If I Walk Away...Open !

[Andriana Hattie Vernon]

Lately, I've been the quiet one,

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Waiting, searching the lines of songs you played for me.

Fading bound for I don't know where,[/color]
When I'm there I'll see.[/color]

Window shopping was something she hadn't done in ages. She just stayed in most days now, but for some reason today she felt the need to get out for a little bit. She just wanted to get out for a little while, and see what was around. She didn't really need anything, but that was the best part of window shopping right? Looking at shoes, or clothes one didn't need. Or even want really, though she did see some really pretty things as she was looking. She pushed her hair back behind her ear, and she smiled lightly, pulling her arm closer to her body. She was just almost happy she was getting to sort of be part of society again.

Though, no matter how normal she felt, there was always this black cloud hanging over her head. It was this thing that happened with the full moon. It came like clock work, and she never did know what to make of it, and it didn't make any sense to her, but it left her scarred, and wanting to just be over and done with. She didn't understand it, but she knew it happened. She didn't know how, or why, or if she could ever stop it, but it was what it was and there was nothing she could do for. She just wanted to be normal again, and she just didn't think that was anything that could be achieved at this point; sadly.

She shook the depressing thoughts from her mind, and she shook her curls around as she did. She just wanted to feel pretty and normal today. So, she wasn't going to think about any of that. She was just a normal twenty-something out window shopping just like she'd done on King Street back in Charleston. She just wanted to be that girl again; the sweet, frivolous girl she was once. So, today, she would play pretend. She walked slowly, and she found herself at a coffee shop soon enough, and she went inside to get something cold. She ordered a frozen latte, and took a seat at a table outside, she just wanted to people watch; then maybe go home, watch a movie and sleep, but the day was still young; who knew where her day would end up?

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Tags: Open!
Words: 431!
Outfit: Here!
Lyrics: If I Walk Away - Josh Groban!
Credits: Me![/font][/size]

[Scrounge Freeman]

Scrounge Freeman

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Most people have a area around their bodies that they prefer strangers to keep out of. It is normal to not want to have a stranger clinging to you, brushing up against you, or touching you. This boundary of sorts also applies to people that you know, but aren't really the closest friends of yours, even if they think they are. Plenty of people go through instances where, with gritting teeth, they suffer through the uncomfortably close proximity of themselves and someone who they do not know too well or are not really fond of. And one such person was the poor woman who was walking with Scrounge Freeman.

After having a past like her's, it would be expected that something be wrong with her. There were so many things wrong with Scrounge that it was hard to count them all. But one in particular that you could just see from looking at her interaction with people, was her clingy nature. Something like an attachment disorder. She would stand a little too close, and if someone tried to leave hints telling her to go away, she'd ignore them completely and stay. As it was with this woman.

'So, ah, Scrounge, is it? I need to go to meet up with my boyfriend," the woman would stammer, looking warily at the grinning blonde before her.

"No problem. I'd be pleased to meet him," would come the response, if anything quicker than the hesitantly made excuse, as if she had been expecting this response.

"Maybe you could stay here? Get yourself a coffee? He was taking me out tonight, you know, and it's kind of private."

"Yeah, sure. I'll order you guys one too."

"N-no. The coffee will get cold. Say, maybe I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Okay. So for tomorrow, you want to meet up at the cafe around the corner?"

"N- I don't think- Yes, perhaps. I'm not sure I'll be able to make it," the other woman would finish, exasperated by now, and developing small, anxious beads of sweat on her hairline.

Such an encounter was this, with an awkward pauses and various excuses being made, and with Scrounge resisting them all. And as the other woman finally made her escape, Scrounge looked wistfully away before continuing on with her life, which today led her into the coffee shop beside her.

Quickly moving to the counter as there wasn't much of a line, she ordered a latte and smiled as she sipped the caffeinated drink. It was too nice a day to sit inside, so Scrounge moved outdoors and sat down at an empty table right beside one that belonged to a young woman in her twenties. With a friendly smile and a wave, Scrounge sat down at her table and looked over at the girl.

"Hey. How's your morning going?" she asked brightly, her mouth stretching in a broad grin that showcased her numerous teeth. "I'm Scrounge. Scrounge Freeman."[/size][/blockquote]

[Christian MacDuff]

Christian MacDuff

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Longacre Square was a shopping district. It was home to all of the people of New York, and thus was incredibly non-discriminatory. If one allowed themselves the time, they would see a person of every social class, race, and age. Mind you, that may take some time. Different people came out at different times. The rich came during the early morning and afternoon hours. The less fortunate tended to wander about until the rich had had their fill. Once the rich had left the streets, however, the melting pot of Longacre Square was turned on. It was around that time that Christian loved to show his face. To meet the people and to live through new situations to tell his listeners all about his experiences as a Scot in the New York atmosphere.

