As the world passes me by (Aella)

[will]

William was of the opinion that there was nowhere outside of England one could get a semi decent cup of tea...however, he had found that despite that little setback America had many things going for it. Like coffee. He had found a taste for the black liquid on one of his many trips across the country, which was why he was currently purchasing an extra large cup of the stuff with a little cream and sugar and handing over a couple of American dollars (which he had yet to find a fondness for). "Bloody American's..." He muttered as he took the cup from the too chirpy blonde behind the counter and made his way outside into the sunshine and one of the empty tables he had spied on his way inside the coffee shop.

Settling down into the chair he placed the cup onto the table top and pulled a well battered book out of one of his coat pockets and settled himself for a good read. Ah, this was the life. Maybe not the one he would have chosen had things been different but he had found a place to live over here and maybe they would even help him. He hoped the Brotherhood held answers for him at any rate...he wanted humans to no longer fear people like him, or at least leave him and his family alone.

Reaching for his coffee cup he crossed his legs and was about to open his book before tutting at himself and pulling out a glasses case from his other pocket and once opening said case pulled out a pair of glasses that once on his face changed him from quite attractive to really very geeky. He had never really liked the way such a simple thing could change the way he looked so drastically but he had always found that people underestimated him because of it. Morons. Pushing them up his nose he glanced up and around him, wincing as he nearly looked directly into the sunlight before bowing his head back down so he could look at the pages of his book.

It might be an old book but it was certainly a classic. And it had been his baby sister's favourite....so who was he to not continue reading it? It was also one of his favorites and just reading it sent him back to lazy days on the farm where he would read her the words of Shakespeare and they would both pretend they were the people in the stories. Books allowed them an escape from the world of hate that existed outside of their home. He missed home. He reached for his cup, and bringing it to his lips took a sip of the still boiling liquid, grimacing slightly as he did so.

[raptor]

Aella awoke that morning, curled up and cold in her hammock of a bed. She had managed to steal a plain cloth hammock and a blanket from a camping store she’d passed. Truly, it still didn’t set well for her that she had stolen something that would amount to at least fifty dollars, but she had needed to do it. There were no abandoned buildings that looked like they would stand a strong gust of wind in the night, and there had been no relatively ‘open’ churches. The churches had been too poopulated for her liking, much less for her to risk staying in one overnight. The black-haired girl shifted slightly beneath the blanket she’d curled around her body on top of the trench coat. She stuck her head up cautiously above the rim of the fabric as it was stretched out between two trees. It didn’t seem that anybody was around.

Safe to move, then... she told herself. Sitting upright, she shifted her weight so that the hammock could turn, half letting/half dumping her to the ground. She landed on her hands and knees, though she felt her wings straining against the confines of the large shirt she had pulled over the top half them, as though she had unconsciously tried to flare them outwards to balance herself. No... she told herself, glancing back as she stood, before pulling the trench coat out of the hammock towards her. They should stay hidden...just like mom and dad said... she thought, her eyes reflecting sadness as she thought of her parents.

Although they had treated her as though she wasn’t their daughter, outcasted her, limited their interaction, and called her a freak, she couldn’t help but miss them. They were practially the only people she had grown to try to please and look up to through the years. It cut her rather deep when her...mutation...had made itself present. Her parents had reacted poorly, with only fear and misunderstanding rather than attempting to adjust to their daughter’s strange genetics.

As she forced back any sort of moisture from her eyes, she pulled the trench coat over her shoulders, stretching the leather as it pulled over her wings. She tightened it through the tie and buttons, pulling the leather even more out of shape. Although she couldn’t do anything about the abnormal shape and size her wings gave her back, visible through even the trench coat, it at least hid them as they came – folded – to the backs of her knees. The trench coat fell to her mid-calf, so unless they continued to grow, she would be fine for the time being.

She took the hammock down and folded it – along with the blanket – up before putting them in a hole in the side of the tree. She didn’t know where to go now. She had been in the same spot for the past two nights, and so far as she could tell she would be in it for the next day, at least. She didn’t know where to follow the rumors she’d heard of a school for mutants like her, so she was trying to cling to the hope that the rumors were true and follow them through. Walking a short distance out of the woods and into the town, she entered a coffee shop, feeling the couple of dollars remaining in her pocket through her gloves.

