Where do we go from here? {Arisa~}

[N]

N wrapped his pallid fingers around the black strap of his backpack. The material was made of stretchy stuff, almost like mesh, and it was a predominately black. Streaks of white swirled throughout the sides and front of it - it was almost a replica of his hat. Which was black on both sides, white in the middle. Considering he'd purchased the items together, it wasn't that surprising. Hauling the heavy bag upward, he slid the strap securely over one shoulder and began his walk outside.

What did he do now? School was over and his father had insisted he not come into work today. Something about having new people coming to inspect the place...or something like that. It seemed to happen regularly. See, this wasn't an adoption center per-say. They claimed to be, but once the animals were nursed back to full health? They were released into the wild. As all animals were meant to be. Free, wild, powerful..and all humans did was break them.

N had managed to loiter in the labs for a half an hour, but the teachers came and kicked him out. The boy slumped onto the concrete steps of the school, sighing. He pulled out a blue, rectangular object and flipped it open. The pleasant sounds of a pokemon battle flooded through the speakers. He was challenging the Elite Four - and winning.

[{ arisa m }]

Arisa had been in such a hurry to get home that she had forgotten her bag in her locker at the school. No, no, no, no, no! she wailed mentally. I have to get it back! There's stuff in there! Important stuff! Well. Kind of important stuff! The short girl was running as fast as she could- living near the school, it wasn't very far, but she had to make sure that she got her bag back; she couldn't live without the thing. Her homework was in there! "Ow!" she yelped as she tripped over a tree root- what was that root even doing there?- and fell flat on her face. "Oww."

This was perfect. She'd fallen on her face and it appeared as if the school was already locked. "I knew I should've come earlier! But I didn't notice it was gone until a little while ago..." she muttered, standing up and dusting herself off. "Wait. Hat. Where's my hat? Crap!" It was blowing away in the wind, and she had to sprint after it. Thankfully, the wind died down just enough for her to catch up to the wayward pink and white cap, flailing it happily in the air and settling it back in its rightful spot on top of her head. "There. All better!" She grinend and struck a pose...

And then noticed the boy sitting on the steps literally two feet away from her, and she sighed. Of course. Someone was around once again to witness her silly behavior. Why couldn't she ever be a sneaky dork and spaz out alone? To possibly distract him from her oddities, she waved at him. "Uh. Hi!"

[N]

Just as the man had sent out his final pokemon against the champion, a girl came wildly running through the school grass. There was an extended tree root that was very noticeable to somebody that wasn't...say, running. The girl's foot snagged on the root, sending her flying toward the ground. N glanced up, wincing when he watched the femme collide with the ground. That had to taste oh so wonderful...probably felt even better. He stared longingly at his game system, wishing for nothing more than to beat the Elite Four....but what about the girl? Had she hurt herself?

Nope, didn't seem so. In seconds, Arisa had started to frantically chase after her hat. Hey - it looked like one of the hats from the store he had gotten his own from! Did that mean that she shopped there too? Perhaps she played Pokemon? Closing the lid to the DS, the man shoved the object into the pocket of his tan pants. The femme did a frantic dance as she collected the hat. It was such pecuilar behavior that N couldn't resist staring with a cocked eyebrow. It was rude to stare...but it was like watching a train wreck. How could anybody, sane or not, look away? Leaving his bag on the steps, N quickly walked down the concrete structure and towards the girl.

"Hello, miss. Are you alright? I couldn't help but..." But what? Stare as you danced around in public? Watch as you fell on your face from a tree root? That sounded stalkerish. "Notice your fall. Are you alright?" Damn, that was probably more words than he had spoken in two weeks! Blushing, he grabbed the black brim of his hat and tugged it down a bit.

[{ arisa m }]

"Oh yeah, uh, I'm fine! Totally fine." Arisa replied with a nervous chuckle. Oh yay, now she got to hold a conversation. Maybe this guy wouldn't be too bad, though... maybe he would leave her alone after seeing if she was alright. That would be nice...unlikely, but nice. She wasn't really in the mood to chatter with anyone- especially not someone who had just seen her flailing around like an idiot. "I just didn't see that root. It didn't even hurt that much!" Okay, now, that was a lie. It hurt like hell, but saying that wouldn't get her out of there any faster.

"So, uh... why are you still at the school? .. Haven't I seen you before? You look kind of familiar. Are you a sophomore too? Did you forget your stuff too or something?" she bombarded him with questions, head tilted to the side. Then she felt a sticky trail of liquid on her leg, and looked down to find that her knee was now bleeding. Not heavily, but still. "Fantastic." she groaned. Well, at least she was okay with blood. If she got into a conversation, it would be there for a while.

