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Post by Deleted on Feb 13, 2014 1:21:22 GMT
It was an unbelievably nice day, and though Kieran usually liked to lounge around right after popping a few pills, he couldn't resist but take a short walk. Normally he'd go for a drive or something but after everything that happened with Angel, the government had taken his license away and he couldn't really go anywhere anymore.
While the government had also mandated him to go to rehab, it's not like he actually listened to what they said. Now that he was on probation and his probation officer was literally the laziest scum around, he could basically do whatever he wanted - or even more if he had a crisp $100 bribe in his pocket.
He left the apartment, waving bye to Iggie before he closed the door and took the elevator down to the ground level. The sun was shining and people were milling about, shopping and having a good time. No one really knew how good of a time Kieran was having all by himself, even if he probably seemed like a jittery mess with shaking hands and flickering eyes.
Feeling the need to stop at a magazine stand, he pulled his hair back from his freckled, sunkissed shoulders into a low and messy bun - or something resembling that. It was quite warm so he was wearing a loose, breezy tank top, but of course he couldn't ditch the slim-legged jeans that hugged his thin legs. Years ago he would've been a bit too bulky for clothes like these, but these days he seemed to be mostly skin and bones.
@shani |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 13, 2014 21:15:56 GMT
Shani was wandering without much purpose - the beaches would be crowded now, but so were the streets. She had her camera hanging from her neck, in case she caught sight of something worthy of a photograph. This was the longest time she'd ever stayed in one place, but she wasn't bored yet. Nova was a beautiful setting and the characters always changed - there were plenty of tourists with interesting stories, and locals that were just as interesting.
A few vendors lined the street, selling ice cream and hot dogs that people lined up for. Shani paused in front of the one of the less busy ones to adjust the straps of her sandals. For a moment she turned to scan the headlines and covers, glancing over at the man who was standing beside her. She cocked her head, scrutinizing his profile a moment - a familiar one - before her mind latched onto the memory.
His name lingered out of her reach, but she turned to face him anyways with a grin, necklaces clicking against the camera's body. "Sorry if this seems to be out of the blue, but - do you remember me?"
@kieran
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Post by Deleted on Feb 13, 2014 23:31:08 GMT
He was reading a few headlines, reaching into his pocket to grab a smoke when a voice next to him piped up. Looking over (and down) he saw a girl standing there, looking up at him with slightly hopeful eyes. He said nothing while he lifted the cigarette to his lips with shaking hands, fishing for the lighter in his pocket.
Lighting the cigarette, he took a deep inhale, tasting the smoke as it entered his lungs. Plucking it from his lips he exhaled, a long trail of white smoke coming from his lips as he felt the nicotine enter his already jacked system.
He looked her over as he took slow drags on the cigarette. She was a little short but still pretty attractive, and ultimately unfamiliar. Maybe he'd met her at a club and slept with her once, or something along those lines. But he definitely didn't know - or couldn't remember - who she was.
"Nope," he simply said after an inappropriately long pause. "Never seen ya before."
@shani |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 14, 2014 3:51:46 GMT
She wasn't really offended. It made her doubt herself a moment, but he had a distinctive appearance. Though she wasn't sure he'd had the eye patch before, Shani was normally pretty good with faces, especially all the ones she cataloged in the boxes of polaroids that filled her closets.
"Hm." It had been a long time ago, and she didn't expect him to remember, though there was some twinge of disappointment - none of which came across in her tone. "Tennessee?" She tried, not even sure if she was right.
@kieran
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Post by Deleted on Feb 17, 2014 5:32:40 GMT
She mentioned Tennessee and he was now invested. He made it a priority to not really talk about his past to people on the island, so she had to have known him from sometime in his past. He hadn't lived in Tennessee for quite a few years now so she must have known him for quite some time, actually.
"Yeah, Tennessee," he mumbled through his cigarette, plucking it from his lips as he let out a long exhale of smoke. "I used to live there."
