Smoothie Operator

Preston Forest Shopping Center


The Preston Forest Shopping Center is large and classy. The entrance is open and spacious, a rectangular fountain surrounded by potted trees leading up the middle of the mall, with pathways on either side for shoppers. One can easily see both floors from here and the lighting is amazing - beside the typical electric bulbs, the roof is comprised of glass allowing the sunlight to filter in.

Shops and businesses spread out here both east and west as well as to the back of the mall. Hidden away in the back corner one can find the escalator to the second story, as well as washrooms and a bank of payphones.


It's the height of activity, for this particular mall. The swarms of teenagers are at their most numerous and formidable. And with that in mind, it's nearly a miracle to find Hyde Blakeley anywhere near the proverbial church of capitalism.

But here he is, strolling around the bottom floor with clear agitation. But he has a plan. He has a plan and a mission to complete. And so he remains resolute as he marches his way, unflinchingly, to the Ghirardelli Chocolate store.

~*~

Middle of a warm afternoon for most that swarm the food court and shops. To Alexa it's barely midmorning. Without breakfast in her stomach she's stopped by the food court to get a fruit smoothie. A bit sugary for her in the "morning" but it will do until she can get some real food and not greasy junk food from the mall.

In a still somewhat sleepy daze she tries to find a lower-end jewelry store. She passes by the more childish places like Claire's, looking for something a bit more substantial. The chocolate store is near a bookstore that she stops in front of thanks to the window display showing books on local ghost stories and lore.

~*~

With most people, all it takes is one look to the surly, towering figure to know that they should get out of his way, because he's not the one that's going to be moving. And this is exactly how Hyde likes it, this is exactly how Hyde has accustomed himself to. Unfortunately, however, Alexa is too busy window-reading to get out of the way. Which means, that when the werewolf stalks by Alexa, in search of the quickest way to get to his destination, his left side looking like it'll end up practically crashing right into her in an accidental bump. Considering his size and momentum…

~*~

Alexa gets bumped into a bench, trips over it backward and falls right into the surly man's path. Her intention is not to do this, it's just what happens when she's not paying attention. Before she gets up, it looks as though she's talking to herself. "Don't. Please don't. He likely didn't mean it…" Crazy she sounds, chances are she's actually crazy too. Except she's more or less just telling her poltergeist not to cause any troubles. There are a lot of people around and that means that it will be problematic for her and her mother if she were to be found out.

~*~

Hyde stops immediately when he crashes into the woman, as he's not exactly entirely heartless. With a frown that implies that the collision was more her fault than his, despite the fact that it wasn't, he reaches over with one large hand, offering it to try and help her up. But then, he freezes. "…Are you…talking to yourself?" He drawls then, brows arched a little in derision. "Did you hit your head when you fell or something?"

~*~

Pale skin turns a rosy hue. Indignant, she nearly doesn't bother taking the man's hand. "Why would I be talking to myself," Alexa asks as she grabs hold of his hand to pull herself to her feet. "My head? No. I think I sprained my wrist though." Lading on it was not exactly the highlight of her day. "You mean when you crashed into me."

~*~

"Well, you certainly weren't talking to me, were you?" Hyde counters even as he uses his leverage to drag her off of the floor. The momnt she's upright, his hand falls away, and he begins to look around the mall to prove a point. "Perhaps you were talking to someone else, then? A friend? An imaginary lover?" He's teasing her. Blatantly. "Crashed? Eh. Same difference."

~*~

"Well of course I wasn't talking to you," Alexa says, face darkening an even deeper hue. She will hold that she wasn't talking to herself either though. Eyes flit beyond the man to the bookshop for a moment. The blushing girl twists suddenly to give him the stink-eye. In that second a book flies from somewhere nearby, angling for Hyde's head. "Duck," she yelps, dropping into a crouch to avoid being hit by the oncoming book.

~*~

"Then I'm confused. If you weren't talking to yourself, and you weren't talking to me," Hyde pauses to allow for dramatic effect, flourishing with a hand, "then who were you - ow!" Hyde is hit. But of course, it is just a flying book in the end. So all Hyde really does is turn around to leer dangerously in the direction the tome was 'thrown' in. "Who did that?" He barks out.

~*~

Alexa gave warning his own fault if he was too busy tormenting her to get out of the way of the book. Reaching for it before getting to her feet, she moves past him to return the book before the shop owner yells at them for stealing. "There is obviously no one here. Who are you yelling at," she asks with a somewhat smug grin. "An imaginary friend or lover?" She should fess up and apologize for the poltergeist misbehaving, but he seems far too dangerous to find that at all amusing.

~*~

Hyde shoots Alexa a look, although since he can't find hide nor hair…wait a second. He sniffs the air. He sniffs at it again. And, surprisingly enough? He doesn't seem to find the scent of anything alive…or dead, for that matter. Strange. Wrinkling his nose, he allows the strangeness to pass. "Well then, who threw the book?" It's almost patronizing, the way he peers over to her. "Are you suggesting the book just launched itself at me?"

~*~

"Maybe it didn't like your attitude," Alexa says. Rotating her shoulders in a miniscule shrug, she gnaws on her lip. Will he buy it? She bets not. "Stranger things have been known to happen." Pointing to the book in question, "Haunted Houses & Haunted Places in Dallas", she starts back toward the man. "It wasn't a large book, but are you alright? I've had books dropped on my head before and it's never a pleasant experience."

~*~

Hyde snorts. "Impossible." He declares. Even though no one really likes his attitude. When she makes a point to point out the name of the book, he has to stop and stare at her. With blatant disbelief. "Haunted…You really believe in that crap?" He inquires. When she asks of his wellbeing however, he ends up shrugging his shoulders. "It was nothing. I have a thick skull."

~*~

"Stop it," she hisses to the air beside her. She goes to lift the straw of her smoothie to her lips. Then she recalls where it is. Spilled all over the floor in front of the bench. There goes breakfast. "A book just flew toward your head from apparently no source. What else do you think it would be?" Lifting her purse up she unzips it and digs around in it trying to see how much cash she has left. Pulling out a few bills she shifts her eyes down toward the food court. "You owe me a smoothie, I think."

~*~

Hyde just turns to peer at Alexa then, clear suspicion written on his features. Then, slowly, he ends up quirking one corner of his lip upwards in a rather humorless display. "Magic." It's one syllable. That's all Alexa needs to know, and that's all he's willing to share. At her whining, he rolls his eyes, digging into his wallet until he pulls out a five dollar bill to thrust in her direction. And just like that, he turns and walks away. He has a present to get for someone very special to him.

Unless otherwise stated, the content of this page is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License