An Icy Meeting

Chris sat in the Courtyard, thinking about his past. He thought about his father, and how he still had scars from his drunken rampages. He also thought about his mother, and how after years of being with his father, she was basically an absent emotionless robot. He was staring at nothing, but his eyes were set on the ground in front of the bench he was sitting on. The more he thought about his past, the angrier he started to get. He needed to stop thinking about it or else he would snap, but for some reason, he couldn't this time.

Kaya walked through the Courtyard, thinking about her past. Nighttime was the best time to walk, its chill more pristine and beautiful than that of the day. You could almost not blame it for being cold during the night, and it was easier that way to succumb to that notion. Papa would always snap at her for succumbing to daytime as cold, saying always that it was going to get worse, that if she was not ready for the sun's breeze than the night's torrent would kill her. She thought about her father a lot, and the more she did, the more she felt his hate twisting over the continent, looming over her like a stormcloud, his thick wrath waiting to leave her out for the nighttime winter. What would he say if he saw her again? She would have to ask Loic how he was doing, but she hadn't talked to the mailman in forever.

Kaya walked past Chris, and thought nothing of him at first, but there was something in the look he conveyed on his face. A dangerous-looking man in the light of a dark night's lamppost. There was something serene in the way they were alone, like a satyr and a child. Like that scene in Spirited Away, the monster and the umbrella, and she was the girl. That winter night was particularly silent, and its magic caused Kaya to falter. She turned on her heel. She looked at him.

"Lovely night, do you agree?" It was probably under forty degrees, but she wore no coat, only the sweater of her uniform, her legs bare between her skirt and socks. She seemed relaxed, though, and gave a smile upon her soft words.

Chris heard the girl say something, but he wasn't quite sure what. "I'm sorry, but what was that?" he said, looking up at the girl. Her outfit looked strange for the time of year it was. It was warming up, sure, but it wasn't quite warm enough, especially at night, to be wearing a sweater with her legs bare. His eyes looked right through her as he briefly slipped back into his memories. He was having issues with that. He shook his head slightly to try and free himself from the memories but it didn't help the (literal) icy look in his eyes.

"It's a nice day," she repeated, a small smile turning gradually nervous as she glanced at the look in his eyes, a sort of ice she didn't want any part of. She had the worst luck with strangers on the campus, and a cold dread passed over her as she regretted ever leaving the haven of the forest. "I'm sorry, mister. I'll go." She walked backwards a few steps, paranoid that he would try something, before turning and making her way down the path, smoothing her skirt.

'Oh shit. I must've let my memories come to the surface.' he thought, getting up to go after the girl. "Wait! I'm not mad at you." he said, catching up to her. "It is a pretty nice night, though. I was just doing some thinking." he added, sticking his hands into the pockets of his coat. The boy tried his best to shake his head of the memories he was stuck on. He wasn't going to let his father ruin his life anymore, especially when he father lived thousands of miles away.

There was a resounding unease in Kaya as she walked, and when he came after her she spun around, raising her hand. She was close to laying a trap, to possibly paralyzing him, and her hand froze in the air as he talked, the smallest inkling of a red light coming and disappearing off her fingers. "Oh," she said, relaxing, back to that cartoon diagram of a benevolent monster and small girl. She was certainly both, but chose the latter. "I was thinking too, I guess." She never truly came to terms that she was actually thinking, but it was hard not to think. Perhaps he meant that he was examining his conscience, or coming up with a solution to a problem. "Do you need help thinking?" Her voice was genuine, a small rise.

The boy shook his head, unaware of the red light that was fading from the girl's raised hand. "No, I'm just thinking about some bad memories." he replied. "Sometimes my memories still affect me, which was why I think I made you nervous a minute ago." He didn't really want to talk about the memories, but maybe if he did they wouldn't make him so angry. He wasn't going to just tell his life story to this girl, though. He had just met her and besides, he didn't even know her name.

There was some silence as Kaya processes this, perhaps to get the language right and perhaps to formulate a decent answer. She cleared her throat, gazing over the minimal plants sliced by the buzzing light of the old lamppost. "I have bad memories too," she said, almost like a secret, along with a short pause, but before he could speak again, she spoke in a higher voice. "What's your name, sir? I'm Kaya."

Sir? Why on Earth would she call him sir? "I'm Chris. Nice to meet you." he said. "Bad memories are the worst. There should be a way to get rid of them." He took a deep breath to try and calm himself down a little bit more. At this point, though, he had pretty much calmed down to the point where he was back to his collected self. He looked around a bit, noticing that the stars seemed bright tonight.

Kaya noticed the stars too. "Nice to meet you too, sir," she said, breathing a cloud and watching the alight sky. "I heard you don't see them that much in the metro-patolan. The, um, city...areas, the sky is pitch black." It was something she'd never experienced, of course. Arviat gave off its own electric signal, but it was a nightlight compared to other places. Beata Academy was the same, it seemed. "My people believe the whole world was pitch black. A hare and a fox, however, argued over which was more beneficial, and they now take turns lighting the Earth." Despite how strange it sounded, she did not falter, keeping her eyes glued to the empyrean, it's twinkling. Perhaps each star was someone's bad memories, shipped far away to die.

Chris nodded. "It's all the pollution. We don't really take care of the planet like we should." He listened to the girl as she explained her culture's explanation for the stars. "Wow.. that's beautiful. I like that explanation better than the one I grew up with." He'd grown up with the boring, scientific explanation for everything and he realized that other cultures' explanations for life were much better, despite them being fairly inaccurate.

Kaya smiled, blushing slightly, as if he had complimented something she made or did. It was just something she heard. That story was as old as time for her people. What did you hear when you grew up?" American culture seemed as thick as smog in her life, yet the answer to this question she did not know for sure. At least, she wanted to humor him for such a warm compliment. She crossed her arms against a sharp wind, but that was all she did; her face stayed blank and curious, like he was about to share with her the meaning of life.

"I was told that stars were giant balls of fire and gas that were lightyears away." he said. "Your explanation was way better, and it's ten times more interesting than mine." He kept looking at the stars, occasionally picking out constellations. He didn't look at the girl much, but he was glad that she was distracting him from his memories, at least for a little bit.

Ah yes. Growing older, though, delving into new lands, she thought back on the tales and thought they were rather strange. Cool, yes, but they were very peculiar. Perhaps their phantasm was second to practical. "I like yours," she said smally, feeling rather fooled. She hugged her arms, rubbing her sleeves. "The cold has permeated me, it seems. Papa always said I needed to work on that." She glanced back at the warm orange light of the summer dorm, the red windowpiece piercing the purple night. "What dorm are you a member of?"

"Ironically, I'm in the Summer house. What about you?" He had always found it funny that he, with his ice powers, was placed in the Summer house. When she said that she was starting to get cold, he shivered. He was always cold, but it never had any real effects on him. It was why he was always seen with some sort of coat on, even in the summer. People would call him crazy, but at least they were joking. His breath also always came out in a mist, as if it were below freezing. That was pretty cool to him.