～ food stands

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If there was one thing that could lure Llyr to the edge of the island, it was the delectable food. Yet as he drew closer, the sound of the waves lapping against the sandy shore caused an ember of anxiety to ignite in the pit of his gut and threatened to make him lose his appetite altogether. His left leg, marred with twisting scars, twinged as he forced himself to take the last few steps to make his way down to the path that led through all the food stands conveniently placed along the side of the beach. It brought the great, briny sea into view and most people would likely find it beautiful. The blue contrasted against the sugar white sands, the smell of the salt on the wind... Llyr even still was captivated by the memory of its beauty and dyed his hair to pay hommage to his old home - his bleached blonde strands tapering down to frosted blue tips that were meant to reflect the exact vision he was seeing now of the waves rhythmically washing onto the beach. Yet seeing it and recalling it fondly were two very different things. Now, faced with drinking in the site with pale blue eyes gifted to him by the very depths, all he could imagine was the darkness stretching fathoms below the glimmering surface and the gnashing jaws which were hidden there...

Paralyzed with fear, Llyr didn't realize he was awkwardly standing in the middle of the pathway until a couple of people holding hands had to let go in order to get around him, casting dirty looks. He quickly turned away from the ocean and smoothed his bangs back with a shaking hand. Was the food really worth putting himself through this torture? As his gaze fell on a sign boasting about foot long corndogs, though, Llyr convinced himself to endure just long enough for that.

@⚘ : atticus e 。 the flush of red by sinna's cheeks darkened with each repetition of her name, but she chose not to answer to any of it. she quietly followed after atticus at the motion, taking her time with the food in her hand. be proud, he said, and she let her eyes flicker up to the lad's face. if he knew what she was, would he change his attitude? what would be his reaction after knowing that she was a thalassan, not one of his kin? she swallowed down the last of her meal, before she spoke, "hm... ah, the people don't do well with... 'unique' ones, atticus," she uttered, and she let her tongue run over her lips, before she threw the skewer into another trashcan they passed by. "besides, showing my eyes off would ruin the purpose of avoiding attention," she said, this time with a more cheerful lilt to her voice. the food had done wonders to calm her heart, and her mien was more pleasant than mere minutes ago. she hummed. "i'm not usually allowed to go out," she said as a reason for her being pale, which wasn't exactly a lie as well.

even her being here wasn't allowed, but oh well.

on another note, she wondered if she should actually be hanging out with this lad right there. stranger danger aside, there was also the possibility of him hating thalassans like many others she had stumbled upon before (who were the main reason why she had begun wearing contacts), and who knew what he could possibly do if he learned that she was one of those he hated so much? while he didn't seem to be the type... she had long learned never to judge anyone by how they outwardly looked — there were far too many liars that lived in this world, and she was merely doing precaution, no?

she blinked, and contemplated for a few moments. she couldn't possibly say that it was her song, that she was the one who had sung that before — she didn't want him to ask her to sing, or play it for him, for that matter. she pursed her lips and nodded hesitantly. "well, you... can say i do. i just thought there was no one else who knew of the song, seeing as it wasn't exactly released to the public by the singer."

@♆ : sinna m 。 "sinna moon? sinnamoon? cinnamon? like the spice?" his brows furrowed close in question. "cute name". his lips pursed forward in agreement. then realizing that the two were minimally blocking the middle of the road, he motioned for them to walk down the row of food stands while conversing. "well" he took a quick pause to swallow his remaining lamb skewer. "if it's rare, then shouldn't you be more proud of them? and show them off?" while throwing away his now empty skewer into a nearby trashcan, atticus also realized that he was throwing quiet a number of questions at his new company, but he couldn't help it. not only did he ask a trillion questions on a daily basis, he couldn't figure out why someone would want to blend in with a normal crowd. "your eyes also match your skin. you're pretty pale for someone who lives on an island that's so sunny."

atticus had also noticed that the girl's skin seemed to be vaguely different from his own. and not that hers was paler but that they seemed to be made up of a different material? no. rather, it seemed to have the thinnest layer of something over her natural skin. but not wanting to pry, he kept the observation to himself. being a man of questions, he knew that certain questions shouldn't be asked at certain times. and in this situation, he predicted that it might be some biological abnormality that very few terrans must have and didn't want to put the girl in an uncomfortable situation.

before another question on how the girl kept her skin so pale could escape him once again, his attention was captured by another food stand lined with an array of fruit. and wanting to balance out the salty lamb with some sweet watermelon, he took a step in that direction, but re-centered himself once he realized the actual question he wanted to ask sinna. "okay but real talk. why did you follow me for a song? do you know it? do you know who sang it?"

