[ti]Invite[/ti]Is it by mistake or design?

Was it by mistake or design that she happened to go into the club and walked out at the exact moment the boy was walking past? Choices and decisions had lead her here, or was it always where she was meant to be and she simply followed an invisible hand guiding her? Her mouth dried and for a moment, her mind went blank, a clean slate. His words whispered into her thoughts, waking her and pulling her back into her body.

"Oh," her eyes widened and she looked up at the sign he was looking at and then looked back at him. Immediately, her headd shook. "No. No, it's not what it looks like," she began, but then realization hit her in the face. "I mean. Yes, it's probably what it looks like."

Terra hung her head, her shoulders slumping. Shame flushed in her face. She needed money and everyone else had turned her down. This was her last stop and the manager had agreed to take her on, on certain conditions of course. But she didn't want to think about those conditions. Not right now when the boy she had met a week ago was right there in front of her once more.

With her head still low, she looked up at him with only her eyes, "This is so weird, right? Bumping into you here. Are you going inside?" The note was still in her hand when she pointed at the door with her thumb.

WC: 252
TAG: Sloan Ios

The boy's smile was contagious and she couldn't help it, but a goofy grin spread across her face. She looked back at the club with its tinted windows so you couldn't see inside. But since she'd already been inside, she knew exactly what it looked like. It was actually classier than another strip club she'd been to. The Gentlemen's Club catered to more wealthy men who usually wore suits. That also meant that people who worked there got paid more and they received better tips.

She pushed a loose strand of hair behind her ears and laughed, "I saw a couple of guys there. Some men like that sort of thing I guess?" Terra bit her bottom lip before continuing, "Do you, um, like that kind of thing?"

She wasn't sure why she asked. Actually, yes. She knew exactly why she asked. Because since running into him, she had this odd sensation in the pit of her abdomen. People say it's in your stomach, the scientist showed her where parts of her body was using a diagram. Your stomach is actually a bit higher up, right near your ribs. So she knew that the tingly feeling was coming from her abdomen, right where her uterus would be. He'd taught her that word, too.

Her face flushed when he joked about going inside. There was a momentary panic, like somehow him going inside meant the end of it all. But she quickly realized he was joking and she felt foolish for not catching on fast enough. He did make her laugh though. "Oh. Well. I was going to get lunch, there's this little restaurant across the thrift store that serves the best shrimp sandwich. If you, well, if you wanted to join me? If you were hungry of course, if you're not that's okay. Or maybe you're busy. That's okay too."

WC: 311
TAG: Sloan Ios

The boy's laughter surprised her. His response made her smile even more though. She would be lying to herself if she said she didn't feel something towards him. It was, at the very least, a small crush. She'd only had one crush before and he was in her elementary class before the war. She never did find out what happened to him because he stopped coming to school long before she did. His parents thought it was too dangerous, or that was the rumor that went around. But then again, everyone's parents thought it was too dangerous during those times before the war. The boy she'd had a crush on probably didn't know Terra existed.

"That's great!" she perked up, but then bit her lip, "I mean, well not the money part I guess. But like you don't like that kind of thing." Terra sighed and blew air towards the side of her face, making her hair fly up for a moment. Why couldn't she just talk like normal people? He probably thought she was a weirdo now.

When the boy agreed to go to lunch with her, she beamed and didn't bother to hide it. She squeezed the straps of her messenger bag and guitar close to her shoulders and then stuck the note into her jean pocket. Terra pressed her lips together and turned down the street, just in case she felt the need to say something else even more idiotic. She thought for a moment, listing some safe subjects they could talk about. The weather. Food. Work. Okay, maybe not work. As they walked, she realized something and Terra turned to him.

"I'm Terra, by the way," she said, stopping in the middle of the street to shake his hand but then thought better about it and continued on, making the entire movement awkward as people ran into her when she stopped. She pulled her hand towards her chest and made a little wave that looked out of place.

Smooth, Terra, so smooth, she thought to herself.

WC: 341
TAG: Sloan Ios

"Really?" she asked. She wasn't sure if that was true. She certainly wouldn't do just anything for a meal and a compliment. There were things she considered, but maybe she just hadn't been that desperate yet. Things always turned up for her. When she was short on cash, she somehow got more. When she needed food, somehow it was always provided. Either by a stranger or someone giving her money for playing her guitar. That was one of the nice things about being able to play the guitar and sing, she could always get money when she was hungry and needed it. It wasn't always a lot of money, but usually enough to buy a meal.

He waved at her in the same way that she'd waved at him, it embarrassed her even if he didn't think anything of it. "Sloan, I like that name. It's different. It reminds me a ship. Not a big one, but like a small sailboat that just sits at ease in the ocean," Terra thought about it for a moment, picturing a small boat out in the water with calm waves and a beautiful sun. "I've never actually been on a boat before, but I feel like a Sloan boat would be a nice one to be on."

They approached the Shrimp Shack, which wasn't too packed just yet. It wasn't quite lunch for the rest of the workers, so they made it to the restaurant at a good time. She chose a table outside the restaurant just under the awning. She thought about what he'd said earlier and plucked up the courage to ask him what she'd wanted to ask him. It was a question that someone would ask if they were flirting with someone, and since she'd never really flirted with anyone before, she could at least try it.

"So if I buy your lunch and tell you that you're cute, what would you do for me?" Terra asked him and suddenly blushed, her heart and thoughts going a million miles an hour.

WC: 342
TAG: Sloan Ios

“You are really- Why- Are you a fisherman?” She asked one question after another so that he didn’t have time to answer one exact question. That’s usually what people did when they were on boats here. Perhaps that was his job. Or something that had to do with fishing. She smiled at his statement about her name and nodded, “my mom thought if she named me after the earth, I’d be more grounded. She always said that dreamers dreamt, but realists got things done.” She then shrugged, it was poetic. Not just in terms of her not going to sea, but also in the terms that her mother wasn’t exactly right about her. She wasn’t a realist, she wasn’t grounded. She sort of just floated above ground, not really flying up high to the sky or touching the dirt below. “I guess I’m just afraid to be swept away.”

Blood rushed to her cheeks at his response, was he flirting back? She couldn't’ really tell because she had no idea what flirting looked or sounded like- not when it was being done to her. Maybe he was. He didn’t ignore her question or deflect it. That was something. Before she could say anything the waiter came and Terra ordered the shrimp sandwich that she’d been craving since last night. When the waiter left, she looked back at him and considered his question. She didn’t really know what to ask him, what she’d want him to do.

What does my heart desire? What does my heart desire from him? She had to ask herself. But the feeling that came to mind couldn’t be put into words. There were hopes. There were dreams. There were wishes. There was just a feeling. Maybe it didn’t need to be him. Maybe it just needed to be someone. Anyone. But she wanted it to be him. In the end, Terra shrugged. “What would you ask for?” she asked.


WC: 337
TAG: Sloan Ios

Terra looked down at the open sandwich that now laid in front of her. It smelled delicious and looked so crunchy and tender at the same time. Her stomach grumbled, reminding her that she had missed breakfast. But first she squeezed some sauce onto the sandwich, she took her time doing so, she loved the act of doctoring something. As if every thing she touched or moved or changed was something to be created. Once she was finished, she closed up the sandwich so it was a proper sandwich, then licked the sauce that had gotten on her fingers.

"So," she said taking a bite of the sandwich, "If you don't like being a fisherman, why don't you just do something else?" To Terra, finding something you liked to do was always a need, not a want. But it had been easy for her, well when it came to money at least. Her uncle still sent her money, even if most of it went to her foster family. And she had her guitar. And now she had a job, one with which she thought she might like. "Surely there's something that makes you happy that can earn you money?"

She liked the way her body now felt at ease, or more at ease, than before. The more she spoke to Sloan, the more it got easier. It now felt like talking to a friend, or catching up with a friend that she hadn't seen in a long time. Though she had no idea what that felt like either because she didn't have friends. His answer surprised her, the butterflies inside her went into a frenzy, and she knew that if she could turn completely red, that time would be now.

Terra put down the sandwich quickly and swallowed. Then took a few gulps of water. "That's um..."

The nervousness rose back inside her. Christ. He was flirting. Terra knew for sure now that he was flirting. "Those both sound really... exciting," Terra tried to hide her grin by biting down on her lower lip, but when that didn't help she put her hand over her mouth. Her body felt hot and she felt the tickle of sweat coming down from her forehead. Terra fanned herself with her spare hand.

