Post by photog and protag on Mar 20, 2022 0:51:43 GMT -5
A delicate teacup was lifted to plum colored lips and tilted just enough so the liquid would slip out without any more effort on the part of the drinker. Her hair cascaded down around her shoulders and the sunlight caught the lighter highlights in it in a way that always dazzled him. She was always so pretty, so well put together. She called it 'presentation' and told him it was something he could learn but he didn't believe her. She had so many outfits and even in gym clothes he thought there was something imposing about her and it wasn't just because she towered over him even when she wasn't wearing heels. She looked like a sculpture! Like the ones he had seen at La Galleria when he went there.
She was smart too, smarter than he was for sure. "I've lived longer." she had said when he managed to communicate that thought but he didn't think that was all of it. Some Digimon were born with ice on their breath or fire in their blood and she was born smart.
"Are you going to eat that?" She asked and he nodded and picked up one of the pieces of the bagel she had had cut into small pieces and popped it into his mouth between the stitches. She smiled at him and then a voice they both knew called out a greeting and she lifted an eyebrow. "Speak of him and he shall appear, apparently. You might want to hop off that chair, he might try to sit there and that could make things awkward."
He nodded and hopped down off the seat as David walked up to the outdoor table where the two had been enjoying their breakfast. The ever present camera bag was slung across his leather jacket, the front open to show off one of his many, many cheap white t-shirts. Again he felt the tug towards this man, the same he had felt at their last meeting in front of the game stores and again when he had stood at the end of an alleyway and watched.
"Luce, darlin'! I'm not interrupting am I?" David asked with a grin as he settled himself into the newly vacated seat. He glanced down at the plate in front of him but made no comment on the fact that the bagel was cut up, preferring instead to pop a piece into his mouth and focus on what mattered. "Mmm, cream cheese and smoked salmon. Good combination but are you sure that's not a little out of budget?" He asked her with a twinkle in his eyes. "I mean, you're not paying for this are you? Nice sunglasses by the way. They new?"
"As a matter of fact I am. My dining partner is rather young, and perhaps not so foolish as to get involved in an alleyway brawl. How long until your skin grows back?" She said with a pointedly raised eyebrown and a faint disapproving tone. It brought a smile to David's lips, faint but there. It was nice to know she cared. Her new face gear was even more interesting. Even with the visors with integrated holographic tech he had seen before these looked different, higher tech somehow. "And yes, they are."
"I wouldn't call it a brawl necesscarily-"
"That is literally what you referred to it as."
"-but it doesn't hurt to lay on so it's well on its way to recovery. I've had worse cases of road rash honestly." He replied with an airy wave of his hand. It was true! A hazard of riding a motorcyle and trying not to crash into inattentive drivers who didn't know how to stop without slamming on their brakes five feet before they rolled into someone else. "I honestly got off pretty light."
"Hm. Shame that. Maybe the pain would have taught you something." She took another sip of coffee and he just smiled at her cheekily. He enjoyed their verbal spars of barbs back and forth, the shock on other people's faces when they realized they were friends. He knew there were occasional betting pools at work about the exact nature of their relationship but honestly he counted her one of his closest friends.
"You're so cruel to me my dear! It's like you don't appreciate me doing my job." He debated for a moment hanging around to try to meet her breakfast partner but he settled for instead stealing another piece of bagel off the plate. She shot him a withering look for it but he ignored her. She was an adult. She could make her own choices and he had places to be. "Well I'd best be off, enjoy your brunch or whatever it is. I've got some shots I want to touch up and I need to dump my card before the expo."
"Where are you going?" She asked as she set down her cup so gently it didn't make noise on the table. "Are you partnered with anyone?"
"Nah, with so many sites we're spread pretty thin. I'm on interview and photography duty at the Gran Lumen Megaplex so I'll be walking the heels off my shoes." He replied breezily, his eyes lighting up. He was actually quite excited for the expo. Even if he would get lost listening to the scientists and engineers talk about the details and nuance of their projects he'd get to capture the moments of humans directly interacting with holograms for the first time. It promised to be a treat. "I'll see you for lunch on Monday if your meeting doesn't run late."
"Mm, its a plan." She acknowledged with a nod. He gave a two fingered salute then stepped into the crowd to let it carry him away.
It made him feel better knowing that even after he made his choice he would probably get to see her again.
"Well you have a solid location for him to show up, and I won't have to leave a note at our drop location." She said and reached out to take a piece of the bagel as a waiter passed. He gaped at the wink she gave him then felt his cheeks burn brightly. It felt like a secret that he got to see her doing something 'naughty' that she had reprimanded someone else for. And he knew it was a reprimand too, he had gotten that look leveled at him right before more than one verbal follow up of similiar nature. Usually after he had been acting down a bout himself.
Still not needing to search their bench at the local park would be nice. Once he had been too slow and some teenagers had grabbed the note and he had spent the following half-hour trying to dig it out of the trash without making too big of a mess. It had been so, so gross.
She stirred a spoon in her tea as he popped one of the last pieces of his bagel into his mouth, her eyes on him but kind of distant in a way that he had learned meant she was planning her next words. He was worried but he waiated patiently, the way she had for him several times.
