Homecoming [Open]

[Fulong|Clara]

The thing about Noatak was that it always drew you back, no matter how far away you were. Clara hadn't intended to return to the little town at all when she'd graduated--after all, what kind of career could possibly await her back there?--but the current state of the economy had dictated otherwise. And so it was that she found herself holding a dead-end job at Shake It Up, still holding out for the day when her English degree would be worth something.

But she didn't mind much. Clara had never been the sort to remain down in the dumps for long--especially not when there was still so much to do here. So many people had moved into town while she'd been away, and she had made it a personal challenge to meet all of them before the winter was out. And maybe Yekaterina would want to come along, by which Clara meant she would drag her friend outside by force if necessary. That girl stayed in the clinic way too much as it was.

In any case, Clara had off today, so it was as good a time as any to start making friends. Leaning back against the counter, she drank her strawberry milkshake and watched the mostly-empty pizza parlor for any strangers to pounce on.

[Scar]

Empty.
That word alone described the Pizza Parlour; Kalena could tell before she even opened the door. Someone leaning against the counter, the workers in the back.
They were the only people in there.

She smiled, and pushed open a door, adjusting the strap of her dark, black purse. The purse had as many buckles and skulls as her outfit; a pair of black boots, as high as the knees, appeared to be made of buckles. Dark pantyhoes covered the small amount of skin between the knees and the skirt.
Her shirt was black as night, thin, layered under a black corset, red cartoon-style skulls decorating the top. Long, silky, black hair lay upon her shoulders, bordering a pale, white face.
The eyes scanned the parlour quickly, drinking in every detail. The brown irises were light enough to be considered the color of honey.

Kalena tucked the black hair behind her ear, and leaned against the counter, opening her purse. She quickly made an order; medium sized pizza, no toppings, to eat in the resturaunt.
She removed her wallet from her purse, unbuckled it-- gee, even the wallet? --and withdrew fourty dollars from said wallet. She handed it to the man at the counter, whom placed the money in the register, and withdrew the change.
She placed said change in her wallet, closed and buckled it, and returned it to her purse.

Well, nothing to do while they cooked the pizza. She turned her back to the counter, moved aside, and leaned against it. She folded her arms across her chest, and stared into space, inhaling through her nose, out through her mouth; A form of meditation.

[Melissa|Tristan]

Tristan's sneakers made squeaky noises as he entered the pretty much abandoned pizza parlour. It was the only one in town, so their pizza's had better be darn good. He himself enjoyed making his own pizza's, but at the moment he didn't have time to. Between his new job and sleeping, Tristan was pretty busy at the moment.

He led himself surely across the floor, barely pausing to take a glance at the two women who were the only other customers in sight. He found it odd that the place was so deserted at what should have been a peak hour for them. Tristan had already learned though that Naotak ran on a different schedule than the rest of the world. Nothing seemed to be in a hurry here, and nothing seemed to really change besides the seasons. Everyone had their routines; for instance, the elderly man living in the same apartment complex as Tristan walked by at 7:06 every morning.

A woman came to the counter and took Tristan's order. One medium Canadian pizza please. She rang it through the regster -a series of buzzes and beeps- and took his money all in about 30 seconds. Speed and efficiency, just what he liked. With his classic smirk, he turned to examine the women customers while he waited for his pizza. The first one in line was casually dressed, and could have been a teacher for all he knew. Her looks weren't outstanding, but she was pretty in a simple way. Her long red hair was her most dominant feature, along with an expressive face. The way that she was looking back at him made Tristan vaguely uncomfortable, for she seemed to be seeing more than she rightfully should. Uncomfortable, he broke eye contact with her to curiously regard the woman second in line. The second woman was dressed in black. All in black. Judging from the buckled boots to the blackness of her hair, she was either going to a funeral, or she was goth. In Tristan's experience, a person being goth usually indicated that the person was independant and ran to the beat of their own drum. This did appear to be the case since the girl appeared completely unconcerned with having two strangers next to her.

