"Are you enjoying the food here, Mrs Alba recommended it to me some time back." I asked my pastel colored companion. She looked up from her ice cream, "Yes it's very nice here, but you don't seem to be enjoying your food." She glanced at my untouched plate, her eyes glossing over with concern. I glanced at my plate, the pancakes slowly getting soggy from the syrup. I wasn't hungry, I only ordered it to be polite, I ate before coming here. I reached into the veil, studying her facial expressions, the way her eyebrows slowly furrowed, her lips drew out into a small pout, her left eye twitched.
This wasn't a casual meeting, it was an examination and so far my subject hadn't shown any unusual behavior. Though I still didn't know why she wanted to meet me, I could ask but it would go against the whole objective. I was still staring at my plate, her face scrunched up in slight frustration. "You don't have to force yourself to be here." '*Sigh* screw it mind games won't work well in this situation.'
"I'm sorry if I appear disinterested, I'm just anxious because I don't know the purpose of this meeting." Her eyes widened in surprise, why was she so surprised I don't remember her telling me the objective of this meeting. "Ohh actually I asked us to meet because..... because...I.." she looked puzzled, like she'd forgotten why. "I guess I just wanted to spend time with you, and get to know you better." She concluded after contemplating for a bit.
'Odd' that was my only thought concerning this situation, that had me realing for some reason, I wasn't sure what I was expecting her to say. Maybe something about Jonathan, but this changed things and the long silence that stretched between us added to the already awkward atmosphere. This was shameful, after goading Tobias for so long, turns out I couldn't strike casual conversation with a girl.
"You said you wanted to know me better, how about you ask me questions you're curious about." She stopped fidgetting and her eyes burned with new light. "Sure there's a lot I'm curious about." Her usual perky self shined through yet again.
She asked a lot of questions, all of them harmless, I was asked nothing worth hiding or thing that were already accessible by the general public. She asked my birthday, my favorite food, color, music, subjects of interest, and many other things. I answered the best I could while also being as vague as possible, I also answered some questions incorrectly I had to check something.
Since the probing began something felt strange, using my abilities I observed Jess in great detail, her every expression, intonation, micro expressions, but all it told me was that she was genuinely curious about me, i even detected slight traces of fascination.
But as I said in the beginning this was an interrogation, so I questioned her as well. She answered my questions with fervor. She even told me about her family, her friends. 'Today was a bust, everythings going well but I still feel alarmed. Why?'
Then she finally asked me something strange. "How do you do it?" She asked, it looked like she wanted to ask for a long time. "Do what?" I asked, the confusion clear in my voice. "How do you move like that, so gracefully. Every step you take always controlled, perfect even when you appear distracted." She glanced at me trying so see if I'd understood the question. "For example when we met at the station and walked here, the way you weaved through the crowd, it was unnatural, so coordinated, so perfect. You were barely looking ahead of yourself yet you did it so effortlessly." She said then paused waiting for my reply. The answer was simple, but I couldn't possibly tell, for many reasons.
Firstly I didn't want her involved in my world, I wasn't sure what I was doing or how badly the situation could turn out, so telling her i had supernatural abilities and that there were others like me wasn't an option. Secondly I couldn't trust her, she was a friend of Jonathan's, so any information I revealed regarding my abilities could be leaked to that snake.
I wasn't even aware I did that till now, I used my spatial awareness to avoid obstacles and avoid unnecessary extra movement. I guess that translated to me appearing extremely graceful and poised. "I've had a lot of practice, it's just something I picked up for the extra convenience." That should be satisfactory explanation.
"That isn't something you pick up for the extra convenience." She said firmly. I had no reply to that, nothing to add it was true though. "It's beautiful" she said in a soft mummur. "Huh?!" I couldn't help vocalizing I had to be sure I heard her right. "I said it's beautiful, the way you carry your self I find it beautiful. I wish I could move like that." "If you don't mind me asking, why does it intrigue you so much. Personally I feel it's unimportant, trivial but you seem deeply attached to the concept." I was genuinely curious this time, all my senses told me she was utterly fascinated with the idea. I wanted to know why, maybe it would trace back to Jonathan, hopefully not.
"Well I haven't told anyone this but I take balle classes, for a couple years now." The flow of blood to her cheeks and ears spoke volumes of her embarrassment. The color on her face complemented her equally colorful hair quite nicely. "That's a wonderful hobbie to have, I'd love to see you dance someday." The idea of such a loud, energetic and cheerful girl performing elegant, controlled movements was very contrasting, most people would find it hard to imagine her in that position. "I'm not sure you would like to see me dance, I'm not very good at it, even now I still struggle to keep up. That's why I'm so intrigued by your moves, it takes years of practice to be that good."
Honestly what could I tell her, the only reason i could inspire her were because of my abilities which allowed me to bypass all the necessary years of training the professionals had. "I guess all you need is an awareness of your surroundings and a carefully placed foot." I hoped to convince her with cheerful words and sincere smile, at least as sincere as I could make it but she saw through it rather easily. "I guess some people are just talented and require minimal training." She shoot back a smirk playing on her lips.
Talent. I wish, without my abilities I'd just be your average nerd. Sure I had perfect grades, but anyone who put a bit of effort into their studies and found the right study method could achieve a near similar result. I didn't excel in an extracurricular that didn't have grounded roots in science and theory. I wasn't talented just lucky. I glanced at Jess she'd recommitted her attention to her food, her eyes lighting up when the extra serving of mint chocolate chip ice cream she ordered arrived.
I pulled on the veil, pausing to take a light scan of her body, specifically her legs, I scaned the leght of them from knees to toes taking in as much detail as i could about her musculature. It was evasive but necessary, I needed a detailed construct to provide assistance in her training.
'Ahh that's the problem.' the quick probe proved very useful. "Jess do you fall on your left ankle a lot during balle training?" She stiffened instantly, her spoon dropping down into her ice cream bowl, the astonishment and fascination were clear on her face. "How did you know?" She asked her curiousity peaking. "Just a very well informed guess." Contemplation played in her expression then finally acceptance. I was relieved, providing an explanation for everything proved exhausting. The scan revealed that the muscles and ligaments in her left ankle weren't very well developed, at least not as developed as they should be considering her right ankle was much better off. The constant strain and damage to her ankle without giving it time to rest or exercising it properly caused trauma to develop, it'd hurt a lot in her advanced years if measures weren't taken.
I asked a few questions about her ankle and how it affected her performance, that way she wouldn't question how I diagnosed her without any prior information. "That explains a lot Jess, your left ankle seems to be facing some trauma because of the constant abuse. Regular rest, therapy and good exercise is all you need and you will notice a difference in your performance." I was impressed her balle teacher hadn't caught on to it yet, it spoke volumes of how little attention she was given compared to her peers.
We spoke for quite a bit, it was already evening by the time we left the cafe. Jess insisted on paying all the bills, something about her ordering multiple scoops of ice cream and her being the one to invite me out. It didn't really make sense to me, wouldn't it be more logical to split the bill based on what we consumed, she insisted that whenever I asked her out I could cover the bill making us even. I didn't really get what I came for but the experience was enjoyable nonetheless. I'd kept the veil at its maximum range through out the encounter, hoping to catch a glimpse of that snake. I had nothing to show, just a headache.
'Next time, I'll catch something next time.'