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Post by Conor Sullivan on May 2, 2014 19:05:12 GMT -5
"Conor, is that you?"
"Yeah! Hey! Bom dia!"
The small family coffee shop was just down the street from Conor's house, and whenever he went jogging in the morning, he made a point to stop by afterwards, since it was on his way home. The old couple who ran it with their daughter were always delighted to see Conor, and he considered a day without their coffee generally wasted. His entire family were frequent customers - his mother would stop in when she was on call in the early mornings, and his father was powered solely on caffeine and croissants when he had a deadline. Conor, personally, didn't need caffeine in the mornings, but there was something about the smell of this certain cafe's coffee that made him think of home and summer.
Today, the old lady was in charge of the counter. Her name was Hannah Shepard and she had a no-nonsense tone about her, but she always had a treat and a pat on the head for Daisy. "Do you want your usual?" She asked as Conor dug in his pockets for cash.
"Yeah. Which one of these is a five?"
"Have you considered getting a debit card, young man?" Mrs. Shepard asked, laughing as she pulled a bill from the crumpled mess Conor had plunked on the counter. "Most ATM have braille on them, these days."
"I know, I know," Conor laughed back. "I should ask my parents about it, but I always forget."
Mrs. Shepard exhaled in thought, and Conor gathered up the rest of his bills and felt for the tip jar.
"You should get a running buddy in the morning, menino," Mrs. Shepard continued.
Conor just shrugged. "I have Daisy! She's all I need."
Mrs. Shepard made a small noise under her breath, and Conor sensed that the conversation was over. He thanked her in Portuguese and made his way carefully to a seat near the window. Daisy padded along next to him and, once Conor was seated, she draped herself over his feet and shoved her cold nose into his ankle.
As usual, Conor's coffee was quick and piping hot. Death City was scorching, especially this close to summer, but Conor didn't care. The coffee au lait here was heavenly, and it was worth burning his tongue for.
I wonder if you can make iced coffee au lait, he wondered, carefully sipping the coffee and listening to the bubbling sounds of the espresso maker and the hushed morning conversations around him. There was movement outside the window, and Conor watched it for a while, but eventually he turned back to the table and rested his head on the smooth granite surface. I'm gonna have to get up earlier for my morning runs. It's already too hot at 9 am for uphill training.
He wondered if maybe a running buddy wouldn't be such a bad idea, if only to have someone to talk to over coffee. He love Daisy, but conversations with her tended to be a little one-sided.
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Post by Deleted on May 3, 2014 2:35:25 GMT -5
Nolan had woken up that morning felling like he hadn’t slept a wink. Whether or not it was because he had just recently matched soul wavelengths with his meister for the first time was up for debate, but whatever the reason, getting out of bed and actually ready for the day was an honest-to-God struggle. If it weren’t for his usual high-energy persona, Nolan probably would’ve just stayed in bed for another hour or two. But he wasn’t about to let his fatigue get in the way of his workout routine, so soon he was out of the boys’ dorm and off to start his morning run.
“C’est la vie…” Nolan mumbled to himself, walking through the front door of the coffee shop. He decided that he wanted to re-visit the café he had gone to upon first arriving in Death City; he quite liked the homey atmosphere of the restaurant, and the food was great of course. In addition, he was tired, and coffee would be a good pick-me-up to get his day moving in the right direction. He approached the lady behind the counter, giving her a warm smile as he greeted her. “G’mornin’! How are you today, ma’am?”
A short but friendly conversation later, Nolan had received his cappuccino and blueberry muffin from the woman. Thanking her, he walked away from the counter to find a place to sit inside the shop. It was moderately lively; most of the tables were already occupied by a couple or so people, a few of them having just one person sitting there. Not wanting to intrude on anyone’s conversation, he headed towards an empty table close to the store’s front. He took his seat and began to enjoy his muffin and coffee; slowly, as per usual.
About five minutes later, Nolan had become somewhat bored. But it was his usual kind of bored; calm and complacent. He didn’t exactly mind the boredom, but this was only because Nolan had learned to appreciate the small things in life. The soft babble of the other customers around him was comforting while the sounds of the barista mixing up various caffeinated beverages kept the energy in the room from dropping too low. Nolan found himself grazing the shop with his gaze, eyelids hooded and mouth in the shape of a lazy smile.
Eventually his gaze came to rest on the head of the person sitting at the table across from him. They were both sitting alone at window tables and their chairs were facing each other. This person was a guy, that much Nolan could tell, but besides that it almost seemed as though he had fallen asleep. His head was resting on the table, after all, and Nolan wouldn’t blame the guy for falling asleep in such a comfortable environment. The tall blonde figured that it was probably courteous to gently shake him awake; who knows, the dude might be late for work or something.
