Chilling (Tabitha Morena)

Today was a day off for Joshua. The manager had some random business to take care of and gave the kid a day off. With school being... "indisposed" at the moment, he actually had a bit of free time. He was tempted to spend it on really just on messing around on the internet and playing games on the computer. But, Joshua had realized it was the best time to get a bit more familiar and do a little bit of sightseeing. Studying can wait for a little bit and he is out here in the Azore region to be less of a shut-in, right? This was a good time than any to practice for it.

Penecia was pretty busy as Joshua expected being a tourist area. It also meant that there was a lot to see and enjoy. But he had no idea where to go and make use of his time. Every where was alien to him. As people continued to roam around him, he finally decided to try bothering someone for once.

Joshua walked over behind a girl and tapped her on the shoulder.

"H-hey. Sorry to bother ya. I'm new here. I was wondering, is there a place I could check out? You know, like a tourist sort of thing."

He hoped he didn't seem to appear too dumb. But, clearly this was pretty random and it's going to be all awkward as all hell.

Today was a pretty alright day for Tabitha. She had come to see some sights at Penecia. She despised most of the people she saw here however. Not really ones that seemed worth her time at all. In fact she questioned how some people could afford to be so carefree these days. She wasn't able to relax herself at all. The large noises everywhere if anything had seeked to annoy her once again. She wasn't a fan of crowded places at all Either. Standing around in her usual garmets she was about to partake in some unusual activity for herself when suddenly someone had tapped her on the shoulder. Perhaps an awkward young guy?She turned around to see a caucasion boy with glasses speaking to her. Why Hello there.....Person.She would address the boy with at first. Asking her about places to check out around here.Well just look around. There are so many. Seriously.I honestly.....Can't name one though.She didn't want to appear as stupid,but her memory was going pretty blank at the moment despite the fact that she lived here. Though she preferred to stay indoors rather than go outside most of the time.

I heard there's alot of attractions here though. Like how the place is a giant amusement park by itself nearly.She would remark now turning herself to fully face the young man in front of her.He was probably around her age group.

The girl seemed to be polite enough. She seemed to be just around as young as he was and everything about her seemed to scream "red" with how she appeared and dressed. Perhaps, that's why Joshua picked her. She really stood out from the crowd.

"Well, I mean... Yeah. There's a lot," Joshua agreed with her uneasily, "I really can't decide what to go with, ya know?"

It wasn't every day he went out to go to some over-populated place. He was starting to regret not having looked anything up on the internet about this place. It was an example of oversight on his part to much of his regret. But it forced him to interact with people at least.

"Yeah. Funny how it's almost like that. So uh..." he trailed off into a pause.

It was starting to get awkward now. Joshua wanted some kind of suggestion and he was given nothing.

Then started to talk again and this time he was sheepish, "You like... uh, wanna hang out with me for today?"

It was a first step here and better than any, even though he's already regretting those words deep inside his mind.

"The name's Joshua. Joshua Bae. What's yours?"

Well aw shit. The guy wanted to pursue a conversation with her now. Fan freaking tastic. Maybe he would prove to be better than the others she had met unfortunantly at Penecia. Perhaps?She would see.I guess I can relate to that. I mean yeah there are alot of places here. It can get overwhelming.She would say as she stuck a quick glance to the area around her surveying everything. Perhaps it could overtake someone upon their first trip over here. Almost like what?She would remark as the boy trailed off uneasily. Perhaps he was awkward or something?Sure as hell seemed that way with how he approached her. Now he was asking her to hang out with him.Hm...What makes you want to hang out with me exactly?I'm curious given there's all these people here.Crap he wa salready skipping to formalities....She would make a slight wince mentally. Damnit she didn't have a way out. My names...Tabitha yeah. Tabitha Morena. I guess it's alright to meet you.

"Oh, you know. A giant amusement park. Pretty big and all."

There was a little bit of a momentum going for Joshua. It was getting a little bit easier to talk, but he was still being fairly reserved and awkward for that matter. But that's what practice is for, to make things perfect. Then she was curious as to why he chose her, the first obstacle. Now how can he put this delicately without making things even more awkward?

"I mean, if you wanna. It's really a random pick, to be honest."

Then she agreed, which was a pleasant surprise to Joshua. He never talked with a girl for this long before, even less with one agreeing to hang out with him.

"Oh really? Cool, nice to meet you then, Tabitha," he returned the greeting with a smile.

Joshua looked around to see people are still roaming around them.

"Well, I guess we can start walking around and see what interests us?"

Hmph.She would say in a slightly more alleviated tone. Perhaps this one would not be annoying like the other insolent people in this amusment park. He just seemed rather awkward really for the most part.Yeah it's a rather large amusment park you know?Goddamn captain obvious. Anybody could tell that. Though....Perhaps it was a slight mistake of insolence on his part. Ah well. Sure how about....We go to this Caricature artist? I know a good one around here actually.She would say starting to walk over to the area with or without the young man. She decided to take the initiative on this. The boy seemed shaky. That is.If your up to it however.She would say turning back midway in her walk.

Joshua gulped silently as he noticed she seemed to be a bit miffed about something. Did he say something wrong? He couldn't really tell. But it's not like she going anywhere or really led up the conversation based on that. Instead, she decided it's best to head to a street artist who draws funny caricatures.

"Yeah, sounds good. I've always wanted to see how ugly I look on paper," he jokingly remarked to her suggestion.

Weakness:

That said, the search for the artist was on as he followed her. But through this short journey, Joshua wondered how much it'd cost. It's the first time he ever approached anyone to draw his appearance. Hopefully, the artist won't charge for much. There's only so much that Joshua's own salary could take.

