The Distortion of Normalcy[Icicle//Adelaid Belial]

[Icicle]

By around 1600 hours the next day, Niko had showered and reapplied his dressings once again, using the last of the gauze in the first aid kit of his dorm. "I'm going to need much more of this..." he thought, making a few actions to see if it would do its job. He still felt a bit sore, and his more major injuries still hurt, but he didn't feel overwhelmed anymore, at the very least.

Today Niko had a solemn expression as he walked off of the campus with every inch of his body covered in clothing - including a black ski-mask over his face. It was the same outfit he fore to the park the previous time - A black hoodie, black sweatpants, black books, black socks, a pair of black work gloves, and his headset. As he expected, a few students looked at him with expressions of confusion or fear, having no idea who he was. Surprisingly, he felt as if they would have acted the same way whether he was wearing his ski mask or not. This thought saddened him slightly as he walked off of the campus, making his way over to the busier part of town

---

Once again, Niko made his way through the city, his pace slow, but much more controlled and with less of a limp. Niko made it through the various stop-lights and over to the park without much issue. He barely got out of the way of a rather inconsiderate bicyclist as he made his way into the park, but experienced no more interruptions as he walked through the place, looking around frequently. There were plenty of people walking around, minding their own business and living their own lives, but Niko was more interested in the park benches.

After wandering around the park for a few minutes, the boy sighed and sat down on a bench, slumping forwards. He was finally starting to feel how cold the world outside his encasement was, but estimated that he'd survive for another two hours without any major issue. As a result, he leaned back and turned his headset on, setting it to a relaxing, classical baroque piece as he waited, looking around at people as they passed by, as if waiting for someone.

----

After awhile, Niko started to shiver, despite his self-insistence that he was actually not that cold. After a few minutes of shivering, he finally recognized that he was starting to become hypothermic, and quickly got up from the park bench. He moved quicker than before, but still quite slow compared to his normal pace, barely able to pass people as he walked back towards the entrance of the park. The boy only barely made it to the park entrance before beginning to shiver once more. He stopped at the entrance, looking around to see if anyone was following him, but he didn't see anyone in particular, so he continued on.

----

Niko barely got back to his dorm building in one piece. He reached his near-frozen arm into his pocket and, in the least dexterous, most incredibly slow manner he could afford, he pulled the card key out and slid it across the activation pad, causing the door to unlock soon thereafter. Niko opened the door in the same slow manner and hastily made his way over to the elevator. Just like the previous day, he did so silently, and without paying heed to anyone else's voice - he was too cold, and the ringing in his ears too great, for him to pay attention in the first place.

Once he reached his dorm, in exactly the same manner as the previous night, he locked and dead-bolted the door firmly shut behind himself, then carefully rolled into the bed and fell asleep soon thereafter.

-Next Day-

Niko arrived in the cafeteria early the next morning, giving himself plenty of time to move more slowly. He gathered a tray full of extravigance, as he had done in previous days, then walked out to the cafeteria to look for his friends. He frowned, having not seen them, and took a seat at the nearest almost-empty table, then immediately started to eat as he waited for them. He wasn't nearly as perceptive to other people bumping into him as he sat in his chair, as a testament to his improvement. Additionally, he was not wearing sweat pants, but was instead wearing a pair of beige cargo pants which went down to his ankles, a baggy pair of pants which only barely suited his moderately kid-like physique.

 

[Adelaide Belial]

Noelle awoke the next morning rather upset that she had been so groggy. It was easily late in the morning hours. But it was also Thursday, Winter Break so she could afford to chill out a bit. Being one of the kids who got permission to stay on campus over the break, she knew the school would most likely be empty of all it's original inhabitants. Knowing this she got up, ready to hit the showers and get breakfast for once when she spotted an entirely black mass move through the crowds. At first, she was scared to death, ready to run, but then......She saw the headphones, headphones she could easily spot no matter where they were. It had to be Niko.

"I should see if he's okay....." She decided, plus, she had to go get him his homework. When she'd tried to give it to him yesterday, he might have been sleep. Or locked himself in his room. He didn't want visitors, she guessed. She ran back to her dorm, taking out a small art bag and placing the homework papers inside. She sighed, marching off into the cold. She wore a plush white winter coat, a red scarf, some long black boots, some mittens, and some red earmuffs. "Alright, here we go again." She sighed, marching off of the campus. She found him wandering through the streets, slower than a turtle. He was headed somewhere, probably the park considering where he was going.

The grounds of Colorado were lightly blanketed in snow, and for a second Noelle forgot where she was. When she recovered, she could see Niko walking along the sidewalk. "This is the perfect chance!" She smiled wickedly, taking the chance to buy some warm drinks as she headed towards the park. "if I can catch up with him now...." She ran up behind him, slowing to a sort of trot, so as not to scare him. "Niko? Do you mind if I join you?" she held out her peace offerings, freckled-face smiling softly.

 

[Icicle]

Niko barely paid attention as footsteps approached behind him, and, after entering the park, narrowly avoiding an aggressive bicyclist, he heard a voice calling his name. After turning around, hid shock veiled by his mask, he noticed Noelle from school staring back at him.

"Uhh.....s-sure, go ahead..." Niko answered, reluctantly grabbing the drink which the girl offered him. After staring down at it for a moment, he looked back up at her and asked, "What is it?"

He then walked through the park, looking around frequently, but almost ignoring the girl. There were plenty of people walking around, minding their own business and living their own lives, but Niko was more interested in the park benches.

After wandering around the park for a few minutes, the boy sighed and sat down on a bench, slumping forwards. He was finally starting to feel how cold the world outside his encasement was, but the warmth of the drink in his gloves was so strong that he felt that he could outlast the winter chill. He looked over at the girl for a few seconds, then, in his tranquility, he put his headset over his ears and began to listen to baroque classical music.

----

After awhile, Niko started to shiver, despite his self-insistence that he was actually not that cold. After a few minutes of shivering, he finally recognized that he was starting to become hypothermic, and quickly got up from the park bench. He moved quicker than before, but still quite slow compared to his normal pace, barely able to pass people as he walked back towards the entrance of the park. The boy only barely made it to the park entrance before beginning to shiver once more. He stopped at the entrance, looking to see if the girl was following him. After a moment of looking around, he decided to continue anyways.

----

Niko barely got back to his dorm building in one piece. He reached his near-frozen arm into his pocket and, in the least dexterous, most incredibly slow manner he could afford, he pulled the card key out and slid it across the activation pad, causing the door to unlock soon thereafter. Niko opened the door in the same slow manner and hastily made his way over to the elevator. Just like the previous day, he did so silently, and without paying heed to anyone else's voice - he was too cold, and the ringing in his ears too great, for him to pay attention in the first place.

Once he reached his dorm, in exactly the same manner as the previous night, he locked and dead-bolted the door firmly shut behind himself, then carefully rolled into the bed and fell asleep soon thereafter.

-Next Day-

Niko arrived in the cafeteria early the next morning, giving himself plenty of time to move more slowly. He gathered a tray full of extravigance, as he had done in previous days, then walked out to the cafeteria to look for his friends. He frowned, having not seen them, and took a seat at the nearest almost-empty table, then immediately started to eat as he waited for them. He wasn't nearly as perceptive to other people bumping into him as he sat in his chair, as a testament to his improvement. Additionally, he was not wearing sweat pants, but was instead wearing a pair of beige cargo pants which went down to his ankles, a baggy pair of pants which only barely suited his moderately kid-like physique.

 

[Adelaide Belial]

"I figured that we could hang out today? And I wanted to give you the work you missed. You know its due after the break is over." She walked briskly behind him, following Niko to wherever he was going. He ended up leading them to a park bench, where they both sat down and Noelle began to drink from her cup. The mixture of the hot cup of cocoa she bought, plus the cold air, and the calm air of the park.....it was comforting. Noelle drank in silence, and when she looked over at Niko, he was in his own world, headphones on, and sipping his drink as well. It was that comfortable winter silence for around seven minutes.

 

[Icicle]

As Niko walked along through the park, he listened closely to Noelle, but blushed slightly halfway-through her response, staring down at his feet in shame. Once she was done, he sheepishly held up the drink and commented, "Actually, I meant the drink...what is in it?" still looking down at his feet. He looked up after a few seconds, looking around the park, and almost immediately found a park bench. He then commented, "Thanks for that, but I worked ahead a good amount. All I really need to do is turn in my assignments, take the essay, and......" he paused, as if slightly annoyed, then mumbled, "...I need to cook that creme brulee again..."

He looked over at the girl for a few seconds, then looked down at his cup, wondering what it tasted like. After a few seconds, his curiosity got the best of him and he took a sip. Once he lowered the cup, he commented, "It's a bit too hot," as steam billowed out his mouth.