I hope its enough.. she thought, looking down. Unfortunately the looking down was the downfall on her part. A man – much larger than herself – bumped into her, and sent her light body flying to the side in a rather unelegant stumble, smack into the shoulder of another coffee shop patron sitting down.

Aella leapt back in nervous fright from the reaction she felt she might get from whomever she’d careened into. ”I’m so sorry...!” she squeaked, looking to the side, trying to find whomever had pushed her into him. ”I...I didn’t mean to...! I was...he just...” she bit her lip, keeping her mouth and tip of her nose hidden behind her clasped, leather-gloved hands in her apology, her amber eyes pleading him not to be angry for something beyond her control.

[will]

Will had been far more interested in his book and coffee than watching the world go by so he never noticed when the young girl came towards the coffee shop. In fact, he was so absorbed in his reading that he didn't notice another man barrel into said younger girl until it was to late and she came crashing into his shoulder, sending coffee everywhere and causing him to let out a loud 'ack!' as the scolding liquid hit his leg- although luckily it was no more than a small amount of liquid so he didn't need to worry about burn marks. Though it was still a pain in the ass to have been knocked into and he quickly made sure that none of his drink had landed on his book. Once that was made safe he turned his attentions to the girl.

Who looked petrified. It was nearly amusing had he not been partially covered in coffee and the man who had caused all of this disappearing into the shop and as such out of his eyesight. Well, he couldn't blame her for all of this and he certainly didn't approve of the way she looked so scared of him. He really hated that.

"Don't worry bout it lassie," He grabbed a napkin and patted at his leg with it in a futile attempt to get rid of the damp patch although even if it did go he would be stuck stinking of coffee until he could get back to the Brotherhood's place...so it was probably a good thing he had only planned to come here today. He looked back up as he crumpled the tissue and tossed it back onto his table and he took the time to actually look at her.

She was so young. And with no obvious friends about her she must be alone...so why was she here? His eyes looked about him briefly and took note that he was the only other person sitting alone at the shop and if he remembered correctly most teens seemed to hang about in packs in places like this so she was certainly out of place compared to the rest of them. There was also the fact her coat seemed misshapen and he wondered if that was the reason why she was alone. He of course never dreamed she might have been anything more than a normal human (with a slightly weird back) and as such said nothing about the fact she looked just a tad weird.

"Are ye ok?" He looked over her again, this time making sure she was in fact in one piece and that nothing had damaged her in her stumble...like his coffee. "Nothin' burnt? Or broken?" He asked, his voice laced with concern. She was such a little lassie and obviously on her own that he wanted to make sure she was ok despite the fact that if she were a human he was technically supposed to hate her but it simply wasn't in his nature. Even if he were a part of the Brotherhood.

Even as he asked the question he was mourning the loss of half of his coffee and he had the right mind to go find the bloody bloke who had managed to ruin his morning- and his trousers- and get another cup from him, but as it was he simply decided he would avoid the hassle and just buy another cup. He flagged down an employee who was floating about and ordered another cup and then looked at the girl. "Would you like something?" He asked, just trying to be nice and polite since she still looked half scared to death.

[raptor]

The man’s gaze turned to her shortly after she had been thrown into his shoulder. Her hands remained placed over her mouth and the bridge of her nose for the time as a silence sat in the air between them. She hoped he wouldn’t be angry. She didn’t often meet people anymore, and the few that she did, she didn’t want upset with her in any way, in case she ran into them later along the road. As she stood now with her life, that was unlikely, but anything could happen…right? Hell, she’d grown wings when she was ten. If she didn’t think anything was possible after that, she might be insane.

After what seemed like an eternity, he spoke, moving at the same time to pat himself off from the coffee that had been spilled over him. She instantly felt a bit worse. Although it wasn’t her fault, she still felt in some way a bit responsible.

”Don’t worry ‘bout it, lassie…”

His accent was thick and rang as something both foreign and interesting in Aella’s ears. For some reason it almost eased her a bit, letting some of the tension practically drop from her body. His tone, too, was more comforting than no, and not angry or upset like she was expecting. Her expression automatically lifted from being cloaked with worry and fear to a bit more of a nervous one…almost as though the hesitant relaxing her muscles were beginning to shape into was portrayed as an expression on her face. Her hands slowly dropped from in front of her more to her sides, the leather of the trench coat shifting over her leather gloves as they fell to a more normal position.

