forum Runes and Coffee (1-1, Closed)

Started November 24, 2022 by @Serpentess health_and_safety language

tune

As they approached, Andromeda placed a hand on Jonathan’s arm. While she wasn’t very good at fighting off grown men, she did have pepper spray in her bag, and she wasn’t afraid to use it if things got too violent. Besides, they were ones starting this confrontation, and she couldn’t but place her hand on the weapon as Jonathan and the men spoke. But, finally, when they walked out of the coffee shop, she released a sigh. She was glad she didn’t have to do anything too extreme, even if those men did deserve it.

Once the men were gone, she couldn’t help but smile at his earlier comment. “Well, I didn’t know I had a cannibal in my midst,” she teased, a smile on her lips. “How do I know that you’re not trying to eat me? I mean, you did take a woman you barely know out to coffee. Who knows your real intentions.”

She laughed softly and sipped her tea. To a lot of people, it would’ve probably seemed strange to go out with someone you barely know, but Andromeda didn’t mind. It was nice.

In normal circumstances, Jonathan would’ve jumped out of his skin at Andromeda’s sudden touch. But, he was completely focused on the men until they left, so it didn’t faze him at all.
Then, once the danger was passed, he actually didn’t mind her hand on his arm.

He turned at her words, chuckling.

“Well, I will admit that I’m a bit on the carnivorous side, yet I have honestly never had human. Nor do I ever plan to, particularly while there’s still plenty of beef and boiled eggs to go around,”Jonathan replied.

He turned away to grab the last boiled egg on his tray. He held it up like a little trophy and gave Andromeda a goofy grin.

“Speaking of boiled eggs, I have my next victim,”he said with a snicker.

He took a bite of the egg, then drank some more of his coffee, before turning back to Andromeda.

“As a final note, it would truly be a grave insult to destroy such beauty as yours, lass,”he added with a soft smile.

She smiled back at him. Gosh, was her face going red? She prayed not. Her ex used to always mock her about that; whenever she would get slightly embarrassed or flustered, her face and ears would turn a bright shade of red.

“Oh, you think I’m beautiful, do you know?” She stirred her tea. “Well, I suppose I’ll take it as a complement.”

As she sat there, she thought back on what had just happened. She knew the men were just bullies; maybe they had nothing else to do, so they decided to harass Jonathan. But some of the things they said made no sense to her, and she couldn’t resist the urge to ask Jonathan about them.

“So… those men. They mentioned something about not wanting ‘your kind’ around here.” Andromeda looked over at him, hoping she wasn’t prying too much. “What did they mean by that?”

(I believe she had tea, not coffee)

Jonathan noticed the way Andromeda was starting to blush and he couldn’t help his smile widening. She really looked endearing.

He snickered at her words, watching her with an intrigued gaze. At her question, his expression became pensive.

“That is a long story best told away from prying ears. And, it can also have multiple meanings as it is, considering that I own the neighborhood where I’m landlord,”Jonathan said softly.

Here be where it all goes wrong for you.

Jonathan glanced at Edward.

Shut up.

Do not come crying to me when it turns out to be true.

With that last telepathic remark said, Edward called for the waitress to refill his drink. He then ignored Jonathan and Andromeda again.

(Oh, my bad. 😂 Fixed it)

Andromeda raised an eyebrow at his more mysterious response. Multiple meanings? And what was the long story? She didn’t want to pry, but she couldn’t help it that everything about this town caught her interest. Especially when it came to him.

“It’ll be a story that we’ll discuss another time,” she said. “Well, that’s if you want to talk about it.”

Speaking of mysteries, Andromeda’s mind couldn’t help but wander back to what they had spoken about a few days ago when Andromeda was last in the town. They had talked about festivals and how they had stopped having them in the town, and it sparked an idea.

“You know how you told me about the town’s festivals a few days ago?” she asked. “Well, you said something about how you haven’t been to one in a while. You know, there’s a town a half an hour away from here that’s having a festival, and I think you should come with me.”