Hm?She would say upon the boy going on about how he seems ugly on paper. Perhaps he doubted himself often?He wasn't ugly?If anything minorly attractive to Tabitha. How did he keep his face clean compared to some of these....Degenerates was something that amazed her.If it makes you feel any better. I don't think your ugly. Really.Eh fuck it. She decided to try to reassure his ass. It couldn't possibly go wrong and she was in a decent mood today. Perhaps she would spare the young man some kindness on her part after all no?That treat others how you want to be treated shit hit her she guessed.Besides.Don't doubt yourself so much either. Doesn't really help.Tabitha wasn't one to be good at this er...Reassuring gig but hey. She tried.She tried...

"Oh. Well, thanks."

Joshua blinked at her response. She seemed to be a whole lot nicer than expected. He had expected somewhat that she'd probably keep quiet about it or something. But, she disagreed instead. Though he'd have to keep disagreeing with her, that was his nature, after all. His lips curled into a forced smile no matter how much he tried to make it natural.

"Yeah. I-I suppose, you're right."

He looked on over to whatever path lay in front of them through this menagerie of people that surrounded them.

"So what's the artist like?" he decided to change the subject and tried to be as natural as he could... possible.

JUST POSTING ON HERE FOR CONVENIENCE.

Yeah don't sweat it.Have a little more faith in yourself.Heh. It was just a problem the guy had with himself after all. Turned out to be pretty ok. Maybe he had some potential in him. Though why did he smile strangley at her?This guy was turning out to be more awkward that she thought he was going to be. Ah well. Perhaps he was new around here.Of course I'm right.I know what I'm talkin about from personal experience.She would say in a bit of an assertive tone. She did know what she was talking about. Atleast in her own opinion.

This artist is prety alright. I've known her myself for a few years. We get along well.The artist was a good friend of hers on the contrary she'd known since childhood. Despite her being slightly older than Tabitha the two had remained good friends for a long time.

"Haha. Yeah, I'll try," he promised with a small nervous laugh on his end.

She's an alright person, Joshua could tell so far. Though clearly confident, Tabitha was really a foil to himself. Well, at least, for the most part. There's a "vitriolic" side to him that is rarely seen and he liked to keep it that way. Hopefully, he doesn't have to show it to this new "acquaintance". Was that what they could call themselves? Acquaintances? Joshua wasn't sure, but that didn't matter for now.

So she was familiar with this artist, that's pretty nice. More people to meet and more awkward moments, definitely. Though it was his own good even though it does get tiring on its own.

"Yeah? That's pretty cool. So what does she go by?"

She definitely had a name. But if she's an artist, maybe she had some kind of cool nickname? Though that is his ignorance.

"How far away is she, Tabitha?"

Yeah...Give it a shot.She would say with a slight smile on her face. Alright. The boy seemed pretty ok. Though he wasn't really anyone special. Tabitha did not mind his company at all. Though he may have come off as a little depressing. Perhaps she could take a liking to having him around now. Well Her name's Cynthia. She's a close friend of mine actually. I grew up with her around here. She's slightly older than me however. Draws alot and taught me how to draw.She would remark with a less closed off stance to the boy compared to earlier. Perhaps he would be a worthwhile companion to her? Eh it was worth a shot. A girl can dream right?

Don't worry about it.I'd say we're pretty close to her actually.Just a bit and we'll get there.

"Yeah, I guess it's not surprising that she's an artist," Joshua remarked.

Well, she is an artist, right? This Cynthia had to be at least competent enough to draw someone. As Tabitha had said, they were getting close to meeting her. So why not finish the way by talking a little bit more?

"Since I'm new here, mind telling me more about the Azores? I just kinda got here and all."

Well yeah she did work hard for it haha. Well. Azores is a pretty large place you know?It can be pretty annoying sometimes,but it's alright. Got alot of diverse places over here as well. Just....Don't try to go to the school though.It's closed down due to some weird incident.This one seemed to have a more cheerful outlook on life than she did. She wondered why. Perhaps he didn't have her level of understanding of the world. As the two of them walked. Tabitha would approach a familiar looking person Joshua did not recognize yet. A Mature clearly around the age of 20 looking woman with blondish hair and slightly tanned skin. Hey there Cynthia. A friend of mine and me were wondering if you could perhaps draw us? She would then go down to a whisper torwards her. Make him look better in his.He's having self esteem issues I think.

The older woman would take in the words of Tabitha. Who was like a younger sister to her. I see...Sure Tabitha.Can you two stand still for me?The older girl would say as she motioned for the two of them to stand next to each other. As she pulled out her sketchpad and began to scribble around in it very slowly.

"Yeah. I was given that impression when I first arrived here," Joshua readily agreed with her.

The Island was already giving him that impression anyway, especially with so many people roaming around the city. It was still stifling for this recovering shut-in.

"The school? Yeah, I heard it was like, y'know. Flooded with sand or something? I mean, what the hell? Right? Well, at least school's off for a while."

The conversation was already reminding him of the cryptic and rather polite Sharaku. But he wouldn't have much time to dwell on it since he was still in the presence of someone else. And now another person, the artist, was in their presence. She was clearly older than they were just as Tabitha mentioned. This was Cynthia, as she introduced.

"Hi. I'm Joshua.

At the least he could give his name before the drawing session continued.

"Uh, yeah. Sure."

He awkwardly stood next to Tabitha and just kept his eyes in front at the artist who was busy at work. His shoulders were stiff and hands were stuck to his sides. He looked more of a statue than an actual person.

"So, um. How much is the drawing for, Cynthia?"