"He still hasn't come clean about what exactly the alley fight was about, but it wasn't just a drunken brawl was it?" He hesitated a moment then shook his head, his hands nervously clenched under the table. He had felt the signal of the unknown Digimon from the end of the alley. There was no mistaking that it wasn't a case of an angry cosplayer the way he had heard David say since. She wasn't surprised by his answer, her smile just slipped from her lips and she looked thoughtful. And maybe a little sad.
"I worry for both of you." She admitted with a sigh as she put her spoon down. He hadn't realized she had still been stirring, it seemed like an awful long time. "All of this," she indicated himself and the broader city with a sweep of her hand. "it sounds dangerous. And no offense to you, but you seem so, so young."
He flinched but nodded because it was true, both parts of it. It could be dangerous and he, as far as he knew, was young. Whether this was his first time or not he didn't know. There was a lot he didn't know so being young seemed likely.
"Hey, that isn't a slight against you. It is simply a truth that must be acknowledged." She said softly and her hand touched the bottom of his face to tilt it back up toward her. He hadn't realized his gaze had drifted down but wasn't surprised. He didn't think he'd grow out of that habit any time soon. He focused on her again as his hands unconsciously came up to grip the edge of the table. "It's okay to be young. To be new to the world. And he's getting into something he doesn't understand yet, right?"
He nodded, breathless. She smiled at him again and released his face to resume her previously poised position in her chair. She sighed in fond annoyance.
"Then you'll both be starting off on the same page. Honestly that idiot can be so stubborn about certain things. He lets it get in his way more often than he should, to the point he'll deny a truth in his face. It's going to be an uphill battle for you." She told him as she lifted the cup to her lips again. "You will have to preserve and remind him to use his brains from time to time but if you can get through that it might be alright."
He nodded wide-eyed and only remembered the last piece of bagel existed when she gestured to it. He popped it into his mouth and chewed thoughtfully as he considered her words. He could believe it, had seen it in the alley and in the days after. But maybe, maybe he could help with that. He wiped his hands off on the napkin on the table then put it over the empty plate the way and gave her a thankful nod. One day he'd be able to pay her back for all of this.
"Worry about taking care of yourself and your partner, whoever that maybe." She said as if she'd read his mind. She made a little shooing motion with her hand. "Now go on. You know where he's going to be on the day of the expo so it should be easy to follow him there. It sounds like a lot of it will be boring, but he'll interact with a lot of people. And kid? Good luck. You have an odd choice in humans."
Riley just smiled and hopped down from the chair with a little wave before he stepped into the crowd and started moving in the opposite direction David had. His stomach and mind both full with things he would need time to digest.
She was smart too, smarter than he was for sure. "I've lived longer." she had said when he managed to communicate that thought but he didn't think that was all of it. Some Digimon were born with ice on their breath or fire in their blood and she was born smart.
"Are you going to eat that?" She asked and he nodded and picked up one of the pieces of the bagel she had had cut into small pieces and popped it into his mouth between the stitches. She smiled at him and then a voice they both knew called out a greeting and she lifted an eyebrow. "Speak of him and he shall appear, apparently. You might want to hop off that chair, he might try to sit there and that could make things awkward."
He nodded and hopped down off the seat as David walked up to the outdoor table where the two had been enjoying their breakfast. The ever present camera bag was slung across his leather jacket, the front open to show off one of his many, many cheap white t-shirts. Again he felt the tug towards this man, the same he had felt at their last meeting in front of the game stores and again when he had stood at the end of an alleyway and watched.
---
"Luce, darlin'! I'm not interrupting am I?" David asked with a grin as he settled himself into the newly vacated seat. He glanced down at the plate in front of him but made no comment on the fact that the bagel was cut up, preferring instead to pop a piece into his mouth and focus on what mattered. "Mmm, cream cheese and smoked salmon. Good combination but are you sure that's not a little out of budget?" He asked her with a twinkle in his eyes. "I mean, you're not paying for this are you? Nice sunglasses by the way. They new?"
"As a matter of fact I am. My dining partner is rather young, and perhaps not so foolish as to get involved in an alleyway brawl. How long until your skin grows back?" She said with a pointedly raised eyebrown and a faint disapproving tone. It brought a smile to David's lips, faint but there. It was nice to know she cared. Her new face gear was even more interesting. Even with the visors with integrated holographic tech he had seen before these looked different, higher tech somehow. "And yes, they are."
"I wouldn't call it a brawl necesscarily-"
"That is literally what you referred to it as."
"-but it doesn't hurt to lay on so it's well on its way to recovery. I've had worse cases of road rash honestly." He replied with an airy wave of his hand. It was true! A hazard of riding a motorcyle and trying not to crash into inattentive drivers who didn't know how to stop without slamming on their brakes five feet before they rolled into someone else. "I honestly got off pretty light."
"Hm. Shame that. Maybe the pain would have taught you something." She took another sip of coffee and he just smiled at her cheekily. He enjoyed their verbal spars of barbs back and forth, the shock on other people's faces when they realized they were friends. He knew there were occasional betting pools at work about the exact nature of their relationship but honestly he counted her one of his closest friends.