The scent of strawberries reached Tristan's nostrils, and he found his stomach growling with surpressed hunger. Embarassed, he turned to the two women. Sorry about that. I'm so hungry I could eat a horse. His casually crossed his arms, and moved out from the counter. Both women appeared to be using it as a leaning post, so he moved in front of them to see them better. While the one was sucking down the last drops of her milkshake, the other was now breathing very weirdly. This town was full of weird people, and they just kept getting stranger and stranger.

[Fulong|Clara]

Clara glanced over at the two new arrivals to the pizza parlor. Neither of them looked familiar, but that was precisely the reason why she'd come here in the first place.

The other girl leaning against the counter looked a little intimidating, but that had never deterred Clara before, and it wasn't about to now. As for the young man, he seemed a little younger than she was--perhaps about Yekaterina's age--somewhat lanky, and friendly enough. He was looking at her; she grinned back. You never knew whom you might meet in a town like this.

A growling noise caught Clara's attention--the embarrassed expression on the young man's face pinpointed him as the culprit. "Sorry about that," he was saying. "I'm so hungry I could eat a horse."

Clara's smile widened. "No need to apologize. That's what you're here for, isn't it?"

[Aras|Ofelia]

((OOC: Since Scar hasn't been on for a while, I'm going to go ahead and say you two can continue without her. Or move it to the archives. Whichever works.))

[Melissa|Tristan]

((OOC: I guess I'll post then ;D))

The gothic/punch girl was completely ignoring the other customers, while she glared out the window. Tristan decided not to waste his time with her; she obviously didn't want company, and frankly, Tristan wasn't one to force his company where he wasn't wanted. He could do fine on his own, thank you very much.

The embarrassing incident involving his stomach was quickly smoothed over by the brown haired, older woman. He laughed, glad he hadn't been ridiculed because of his fierce hunger. It wasn't like he hadn't eaten lately; he did seem to be eating more recently. It was strange, but then again, Tristan pinned it down to all the fresh air and excersize he was getting.

Moving to just within an arm's reach of the brown haired woman, Tristan held his hand out to her. I'm Tristan . . . Tristan Grant. His smile was confident, but very friendly. The goth might not be a friend, but maybe he could find one in this woman.

[Fulong|Clara]

Clara immediately returned the handshake, thankful to have even one friendly face in town. So many of the other people she'd seen around were...well, introverted would be a polite way to put it, but it was more like they were just plain weird. And unfriendly, which was the important part, because weird wasn't necessarily a bad thing at all.

Anyway the point was that there really weren't enough people in town who could be bothered to return a simple hello when they were offered one, and this looked like a refreshing change.

"Clara Reinhardt," she returned cheerfully around her milkshake straw, patting the seat next to her in an invitation to sit down. "Just Clara to everyone in town except my parents when they're upset. Nice to meet you, Tristan. I don't think I've seen you around before."

[Melissa|Tristan]

While he hadn't met many of the locals, besides the people he worked with at the clinic, that is. The few that he had met, like Fulong had been friendly enough, if a little . . . impersonal. Impersonality was something that was valued in a paramedic, since you were supposed to remain calm even if the patient was someone close to you. They could be a family member, and you still had to follow protocol. In a way that was a good thing, since it gave you something to fall back on, something routine to do.

On the other hand, if one of your buddies got shot, you were supposed to keep it together, even if he was dying as you worked on him. That was one of the hardest parts of the job for Tristan.

Taking the offered seat next to the woman, who'd introduced herself as Clara, he smiled winningly at her. She was older than him, but she was very pretty, and Tristan liked to be in good-looking company. He chuckled at her inocence before answering her unspoken questions. You wouldn't have, since I've only been here a few weeks. Another chuckle. Or unless you had a medical emergency, which you obviously haven't. He looked her up and down once carefully, out of curiousity. She was somewhat tall and thin, with long legs that looked very athletic. Judging from her hands though (there were no callouses or srapes on them) she didn't play any sports, even for fun.

To explain his joke, Tristan offered another smile. I'm an EMT at the clinic down the street. You? It was the easiest way to ask what she did, since he didn't like dancing around subjects. Clara looked educated, but looks could certainly be decieving, couldn't they? After all, he himself was a prime example of that.

