𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕.

Depa had been editing a drawing on her tablet, the image of her young padawan. She tried to keep the image as neutral as she could, to best give her the chance of finding out any information on him. She tried to push down the freshest memory she had, the moment of pure fear in the face of a situation even she was ill-prepared for. "Excuse me." She flagged another down, "Do you think it would be foolish to post flyers around town If I was looking for someone?" She was used to sharing and workshopping her ideas with others. She didn't see the harm in trying it out still. "I had to draw an image because non of my personal effects from home made it here it seems."

"of  course  not,  that  might  be  the  best  way  to  find  them."  and  it  was  –  if  anything,  word  of  mouth  was  vital  when  it  came  to  tracking  anyone  down.  "would  you  like  me  to  help  you  put  them  up?"  tessa  offered,  extending  her  hands  for  a  few  posters  to  assist.  "how  long  have  they  been  missing?"

Laughing at the question, Ariel sticks a hand out so she can have the two sticks before kneeling down and placing them in a specific position in a piece of wood. "There's a certain science to it that should be done in order to get even the smallest of fires to appear." She explains and shakes her head. "It's said that people would cut down bark from the tree where there was no sap and it could hold the sticks in between as a sort of leverage whilst twisting them between your hands."

had  a  few  nature  docs  here  and  there  detailed  this?  sure.  was  dexter  paying  any  attention  to  it  during  them?  clearly  not.  as  he  held  the  sticks  firmly,  it  took  a  matter  of  seconds  for  him  to  offer  them  over,  holding  them  out  in  outstretched  palms.  "  you  seem  to  be  an  expert,  i'll  need  a  demonstration." 

they may have only known for a few minutes, but neil had a strong feeling the poet before him was downplaying his own talent, as many artists did. " it's still really cool that you're published. you'll have to let me read some of your writing someday. " someday. given their current environment, their time together was fleeting, but it was exciting to think they might see each other again sometime. though, neil had never been that good at picking up on signals. " todd, huh ? " they asked immediately upon retrieving their phone, biting back a smile. " alright, todd. i look forward to seeing you again sometime. " it wasn't until he had started to walk away that neil thought to formally introduce himself. it was probably important that his newest friend know his name. " oh ! by the way, " he was only a few steps away and turned back around to face todd, " my name is neil. " with that, he turned on his heels once again and headed for a checkout kiosk.

he  had  turned  to  leave,  though  entirely  hesitant  on  doing  so.  a  longing  glance,  a  tug  at  his  heart  in  a  way  that  had  lain  dormant  for  years.  the  surrealism  of  it  all  was  overwhelming,  but  todd  had  completely  shut  it  down  to  nothing  more  than   a  complete  coincidence.  how  else  to  explain  it?  people  looked  like  other  people  all  the  time,  typically  there  should  be  at  least  five  other  people  out  in  the  world  that  could  hold  a  resemble  to  neil  perry.  how  lucky  they  were.  his  heel  had  nearly  turned  when  the  man  approached  him  again,  todd  froze  at  the  introduction.  unable  to  squeak  out  a  response  before  neil  is  leaving.  todd  was  quiet,  subdued,  every  bone  in  his  body  pleaded  with  him  to  maintain  that  belief  of  coincidences.  any  other  time,  perhaps  he  would  have  listened.  instead  todd  hastened  his  pace,  a  bleering  look  of  panic  present  as  he  raced  towards  the  checkouts.  "wait  –  wait,  please  wait."  it  sounded  insane,  todd  knew  this,  but  he  blurted  it  regardless.  "  neil  perry?"

"i, what?" sam said, with confusion and stopping in his tracks at the same robot. despite having memories of leading a full life in ivy cove, sam now still had issues getting used to some of the modern things. especially technology. "well of course i mean no harm. but how is that supposed to know that? it's just a robot," sam said, frowning. "wait, is it going to hurt me?" his tone shifted to more accusatory, taking a step back.

"  he  can  hear  you."  anakin  stated  knowingly,  a  slight  nod  to  the  small  robot  now  whirring  about  on  wheels.  "that  depends  on  if  he  thinks  you're  an  enemy."  the  robot  was..  entirely  harmless  however,  this  was  a  lesson  to  be  learnt  and  anakin  was  fully  prepared  to  administer  it.  "approach  him  and  explain  that  you  mean  no  harm,  it's  very  simple."

without thinking about it nina ran right to him before hugging him tightly. if she thought about it before hand , nina probably wouldnt have he was so mad at her before. but he also didnt run when she called out to him like she half expected. ' im sorry , im so sorry. ' the last real memory she had was called his name while she was bring arrested. they had ended up in that situation because of them , but she had truly didnt know what else to do because if she had left them take him to the palace he wouldnt have survived either.

his  hardened  expression  now  displayed  confusion,  furrowed  brows  forcing  a  wrinkle  just  above  his  nose.  "  sorry?  why  are  you  sorry  ?"  an  extensive  list,  it  could  be,  but  matthias  had  forgiven  all  –  how  could  he  have  made  that  any  clearer?  "  nina."  the  hug  is  welcomed,  large  arms  pulling  themselves  around  her  as  he  clutched  her  closer  to  him  "  what  is  wrong,  röed  fetla?"

it  had  been  the  very  same  words  steve  had  expressed  to  her,  a  final  plea  of  his  heart  to  explain  his  feelings.  that  more  time,  had  they  been  given  it,  was  all  he  had  wished  for.  even  in  the  brief  time  they  had  together,  it  had  been  infinitely  better  than  any  other  moment  in  steve's  life.  he  loved  her,  still loved  her.  his  own  expression  would  fail  to  hide  any  of  that,  it  wore  it loud  and  clear.  with  steve's  embrace  on  her  needing  to  release,  a  panicked  flickering  of  his  heart  beats  readied  himself  –  as  if  his  tether  to  her  would  break  the  moment  he  let  go.  a  flood  of  relief  instilled  as  she  reached  for  his  hand  instead,  the  man  taking  it  promptly.  "spare  me  no  details  then."  with  an  intertwining  of  fingers,m  he  had  pulled  both  of  their  hands  upwards,  a  kiss  placed  to  the  backside  of  diana's.  it  lingered,  with  steve  choosing  to  slowly  lower  them  as  they  returned  to  their  sides.

" can't blame me for trying , " five pointed out with a quick shrug. if she would've even blinked for half a second , she probably would've missed the subtle smile that formed on his features. contrary to popular belief , he wasn't heartless , just — rough around the edges. " i'll figure out a way eventually , don't worry. " it was more so teasing than anything else and five actually welcomed the change of pace their friendship offered. he wasn't particularly known for being social or all that nice , he was aware , but he still had his moments , he supposed. " black coffee is a classic , you know ? but if you want to go through life missing out , that's on you. "

cherry  hummed  in  intrigue,  clearly  pondering  an  alternative  they  may  be  completely  worth  a  painful  chug  of  some  bitter  black  coffee.  even  with  promises  of  scones,  nothing  seemed  to  take  away  the  imaginative  taste  that  cherry  could  already  wince  at.  "  i  have  an  idea."  a  dangerous,  dangerous  thing  for  her  to  utter.  "i  know  what  will  make  me  drink  an  entire  cup  of  coffee,  without  even  a  hint  of  cream."  her  smile  is  bright,  all  imposing.  "you  have  to  share  a  dance  with  me,  the  next  time  we're  out.  that's  my  trade.  you  owe  me  a  dance."

" you're a writer ! " neil exclaimed, though he meant it as a question. " that's amazing. what do you like to write ? i recently checked out a book from the library that's sort of inspired me to dabble in poetry. " it was an easy way to draw the direction of their conversation away from the dead friend, but it was also an excuse to find a new writing friend. he didn't have very many of them, and something about this guy felt . . . different. " i honestly wasn't expecting to get this far, " neil admitted, a slight blush creeping upon their cheeks. " but cool. just give me your number, and i'll let you know the next time we meet. " smooth. he handed his phone to the other, mindlessly chewing on his lower lip as he awaited a response.

"it's  really  nothing  special."  todd  insisted,  never  one  to  completely  sell  himself  with  success.  not  that  attempts  had  ever  really  been  made,  he  was  content  with  the  sales  that  had  been  made,  it  had  never  been  something  for fame.  it  was  an  outlet.  one  that  he  had  spent  years  finally  allowing  residence  of.  "a  few  poems  here  and  there,  the  first  one  did  quote  well  so  i  submitted  the  second  a  year  after."  his  eyes  have  finally,  out  of  desperate  pleas,  averted  from  staring  directly  at  the painfully  identical  clone  before  him.  he  had  taken  the  phone,  plugging  in  his  number  with  a  contact  name todd  anderson  (library)  and  returned  it.  praying  to  any  god  above  that  his  shaking  hands  were  not  as  noticeable  as  todd  found  them  to  be.  "don't  hesitate  to  call,  i  never  have  anything  really  going  on."

“I mean, do I have something in my face, or…?”

"something  on  your  face?  no,  of  course  not."  tessa  replied,  her  eyebrows  lowered  in  a  glance  of  confusion.  eyes  inspecting  the  bar  patron's  face  once  more.  still  nothing.  in  fact,  tessa  was  surprised  to  have  even  been  able  to  heard  the  other  as  another  wave  of  ruckus  tears  through  the  bar.  "  i  should  have  known  better  than  to  be  here  during  a  sports  game."

he  had  been  scrolling  through  his  phone,  a  few  online  purchases  in  his  cart  and  a  french  fry  dangling  from  his  lips.  he  had  stopped  in  for  lunch,  using  his  lunch  break  to  do  some last-minute  shopping.  a  corner  booth,  at  the  farthest  side  of  the  diner.  his  expectation  was  that  a  waiter  had  rejoined  him,  looking  to  offer  a  refill  of  his  soda,  when  a  woman  instead  joined  the  other  side  of  the  booth.  "  a  zombie  apocalypse?"  oh,  boy.  "i  think  you've  been  watching  too  many  of  those  conspiracy idiots."

he  had  paused  along  the  sidewalk,  entranced  by  the  group  of  buskers  playing  some  jazzy  tune  along  the  hustle  and  bustle  of  the end  of  day  street  traffic.  todd  had  struggled  to  find  his  wallet,  looking  for  some  bills  that  he  could  place  into  the  saxophone  case  when  he  was  bumped  from  the  curb.  a  quick  regaining  of  his  foot,  a  few  dollars  catching  wind  as  they  danced  out  of  reach.  a  hasty  fistful  dumped  into  the  case,  spinning  on  his  heel  in  confusion.  "  i'm  sorry  –  i  didn't  think   was  that  far  onto  the  sidewalk."

alright , that made more sense. " you have a skincare shop or something ? i didn't think you would've scoured for ingredients yourselves , but — " learn something new every day , he supposed. " i guess that's pretty cool. " sketchbook forgotten for the time - being , luke focused on the conversation at hand. it had been unexpected , but he wasn't opposed to some small talk every now and again. he might not have liked being around a lot of people , but he could handle this. it was nice and calming. " i come here often too. i mean , i come to the park often. the view of the beach is just an added bonus , but i don't come here all that often. "

her  overalls  were  sand-coated,  with  a  few  areas  on  her  knees  completely  soaked  from  her  inability  to  avoid  the  incoming  tide.  in  any  other  occasion,  sally  would  have  dismissed  her  conversation  completely,  returning  to  her  current  endeavour.  instead,  she  stood  –  a  bit  embarrassed  that  she  had  run  into  anyone,  most  importantly,  a  handsome  man  simply  out  here  sketching.  gillian  would  handle  this  better  -  surely.  she  always  knew  what  to  say.  "  i  have  a  botanical  shop.  herbs  and  hexes.  i've  been  using  the  seaweed  here  for  a  few  months.  –  the  sea  glass  makes  for  lovely  art  too."  she  had  rummaged  through  her  pockets,  producing  a  dull  stone-looking  item, blue  sea  glass.  "  usually  i  find  green,  but  this  blue  looks  lovely.  doesn't  it?"  sally  offers  it  out  in  her  hand,  chewing  on  her  bottom  lip.

" four sips ? you drive a hard bargain , but i guess i'll need to come up with something better by the time we get there , " five shrugged , inching towards the door already. the smallest hint of amusement fled across his features and left as soon as it came — able to be missed within the blink of an eye. it was basically his unspoken mission at this point to turn cherry onto black coffee , but it deemed more difficult than he'd intended. " what will scones and donuts result in ? "

often,  cherry  wondered  why  he  continued  to  contribute  to  their  friendship.  it  was  entirely  clear  that  they  were  not  alike  –  oil  and  water,  at  times.  but..  she  enjoyed  their  time  together,  enjoyed  spending  hours  trying  to  force  him  to  display  even  a hint  of  a  smile.  it  had  become  a  hobby  now,  and  one  that  the  redhead  took  seriously.  "bold  of  you  to  think  some  donuts  and  scones  could  possibly  be  enough  to  make  me  drink  a  cup  of  entirely  black  coffee.  you  should  know  be  better  by  now."  the  woman  scoffed,  her  ponytail  swaying  dramatically.  "  do  better."