2166 (Private with yoshios)

[JustYui]

"Awful weather isn't it?" some may have commented. Anyone who would make such a remark was either extremely old or had been cryogenically frozen for the last few decades. Walls of water viciously slammed down into the world below, threatening to flood what little dry land could be found on Earth as seen in the late 22nd century. However, Humans, ever the sort to adapt to their surroundings, had a solution to their perpetual rainstorm so that homes and businesses alike wouldn't flood just because they'd opted to start building on land again as soon as possible.

The buildings of Neo City sat upon elevated platforms, keeping them above the rising and falling tides, and vehicles were built to travel on the road or float on water. Getting up to the platforms was as easy as climbing the ladder-like walls they were built on and tying your vehicle to it. The forecast for today stated the water wouldn't go any deeper than two feet, fairly dry for Neo City, but to hunker down and prepare for probable hurricanes within the next couple of days. It was fairly windy today, enough to blow the rain at an angle, create large clouds of spray, and make umbrella use a major hassle.

And yet, against the walls of rainfall and galeforce winds, a cozy building sat along one of the canal-streets of the city. The neon lights hanging by the door indicated the place was called the Mugshot Cafe, though some might have questioned the owner's naming sense. Inside, many Human and Ah'A customers had gathered, taking brief shelter from the relentless weather and enjoying hot drinks and cheap food. Suddenly, the door swung open, and in stepped a bright yellow figure that firmly shut the door behind it. The hood of the figure's raincoat came down to reveal a young Ah'A woman, who pulled her hair out from under the raincoat and made her way to the counter, where she sat herself down to the left of an unassuming man.

The mystery woman had black hair that reached just below her shoulders, and bright amber eyes. From the top of her head, a pair of cat-like ears that gave her away as a member of the Ah'A race stuck up, matching her hair and standing out against her attire. Over her upper body, a yellow raincoat that reached down to her waist had been completely soaked, with a pair of rubber gloves of the same color worn over her hands. Her legs were adorned with yellow rain pants, underneath which were tucked a pair of black rubber boots. The entire ensemble was thoroughly, completely, and 100% soaked with rainwater, and smelled strongly of the ocean. The Ah'A girl looked at the man behind the counter and placed an order. Regulars to the Mugshot would probably be used to this; she showed up every day, at about the same time, after she got off work.

"Black coffee and a slice of lemon pie, chief." Nodding to her right, the Ah'A added "And whatever drink this guy..." The girl stopped briefly at the sight of the man sitting next to her, before presenting him with a question. "Haven't I seen you before?"

[yoshiyos]

He had been born in the wrong century. This mid-20s human man hated the rain, everything about it. The hassle it caused, the messes it made, the cold wet feeling it left on his skin, and of course the projects it held up. On a napkin he was running figures in his head, each number had to be completely correct otherwise they would find somebody else to do his job. His left hand in his auburn hair and right hand rapidly scribbling on the piece of paper, the world around him seemed to vanish.

Earlier that day he had made his way to a building site the company he worked for was financing. Between the rain, scarce materials and lack of blue collar workers, this project was being held up for the fifth time. Naturally it wasn't his fault, but that didn't stop him from getting blamed that they seemed to be wasting there money on this project. Naturally the additional money to continue paying the five Ah'A workers and four human workers along with keeping the site safe had to come from somewhere, and that was his job.

When he stopped into the Mugshot Cafe, he wasn't even sure where he was. He had never stopped there before but home just seemed too far away and the numbers were in his head now. So when the girl sat next to him his hazel brown eyes did not even raise from his napkin. It wasn't until she spoke that he looked up at her. His eyes trembled from the stress and the front of his hair was all spiked to the right from his hand being there.

"Sorry, what did you say?" He asked as his right hand kept scribbling away.

[JustYui]

"I asked if I've seen you before," the Ah'A repeated as a small plate with a slice of lemon pie was set down on the counter in front of her, alongside a mug of black coffee. "It's on the tip of my tongue, too." Something about the man definitely seemed familiar. Like somebody she'd gotten a good glance at in passing, but didn't stop to chat with. That being said, plenty of people fit that definition. Passers-by who watched the construction sites as they drove by, third-party workers who had other reasons for visiting the site, and regulars at the Mugshot. Now, this woman was no face expert, but she hadn't seen this guy at the Mugshot before that she could recall.

"Oh, and get a drink you like on me," she promptly added. Coffee was cheap here, so it wasn't like she minded buying somebody adjacent to her something to drink whenever she made her daily visits to the Mugshot. The girl removed her wet rubber gloves and began unbuttoning her raincoat before pulling it off and slipping it under her rear, revealing that the rain pants on her legs reached up and over her shoulders as overalls. It also revealed that her frame was thin, but that the muscles on her body were well-toned. She was clearly someone who got a lot of exercise. The upper half of her rain pants was quite dry, and the Ah'A woman reached for the fork on her plate and took out a small bite of the pie before her. The pie wasn't that great, but was still decent enough to give a contented look on her face.