----

After awhile, Niko started to shiver, despite his self-insistence that he was actually not that cold. After a few minutes of shivering, he finally recognized that he was starting to become hypothermic, and quickly got up from the park bench. He moved quicker than before, but still quite slow compared to his normal pace, barely able to pass people as he walked back towards the entrance of the park. The boy only barely made it to the park entrance before beginning to shiver once more. He stopped at the entrance, looking to see if the girl was following him. After a moment of looking around, he decided to continue anyways.

----

Niko barely got back to his dorm building in one piece. He reached his near-frozen arm into his pocket and, in the least dexterous, most incredibly slow manner he could afford, he pulled the card key out and slid it across the activation pad, causing the door to unlock soon thereafter. Niko opened the door in the same slow manner and hastily made his way over to the elevator. Just like the previous day, he did so silently, and without paying heed to anyone else's voice - he was too cold, and the ringing in his ears too great, for him to pay attention in the first place.

Once he reached his dorm, in exactly the same manner as the previous night, he locked and dead-bolted the door firmly shut behind himself, then carefully rolled into the bed and fell asleep soon thereafter.

-Next Day-

Niko arrived in the cafeteria early the next morning, giving himself plenty of time to move more slowly. He gathered a tray full of extravigance, as he had done in previous days, then walked out to the cafeteria to look for his friends. He frowned, having not seen them, and took a seat at the nearest almost-empty table, then immediately started to eat as he waited for them. He wasn't nearly as perceptive to other people bumping into him as he sat in his chair, as a testament to his improvement. Additionally, he was not wearing sweat pants, but was instead wearing a pair of beige cargo pants which went down to his ankles, a baggy pair of pants which only barely suited his moderately kid-like physique.

 

[Adelaide Belial]

Noelle offered up a smile, "I'm sure you'll get the creme brûlée right eventually...I wasn't that good at cooking when I first started either. I'm not actually sure why she's being so tough on you." She sighed, taking another sip of cocoa. "It's Hot Cocoa, by the way. Pretty much a melted chocolate with sugar and milk the way these guys make it. I got some cinnamon with our cups. I hope t's good for you." Noelle looked down to the cold ground, it was still pretty brisk around, and yet everyone who dared to enter the park was smiling and happy. "It's winter break. Do you have any plans? Going to see your family, get a winter job?"

She bit her tongue, it was a gamble to try and push into personal business. She looked to her cup again, "In retrospect.....I should've ditched the whole cinnamon idea and gotten the large marshmallows instead." She laughed a bit. Trying to ease back into a more comfortable silence.

 

[Icicle]

Niko shook his head subtly at both of Noelle's first two statements as he held his hot drink, not believing either for a single moment. He calmly stated, "I might make an adequate dish, but I'm never going to make it above a B. I'm horrible at timing food, and can never see the difference between finished and unfinished food as it's cooking......and the teacher is annoyed that I don't understand her advice when she gives it to me. She's harsher on the areas she's already told be how to fix..." He sighed, taking another sip of his drink, then stared down at it and said, "This is...much better than frozen yogurt..." he then swallowed another two times, as if trying to get something out of his throat, and took another sip.

At the next point in time where he got an opportunity to talk, immediately after Noelle said something about marshmallows, Niko commented, "I'm perfectly fine with this drink. It's really great." he then took a deep breath and, in answer to her question, mumbled, "I didn't realize that school had breaks......I can't contact my family, nor do I know where they are, but they send me money each month, so I should be fine without a job. I guess, if there's no school, I'll have to walk around or study in my dorm...or find something else..." He then pulled his mask off and pocketted it so that he had less trouble with the drink and took another sip, then looked over to see what Noelle thought of his response.

----

After awhile, Niko started to shiver, despite his self-insistence that he was actually not that cold. After a few minutes of shivering, he finally recognized that he was starting to become hypothermic, and quickly got up from the park bench. He moved quicker than before, but still quite slow compared to his normal pace, barely able to pass people as he walked back towards the entrance of the park. The boy only barely made it to the park entrance before beginning to shiver once more. He stopped at the entrance, looking to see if the girl was following him. After a moment of looking around, he decided to continue anyways.

----

Niko barely got back to his dorm building in one piece. He reached his near-frozen arm into his pocket and, in the least dexterous, most incredibly slow manner he could afford, he pulled the card key out and slid it across the activation pad, causing the door to unlock soon thereafter. Niko opened the door in the same slow manner and hastily made his way over to the elevator. Just like the previous day, he did so silently, and without paying heed to anyone else's voice - he was too cold, and the ringing in his ears too great, for him to pay attention in the first place.

Once he reached his dorm, in exactly the same manner as the previous night, he locked and dead-bolted the door firmly shut behind himself, then carefully rolled into the bed and fell asleep soon thereafter.

-Next Day-

Niko arrived in the cafeteria early the next morning, giving himself plenty of time to move more slowly. He gathered a tray full of extravigance, as he had done in previous days, then walked out to the cafeteria to look for his friends. He frowned, having not seen them, and took a seat at the nearest almost-empty table, then immediately started to eat as he waited for them. He wasn't nearly as perceptive to other people bumping into him as he sat in his chair, as a testament to his improvement. Additionally, he was not wearing sweat pants, but was instead wearing a pair of beige cargo pants which went down to his ankles, a baggy pair of pants which only barely suited his moderately kid-like physique.

 

[Adelaide Belial]

"Oh....My family's out of state too. So I asked them to let me stay here for the breaks. Only until I could earn up the money to go......" She took another sip of her drink, letting out a small cough, "Um, ....You don't know where your family is? Did they just drop you off here?" Noelle sighed, warming her cup in her hands, "So, what schools did you go to before? Was it some academy, I'm not sure if they let you out for the holidays......" She turned to him, "In any case, I do have a winter job, so if you want to come hang out or something over the break," she pointed a thumb at herself, "you've got a friend right here!"

She laughed, staying in her "confident pose" for a moment longer before breaking out into a burst of laughter. "Aw, gods that was cheesy!! You should say something if I'm gonna do something stupid like that! I"m so embarrassed!!"

 

[Icicle]

"Out of state..." Niko grumbled, looking down at the floor as a few people passed by, his hood low enough to hide his face from theirs. He wanted to ask how much money she needed, but decided against it and remained silent until she continued talking, thinking that the question might be inappropriate. Niko sat straight up after Noelle's first question, commenting, "I don't remember them or how I got here but-" and quickly stopped himself as she continued to talk, starting to blush. "Maybe I started talking too early..."

Niko was about to answer her next few questions, but stopped himself pre-maturely and shrank down shyly as she continued talking. He stared at her as she talked, especially at her eyes, but had no idea what to do. There was a moment of even more awkwardness in which Niko was utterly confused about what she was thinking, but, once again, before he even managed to inhale, the girl started laughing and talking again. This time, what she said made him feel ashamed, so he looked down at the ground, thoroughly confused, and humbly squeaked out, "S-sorry, miss, I didn't mean to...e-embarrass you..." He didn't bother looking up, because he knew that at least a few of the people passing by were looking their way, "I...uhh....I'll do that..."

He debated using the momentary pause to start answering her other questions, but ultimately decided to wait for the awkward moment to pass in silence.

 

[Adelaide Belial]

"I've been talking way too much?!" Noelle gasped, it was usual something a girl noticed way too late, but it took Noelle even longer to notice. "I'm sorry! I didn't want to not make conversation, so I guess I just continued by myself!! I'm an airhead!!" she had turned a bright pink, "......Do you want to talk now? I promise I can shut up longer than fifteen seconds...." she blinked, turning her head back to the ground, "Excluding the previous conversations. Of course." She sighed, looking everywhere but at her conversating partner....She had to be quiet so that he could speak.

That didn't seem to go over so well, as Niko seemed to be waiting for her to say something else. 'Great, I've established my place as a chatterbox.....You're perfect Noelle, everyone loves you.....' she chastised herself a moment longer, before turning again to Niko, "I promise that you can talk now, I won't interrupt anymore......" She offered another smile, hoping that he would at least smile back, showing that he understood.

 

[Icicle]

Niko looked over at Noelle in shock as she raised her voice, then continued to blush more and more as she spoke. He felt the urge to just curl up into a ball, or to just put his mask back on so that he could escape the feeling of guilt and embarrassment, but then he would not be able to hear her say anything of importance. So, he stared at her, his face feeling hot enough to cook an egg on.

Even when he thought she was done, and barely started to breath in, the girl quickly turned back towards him and did precisely what she said she wouldn't do, confusing Niko even more. But...rather than allowing his confusion to show, Niko quickly took a sip of hot chocolate, then looked down at the ground and commented, "N-no, it's fine. I'm just...not very good at talking.....what was that second question again?" He didn't want to look up at her, because he was fairly sure that he had enough blood in his face that he'd fall unconscious from the sudden rise in altitude.

Once she told him the question again, [contextual assumption] Niko responded, "Oh, my last school........err....I can't really remember it....in fact, everything past last week is.......blurred..." The boy's embarrassment faded away and he lifted his head, his face solemn, thoughtful, almost doubtful, "I really can't remember anything specific past last week, just a few fragments and confusing, impossible memories."

 

[Adelaide Belial]

"Oh.....selective memory, of sorts......Well I won't pry. Like Dee's always saying to me, if I can't remember it, it probably wasn't that important anyway." She laughed, looking back into her cup. "......Oh. I'm out of cocoa......Maybe this time I'll get green tea! They sell that around here, I think!" She almost got up, stopping halfway. "Um....Would you like to join me to get us some more drinks? It's be pretty stupid to go alone since I was gonna buy you something anyway!" She giggled, getting up excitedly.

"If you want, this time, you can pick whatever you want to drink! And I'll buy it! I promise!" Noelle laughed again, holding her hand out for Niko to take it. She suddenly stopped, her hand somewhat flinching away from Niko, "You don't mind me dragging you around do you? It's only drinks, so you can leave right after-................I'll stop talking now." She waited a little longer with her hand held out, slightly curled up in case he didn't want to take it.

 

[Icicle]

Niko frowned as Noelle started to talk again, but hid his thoughts in the bottom of his cup of hot chocolate and promptly unhid them once the cup was empty. He found that she happened to have finished her cup a few seconds before him, and began commenting on it, but he only managed to stare into his cup. At the bottom was a black sludge which he could only suppose was the excess chocolate. "No wonder I stick to water,..." he commented, looking away from his cup as the girl giggled.

To his surprise, she was holding out her hand to him. Niko reluctantly reached up and grabbed her hand, half expecting her to return his chivalry and kiss it to complete the embarrassingly awkward moment...the very notion made him blush. He was happy to see that she did no such thing and, after she denounced her talking, he turned her hand into his and decided to turn the tables on her by being chivalrous again. He quickly knelt and kissed her hand, then calmly commented, "if you lead, I'll follow." with a gradually deepening blush.

After a few seconds, he then rose up once more, putting his ski-mask back onto his face in the hopes that his blush would go unnoticed, and began to follow her, wherever she was going. "I guess she likes drinks..." he thought, wondering what a "green" tea tasted like...

 

[Adelaide Belial]

Though she was severely blushing, Noelle nodded, grasping Niko's hand tightly and leading him out of the park. She led him to a vendor, not looking up from the ground, pushing past the people and apologizing for pushing. She led the two of them to a vendor, a small food cart steaming with hot drinks. "Oi, hello again little one!" Noelle nodded to the vendor, "Hello! Do you sell green tea here?" She pointed over to Niko, whose hand was still in her grip, "I brought my friend Niko to try it out!" The vendor, bundled up in warm winter clothes nodded, "Of course we do! You've been here a thousand times and you didn't know that? Well.....alright, alright. Anything for a happy couple. Hell, this one will be on the house."

"Oh well that's really nice of you-.....Wait, what? Wait! We're not a couple! This is my Friend! Come on!" The vendor howled with laughter has he poured two cups of green tea, "Aw, come of it! You're getting free drinks aren't you? I'd call anyone my befriend for that!" Noelle laughed, "You're just terrible!" Turning with a slightly red face, "I'm sorry about him Niko, he's just a big trickster."She took the cups from the man, thanking him and handed Niko one. "Well, here you go! Bonafide Green Tea!! Enjoy!"

 

[Icicle]

Instead of following, as he expected he would do, Niko felt the girl pull on his arm and winced in pain, quickly drawing his attention away from the painfully awkward situation and back to the pain in his body. The people who bumped into him only made the pain worse, but he clenched his jaw and worked through the pain, hoping that his reward would be worth the struggle. On his way, he barely managed to get his empty cup into a trashcan which the two passed by, but regretted his decision as she pulled harder on his arm to keep him moving. "So this is what pets feel like..."

Once the two finally got to the vendor, Niko stared at the vendor, unsure of how to feel about the man. He looked just like the creative writing teacher from the academy, but male, and much more bulky in comparison. Niko didn't appreciate the man's insinuation about their relationship, but, as he expected, Noelle responded before he got the chance, addressing the comment just predictably enough for the man to start laughing in a somewhat friendly manner.

