maskormenacelogs | find some kind of glow

My bags are fine...

[ He lightly tosses the small bottles back into the bag once he's examined them thoroughly to make sure their caps didn't crack or unscrew somehow in the process. He carefully sets the bags down and ties the handles together.

There; nothing will be falling out at this rate. ]

Are you sure you're not lost? Or waiting for someone...?

[ Who is either extremely late or a no-show.

But this is kind of an odd area to meet up with someone unless they were going to go picking out fish. ]

[she quirks an eyebrow at him. the way he seemed to be reacting to her continued presence here, you'd think she was wandering around in small circles for that hour. between the two of them, Hazel felt she was significantly less odd at the moment.]

If I say yes, will it make you feel better?

Um...

[ Hazel's question earns a half-lidded stare. His voice falls flat, as if he can't believe she's asking him that at all.

(Spoilers: he can't.) ]

If it's a lie then not really...

[she meets the stare with an equally flat one, refusing to be embarrassed by her own query. this is shit she needs to know, ok.]

Suit yourself. I'm not lost.

[ Bewildered: ]

Then um...

[ Now he's the one with the lost expression. ]

... what are you doing?

Squatting here with you.

[obviously. if he doesn't want to buy her poorly constructed explanation for her presence, that's his problem. she's not going to talk about how she's torturing herself with beautiful dish ingredients.]

[ Gil narrows his eyes and very slowly, picks up his coat and slips it over his arm and then reaches for the plastic bags carrying a few cuts of salmon, herbs and a sauce to marinate the fish with. He then rises to his feet steadily, eyeing Hazel skeptically, not sure what to make of this young woman at all. ]

... I'm not sure what's going on anymore.

I'll just go.

[ah, is that fish in there? Hazel catches a glimpse of it as Gil jostles the bags around, and frowns with no small measure of melancholy after it. god, seafood was so good. she missed it so much.

...oh, right, he was standing now. she should probably get up too and stop looking like a weirdo. Hazel responds as she rises, unnecessarily brushing imaginary dirt off her knees as she goes.]

Hey, you're the one who decided to just start asking people on the street what they were doing! It's not my fault you don't believe me when I tell you!

Because you've been standing out here so long! It would be unusual to anyone!

[ He puffs out his chest somewhat indignantly, his face and the tips of his ears growing a faint shade of red. ]

It's obviously not unusual to literally everyone else here today. You're the first person who's said anything at all.

[she makes a grand sweeping gesture to encompass as much of the market as she can manage. this is true to a certain extent - she's pretty sure the guy behind the counter at the lobster tank shop has been giving her the hairy eyeball for a solid fifteen minutes.]

[ Gil pointedly avoids the man over by the lobster tank, getting an odd and uncomfortable vibe from him. ]

Well, that's strange, too. Heropa's locals are generally friendlier...

[ He rubs the back of his neck, not sure what to make of it. ]

So you're not waiting for anyone or lost after all?

Heropa's pedestrians generally don't look like they just escaped from the hospital.

[Hazel's not entirely comfortable enough with herself to make these kinds of cracks, but she's also not completely oblivious - she knows that even covered up like this, she's still got a worrisome amount of stitches visible. she wouldn't blame people for avoiding her at the best of times, and most certainly not after the Hornet debacle.]

But no, seriously, it's just me hanging around. I like looking at dead fish, that's all.

[thank you, Hazel, that is a very reassuring statement.]

[ He didn't want to draw attention to the stitches, or be the first one to say anything if it was something Hazel had not been comfortable discussing with a complete stranger. Now he feels bad, avoiding her gaze momentarily and staring at a small billboard with a terrible fish pun ahead of them. ]

... what?

[ Repeating her words in his head, Gil finally looks back at her uncertainly. ]

You've been staring at the fish this whole time?

And the lobsters. It's a fish market, I'm not here for the people watching.

[she goes to completely different areas for that. trips like these are 100% about killing what little bits of her soul still remain with delicious reminders of what she can't have.]

[ And that's when it begin to dawn on him. ]

... are you hungry?

[ He sounds surprised; if she's been staring at the food this long, then she must be hungry. ]

You can buy pre-cut fish. The snapper and lobster are on sale for a little while.

[she shakes her head sharply, frown laced with a combination of regret and disappointment.]

I can't eat any of it. Medical problems, you know? Or you don't, I guess, since you already bought some really nice looking salmon there.

Oh, that's ―

[ Wait, what?

Gil gives a fervent shake of his head. ]

― what kind of medical problem?

[ Unless she's on some kind of liquid diet, he's baffled. ]

[she holds up a finger, the gesture meant to be simultaneously accusatory and putting the breaks on this whole line of questioning.]

Hey! Strangers are supposed to say "oh, that sucks", not try and pull someone's entire medical history out of them on a street corner!

[ It intimidates him just enough, the plastic bags in his hand crinkling loudly he waves both hands both and forth, looking over her apologetically now. ]

T-That's not what I'm trying to do!

That's totally what you're trying to do! What do you want next, my blood pressure and cholesterol levels?

[her hand drops to rest sassily on her hip, but Gil's apparent cowing keeps her from ranting on any further. no need to get so worked up in a public space.]

No!

[ He looks around nervously anyway, hoping none of the merchants have taken notice of their bizarre conversation. ]

I-It didn't make much sense, that's all! Unless you can't digest solid food at the moment...

We just had terrorists upload their minds into people and bodyjack them, but someone telling you they can't eat certain food is too weird to accept?

[ok, she's just messing with him now for the sake of it. but really, in the grand scheme of everything that's happened in this world, her lie doesn't seem all that strange.]

[ His mouth opens.

Then closes.

Then he opens his mouth once more, trying to retain his composure. ]

You never said it was certain foods...

You asked if I wanted to buy some fish and I said I couldn't have any of it. It's not my fault you made a bad assumption!

[it kind of is, actually, but Hazel's not going to acknowledge that anytime soon. the more she deflects off herself the better.]

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

1/2

2/2

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject