TBVF: Chapter 9: A(riel) in Wonderland
Title: The Blue Vast Future
Author: Ariel Chew
Genre: Sci-Fi, Humor, Friendship, Family
Summary: A SB#187 team aged-up to be in a Kaiju battle. Ariel’s merely a 21-year-old supervisor of Gamma Rapper, but with all the training of the Academy she has, will it prepare her for the biggest turns of events of the century?
~*~ “<[Hey Ariel!]>” Ariel flinches a bit from the high volume, holding the phone away from her ear in favor of lowering the sound before continuing the call.
“Yeah, [Hello] back to you too. You do remember my Korean is as limited as my Japanese, which is almost equivalent to nil? Anyhow, where are you? I don’t see you anywhere in the Shatterdome.”
She can already sense that the other supervisor is vibrating with unknown glee.
“<I’m in BeanHoppin’. You’re free to drop by now, yeah?>”
Ariel tuts a disapproval tone. “Seriously, Iris? You’re taking an early break today?”
“<He~llo?? It’s 11:37 AM now. And they’re serving brunch. So: Are you coming or nay?>”
“… Give me 5 minutes.”
She arrives in exactly 5 minutes and 15 seconds, her little sling bag swinging violently from her enthusiastic vigor in arriving as soon as possible. The mechanical chime of the installed doorbell echoes in sync with her entrance, prompting the present customers and baristas alike to glance over.
When she said customers, she really meant only Iris.
Who is apparently waving a little too excitedly for Ariel’s comfort.
“Over here! You made it!” Ariel wordlessly closes the distance between the table Iris’ at and herself, noting the two baristas who are on duty at the moment.
… Either the world thinks it’s funny to have him on duty just as she’s here, or clearly Iris planned this beforehand.
Not that Ariel mind. Nope, not one bit as long she can get back a regular rhythm for her heart and did she just feel a little stutter in her heartbeat?
Way to go in making her flustered, emotions.
‘Be still; my beating heart’ is really cliché and almost out of context (except it really fits her current situation even though those words hold double meanings) as her mind sarcastically waves the five words to her own heart, Ariel wisely swallow all her emotions as she bows slightly in greeting at the cause of her internal dilemma.
“Morning, Joe! Morning, Gene! Day shifts today?” Even her voice is at least one pitch higher than usual.
Fortunately, Joe doesn’t notice the difference. The man of Iris’ dreams merely smiles back and nod. “Yup. Somebody had to make sure Iris’ has a daily dose of caffeine.”
“H.A. Hilarious.” Iris, on the other hand, snorts unladylike and does an eye-roll. “As if. You’re always on night shifts whenever I drop by. If I hadn’t asked Gene about your schedule, I would have believe that Kin is all about putting both you and Matthew in night shifts forever.”
“That is partially true.” Gene, or rather Eugene, agrees. “Though Matthew is now stuck in night shifts, Kin has decided to have Joe on day shifts when this guy doesn’t have morning classes.”
Ariel sweat-drops a little as they talk so casually about Kin, the boss of the café. But even Ariel has to agree with Gene; since both Matthew and Joe go to the same college and have classes, both of them work majority night shifts. The difference is that Matthew does day shifts on weekends; while Joe hasn’t – until now.
Also, she would never admit it, but she still thinks that Gene’s smile is the brightest.
… Stupid feelings making her all weird around people.
“I’ll have a Toffee Nut Latte today.”
“Regular, hot?” Gene grabs said size of the take-away cup, only twisting off the cap of his sharpie to scribble her order onto the cup after Ariel nods.
“And your brunch?” This time, Joe is the one who draws her attention, gesturing to the ‘Daily Delicious Time’ Menu Board where two choices for brunch is available: A Double-Smoked Bacon with Cheddar Cheese in Croissant bun, with a Toffeedoodle cookie on the side ; or a Chicken & Salad Tortilla wrap with a slice of Cinnamon Swirl Coffee Cake.
Hmm; Decisions, decisions.
“…I’ll go with the first one.” She finally makes up her mind after a long mental war. Simultaneously, smiles break out on both Joe and Gene’s face.
