I am the Walrus

[russ]

Was it out of line to be expecting someone to track him down and harass him over his uncharacteristic behaviour as of late? He didn’t think so, considering he had had outright threats about her lot doing just that. Lily’s further silence certainly did not instill much confidence in him. People generally paused to assess what they would say in response; and he had no reason to believe she had anything good to say to him. He could only hope that she would use her words and not the sharp end of her knife.

Shifting uncomfortably under her gaze, Russ tried to fixate his attention on his food, as though he was not at all apprehensive about her answer. The obviousness of this was only emphasized as he looked back with a worried expression when she started to speak. He followed her closely with his eyes as she leaned down… ready to bolt if she pulled a concealed weapon on him. He’d really like to believe what she said earlier about not attacking him in the middle of the mall.

As personals spilled out over the table, Russell almost wished she had been buying weapons instead. Clearing his throat and gently pulling his food closer to him to evade the obtrusive garments, he tried to prolong the useless façade of indifference. Shrugging gently, [white]“You can shop anywhere you want.”[/white] Like she needed him to tell her. Feeling slightly queasy all of a sudden, Russ laid his chopsticks on the container, [white]“I actually meant asking me to eat with you. Talking to me at all, really.”[/white]

Daring to raise his gaze to her, he narrowed his eyes slightly to try to figure her out. He wasn’t sure if he expected the truth from her. He probably wouldn’t recognize it even if she did tell him. But there was definitely off about all this, and he cursed his curiosity for keeping him anchored in his seat.

[Sastre Quicksilver]

Lily shrugged as she sipped her iced tea.

"Well, I don't really know anyone else around here," she answered honestly. "I saw you standing there, looking all fixated on that mannequin, and I thought 'Well, look at that. He stalks mannequins too!' " She winked at him, laughing.

Eyeing his chopsticks, Lily frowned.

"You aren't done already, are ya Russ?" she asked. "Don't tell me my panties ruined your appetite!" Chuckling again, she gathered up her things and put them back in her bag before digging in to her own meal once more. As she ate, she watched Russ closely, though she tried to hide that she was doing so of course.

He seemed really squirrelly today, more than she had seen him before. Granted, she hadn't really known him very long, but this seemed a bit much. Was he always like this, and she just hadn't had enough time to really notice, or was her presence really making him that uncomfortable?

Furrowing her brow and biting her lip a bit, Lily told the nervous young man, "I'll go, if you want me to."

((BTW, thanks a ton for the sig, it looks great!))

[russ]

Fixating her with his innately serious eyes, Russ was indeed very uncomfortable with what her answer might be. Because when he thought about, he wasn’t sure she had actually ever lied to him. She was brutally honest, actually; that, or her lying was convincingly frightening. The eagerness with which she had longed to shoot him was never far from his mind when she was around, and he could easily fathom her getting her kicks out of scaring him.

As such, he was not particularly expecting what she ended up saying. He paused for a moment at her joke before letting out a single breathy laugh after deciding that she really was just being funny. At least, he thought. And as her lips curved down, he actually felt a little bad for her. If she knew so few people that she would resort to lunching with him… well, he at least thought he knew how she perceived him, so that was about pathetic.

Despite fighting to keep his stomach from doing cartwheels, Russ picked up his chopsticks again to appease her and began to eat. He did not lift his eyes again, so he was oblivious to her attention. To be honest, he was perfectly content to just sit in silence. So long as he wasn’t saying anything, he couldn’t provoke her… and so long as she wasn’t saying anything, he had no reason to worry further.

Looking up in mid bite, Russ stared at her before continuing to chew and swallow before answering. In that short moment, her expression perplexed him and he shook his head slowly. [white] “No, you’re not even done.”[/white] He said in an unaware tone. Nodding to her food, before returning his attention to his own,[white] “Finish eating.”[/white]

Washing down another bite with a long drink of coke, he set his cup down and tried to muster up a casual tone. It fell pitifully short of the niceties most of his friends identified him for, but it should come as no surprise that ease took a great deal of effort opposite Ms. Trigger-Happy. [white] “So you know I’m a stalker, but I hardly know anything about you…”[/white] He looked up expectantly. He really didn’t want to be punished for an invitation to talk about herself, but in the normal world, this was what people did.

[Sastre Quicksilver]

Lily hid her smile behind a forkful of food when Russ told her to stay.

When he asked her about herself, though, she furrowed her brow, unsure what exactly she should say. Again, several possible options presented themselves: be bitchy about it, lie to him, tell him the truth (yeah, right!), or answer the question vaguely...

Option number four it was!

"Well," she began, clearing her throat and taking a long drink of her tea. "I was adopted--just found that out a couple weeks back, by the way--and raised in northern Michigan... Had a pretty normal life, I guess, but my parents died when I was fifteen and I've been kind of on my own since then." She paused, swallowing the lump in her throat that came when speaking about the murder of her parents; she still hadn't found the creature that had killed them, and after nearly ten years of looking she was beginning to lose hope.

"Now, I tend to spend most of my time on the road, I guess. My job keeps me moving a lot, so it doesn't really do me a lot of good to get too attached to staying in one place." She shrugged, seeming to look everywhere but at Russ as she continues. "It's actually a bit of work that brought me to town... And some personal business too, I guess."

Smiling brightly she finished with, "Well, that's about it really. What about you? I don't really know a lot about your background either, right?"