[N]

N didn't know how to reply to this female. All he could muster up was a few blinks of his eyelids and his mouth opening and closing like a fish stuck on land. N could already sum this girl up as the phrase: ball of energy. It was a natural conclusion, considering her previous displays of random actions and now her hurried tone. It appeared as if she had a tendency to repeat herself, as well. When she declared that she had not seen the root, N mustered up a nervous smile. Naturally, that's what he had already assumed to have taken place. Most people tripped over the things in which they did not see, than the things they did see.

Mulling over the possible, and correct, things to say in this situation, Arisa took the silence and bombarded N with questions. Again his mouth opened and closed a bit, settling in a half smile. There was a wild look in his eyes as if he was going to rip off his clothes and flee into the wilderness any second. Well. Maybe not to that extreme, but he was certainly feeling flighty! "I am a Sophomore... I'm here because I was doing work in the labs.." the man trailed off, gaze roaming downward to take in the blood trail.

Without another word, N walked up the stairs and dug out some vet wrap. It wasn't exactly what was ideal to use one humans, but it certainly wasn't going to cause her any harm. Approaching Arisa again, N dropped to one knee and gently began to apply the bandage. "What did you forget?"

[{ arisa m }]

Well, the "not talking" idea had kind of gone down the drain there. Arisa bit her lip, trying not to stare at him, yet unable to keep her eyes completely off him. She had to know if he was staring at her, of course... which he hopefully wouldn't, because that would be creepy. "Uh. Nice hat." she finished her chattering lamely, giving N another small grin. "It, uh, looks like mine. Where'd you get it?"

Oh, so she wasn't hallucinating! She probably had seen him in the halls or in class sometime. "Glad I wasn't just seeing things, haha." Arisa spoke. "In the labs? Cool! What were you doing?" She tilted her head to the side, looking curious. Labs were fun. They involved chemistry and fire sometimes, which were always fun.

She was startled when he began to wrap up her scraped knee, blinking at him. "What a- Never mind." She had been about to ask him what he was doing... but it was pretty obvious, and that made her question a stupid question- and one she really didn't need to ask. It was from the shock, she supposed. "I left my bag in my locker. It has my homework in it..."

[N]

N felt a tiny smile curling at the edge of his lips. This girl was very chatty, but it wasn't the obnoxious, mindless dribble he had to listen to during the class time. The boy was smart and probably could have advanced if he had chosen to. That just seemed terribly complicated - outside life was complicated enough without throwing school into the mix. That's why he had chosen to keep it simple, albeit, boring. "I got my hat from the store down the street that way." He paused to indicate with a lone finger which direction he was referring to. The building in question was a non-descript, out of the way little place. It sold a lot of various merchandise, like bags, hats, and propaganda. He got a lot of his stuff from there - it was cheap and they stocked Pokemon merchandise.

The next question brought a tiny little light to his eyes. School work was something the boy wasn't afraid to open up about. Well, anything that was semi-related to school anyway. "It wasn't really for school. They let me use the lab when I please, as long as I leave when they tell me to," the man chuckled out. A slight blush crept over his cheeks as he realized he, himself, was rambling. The last time that had happened was when N was introduced to the important men surrounding his father. "I'm testing proteins and enzymes and all that to make it easier for humans to live without meat."

The man wrapped the last time around the knee before realizing that he hadn't packed a pair of scissors. His favorite pair had gotten misplaced in their castle sized house and he had yet to purchase a replacement. At a loss, the man glanced around for some sort of solution and came up short - he only had one option now. Leaning his head down, N used his teeth to rip at the material and then tucked it securely in a wrap. "That should hold. Your bag? Well, the school is locked now..." N started, hesitating as he got back to his feet. Green optics wandered the school yard, sweeping the entire expanse before resting on Arisa determinedly. "But I can get you in, follow me."

N hurried toward the steps, replacing the wrapping inside of the bag and then slinging it over his shoulder. He beckoned for the new female to follow after him - toward the open window of the math room. It was always open...N had used this way before. With ease he squeezed into the window and waited for Arisa to follow.

[{ arisa m }]

Her eyes followed his finger, widening just a bit when she realized where he was talking about. "Really? I got my hat there too! That's pretty cool. I really like your hat." Arisa chattered, grinning. What were the chances of that? Seriously... that was weird. Awesome, but weird. She's never met anyone else with a hat like that, even though the store was pretty inexpensive and popular. "I've only been there once... I should go more often, they have really cool stuff." The girl knew she was rambling now, but it wasn't like she could help it.

She tilted her head to the side as he spoke, taking in what he said. "Whoaaaa. They let you do that?!" she exclaimed, surprised. He must be really special to have that kind of privileges around this place... or maybe he was really really smart or something. "... I wish I understood anything you just said. Proteins and enzymes what? How does that work? Why are you doing that? Are you like a vegetarian or something? I tried out being a vegetarian once, but then I got sick because I didn't have supplements or something" Ohh that had been a lot of questions. After a moment of awkward silence, Arisa offered him a small smile. Well... maybe she should talk less? That might reduce the awkwardness somewhat. But that was really hard to do... she liked questions. And he didn't seem to act like they were bothering him...