[Fulong|Clara]

Clara grinned. Tristan appeared to be eying her, but she didn't particularly mind. He was, admittedly, kind of on the cute side, and there was no harm in being vaguely flirty. "Welcome to Noatak, then, I should say."

The fact that he was an EMT was a little surprising for reasons she couldn't explain. Maybe because he'd come off as a pretty easygoing guy, and the few people in the clinic she knew were more on the occasionally morbid side than anything else. Still, now that she thought about it, he did seem like the sort who'd be able to keep his head in a tight situation.

"I work at the music store down the street," she said wryly, not bothering to hide the irony in her voice. She was still grinning, though; she never passed up a chance to laugh at anyone, herself included. "That's what I get for majoring in English. It's probably a ton less interesting than your job."

[Melissa|Tristan]

Clara was pretty, and though she was a few years older than him, age had never really bothered Tristan much. Welcome to Noatak, then, I should say. Instantly, Tristan’s megawatt smile turned on, lighting up his face. Thanks. I think I like it here already. Okay, so he was flirting back, a little; his words were laced with double meanings.

Though Clara appeared to be surprised by his occupation, she took it in stride, and he could practically see her listing off the qualities that made him good at his job. True, he was that transparent, but everyone could see that he was meant to be an EMT. The level headedness, remaining calm in bloody situations, following instructions (though if he really disagreed with them he could take matters into his own hand), and killer instincts made him great at his work.

She mentioned working in the music store down the street that Tristan had never noticed before. Then again, he hadn’t really been in town that long either. Note to self: Check out that music store! Clara’s sense of humor was quickly becoming apparent, as she laughed at herself. Himself, Tristan had never been book smart, and had barely passed the theory courses he’d had to take. Mind you, he had passed the practice part with flying colours, and he admired intelligence in a woman.

He turned his megawatt smile down a little to reply to her. I guess, but we should all do what we love, right? Checking back on his mental map, Tristan couldn’t remember seeing a school anywhere in town. Then again though, he wasn’t exactly sightseeing while doing his job. Is there a school here in town? Hopefully she wouldn’t assume he had kids or anything from his question, because that sure could be a conversation stopper.

[Fulong|Clara]

"That's definitely what I was taught." Clara flashed another smile. This guy was definitely turning it on, especially with the smile and all, but she didn't mind. She could do with another friendly face in town. "But I still think your line of work is a lot more interesting, even if I'd be crap at it. I used to hang around the clinic all the time when I was a kid, just to watch what went on. Half the doctors there know me by name."

Tristan's question about a school gave her a moment's pause before she laughed and shook her head. "We've got a school here, but I've never really considered teaching. I love kids, but that's not really the same thing as having to deal with them all the time. Maybe one day, though, when I'm sure I'm going to be settling down here." A wink. "That is what you were asking about, isn't it?"

[Melissa|Tristan]

The smell of the pizza's cooking was making Tristan's mouth water. He was the type to eat whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted, so long as he did tons of laps to burn it off again. No one liked a fat swimmer, right? Plus Tristan prided himself on the way he looked, and did his best to stay muscular and in shape.

That's definitely what I was taught. As she smiled just as brightly back at him, Tristan leaned back casually, his hands behind his head. So far everything was going great, and Clara seemed to really like him. Of course, they knew next to nothing about each other, so it was really too soon to tell, but Tristan was feeling a connection to her. Both her openness and straightforwardness appealed to him on a basic level, and she wasn't unattractive on a physical level either.

As she pointed out that his job was very exciting, Tristan grinned. Yeah, it does get pretty exciting sometimes. It's a pretty exhilarating feeling, saving someone's life. He hesitated for a second, wondering if he should reveal this last part. It feels good, you know? Helping people. It was one of the best parts of the job, and one of the main reasons Tristan had wanted to become an EMT in the first place.

Surprised as he was, Tristan could understand Clara's reason's for not becoming a teacher. Though it would give her much more money than working at the music store, she was right to do what she loved doing. Somehow, she changed direction midsentance, to her own views of having kids. Maybe one day, though, when I'm sure I'm going to be settling down here." She winked at him, momentarily making him lose his cool. It was better than he could have hoped for in their first conversation. "That is what you were asking about, isn't it?" If Tristan had had any shame whatsoever, he would have flushed, but as it was, he had none. Grinning cheekily at her, Tristan's reply was as straightforward as the rest of him. Indirectly, yes. Hopefully the honesty would get him bonus points.

