Still I'm spinning like a roundabout in motion

[allmydiredreams]

On the front of the Kashtta, there is a small heap of angles, knotted hair, and tattered clothes. It's up against the Kashtta's wall, one hand pressed flat against the building's wall and face totally obscured by tangles. For a good few minutes, it doesn't move, but then with a small gasp, the hand balls into a fist, hits the wall, then uncurls

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[doyoulikecake]

Kaden doesn't actually notice Elizabeth until she speaks, as he's too busy trying to figure out how he's going to get this thing off his book without touching it too much (and also trying to figure out where its bones are, if it has any, and whether or not he should try and figure out how its nervous system works in such a public place). And when she does speak, he jumps, the inch of ash from his cigarette dropping as he nearly drops the cigarette itself.

"Elizabeth! Hi. Help would be--yeah, that'd be great, actually." He sets what's left of the cigarette down in the ashtray, scooting away a bit with a small smile. It's a slightly edgy smile, not really nice enough; it's hard to smile now without that edge there. "Though I'm wondering if I should keep it and study it or not."

Then the rest of what she initially said actually registers, beyond his surprise at her appearing by him and his distraction with the octoplatypus. He turns back to said platypus-thing, more to hide a grimace than anything -- that entry was a slip, a mistake, something he shouldn't have done. He can't afford to make mistakes like that. He shouldn't have had his journal out at all, but Lily hadn't hidden it well enough.

He can't think about it, not too hard, because the Calling surges, pins and needles in his arms and shoulders flaring up again. He resists the urge to wrap his arms around himself, press his hands against the wingscars, get it to stop. Instead, he reaches for his cigarette again. "What journal entry?" he asks, looking back over at her with a completely innocent expression on his face now that he's conquered the grimace. "I mean, it's good to see you as well, and I'm sorry I just dropped off the face of the earth like that, but..."

It isn't necessary to complete the sentence; she can hear the question in his tone well enough, he's sure.

[pplrunincircles]

Elizabeth is not the most perceptive person, which has been mentioned before, but she is able to pay much more attention when she's concerned about someone. She notices him jump, and it's almost funny that she's managed to sneak up on someone else for a change. Almost.

"You could keep it and study it even if I put it on the ground. It doesn't look like it can move very fast... on land so we just gotta find a box to throw it in so you can take it to some place that's good for studying."

She reaches over and takes hold of the places on the creature that look like she can hold on to. It's not as easy as one would think, and then she sets it down on the ground and wipes her hands on her jeans. It was definitely covered in some kind of slime. Yick.

Elizabeth looks back at him. She doesn't believe the innocent expression obviously, because she saw the entry. If he doesn't want to talk about it, she won't bring it up though. Elizabeth slides on to a seat at the table, and she shrugs.

"It's totally okay," she says, twirling a strand of hair around her finger as she looks at him with a small smile. "It happens sometimes. As long as you're okay, it's really all that matters. I was just concerned is all."

She still is concerned, but there's nothing that can be done about some stuff. Bad will happen. People will have to disappear for some time. She understands that. If she does hear the question in his tone, she doesn't seem to want to give it an answer.

"So what were you working on before the creature fell out of the sky and landed on your... work?"

[doyoulikecake]

Kaden was pushing things away from the creature, though when she grabs it he stops, papers in hand, and blinks at it on the ground. It doesn't look like it can move all that terribly fast, she's right. "Good point," he says, setting the papers back down. He nudges it with one rather expensive shoe; it hisses at him, and he smiles again. Yeah, he'll keep this thing.

He takes another drag on the cigarette, then, standing up and dumping the more sensitive research into his bag under the guise of clearing the table off. He's not leaving it out here, even if Elizabeth wasn't sitting right there, for just anyone to see. "I'm fine," he lies. "Definitely fine. I've just been really busy and I tend to lose track of my journal."

Right, he was getting a bucket. "One second," he says, starting toward the coffeeshop; halfway there, he turns around again, walking backwards and calling out, "Do you want anything? And I'll answer that question as soon as I'm out, I just don't want that thing to wander off."

