maskormenacelogs | i think i'll follow the sun

[ The sudden appearance of a flying woman doesn't startle him as much as it would have back when he first arrived, but it still has an effect. It's mostly being directly addressed that surprises him, and he seems to take a moment to properly register everything, hand raised in return greeting, before he manages the words. Admittedly, it's a pleasant kind of surprise, and he smiles. ]

Hey! Kar-- [ Wait. Was he still supposed to call her something different while she was busy flying around and being extra-human? Did this count as one of those times? He tries to amend himself either way. ] Carrots. Carrots are on sale. I just bought a bunch. [ It's a decent cover-up, okay? He's holding his latest round of grocery bags and everything, walking home from a short shopping trip.

Be that as it may, it's still an awkward hello. He goes back to answering the question put before him. ] Yeah, I-- I guess I left again? When I came back, they put me up here instead of in Florida.

Doing alright?

Edited 2015-03-18 03:41 (UTC)

[ She grimaces when her civilian name nearly comes trickling out of Kristoff's mouth, raising a finger to her lips. Ex-nay on the name-say, Kristoff! The recovery is... well, barely even what she would call one, but nobody seems to have been paying that close attention to have overheard them. People stare and point at the costumed superheroine, though they seem to leave her be. Then again, her costume is still looking a little worse for wear. Perhaps she's had a rough day. ]

Alright enough.

[ It's not a lie; she could be doing better.

Her toes dip forward first, then she plants both feet properly onto the sidewalk. ]

I kind of wonder why. How you liking it up here? The weather must be a nice change.

[ Kristoff steps back in an attempt to give her plenty of landing room, his mouth pressing into a small frown as he gets a better look at her. She looks a little rough, but... That's probably the kind of thing you aren't supposed to say to somebody, right? Besides, it's pretty understandable. It's been a weird little while.

He lets it slip past, then, and instead shrugs about North Carolina, nods about the weather. ] Yeah. It's a little more mild. There's actually scenery nearby, too, mountains and woods and stuff. It's nice.

[ His job and a couple of his roommates still left something to be desired, but whatever. ]

You're still in Maurtia Falls? Doing computer stuff?

You haven't made a den in the mountains somewhere, have you?

[ It a light-hearted jab, not intended to be offensive in the slightest. She chuckles at her own joke before shaking her head. ]

De Chima and no, actually. I started up my own company a few months back.

[ Her mouth splits into a grin, proud that she's accomplished this much. They may not be reaping all the benefits in their location, but the fact they've managed to stay afloat in such a competitive atmosphere says a lot about the tenacity of the company. Peej is also too ambitious a person to allow the company to sink after a few months. ]

Right. I got mixed up. There's too many places. [ He doesn't even know if De Chima is a town or a State. He's pretty sure it's a town, but then he doesn't know what State it's in. Hopefully, it doesn't matter too much. It's just fine knowing that that's where Karen is and that's where she's prospering. He smiles when she grins, at that, because it's good to hear. ]

Good. That's good. It seems to be the thing to do around here. [ Or... Around the various places that the imPorts call home. And, really, his only point of reference for calling it a trend are Karen and Anna, who's now trying to establish herself by selling chocolate. Both of these markets are things that he doesn't fully understand the appeal for, so he'll just sit around and be proud of everyone. ]

So what're you doing in Nonah?

Let's keep walking.

[ People have stopped to stare at the two, with some people starting to wonder if Kristoff is a fellow imPort and that's why this costumed heroine has flown in to talk with him. She beckons him with a hand, although she waits for him to lead the way. He's probably got somewhere to be and she can kill some time walking with him there. ]

Environmental R&D.

[ She clarifies immediately, remembering Kristoff isn't necessarily going to understand the term. ]

Research and development.

Oh. [ Kristoff nods in understanding while... not actually understanding at all. His demeanor switches appropriately when he realizes this, looking a little sheepish. ] I'm not sure what that means.

[ Researching the environment might make sense, but in which sense is development required? Isn't it fine on its own? Or is this involving building people things in places where there are none? There's really not much telling, going on the name alone. He's still under the impression that careers here can get a little over-complicated.

They've lost most of the wandering eyes from the shop-fronts now, and Kristoff turns a corner to start up the next street on his route home. ]

[ She should have figured.

She folds her arms around the back of her had, eyes trailing skyward as a pensive expression settles into place. ]

Okay, think of it like this...

[ Her arms pull away from her head and she holds them out apart from one another. She raises the left hand higher for a second. ]

So, pretend this is a company that makes mobile phones. Companies are always looking to improve their products, so they'll spend money into [ and up goes right hand ] research and development so they can look into ways on how they can improve on their products and market it, or come up with something new entirely. A phone company might want to make their phones smaller or maybe they want longer lasting batteries, but they need people to help them figure out how to make it happen.

It's... a little more complicated, but that's the gist of it.

Ah. I see. [ Which he does. Sorta. Really. Either way, he's not sure that asking about it any more is going to make it any clearer. He still think a lot of the career paths here seem more complicated than anything should be, but what does he know? He's basically ancient history, at this point.

He shrugs as he turns another corner. They're on his street now, with only a few houses to pass until they reach his current residence. ]

I tell ghost stories, right now. I gotta find something else before Anna suckers me into peddling chocolate.