(Lol. You’re good)

Jonathan shrugged noncommittally. He wasn’t sure if he’d ever be ready to explain that he was not actually human. Having a neighborhood of oddballs was easier to explain away, if he was vague enough, but introducing the thought of a nonhuman landlord would definitely be a culture shock to a true human.

“It is a complicated subject, that’s all,”he mentioned.

He nodded at her question regarding the festivals, curious by the change in subject. Then, his eyes widened in surprise at her suggestion. He hadn’t accompanied someone to a festival, let alone a festival in a different town, in years.

“I… I don’t know what to say. I have not been to a festival since we stopped doing them here. And, I rarely leave town nowadays,”he said, indecisive.

He rarely leaves town? To be honest, Andy could never imagine just staying in one town for most of her life. She had always been a bit of a traveler; she loved going to different places and experiencing new things.

“Well, you know, there’s always a first time for everything,” she insisted. “Have you ever been to a fair before?”

That felt like a somewhat stupid question to ask. Most of the people she knew had been to at least one fair in their lifetime. But, as he had mentioned before, he had only been to festivals in town.

“They’re pretty fun. They have rides and games and food.” She leaned back into the sofa. “I really think you would enjoy it. I can drive us there around 7, if you want, and we can stay there for a few hours before heading back.”

Jonathan chuckled, then shook his head.

“I would say no, yet I have, in a sense. I was helping out a former tenant, and he had told me to meet him at a fair. I met with him, and we left shortly afterward. I never participated in any of the fair’s activities,”he explained.

He hesitated at her offer to pick him up, but he hid his hesitation by taking a drink from his dwindling coffee. It would be tricky explaining how he hated cars, but it would also be terribly rude to refuse her, and disappointing for himself because he did want to go.

“That sounds like a wonderful idea, and I have nothing planned at Seven, thus it works perfectly,”Jonathan said with a smile.

“That sounds great.” She smiled at him before she finished up her tea. “The cost of the tickets is on me.”

The two spent the remainder of the time before the fair talking at the coffee shop, and later, they decided to take a brief walk around the town. Though it was a nice little community, Andromeda noticed how many of the townsfolk seemed rather suspicious of her while others were straight up rude. While the rude people were only a minority, Andromeda was more than eager to get in her car and leave for the fair when seven o’clock rolled around.

Once they returned to Jonathan’s house, she led him into her car before she started up the engine. After changing her radio to a country station, Andromeda set her car into drive and drove down the road. As they traveled through the town, the sun began to set, casting its orange glow on the rooftops of the houses they passed. Soon, the sun had vanished, and the moon had taken its place in the sky. As Andromeda continued to drive, she noticed how the sight of houses seemed to get more and more rare, and soon, she was driving in the middle of the woods. For some reason, she had never realized how far this town was from any other city in the area.

Eventually, Andromeda turned off the music, wanting to enjoy the nighttime sounds of the forest surrounding them. She noticed how trees towered menacingly over them, their dark figures silhouetted against the sky. She watched the wind as it whipped around the tree’s branches and began to howl. Andromeda had to admit that she’d never been a huge fan of the forest, especially at night, but what happened next completely set her on edge.

Andromeda let her eyes leave the road just for a moment, and when she looked back, a huge figure was standing in front of her car in the middle of the road. With a gasp, she slammed on her breaks, but it was to late. It hit the front of her car. Andromeda began to curse under her breath before she parked the car and got out, heading towards the front of the vehicle to see what she had hit. Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. There was nothing there. She knew she had hit something; she had seen it in the road, and she had heard it hit her car.

It could’ve always been a deer, she figured. No, that wasn’t it. While she couldn’t make out what it was because of the darkness, she could see that it was much larger than a deer. A bear, maybe?