“Knew it.”
“? Knew what?” She quizzically asks back. The rattling caused by a hand hitting a table coming from Iris speaks volume; but unfortunately that doesn’t prepare Ariel for a proper reply.
“Hey! I thought you would order the tortilla wraps?? Aren’t those your favorite?!” Ariel merely blinks at the older supervisor’s accusation.
“That’s ‘cause I had them last week…? Besides, I want to have the cookie this round.”
Joe mysteriously clears his throat. “To think that both you and him share the same taste… Huh?”
Unfortunately, Ariel fails to comprehend his meaning, only her alarm bells ringing loudly in her mind as an indication to the direction of the conversation.
Right. Payment. She quickly fishes out cash from her purse, handing them over to Joe before she forgets again.
“So anyway!” Iris interrupts, keen eyes training themselves at Ariel as the latter gingerly takes a seat opposite of the former girl. “What were you up to before I called you?”
Ariel then starts rustles through her sling bag. “I bumped into Dr. Shah just now.” She successfully retrieves the envelope and extracts three particular cards. “Since you’re here, I may as well pass these to you first.”
Iris hums, eyes flitting across the names on the cards. “For me and my boys, eh? That’s so sweet of you~ You’ve made your appointment already?”
Ariel nods. “Yup! I’m going to see him at 4 today. Why you’d ask?”
She catches sight of Iris’ pout, innocently tilts her head to the side. “Is something the matter?”
“You really do settle things as soon as possible.” Iris huffs. “And here I was thinking you could come hang out with the three of us later tonight.”
“The three of who?” Ariel feels like she’s regretting this conversation.
“Me, Joe, and Gene, of course.”
Yup. Totally regretting asking that question while she’s at it. Iris must have sense her feelings, because she leans forward and pops Ariel’s most dreaded question.
“When are you planning to confess to him?”
Ariel chews harshly down onto her bottom lip, determinedly looking anywhere but at Iris. “I—“
“Here’s your order!” Ariel jolts, looking every part of a flustered high school girl when Gene appears out of nowhere, setting down her meal before her before nonchalantly waltzing away. Iris merely turns her face to the side, her body quaking from suppressed laughter while Ariel slumps bonelessly into her seat.
“… I really hate you, sis.”
“No, you don’t.” Iris chortles out, wiping away a stray tear that escaped down her cheek. “You love me too much to hate lil ol’ me.”
“More like I’m too kind to hate a person.”
Iris smirks. “Aw~ Then how do you feel about loving someone?”
A scowl drives a point home on Ariel’s face. “You speak that confidently about my case, but in actuality you have yet to tell your ‘Morning Sunshine’ about your feelings either, right?”
She knows she hits the mark when Iris falls silent, the other supervisor idly fiddling with the straw of her Iced Hazelnut Americano.
“I asked him whether he’s interested in anyone lately, but all I got out of him is ‘I’m not looking for a relationship at the moment’.”
Ariel can only console the other with a firm pat on the back of Iris’ hand. “I guess only time will tell? You two have quite a chemistry going on…”
Iris lets out an exaggerated sigh just as a flock of gaggling high school girls walk into the café, the two baristas immediately at their stations while the two supervisors inwardly cringe in preparation for the rowdy bunch.
“But looking at the rate of things moving, it seems possible to end up being stagnant…”
“If that’s the case, how ‘bout him?” Ariel signals with her eyes at Gene, somewhat confident that the barista wouldn’t notice since he’s entertaining the girls with their orders. “You and ‘Prince Charming’ go along well too, right? Why not go after him?”
“… I never knew that the day would come when you would refer to him as ‘Prince Charming’…”
“S-Shut up!” Ariel scowls, a hint of pink on her cheeks, as she not so gently kicks Iris’ leg under the table. Iris covers her wince with a grin, only for a moment until it fades into a frown.
“But in all seriousness, are you in your right mind? Asking me to go after a guy that you like…”
Ariel fidgets, a distressed expression covering her as she does her best to find the right words. “I don’t really like him that much. You know: it’s just a crush. I’m not like you, who’ll miss ‘Morning Sunshine’ if you don’t see him.”