"The uh, sandwich was spicy," she tried to play it off, but she was sure she was doing an awful job at it and he most likely didn't even believe her. Terra tried to think, but the thought of what 'the best night of my life' could possibly mean went wild into her mind. "What if going out on a boat turned out to be the best night of my life? Would that be cheating?" she asked.

WC: 457
TAG: Sloan Ios

She thought about what he said, she supposed it was better to suffer in something you knew than suffer in something that you didn't know. But her entire life had been about suffering and losing and nothing had ever prepared her for it. If she had the choice to suffer in The Capitol over suffering here in this District she didn't know, she probably would have chosen to stay in The Capitol because it was familiar. Then again, if she stayed, all she'd see was pain.

"There's always a job at the Gentleman's Club," Terra joked, though she hoped that he really wasn't serious about getting a job there if it meant more money. She herself had a hard enough time accepting the fact she got a job there. But it wasn't exactly THAT job. At least she hoped it wouldn't turn into that kind of job.

Terra chuckled nervously, "No never. And why not? I could play you a song as we sailed. We could have a dinner picnic. We could fish! I've never fished before. We could swim. Or you could, I'd watch and wish I could swim with you. I'm sure there's many things we can do on a boat." Terra turned the other definitions of a good night to the back of her mind. She wanted to have a taste of what flirting was like, what talking about things like that were like. And although she enjoyed it, she probably enjoyed it too much because it made her so embarrassed she could hardly think straight.

She took a few more bites of her sandwich, thoroughly enjoying the afternoon. "So. My first night at the club is tonight," she said, unable to contain herself. She was both excited and nervous.

WC: 295
TAG: Sloan Ios

Terra listened to him, her ideas crashing like the waves crashed over the surfers out in the ocean. "That's horrible," she frowned. But the image of a boat silently and peacefully hanging around the water in the distance stuck in her mind. There were always those kinds of boats on extremely nice days. They existed. A nice boat ride or a picnic on a boat had to exist. Why else were those boats out there floating around so peacefully? "But I can't believe it's always like that. Maybe you've just never been on a relaxing boat ride. I bet that's it." Terra tried to be optimistic. Even though she was afraid to get too far out into the water past her thighs, the water had a calming presence. She wanted to hold on to that and not the image that Sloan had tried to plant into her mind.

She looked down at the table, smiling a bit. "Sort of, a little excited. Mostly nervous. But it's um... it's the first time I'll actually be..." she bit her lip to stop herself. "This is probably a little weird. But what if you came?"

Terra wasn't sure why she asked him that. Was that something that normal people did? Did the girls who worked at the Gentleman's Club invite their friends to come and watch them? Was that was Sloan was, her friend? She put her forehead between her fingertips, groaning. "Ugh. That was weird, right? Yeah. I'm sorry. You don't... you don't have to come or anything. Just ignore what I said."

WC: 262
TAG: Sloan Ios

Terra blushed and looked down, not really wanting to talk about what she'd be doing at the Gentleman's Club now. All she knew was that she had butterflies fluttering wildly inside her stomach and the thought of Sloan being there made her giddy in some way. She wanted him to be there. Wanted to see him in the audience. It would be her first performance and she was nervous, more than nervous. But if he was there, she'd have someone to focus on.

"Mmmm..." she shrugged and smiled when she finally looked back up at him. She wasn't sure if she wanted him to watch her or she wanted to just see him again. Maybe both. Did it matter? Being around this boy she'd just met made her happy. It wasn't something that happened a lot. This happiness. She was content when she met up with the scientist from time to time. But Mr. Savage was mostly quiet and whenever she tried to fill up the empty silence, he'd sigh and look at her as if the sound of her voice gave him a headache. Other than that, he was nice to just be around. Sloan was completely different. They hadn't known each other that long, but she liked everything about him. And she specially liked that she could say whatever she wanted without him giving her a weird look. Some parts were awkward, but Terra was an awkward girl anyways. She slowly finished her drink and her sandwich.

Terra was bursting with things to say to him, to tell him, to ask him. But her mind was buzzing with the thoughts of tonight and what would happen and what could happen. "I don't want to leave yet," she said looking down at her empty plate. "What are you doing today?" she asked. "I'm not keeping you from anything am I? My family don't really care how long I stay out or where I go. Some families are pretty strict. But this one isn't."

WC: 335
TAG: Sloan Ios