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When: Early Morning
Rating: PG
Characters: April (

bill_to_sis and open
Summary: Newly arrived April's doing a bit of people watching outside Café Juliet where she has a good view of the square and the carousel.

Log: April sat down outside the cafe with her tea in hand and an unobstructed view of the square in front of her. It was nice and black and she kept her tea bag in for an extra special kick. She wasn't sure how she got separated from July, and April disliked uncertainties, but the kid knew how to take care of himself and with any luck, she'd see his observer spirit any second now shining in the glass. So she'll sip at her tea and watch the awakening city go about its business and if nothing happened any time soon, she'll just pull out a beer from her coat and sip at that too.

She was in no hurry.

((ooc: ~~Is this where pure action posts are supposed to go?~~))

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With his back turned to her as he stood at the fountain, November 11 could have been any blond man in a suit, and indeed as far as April was concerned was a lot more likely to be. She didn't know, after all, how strange the rules of the place she'd wound up were.

He hadn't noticed her yet, either. He'd largely given up hope of encountering her or July here. Hope was irrational, after all. Mind you, so was missing them in the first place, but he'd allow himself that much.

November watched the fountain, and after a moment, he clasped his hands behind his back. His shoulders were straight, his head tipped forward just slightly in interest--it was a familiar pose, but that was all.

Ever since November had died, she'd seen him in odd places: the slight tilt of the head in a random stranger or the way a grown man would clasp his hands behind his back as he looked at something. Even the flash of light glinting off a pair of sunglasses as they were removed could be a reminder, but she usually dismissed them out of hand.

November was dead; she had seen the body.

There was no reason to suspect he might be alive in this place. Still, as she pressed her chin into her hand, he was more than familiar. It wasn't all that often she ran across blond haired men wearing white suits.

How nostalgic. And ill-befitting of a contractor.

Another thing ill-befitting of a contractor: the way November thought of April and July even though they weren't here. He still used a glass ash tray, in case the latter should appear; he still took note of which bars were worth frequenting, even though he himself rarely drank.

(The Lux, yes. The Coliseum, no; one time there had been enough. The City badly needed to enforce some anti-smoking laws. Honestly.)

At the corner of his vision, he thought he saw someone lift a can of Guinness. He half-smiled, even though there was no reason for him to, and turned away from the fountain to look. It was opaque to him today, after all.

Then he stopped, the smile fading in surprise, because it wasn't some random stranger he could tease about their taste in beer, it was her, after all. And he'd just revealed himself. Even under the shades, he was recognizable.

He could only hope she'd seen a guide already.

Euphemia is taking care of a few errands for the apartment. She has a bag of various supplies in hand as she walks by. She may have been content with a friendly smile at the stranger in passing, but the bag itself had other ideas as the bottom picked that moment to split, spilling the contents onto the sidewalk.

"Oh!"

A bottle of shampoo rolls toward the other woman as the pink-haired girl bends down to start gathering items up.

April paused, beer half-lifted to her lips as he turned. How curious. And not in the least possible. She set the half empty can down on the table, freeing up a hand to remove her own shades.

He was still as white-washed as ever.

Wary, disbelieving, utterly confused, April stood, gathering up her beer stash and tossing out the garbage as she walked towards him. Her mind said no, but her eyes said yes and seeing was more often then not more accurate than anything the mind could come up with.

Trust November 11 to cheat death and not tell her. This was going to be the worse joke yet.

If he was real.

The jury was still out on that.

April smiles back as the girl passes, her eyes doing more of the following as she picks apart the small details. Nice gait, good posture, well dressed. A nice girl who took pride in how she looked (and extra points for the hair color). Maybe good upbringing too. It took a lot of work to make all that look natural if one took it up late in life.

So, as the shampoo rolls towards her, April bends at the waist, picking up the object. "Having a bit of trouble there?" She smiles, a little bit of a laugh showing on her face as she walks towards Euphie, extending the bottle towards her.

Her smile is just a little sheepish. After all, even in this place she often has help carrying items after shopping. If Flynn isn't offering or Suzaku isn't accompanying her then it seems like one of her friends suddenly pop out of nowhere and insist. "I think I was carrying it poorly."

She gathers up some of the odds and ends in the crook of one arm and then accepts the wayward bottle. "Thank you very much."

For a moment, he didn't move. Then he, too, started walking--not quite right toward her, but past her. Very close past her, close enough that she could tell he even smelled the same: fine cologne masking the hints of cigarette smoke clinging to his clothes.

And he said in calm, conversational tones as he passed her, "Would it help if I told you this is a dream?" He stopped again just a few feet away, not quite turning to face her, but glancing behind him to meet her gaze. He didn't speak to mark his words as a joke; April hadn't needed him to do that in a long time. He just smiled faintly. "Although to be perfectly honest, for all I know that could be true. Wouldn't the joke be on me then?"

