ehsaas wrote:┏━━━━━━━━━━━━┓
- rilli simundra -
doing; sitting with zach
mood; flustered
community; seafood
shift; giant squid
tags; zach
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❝There might be a lot of fish in the sea,
But tell me, are there any other squid?❞
she watched as zach seemingly mimicked her nervous behaviors. the playing with his hands, the flitty eyes, the strange silences. in a way, that almost made her relax a bit more. she sat back in her chair and crossed her legs, feeling a little less on edge and more comfortable. wow, she hadn't felt this way around someone else in a while. well, maybe that was because she hadn't been around anyone else for a while.
when zach mentioned the kingdom, rilli's gaze, which had been fixated on a painting in the wall, quickly met his. she listened to his point of view, nodding all the while. "i completely agree with you," she started, fumbling to find words. "i've heard all the street rumors too...and i think i heard them over there mentioning the kingdom, which is why i'm guessing they're shifters too," she continued, motioning with his chin to the other side of the coffee shop. "i don't know whether it's a real place or not...," she added, her voice trailing, "and if it is a real place, whether it's like how the rumors portray it." she shrugged.
another minute of silence. "so, zach," she said, using his name for the first time in conversation. "um, do you like your shift? i mean, the fact that you can be a deer? i guess it must be kind of useful for running away and hiding, no?" she quickly jumbled out, trying to keep the conversation flowing. oh, you're so stupid, rilli, she thought to herself, as she kept her half smile on her face and nervously laughed. what a stupid, stupid question. who in their right mind would want to be any kind of shifter out here?
Zach nodded, glancing at the other shifters on the other side of the room. They were talking about the kingdom? He stared at the group of people, trying to tune into their conversation, but could only hear their voices and not what they were saying. Rilli's voice brought him again out of his thoughts. "Huh?" He looked back at Rilli, who was waiting for him to answer, with a confused look as she laughed nervously. "My... er... my shift?" He repeated, as if confirming that was what she had said, since he hadn't been listening. "Er, yeah, I like it. It's small, fast; my brown coat is easy to blend in with... it's warm, too." He shrugged after describing the animal the best he could. "And I, uh, don't suppose you love being a squid?" He asked jokingly, not intending it in a rude way.
Lawrence waited in line, his hands in his pockets. He watched the other people, sometimes hearing bits and pieces of their conversations. There was a strong smell of coffee, and while it may have given one a headache, Wren thought of it as a very pleasant smell. He hummed as he waited, thinking. He, like Airy, was wondering what to do when the time came to actually talk to the girl. She knew his name, that he was a shifter, and that was it. Would she ask what his animal form was, or which community he lived in? He hoped not. He didn't want to ruin his reputation or her impression of him. He was sure she'd think nothing of him being a whale, but... it was embarrassing. Who wanted to admit that they were a useless blue whale? A large, ugly, space-wasting thing that was basically just blubber? He sighed as he finally neared the front of the line. As he listened to the person in front of him talk to the kid at the counter, he suddenly realized that he didn't know how. He started to worry. What was he going to say? How did you order coffee exactly? Wren glanced back at Airy, remembering that she'd ordered an iced coffee. Should he buy the same? He glanced at the menu, not recognizing what most of the items were. He decided to just order an iced coffee, like Airy had. That was all he had to say. He took a deep breath, glad that his new friend wasn't with him.