What's so bad about chocolate?

[ She chuckles at the thought. ]

Everyone loves chocolate.

[ Hearing Anna's name gets that little grin of hers to stretch into a wider, slightly mischievous one. ]

I don't. [ Kristoff wrinkles his nose, trying to ignore Karen's cheeky-looking smile. ] It's not that available where we're from, and it-- Well, it's available to her, but I could never afford that kind of thing, and--

[ Okay, so he can't ignore the grin. Her expression and the foolishness that he's about to fess up to makes him smile, too, though it carries a note of self-consciousness. ]

It's too sweet. And rich. I keep eating them, though, when she gives 'em to me. It's kinda dumb.

Kind of silly, but sweet. Just make sure she doesn't overfeed you and you're brushing and flossing.

[ A mother and her two children pass by them and the kids tug with excitement on their mother's hands, pointing frantically to Kristoff and Peej, their eyes lighting up. The mother nods to acknowledge this, but she tries to shush them.

"Superheroes!" the kids exclaim.

Peej offers them a little wave in return and they squeal, delighted any imPort would return the attention. ]

Anyway... [ She looks back at Kristoff. ] How is it going with her?

[ Kristoff offers his own wave to the passing children, but it's more on the awkward side. He'll blame the bags of groceries and not his general fluster at unexpected attention. He fumbles when the conversation is brought back to the forefront. ]

Oh, it's-- It's fine. I think. I'm pretty sure. I mean, I've never had a girlfriend before, so... [ He's not sure of all of the rules, especially now that they're in a different world with different standards. He shrugs with a little smile on his face. ] I don't really know how it works all the time, but I think that's alright. She doesn't know any better than I do.

[ She's never been "date material" herself and most of her "relationships" fizzled out faster than a speeding bullet. Truthfully, she's never gotten close enough to someone that she wanted to be in a committed relationship with them.

She had strong and yet confusing feelings for some of her allies in the past, like Arthur, but she hadn't been in a good place or frame of mind. She was second-guessing herself more than she would have liked to admit and feeling alone. With Arthur, she believed they had an Atlantean connection and that's part of what drew her to him.

We don't talk about Hal Jordan or Carter Hall. ]

Whatever feels right for you both. What did you two do before?

[ He shrugs at the question, because he's bad at outlining relationships in general. Anna had been his friend even when she was engaged, but he might have been a little more invested in her than was strictly proper. Even after Hans was out of the picture, they'd existed perfectly well alongside each other without doing much to acknowledge anything other than caring and a deep friendliness. ]

We just spent time together a little bit. We'd walk JR and go to the beach and stuff. It's not much different now, just... Uh. There's more hugging and stuff.

[ And hand-holding, and she'll kiss him on the cheek from time to time, and he's a little afraid of trying anything more forward than that. Anna's generally much more open and daring than he is, on the physical contact front, and she hasn't done or mentioned anything else, so... Well. He can't tell what he's supposed to do and what he's supposed to avoid up until a certain point.

He'd be tempted to ask. Karen's a woman! Karen might know something! But, then again, it would be mega-embarrassing. ]

We're going to go hiking in a few days, 'cause Valentine's Day was kind of a bust, you know.

So that's what happened to Nelson's dog.

[ Thinking about Nelson brings back some odd memories. He was a nice guy, but boy he was going to have a hernia someday. She felt sorry for him, honestly, especially when it came to Hooded Justice.

Fuck that guy, really.

She nods, conveying Kristoff's activities with Anna aren't anything out of the ordinary. ]

You're not doing anything wrong. I guess if she's the type to enjoy it, you could take her somewhere fancy? She is a princess, right?

Yeah. [ He turns down a small frown at that. It's not that Anna's actually a high-maintenance individual or anything, but... Maybe he still worries about being too impoverished and relationship-clunky.

And, sure, they're basically on the same level here, but what about home?

He'll just push that down again, really. ]

You mean like... Maybe a nice dinner or something? I don't know what rich people like doing in their spare time.

You know...

[ She leans an elbow out, prodding Kristoff gently in the shoulder. ]

You could ask her. Maybe there's something she wants to do that she's been shy to bring up herself.

[ His shoulders hunch a little at that, and he sticks out his bottom lip in a split-second pout before he realizes what he's doing and tries to make himself look slightly less ridiculous. ]

Maybe. I guess I'll do ask the next time she comes up. I might as well do nice stuff like that while I can, right? If that's what she wants, anyway.

[ Aaaand, look. Here's his house and the walkway. Sven's waiting on the other side of the fence, looking like an excited dog somehow. You know, how Sven do. Kristoff says hello, of course, and looks to Karen like he fully expects her to say hello, too. It's the polite thing to do, right? ]

Did you want to come in for a bit? I can... make coffee or something.

[ How do you host, really? ]

[ Somehow, she's forgotten and Sven and actually has to pause to take in the imagery before her.

Okay, that's not bizarre at all. She might not ever get used to the fact Kristoff owns a reindeer that's more intelligent than it should be. ]

No, that's fine. I should probably leave you to it. I just... wanted to catch up, is all.

[ And for a brief moment, forget her troubles and aggravations currently plaguing her. She doesn't get overwhelmed easily, but lately it feels like she hasn't been able to resurface for air. ]

i think i'll follow the sun

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