People Watching [Open]

Erika skipped into the coffee shop, cheerful smile fixed firmly in place. She was at her limit, on the brink of exhaustion and despair alike; but, you would never guess it by her demeanor. No, she looked quite untroubled, joyful even. Her concerns were her own; and, she didn't want to trouble anyone else with them. But she was concerned.

Her dad had another relapse. He'd been drinking again and Erik had to work doubly hard to get him to show up to his various part time jobs. And on top of that she kept being plagued by premonitions of a girl. Horrible, horrible visions. She'd been gazing into her crystal ball for hours, trying to discern the location and just when this disaster might occur but to little success. She thought the girl might be in Europe but she couldn't determine even that much.

Erika ordered a cup of coffee and then sidled up to a girl who looked to be about her own age who was also drinking alone. Erika needed the caffeine to stay conscious at this point, after so much divining, and she wanted company too. She wanted at least a short reprieve from the depressing thoughts that haunted her. She gave the girl her warmest smile. "Hi! My name's Erika! It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance," she said brightly, extending a hand. "Would you mind if I joined you?"

Erika beamed. She liked this girl already. She had actually bothered to stand up and shake her hand. Few did. When she introduced herself to complete strangers like this some people seemed to take it as a personal offense. They would glare at her angrily as though she had intruded upon their most private thoughts. Erika had a way of easing over these tensely awkward situations; but, it was nice to see that those social skills wouldn't be necessary today.

"Sierra's a pretty name," she said sincerely. She sat down and relaxed a bit. "Thank you so much for letting me sit with you!" she chirped. It felt so amazing to actually sit down. Yes, Erika could technically sit when she gazed into her crystal ball; but, she felt her focus was a lot better if she stood. Hadn't there been some study about how your brain processed thoughts faster when you stood or something? Well whatever. She needed all the help she could get at the moment. She had to find that girl before THAT happened.

"Well you were by yourself and I wanted company," she said in a bubbly tone. She paused to take a sip of her coffee. "I wouldn't want to intrude on people who already had plans," she elaborated. Still, it was probably more than that. Sierra wasn't the only person sitting by herself. "I suppose I liked the way you were staring out the window," she said after a moment of contemplation.

"I like staring out the window too!" she said eagerly. "Especially if it's raining! You can trace the paths of the water droplets! And watching the way the droplets shoot down...I always thought they looked like mermaids racing after something or at least mermaid tails!"

Yes, even before Erika had realized she was a blue mage she had always had a great fondness for water and consequently mermaids. She loved the rain. It had always made her feel safe and protected no matter how hard the downpour. It was like she was being embraced.

Erika's eyes grew wide with delight. "Oh yes! Mermaids!" she breathed. "I always loved the water, loved swimming so I suppose an obsession with mermaids came naturally," she added with a chuckle. "I'd have my parents tell me all the mermaid mythology they knew again and again!" she said excitedly. "Actually, I was pretty lucky. Mom was originally from Japan so her and dad had different stories to tell me!"

In hindsight, her mother had been reluctant to share her stories about mermaids. It hadn't struck Erika as odd when she was a child, only when she grew older. Her mother would always try to deter Erika from listening to them. Are you sure you don't want to hear the story about the dragon or the pegasus? She wasn't reluctant to share her wealth of knowledge on other supernatural creatures. Just mermaids. Erika had bounced up and down, grabbed her mother's skirt, and pleaded before she would typically relent. Now she knew why. But now it was too late to talk to her mother about it.

"Really?! You never thought of mermaids when you were swimming?" she asked, somewhat surprised. They had often dominated her own thoughts. "I just always thought it would be so nice to be a mermaid. They didn't need to breath air. They could surface if they so desired; but, they didn't need to. It was their prerogative. They could play under water to their hearts content," she said with fervent longing.

Being in the water, no mater what kind...It had always felt so natural and safe. Whenever she was upset if she had a spare moment she'd go swimming. Without fail it always made her feel at least a trifle better. She always wished she could stay below the surface longer. As a child she had gotten pretty good at holding her breath. She could stay under water for perhaps two and a half minutes before she needed to take a breath. After awakening as a blue mage she could do better still; but, she still needed to breath. There always would be a time limit.

She chuckled. "I suppose so but it didn't really seem special to me. Whatever your household is like...That's normal to you. But um...That reminds me...Would it be alright if I called you Sierra-chan?"

Thanks to her mother's influence her and Jun-kun had grown up speaking both Japanese and English.  Even in the English tongue, Erika preferred to hold onto the honorific titles.  They just seemed so charming to her.  It was an obvious way to express closeness. In English you just called someone by their name. Maybe friend would bestow an endearing nickname but maybe not.  In Japan if you wanted to be formal you used san.  If you wanted to be particularly formal it would be their last name followed by a san.  But if you wanted to show closeness and familiarity you'd use chan or kun depending upon the gender.  And if you were really, really close you'd drop the honorifics all together.  She probably should have asked Sierra if it was alright to call her Sierra-san but it was her hope the two could become friends, not just acquaintances. Chan embodied that hope.

Erika giggled. "It's not really about my culture. I just like them," she said pleasantly. "My younger brother, Jun-kun thinks my use of honorifics in English is weird and embarrassing." Her smile brightened. "I'm only allowed to call him Jun-kun in private." She put her finger to her lips. "So let's keep this our little secret, Sierra-chan!" she whispered.

Erika clapped her hands in delight. "Ooh! I love dolphins! I would always beg my parents to take me to the aquarium so I could see them play!"