[pplrunincircles]

Elizabeth smiles when it hisses. It's kinda neat anyway. Who would have guessed that a thing like that would make a sound like that? Kinda weird. But there's a lot about the world that's weird.

She nods when he tells her that he's fine, taking some napkins from a nearby table and tearing them into pieces. Elizabeth then tries to tie the pieces together. "That's good. Yeah, you told me when I met you that it's easier to get a hold of you through e-mail, but I like... forgot. I don't use a computer that much, but I would've thought about it if I was like using one. Definitely. But I'm glad you're fine. I know you have a lot going on and all."

Elizabeth stretches her foot out to keep the creature from sliding too far away, which may not be the smartest idea since she's not wearing protective shoes. Oh well! She looks at Kaden at the question.

"Any drink that's high in sugar and caffeine? Thank you! I can pay you back! But I'll totally watch your creature for you while you... go. Make sure it doesn't escape." She turns her attention back to the animal by her flip flops, frowning at it a bit. "...you need a name. George? You kinda look like a George."

[doyoulikecake]

Kaden nods and gives her a thumbsup, and then disappears inside the coffeeshop. Getting the coffee is pretty quick, though Elizabeth's drink takes a bit longer than his; the bucket is what takes longer.

When Elizabeth puts her foot out, the creature hisses again, wrapping it's tentacles around said foot, each little sucker suctioning on as it tries to drag its "prey" toward its mouth. Om nom nom?

Kaden's just going to sit and watch that through the window like the creepster he is while the barista makes their drinks. But soon enough he's back out, carrying the coffee in the plastic recycle bin they gave him to use. He puts that down carefully next to the thing, and then hands her a froofy sugary coffee concoction that's honestly probably more sugar than coffee. He doesn't drink those, but he's well-versed in them; they're pretty much what Lily lives on, after all.

"To be honest, I've been falling behind on my email a little lately as well," he admits, sitting back down. He takes a sip of his coffee and grimaces, putting it back down. More caffeine, on top of the amount already in his system and the drugs, is probably not going to stay down. So instead he pulls his cigarettes back out. "Hope you don't mind?" he says -- it's not really a question, as he's going to smoke whether she likes it or not -- and lights one.

"But anyway. Right. I'm putting together information on angels and demons for someone -- just a basic overview, kind of like what we did. I actually used some of the same materials." He shuffles the papers around a bit, stacking them neater. "Also some schoolwork, grading papers. Some work for my job. Mostly that, I guess. How've you been?"

Seeing as he just dropped off the face of the earth without warning, and therefore was unable to keep tabs on her, it is an important thing to know. Much more important than talking about his work.

[pplrunincircles]

Elizabeth makes a face at George. Does it have teeth? She can't really tell. It's not like she'll mind her foot being nommed on if it's not painful, but just to be safe she yanks her foot back so it doesn't get stuck in the things' mouth.

She takes the drink with a smile, pulling out five dollars and setting it on the table in front of him. "Thank you." Elizabeth prefers her drinks to be more sugar than coffee. She really shouldn't have much of either, but it happens. A lot. As she likes caffeine and sugar.

Elizabeth is sipping it down and staring at George still. It's not going anywhere, but if it does, she'll pick it up and put it into the bucket. It's neat, whatever it is.

"That's okay. Sometimes we get really busy. It's cool," she says and then she shakes her head when he asks if she minds the cigarette. Elizabeth doesn't really care if he smokes at all. Why would she? It's not like it matters to her.

Elizabeth smiles when he explains. It seems like years and years ago when he did that for her. "That's good. Somebody has to put that information all out there where people can learn it if they want to. There's a lot to know."

She shrugs at the question, plays with the straw in the cup, and looks over at him through her hair. "Okay. I've just been busy doing the angel thing, you know, and hanging out with friends and stuff. I even did some studying even though you weren't around. I don't know how..." Elizabeth frowns. The more she thinks about studying, the more she thinks that it's a waste of her time. She does want her GED, but she doesn't want to waste any of her limited time. "I went out of the state for the first time ever this past weekend. I got to fly in an airplane. It was pretty cool."