Replacing the smoke between his lips he thought for a while, pondering her. His muddled brain couldn't think of her right now but she had to have known him for some reason, unless she was just really good at picking up accents or something. Maybe she was a psychic.
"How do you even know me?" he asked. "I dunno you but I'm kinda sad I don't, since you're a babe."
@shani // i dont know |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 18, 2014 1:26:05 GMT
Or maybe it was Texas? She could hear the Southern drawl in his speech, but Shani was almost certain she'd guessed wrong as soon as she said it, in the pause before he replied. When he answered, she smiled. He didn't speak of the place with much fondness, she noticed. In fact looked like he was thinking, so she just tucked a wayward curl behind her ear and waited.
She laughed lightly, supposing it was a compliment. Shani wasn't sure how to say it, so she said it simply. "We had sex in the back of your car. It was a long time ago."
@kieran
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Post by Deleted on Feb 19, 2014 5:20:00 GMT
Well, that was certainly abrupt. When Shani explained just how she knew him, his eyebrows raised a little bit. That would have been a long time ago, for sure, and he was straining to remember it. She seemed a little familiar, but that might have just been his mind playing tricks on him to make it feel like he actually did remember her. Kieran just didn't know.
"Oh," he said lamely, twitching fingers picking at the hem of his shirt for a little bit to keep his hand occupied, while the other plucked the cigarette from his lips again so he could blow out puffs of smoke, tasting it as it left his body.
Now what should he say? He felt compelled to say something since you know, they'd known each other pretty intimately, but he was wracking his brain to actually think of something. Not like he was really in the place to be making pointless small talk anyways.
"So how do you even remember me?" he asked, peering down at her through slightly narrowed and confused eyes. "Am I that memorable? Am I really that attractive?" A devilish yet dashing smirk pulled at his lips as he said that last part, only half-joking.
@shani |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 23, 2014 5:25:46 GMT
There was no recognition, or any sign that she'd sparked a memory. That was alright - Shani wasn't naive, she doubted that it had been anything special for him. It had only been one drunken night. Truthfully, the sex hadn't been the most spectacular she remembered either.
She returned his smile, though hers was playful. "I remember the view of the city." Shani replied, noticing the arrogance in his smile. "It was gorgeous." She added, gaze flickering down to Kieran's torso a moment.
@kieran
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Post by Deleted on Feb 25, 2014 1:29:47 GMT
Honestly the most shocking part of this entire ordeal was that he was running into this girl again. Kieran hadn't seen anyone that he'd known back in Tennessee for ages, so it was a little bit nostalgic to do so, even if he didn't have the foggiest idea of who she was - even though he didn't doubt her claims at all.
"Oh, yeah, the view's nice, right?" he said with a smile, remembering that at least. He'd seen the skyline of Nashville many times...that must've meant that they went up to that overlook in the hills. At least that gave him some sense of place, a little stability in this strange floating memory of this girl.
"Sorry," he said, wringing his hands a little. "But what was your name again?" Maybe that would help him remember who she was, maybe a little. Now that he knew approximately when and where they'd met, maybe that third part of the puzzle would pull it together.
Kieran didn't really know why it mattered so much that he remembered her, even though she didn't seem to be too upset about it, but it just did. For some reason it was important and he'd be damned if he wouldn't remember eventually. Then again, being sober might help too.
@shani |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 3, 2014 6:24:54 GMT
He might not have remembered Shani, but he remembered the view. She must not have been the only one he'd brought up there. She was sure she had a picture of it, a blurry polaroid of the city lights; and even a picture of this guy, somewhere in her stash. She would probably try to dig it out when she got back home.
"I'm Shani." She said with a bright smile and a tilt of her head. It had all happened a long time ago, and she liked to think she was more memorable now than she'd once been. That she'd come into herself a bit more.
