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angelinteractivestories · 7 years

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Lauren and Anon - 4

Hanni's shift has come to an end and she's sat down across from you. Her fingers are raking through her hair to deknot some of the gentle curls. She appears tired, but happy and content. You smile at her, she smiles back. "So want to talk, or what?"

Ask about her day.

"How was your day?" She rolls her shoulders, making a small groan before leaning across the table.

"Terrible. Something was up with my friend, she was in here earlier raising hell. Left when my boss told her to grow up or get out. No response from Lauren all day, customers have been rude.." Her hands are in her head now. "But!" She nearly bounces out of the chair. "That's fine because it's like a new day when work ends! How was yours?"

Dull.

"Dull. Nothing too exciting, just same old." She nods respectfully, taking your coffee for a sip of her own. "Hey."

"I made it, I deserve a sip." She grins at you, sliding the cup back to you. "Anyway I need to go home for a few minutes to check on something. I'm free after that."

I'll walk you there.

"I'll walk you home." She smiles and stands, allowing you to walk along beside her out of the door.

"That's nice of you, but you don't have to." You shrug and she keeps walking. You notice her glancing at you out of the corner of her eye, trying to pretend like she isn't. At the apartment you take the elevator up to the fourth floor. She goes to her apartment door and takes a deep breath before disappearing into her room.

Check my own apartment.

You step inside to check if you left anything on, or if you forgot anything. Everything appears to be in order, nothing wrong or missing. Hanni appeared behind you in the door frame. "Forget something?"

"Just checking something." You turn to face her. She's wearing different shirt this time, plain white that's a bit flowy toward the edges. "So want to do anything?" She puts a finger to her chin, humming before shrugging.

Hungry. "Hungry?" She shakes her head. You shrug and lean against the wall. "We could always just hang out and watch TV again." Ding, goes your phone. "Or play a game. But not sure I have anything you'll like." Ding chimes the phone once more.

"Popular, huh?" You shrug with a sheepish smile. "Let's watch TV until we can think of something."

Check phone.

You check your phone to find two texts from Remus. 'Checking in on my favorite friend.' 'Don't forget my loan.' You make a small groan before setting down on the couch next to Hanni who you notice is setting quite a distance farther from you than last time. "Whatcha want to watch?" You offer the remote to her and she goes to browsing.

Watch her. Your eyes drift to her. As before you notice her hair hasn't been tamed today but it's oddly cute. Her shirt, now that she's idle, has fallen on her body. Her slender fingers are clicking away at the remote. Occasionally her face makes a grimace or a small smile but she still hasn't stopped. Finally she halts on a channel dedicated to 'Cartoons of Years Past'. A lot of stuff you remember from your childhood is premiering. "Here we go!"

Continue.

You tear your eyes away to the TV for a moment but you find yourself gravitating back to Hanni. Her form is so serene now that she is occupied by something. She seems frail the more you observe her but there is still a sense of strength about her. You can't help but smile happily looking at her. A few moments pass and she glances at you, turning to look at you with a smile of her own. "Everything okay?"

Lost in thought. "Just lost in thought is all," you shrug and do manage to turn your attention back to the TV now. Your phone goes off again, but you choose not to check it this time. Whether this is because you feel it will ruin the moment or you dread who it may be from even you are unsure. But time passes nonetheless and soon the moment must come to an end.

You're pulled back to reality by Hanni gently touching your hand. "I'm gonna go now, okay?"

"Hng? Oh... Alright." You smile and stand, walking to the door with her. "Thanks for hanging out again Hanni."

"Hanni?" Ah shit. "I like it." She grins slightly, patting your hand before dashing across to her room. Both doors quickly shut behind her, leaving you alone with the sound of the TV.

Check phone. You check the message that came in on your phone. It's Lauren, oddly enough. 'Change of plans, you available tomorrow?' You have work obviously, but otherwise no plans as far as you're aware.

Sure. 'Yeah sure, what do you want to do? I work to about 2 but entirely free after that!' You fix a frozen dinner absentmindedly. You would cook. You should cook. But you just can't bring yourself to do it. It would be repetitive to say why at this point, but part of your mind is screaming it all along the way. The last time you cooked was for Samantha. It was tacos, funnily enough. ...You wonder if you'll ever be comfortable eating your own tacos again.

Ding! 'Meet me at the park tomorrow, surprise!'

Alright. 'Alright.' You the frozen dinner is prepared. You eat it and watch TV. You don't bother to change the channel, going on a nostalgia trip for the rest of the night. No botherings from the phone, mind happy, stomach happy. You go to bed satisfied that night. You dream of Hanni, Lauren, Remus. Even Adam. There was a bunch of coins and dice. Weird dream.

Shower. You hop in the shower, washing yourself off with the warm water. Everything always seems better in the shower. Things are okay, you're alone in your own little warm world. Perfect time. Another bowl of cereal and off to work. You get there and everyone is waiting around inside. Most of them seem weirdly out of place today.

Ask around. The first guy you go to, an acquaintance Will, is smiling brightly. "What's going on Will?" He glances at you, never losing his smile. "Hello?"