“So you assume that by pushing him to me, you’ll be doing me a favor?” Iris points her straw at Ariel. “We’re just friends. Whereas in ‘Morning Sunshine’s case, I really, really, really like him.”
Iris straightens, leans back into her chair as she all but abandons her drinks in favor of conversation. “Or is there something holding you back…?”
Ariel makes a wistful smile and nonchalantly shrugs. “Maybe I’m just liking him because he’s nice. That’s it.”
A pause.
“Sorry, I think I misheard you a bit— What do you mean by ‘That’s it’?!”
In Ariel’s defense, she quickly lifts two hands up in mock surrender. “I’m serious! This is really normal for me. My past crushes have all been the same: I like him only for a brief period of time, and I won’t get upset or depressed if I don’t get to see him.”
Ariel lets out a sigh, picking up her croissant bun of delicious and takes a big bite. It sounds unbelievable, but that’s how it is. Judging from Iris shaking her head slowly as though to process the new information, Ariel knows.
“Unbelievable. This sounds like you’re waiting for your soul mate.”
Ariel chokes on her food.
“What?”
Iris nods, and Ariel finds it amazing that the other is serious.
“Come on, think about it: Perhaps all of your past crushes hold some sort of similar traits as the person you’re searching for, which is why you don’t feel any lingering attachment to them so far. But,” Iris’ eyes gleamed. “Once you meet your destined soul mate, you will feel as though your life is complete.”
…That’s kind of pushing it, right?
“You’re thinking that I’m ‘pushing things too far’, right?” Iris pouts, noting Ariel’s bewildered face. “Your expression speaks volume, and you’re a terrible liar. Of course I can guess your thoughts.”
Too bad Ariel is born with such ‘open book’ expression, huh?
“…Shush! J-Just finish your drink!”
“Pfft! You’re stuttering and blushing just from that?”
Ariel responds with a big chomp out of the croissant bun.
~*~
Previous
Next
MasterPost
Author: Ariel Chew
Genre: Sci-Fi, Humor, Friendship, Family
Summary: A SB#187 team aged-up to be in a Kaiju battle. Ariel’s merely a 21-year-old supervisor of Gamma Rapper, but with all the training of the Academy she has, will it prepare her for the biggest turns of events of the century?
~*~ “<[Hey Ariel!]>” Ariel flinches a bit from the high volume, holding the phone away from her ear in favor of lowering the sound before continuing the call.
“Yeah, [Hello] back to you too. You do remember my Korean is as limited as my Japanese, which is almost equivalent to nil? Anyhow, where are you? I don’t see you anywhere in the Shatterdome.”
She can already sense that the other supervisor is vibrating with unknown glee.
“<I’m in BeanHoppin’. You’re free to drop by now, yeah?>”
Ariel tuts a disapproval tone. “Seriously, Iris? You’re taking an early break today?”
“<He~llo?? It’s 11:37 AM now. And they’re serving brunch. So: Are you coming or nay?>”
“… Give me 5 minutes.”
She arrives in exactly 5 minutes and 15 seconds, her little sling bag swinging violently from her enthusiastic vigor in arriving as soon as possible. The mechanical chime of the installed doorbell echoes in sync with her entrance, prompting the present customers and baristas alike to glance over.
When she said customers, she really meant only Iris.
Who is apparently waving a little too excitedly for Ariel’s comfort.
“Over here! You made it!” Ariel wordlessly closes the distance between the table Iris’ at and herself, noting the two baristas who are on duty at the moment.
… Either the world thinks it’s funny to have him on duty just as she’s here, or clearly Iris planned this beforehand.
Not that Ariel mind. Nope, not one bit as long she can get back a regular rhythm for her heart and did she just feel a little stutter in her heartbeat?
Way to go in making her flustered, emotions.
‘Be still; my beating heart’ is really cliché and almost out of context (except it really fits her current situation even though those words hold double meanings) as her mind sarcastically waves the five words to her own heart, Ariel wisely swallow all her emotions as she bows slightly in greeting at the cause of her internal dilemma.