Andromeda checked the front of her car and let out a sigh of relief. Good, there was no damage. No reason to contact police and be late to the fair. So, she got back in her car and began driving again.

“Well, that was fun.” She let out a strained laugh. “Trust me, I’m not as bad of a driver as you probably think I am.”

“Alright,”Jonathan replied with a chuckle.

During their walk, Jonathan also noticed the many suspicious gazes and rude folks. Many of them were tenants being territorial, and Jonathan frequently apologized to Andromeda about their behavior. Though, the rest were other townsfolk, and some were being as rude to him as they were to Andromeda.

It reminded Jonathan of how reclusive he had become after his friend’s house burned down. Before that, he would roam the town daily, and socialize all the time, both in town and outside of it. He had socialized a lot to ease the suspicions of the townsfolk against his odd neighborhood. With the lack of activity, it seemed that the humans and oddballs were splitting apart, slowly turning the town into a subtle battleground for a civil war.

When they got to Andromeda’s car, Jonathan did his best to hide how uncomfortable he was in it. The radio didn’t help at all, considering that the noise of the engine was already gnawing at his ears, but staring out the window and watching the sun set and moon rise helped. He also watched the trees, feeling out of place among them.

His birthplace had been among rolling hills, not trees. And, even though his house was in front of a forested park, Jonathan much preferred open fields. He liked running through tall grass, or riding a horse through it. He also much preferred horses over ca…

Andromeda slammed on her brakes, the noise of it hurting Jonathan’s ears as he stiffened in alarm and surprise. The sensation of the abrupt stop reminded him of a time when he’d been thrown off his horse in the middle of a brutal battle. That had been one of the worst moments of his life as a warrior, and he nearly died then. Was this a similar situation? Did they narrowly escape death?

A few moments passed before Jonathan realized that they’d stopped, and it was a bit longer before he realized that Andromeda was out of the car, and heading back in. Her words didn’t register in his mind as she started driving again. The endless, screeching racket under the hood of the car, which was just normal engine noises, nagged at him. He needed air. He needed silence.

Jonathan closed his eyes, taking deep breaths to center himself. His hands visibly shook, and his heart pounded in his chest. He needed air. He needed out of the damned car.

Andromeda too was clearly shaken, but not as much as Jonathan. She hated driving through the woods, but as soon as she saw the expression that had come across his face, she pulled the car to the side of the road and stopped it.

“Jonathan? Jonathan, are you okay…?” She took his hands in hers. “Gosh, you’re as pale as a ghost.”

She placed the car in park and gently rubbed his arm, trying her best to calm him down. His reaction confused her a slight bit. She knew that hitting something on the road could be scary, but his reaction was a lot worse than the response most people would have. However, she decided to not ask him about him; he needed her to be there to comfort him, not interrogate him. As they sat there, Andromeda picked up her phone and looked at the map on her GPS. Okay, that was strange. According to her GPS, they were in the city right now; Andromeda knew that clearly wasn’t true. To add to that, the ride should’ve only taken ten minutes, but they had been in the woods for twenty.

“That’s… weird. I think my GPS has gone—“

Andromeda stopped. The car let out a groan as something leaned against the back of it, pushing the vehicle forward an inch. Was the creature back? What the heck was going on here?

(Putting a suspenseful twist on this, are you, lol?)

Jonathan was only barely aware that Andromeda had stopped the car. The biggest clue was how the engine quieted into an idle. However, it still hurt his ears.

He jolted when she grabbed his hands, but her comment on his skin caught his attention before his reflexes could take hold.

“What do you mean? I am naturally pale,”he asked, not realizing that he had just revealed one of his many secrets. He was too out of sorts to really understand what was going on around him.

When she started rubbing his arm, it didn’t seem to really help. Though, a moment later, he went into a trance, his entire body freezing up except for his breathing and blinking.

