up all night to get lucky, c

Nova Athenis really did look like the photographs right out of a tourist pamphlet. The weather was mild, the breeze light and warm, carrying cartoonish cotton puff clouds over the city. The park was crowded. Isobel preferred silence to the noise of the city, but the park was filled with chatter and laughter that was more of a backing track than a distraction.

She needed to get out more, probably. But that didn't constitute company. That constituted Isobel, perched on a park bench with a book. She didn't see the distraction until she was right on top of her, though it wasn't in her nature to run anyways.

"Hunter." She mirrored, with none of the enthusiasm. She glanced a moment to say it, gave a polite smile, and looked back to her book.

@hunter

Hunter was none too perceptive - if she noticed what Isobel was hinting, she didn't take the hint, instead taking up a spot on the bench. Isobel raised a brow, then sighed. With a finger tucked in to save her page, she shut the book and turned it where Hunter could glimpse the cover. Naturally it was school-related, an artist biography.

"I'm fine." Isobel replied, opening the book to mark her place, because ignoring Hunter wasn't very effective. She wasn't really busy anyways. She wasn't sure why Hunter seemed to consider them friends or acquaintances, but she hadn't done anything to warrant impoliteness yet. "Yourself?"

@hunter

highly doubtful that Hunter would ever find it remotely interesting. She didn't really know what sorts of interests Hunter had, but doubted there were any they shared. That didn't seem to bother Hunter though – nothing ever seemed to deter her, and while Isobel could respect such tenacity, in this case it was more annoying than anything.

"Mm-hmm," Hunter was perpetually cheerful, the sort of person whose every day was a happy day.

Isobel raised a brow at the offer. "Like what?" She asked, no real intention of agreeing, not when she didn't know what the 'something' was. What Hunter could possibly interest her in.

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@hunter

sure why she was going along with this. Maybe Hunter had just caught her on a good day, at a good time. She pursed her lips, considered her options – including the one where she told Hunter she was in fact busy.

"I've already been." The art museum, that was. Her attention drifted from the other woman, to all the other people at the park. Isobel had been in Nova Athenis a while now, enough that it was becoming familiar. Its places that, was not so much the people. Isobel hadn't gone out of her way to make any friends, nor had she been particularly responsive to anyone's attempts to befriend her. And it wasn't that she didn't want friends as much as she was just picky about the company she kept.

"Alright." Isobel said, carefully. "I suppose we can go see the carnival." She had her camera in her bag, and maybe, if anything she'd take some good shots.

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@hunter

she tucked her book away into her bag before she slung it over and stood. Hunter had already raced away, and she followed the bobbing head of dark hair at a much calmer pace.

She didn't know why Hunter had zeroed in on her, decided that they were friends and decided they were going out. Or why she was going along with it. Maybe at this point it was just easier than refusal.

"And what does one do at a carnival?" She asked, even though she was following Hunter already.

Isobel might have been to a one, when she was younger, but she wasn't sure what appeal the place held anymore, now that she was an adult. Even as a child, it hadn't been a particularly striking event, it wasn't any sort of highlight of her childhood.

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@hunter

Hunter had gotten over her shock to resume walking, Isobel had caught up with her. They walked side by side, and Isobel half-listened to the other girl's long-winded reply to what she had thought was a simple question.

Hunter certainly seemed excited, but Isobel had a feeling that their ideas of fun weren't mutual. She wasn't even sure why she had agreed to this. She supposed she didn't have any reason to dislike Hunter, she seemed nice enough if not a bit dense for Isobel's tastes; but she didn't have anything in common with her, no reason to be going to a carnival together.

She just nodded, not entirely sure what to say – she could hear the carnival now. Noise and chaos had never really suited Isobel. She was clinical and organized, which wasn't what you'd expect from an artist and very much the reason she had ventured into art. To do something new, something that she wasn't predisposed to. From that point of view, it only made sense to try new things.

You couldn't form an opinion on something you didn’t give a chance.

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@hunter

never one for small talk, she liked conversation, and everything else, with purpose. Her silence wasn't rude or unexpected.

Hunter had quieted as well, until they stepped into the carnival. It was crowded and it was noisy. Children ran around with ride tickets trailing from their sticky fists and young couples wandered hand in hand.

"Not particularly." She replied, skimming the grounds. "You seem to have plenty of ideas."

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@hunter