“Morning, Joe! Morning, Gene! Day shifts today?” Even her voice is at least one pitch higher than usual.
Fortunately, Joe doesn’t notice the difference. The man of Iris’ dreams merely smiles back and nod. “Yup. Somebody had to make sure Iris’ has a daily dose of caffeine.”
“H.A. Hilarious.” Iris, on the other hand, snorts unladylike and does an eye-roll. “As if. You’re always on night shifts whenever I drop by. If I hadn’t asked Gene about your schedule, I would have believe that Kin is all about putting both you and Matthew in night shifts forever.”
“That is partially true.” Gene, or rather Eugene, agrees. “Though Matthew is now stuck in night shifts, Kin has decided to have Joe on day shifts when this guy doesn’t have morning classes.”
Ariel sweat-drops a little as they talk so casually about Kin, the boss of the café. But even Ariel has to agree with Gene; since both Matthew and Joe go to the same college and have classes, both of them work majority night shifts. The difference is that Matthew does day shifts on weekends; while Joe hasn’t – until now.
Also, she would never admit it, but she still thinks that Gene’s smile is the brightest.
… Stupid feelings making her all weird around people.
“I’ll have a Toffee Nut Latte today.”
“Regular, hot?” Gene grabs said size of the take-away cup, only twisting off the cap of his sharpie to scribble her order onto the cup after Ariel nods.
“And your brunch?” This time, Joe is the one who draws her attention, gesturing to the ‘Daily Delicious Time’ Menu Board where two choices for brunch is available: A Double-Smoked Bacon with Cheddar Cheese in Croissant bun, with a Toffeedoodle cookie on the side ; or a Chicken & Salad Tortilla wrap with a slice of Cinnamon Swirl Coffee Cake.
Hmm; Decisions, decisions.
“…I’ll go with the first one.” She finally makes up her mind after a long mental war. Simultaneously, smiles break out on both Joe and Gene’s face.
“Knew it.”
“? Knew what?” She quizzically asks back. The rattling caused by a hand hitting a table coming from Iris speaks volume; but unfortunately that doesn’t prepare Ariel for a proper reply.
“Hey! I thought you would order the tortilla wraps?? Aren’t those your favorite?!” Ariel merely blinks at the older supervisor’s accusation.
“That’s ‘cause I had them last week…? Besides, I want to have the cookie this round.”
Joe mysteriously clears his throat. “To think that both you and him share the same taste… Huh?”
Unfortunately, Ariel fails to comprehend his meaning, only her alarm bells ringing loudly in her mind as an indication to the direction of the conversation.
Right. Payment. She quickly fishes out cash from her purse, handing them over to Joe before she forgets again.
“So anyway!” Iris interrupts, keen eyes training themselves at Ariel as the latter gingerly takes a seat opposite of the former girl. “What were you up to before I called you?”
Ariel then starts rustles through her sling bag. “I bumped into Dr. Shah just now.” She successfully retrieves the envelope and extracts three particular cards. “Since you’re here, I may as well pass these to you first.”
Iris hums, eyes flitting across the names on the cards. “For me and my boys, eh? That’s so sweet of you~ You’ve made your appointment already?”
Ariel nods. “Yup! I’m going to see him at 4 today. Why you’d ask?”
She catches sight of Iris’ pout, innocently tilts her head to the side. “Is something the matter?”
“You really do settle things as soon as possible.” Iris huffs. “And here I was thinking you could come hang out with the three of us later tonight.”
“The three of who?” Ariel feels like she’s regretting this conversation.
“Me, Joe, and Gene, of course.”
Yup. Totally regretting asking that question while she’s at it. Iris must have sense her feelings, because she leans forward and pops Ariel’s most dreaded question.
“When are you planning to confess to him?”
Ariel chews harshly down onto her bottom lip, determinedly looking anywhere but at Iris. “I—“
“Here’s your order!” Ariel jolts, looking every part of a flustered high school girl when Gene appears out of nowhere, setting down her meal before her before nonchalantly waltzing away. Iris merely turns her face to the side, her body quaking from suppressed laughter while Ariel slumps bonelessly into her seat.
