walking travesty

Nora was not sure they she came other than the free food, but that was enough of a reason. She did need to get out more, she needed to be present in the town even with her being on such high alert after what happened with Bliss. She needed to clear her head, have a good time. But first, she needed to enjoy the true reason she came. She had just stepped over to the table, if felt she was pushing her way to it almost–she began to wonder if there would any left. But in all the commotion, she hadn’t noticed the young man walking up beside her. 

Her hand going out instinctually, a soft breeze leaving her finger tips. She often forgot how her power was still so easily triggered. “Are you alright?” She breathed, knowing she would have bumped into someone sooner or later, at least she didn’t have her hands full. “It’s so damn packed in here I feel like I can’t move.” She chuckled nervously, reaching out almost touching his arm but stopping herself. “Oh here,” she picked up a plate and offered it to him. “I can at least be helpful since I almost knocked you over.”

Felix wasn’t used to contact anymore, not since his...ability manifested. And even though she didn’t touch him she almost did and that was enough to make him step back, bumping into someone else. She was right; it was really crowded in here.  He took the plate, smiling weakly at her. “I promise it takes a lot to knock me over...But thanks. I’m still um sorry for being in the way.”

Cleo quickly shook her head. “No, no. You just spooked me was all. I’m just a very…frightened person.” She avoided making eye contact with him. This whole idea was a mistake. She should just leave. When she looked up to bid him goodbye she found her breathing halt. It was the first time she’d properly looked at him. She had this weird feeling in her stomach like something was squirming around and tickling her insides. She only ever felt that in the rawest moments she’d had with Grayson. “…I have to go,” she breathed, trying to move past him.

The double rejection sucked, he could admit that. But letting her just go felt weir d for some reason and he almost held a hand out to stop her but dropped it before he could touch her. He could hurt her by accident and that would only confirm her desire to run from him. “Sorry...Did I do something wrong? Was it rue to ask...Jeez, I’m sorry..”

Ooh, good Lord above. Ben sighed, looking around for just about anything else to catch his eye or give him an out, but things seemed to be running fairly smoothly. Of course they were. “No?” Ben asked, confused. The kid was the one who almost fell over, so why he was asking questions like he was worried didn’t make a lick of sense. “You’re not exactly a brute, son.”

If Felix could fold into himself and disappear, he would. He was being paranoid for nothing and that made him look like a weirdo. The last thing he wanted to be was a weirdo. “I...yeah. I’m not a brute. I’m the least brutish person I know...”

Spring was a strange time for Benjamin. He had a lot of work to do, naturally, as everyone cleared away the rotting leaves beneath the snow, which was for the best really. He escaped in Spring, he met Reilly in Spring, subsequently skipping his first Easter Mass for guilt and for shame. He lost it all in Spring and arrived in Rosendale just before the summer solstice, and here he was a few years later, still tired from work, still stuck in a complicated enough relationship with the holiday season, but at least he showed up to something this year. He’d grab a few drinks, he figured. Maybe some food. Clearly, he wasn’t alone in this.

He ended up body slamming some kid, a beanpole of a thing, honestly, who had a few inches on him but did nothing with them clearly. “Right,” he frowned, already tense and half ready to explode. “That much is fuckin’ clear.” He turned finally to look at the kid properly and swallowed. “You alright anyway?”

His eyes widened but he nodded his head. This guy seemed like the type to actually mess up a guy like him for hitting him in the shoulder too hard, so he was just going to do his best to not make the guy angrier. “I’m, fine. Sorry..I mean, are you okay? I didn’t hit you too hard, did I?”

Going to the event was a big step for her. She’d been hiding in the safety of Grayson’s apartment and trying to avoid people at all costs. She knew she couldn’t hide forever though. So, what better reason to come out other than a place crowded with people? She couldn’t remember why she agreed to go. Maybe because she didn’t want her beloved friend to worry for her any longer. She kept reassuring herself nothing would go wrong. That the people here weren’t out to get her and could be trusted, not that she would actually listen to herself. She’d been standing by the long table of food, snacking on cheese cubes for the last twenty minutes when a strong force hit her.

Cleo jumped back the moment her skin came in contact with another’s. She clasped a hand over her mouth to prevent any scream that would wriggle its way out. After years of practice she was still scared she would let out a loud screech. Horror movies were always off the table for her because of it. After a moment her heartbeat slowed down and she looked up at the young man in front of her. “I-it’s okay,” she said despite the fact she was visibly shaking. “I guess I was lost in thought and didn’t see you coming.”

She was shaking and it was his fault and that made him want to run away from the event on its own. He never wanted to make anyone uncomfortable; he went out of his way to make people feel better half of the time. So seeing this...it hurt him a little. “It’s not okay,” he said firmly. “I was the one who...It was my fault, miss. And I should do better.” He glanced at the food table. “Can I umm...get you something? To make up for it?”

There wasn’t much on the table of food that Sofia hadn’t grabbed a sample of, her plate being a vast representation of the assortment of foods brought to the potluck, and the only way to stave off her random cravings. As she turned to find a table to sit and eat at, her arm holding the plate rounded right into his chest, knocking the plate out of her hand. A frosted cupcake fell off the plate and managed to leave some frosting residue on Sofia’s top before falling to the floor with the rest of the food. “Clearly.” She stoically added, doing her best to try and not break into tears as she gulped slowly to repress the sudden mood swing without much luck.

Felix’s eyes widened in panic and he scrambled to try and grab napkins for the woman.  “Here! I’m so sorry I am such an ass....”  He offered the napkins to her and started to grab another plate. “I can...I can help you get more food! And bring it to your table and clean that mess up and...sorry.”

There was no particular reason she was there, except maybe for booze and food, though with knowing her dad was there, she also knew she had to stay on the down low. That in mind, she kept mostly at the opposite end of the potluck than him, managing to find herself scouring the table of food for something that wasn’t pastel colored. She turned quickly to find herself bumping into someone, a brief encounter leaving her finding stability by grabbing the table. “Watch it will you! Jesus, can’t you see where you’re going?”

He reached out to help her but pulled away instinctively. If he just acted and tried to grab her wrist, he could break it. And that would make things so much worse. “I...sorry! I didn’t mean to...I will watch it next time.”

As he made his way over to the table of food, someone bumped into him and he almost fell over. “Shit--Sorry! I wasn’t watching were I was umm...going.”