Doesn't mind waiting and she's fairly relaxed as she stands there. She doesn't have much going on at the moment and slow and careful was usually better than running head first into the unknown.

"Not a problem. But you might want to beware of this little guy. He might try to run off again."

Seemed like they both had the same idea. She walked just close enough to nearly touch, but not enough to make it seem suspicious. But even so, April couldn't believe what she was seeing. It wasn't possible. It was irrational and the thought of this as a dream was even more so.

Contractors didn't dream as that implied they had desires and fancies and needs that couldn't be fulfilled by any tangible, physical mean. That would be a fine joke indeed.

April smiled, stopping to look over her own shoulder to meet November's eyes. "Oh, I don't know. I'd think you'd be pretty lucky to have me in a dream." Joking, of course. But he didn't need her to say that anymore than she did him.

It would have been a joke even if contractors did dream, and they both knew it. November continued smiling, with just a slight tip of his head to acknowledge her joke in return. Then, finally, he did turn to face her. The motions of secrecy were entertaining, but right here and right now, they were pointless--so keeping them up didn't make any sense.

Instead, he reached into a suit pocket, pulled something out, and held it up. "Check about your person. You should have one of these." It was a Network device. "It might start explaining things, although first, it's only going to make you more confused." He glanced around, then shrugged slightly with a crooked smile. "Such is the way of life here--and death, apparently."

"Death has such poor taste anyways."

April quirks a brow and a half smile, but double checks her coat, finding the device tucked into an inner pocket. She holds it up for a second before glancing to her partner and slipping it over her ear. "You seem to have the hang of this place. Maybe you'd like to give me the tour?" They'd start drawing attention if they kept talking in the middle of the road.

What can she say? Old habits were such difficult things to break.

"You're as cruel as ever." But his voice was light, almost cheerful. Whatever she might say, he was glad that April was here. There was no point in protesting to himself that it was unfair to wish this place upon her--that would just be a stupid, irrational attempt to justify his feelings. He was pleased to have a real partner back, and that was that.

He broke into a casual stroll, expecting her to follow him, not glancing back to see if she was. "You mean show you the best places to drink. Why don't we head for the Lux?" He nodded in the right direction. "By the way, we're in a place called the City. Quite the creative name, I know."

She giggles a little at that. "He just might."

And a tilt of the head. "I'm Euphie. I don't think we've spoken before."

Following the completion of an asinine deity-given task, a craving for milk struck, and Shizuo made his way to the cafe. Following the line and purchase, he walked out with a chocolate shake and a cookie the size of his fist, and parked himself at an empty table. One adjacent to a woman with some pretty striking hair, but he remained relatively oblivious. Intent, instead, on sipping the shake, breaking off half the cookie to nibble.

After a few bites, he fished out a cigarette and lit up, cupping cookie and hand around the lighter's flame. Pretty nice day, he thought. Pale sun, high in the sky, something of Fall in the breeze.

April smiles mysteriously as she shakes her head. "That'd be hard to do since I haven't been here before."

Pause.

"I'm April."

While April had noticed him when he first walked into the cafe, she had to smile a little at the manner of cigarette lighting.

"I hope that cookie has insurance. Burnt to a crisp would be an awful way to go."

"And you're just as kind as ever. Don't suppose you'll actually join me in a drink or two, huh?" Falling in line, she walks just a little behind him, another habit from another life. It was comfortable, and, well, she was never going to say no to a good recommendation.

A pause.

"The City? Oh my, that is rather creative." Her voice rings with amusement. "I don't suppose the City has a Gate to go with it, hm?" It would explain November's sudden appearance, at least one April was comfortable with although she was less comfortable with the thought of randomly wandering into Hell's Gate without her sensing it at all. Not to mention that would mean its reach had extended since the EPR did a number on PANDORA.

"Oh! Did you just arrive today?"

"Hm, you could say that." Morning, late night, it didn't make a big difference which it was when she hadn't yet slept. "You seem like you've been here for a while."

"Yes, a little over ten months now. Has anyone explained how things work here?"

Gives her an eyebrow raise. "There's things that need to be explained about this place? I thought it was just a city." Even though April had no idea how she had arrived.

She hesitates for just a moment before gesturing to her abandoned table.

"Would you care to sit? It can't be comfortable carrying all that for too long." And her beer was losing all it's fizz.

"Oh, yes, thank you." She sets the items on the table before having a seat. "It's no ordinary city. Didn't you come here by surprise?"

April shrugs and sits down as well. "I may have gotten a little lost. I just thought I was in a strange part of town."

"I wish I could tell you that's all it was. You're actually in a very different place than you were before. At least I assume so. This is called The City. That's the only name it goes by, and everyone here was brought here from somewhere else without meaning to come."

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