[russ]

If Lily didn’t want Russ to see her smile, she did not have to worry. Nerves forbade him to look at her for long. This was still all very surreal to him, and stuffing vegetable and meat riddled noodles in his mouth was a sufficient distraction from the fact that she wasn’t feeling all that comfortable herself. He was not really in a position to consider her feelings, though, as he paused mid-bite in unison with her at the mention of her parents. That was not entirely true. It was because of her feelings that he hesitated before downing the bite. The feelings that she inevitably had to deal with, but held captive behind a very intimidating fortress. His nature would urge him to pursue this aspect of her life, but a twinge in his hand reminded him to keep his mouth shut. She didn’t appreciate his personality any more than the rest of the people like her. And he had to wonder why she seemed so engaging now. Seducing him into trusting her, despite knowing full well that he should not.

Looking up slowly, Russ casually nursed his drink, flicking his gaze to her every so often and actually found with relief that she was not focusing much on him either. Well, that was until she reached up and forced the spotlight he had flicked on in his direction. Sitting back slightly, he got a thoughtful little expression before, [white]“No I s’pose not. I’m fortunate enough to still have my parents, but they’re back in Canada, where I’m from. Uh… I guess you could say I’m more of the artistic type. I’m right handed, so I guess I’m grateful that it was my left you tried to sever.”[/white] Despite the calm steadiness of his tone, slight emphasis would properly convey that he was joking. Sort of. [white]“I moved here when I was eighteen, for school. Think I’m going back. Be ridiculous not to finish. But I kind of like it here in the states, more going on. So I set to traveling about a year ago. Didn’t think it was gonna be so hard to marry and get my green card… you’d be surprised how many women won’t go for fifty bucks to become your wife.”[/white] After a moment, a grin cracked across his face.

[Sastre Quicksilver]

Lily grinned as Russ finished.

"Fifty bucks, huh?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "I think that maybe something can be arranged." She winked at him, only half-joking. "I mean, there've gotta be a hell of a lot of girls out there who'd love to snag a guy like you, right?" Making a face, she continued. "Besides, Canada's not so bad. What makes you think that staying here in the states would be any better?"

Lily leaned back in her seat, chewing on her straw as she took a drink of her tea, her eyes locked on Russ.

[russ]

Though it was lingering on his mind that eventually his school visa would expire, Russ was not actually looking for a wife, or anything close to. Often it was easier just to create a diversion to throw a person off the scent of their current pursuit than answer thoroughly. He was pretty sure it had worked this time as well, but Lily was persistent, and he was brought right back to another question he was not sure he knew how to answer. The answer had gotten him in trouble once, and so he was not eager to replay that. Just as well… she probably would not be the only one asking him this, so it was best time he have some sufficient excuse.

Playful smile fading to consideration, he found it a little difficult to concentrate on his answer under her intense gaze. He much preferred when she was looking all over the place. [white] “Maybe I seem more of a catch here in the states.”[/white] He suggested before conceding with a shrug. [white] “It’s beautiful there. I really do miss it, from time to time, but… the life style, in my hometown, was stifling. Somewhere like Vancouver, or Toronto, would probably suffice. But sometimes to break away… you have to make a full separation.”[/white] Smiling gently, he met her eyes only briefly before adding, [white]“I don’t know… maybe I’m trying to redefine myself… or find myself to begin with.”[/white] Letting out an abrupt and airy laugh,[white] “Well, there it is. Nothing exhilarating, but no skeletons either. I never did promise to be entertaining company.”[/white]

[Sastre Quicksilver]

Lily chuckled at him, shaking her head.

"You've been plenty entertaining, Russ, and very sweet to someone who probably doesn't deserve it." She smiled at him, a hint of sadness in her eyes that she tried desperately to hide. "Really, Russ. This has been nice." Just then, her phone began to ring, and she scowled a bit as she looked at the caller I.D. before answering, holding up a "just a second" finger to Russ.

"Faraday," she said into the phone, the tone of her voice seeming to be completely different now that she was in "business" mode. "Yes. I think that can be arranged," she continued, looking a bit concerned. "I'll be there as soon as I can. I'm about..." She paused, looking at her watch before going on. "I'm about three hours out. Should get there in plenty of time. No, stop crying," she told the person on the other line softly, smiling a bit. "Everything will be fine. I promise." With that, she hung up and looked longingly at her remaining food.

"Russ," she said, looking at him intently. "This really has been a lot of fun, but I gotta go." Holding up her cellphone, she said, "Business."

[russ]

Russ would love to be able to argue with Lily about her worthiness of his good humor, but it was not for the fact that she kept talking that he remained silent. It was in his nature to deny such claims, to make a person feel better, but this time he was not entirely sure she was wrong. For all her smiles, all her laughs, and a general air of normalcy today, Russ could sense more. He did not have to play witness to the interrupting call on her phone. In actuality, he was a twinge relieved. Because, as he was allowed to sit in his thoughts, it occurred to him that he was allowing his mind far too much leisure in her company.

With an understanding nod, he raised his brows. [white] “Sounds like it. This was…”[/white] Russ paused, not breaking eye contact as he gave it careful consideration. [white] “Interesting.”[/white] He concluded. It certainly was not what he was expecting from her, and now he had no idea what to think. One thing was for certain, he had some preconceived notions about Lily that had been effectively dashed.

[Sastre Quicksilver]

Standing up, Lily began gathering her things.

"Interesting, huh? Well, I guess that's better than frightening, right?" She chuckled, taking out a pen and jotting her cell number down on a napkin. Handing it to him, she said, "Here's my number. Give me a call, sometime." Flashing him a bright smile, she walked past him, patting him on the shoulder.

"See you 'round, Russ."

((Finished.))