When Noelle handed him the drink, he stared at the cup and accepted it reluctantly, wondering how much liquid he would be able to drink before his insides boiled. He pulled his mask up just enough to reveal his mouth, then took a quick sip and pulled his mask back down. "Bitter.....I like it..." he commented, attempting to direct all of his attention at Noelle in order to avoid the vendor's gaze. He failed every few moments, and snuck a peak to see what the vendor was doing, but looked straight back to Noelle immediately after identifying the man. "How is yours?" he asked, wearing a fake smile beneath his ski-mask.

 

[Adelaide Belial]

"It's nice actually, I love all the drinks here. In the summer, they serve this ice mocha...It's gorgeous!" She took another drink, not wanting to talk to much. When the liquid went down her throat, it was hot enough that she could hold her tongue. She looked over to him, wanting to wait for him to say something. .....Noelle was trying not to be a bad friend, but it was most likely some of the bad habits her friends had given her were rubbing off. Like the whole "talking a lot" thing. She looked around again, watching the people who walked around them. So maybe this is the perfect friend outing!, but I gotta stop the whole drinking deal......It's not good for the bladders.....Where to go next then, maybe- Ah! No, Noelle, you'v talked quite enough already. If he wants to go somewhere, let him decide.

She nodded subconsciously to her mental statement and waited for the silence between them to cease, "Would you like to go somewhere else Niko?"

 

[Icicle]

The boy in black nodded at his tea-sipping friend while she spoke, agreeing that the drinks which the weird vendor made were rather nice from within his mind. Niko pulled his mask up as she paused, taking the opportunity to take a drink instead of saying anything. Once his cup was level and his ski-mask was in place once again, he started to feel the awkwardness of her company returning, as she suddenly stopped talking. He stared at her for a few seconds, internally debating what he would say, but she beat him to the punchline once again. Niko felt like he was starting to get used to being in a conversation, to some extent, but he was still fairly annoyed with it, and knew that he was going to mess up many more times. The anticipation of his future mistakes made him shudder and drink a quick sip of his tea before answering.

"I....I don't know where to go......I just thought that the park was....nice..." he paused to take another sip, starting to develop a liking to the bitterness. He looked around briefly to see if there were any interesting stores, but he couldn't recognize any of the types of stores due to their confusing names. "I haven't gone into any of these buildings before...just the school and my....last apartment..." he frowned under his ski-mask after this comment, then looked over at Noelle and continued, "As I said before, if you lead, I'll follow."

 

[Adelaide Belial]

"Right I forgot about that whole.....thing." Taking a long sip from her drink, Noelle looked around, "Hmm....we have a lot of cool things in Bryerwood.....Like there's some cool movie theaters, or museums to look at! And there's this great roller skating rink, and ...." Noelle tried to think, she didn't go many places that weren't the school or art supply store. She was somewhat at a lost for what to do- "Wait, have you gone through the entire park?" Her smile widened, if he hadn't, then that would be a great opportunity to go to that place.

She waited for his response as she sipped green tea, eyes glowing with excitement.

 

[Icicle]

Niko didn't understand what Noelle was referring to until she spoke about the park. Something about the choices which she presented gave him the urge to explore...but, as she asked him about the park, he took another quick sip of his green tea and dully responded, "I only came to the park because it was quiet and no one wanted to talk to me there...not that I don't want to talk to..." he paused here for a fraction of a second, undergoing a panicked mental debate about what he assumed to be social politics. Within this fraction of a second, he was unable to decide whether or not it was smart to identify his appreciation for her attention, or even if that appreciation was genuine.

He quickly continued "...err...i-is there something cool to see in the park?" Niko drowned his embarrassment in the last gulp of his green tea, then walked a few feet over to the nearest trash can and disposed of the cup in its proper receptacle, as if this casual action replaced and counteracted his previous awkwardness.

By the time he got back to Noelle, he started to realize how fulfilling the warmth in his stomach felt. "Maybe this is why she likes drinks so much..." he thought, stopping immediately in front of her.

 

[Adelaide Belial]

"There is this cool.....it's like a silent art gallery of sorts. Many kids and professional artist put up their art for everyone to see. There would be dancers, and poets, people playing music...." She seemed to be imagining the joys of the park right there in front of her. Passionately moving her arms around, eyes glowing, "There's always great food made by home chefs. And there's this music they play. It's like music from an RPG game, it's so calling!" She paused, "Would you want to go? I mean it's better in the summer, but........" She laughed, rubbing her head, "We can go, if you want?"