”Are ye okay? Nothin’ burnt? Or broken?”

Was there anything wrong? She shook her head slightly to focus on the question he’d just asked, before turning her gaze downward to her front. She patted down her coat and flattened the pockets. She gently squeezed both of her forearms. It was then that the rage of heat set in. Being startled from falling into the man had completely detracted her attention for a short while from the fact that coffee had splashed up her sleeve.

”I uh…” she said nervously, inching towards the counter slightly. Reaching behind her, she pulled some napkins open to use for the public, as not to be rude about reaching across his table. ”N...no…just some coffee splashed on my skin…’s all…” she told him. Pulling the sleeve up on her trench, she automatically began drying her skin, before moving to the inside of the coat to dry that off as much as possible. ”Only a small burn….it’s fine…”

She was distracted from her almost obsessive drying by his voice directed at her again. She had heard it in the background, talking. Maybe ordering something? But now it was focused back at her, as he offered to purchase her a drink. She straightened immediately and flushed with slight embarrassment.

”Uhm..” she looked at the menu posted above the counter. What’s the cheapest item…? she scanned the chalked list quickly, before looking at him, as if to ask Are…you sure..? Looking at the waitress, she spoke quietly. ”Hot chocolate, please…” The employee nodded and left them to see to the completion of their orders.

Aella’s amber eyes darted to the right at the sound of laughter. A small group of kids…the youngest about her age, the oldest probably no more than eighteen, walked in. Needless to say their laughter and jokes carried through the comparatively quiet coffee shop, but they quieted some as they entered the more reserved atmosphere of the shop. Even though the joking back and forth had ceased, they still retained happy faces being in each other’s presence. Aella was unable to control the mixed expression that crossed her face. It was a concoction of envy, desperate want, and sadness. She turned her face away and shook her head.

Now was not the time to be showing that sort of thing, particularly in front of someone who had just gotten coffee spilled on them and was nice enough to buy her something.

In the time of her distraction she had become rather oblivious to her surroundings. The clink of porcelain cups against the table brought her back to reality, and she watched the waitress vanish back behind the counter. Biting her lip, she turned the chair on the opposite side of the table around, so that the back was facing the table. She slipped into the chair, folding her left arm across the top of it and resting her chin on her arm. She knew it was rather odd to sit like this in public, but it was the only way she could sit and still hide her wings with a trench coat, or not sit on them which she’d found out the hard way wasn’t the most pleasant experience.

”I…” she began, pulling the mug of hot chocolate a bit closer to her, ”I should pay you back for this…” she said quietly, staring down at the brown liquid. ”I wound up staining your pants, after all…”

[will]

Will was glad that nothing too bad had happened to her and from the look of her arm it would be perfectly fine...provided she didn't get any more on her at least. Although the chances of that happening again was incredibly thin. He certainly didn't plan on throwing any more of his drink away- it cost far too much to do such a thing!

And speaking of things costing too much he didn't miss the fact that she happened to order one of the cheapest items on the price list but he couldn't call her on it since she probably felt a little weird that he was even offering to buy her anything but she reminded him a little of his sister and he just liked to help. She looked so terribly out of place he wouldn't have felt right if he didn't do something to help her out even just a little. And there was something about her that screamed out that she needed even that tiny little bit...although he of course had no idea what could possibly be the cause of that feeling.

As a group of children entered the shop he to got distracted by the loud laughter and joking that came from them and for a moment a small smile played over his lips. Despite the fact that he didn't like humans for their complete racism there was something about children and their innocence that seemed to lighten the world about him and as he spent more time in the shadows and darkness than outside of it it was such a nice change to be around such happy people. People who had yet to find out if they were different from everyone else...people who could run about like that without a care in the world. This time he missed the look that passed over the girl's face and it was probably a good thing as he had never been very good at comforting people...he always bungled it up.

