green day music softly plays making this OPEN log immediately nauseating

[inthirds]

WHO: Zelgadis and YOU
WHERE: OUTDOORS
WHEN: THIS WEEK, ANY TIME.
WARNINGS: aruughhhhhh so uncuuuured
SUMMARY: experimentating but not in the way you think
FORMAT: no

Comments

TODAY? BLONDE EDITION TERRA

[speedofnaked]

It wasn't a scream of horror, and it could qualify as perfectly mundane, but it probably wasn't the sort of interaction Zelgadis wanted, either. After all, days with Terra rarely turned out the way he wanted.

It was an ordinary set up: Terra, who had been suffering from off-and-on migraines for the past several days, had left her apartment in search of what it was normal people used to deal with this sort of thing. With said headache, she wasn't the most aware of her surroundings, and so in taking one quick turn around a corner found her running into Zelgadis.

Literally, of course. And, of course, while colliding with a statue of a man would do little to knock his balance, Terra was easily knocked back a couple steps with a quiet noise of pain, one hand rising to cradle her forehead. Slamming face-first into brick walls was hardly a headache remedy, after all.

[inthirds]

He barely had the time to pipe up and warn her of the incoming collision before...well...collision. His shoulders shrugged up impulsively on impact and hands shot out to grab her if she wobbled backwards...which, of course...was pointless. She stepped away on her own.

Zelgadis grimaced.

"Are...you okay?"

[speedofnaked]

There was no falling over from the collision, thankfully, but at the sound of his voice, her expression shifted quickly; surprise, a small wince around her eyes as migraine's punishment for looking so fast, and once she registered that yes indeed, this was Zelgadis, a small smile brushed the pain aside.

"Yeah, I'm okay," she replied, standing a little straighter as she recovered her balance. "Sorry, I didn't notice you there."

[inthirds]

He was immediately guilty, catching the look of pain on her face before her expression changed. Immediately...something else at the smile, gulping.

"Oh," he blurted, not thinking. The recovery came with a dry look, though not rooted in negativity. "That's new."

[miraclefusion]

Juudai was not typically the type to stare, and that certainly held true in this case, but something specific he couldn't quite put his finger on grabbed him about Zelgadis. Perhaps not in the way most people fused to an equally "hideous" dragon would have thought to notice him, though...

"Hey, uh," he said casually as he tapped him on the shoulder, "you wouldn't happen to be a Duel Monster, would you?"

[inthirds]

The voice drew him much more than the tap - barely noticeable when one's made of rocks, after all. He barely had a chance to focus his gaze before processing very key words. Selective hearing of the miserable.

Monster?

Zelgadis' mouth drew into a fast, thin line of a grimace at first, quickly warping into a scowl blended with suspicion and immediate distaste. Who was this jerk? Monster?

Monster??

Out loud, spoken so casually by a completely random stranger...Zelgadis' expression got very murky as he began to turn, using what height he had on the boy to loom and not exactly help his image problems. By then, though, his surge of anger had conceded to just being outright hurt. It wasn't like Xellos had popped up to troll him...it was just some...guy.

"I'm not a monster," he insisted, just an edge of desperation in that.

[miraclefusion]

That... wasn't the reaction he'd been expecting. Maybe just an irritated "no, get lost" at very worst, but not such a knee-jerk defensiveness. Still, it was probably understandable, he supposed. Juudai shook his head, a bewildered expression written all over his face.

"Wha-- no, no, not like that! That's what they're called. I guess if you don't know, you must not be, but... was worth a shot in asking."

He grinned a little uneasily, but soon dropped it in realizing just how miserable this guy was acting. Then, with a much softer tone and as much sincerity as he could muster, "Really, I'm not calling you a monster. I'd be a total hypocrite if I was."

[inthirds]

Zelgadis almost outright flinched at the reply, looking pained. He didn't understand what was happening; why would someone ask something like that and then relent all of a sudden? Was he being jerked around? Did he mishear? Not likely - not with those freakishly pointy, acute hearing.

"What are you talking about?"

LONG INTRO ...THE REST WILL BE SHORT I PROMISE... SOB

[baillonner]

It used to be that she could drift through a crowd without noticing anyone. She would be completely alone, paying no mind to the vacuous and minute details of anything around her. People had been deemed impertinent and without value, and so she'd carry out the task of living with a calculated form of tunnel vision, allowing everyone and everything else to fade from her senses.

She wasn't sure if she was incapable of such things now, but as Chane Laforet waited for the street signal to blink the affirmation that it was okay to cross the street, she began to pick up on things she once easily ignored. A couple made small talk beside her as they, too, waited, with the man being exaggeratedly attentive. To her left was a child's enthusiasm about a museum, and to her right a woman pressed down upon the buttons of her compact phone in a flurry of impelled movements, eyes puffy and red and nose sniffling repeatedly

GIVE ME ALL OF YOUR WORDS OF EVERY LENGTH

[inthirds]

Zelgadis had had to stop and give himself something other than more people to look at. That was why he was there, back against the wall of the insurance building and head tilted up just enough to give himself a view higher than the bodies bustling this way and that around him. At that angle, all he could do was assume gawking, not actually confirm it.

He didn't register the sounds of runaway fruit or any light impact they may've had bumping into his shoe, but he was very quickly aware of the space taken up by a body drawing close at a pace much less self-absorbed and hurried than the others making their ways. It became a double-take, his fast glance to his side partnered with a jolt back to reality bringing his whole head back down to turn and stare back at the girl staring at him. It was immediately an alarming and uncomfortable moment, given the many conclusions he could draw from all that.

Quickly eager to not be the center of focus, Zelgadis whipped his head the other way, looking for something that was perhaps the real focus

[baillonner]

When she had reached the apple that was furthest from him, Chane repositioned the bag against her in a more fastened manner, allowing herself to crouch down to her knees properly and as lady-like as possible. She retrieved the fruit in an almost meticulous manner, blinking slowly at Zelgadis as she held the fruit up. Her eyes left him for a moment, examining the object in front of her to ensure its cleanliness and lack of bruising, and she figured she could just peel all of the apples in a practical manner. That way, concerns of sanitation weren't really an issue.

When she brought herself to stand upright, she noticed a displeased look on the man's face, and wondered if it was because she had just plucked an apple off the ground and put it back into her grocery bag. She took a few steps closer toward the apple by his shoe, her gaze flickering swiftly back from the apple to the man.

What would be the polite thing to do in a situation like this?

[inthirds]

It took a second longer to register just what she was doing, recoiling a bit more than what was necessary to edge out of her way.

"Oh." Oh. Something fell. The seconds ticking by past that were more than enough to start to feel foolish; it was already too late to do much to help her out. Well, damn.

When he realized he was being looked at again, he averted his gaze, a hand settling on the back of his neck awkwardly as he cleared his throat. It was probably rude of him to look down at her at that angle.