Standing up from his chair, Nolan left his half-finished coffee and pastry at the table as he approached the white-haired boy. While walking the short distance he noticed the dog beneath the table and paused for a moment, his eyes twinkling with excitement. Nolan adored animals, and it took every ounce of his being to resist crouching down to pet the dog. Instead he waved at the furry creature, smiling crookedly. Once he had woken the dog’s owner, maybe then he could ask for permission to pet the doggie; she/he looked friendly enough. Now approaching the boy, Nolan tilted his head to get a better look at his face. “Uh, hey love, you might wanna wake-…oh.”
At that moment, Nolan had figured out that his deduction was false. The boy was in fact awake, but that wasn’t what had caught him by surprise. Actually, Nolan felt rather winded at the moment. Normally being physically close to other people didn’t phase him in the least; usually he found himself enjoying physical contact with others as another way of communicating. But the blonde was suddenly very self-conscious despite being about a foot away from this boy’s face. The boy had pale skin and paper white hair, a combination that was striking to say the least. His lips were plumper than Nolan’s thin ones and his mouth about the same size as his and whoa, Nolan was surprising himself with how much he was analyzing this guy’s face. What was more was that the boy’s eyes were milky and pale blue; Nolan found them breathtaking, and he also felt like they were staring straight through him…almost as if…as if…
Before he could continue with that thought, Nolan managed to pull himself out of his little trance and realize that he had been staring at the guy this whole time. “Ah!” He gasped, straitening back up and taking a step back. Was it hot in here all of a sudden? No...that was just his face that was burning up. “Oh, oh dear, sorry about that…” Nolan apologized, rubbing the back of his head nervously. How long had he been staring at the guy? He hoped it hadn’t been too long…he just didn’t expect him to be so pretty. This was one situation that Nolan definitely hadn’t seen coming. Well, he might as well just wait for the other guy to respond somehow. He was either going to be totally weirded out by what had happened, or…actually, Nolan didn’t really think there was somebody out there who wouldn’t be weirded out by that. Christ, he sure managed to screw this up. And what was with him feeling so awkward all of a sudden? Since when was he that kind of guy? Jeez, get your crap together, Nolan.
Word Count: 955 Tagged: Conor
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Post by Conor Sullivan on May 3, 2014 3:07:13 GMT -5
Conor was feeling very peaceful. The cold granite felt nice and cool against his face, a lovely change from the space heater currently curled around his ankles. There was a scraping noise nearby, and Conor could hear someone walking past him, the air movement shifting every so slightly. Daisy's tail thumped against his leg. Conor scratched at his ear, wondering if maybe he should head for home-
Someone was telling him to wake up, right next to his face.
Conor jolted upright, startled. "Shit! Did I fall asleep?" He blinked, disoriented, squinting at the bright light streaming in through the windows. Sometimes, he wished he was less light sensitive. What was the use of being blind when the sunlight still fried his eyes? "What time is it?!" He frowned, closing his eyes and rubbing his hands over them, kneading the drowsiness away. "God, sorry, man. I guess I was more tired than I realized."
His arms dropped down to the table, and he exhaled loudly. "That's what I get for waking up so early, I guess. Even coffee can't help me." He nodded in what he hoped was the general direction of the dude who had started talking, a sheepish grin on his face.
"Man, sorry again," Conor added. "I hope I wasn't snoring." He grinned. "That'd be embarrassing - snoring in a coffee shop..." He nudged Daisy gently with his foot, and she sat up and stuck her head on his knee. She was very calm, so he figured he hadn't been out that long. She got jumpy when she had to stay inside for hours on end. Conor carefully found the top of her head and ruffled her ears, and she snuffled happily. He hadn't brought treats today, but he'd get her some when he got back home - not like she needed any. Mrs. Shepard liked to sneak Daisy treats when Conor wasn't paying attention, and the vet was getting concerned by her sudden weight gain. Anyways, Conor could smell the beef jerky on her.
Something wiggled from the back of Conor's mind, and he tilted his head slightly in confusion. "Wait, sorry for what?" He asked. "I mean, it's fine! If I noticed someone napping in a coffee shop, I'd probably make sure they were okay, too," he said quickly. "My mom tells me people mistake me for an old man from behind." He grinned extra big at that one. "It must be the cane."
He had his walking stick with him, of course, but it was folded up and in his pocket. He had Daisy, and that was usually enough for the big stuff.