Finally though he had to sit back down once he spied the waitress heading to their table with the two drinks and he scooped up his book and popped it back into his pocket so that it wasn't in the way just in time for the cups to be placed onto the table and he dug into his other pocket for the money and handed it over. "Thank ye," He muttered softly before turning back to the other girl who seemed to have snapped back into reality when the cups had been placed down.

He watched in amusement as she pulled the chair opposite him around so she could sit on it backwards. There was something completely childlike about the whole thing that he had to stop himself from chuckling at her actions since he figured she wouldn't really appreciate a grown man laughing at her in such a way. So instead he took a sip of his fresh coffee.

”I should pay you back for this…I wound up staining your pants, after all…”

He rose his eyes up to her face over the rip of his cup, this time a smile darting across his lips. "Nonsense," He placed his drink back down and raised a hand to run through his hair causing it to stick up slightly before removing his reading glasses and returning them to their case. "T'wasn't your fault you bumped into me." He paused and then he gave a small laugh. "And pants? Really? How American! Back home we call them trousers....anyway don't you be worrying about the drink, I didn't want you thinking that you were at fault in anyway." He still had the right mind to go find the bloke who had knocked her over and knock some sense into him. What sort of world was it when manners were completely lost? It wasn't like they cost anything!

[raptor]

Truly Aella felt a little strange accepting a purchase from a complete and total stranger that she happened to encounter by falling into. But, she had been at a slight loss as to what to do in the situation that had arose. She didn’t want to seem over-eager as far as accepting an offer like that went, but she didn’t want to risk coming off as rude in any way. In the end, she had decided it would be smartest and most courteous to accept his offer, but at the least cost – literally in this instance. The brown liquid was dark enough to reflect they key points of her face within the depths, and the only thing she did with it for now was blow on it lightly so it cooled.

”Nonsense…”

She looked up from the drink between her hands at him. He seemed to relax somewhat when he ran his hand through his hair and removed his reading glasses. ”T’wasn’t your fault you bumped into me.” She blinked somewhat and shrugged a little, almost uncomfortably. Although she hadn’t caused herself to bump into him by any stretch, she’d still gone flying into him. I guess…if you think about it it’s not my fault…but still! she almost whined mentally. ”And pants? Really? How American! Back home we call them trousers…” Trousers? Now, Aella hadn’t heard that word for a long time, since her parents were reading short stories out loud to her when she was younger. The last place she saw the word, too, was in some of the novels she read. ”…anyway, don’t you be worrying about the drink, I didn’t want you thinking that you were at fault in any way.”

She fidgeted slightly, moving her shoulders back somewhat to loosen the tension in her muscles, and she shifted her wings slightly and subtly. Although she still tried to keep them pressed as close to her back as possible, she needed to at least move them somewhat, or else she would regret it later through screaming muscles of trying to hold one, unmoving position for so long. ”Well…” she said, trying to think of a way to defend her offer, though there really wasn’t much reason to. ”Even…even if it wasn’t my fault, I still crashed into you regardless…” she said with a bit of a nervous laugh and a shrug.

”When he…bumped into me I just went flying like I didn’t even try to prevent it…” she told him, trying to keep the somewhat nervous, but hesitant tone to her voice. ”I’m kind of light, so…” she shrugged again, finally picking up her drink and sipping it slightly.

”And…trousers…?” she inquired, thinking somewhat. What were the origins of the authors in the books she’d read that word – rather than pants – in. Had they been from the United Kingdom?

Yes…I think so…

She was terrible with accents, though, but she had a feeling she knew what the origin of his noticeable one was. ”You’re from…Scotland, if I’m hearing right…?” she inquired politely, looking back at her drink and swishing it carefully. After a few months alone, she found it harder to get back into making normal conversation with others.

[will]

”You’re from…Scotland, if I’m hearing right…?”

Will gave a large grin at the girl as she guessed his home country. He was impressed...most American's he had met didn't have a clue what the Scottish accent even sounded like let alone guess it in the first go. Of course he had met some people who had totally guessed the wrong country and had told him he must have been Irish. Irish! He didn't sound anything like an Irish countryman! Bah. What did they know?

