gone swimming;; (mystic)

[mystic pearl adier]

» Mystic giggled a little. She’d always understood the importance of science, sure, but scientists were what creeped her out. Not everyone could have a bulky frame, she supposed, but just about every scientists she’d ever seen was the stereotypical ungodly skinny, with thick-rimmed glasses and pocket protectors; the kind of guy who spent his entire life in a restricted-access lab, with only his fellow super-geeks and lab equipment to keep him happy; who knew nothing of the outside world, except whatever nerdy sci-fi flick happened to be popular at the time. The kind of guy who could quote the entire Star Wars series word-for-word. Of course, it wasn’t like she spent a huge amount of time with scientists, really. The only ones she knew were down in radiology, and since she was a NICU nurse, she didn’t often have a reason to venture down there.

» ”Oh, that’s cool.” Something about him told her that he probably didn’t go too often, or that when he did it was at least partially forced. She could sympathize with that- she had the same problem. She couldn’t stand still if her life depended on it, and most of the people in an art gallery got kind of pissed if people were constantly twitching to playing with something in their hands. Sometimes, Mystic figured she could probably just eliminate the problem altogether, but that would mean regularly taking her Ritalin, and well, she couldn’t be shouldered with the responsibility of taking a pill every day. Besides, those few times recently she’d actually taken her pills, she just wasn’t herself. It took the spunk out of her, the drive to do things, and most of the happy glow. If she had taken the Ritalin this morning, for instance, she probably would have given Max no more than a cursory glance and semi-friendly smile, and she certainly would not have jumped into the water…

» She shivered a little. ”Oh man… Cold breeze.” She knew that, if she got out now, it would only make her colder; it wasn’t like she had a towel handy, or a clean, dry set of clothes, and she didn’t much feel like walking home quite yet, with her whole body dripping wet, shivering the whole way so bad people might think she was having a seizure. So, she decided to go for the next best thing. She stepped away from the statue, and walked around it until she found a good spot, both in the sun and partially shallow, and sat down. It appeared to be a good choice to her, since A; her head was still above water when she sat down, and B; she was warmer. Of course, it would be a temporary fix, but she wasn’t planning on leaving just yet, so it would do.

[max]

Maximus had almost become a professor of science, before he realized he was much more at home among words, because even though he liked reason and fact, sometimes the impossible was easier to believe. Sure, he fit the science geek stereotype well enough, his skinny frame and the glasses he sometimes wore if his contacts bothered him, and there was a certain air of ‘geek’ in his words, the way they stuck together when he got excited about something, especially while explaining something. To be fair though, Maximus had never seen Star Wars, or Star Trek or anything else that had a widely known geek following. Although, he didn’t really think liking a particular show with enthusiasm automatically labeled one to be a nerd of some sort, but he imagined he just hadn’t met enough people who possessed that trait to be an accurate enough judge.

He nodded, although he probably wouldn’t have used the word ‘cool’ to describe the times Issy had dragged him through galleries. Sure, in reflection, he couldn’t hate the time he spent there because it had been with Issy and hating anything to do with her at this point was nearly impossible for him; but at the time he may or may not have pouted something fierce, sometimes resulting in Issy’s threats to keep him from the bedroom that night (which would have been an awesome threat if he wasn’t so damn good at picking locks…and seducing, he was good at that too). Still, it wasn’t all bad; sometime she’d take him out for ice cream afterward or allow him to drag her around the park trails for a while. For all his faults and inabilities to sit still even at the most important moments, Issy had never brought up the idea of any sort of drug to control him; probably, he suspected, because she liked his eccentricities, if only because she was the type of person that liked to laugh.

It took her words for Max to realize that it was indeed a bit chilly when you were soaked up to your shoulders. He resisted the urge to shiver as well, reminding himself that real men could handle a bit of cold without complaining, as he wanted to. He frowned as she began to walk away, his vision obscured by the statue. He sloshed through the water to peek around and he flashed a grin when he found her sitting. He was half-tempted to follow in suit, but the idea of submerging himself again wasn’t exactly appealing. Instead, he trundled over, almost trying not to splash her as he passed by, and sat himself down on the ledge of the statue. “Should ‘ave brought a towel with me,” he muttered, but projected his voice lightly because he wasn’t about to start talking to himself quite yet. “Although, honestly couldn’t have foreseen my little fall there, well not really, can’t predict the future although someone always told me to prepare for the worst, but with my plans this didn’t quite factor in…” he trailed off, although not for lack of anything to say.

[mystic pearl adier]

» Mystic, because of her ADHD, had a tendency to wander off- whether because a relocation was needed, or because she saw something shiny and was compelled to seek it out and figure out what it was- without warning those she was around. This often caused confusion- or, as a child, it made her father panic more than once- or made people wonder if they had offended her or something. Oftentimes, nobody had done anything wrong, not offended her, not made her angry or sad, nothing. It was just one of Mystic's many odd idiosyncrasies, and those who chose to stick around and get to know her tended to just get used to it, often figuring out, quickly, how to locate her once she had wandered off. Of course, most of the time she didn't realize she was doing it, and now was no different. She hadn't thought about finding somewhere, it was just... well, her legs started carrying her somewhere, so she didn't resist; she'd already been underwater once involuntarily, and wasn't too ready to do it again. By the time she realized she'd wandered off, a blush came to her cheeks. What must Max think of her? If she were Max, watching herself wander off without so much as a 'goodbye', she would think it terribly rude.