He was unaware of the way the GPS looked, but he came out of the trance just as Andromeda was spoke. His eyes narrowed in confusion, until the car moved. He then tensed again, his fingernails growing into long claws and bronze scales ripping out of the skin on his fingertips.

“Turn the car off. I beg you,”Jonathan breathed, his tone desperate.

(I have literally no idea what I’m doing but I like some mystery so imma winging it 😂)

At first, his plea didn’t register as she watched claws grow from the tops of his fingers and scales emerging from his skin. This wasn’t real. She had to be dreaming. There was no way she was sitting here, watching the man she’d met a few days ago begin to turn into something that wasn’t quite human. All she could do was reach forward, fumble with her keys, and turn off the engine. Before she even knew what she was doing, she felt herself unbuckle her seat belt, open the door, and leave the car.

She leaned up against the vehicle, her heart pounding against the walls of her chest. Her head spun as she tried desperately to collect herself. She prayed that this was a nightmare, but as she stood out in the freezing November weather, she realized that this was anything but a bad dream.

She could always run to the woods, she thought. The town was likely only a thirty to forty minute hike from here, but they would likely not believe her. So, instead, she stood there against the car, wishing that she’d never agreed to this in the first place.

(Lmao! Works fine with me, lol)

Jonathan sighed in relief once the car was off and there was blissful silence. He slowly started to relax, though he couldn’t fully calm down, since there appeared to be something lurking in the darkness of the forest.

A few moments passed before Jonathan realized that his claws were still showing. He quickly morphed them back into their human appearance, and waited a few moments for the blood to dry and flake off into grains of ash. He wiped his hands off, then cautiously stepped out of the car. Thankfully he could naturally see fairly well in the darkness, which made the journey around the car to Andromeda very easy.

“Lass, are you alright? I know I was spooked pretty bad by whatever that was earlier, thus I want to check on you,”he said softly.

He kept his hands laced in front of him, his human fingers in full view of Andromeda, just in case. For now, he would rather have her freaking out over a harmless ‘hallucination’ than a complicated reality.

(I usually just wing it for most of my books and it works out okay, so… 😂)

She turned, about to confront him about what she’d seen, when she stopped. There wasn’t a terrifying creature standing beside her, but a mere human. There were no indication of the claws or scales she’s seen. Nothing but skin.

Andromeda slipped her arms around her torso, holding herself tightly. Relief washed over her body when she saw that Jonathan wasn’t the creature she thought he was, but what did that mean for her? Was she seeing things? Was she starting to go crazy?

“Jonathan, I thought…” She let out a shaky sigh and wiped the tears from her eyes. No, it wasn’t worth it. She may have thought she was going mad, but she didn’t want Jonathan to know that. “I’m fine. I just… I needed some fresh air.”

She leaned back against the car, staring up at the trees towering above them. What if Jonathan wasn’t the only thing she’d had a hallucination about? What if the creature in the road had been all in her mind as well?

(Yeah, pretty much same here, lol)

Jonathan knew what she was about to say, but he didn’t mention it. He generally didn’t like doing stuff like this, because it made things even more complicated in the future, but it was necessary. He couldn’t drive, and he would prefer not using his magic to finagle transportation.

“I understand the need for air, truly. Though, I would say, let’s be cautious while we are out here. I don’t know what that was earlier, if anything, yet I do know these woods get a little strange at night sometimes,”Jonathan forewarned, leaning against the car next to her and keeping an eye on their surroundings.

He remembered a few times where he’d ridden his bicycle through the nighttime forest. Those nights had been terrifying, and he had quickly stopped riding at night in the woods. Unfortunately, it had been years since those last rides, so Jonathan couldn’t exactly remember what had happened. He had never really known what he’d seen anyway, so that didn’t help.

She leaned into him slightly, staring off into the dark forest. She wanted to get out of here as soon as possible, but she couldn’t seem to move herself to get back into the car.

