, but he was a Lost Boy who had read a romance novel or two, or three, in his time.

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"Yeah," Sofia repeated with a quiet giggle. He was so endearing... She did wonder what he had seen in his class that day. She wondered if he had any exams soon. She wondered if he would like to study together --just them two providing each other company while going over their own exam subjects, even in silence, sounded really nice. Just knowing he was nearby, maybe even getting to talk a little before saying goodbye, sounded indeed wonderful to her. She had no study partners, and if he agreed to it, she would love for him to be her first one.

And then... Arturo invited her somewhere. Sofia stared at him for a moment, wondering what that meant. It could just mean nothing more than what it was. It could be him being friendly, which, considering her experience (or lack of it) with friends, could just be the best thing she could hope for. Sofia chewed on her lip for a second but immediately stopped, knowing how it would look like, as if she was nervous. Which she was --but she did not want him to know.

"I'm coming... I mean, I just came from class," she replied. "I... I've never had bubble tea. But I'd like to try." That was a rather roundabout way of agreeing. "I mean... Yes." With a nod, Sofia put her textbook back in her bag, gave the apple one last bite, and got on her feet. She was about to ask how far this place was, before realizing she didn't care much. She would bike to the next town if necessary, or so she thought, as she gazed at Arturo and realized about how much of an adventure it was, going to have bubble tea with a boy she liked. It really spoke of how sheltered she actually was.

[arturodelisle]

[arturodelisle]

[arturodelisle]

[arturodelisle]

A skunk was foraging in my yard this morning, I’m so happy he stuck around! (Also had a staring contest with a squirrel)

(Photos taken by me on FujiFilm X-T30)

[arturodelisle]

Arturo was pleased to hear the bike was still all in good shape. He had not doubted his own skills, but it was always nice to know that in this circumstance he had truly done right by someone he was trying so hard to impress.

"Oh sweet," Arturo replied. "And yeah, coming out of class yeah. It was..fine yeah-"

He had to think quickly. He was repeating himself a bit out of needing to fill the air while he thought about what to say next. They could not talk about the bike forever, and he did not entirely want to keep things focused on school, and run the risk of boring Sofia with getting too into the details.

"You coming or going to class too?" Art said, "Cause if you're going maybe we could talk about it over bubble tea....or something?"

He hoped that suggestion would not put her off. Friends got stuff together all the time, it wasn't explicitly asking her out on a date. It wasn't not-not either. It was grabbing something after class with a friend. If she said yes. It then really started to sink in that she could say no and end the conversation there. Or get weird now. Arturo tried really hard to keep his face relaxed and not betray the fact that he was actually very nervous, having asked that.

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Sofia kept smiling wide as he approached her, though she gripped the edge of her textbook with one hand, and sank her nails in the apple with the other. What was she doing? She had wanted to see him again, but she needed to think what she would say; otherwise, whatever chance she had had at being Arturo's friend might be completely ruined. After all, there was no prepared script, no ready topic, no planned structure. The subject of the bike had been basically exhausted. There were no safeguards to prevent Sofia from saying something weird or inappropriate or possibly misunderstood. Still smiling, she hummed extremely quietly, so low it could almost be a hidden groan.

"Hey," she said. For a moment she was truly so happy that she forgot her own anxieties. "... Ah, yes, the bike is fine," she replied, and gestured behind her, where her bike was parked. "I came here on it and it worked just perfectly, just as before."

She remained silent, trying to think of something else she could talk about or ask without being intrusive. How had Sofia managed at the garage? She had her bike to talk about, she guessed... And college. That was a topic they had touched upon. "Um... Are you coming out of class?" Of course he was! "... Was it good?"

[arturodelisle]

Arturo could not stop thinking about the girl he had met at the garage. Arturo was a rather unlucky man, but he was not entirely without his successes with men and women before, so it had thrown him entirely just how nervous he had gotten around her.

Sofia.

She was just so....everything. At least from the time they spent together, just under an hour. Stunningly gorgeous- he could not stop thinking about her round face, and the way her smiles always lifted her cheeks up merrily towards her eyes, and how much joy and warmth that carried. How it felt like her eyes twinkled when she did that. Her hair was so long and soft looking, and matched her lovely dark eyes. Her hands looked gentle and almost delicate, but there was a real strength in how she carried herself. Of course, she was also rather curvy, especially with her short height, and Art had spent more time than a gentleman would care to admit thinking about the way her blouse had stretched over her chest.

Most importantly to him though, she was just so....kind. Sweet. She had looked so genuine in her interest in what he was saying. She had been so friendly in a time when Arturo really needed that. Tina in the hospital, his siblings still engaged in a civil war--Arturo missed just having a calm, positive force around him. Something he did not always get at the garage, given that nobody like car troubles, or how expensive the bills Arturo would have to hand them were.

He had been walking away from his finished class when he heard his name. He almost didn't looked up; Despite Arturo being a rather uncommon, if not rare, name in their area, there was always the sinking feeling that one could not possibly be calling upon him. He almost wondered if perhaps he had imagined hearing his name, and certainly in Sofia's voice. He looked up regardless, and was pleasantly surprised to see it was her. He walked over to her with a smile upon his face.

"Hey Sofia," He greeted. "What's up? Bike still working fine?"

starter for @arturodelisle

Sitting on a bench outside of the university building, eating an apple and with a textbook open on her lap, Sofia reread the message Arturo had sent her, smiling brightly. She had written to him after dinner, the night after they met, thanking him once more for fixing her bike free of charge, and for taking the time to explain to her how to fix it. Nervous about realizing she probably should not send someone a text that late, Sofia was delighted when he replied. He had said she could always text him if she needed anything... Just him replying meant a lot to her.