It unnerved her a bit when he leaned down and tore the bandage with his teeth; well, at least she hadn't been wearing a skirt. Now that would have ended horribly. The bandage felt nice and snug. "Thanks! You're just chock full of help, aren't you?" At that moment she felt like slamming her face into a brick wall. Again with the stupid questions. "You can get in the building? Isn't that... like... illegal or something?" She trailed after him anyways, wondering if he really could. "Um. I don't think I can climb in a window without falling and seriously hurting myself."

[N]

Arisa excitedly declared that they shopped at the same building. N gave a soft smile and tilted his head slightly downward and to the left, as if that was enough to indicate a nod in her direction. Let’s just say that N wasn’t very good with body language or, well, any sort of communication to begin with. Needless to say, he was a tiny bit baffled that this femme even knew of the place. Not many people did, which was insane considering the deals of epic proportion going on in that place. ”They do have some really cool stuff there. I go because it’s really cheap, too,” N commented with that quirky little half smile of his. Truthfully, he wasn’t strapped for cash at all…but it was a much better thing to say than have a fangasm over all the pokemon merchandise. Right?

For a fleeting moment, N’s brows furrowed in confusion from the proposed question. They let him do what? Then it dawned on him…the average student did not spend their time slaving away under the hot lights of the lab room. Most of them hurried out of the building as if it were on fire! A tiny blush flooded over his cheeks. It was just a tint of pink, but his skin was smooth and pallid enough to reflect at a much higher caliber. ”They don’t mind me working in there. I’ve proven that I won’t melt the place down…or…something…” N trailed off, faltering at how geeky he sounded. ”Proteins come from meat. It’s something that our bodies need. The enzymes are what break down proteins and the likes. I’m trying to find a similar enough composition so the enzymes will break it down and utilize it just like protein, without the necessity of meat. I am a vegetarian, and I believe it is cruel to keep these animals locked up and torture them before we slaughter them for our selfish gains.”

N lifted his chin a bit, a frown settling on his face. When it came to this sort of subject, the boy really knew how to rant. If you ever wanted to hear N speak, riling him up with animal rights was a sure fire way to do it. Arisa really didn’t seem to have done it in a manner that she chastising or arguing with him…but he still felt the necessity to defend himself.

As they walked to the window, Arisa inquired if it was illegal for them to enter the building in a means other than the door. Tilting his head slightly, N contemplated the question. Was it illegal? In every technicality, yes…but if they left it open on their own accord, did it still count? ”I don’t know.” That was something N would have to figure out. How did he do that without blatantly asking the question to a teacher? He’d find a way. As for the next dilemma in question – N merely extended his arm for Arisa to use as leverage to climb in the window.

[{ arisa m }]

"Well, I should hope not.. school might not be my favorite place ever, but it would be really bad if it.. melted down in a nuclear reaction or something equally bad!" Arisa responded with a fervent nod. She could imagine what a melted school would look like- and while that was a really cool image, with the bricks just kind of sitting there and the metal all bent and twisted and stuff- she wouldn't ever wish for that to happen or anything.

She listened with rapt attention as he explained his project. "Wow. That sounds really complicated... but I hope you can do it! That would be so cool, because then no one would have to kill cows or pigs or anything! I mean, yeah, bacon is awesome... but if they can make meatless hamburgers, they can do the same thing with bacon, right?" Hopefully they could make vegetarian bacon, because then maybe she'd try being vegetarian again; there was no way she could actually give up bacon. It was like meat candy; it made everything better. She would put bacon on top of bacon on top of more bacon if she could.

Uneasily, Arisa stared at his arm, hesitant to try climbing through the window; climbing... wasn't her strong suit. But she kind of had to... She grabbed his hand, wriggling through the window, and almost fell on top of him. "Can we, uh, not do that again?"

[N]

N blinked curiously at the female. Of course there would be negative impact if something melted down. Not even just because it was a school, but she was speaking of radioactive material. That would certainly do a number on anybody living there. ”We do not deal with radioactive stuff here,” he calmly assured it. It was kind of amusing, how dead serious he took her words. His face was soft and concerned, as if Arisa truly believed of some nuclear meltdown!

”That is the intent and purpose, correct. Animals are slaughtered mercilessly because we deem them nothing more than material in which we use. They are treated with the same respect as a piece of clothing may be. That, as I’m sure you know, is none. They are living, breathing creatures that possess the same soul we do! It’s insane how people will coldly treat beings.” Rant aside, N helped the femme into the building. As she stumbled, he placed a hand upon her shoulder to keep her on her feet. ”I can agree to that.”

Slowly the boy turned toward the school. It was honestly a little creepy to be in here alone. The building was usually jam packed with excited teenagers, blabbering about the recent gossip and happenings. Now it was dead silent. ”Where is your locker?” N wasn’t phased by the silence – considering he faced most of his life in it. Pity, really.