“Jonathan, I saw something. Something was in the road before I slammed on the breaks,” she whispered. “I don’t know if I was hallucinating or not, but I could’ve sworn I felt something lean up against the back of the car. Some sort of…large creature. A bear, maybe?”

She looked over at him, concerning filling her eyes. She’d never seen a bear out in the wild before, and she hoped she would never have to. Besides, she couldn’t remember how to defend herself from a bear worth the life of her. She just hoped that the animal she’d seen was a deer. A very large deer.

Jonathan didn’t mind when Andromeda leaned on him. He knew she was still spooked. He had the trances, which forced him to relax, so he recovered from the fright faster than most. It had its pros and cons, though.

He listened to her words, pondering what it could be. There weren’t a lot of bears in these woods. Could it be a werewolf? Likely not. Jonathan knew all of the ‘oddballs’ in town, and all of the human shapeshifters were small creatures, mainly birds. The rest of the odd folk weren’t human at all, like Jonathan himself, but most of their bestial forms were five or ten times the size of the car, which was far too big to fit Andromeda’s description.

“I don’t know. There is not too many bears here, yet sometimes they appear. I know I felt something bump the back of the car as well, yet I was too freaked out to notice what it was,”Jonathan said with an uncertain shrug.

This entire incident was strange, to say the least. First she’d hallucinated and seen Jonathan turn into to some sort of creature, and now there was a large animal that seemed to like to mess with them. Andromeda let out a sigh and headed back around towards the driver side. She was ready to get back on the road and get to the fair.

“Yeah, it was probably just some large animal.” She opened the door and sat down inside. “The sooner we get out of this creepy forest, the better.”

Once they got back on the road, she turned back on the radio, but changed the channel to a station that played classical music. She always enjoyed listening to instrumentals when she was nervous or stressed; for some reason, it helped calm her.

“Can you check the GPS for me?” she asked Jonathan. “I don’t know what’s wrong with it. It keeps telling me we’re in the city, but that obviously isn’t true.”

She probably should’ve checked it before they got back on the road, but now that was driving again, she was too afraid to look away from the street. Not after what happened last time.

When Andromeda sighed and moved, Jonathan figured it was time to go. He slowly got back into the car, secretly resigning himself to the horrible screeching of the car’s engine.

“I definitely agree on that,”he replied with a chuckle.

She turned the radio on again, but, thankfully, changed it to something more appealing to Jonathan’s poor ears. It helped somewhat distract him from the engine. And, he noticed that it seemed to soothe Andromeda. He’d have to keep that in mind.

“I can do that,”he said, turning to study the GPS.

It was a bit confusing at first, since he hadn’t looked at a GPS in a while, but he quickly figured out what he was looking at. Strangely, the GPS was saying they were just a couple minutes outside of town.

“That… is indeed weird. It seems to be working fine now. A couple more minutes and we will be in town, from what it says,”he commented.

He made a mental note to double-check his own GPS if he ever decided to go somewhere new.

Eventually, they arrived in the town, and the first thing that caught Andromeda’s attention was the fireworks going off in the distance. It was kind of sad that they couldn’t up close when they occurred, but they would still get to enjoy the rides and festivities. Besides, she was pretty sure she’d read on their website that they would have more going on later.

Now that they were in town, Andromeda wanted to forget all about what had happened, but she couldn’t help but think back to the strange creature in the road. It was probably a bear, but it was weird how the GPS suddenly stopped working in those woods. It was like some glitch in the program, but she made a mental note to test it on their way back.

Andromeda parked her car next to the fair grounds before they walked up to the entrance of the fair and paid for tickets. Once they were inside, Andromeda seemed to forget about what happened as she returned to her energetic, optimistic self. She led him through the fair, taking him on rides, playing games, and occasionally purchasing food. It wasn’t until around two hours later that Andromeda began to show signs that she was getting worn out.

“You know, there’s one more ride I really want to go on,” she said. “Ever been on a Ferris wheel?”