"Boss told us to wait here. We are." He didn't expressly tell you to wait. But would it be better to wait around yourself? Customers would start filing in soon. It crosses your mind that you most likely need groceries yourself as well. Should do that soon before you run out of supplies.

Wait. You decide to wait around yourself as well. Only a moment passes before Boss comes back. She waves everyone off to work, saying she was sorry for the delay that it was a false alarm. You go on your way to your station.

About ten minutes pass before your first customer comes along. Samantha. "Hello ma'am, how was your shopping experience?"

"Good thank you." She's just putting everything on the conveyor belt, being actually respectable for once.

Stick to the script. "Would you like a Company Affiliated Credit Card?" You begin to ring up her groceries when she doesn't respond, sacking it all for her as she throws it into her cart. In silence you both finish the transaction. "Thank you for shopping, have a great day!" She makes a grunt and goes on her way.

Lauren Surprise huh? What could it be. She hasn't been dealing with you outside of the necklace. She didn't even know any of your interests. What kind of surprise...

Work goes by quickly and you make your way to the park, still in uniform, still wondering what could be going on. You take a seat at a bench, waiting for... "Hey there!" She puts her hands over your eyes from behind.

Smile. You smile but choose to stay silent. Moments pass. "Hey, talk to me." You continue to stay silent, you can feel her leaning on you from behind. Her hands leaves your eyes, revealing her upside down face in your face. "You're no fun."

Tease. You reach up, grabbing both of her cheeks with your hands. "They call me Joy Buzzington. Don't forget that, I'll just absorb all your fun." You pat both her cheeks gently, pushing your twisting yourself to look behind the bench as she straightens up.

"I'll remember that. Come on, let's go!"

Go where? "Where are we going?" You stand anyway, allowing yourself to follow her somewhat mindlessly. She giggles without giving you a response continuing to skip along.

"Don't question, just follow!" You continue along, passing by more and more windows that continue to blur together. Finally you stop in front of a thematic restaurant. A Ramen shop, themed around street shops in Japan.

Looks nice. "It looks nice." She nods excitedly, bouncing around to face you. She's wearing the necklace again. At least she's getting good mileage out of it.

"I wanted to thank you and I thought this would be a good way to start!" Without warning she goes on her tiptoes, pecking your lips before disappearing into the building. You stand there, starstruck for a second before entering in after her. She's already gotten a two person table for you.

Recommend anything? "Do you recommend anything?" You sit down across the table from her. "I'm up to try anything knew so don't worry about my disposition."

"I would try the Tonkotsu Ramen if I were you. It's all on me, by the way! So don't even think about paying anything." A waiter has approached you both, giving a respectful bow.

Chef’s Special.

"Yes sir, but what toppings would you like?" You glance at Lauren who quickly butts in.

"He'll have seasoned pork, boiled egg, and kamaboko." He nods and scribbles it down, then getting her order after before disappearing away again. "Trust me you're going to love this. If you've seen any anime ever you've just ordered the most stereotypical ramen as well, so you're in for a treat if that's your style." You can't help but appreciate how passionate and enthusiastic she is. It's improving your mood as well, and helping you discover exactly what you saw in her that night.

Alright "Alright." Looking around you can really appreciate just how 'authentic' the restaurant is made to be. It's all stylistic, there's a bar or two around for anyone looking for some good sake. The few booths that are around are small. Mostly designed for two people, party ones spruced here and there. Paper lanterns hanging from the ceiling, paintings...

"It's beautiful, isn't it?"

I guess. "I guess." Looking now you can appreciate her looks. She's wearing a black band shirt, her hair is kept in a short straight pixie cut, her brown eyes are observing you silently.

Start a conversation. "How was your Christmas?"

"Excellent! Yours?" Your mind flashes back to the lazy day spent on the couch with Hanni. A small sigh escapes your lips.

"Great." You flash a smile, your eyes glancing around her smiling face. She's extremely peppy today. "How's games?"

"Don't get me started. Had a horrid losing streak yesterday. It went onto like, seven matches in a row."

Nod. You nod and let her go on, and on about how every one of the matches was. Your eyes wander over her. She's not as thin or frail as Hanni, but she has a larger sense of delicacy about her. Often times that's not a good thing, you think to yourself. A sense of delicacy can be good of course but it leads to breakage quickly and easily. Snapping mentally, assault...

You pull your mind away when the ramen is sat down in front of you. It smells and looks wonderful. But... You don't know how to use chopsticks.

Try to learn. You slowly pick them up, trying to figure it out yourself. Fumble, pick them back up. Fumble, pick them back up. ...You have a small understanding of it now, far from proficient but enough to eat it. All of the flavors mix together, it tastes heavenly. Lauren is staring you down as you eat, grinning widely when she sees the pleasure cross your face.

Raise eyebrow You raise an eyebrow in her direction which is responded to by a small giggle as she starts digging into her own. You both share the serene moment, slowly eating and enjoying the ramen together. "Thanks for having this meal with me, I know it's not much but it's a start on repaying you." You nod.

"I'm having a great time, don't worry about it."

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