He spent the next few seconds taking Clara's clothing in again. He could see that Clara downplayed her assets by the way she dressed. Tristan was no pig, but he could tell just by the way she moved that she was probably dynamite underneath all that. Wondering if she got out much, to clubs and bars and stuff like that, he hypothesized that she didn't. Clara did seem very comfortable in the pizza parlour though, and the staff seemed to know her well, so he guessed that she probably ate here a lot. Simplicity could be very appealing, on the right woman of course, and it was a mantle that Clara wore well. Tristan hoped that everything worked out between them.

[Fulong|Clara]

Clara sucked down the rest of her milkshake and eyed it critically before she waved at the waiter and ordered another. It was probably a little cold for milkshakes, but she'd always had a bit of a sweet tooth.

"Yeah, I know what you mean," she said, nodding slightly and leaning forward in interest. "Have you saved someone's life, then? You sound like you have, that's all." It wasn't that she hated her job--she was the sort of person who could find something to enjoy in just about everything--but she definitely didn't intend to hold it for the rest of her life. Tristan, on the other hand, seemed to have found his calling already, and he clearly loved what he did. She envied him a little for that, though not in any malicious way, and she certainly wouldn't say no to a few interesting stories if he was in the mood to talk.

She laughed outright at Tristan's response. "Some might say you were trying a little too hard there," she warned him half-seriously, though her eyes were still dancing with amusement. She'd never been the sort to stay in one place for very long, and while she'd had a few on-and-off relationships in college, she didn't plan on settling down here just yet. Finding a guy, she'd decided, could wait until she was fairly sure she knew what else she was going to do in life.

[Melissa|Tristan]

Clara had finished her milkshake, and ordered another one from the waiter. Tristan caught the young man’s eye, and ordered a chocolate milkshake for himself, passing the guy a 20. Keep the change. Those three little words earned him a beaming smile from what was obviously a struggling student, much like he himself had been a couple years ago. Tristan knew that their service would be spectacular, simply because of it.

It was strangely pleasant to have someone so interested in his work. Clara was obviously intelligent, and she asked interesting questions about what he did, so Tristan really didn’t mind answering them. Have you saved someone's life, then? You sound like you have, that's all. Tristan’s smile became brighter again at Clara’s seemingly innocent questions. Once or twice. I resuscitated an extreme burn victim after she passed into shock once. Katie. She was 9, and her brother had accidentally lit the house on fire. Both were in the hospital for weeks, but they were both alright. He didn’t add that they had both been forced to have skin grafts, and neither looked the same afterwards. Tristan also didn’t add that he’d been Katie’s hero since then, and that she wanted him to go to her birthday party in two weeks. He didn’t want to seem conceited and full of himself to Clara.

Clara’s laugh rang out through the parlor, making Miss Goth jump a little. The look on her face was priceless, and Tristan almost started laughing too. Almost. Her teasing smile suggested that she didn't mind, but Tristan could hear a note of truthfulness in her words. Some might say you’re worth trying hard for, he countered. His voice was joking in return, but again there was that note of truthfulness in his voice. Still, he wasn’t a person who needed to have someone around all the time; he just liked to have nice company with him when he went out, that’s all.

[Fulong|Clara]

Clara's eyes widened in appreciation. It was one thing to know someone was an EMT, but jobs had always been more of a concept to her than anything else. It was the stories she loved and wanted to hear; those were what made any profession real to her. It was also the reason why she wasn't really fond of her own admittedly dead-end job; there were only so many stories you could tell about aggravating customers before it all got a bit old, really, and she liked to think she generally saw the good in people.

"That's amazing," she said, beaming at him. "It's so cool that you get to make a difference in people's lives like that. I wish I could do the same, but I don't think I've got the stomach for it."

She was flattered at Tristan's words despite herself, but only smiled as she collected her second milkshake. "Why, thank you. I wouldn't mind hanging out sometime, in that case." Perhaps she might not have been interested in a relationship, but she'd never say no to a new friend.