"Ye have no idea how glad I am ye said that," He chuckled as he raised his cup in a mock salute before taking a gulp of it and wrinkling his nose as he finally clicked onto the fact that he hadn't actually put any cream in this one. Bleugh. Serves him right for not paying that much attention to what he was doing. "The amount o people who think I'm Irish is terrifying!"

He placed his cup back down onto the table and with a grin decided to introduce himself to the girl before she thought he was some sort of weirdo...and he really didn't want anyone think he was weird. It was bad enough that people back home knew he was a mutant and that he had to leave to save his family from the prejudice of him saying. He didn't want such a reputation here as well...although it would probably only be a matter of time before his status as not quite human got about.

"I'm William. William O'Connell." He considered offering her his hand to shake but the way she still kept her gloves on and kept hunched in her jacket that he wasn't sure she would appreciate the gesture so he chose to keep his hands to himself...and he guessed some people might think it was weird that someone his age was introducing themselves to someone much younger than himself but really he just wanted to help. His nature was to help those he could although he supposed that not everyone wanted help and certainly not from strangers.

[raptor]

Aella blinked in surprise when the man before her gave a broad grin. She couldn’t help but smile slightly at his expression. Making people smile was something she hoped she was good (compared to some) at. She liked seeing others happy, and often found that when people surrounding her were happy, she was, too. The positive atmosphere simply worked wonders, in a way, for her. And to an extent, others… she thought, nodding slightly.

”Ye have no idea how glad I am to hear that” He told her, raising his glass slightly, as though an off-handed toast were in order for her correctly guessing his country of origin. ”The amount o’ people who think I’m Irish is terrifying!” Truly, she could understand why some people would think that. If they only paid attention to accents when they were in movies, your average person probably wouldn’t know the difference in some unless they made a point to. Or if they, like Aella, were good with languages. She held her smile, although she let it fade a little after a few seconds so she could sip her drink again.

”I’m William. William O’Connell.” She nodded slightly behind her cup and waited a few seconds in silence. Her parents had taught her to speak mostly when someone else was done speaking, unless she had something that contributed to whatever was going on or being talked about. He seemed to be done for now. ”Uh..you can call me Aella…” she told him, smiling a little.

Be polite Aella! she snapped at herself.

”Aella Agrona’s my full name…” she said, nodding a little. ”And…glad to give you a bit of a change of pace…?” she said, a bit unsure of how to word it. ”I’m uh…good with languages…” she told him, her smile evolving into a bit of a grin. ‘Good’ with them was a bit of an understatement, though, for her age. Because of her split lineage she had essentially been required to learn French and Japanese, in order to communicate with both sides of her family, then English as well to communicate with both her parents (in addition to their other languages of respective origins), and those around her in school.

”My parents made it a point for me to know other languages so I could communicate with others.” she shrugged a little. ”It’s useful, I guess…it makes me good with identifying accents as well.”

[will]

”My parents made it a point for me to know other languages so I could communicate with others.”

"Your parents had it right," He agreed. "I know Scottish and not so scary Scottish." He held a finger up for each of them until he was doing a peace sign and a smile on his face. He so wished he knew another language but alas he had grown up in a pretty small community and there had never been much need for him to learn anything other than his own tongue...actually he was telling a lie...He held up another finger. "And very little Gaelic." Although he really wasn't much good at it, his sister had been the one to learn it at school and he had simply learnt just to try and help her with her homework. "I wish I had learnt more thought." Because it would have been really bloody useful for when he had left home and hopped from country to country like he had.

Soon however he had to look rather forlornly at his coffee cup as he slowly began to finish what was left of his drink. Ah such a shame, it was rather good coffee if he had to admit it and he wasn't sure he wanted another cup since he had already paid for two of them in the space of an hour but needs must and he figured if he stayed much longer then he would buy another and since the girl opposite him had barely touched her own beverage he would feel a little rude if he suddenly got up to get another. He would wait a little longer. It wouldn't kill him afterall.

"I cannae say I recognise your accent lassie, its certainly not very American despite your use of Americanisms." It was true, he was positively useless at accents as well as languages and even if he had to guess he would probably get it wrong. Best not to embarrass himself in such a way. Although she looked vaguely Asian but not so completely he was willing to bet on it and he doubted she would really appreciate him saying so.

