WE ARE AN EXAMPLE OF WHY NOT TO FALL IN LOVE

[SELENE ADELE PARKER]

The more coins she put into the arcade machine, the more guilty she felt for the dwindling weight of her wallet, but Selene couldn't help that the first few monsters on the addictive arcade game she was playing were too hard for her own good. Each time she lost and the defeated tune chimed out of game's speakers she slipped in another coin. On occasion, others would attempt to stand in line behind her, hopeful at getting a shot at the game as well, but all of them left within the first five minutes, unable to watch the embarrassment that was Selene's video game playing, or incapable of listening to her whine loudly every time she lost. 

All things had to come to an end though, and when all pockets, wallets, and bags were deemed void of change, she gave out a moan, pressing her finger tips to the screen. She felt the static pop at her touch, but was unaffected by the small shock, much more concerned with her longing to finish the game. She frowned, pulling her hand away from the screen, a sigh accompanying the act before she mustered up the ling forgotten act of moving elsewhere. She sulked around, glancing at the ground for shiny stray bits of change, but luck was not on her side today. Defeated by the world's sudden dedication to keep their money close on hand, she went outside, the sun glaring at her as she stepped into the light of day. 

This was nothing but a typical Friday. Going to the arcade, spending all of her money, and getting upset when she ran out. 

But while it was all extremely typical, as soon as she took her first step outside everything was suddenly peculiar. The air felt hazier, even warmer. All the people around her, those walking past and those only standing near her became harder to notice, and she could feel her heart jab with a sharp sense of longing. 

These feelings were familiar to her, yet all the same terrifying. As if they were straight out of the dream she only too often had every night. 

These feelings were also brief, only lasting maybe a second before it all faded, everything then returning to it's natural state. Selene stood there dumbly, not quite sure of what to do next as people walked past her still, unaware of the small conflict within her. 

The breeze that had been hanging in the air suddenly picked up speed, turning into a small gust of wind. Her hair, light and blonde, that hung around her shoulders also picked up with the wind, as did the trash and flyers hung up in the street. For a small amount of time everything moved with the wind, and she still remained at the mouth of the arcade. 

She finally decided to do something with herself, taking one more step forward, but as soon as she did a piece of paper flew towards her, her face in particular, almost causing her to fall back in surprise. She caught guard of her actions though and kept calm. Still though, she grimaced as she peeled the paper off of her face. Hardly caring to read what it said she crumpled it up, throwing it backwards while also deciding to start walking along. She no longer felt a reason to dwell on something that bothered her, especially on something as silly as a "feeling." 

"That's right," she thought, ironically comforting herself still. "Who needs to worry? I already worry enough about school."

ooc: I'll get graphics up later. Sorry this sucks. D; Tagged for Skye/Ikky.<333

[IKARUS RICHARDS]

It was just one of those days. Absolutely everything was going wrong, and much of it was too important for it not to matter. Stress and frustration built up inside Ikarus at an exponential rate. He knew it would only be a matter of time before he went off, which was precisely why he was taking a walk. He needed to calm down, clear his head. Surprisingly, the most entertaining district in Tokyo wasn’t offering the distraction he desperately needed -- and if this city couldn’t do the trick, could anything? Anyone?

His thoughts swam in discontent and wallowed in the events of the day. There were complications with his student and working visas that would take weeks to sort out. Ikarus would be forced to dip into his savings until he was permitted to work. He shuddered to think how much worse it would be if he was trying to gain full citizenship. Ah, the joys of trying to immigrate to a country with one of the most anti-immigrant policies. he thought dryly, releasing a frustrated sigh.

Then, there was Athena’s new boyfriend, Yoshiro, whom she lovingly calls ‘Yoshi’ -- which might have been cute if the guy wasn’t the biggest douche bag he’d ever had the misfortune of meeting. It was bad enough that her boyfriend was practically his age. Then there was the fact that they’d only been going out a few months and she had already moved in with the ass. Ikarus sighed again, angrier this time. As much as he loved his sister, and as well as he thought of her, she had the worst taste in men.

