An Unexpected Puzzle

Who: Isabelle and Seph
When: late afternoon
Where: the lake!

Working in Doc's forge had taught Seph something, and it was that he was not back up to par with being in shape. He kept getting tired way too fast to suit him, and his back and shoulders ached far too bad. So, he was just going to have to work harder at getting himself back to where he had been before he'd more or less died. It involved alternating time in the forge with time in the basement, and cardio to build his stamina back up. The quickest way to do that was to run. So that's what he was doing. In sweats and a hoodie, he was jogging along the lakeshore while his perpetual shadow slid along the ground out on his left side, keeping up effortlessly. He concentrated on his breathing, counting them out in relation to his heartrate and just trying to let everything else go.

Isabelle had planned something similar; before she went in to try out for the cheerleading squad, she wanted to brush up on some of her skills first, make sure she was still in good shape. She'd cheered back in Iron Mountain, of course, but she could never countenance looking less than her best. The plan wouldn't work if she was only known as a second-rate cheerleader. So first it was some tumbling practice and then a run, both of which she figured she could do in relative solitude down at the lake. After all, it was getting colder. Setting her things down on a rock, Isabelle found a clear spot to start throwing her back handsprings.

Seph's mind was drifting in some distant direction when he ran up toward a clear spot. Which happened to have a lovely -- as far as he could tell with his own jostling around, at least -- girl in it. A girl that almost immediately made him queasy. He slowed to a stop, working hard to get his breath and looking at her with a frown-line between his eyebrows. Wow that was ... yeah, holy fuck. Seph braced his hands on his knees and had to look down at the ground for a second. The shadow that had been following him for weeks slid over toward the girl, almost as if curious. He knew he should be heading in the other direction already, but that might've been a bit too obvious.

Isabelle threw two back handsprings and a tuck in a chain, landing solidly as if she hadn't seen the guy approach from the corner of her eye. But hey, she was never one to turn down a chance at showing off a little, even if she'd come out here to be alone. She turned then, as if to get her water bottle out of her bag, and started slightly as if surprised. "Oh, wow," she said, "I totally didn't see you there, sorry."

He looked up as she spoke, and could almost see the light bend around her. He generally saw death energy, bad karma was more of a feeling just under the surface of his skin and in his stomach. But she ... had a lot. He'd seen it before, kind of, here and there, but generally not in a shell like that. "Sorry," he said, trying to get his equilibrium back. He could feed off of it, yes, but that didn't mean he didn't know the implications. And he didn't like them. "I was just ... having a run, didn't mean to interrupt you."

"No, you're okay," Isabelle said, shaking her head. "I was heading for a run after this, anyway; I just meant to keep better watch. I didn't think too many people would be out here, but I'd hate to accidentally kick someone in the face because I wasn't paying attention." He seemed a little off-kilter; she frowned in feigned concern and ventured a few steps further - but not too far, because after all, she was a teenage girl and he was an unknown guy. He didn't seem too much older, but one couldn't be too careful. "Are you okay?" she asked. "You look a little wobbly."

Seph braced himself a little, but didn't back away as she came forward. He did have his gun on him, as paranoia now always dictated when he came down near the lake, but it would kind of be bad form to pull it on her unless she actually tried to do something. He was alone out here, after all. Except for his shadow. Which had sort of wrapped itself around her feet on the ground. His eyes flickered down to it and then back up to her face as he straightened a bit. "Yeah, I'm okay. Haven't done this in a while," he said between pants.

"Want some water?" Isabelle asked. "I've got another bottle in my bag. Still sealed." Because she knew she wouldn't take water from a stranger unless the seal was intact. Even in small towns, one never knew what was underneath a person's exterior. Herself included; she hid a smile that the thought caused.

"No," Seph said, maybe a touch too quickly. He shook his head. "No ... thanks." He didn't trust it, even still sealed. Not from someone with her kind of karma. Conversely, part of him was tempted to get a little bit closer and see if he could siphon some off. Just a bit, just to like ... top himself off. He licked his lips. "What are you a gymnast or something?" he asked, watching her.

Isabelle hid her growing suspicion in favor of looking a little bewildered. "Okay..." she said slowly, then made a small show of shaking it off and smiling. "A cheerleader," she said. "Just the tumbling part of gymnastics, I don't have much call to use the beam, bars, or vault." She took a couple steps forward, holding out a hand. "I'm Isabelle, by the way," she said, hoping he took it. She wanted to know what he was thinking.

He glanced down at her hand and very strongly considered not doing that. The fact that she didn't have the right amount of fingers seemed to back that up, too. But she was kind of a glowing beacon of bad karma, and he was indeed feeling a little worn down ... He wiped his palm off on his sweats and shook her hand. It was brief, but long enough for him to draw a bit of karma off of her and into himself. He gave her a nod. "Seph," he replied before letting go of her hand.

"Nice to meet you," Isabelle replied automatically, but inside her mind was racing. What did he mean, what was she? Could he tell that she had special gifts? And what had he meant by 'feed'? She was so curious she almost asked, but she was far too careful to give herself away like that. "Do you live around here?" she asked instead.

"Not really," Seph answered, though he kind of did. Within reasonable walking distance, anyway. He just wasn't about to tell her that. Even the small sip of karma from her made his extremeties warmer. He tucked his hands into the front pocket of his hoodie to kind of discourage both of them from touching again. He was tempted to take more, but he was kind of picky about his personal space. "How about you? Don't think I've seen you around before."

"No, I've just moved here recently," Isabelle said, friendly facade back in place even though she was still turning his thoughts over in her mind. What was he, to be wondering what she was? It was a mystery - and she had to admit, she loved a good mystery. "From Iron Mountain, so I guess I'm sort of from the area, just not the town." She indicated her spot with a smile. "I'm hoping to join the cheerleading squad here, I wanted to practice a bit before my tryout."

A cheerleader. A cheerleader that felt like that kind of made sense to his sense of Unpopular Guy Irony, and a small smirk crossed Seph's face. "Looked like you were doin' fine," he said. "Good luck and everything. ... guess I'll leave you to it." His eyes ticked down again to his shadow, which was still curled around her feet, then back up. He started to back up with a couple of slow steps, giving her a small wave. Yeah, lingering wasn't really a good plan, probably.

"Um... sure, yeah," Isabelle said with a hint of uncertainty, as if she picked up on some weirdness he was giving off and didn't understand the cause. "I'll see you around maybe?" Whether he liked it or not. He knew something, and she wanted to know what it was. If there was one thing she couldn't stand, it was an unsolved puzzle. Particularly when it concerned her.

Seph was rather used to people having that tone. It wasn't as though he was a normal type of guy under the best of circumstances. So it didn't really bother him. He'd given up on interactions with most people going well a long time ago. "Yeah sure," he said even though he thought he'd probably be trying to avoid that. "Enjoy your run." He turned after a couple more steps and started to jog back in the direction he'd come from, more aware of the weight in his shoulder holster than he had been before. He didn't look back, but he was very aware of how far away her karma-feel was.