"You're so cruel to me my dear! It's like you don't appreciate me doing my job." He debated for a moment hanging around to try to meet her breakfast partner but he settled for instead stealing another piece of bagel off the plate. She shot him a withering look for it but he ignored her. She was an adult. She could make her own choices and he had places to be. "Well I'd best be off, enjoy your brunch or whatever it is. I've got some shots I want to touch up and I need to dump my card before the expo."
"Where are you going?" She asked as she set down her cup so gently it didn't make noise on the table. "Are you partnered with anyone?"
"Nah, with so many sites we're spread pretty thin. I'm on interview and photography duty at the Gran Lumen Megaplex so I'll be walking the heels off my shoes." He replied breezily, his eyes lighting up. He was actually quite excited for the expo. Even if he would get lost listening to the scientists and engineers talk about the details and nuance of their projects he'd get to capture the moments of humans directly interacting with holograms for the first time. It promised to be a treat. "I'll see you for lunch on Monday if your meeting doesn't run late."
"Mm, its a plan." She acknowledged with a nod. He gave a two fingered salute then stepped into the crowd to let it carry him away.
---
"I can order you another one if that's not enough." She said as he climbed back into his seat. He shook his head at that, what was on his plate and what he'd already eaten would be more than enough. She hummed an acknowledgement, her lips turned up into a small smile he felt priviledged to see. It was proof that she and his prospective human were friends, were close. It made him feel better knowing that even after he made his choice he would probably get to see her again.
"Well you have a solid location for him to show up, and I won't have to leave a note at our drop location." She said and reached out to take a piece of the bagel as a waiter passed. He gaped at the wink she gave him then felt his cheeks burn brightly. It felt like a secret that he got to see her doing something 'naughty' that she had reprimanded someone else for. And he knew it was a reprimand too, he had gotten that look leveled at him right before more than one verbal follow up of similiar nature. Usually after he had been acting down a bout himself.
Still not needing to search their bench at the local park would be nice. Once he had been too slow and some teenagers had grabbed the note and he had spent the following half-hour trying to dig it out of the trash without making too big of a mess. It had been so, so gross.
She stirred a spoon in her tea as he popped one of the last pieces of his bagel into his mouth, her eyes on him but kind of distant in a way that he had learned meant she was planning her next words. He was worried but he waiated patiently, the way she had for him several times.
"He still hasn't come clean about what exactly the alley fight was about, but it wasn't just a drunken brawl was it?" He hesitated a moment then shook his head, his hands nervously clenched under the table. He had felt the signal of the unknown Digimon from the end of the alley. There was no mistaking that it wasn't a case of an angry cosplayer the way he had heard David say since. She wasn't surprised by his answer, her smile just slipped from her lips and she looked thoughtful. And maybe a little sad.
"I worry for both of you." She admitted with a sigh as she put her spoon down. He hadn't realized she had still been stirring, it seemed like an awful long time. "All of this," she indicated himself and the broader city with a sweep of her hand. "it sounds dangerous. And no offense to you, but you seem so, so young."
He flinched but nodded because it was true, both parts of it. It could be dangerous and he, as far as he knew, was young. Whether this was his first time or not he didn't know. There was a lot he didn't know so being young seemed likely.
"Hey, that isn't a slight against you. It is simply a truth that must be acknowledged." She said softly and her hand touched the bottom of his face to tilt it back up toward her. He hadn't realized his gaze had drifted down but wasn't surprised. He didn't think he'd grow out of that habit any time soon. He focused on her again as his hands unconsciously came up to grip the edge of the table. "It's okay to be young. To be new to the world. And he's getting into something he doesn't understand yet, right?"
He nodded, breathless. She smiled at him again and released his face to resume her previously poised position in her chair. She sighed in fond annoyance.
"Then you'll both be starting off on the same page. Honestly that idiot can be so stubborn about certain things. He lets it get in his way more often than he should, to the point he'll deny a truth in his face. It's going to be an uphill battle for you." She told him as she lifted the cup to her lips again. "You will have to preserve and remind him to use his brains from time to time but if you can get through that it might be alright."
He nodded wide-eyed and only remembered the last piece of bagel existed when she gestured to it. He popped it into his mouth and chewed thoughtfully as he considered her words. He could believe it, had seen it in the alley and in the days after. But maybe, maybe he could help with that. He wiped his hands off on the napkin on the table then put it over the empty plate the way and gave her a thankful nod. One day he'd be able to pay her back for all of this.
"Worry about taking care of yourself and your partner, whoever that maybe." She said as if she'd read his mind. She made a little shooing motion with her hand. "Now go on. You know where he's going to be on the day of the expo so it should be easy to follow him there. It sounds like a lot of it will be boring, but he'll interact with a lot of people. And kid? Good luck. You have an odd choice in humans."
Riley just smiled and hopped down from the chair with a little wave before he stepped into the crowd and started moving in the opposite direction David had. His stomach and mind both full with things he would need time to digest.