As they entered town, Jonathan noticed the fireworks as well. It intrigued him that a fair would actually have fireworks. He started to wonder why he’d never gone to one before.

The moment Andromeda parked the car and shut it off, Jonathan was inwardly relieved. He could hear again without the incessant churning of the engine eating at his brain. He also was looking forward to the fair, particularly since he was with such an intriguing woman as Andromeda.

He let her buy the tickets without complaint, since she’d insisted earlier on it. Then, when they were in the fair, he looked around at the entire place with the curiosity of a giddy child. Everything was so new and so interesting! He couldn’t help it.

He followed Andromeda’s lead for the most part, though he was particular with his food. He avoided anything dairy, and did his best to avoid sugary things as well. Though, he indulged a bit this time on the sugar. After all, he was there to have fun with Andromeda, and he didn’t want to ruin that.

After a while, Jonathan had no idea how long, Andromeda was winding down. He was still quite energetic, but… he also, naturally, had much higher stamina than a human. It was just the nature of his race.

She then suggested a last ride. On a… ‘Ferris wheel’? What was a Ferris wheel?

“No, I don’t believe I have,”he said, his gaze curious.

“Mm, I figured.” She began to lead him towards the huge Ferris wheel in the center of the fair. “Well, there’s a first time for everything.”

Once they waited through the short line, they got onto the Ferris wheel and sat down in their passenger car. Slowly, their car began to rise into the air, stopping occasionally to let more people onto the ride. The climax came when they reached the very top of the wheel. Andromeda could see everything from up there; she could see the dozens of rides and their vivid lights as well as the fireworks as they lit up the night sky.

She smiled she watched, the wind pushing back her hair. “It’s beautiful…”

The atmosphere that surrounded her filled her with some sort of peace that she hadn’t experienced in a long time. She knew she’d been stressed and burnt out back at home, but she never realized how worn out she was until she was up here. She knew she would eventually have to return to her life, but a part of her just wanted to stay up here and experience the peaceful silence as she examined the fair down below.

“Indeed, there is,”Jonathan commented as he stared up at the Ferris wheel. A fascinated grin lifted his lips.

He followed Andromeda’s lead again, his grin steadily growing as they went up. When they were at the top, Jonathan stared up into the sky, admiring the stars and moon. It reminded him of home, his birth home, and the sister he’d been forced to leave behind.

Jonathan gave a quick salute to his sister, kissing his fingers and tapping his chest and forehead before blowing on his fingers. Then, he stared at the sky a moment longer, and his thoughts drifted to Andromeda. Maybe… if things worked out, Jonathan could show her what it was like to be a creature of the sky.

“Indeed,”he breathed, turning to look at Andromeda, watching her hair with interest.

He hadn’t realized just how lonely he was until that moment. He had left everything he’d ever known barely twenty years prior, and all that he had now was… inconsequential. Especially, when all he wanted was a friend in a place where few could be trusted.

She turned to Jonathan, her gaze meeting his. A smile appeared on her face. She loved being here with him, but she couldn’t help but wonder about something. She wanted their friendship to continue more than anything. However, she knew it was only a matter a time before he learned about her and her background. Simply looking at a newspaper would reveal all he needed to know about her history. How would he feel about her then?

She let out a shaky sigh. She hated hiding things from people, but there was some things that he was better off left in the dark about. Besides, he would eventually find out, but she wanted to enjoy their relationship while it lasted.

“Do you believe that things happen for a reason?” She leaned back against her seat. “My mother used to insist that every person we meet is there for a reason. Like fate or whatever. I don’t know about it, but it’s a nice idea.”

More like fantastical thinking. She would like to believe that there was a reason that she’d met Jonathan. She wanted to believe that it was fate that made her car break down in that exact town on that exact day. But would Jonathan actually stick around? Or would he run away like the others?

“It’s probably just stupid thought, but…” She snorted and gave a shrug. “I dunno.”