@⚘ : atticus e 。 the stranger was too nice — sinna didn't think she'd met someone who had been this... genuinely nice the first time. strangers were never truly strangers back at the sea. one way or another, they knew her, heard of her name, spoke of what they didn't even fully know. when they would look at her, she could clearly see the mask and their feelings behind it. she had tolerated it for a while, but she quickly got tired of it. it wasn't as if they had cared anyway. but this man didn't know her name nor anything about her. it was fine like that, she supposed. carefully, she took the lamb skewer from the lad, staring at it suspiciously, before she took a bite right as she was asked a question. she blinked while she chewed quietly, eyes widening as she found the taste rather satisfying. she moved her eyes from the food back up to the stranger's face — oh wait, he wasn't a stranger anymore. taking the card, she eyed it briefly. "atticus eun..." she repeated.

that name didn't ring a bell.

but it seemed as though he was rich or at least he worked among them. it wasn't as though she'd have any use of this card, but she decided she would just keep it — she didn't know what the future held for her anyway. "sinna," she said — and it was then she remembered the reason why she didn't like giving her real name away. summer was the name she used more often when she was being introduced to others — a stage name, for the lack of a better term. but... he told her his full name... she had to tell him hers, right? her cheeks flushed red, she lowered her voice as she spoke, "sinna... moon..." what kind of parents named their child like this? her parents' kind, apparently.

she had just swallowed a piece when she was asked yet again another question. this time, she was even more surprised. "y—you know?" she asked. she thought that the tattoo by the side of her eyes would be the one that'd be noticed first, but atticus proved to be more observant than she had initially thought. she pursed her lips, and took a tentative bite on the piece of meat on the stick. "i... i just don't want people to keep looking my way because of my eye color. it is... well, ah, pretty rare?"

[] and yes, of course! atticus would have to convince her tho bc stranger danger lKJSLKDKSJL i lOVE ATTICUS BLESS : D

@♆ : sinna m 。 the fallen expression on the girl's face saddened him. he wished he had a better answer, but that wasn't the reality. asking her to stay where she was, atticus quickly went back in line to pay for two lamb skewers and returned with the two sticks in hand. "here!" he handed her the one in his outreached grasp. "i'm sorry i couldn't give you an actual answer.......uh what's your name?" he suddenly realized that he didn't even the know the name of the stranger that had approached him. at that point he had deemed the dainty girl harmless and was comfortable enough to tell her who he was. "i'm atticus. atticus eun." with his free hand, he handed her a business card that showed his name, phone number, and email. it definitely wasn't a moment where one should offer a card as such, but it had become such a habit for the company director that he had unconsciously given it to her.

tearing away at the pieces of lamb meat, the hungry individual finally felt satisfied. but while his mouth enjoyed his latest snack, his eyes focused on the other pair in front of him. "so." he swallowed a piece before continuing his sentence. "why are you wearing colored lenses? your eyes are pretty cool the way they are." thoughtlessly he tore away at another savory piece of meat. now that he could look at her closely, the always attentive terran could see the almost white iris of her eyes. being so used to regular people around him wearing colored lenses, atticus wouldn't have questioned it normally, but the rare color of her eyes raised questions.

[] oooh can atticus invite her to his place to show sinna his library sldfkjsldkfj /cue beauty and the beast clip where belle sees the castle's library/ wow best non-real brother ever

@⚘ : atticus e 。 the smaller girl easily recognized the genuine confusion that painted over the stranger's mien as she asked her questions. he didn't know — he didn't know who she was. she supposed that was a good thing, but then again, why had she chased after him again? she should have left it alone, labeled it as mere coincidence that she should have deemed inevitable. but here she was, a little disappointed yet at a lost of what to do next. now that she knew that someone was still singing the song she'd stopped singing, one she tried to forget but couldn't, what was she supposed to do with this knowledge?

