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Post by Atlas on Jan 15, 2021 19:20:11 GMT -8
"Oh I'm calm," he said with a smile. "I-I'm just not good with people or..." The sentence would normally be finished with girls, but he was 18 and really needed to get out of that high school mindset. Also, that statement was usually not taken well.
"W-well anyway, I don't have my swim trunks with me or sunscreen so I'm a little unprepared for that sort of thing."
Did she have a swimsuit on underneath or something? What was her plan? The thought of her in a bathing suit came to his mind, and he quickly shook it out of his head. He felt wrong thinking of that. However, he didn't shake off the blush that came into his face. Though whether the blush was from the image or the embarrassment of the thought was difficult to say.
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Post by Shiloh on Jan 15, 2021 20:05:04 GMT -8
Shiloh seemed oblivious to his blush, as she was to most people's awkwardness. She just gave a little shake of her head.
"We don't have to go swimming or anything! We can just walk together on the beach. It's a nice day out, and the sun is pretty reflecting off the waves. We don't have to, though."
She smiled at him and gave a shrug of her thin shoulders.
"It's whatever you're more comfortable with."
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Post by Atlas on Jan 15, 2021 22:55:52 GMT -8
Atlas chuckled awkwardly. "W-well I mean..." he stuttered. Taking a look around as if trying to find someone another chuckle fell out of his mouth. "You're talking about... me?"
The young man pushed his glasses up. "I mean I-I would love to but like with you, wait not that it's you it's just that I'm like, this and you're not, I mean you're- aheh," he struggled to find the words. "I mean people will probably find it pretty weird for you to hang out with, me, so..."
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Post by Shiloh on Jan 16, 2021 9:02:47 GMT -8
She smiled softly and gave a little shake of her head.
"It won't be strange at all. I doubt anyone will even look twice at us." Or, to be fair, even once. But that was beside the point. "As far as anyone knows, we are just two friends taking a walk together. At the very least, let me show you around the city?"
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Post by Atlas on Jan 17, 2021 7:55:33 GMT -8
Atlas was frozen for a second, then his head made little nods that turned into bigger confident nods. "Y-yea, yea okay," he answered with a smile.
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Post by Shiloh on Jan 17, 2021 8:04:42 GMT -8
Shiloh's smile could have lit up a dark room. She nodded and motioned for him to follow her.
"This city really is quite beautiful... The apartments where they house the Metas are sort of on the outskirts, in the not-as-pretty part. All along the outer edge of the city is mostly abandoned... but downtown is amazing."
She began to lead the way down the sidewalk, excited to play tour guide... despite the fact that it almost guaranteed they would get lost at some point.
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Post by Atlas on Jan 17, 2021 21:22:36 GMT -8
"Oh yea the apartments! That's where I live!" Atlas informed with an excited smile, delighted to see someone so thrilled to walk with him. He followed her at whatever pace she chose.
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Post by Shiloh on Jan 17, 2021 21:26:14 GMT -8
She chuckled and nodded.
"I kind of guessed so. 'Your kind' typically means Metas, these days, and you seem pretty lost. I probably shouldn't have assumed like that, but it seemed like a reasonable guess."
Shiloh smiled at him and wandered rather leisurely down the sidewalk.
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Post by Atlas on Jan 19, 2021 9:19:39 GMT -8
"Oh no that's a very reasonable guess!" he said with an awkward chuckle. "Yea I can do this thing where I harden my skin. It's pretty cool, and I can yknow," he interrupted himself to give a lazy kick. "...kick some butt when I need to."
His finger pushed his glasses up once again.
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Post by Shiloh on Jan 19, 2021 17:07:50 GMT -8
Shiloh chuckled softly, nodding to him.
"That seems like it would be useful. People around here are still getting used to the thought of Metas, even though we have been around for a lot longer than they know. Before, it was mostly just children showing abilities, and they were all really underdeveloped, so they didn't see us as much of a threat. Nowadays, however... Well, with more Metas coming over on the Ark and everything, it's become... I don't know. A bigger deal. People fear what they do not understand."
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Post by Atlas on Jan 21, 2021 20:59:54 GMT -8
"That makes sense. I don't understand what gravitons are despite the fact that they're a pivotal piece in the bridge between modern quantum physics and Einstein's theory of relativity and that..." Atlas's statement slowed and lowered in volume as he neared the end, realizing his nerd came out. "...scares...me-um, so, you're a meta too??" he asked with a voice crack, swift to change subjects.
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Post by Shiloh on Jan 22, 2021 8:42:38 GMT -8
Shiloh chuckled and nodded.
"Yes, I am. I haven't really... told most people yet. I'm one of the orphans, so I've been here for eight years, now. Nobody really knows I'm a Meta, but I'm working on that. I'm planning on telling my best friend the next time we do something together."
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Post by Atlas on Jan 22, 2021 14:34:24 GMT -8
"Oh! How exciting!" Atlas cheered softly with a smile. "Well so what can you do?"
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Post by Shiloh on Jan 22, 2021 15:15:55 GMT -8
"I can disappear," she said with a little wink. "I don't know if you've noticed or not, but most of the people around here don't really pay me much attention, anyway. It's a side effect of my power, I think." She motioned to the crowd on the street.
What she said was fairly accurate. Nobody was looking her direction, or paying much mind to her at all. They seemed to just naturally move around her, as if she were in a little bubble.
"But when I focus, I can just... Disappear completely."
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Post by Atlas on Jan 22, 2021 22:34:35 GMT -8
Atlas nodded. "That's fascinating! Do you know how it works? What makes you disappear? I mean are talking about manipulating photons or is it more mental based, and toying with interactions between...um.." he began to trail off again, but he managed to spit out the last word, "...neurons."
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