» "Oh my goodness," she said as Max came back into view. "I am so sorry. I have, like, really bad ADHD, so I forget other people exist and kind of wander off sometimes.... I swear I didn't mean to seem rude..." She also had a tendency to ramble on with long, drawn-out excuses as to why she acted the way she did, when all that was truly needed was a simple 'Sorry about that; I have ADHD.' Mystic tended to over complicate things like that, which often left impatient people annoyed.

» Max talking about expecting the unexpected made her smile. Her sister was always going on about how people ought to 'stop bitching about unexpected circumstances and just be prepared.' Of course, Mystic knew that no matter how prepared someone was for the day, nobody could completely predict and expect every little thing, and prepare accordingly. Unless a person wanted to carry around a massive backpack that weighed more than they did, it was doubtful that they'd be completely prepared for any imaginable circumstance. "You sound kind of like my sister, only without the expletives," she said with a giggle. "I honestly don't know anyone who carries around a towel for a trip to the fountain." She wasn't sure what Max's true destination was- if, like her, he had ADHD, the fountain was probably an unexpected sidetrip- but assumed it wasn't the beach, or anywhere else that he would require a towel.

[max]

Head tilted to the side as he watched her walk off, a little wounded that his rambling hadn’t kept her rooted to her seat. Then again, he could hardly recall a time when anyone had sat more than five minutes in his presence without either looking at their watch or if they were a little more polite try and head him off when he took the next breath. He took a breath, his chin tucked toward his chest as he tried to decide what to do. Either she came back, or she left, and if it were the latter, he’d have to think of something else to do, a thought that disheartened him somewhat. He was almost positive he hadn’t said anything that could of offended her, although he couldn’t be certain, what with people these days. Gaze leveled as he tried to follow her with his eyes but lost sight when she rounded the fountain and he hissed a soft sigh. Well, he could go home and change into something a bit dryer, and then maybe pop out for a bite to eat in one of the neighboring shops, perhaps walk the dog before it tore up his apartment. Granted, none of that sounded quite as exciting as continuing a conversation with a stranger, a stranger who had been pretty interesting up to this point.

He whirled toward her at her voice, his brow furrowed as he listened to her, but by the end of her apologizing, he was grinning. “Perfectly alright, absolutely no offense taken, ADHD, hmm?” he said, raising a lone brow. “People used to say I probably had a bit of ADHD, nothing definitive of course, hate the doctors and all that nonsense, but my attention often wanders as well, no harm, no foul, as you Americans say,” he beamed at her. Luckily, for Mystic, Maximus was anything but impatient and horribly prone to long-winded answers himself.

The water lapped at his shins and he frowned at it, almost as if it was an annoying stray that he merely tolerated. Maximus, although he firmly believed in being prepared, was seldom ready for anything; he just took everything in stride. The fact that he was incredibly adept at thinking on his feet seemed to help him a lot, although he probably could avoid half the trouble he got into if he tried hard enough, or didn’t try so hard actually. Eyes widened and he gave a little snort, his brows raised. “Oi! Are you telling me I sound like a girl?” he complained, although his eyes danced in amusement. Quickly though, he moved on, lips pursed in musing. “Nor do I, to tell the truth, I think most people plan on observing the fountain, rather than falling in.” Then again, Max never really ever had any set destination, he was more apt to set out wandering and let his feet or eyes take him wherever he may go. It wasn’t a bad way to travel by far, he saw some pretty amazing things.

[mystic pearl adier]

» With all the crap going on lately, it was nice to meet someone that she hadn't previously known. He wouldn't be constantly asking her about things she would rather not be talking about- it would be rather hard to explain the whole ex-fiance` coming back from the dead thing- and would ask her how her husband was, or offer condolences on the miscarriage. She was sick of being under such a dark cloud. She doubted people did it intentionally- wouldn't it seem cold and heartless of them not to say something?- but geez.. Sometimes she just wanted to tell everyone to shut up and quit asking her things like that. She was more than that, had so much more to offer, to talk about.

» She felt a bit relieved that he wasn't angry at her. She didn't get that reaction often, people being angry, but had encountered it a few times, none of which were very pleasant. Some people just failed to understand that it was beyond her control- if she could stop doing that and simply pay attention all the time, she would, but she couldn't. "That's true," she started, with a faint smile. "It's just horribly inconvenient when you're trying to have an intelligent conversation with someone and something a mile away catches your attention." That, too, had happened to her on more than one occasion, and even though the other person often said it was okay and that they understood, Mystic still felt like it was terribly rude of her to walk away. Often, too, the person would have to repeat everything they had just finished saying.

» She couldn't help but giggle a little. No, he didn't sound like a girl- granted, he was a bit more... girl-ish than more men she'd met, but he was still definitely a man- she was just comparing that one point, the whole expecting the unexpected thing. "Why, are you really a girl in disguise? People do that all the time now. You never really know who is what, and of course you can't ask because people are carrying guns everywhere." She doubted that guy had any sort of weapon with him- he probably would have impaled or shot himself when he fell into the fountain. "Not that I think you do..." She paused for a long moment, then sighed. "I should probably just shut up," she mumbled. It was one of those rare times it occurred to her to shut up, rather than keep on rambling, so she figured it was probably a really, really good idea.