(her heart had ached at the thought of her voice having such an impact on someone, and she buried down the emotion ever so quickly, rather harshly, as if she entertained any more of these thoughts, she might do something she would regret.)

her shoulders slumped at his answer. "from your childhood... at a beach..." she repeated as a murmur, her voice barely audible as she spoke. she didn't know that someone would be out around that time. it was a little after midnight, after all, and she assumed that many would have been in their beds by then. he was the only one who'd heard of the song, the only one who could sing it other than her, and she didn't know what to feel about another person knowing something she thought she had made a secret. "i see," she said, her gaze dropping down to the sand. should she tell him to forget about it? should she tell him never to utter a single note from that song? but it wouldn't make sense — he didn't know it was her who had sung the piece, and it wasn't as if they'd meet again after this, was it?

she parted her lips, to apologize for bothering the other, but when the lad suddenly spoke, her eyes quickly flew up in surprise. her cheeks flushed a little at the gesture, and she would forever blame her lack of human interaction for her flustered state. she cleared , raising a fist to her tiers, before she spoke, "you don't have to, but since you suggested it first, i'll take you up on it." she let her hand fall back to her side. "but... you shouldn't even have to apologize. i... should have guessed that you wouldn't have remembered after so long."

@♆ : sinna m 。 his features were laid out in an unreadable expression. at the moment, he couldn't tell if he should be either annoyed, angered, or even alarmed by the girl's presence. the first thought that had entered his mind was that she was a spy of a rival company coming to harm him, but the shocked innocent look that decorated her face relieved him of that mindset immediately, and he leaned in to hear her soft words.
"song? what song?" at the unexpected question, his mind fazed out into a cloudy haze. "wait! you mean this one?" once again, he pursed his lips forward and whistled out the oh so familiar melody. "you're talking about this one right?" the stranger's quick nod allowed him to take the motion as a 'yes'. "um..." eyes widened, they roamed around aimlessly as if searching for an answer. "i..i don't know." out of all the questions he had thought she would ask him, this inquiry was probably the last one he had ever expected.

his hand reached up to comb through his hair, while a mildly frustrated frown formed on atticus' face. "i wish i had an actual answer for you, but it's a song from my childhood so even i don't really remember much. i don't even know who sang it because it was something i overheard when someone else was singing it at....a beach?" the answerless boy couldn't help but feel sorry for the stranger. the question she had asked was one he had been wondering himself for years at this point. as a weak apology, he lifted the corner of his lips into a dismal smile. "but hey! want a lamb skewer? i'll buy you one since i couldn't give you a proper answer."

@⚘ : atticus e 。 sinna would have given up right then. as much as she wanted to know who the person singing the song was, she didn't have enough time to stay lingering in the surface to search for the lad. yet that thought left a heavy feeling over her heart. how did he even know of that tune? it was a song she had only sung once — and it wasn't even in a proper performance, because she hadn't been able to sing it one properly. that tune was a reminder of so many things, and she wasn't certain if any of those were... good things. there was a reason why that self-written song had only been sung once, and never again would be able to be heard by her voice nor be played through her hands. she... didn't want to hear it again. even the smallest tune she'd heard from the stranger — faint but it felt louder than any notes she'd tried to play in the past years — was something that triggered a rush of memories flowing through her head.

her breaths became heavy, and she clenched her fists by her side as she tried to calm her raging heart. perhaps that was someone else's tune — maybe it was their own self-composed song that only had a similar tune to the one she wrote before. but it was hers, she knew that even when she wanted nothing more than to forget about it.

the pats on her shoulders caused her to almost jump out of her skin, and in a panic, she turned around. her eyes widened as she found that the very person she was chasing after was right there in front of her then, before her cheeks flushed a deep red at her sudden realization — he knew! that was embarrassing, even if him knowing had allowed her to finally reach him. she spent a few moments staring, blinking only after she realized that she was staring, before she parted her lips to try and speak — but how was she even supposed to start? "that... that song," she said tentatively, and she stepped forward, trying to ignore the fact that she had just spent moments staring at the other's face shamelessly. "how—wh—where did you learn that song? who sang that to you?"