The man now sat in the coffee shop on the corner. He never paid attention to names of places. They changed too quickly to worry about. So, he sat in a shop whose name he couldn't tell you. Christian's tan leather jacket was unzipped to reveal a tight-fitting burgundy v-neck. A pair of wide rimmed reading glasses were propped on his nose, as though he were reading the news paper that was opened up towards him. His pale blue eyes searched the faces of the people in the coffee shop. He dropped the newspaper to the table and sat back in the chair, revealing his black fitted dress pants. The more one looked at the man, the more they'd realize that he cared about fashion.

Christian's hands came together and his face assumed a rather ponderous expression. He gazed out of the window, eyes resting on a brown-haired woman sitting outside of the coffee shop. She appeared to be so sad. It was like the weight of the world held her down to this earth. Nothing like that should ever happen to someone. As he thought about the woman, Christian's hands played with a thick, polished titanium ring. It was a nervous habit, one that he didn't plan to kick.

The coffee in his cup was still hot. Unlike most people he knew, he only drank piping hot, black coffee. Christian brought the cup to his lips with one hand, stroking his sideburns with the other. The coffee was gone now. With a quick brush back of his hair, Christian stood up. He flicked the newspaper up underneath his arm and tossed the cup out as he left the coffee shop. His eyes were locked on the woman sitting alone still. She had brown hair and had a rather thin look to her. Perhaps she didn't eat as often as she ought to have. As Christian closed the distance between them, a blonde haired woman leapt to the seat at the table.

Eyes still locked on the young woman's own greyish blue eyes, Christian stopped mid step. He wasn't normally so easily turned away, but judging entirely from the way the blonde was talking, he assumed that the blonde was a friend of her's. No doubt she wouldn't want to be interrupted and have her friend ignored. Would she? He tore his eyes from the brown haired woman's and leaned against the brick of the coffee shop. There had to be some way for him to talk with her. He glanced at her again, taking in a hissing breath.

Christian walked back towards the women, grabbing a chair and throwing it in front of himself so that he sat on the chair with the back in front of him. Legs splayed across the chair, he wondered for a second if he was being a bit forward. Sometimes, women didn't like men to thrust themselves upon them. Most of the time, however, they did. Christian smiled at the brown haired woman and glanced at the blonde for a moment.

"S'cuse me if I'm being a bit forward, but I happened to notice you sitting out here all alone. Look'd a bit sad, so I took some time to come and say hello to you. My name is Christian MacDuff. Maybe you've heard of my radio show? The Scottish Jungle? Nah, never you mind. Prob'ly hain't. 'Tis on a bit late," His accent was incredibly thick. The vowels were stressed, and the words chopped. All together, his speech was almost lilting. "Mi'ngiht time slot, an' all."

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[Andriana Hattie Vernon]

Lately, I've been the quiet one,

[/color]
Waiting, searching the lines of songs you played for me.

Fading bound for I don't know where,[/color]
When I'm there I'll see.[/color]

The need for space was something she often times felt she had too much of. She felt if someone got close, she would end up killing them, or getting them killed. In her mind, somehow the attack on her family and herself was her fault. Maybe if she'd been home she could of died with them. Trains of thought like that got her no where, and she knew it, but getting out of that sort of state of mind was something easier said than done. She wasn't surrounded by people she knew, or anyone really, so it wasn't as though she had distractions. Though, she wished she did. Often she wished she did. Maybe instead of living off the money she was given, she could get a job, and work some. But, then when she was that awful beast? What then? She didn't have to track when it would happen; it tracked her. How nice of it, whatever it was. She could always work during the day, she guessed.

She needed to stop this; it was only dragging her further into her head, and her head was a place she was frankly tired of being. She shook the thoughts away for a second time, and looked around at the people moving around her. It was what she came out here to do anyhow. She loved people watching. She could guess from how they were dressed and how they carried themselves what walks of life they came from, and it was always a joy trying to piece together stories of their lives. None of them were true of course, but they did pass time well, and she loved it.

As she sat, she thought she caught the eye of another, a man sitting a ways away. A handsome man in glasses, but she was certain it wasn't that. Who would be looking at her this morning? She looked a hot mess, and she was falling apart. She didn't really think anything of it, people caught each other's eyes all the time, it was a busy place, and no one could ever always look in a different direction every second of every day. Eye contact happened; there wasn't a reason for her to make a mountain out of a mole hill.