[raptor]

”Your parents had it right. I know Scottish and not-so-scary Scottish…and very little Gaelic. I wish I had learned more though.” Aella blinked slightly, raising her eyebrows a little. Gaelic was a language you didn’t come across every day. It wasn’t exactly the most common thing anymore. She figured that if the Gaels still didn’t use it even today, despite the rapid spread of English that had practically overtaken the tongues of their countries, it would be considered extinct by now. She nodded a bit and sipped her drink again, before taking a bit fuller of a swallow. It had finally cooled enough to the extent where she could swallow it without worrying about possibly burning herself, though it still retained its warmth.

She glanced down at the beverage when she lowered it from her lips, which had rapidly depleted to a mug that was half empty when it was practically inhaled by her. The ceramic mug was still heated as though the hot beverage were swimming within it. She tapped her gloved fingers lightly against the side of it. Aside from the mental note she’d made on the Gaelic, she couldn’t help but wonder what…”not-so-scary Scottish” was, and given that, what “scary” Scottish even was. She hoped he wouldn’t mind her curious inquiry.

She opened her mouth slightly to ask, but her words hesitated when he spoke again.

”I cannae say I recognize your accent lassie, it’s certainly not very American despite your use of Americanisms.” Accent, huh? It had been mentioned a few times in the past that her English didn’t exactly sound ‘American’ or even ‘English’ for that matter. It was a bizarre cross of the two other languages she’d learned alongside English through her childhood. Alone, those two accents varied in difficulty to detect, French being a fairly obvious one, then the Japanese often got confused for Chinese, Korean, or some other Asian country. She felt the corner of her mouth pull upwards slightly in a crooked, half-smile. She shrugged a little, as to brush off the strange embarrassment that came over her.

”Well…” she tried to think of how to explain it. ”It’s probably English slapped with a mix between the two other languages I speak.” she attempted a light chuckle. She wasn’t exactly ‘good’ laughing or chuckling at something she found amusing unless it actually made her laugh. ”My…uh…mother and her family are Japanese, and my father and his family are French. I had to learn both languages to be able to communicate with them, then English for everybody else around me.” she shrugged a bit. ” ‘S probably why you don’t recognize it…it’s not found too often.”

She sipped her drink again.

”If you don’t mind my asking…what’s ‘not-so-scary Scottish’ …and…’scary Scottish’ ?” she asked, unable to contain her curiosity. The only thing she could think ‘scary Scottish’ would be was someone with a thick Scottish accent speaking far faster than anybody that didn’t regularly hear something like that could understand.

[will]

Ah, that would explain why he had thought her vaguely Asian looking and he no longer felt like a bloody fool for guessing. Of course he was still incredibly glad that he had said nothing just in case he had been wrong but that didn't matter so much now. French and Japanese was an interesting combination however. You didn't come across those very often and since he had spent a week going through France he was pretty sure his estimation was a good one. Although he could be wrong. He probably was. He usually was.

”If you don’t mind my asking…what’s ‘not-so-scary Scottish’ …and…’scary Scottish’ ?”

He gave a loud laugh at her question although he didn't mean it in any bad way as he thought her question to be quite amusing and a rather good one. He supposed many people outside of Scotland would think his accent to be 'scary Scottish' but he viewed it to be quite a tame accent compared to some of his fellow country men. "I guessed I asked for that one," He confessed as he drained the last mouthful of his coffee and made a mental note to order some more a bit later if he was still about.

"I class my accent as not so scary since you understand everything I'm saying to ye. A scary one would be me talking so fast you don't get a single word of what I be saying...and trust me, I do tend to speak like that sometimes." He shrugged, "The perils of living in a broad speaking part of the homeland."

Ah the homeland. He really missed his home. He missed his parents and his little sister more than anything and since he had left over a year ago he hadn't even heard from them- although that was entirely his own fault since he didn't carry a mobile phone and he hadn't been near the internet in weeks. He guessed there was a part of him that feared that getting in touch with them would make him go back and he couldn't risk that...he couldn't allow his family to suffer thanks to his mutation and getting in touch with them would mean the rest of the town would eventually find out. There was also the fact that if he spoke to them the temptation to return would be too much, and again, he couldn't risk that either. It would be worse than just calling to tell them he was alive and ok.