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Post by Deleted on May 3, 2014 13:14:24 GMT -5
Nolan jumped slightly, startled by the way the boy had suddenly…wait, woken up? So he had been asleep, which meant that he had been sleeping with his eyes open. Nolan sighed in relief; that meant that the boy hadn’t seen the way he had been staring at him. Nolan was lucky that this time the fates seemed to be in his favor. When the other boy began to speak, the blonde found himself reflexively smiling. “No, it’s fine,” He replied, then checking his wristwatch for the time, “…And it’s only about nine-thirty. Hope you didn’t miss anything, haha.” Returning his gaze to the other boy, Nolan felt his cheeks redden once more when the boy apologized yet again and then smiled. Oh, Lord Death himself was gonna need to come rescue Nolan, ‘cause he most definitely was being bewitched by that mesmerizing grin. It was exceedingly adorable and Nolan wasn’t sure he how he might handle this situation if the boy proved to be any cuter than Nolan could already tell. “Ha, well, you were snoring a little bit. But don’t worry, it was cute...” Oop, well that definitely just slipped out. Eh, might as well have; Nolan wasn’t exactly a shy person nor the kind of guy to beat around the bush.
The white-haired boy, who appeared to be a one or two years younger than Nolan now that he could get a better look at him, proceeded to converse with him further. Nolan took this opportunity to make his way over to the table’s second chair, interpreting the other boy’s interaction with him as an invite to sit and chat. Plus, he may or may not have been compelled to do so by his interest in the guy. Listening intently, Nolan reflected the boy’s gregarious grin; he seemed to be a generally happy person, which was something the Canadian blonde could easily relate to.
Then something he said was particularly curious to Nolan. He had a cane? Putting two and two together, Nolan’s eyebrows lifted with interest at his realization. Ah, so he was blind, or at least visually impaired. That would explain his milky eyes, and also his pet, which was most likely a seeing-eye dog. Nolan’s facial expression and smile softened. He wondered if the other boy knew what he looked like, or if he even knew how attractive he was. And then he wondered how he saw other people. Was he one of those people who could see things by touch? Without hesitation Nolan knew he would let the other boy feel out his facial features if asked, even though he did have a bit of stubble growing in. Chuckling softly at the boy's humorous remark, he opened his mouth to reply. “You’re not the only one. Most people think I’m in my twenties or thirties until I tell them differently.” Remembering what he had been meaning to ask the dude once he had woken up, Nolan glanced down at the dog, who was currently lying her head in her owner’s lap. “Oh yeah! Would it be okay if I pet your dog?” He asked, eyes twinkling again. “I just love animals. It’s sort of a weakness.”
Word Count: 532 Tagged: Conor
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Post by Conor Sullivan on May 3, 2014 16:36:47 GMT -5
"Only nine-thirty?" Conor repeated, surprised. No wonder Daisy hadn't been jumpy. They couldn't have been in the coffee shop more than twenty minutes.
Conor wondered if he had even been asleep, but he mentally shrugged it away. This guy - and Conor assumed it was a guy, until he knew differently - had gone out of his way to check on him. Even if Conor had been snoring embarrassingly in the middle of the coffee shop.
"My bad," he said, watching the movement as the guy sat down across from him, hearing the chair scrape against the floor. Daisy was poking her nose into the side of his leg, looking for treats in his pockets, but Conor gently pushed her away. "Man, nobody sounds cute snoring," he said, shaking his head. "Although..." he paused, scratching his face in thought. "If you're right, that means I've leveled up!" He clenched his fist in victory. "I'm on my way to being the cutest person ever." He couldn't keep a straight face, and ended up laughing the last half of the sentence, but he was having fun. He didn't get to talk to people over coffee often, and he was liking this change of pace. I hope I don't smell too bad, he said, subtly pulling up the collar of his tee and sniffing his shirt to make sure he didn't reek of sweat.
He was preoccupied, and he almost missed the other guy's comment. Almost.
He dropped his shirt in surprise. "Dude! How old are you?" He said, before realizing how that sounded. "I mean, like, is that older or younger?" He wondered if that was too insensitive a question - but, in his defense, all he could see of this dude was a blurry mass with a vague head-shape. He couldn't name the color of the guy's hair even if his life was on the line.
Thankfully, the guy had moved on to Daisy.
"Sure, go ahead," Conor said, patting Daisy's side fondly. "Daisy's not a true seeing-eye dog, so there aren't any rules against petting her. At least, none I know of." She was already trotting over to the guy, probably to stick her nose in his pants pockets to check for treats. "She's really friendly, but you might wanna have her smell you first."