[doyoulikecake]

Kaden waves a dismissive hand at the money. Five dollars is absolutely nothing to him, the guy who regularly drops a hundred on a new pair of jeans. It's no big deal. Though if she insists, sure, he'll take it. If people refuse his niceties, well, they don't need them.

"Yeah, you'd think there'd be more books readily available to the public, or at least the supernatural community," he muses, taking a drag on his cigarette. He's jittering, unable to keep still. "I'm glad you kept up with some of the studying, at least, despite 'the angel thing' and all. You're taking that a lot more seriously now, then?" The smile he gives her with this is stretched thin, and he taps ash into the ashtray.

[pplrunincircles]

Elizabeth frowns at the five dollar bill and then slides it back into her pocket. It isn't like it's exactly her mother. She isn't the one earning it, and she doesn't like to spend it if she doesn't have to.

"You would think but I guess since the public doesn't know or doesn't want to know, it's like hard to make that stuff available for people," she says after a moment where she's put some real thought into it.

Real thought from Elizabeth does take a moment of quiet thinking after all.

She glances at his expression, and she shrugs. "I don't know. I want my GED, but sometimes I don't really know why. Sometimes I feel like I'm not even..." Elizabeth slips her hand into her hair and takes in a deep breath as she tries to work through the words to explain it all. "It's not like any of that will last long. It's not like I'll use that for anything. I still want it, but it gets-- it seems useless sometimes."

[doyoulikecake]

Well, at least she's not insisting. He takes another drag on his cigarette, listening carefully to her words, taking in everything her body language is telling him. It's the same stare he gives everyone whenever he's talking to them -- really talking, not just being polite -- though the light in his eyes is a bit more intense than usual. No big deal. He's just jittery, and she's seen him like this before.

"It can seem pointless, sometimes," says, nodding. It's never been pointless to him, but he's met enough people that have felt that way to at least know how to pretend to understand. "It's just -- you know how I am. It will open up so many opportunities in the future, even if you don't think you'll want to pursue them."

He fidgets a bit more, the hand holding his cigarette moving to poke at his shoulder hard enough the knuckles turn white. A bit of ash falls on his shirt, but he doesn't really notice. "That feeling wouldn't have anything to do with your Calling, would it?" he asks.

[pplrunincircles]

Yes, Elizabeth has seen him like this before, and it's why she doesn't make a big deal about it. For the most part, she doesn't notice. She isn't perceptive in the way that he is or Josef if. She can tell that there's something different.

She looks at him when he nods, because she knows that education means something different to him than it does to her. But maybe he understands that he's not like her and that it is different for her. "It's not that I don't--"

Elizabeth presses her lips together. This is hard. It's hard to talk about. She doesn't like to talk about it. If she's not talking about it only with Josef, she doesn't feel safe saying it. It feels like the words will become-- they'll make the cracks come again. She won't be able to pull herself back, and it's-

"Look angels of death don't live very long, and even if they do, they're not..." Not the same. Like she isn't the same after death number one hundred. She clamps down on the panic in her chest, because she knows what it feels like to lose her mind and that's what waits her soon if she doesn't die. "We know that. I know it. Everybody... knows it. I don't... really have a future? I just have a Right Now."

gawd epiclate comment is epic late. .__.

[doyoulikecake]

He's silent through all of it. There's no real need for him to say anything just yet; he's just going to watch the cracks. The way she presses her lips together, doesn't quite look at him. He moves to flick ash from his cigarette and nearly drops it instead, but even as he fumbles with it, he doesn't really take his eyes off her. He's not sure he can.

"Yeah," he says, his voice a bit quieter. "You remember when we first met, and I warned you AoD's Callings could be problematic? This is what I meant."

He shoves himself back, so the back of the chair hits the bottoms of his shoulderblades roughly -- tingling centers there for a moment instead of pain, but it takes his mind off of Elizabeth long enough for him to look away. "And...I get it," he continues, then waves his cigarette at her to cut off anything she might say. "I know you're going to think I'm humoring you, but I do get it."

Another drag, finally; the cigarette ends up smushed into the ashtray near him. "Did something happen?"