Streetside Slacking

[creativelycareless]

Alexander perched himself on the back of a bench, smoke trailing up from the cigarette seemingly forgotten between his fingers. His eyes watched the crowds moving across the streets around him, a slight smile on his lips. He had been sitting in the same spot for near on an hour now, unmoving and silent, just watching the people travel. Beside him was a notebook, and a black pen tucked behind his ear.

Running a hand through his hair, he let out a sigh and stretched, joints popping quietly. Reaching down, he snagged his notebook and started to sketch a design or two, scribbling notes in the margin. Pulling a few strips of metals from his pocket, he clipped them to the page.

[Skye Malizia]

Schuyler Malizia was having a rather uneventful day. She flirted with the idea of calling Leo to set up that movie date she promised him, but it seemed too soon, and she didn't want to come across as too eager. She knew more than anyone that revealing your feelings too soon could turn a person off instantly. So she put the 'bill' he left her back in her purse for the third time today, and continued walking.

While she walked in her four inch heels and autumn outfit, Skye thought up ways to make her day a little more eventful. She was blissfully unaware of a certain someone's suicide attempt (which was her fault entirely), and therefore was not wallowing in misery or subjecting herself to pity dates. This left her schedule wide open for innocent creativity, although she was much more careful with her choice of entertainment. Flirting could be dangerous, and it was no longer on her list of favorite pasttimes.

She watched the Stage Fright competition on the television in her summer dorm room, and cheered for Eiji and Eve and Tristan. She was a fan of Veronica Park and wished she'd payed more attention to her classes than to the people in them, and she very much wanted to introduce herself to Morgan Cavan when the girl got back from the tournament. She couldn't wait for tonight's episode, and promised herself that whatever mischief she got into today wouldn't cut into the time she set aside for the show.

So back to the mischief. She wanted to see if she could correctly judge a person's character based on their appearances. Were the books in this place summed up by their cover? Deciding to test it out, she looked around, slowing her step so she wouldn't pass anyone interesting without seeing them.

Then she saw Alexander. He looked quiet, maybe a little tough, and she figured from the way he was staring at the paper he was scribbling on that he was a very focused person. Mostly admirable qualities ('mostly' because Skye considered silence more of a hindrance than a virtue), so she wondered if perhaps these good things would mean he was a good person. Time to test it out.

"Hello!" She greeted brightly, "I am with Foreign Exchange International Support Team, and I am conducting survey of people in Seattle. Will you answer questions for F.E.I.S.T?"

She reached into her little blue jacket and pulled out... nothing. At least, anyone walking by would see nothing. She used her telepathic projection to give Alex the image that she was pulling out a clipboard with a short questionaire, and she 'propped' it against her hip, 'pen' at the ready.

[creativelycareless]

It took Alex a few seconds to look up as he finished the sketch in his book, but as he closed it he looked up with a slight smile. He had nothing much planned for the day, so helping someone out with a survey wasn't that much of a hindrance.

"Sure, I'd love to. Is there anything in particular this survey will be about, or just general questions?"

[Skye Malizia]

Something Skye didn't possess a lot of was patience. She was used to getting what she wanted immediately, but only because she was a nice person. So while she waited for the boy to finish his sketch, she refrained from tapping her designer toe on the pavement. But eventually he finished up, and gave her exactly what she wanted. Skye was right! He was a good guy.

She treated his question as though she didn't understand it, and launched right into her survey.

"How many people from different country do you know?" The pen only Alex could see hovered over the imaginary clipboard. However, she wasn't actually going to write down his answers, now she had to think up a few more questions to make the survey seem legit. She should have thought this through. She didn't want to spend her day interviewing people - a journalist was the last thing she wanted to be.

[creativelycareless]

He laughs quietly at the question, running a hand through his hair as he thought it through. He had traveled quite a bit for the last few years, and met many people from all over the world. He shrugged slightly with a laugh.

"Hm...well, throughout my life I've met more than I can count, but right now not many. I just moved in about three weeks ago, and I haven't gotten out much before now."

[Skye Malizia]

Skye thought she would have to pretend to be interested in what he said. Luckily he was naturally interesting, and she didn't have to fake her intrigue.

"Where do you move from?" She asked, deliberately laying on her Italian accent. She pushed some fiery red hair out of her face when the wind blew it across her eyes. It was obvious she was betraying her initial survey, something she hoped he noticed. Oops, no, she had to stay on topic and get out of there as soon as possible. She didn't want another complete stranger showing up on her doorstep declaring his undying love for her. You'd think she had pheromone production or something.

"Do you travel much?"

[creativelycareless]

"I'm originally from Chicago, but the last place I came from was actually Ireland, I spent a few months there. And yeah, I travel a lot, but I've decided to hang around here, set up shop, hopefully start up a little buisiness so I can live a bit more comfortable life. There's only so many times you can spend the night sleeping on a bench."

At the last statement he grinned a little, as if daring the other to guess whether or not he was telling the truth.