@♆ : sinna m 。 even after only spending a few short minutes amongst the food stands, his mouth was watering from all of the food that he was surrounded by. drunk on his own happiness, he took a quick spin around in the middle of the road to envelope himself in the moment. "ah what a good day" he said to himself. after his little scene, his aimless gaze suddenly met the one of a girl that he could've sworn was staring right at him. before he could think twice, she had disappeared into the crowd. a part of him wanted to know who she was but not wanting to get off track, he returned back to admiring the selection of food in the market. the same old tune returned back to his lips as he continued to stroll down the street.
however, the suspicious male made sure to slyly take a few peeks behind him just in case, and sure enough, the girl reappeared. from the corner of his eyes, he watched the petite girl duck under a few construction men before heading towards him once again. nevertheless, atticus ignored the dubious thoughts in his brain and went on his way.
now after a long internal battle of what to eat first, his eyes suddenly drew to a lamb skewer stand that pulled him in with its delicious scent. the hungry individual quickly got in line, and was ready to pull out his wallet when his eyes once again met the oddly intriguing set of eyes that he had seen earlier. the eyes of the girl seemed like the same shade as any other human in the market, but something about its glimmer set them apart. seeing her for the third time reminded him of a certain saying that his father used to say to him. with it in mind, he sneaked out of the lamb skewer line to rather hide behind the line of people, then sneak away around the stand. while in hiding, he could still see his supposed stalker hastily looking around for him. after creeping around the stand, he maneuvered around the herd of people to go around the girl and end up right behind her. with a cough to clear his throat, he tapped twice on his stalker's shoulder to address her concern.
"hi whoever you are." not wanting to scare her off, he greeted her with a broad smile before going into his quick monologue. "my father told me that 'once is chance, twice is coincidence, and third time is a pattern. i've seen you following me through the market for the third time now. so....what's the deal?"

@⚘ : atticus e 。 when the young girl had emerged into the surface, she hadn't expected for there to be... so many people already. it wasn't as if she wasn't used to people — she had her times where she had to entertain crowds, though such was only a part of one's life when they were an entertainer, wasn't it? no, it wasn't that. she simply thought that she was going to get her peace and quiet that day, but it seemed as though she wouldn't. a pity, she thought to herself. she'd even suffered over putting contacts earlier, as she didn't want to announce to the world that she was a thalassan — the last time that happened, it hadn't gone so... pleasant. humans were equally terrifying, no matter what race or species they were — they could be as equally cruel as the other, honestly. but she braved the crowd, her petite self walking past terrans who simply wanted to enjoy their day. with her stomach grumbling, she decided that... it wouldn't hurt to enjoy terran food, would it?

yet right when she was about to buy her well deserved meal for the day, something reached her ears — a familiar tune, a melody she thought she would never hear again. she stopped in her tracks, and blinked as she strained her ears to hear more. why... was she hearing this then and there? the buzz of the crowd was loud, yet it felt as though all she could hear was the tune of a song she'd long buried deep within her mind. her eyes frantically searched for its source as she blindly followed after the tune. why? why was she hearing this after all these years? why was she chasing after it, when she wanted nothing to do with it anymore? her eyes landed on who she thought was the source of the sound — a rather tall lad clad in a sand-colored cotton shirt and dark slacks. not even bothering to apologize to those she bumped into, she hurried after the other's steps, still trying her best not to be too... obvious (which was obviously failing, with how intently she stared into the other's back).

but a group of people passed by her front, and when they had gone, the man had disappeared as well. she halted, her eyes narrowing as her lips curled into a small frown. aaaah, this was why she hated crowds. nevertheless, she still continued forward, trying to guess at least... in which direction the man would have taken.

but no luck. she still couldn't see him.

[] hope this is alright, bub!

@♆ : sinna m 。 he was raised eating only the best and expensive meals possible. his parents deemed only the best should be given to their first born. and as a result, caviar had become a common snack for the silver boy by the young age of 12. however, that didn’t mean he didn’t enjoy snacking on some street food every now and then. to blend in with the crowd, atticus dressed down to a casual pair of black slacks and a sand-colored cotton shirt. hands shoved into his pockets, he strolled through the busy street filled with other people wanting to either fill their stomach with delicious local cuisine or purchase some handmade goods. while the bright colors of the food stands welcomed him in, the aromatic scents of the food drew him closer.

his curious eyes darted everywhere to find his first food victim while his bored mouth pinched forward to whistle his favorite tune: a mysterious melody he had overheard someone singing during a visit to the beach. even though years had passed since the trip, the song stuck with him. it never failed to give him a sense of comfort even after all these years. something about it gave it an out of this world sensation. atticus has tried to write it down and sing or play the song with every instrument he could get his hands on but has still failed to replicate the exact warmth he had felt when the boy had first heard it. as a frequent visiter to the beaches of paradise, atticus had sometimes explored the lengthy sand dunes in hopes of stumbling upon the mystery singer but has not been able to find his song bird as of now.