“… I really hate you, sis.”
“No, you don’t.” Iris chortles out, wiping away a stray tear that escaped down her cheek. “You love me too much to hate lil ol’ me.”
“More like I’m too kind to hate a person.”
Iris smirks. “Aw~ Then how do you feel about loving someone?”
A scowl drives a point home on Ariel’s face. “You speak that confidently about my case, but in actuality you have yet to tell your ‘Morning Sunshine’ about your feelings either, right?”
She knows she hits the mark when Iris falls silent, the other supervisor idly fiddling with the straw of her Iced Hazelnut Americano.
“I asked him whether he’s interested in anyone lately, but all I got out of him is ‘I’m not looking for a relationship at the moment’.”
Ariel can only console the other with a firm pat on the back of Iris’ hand. “I guess only time will tell? You two have quite a chemistry going on…”
Iris lets out an exaggerated sigh just as a flock of gaggling high school girls walk into the café, the two baristas immediately at their stations while the two supervisors inwardly cringe in preparation for the rowdy bunch.
“But looking at the rate of things moving, it seems possible to end up being stagnant…”
“If that’s the case, how ‘bout him?” Ariel signals with her eyes at Gene, somewhat confident that the barista wouldn’t notice since he’s entertaining the girls with their orders. “You and ‘Prince Charming’ go along well too, right? Why not go after him?”
“… I never knew that the day would come when you would refer to him as ‘Prince Charming’…”
“S-Shut up!” Ariel scowls, a hint of pink on her cheeks, as she not so gently kicks Iris’ leg under the table. Iris covers her wince with a grin, only for a moment until it fades into a frown.
“But in all seriousness, are you in your right mind? Asking me to go after a guy that you like…”
Ariel fidgets, a distressed expression covering her as she does her best to find the right words. “I don’t really like him that much. You know: it’s just a crush. I’m not like you, who’ll miss ‘Morning Sunshine’ if you don’t see him.”
“So you assume that by pushing him to me, you’ll be doing me a favor?” Iris points her straw at Ariel. “We’re just friends. Whereas in ‘Morning Sunshine’s case, I really, really, really like him.”
Iris straightens, leans back into her chair as she all but abandons her drinks in favor of conversation. “Or is there something holding you back…?”
Ariel makes a wistful smile and nonchalantly shrugs. “Maybe I’m just liking him because he’s nice. That’s it.”
A pause.
“Sorry, I think I misheard you a bit— What do you mean by ‘That’s it’?!”
In Ariel’s defense, she quickly lifts two hands up in mock surrender. “I’m serious! This is really normal for me. My past crushes have all been the same: I like him only for a brief period of time, and I won’t get upset or depressed if I don’t get to see him.”
Ariel lets out a sigh, picking up her croissant bun of delicious and takes a big bite. It sounds unbelievable, but that’s how it is. Judging from Iris shaking her head slowly as though to process the new information, Ariel knows.
“Unbelievable. This sounds like you’re waiting for your soul mate.”
Ariel chokes on her food.
“What?”
Iris nods, and Ariel finds it amazing that the other is serious.
“Come on, think about it: Perhaps all of your past crushes hold some sort of similar traits as the person you’re searching for, which is why you don’t feel any lingering attachment to them so far. But,” Iris’ eyes gleamed. “Once you meet your destined soul mate, you will feel as though your life is complete.”
…That’s kind of pushing it, right?
“You’re thinking that I’m ‘pushing things too far’, right?” Iris pouts, noting Ariel’s bewildered face. “Your expression speaks volume, and you’re a terrible liar. Of course I can guess your thoughts.”
Too bad Ariel is born with such ‘open book’ expression, huh?
“…Shush! J-Just finish your drink!”
“Pfft! You’re stuttering and blushing just from that?”
Ariel responds with a big chomp out of the croissant bun.
~*~
Previous
Next
MasterPost
Comments
Post a Comment