Not like the other guy needed to do anything - Conor could hear Daisy snuffling from where he sat. She was comfortable - nothing dangerous about this guy, from the way her tail was wagging. It was hitting his legs, and Conor crossed them to get away from her. He loved his pup, really, but in the summer, he wished he had a seeing-eye snake or something. Her fur was going to be the death of him, especially since she'd taken to sleeping right on top of him during the night.
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Post by Deleted on May 3, 2014 18:59:19 GMT -5
While he did have a point, Nolan had to disagree with him. In the right circumstances, snoring most definitely can be cute. Maybe not so much if you have a serious snoring problem that would keep your partner awake at night; but, for example, watching your friend fall asleep in front of the TV late at night and snoring softly into your shoulder. That kind of instance would be adorable. He laughed along with the boy, who didn’t quite seem to have taken his advances as they were but was staying lighthearted nonetheless. Maybe he was straight? Well, the odds were against Nolan in this case. However, the guy’s attempt to sniff subtly for body odor didn’t go unnoticed by Nolan and the corners of his mouth twitched upward into a smirk. It seemed like he was enjoying the attention anyway regardless of Nolan’s intentions; it was always nice making new friends.
Yes, he successfully gets to pet the doggie! Nolan mentally fist pumped; one point for Team Nolan. Spreading his legs apart on the chair, he grinned when Daisy appeared from beneath the table, snuffling around his pants and in the pockets. He gently brought a hand to comb through her fur and then introduced his other hand to scratch behind her ears. “Hi, Daisy!” Nolan greeted her in a cheery voice. She was a beautiful dog, and quite friendly, too. Looking back up at the boy, Nolan continued to pet Daisy while he spoke. “Oh! Haha, sorry, should’ve clarified. I’m just eighteen.” He couldn't blame the guy for asking; after all, he was visually impaired, and Nolan's baritone voice wasn't very age-distinctive. Tilting his head a little to the right, Nolan frowned slightly before continuing. Now was as good a time as ever to introduce himself. “My name’s Nolan Anderson, by the way. I’m a student weapon at Shibusen...actually just came here jogging from my dorm." Just now thinking things over, he silently hoped that he didn't smell of stale sweat himself. But yet again, they were both two sweaty teenagers in the Nevada desert, so there wasn't much use complaining about body odor. His usual smile returned to his face before he proceeded with the introduction. "And who might you be, love?”
Word Count: 375 Tagged: Conor
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Post by Conor Sullivan on Sept 15, 2014 0:04:22 GMT -5
"Uh," Conor said, wondering if he meant the dog, but embarrassment settled in as he realized he'd already introduced Daisy. The "love" was definitely meant for him.
Conor realized in a very sudden moment that he might be getting chatted up.
Not that he minded -in fact, if someone had called him straight to his face, he'd have been insulted - but the fact of the matter was he wasn't used to being the recipient of that sort of attention. Usually, Conor was the one who hit on other people, with the solid conviction that he was great with pickup lines. His favorite was "do you believe at love at first sight, or should I walk by again?" for obvious reasons.
But to have someone hitting on him was new. It never really crossed his mind that Nolan could have meant the last couple of "cutes" platonically partially because Conor had an overwhelmingly terminal sense of confidence. Maybe not about his face, but definitely about his arms and how fit he was. He liked himself enough to know he was a catch, but wouldn't have said he had a pretty face except as a joke, because he'd never seen his face and didn't trust his grandma when she said he was handsome, because she said the same thing about Daisy. He'd already joked about being cute a few minutes ago, but in the face of what could potentially be an actual experience being hit on, he was feeling a little self-conscious. Conor didn't get flustered and awkward. Usually.
He cleared his throat and hoped he didn't look like he had no idea what was going on.
"I'm Conor. Conor Sullivan. I was just out jogging too, funny coincidence. But, uh, I'm not at the dorms, just at a house. My house. Yep," he finished, hearing how weak that sounded. He soldiered on, determined not to be the weird one at the table. "I'm at Shibusen, too! Small world," he added, the sarcasm clear. The school was huge. It was more than likely the majority of young adults - or any person, really -in the city were connected to Shibusen. Conor scratched his nose, felt for his coffee cup and took a sip of (now cold) coffee au lait. He made a small face, but he loved the coffee here. It was the kind that didn't taste terrible even when it had cooled off. "Anyways, uh, I'm a meister," he added, realizing he'd forgotten that tidbit. "And sixteen," He added again, kicking himself for being awkward. He took another sip of coffee glad he didn't have to worry about looking anyone in the eyes.
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