"Actually, I don't remember yours either." Shani admitted with a light laugh. Even approaching him had been a bit of a shot in the dark, though she was glad to see that it had hit the mark. It was a strange coincidence that they'd meet again, after all these years in a place like this; it made the mundane conversation seem more interesting, the unlikeliness of it.
@kieran
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Post by Deleted on Mar 13, 2014 18:57:29 GMT
She introduced herself as Shani. The cogs in his brain were twisting and turning hard, trying to remember, but he didn't really come up with anything. It was disappointing, because she looked and sounded memorable enough. Even her name was unique.
It was so hard to concentrate right now, however, that he wasn't really able to keep down any one thought. His mind flitted about like a twitterpated butterfly and ultimately he just seemed out of it. If Shani were anyone else, she might have just walked away, frustrated by him completely. But she hadn't left yet.
"I wish I could remember," he said, almost like he was talking to himself but loud enough for it to be directed at her. And that was the truth. Not remembering was a little embarrassing for him; he wasn't that old, his brain was just addled and slow.
"Kind of weird that we're meeting here of all places, though, right?" he said, a kind if not obnoxious smile pulling back on his lips as he looked down at her. He wasn't sure what to say despite feeling pretty confident, but he didn't want her to leave just yet.
@shani |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 16, 2014 4:20:48 GMT
"Don't worry about it." She assured him. He seemed more bothered than she was about having forgotten. It wasn't as if he had any reason to remember - it had been one drunken night, and neither of them thought they'd meet again. "We can start over." Shani added, in way of comfort, and a small hint. She was interested, in getting to know him, filling in the gaps in her memory and catching up. Shani wasn't often reunited with people like this, by chance.
"Mm-hm." She agreed. "What are you doing here?" It was a long way from Tennessee.
@kieran
so crap gomen
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Post by Deleted on Mar 18, 2014 10:29:12 GMT
We can start over. Well that certainly sounded tempting. And given the fact that he was obviously high on something and she hadn't run away gave him hope that maybe they could be friends or something. Kieran would never admit that this was a rather low point in his life and all the friendly company he could get would be welcomed with wide open arms.
"Oh, ummm..." While it was probably obvious that he was high, he didn't want to admit that he was here because of a drug scandal. She probably didn't even know who he really was anyways.
"I just needed a break, I wanted to get away from all the shit back home," he shrugged. "Looking more and more like a permanent thing, I guess. This place is nice enough, I guess but...you know."
Running his hand thru his hair he looked back down at her with a smirk. "What about you, beautiful?"
@shani |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 20, 2014 2:00:00 GMT
Shani wasn't stupid - she could tell he wasn't quite sober, and it seemed a little early in the day for that, but neither was she surprised or particularly revolted. Shani herself rarely even drank, she hated when people smoked around her, she cared for her health. But it was just a conversation, she didn't expect anything to come from it. It was such a rare chance to meet someone under circumstances like this, and she wouldn't pass it up for the world. Things happened for a reason.
He looked uncomfortable when she asked, and she just smiled and didn't press any further once he turned it to her. "I guess I'm... settling too. I haven't stayed in one place for so long before." She admitted. It was always strange, the way most people came here to escape, for a break from home, while Shani was here to find one. "It's amazing here, isn't it?" She grinned.
@kieran
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Post by Deleted on Mar 24, 2014 6:36:12 GMT
He could definitely agree with that, even though as he went on Nova seemed more and more like it was trapping him here than helping him become free. His time wasn't done here, though, or else he'd know it. Some day he'd leave Iggie in that apartment with nary a word, his bags packed and footsteps erased by the ebbing waves.
Some day, but not today.
"Oh, wait..." That triggered something. Something familiar. Shani, he remembered a sliver now, Shani was the girl who traveled with that...circus, or carnival, or whatever. That's why she seemed like such a fleeting memory. She wasn't a girl he saw every day, he saw her once and even though it was a very close, intimate glance, he saw her.
"You're...that girl with the circus. Shani...A-something, right?" Even though it was just a whisper of a thought, it was better than nothing he supposed.
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