Since then, Sofia had been wondering if she should ask him to see each other again. Another first for her. Despite her anxieties, she was still riding a wave of giddy confidence, with no idea of how long it would last. Maybe he would truly like to plan to meet sometime... Then again, as friendly as Arturo had been, she didn't know if asking something like that would be welcome, especially since they had met while he was working... She was unsure, but she had a suspicion that it might be rather inappropriate.

She looked up from her phone, sighed and wished she could ask Guinevere for her advice. The most likely response she would get from her, Sofia knew, was that she should focus on her studies and her work, and try and give up any romance fantasies that might keep her daydreaming and distracted--

Then, in the crowd of students leaving their classes to have some lunch, she saw him. She almost didn't realize it was him: he looked remarkably different from when he was on the job, now dressed in dark jeans and a t-shirt, now clean of any soot and grease. In any case, he still looked quite cute.

Sofia grinned and waved at him. "Arturo!" she called, before even realizing what she was doing.

[arturodelisle]

Brandon Perea via Twitter

[arturodelisle]

"I haven't heard of you." Arturo said honestly. Once the words came out of his mouth he realized that they might be interpreted as rude rather than of the truth. "---probably because I don't get out too much these days. You know how it is."

At the mentioning of the poisoning, and of Tina he froze. This reality had become his hell on earth. He was tired, fitting in visits between shifts at work a often time just taken off. He just wanted his family to be okay. He just wanted Tina to be okay. And If that meant James being okay too, well then so be it- him too.

"Y-yeah sure. I don't know if I'll be any help but I can see what I can do."

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Chelsea clicked her tongue and sighed. "You see... There's no gentle way of saying this. I'm Chelsea Katz, reporter for the Daily Hollow. You might have heard of me." She figured everyone who read the local newspaper had seen her name printed under the headlines at some point. "We're very concerned with this whole... Y'know, poisoning situation going on in town," she said as she made a sweeping gesture with her sunglasses. "And it seems the Bell couple are the latest victims of it."

People were obviously sensitive to this subject. Especially, of course, those who knew the ones now in intensive care. Chelsea talked carefully and with a proper tinge of concern in her voice, not too much to sound pitiful, not too slow to sound condescending. By this point in her career, she knew exactly how her speech might be misinterpreted.

"Would you mind it too much for me to ask you a couple questions?"

[arturodelisle]

it’s insane how things continue to happen

[arturodelisle]

i feel so left out. like everyone around me knows how to be a human and i don’t.

[arturodelisle]

Arturo looked back at the cars in the garage. He had been working all day, but no one was due to pick up any of these cars until tomorrow. He was not quite sure what the woman was there to speak about; She did not seem particularly worried about a car.

"Oh this is all the usual," Arturo said, "What can I help you with?"

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"Ah, indeed. Not very smart," Chelsea nodded. She carefully left the cigarette on the ground outside the entrance to the garage, and stepped on it with her heel.

Once the fire hazard was dealt with, she finally entered the garage. Call her crazy (and people did, and often), but she actually enjoyed the smell of gas and oil. There was something familiar about it by now, the strong chemical sting carrying memories of gas stations on the road, of bus stops in the deep of the night... As a woman with some mileage, that smell was powerfully evocative, and as harsh as it was, so were some of those memories.

"You seem to be up to your ears in engines and carburators," she commented, gesturing at the disassembled cars waiting for their turn to be examined and fixed. "Is this a bad time?"

[arturodelisle]

It was not necessarily his favorite job at the garage. He'd rather be working on the cars (and the occasional bike) there. He'd rather be in the comfort of the garage, with the comfort of nothing but the sound of music and wrenches. An engine coming back to life. These types of assignments sucked for an even bigger reason: People were always mad. At him. As if he was the one who gave out tickets in Redwood.

"No ma'am," Arturo said, his voice respectful, if not a bit on the aloof side. "Actually here to tow a car. Hope it ain't yours."

open starter @happieststarters

"Thank you, enjoy the movie," Shock half muttered in a monotone. She handed the ticket stub to the last person in the line for the latest dumb overbudgeted PG-13 comedy, and was then left alone at her podium by the lobby. Carthay Cinemas was pretty small, so all the screens were busy and focused on the new blockbuster. Shock had felt a twinge of pride, though, at learning that the only horror movie being shown there was doing quite well for itself. She would have to find some friend to drag along to it sometime soon.

Employees weren't meant to use their phones during work hours, but it wasn't as if Shock was any close to start caring. Soon she'd have her lunchbreak; her craving for a cigarette, however, could not wait the fifteen minutes there were still left for it.

She put the little sign on the podium, got out the backdoor to the narrow alley behind the cinema building, and pulled out a lighter and a cigarette pack from her jeans' back pocket. Shock was just trying to light it when she saw someone nearby. She tilted her head and shot them a look, unsure of what their deal was... Though she could guess.

"... Are you trying to sneak in?" she asked them with a little chuckle. "If you are, man, your skills could use some fine-tuning."

[arturodelisle]

“But there was the arrow. He took it from her heart and faced his band. “Whose arrow?” he demanded sternly. “Mine, Peter,” said Tootles on his knees. “Oh, dastard hand,” Peter said, and he raised the arrow to use it as a dagger. Tootles did not flinch. He bared his breast. “Strike, Peter,” he said firmly, “strike true.” Twice did Peter raise the arrow, and twice did his hand fall. “I cannot strike,” he said with awe, “there is something stays my hand.””

— J. M. Barrie - Peter Pan