[yoshiyos]

The man let a bit of a smile creep through when she offered him a drink. "Herbal tea please, nothing else added." After he ordered he examined the girl a bit. Her body was well built and she seemed like more than capable of taking care of herself. In fact she looked like she could lift up half a building if she really wanted to. That is when the data came together, sliding into place just like they should.

"Comstruction site probably. You look well suited for blue collar work," he responded and tried to figure out if he recognized the outfit she had been wearing. He hadn't been paying that close attention to any of the workers but the yellow seemed vaguely familiar.

Most of his features were drowned out by his long navy blue trench coat that was still dripping a bit on the floor. Still it was obvious the trench coat was huge on him but hid the fact that he had an extremely slender frame.

[JustYui]

An expression of realization flashed across the Ah'A woman's eyes when the Human beside her suggested that she'd seen him at the construction site. Suddenly it all made sense and clicked together. The blue trenchcoat, the facial shape, hair color, all of it. She realized there that she had seen this man before like she asked, and it was at the construction site, just as he'd suggested. And it had all happened just earlier today, too! She wasn't quite sure what he was there for though; hard to tell over the rain pouring down onto her raincoat, plus the tools and other workers at the construction site.

The Ah'A woman set down her fork and said "Right, I saw you at the site today. Well, my folks always said that a stranger you meet twice in a day has a purpose, so I should get to know more about you." Extending a hand toward the Human next to her, the Ah'A said "The name's Esiti. Esiti Theak. And you would be?" Shortly after Esiti's introduction, a cup of herbal tea had been set down in front of the human at the counter.

[yoshiyos]

He chuckled at the face of realization she made, it matched the somewhat naive comment she made next. Taking a quick sip of his tea he then looked back at her. It was against his better judgement to give his name to a complete stranger, especially since he typically did not fair well in social atmospheres. Despite that he reached out his hand for a handshake.

"Names Stephan, Stephan Verdini." He had never been the biggest fan of his name, it was one grabbed from way up in his family tree but he lived with it. Her name was odd though, like most of the Ah'A's he supposed. Even after ages of living with them humans had never really adjusted to the names they kept

[JustYui]

Stephan Verdini. Esiti made a mental note of that name. A very Human name, wasn't it? They tended to reflect the languages of their race quite well; not quite something Etisi could vouch for in the case of the Ah'A. Being born and raised on Earth, English was her first language, instead of her race's native Ah'He tongue. Admittedly, English was a simpler language. For a brief moment, Etisi returned to her pie and coffee, trying to think of some sort of icebreaker. She had already brought up the thing about meeting a stranger twice in a day. As she downed a couple more bites of pie, she thought about that one until something obvious hit her.

She'd seen Stephan at the construction site.

"So, what brought you to the construction site?" she asked. "You don't look like you're in the market for a new job."

[yoshiyos]

When no handshake was immediately returned he frowned, feeling a bit awkward, and returned to his tea. As he took a sip he could feel the warmth flow down his throat. The tea was surprisingly very good. He had never been here before but it might be worth a return trip someday...maybe. Usually he wasn't even out of work by this time of the day, but the boss closed down early since he has some kind of hot date. Frankly Stephan didn't care that much, numbers are universal and can be used anywhere, like on a napkin at a bar.

When the conversation did start up again, it was about him. It truly was his least favorite subject but he figured he could entertain this girl long enough and then likely never see her again. "I was there to figure out the numbers," he said very monotone. "My boss is financing the job you guys are working on but it is taking longer than expected. I was tasked with figuring out why, and how to stretch the money." When the last of it came out, he wasn't sure why he had divulged that much information. All though the first statement would not have explained much, may have even confused the girl, it still would have sufficed.

[JustYui]

Numbers, was it? Math never had been Etisi's strong suit, but clearly Stephan was somebody who knew his stuff in that regard. He wouldn't get paid to work with numbers if he wasn't good with them, after all. Etisi on the other hand, she was good with more physical work, and didn't mind working in a very wet environment. Construction was perfect for her, and it kept her lights on and her belly full.

"It's probably recent hurricanes," Etisi commented, before taking down another bite of the pie before her. "We can build in the rain no problem, but in a hurricane? Nope. About a month ago some dumbass tried it anyway; got a cinder block to the face." It was the right season for those to roll through more frequently than usual. Needless to say, the severe winds made construction more than a bit of a hassle. Kind of hard to build when you can't even stand upright, after all.

[yoshiyos]

"Yeah well those hurricanes are hurting business, and if this building doesn't get done soon the project, along with several others will have to be scrapped." He said before drinking the last of his tea. She was a nice girl, as far as Ah'A go but he had numbers to run and wasn't getting it done here talking to her. After all if she wanted to keep her job then this project needed to be funded.

With a frown he put money down on the counter, he refused to let this girl pay for him, and stood up. Home was calling, and the rain was light, or at least light comparatively. Looking over to her he said "Well it was a pleasure meeting you Etisi, but I must be going." Pulling the trench coat hood over his head he walked toward the door ready to head out into the storm. He really hated rain.