But, it seemed she wasn't meant to be alone for very long today. A pretty blond woman soon came to occupy the table next to her. She didn't expect her to say anything, but she did. She was very nice, and seemed to want to start a conversation. She waved, and spoke. It took Andy a second to find her voice, she didn't use it much. She smiled, and she nodded lightly, "Hello." She said with a nod as she pushed her hair back behind her ear. "My mornings..not too bad." She said with a small laugh. "I hope yours is going well, too." She acknowledged. "I'm Andriana Vernon, Andy is fine." She said with another smile.

Then, it really seemed she was just not at all meant to be so glum this morning. She looked up as she was approached for a second time. This time, it was the man she swore hadn't been looking at her. She felt it almost hard to pay equal attention to them both. She hadn't had this issue in a while, two people talking to her once upon a time was a welcomed them and nothing short of a normal day. She smiled again, "I get lost in my thoughts a lot, I appreciate it though, can't be sad with pleasant people to talk to now though." She said with a smile, a bit of the cheeky girl she once was coming out, and she was almost happy about this; but at the same time it seemed out of place in her normal broody moods of late. "I can't say that I have, but it's been a long time since I've had a radio; though I am up most nights around then; maybe I should invest in one." She said with a small wrinkle of her nose. Accents got her every time, and his was quite charming, she would never deny that. "Oh, and I'm Andriana Vernon, Andy is fine." She tossed out again, if talking to someone was what was going on here; a name was always good to have.

She looked between them; "So, what did I do to get myself good company for the moment?" She asked with a slight smile, "You know, besides look sad and stuff." She added, her face still holding traces of a smile.

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Tags // Notes: Scrounge && Christian! // Sorry this took me so long ^^;
Words: 814!
Outfit: Here!
Lyrics: If I Walk Away - Josh Groban!
Credits: Me![/font][/size]

[Scrounge Freeman]

Scrounge Freeman

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The dark brown eyes of Scrounge glanced over at the well-dressed, handsome man that approached. The clothing was something that caught her attention and held in steadfast. How she wished that she could afford something that was of comparable value to what he wore, instead of the cheap shirt, jacket, and pants that she wore. It was clear to her that this man must be rich, or at least moderately wealthy, and she immediately felt a sickening feeling in her stomach, the feeling that she wasn't as good as him, like he was her superior. And for that moment that she was envious of him, Scrounge hated that man. Hated him for having money. Hated him for having nice clothes.

For a moment she looked uncertainly at the man as he pulled up a chair and sat down by them. But as he opened his mouth and spoke, her wariness faded and was replaced by wonderment. This man, Christian, was not from around here. He had an accent, a very thick one that was fairly difficult to understand, but could be easily pinned to be Scottish. That is, if one had actually heard a Scottish accent before, which Scrounge had not. To her it was just a foreign accent, one that was pleasingly different from the ones that she had heard around her when she grew up. And just like that, the hate that she had felt vanished.

Blinking a few times, she turned her attention back to the other woman as she replied to what Scrounge had said before. A very polite 'hello.' A smile, and an introduction. Andy was her name. Scrounge wondered for a moment why someone with a pretty name like Andriana would go by Andy, but shrugged it off. After all, she had decided to stop going by Julia and instead started to go by Scrounge.

"Well, you seemed lonely. And I'm lonely most of the time. When I'm sad, it helps to talk to people. So I figured, since you looked unhappy, I thought I'd talk to you," she replied, smiling and leaning on the back of her chair to look at the brunette woman. Pulling out a stick of beef jerky and unwrapping it, Scrounge stuffed it into her mouth to have something to chew on. It probably wouldn't be wise to pull out a cigarette or anything around two people she didn't know, and she needed to keep herself busy somehow.

The blonde took her chair, and pulled it over by Andy's table, smiling at her two companions. This was terrifically pleasing for her, to have two new people to talk to. Both of them seemed very friendly, and equally interesting. Pulling absently at the sleeves of her generic, cheap grey hoodie that was admittedly uncomfortable in the hot weather, she shifted her attention once more to the foreign man.

"So you're not around from here, right? Scottish Jungle? You're from Scotland. That's in Europe, right?" Scrounge asked, her eyes bright and excited. By these few questions, most would think her a complete idiot. And they wouldn't be that wrong. She'd never been to school, and could barely read. The only reason she knew about places like Scotland or Europe would be because of conversations she'd had with people, or because of things she'd heard on the radio she'd been given by a friend. The amusing

"So are you rich?" she couldn't help but asking, putting her elbows on the table and resting her head in her hands. "I mean, you've got your own radio show. And nice clothes," Scrounge added, seemingly oblivious to the fact that she was being rather forward herself. She didn't care. The art of politeness was not well known to her. Honestly, for a woman who was her age, she seemed rather juvenile in personality. [/blockquote]