On top of it all, it had been nearly two months since his parents’ funeral, and that morning he received a call from the family lawyer. Apparently, and unofficially, their deaths may not have been as accidental as they thought. And he ‘may or may not be a suspect’ and he ‘may or may not need to return to the States until he’s been cleared’. It wasn’t enough that he had to live with the guilt of the last things he said to them, but now he was supposed to be responsible for their deaths?

On their own, each of those things would have been enough to stress anyone out. Even more so when it was all dumped on them in a single day.

Ikarus’s jaw clenched, his teeth grinding together to make sickening sound only he could hear. He held his teeth together until the sound stopped and his masticatory muscles began to ache in unison with his molars. He leaned against the wall of a skyscraper and made an active effort to set his thoughts on to more neutral things. Amber eyes shifted toward the sky, his gaze briefly settling on a midday appearance of the moon -- an empty action that brought no comfort.

He pushed himself away from the cool wall and rounded the corner. He had barely walked a block when a crumpled piece of paper hit him squarely in the chest. Ikarus swore in English, then in Japanese, and glared down at the trash before grabbing it and marching right up to the assailant. Quick, long strides allowed him to catch up in no time. He planted himself directly in front of the young woman to stop her. “Here,” he practically growled, shoving the crumpled paper into one of her hands.

Under normal circumstances, he wouldn't have addressed her at all. Instead, he would have simply picked up the paper and tossed it into the nearest recycling bin. But not today. Today, a virtually harmless act of being hit with a bit of unwanted paper was enough to set him off, send him beyond the boundaries of self-control and verbal filtering.

“Do us all a favor and stop using the world as your personal trash can. Or should I just throw some garbage at you and call it even?”

[/font][/justify]

ooc: Sorry it's not great. Beginnings of threads are always pretty meh for me...

[SELENE ADELE PARKER]

It wasn't as if Selene's main goal everyday was to upset and anger other people. These things simply happened, unfortunately. An angry man jumping in front of her was enough to startle her to the point of yelping out. She took a step back, naturally fearful of the stranger. He grabbed a hold of her wrist though, and shoved the piece of paper she had thrown back only a few seconds ago, blissfully unaware of the trouble it would get her into.

“Do us all a favor and stop using the world as your personal trash can. Or should I just throw some garbage at you and call it even?”

W- wh-- what??? Her mind was frozen, and she only had eyes for the crumpled up in her hand once again. She should be angry right? After all, how dare this stranger take the time out of his day to lecture and yell at her. He could have simply gotten over it instead of confronting somebody as innocent and delicate looking as Selene. Of course, she could be the mature one here. The one to take the higher road and move on, apologizing and then running away.

Sadly, Selene wasn't very mature.

She growled, though the noise sounded something much more like a disgruntled cat's purr. She threw the paper back at him, hitting him square on the nose. It rolled down to the concrete, next to the his feet. "What's your problem!?" She shouted back. "It's just a piece of paper, jerk." She ground her teeth together, the anger inside being caused more by built up stress rather than this stranger. His attitude was not what she needed today.

ooc: ugh it's so bad i am sorry.

[IKARUS RICHARDS]

When she childishly threw the paper at him, for the second time, he briefly imagined cramming the wad of paper in her mouth and telling her how sincerely he hoped she would choke on it. Fortunately, for the both of them, Ikarus wasn’t exactly a violent man, and he wasn’t about to engage in his first fist-fight with some girl that wasn't even out of high-school.

Ikarus snatched up the paper from the ground, carelessly scraping his knuckles against the concrete. "Yes, it's just a piece of paper. But what about tomorrow? What else are you going to litter the streets with? Humans already tried throwing their garbage directly into the streets, and where did that get us? The plague. And dysentery and typhoid and hundreds of other preventable illnesses." He continued to rant at her, covering a wide range of issues in the world -- past and present.

It was at about the time that he was practically blaming her for forced late term abortions in China that he realized he had really, truly lost it. Christ. What is WRONG with me? "I'm sorry." he said after a brief pause, voice no longer raised, and sounding almost sincere. "Sorry," he repeated, pushing past her abnd starting to head back the way he came, paper still in hand. "Sorry!" he called back to her.

ooc: Posting from my phone; sorry it's so short, I don't know where to go from here D: She can go demand answers from him, or we can start working on another encounter