Chance Meetings (Jared Richards)

[shayaras]

10th June, 2009

It was logical to think, then, that the earliest ancestors would have large brains. The argument goes like this: the chimpanzee skull holds a brain three times smaller than modern man. If increase in brain size set us on the path from ape to human, it was thought that the missing link should have first developed a big human-like brain. Back in the heat of Hadar, following the trail of the missing link is grueling work. The sun pushes the temperature to over a hundred degrees. But there's always an air of anticipation, because you never know what might be in the next ravine...

Shay closed the book entitled 'In Search Of: Human Origins' and let out a sigh. She lifted her right hand and rubbed her eyes, then went further and ran her fingers through her hair. The action temporarily pushed her hair back, but the the long strands cascaded back down the side of her head and into her face. She picked up her cafe mocha and took a sip as her green eyes stared intently down at the cover of the book she had just been reading. She leaned back in her chair, crossed her legs, and gripped her chin with her right thumb and index finger. Her thoughts drifted around the subject of what she was reading.

Was it all necessary? She had begun studying this subject in hopes of finding out about this advancement of hers. She had read that this power she had to take on people's skills and personalities was, in theory, a result of genetic evolution. However, she was beginning to wonder if that were true. There was noting else about it, only some scant mentions on the internet. There was also apparently a book about it, but Shay hadn't found it. She wanted to learn more about what she could do and essentially herself. She didn't seem to be on the right path though. Reading about brain size changes between the evolution of primates wasn't going to get her anywhere near her goal.

What else could she do though? She could do nothing herself it seemed, but could also do anything if she found the right person to copy. Take their genetic structure for herself and then she could be good at whatever they were good at. She could essentially be anything she wanted to be, but that was the question in it all, was it what she wanted to do? She never knew, was it her want or someone inside of her? Closing her eyes, she could recall memories. Memories of her parents, except they weren't her parents. Memories of friends, except they weren't her friends. Memories of foreign places, but she had never traveled there. All of these memories were not hers, but belonged to the five people she had copied and stored within her own genetic make-up. They were not her experiences, but she remembered them as clearly as if they were. Did that make them hers?

"Cogito, ergo sum." "I think, therefore I am." Shay had thoughts for six people, did that mean she was six people? Or was she simply an empty shell inhabited by five different people that combine to make her. "They thought, therefore she was." But then she didn't actually exist and it was just those people that made her. Her reality was defined by the people within her. But she did have her own memories, from before all of this began. Did that mean she really did exist or that she had only existed once before and had been replaced? There were so many questions, and no where to get answers. Shay only wanted to know one thing. One thing that she believed everyone had the right to know about themselves. Who was she?

Shay sat alone at her table lost in thought. The coffee shop she was sitting in was quite busy, people were sitting around chatting, ordering, working on something, etc. but Shay was oblivious to them for the moment. Ever since that day her ability had forced her to absorb a new person, she had started easily losing focus and getting lost in her head. She continued to drink her coffee and think on the philosophical aspects of her affliction. Everyone around her were having a good time, but Shay had never been the social type. Again though, was that her or someone else? She could probably absorb someone who was great with being social and change. Where did these people stop and Shay begin? How was she ever suppose to answer these questions? Shay let out another sigh. The normal people went about their business, and the 'freak', as she had been called many times, was ignored. She had five other people in her head, and yet felt very alone in this room. Maybe that's why it was so easy for her to get lost in her head, so she could get away from the knowledge that she was alone.

[jared]

{ooc - we work with a date system - it can be found in the information box on the side bar - I added one, hope you don't mind}

It had been some time since Jared had met that girl Samantha in California. She had been really nice, or at least, that's what he had thought, well after she went back to normal from being all black and veiny anyway. The longer they spoke, the more he realised that men weren't her thing. Although she didn't admit it, he could tell she swung in the opposite direction, not that it really bothered him, he was just glad to have a friend. Sad thing was though, she had run out feeling a bit off, and he was beginning to wonder how she was doing now. They had swapped numbers to keep in touch, but since that day he hadn't heard from her, even though he had tried to contact her once or twice.

Then there was Kristy, but that hadn't really went anywhere either. Poor Jared really was beginning to think there was something seriously wrong with himself. After all, his parents died, his uncle obviously didn't think enough of him, to have physically and mentally abused him and now he couldn't get a decent woman in his life. Well, all those months ago, he thought he had one. Rayne. That was when he was in a dark place, and was doing stupid things, like kidnapping the President's daughter and holding her for ransom money, which he would never have taken or kept. It had all been a sick game to him.

Then of course, she had her baby phased out of her by Rayne. That was when he realised just how much of a crazy bitch she really was. It was also the day he knew he had to try and turn his life around, not that he had done a very good job of it up to this point. Well, he hadn't done anything stupid again, put it that way, but he felt as if his life was going nowhere. As he walked the streets of Lower Manhattan he became thirsty and decided to go in for a coffee, and he soon found a cafe and so he went inside.

He ordered a latte and then looked around for a table, but most of them seemed to be taken already, and were rather full, apart from this one. He noticed the book beside her, and wondered if she was like him. Different. Not that he would make that the first topic of conversation, hardly an ice breaker, pardon the pun, given his ability. "Excuse me, you wouldn't mind if I sat here, would you love?" He asked, his broad British, Londoner accent thick as always, especially in the surrounds of the Americans. He gave her a smile, as he couldn't ignore the fact that she was stunning, but also maybe a little young, not that age bothered him much, still, he wasn't exactly one for pouncing on girls. He just wanted somewhere to sit and drink his coffee.

[shayaras]

Trapped in the thrall of her own thoughts, Shay didn't notice what was going on around her. The other people going about their business, ordering drinks and snacks, entering the exiting the cafe, Shay was oblivious to them. Her thoughts continued to swirl around from one subject to another, going off on a tangent. All this because of one embarrassing moment and being in the vicinity of a boy who had ADHD. Shay would attempt to get rid of it too, if it hadn't been for the intelligence that came with it. Her classes had been much easier since that day, so she figured it was a trade up. She was a smart girl on her own, (well, 'pre-smart guy' would be a better term, she wasn't actually sure if she was smart or not) but the extra boost was nice. Perhaps she'd find a way to work around the ADHD at some point, but for now, she'd have to suffer with it.

"Excuse me, you wouldn't mind if I sat here, would you love?"

Shay hadn't noticed the man approach her and jumped slightly when he spoke. "Oh.. um... yeah, I don't mind." she replied, her face reddening slightly at her embarrassment for being caught lost in her own world. It was a bit of a shock to hear a British accent, she didn't hear them too often, except around her family. Her own accent, that she had picked up from learning to talk from her parents, probably sounded muddled to him. And the embarrassment probably wasn't helping either. She looked up at him and when she saw he was handsome, immediately looked down at the table and took a sudden fascination with her book's cover. Another trait of someone else, an old friend of Shay's who had never been able to talk to boys. She would simply blush and was unable to string two words together. Shay wasn't that bad, but she did still get shy around guys, especially the good looking ones.

Now this one was going to be sitting at the same table as her. Her mind was racing and so was her heart. She could feel adrenaline pumping into her and her nerves twitched. Her ADHD kicked in again and her left leg began to bob up and down slightly. She debated making a break for it and just getting the heck out of there. She didn't want to seem rude though, and so she just sat there nervously. Wanting something to do, she picked up her book again to feign reading. She fumbled with it a bit, then almost dropped it, but managed to catch it in time. She lifted it up and opened it, looking at the pages, but not really seeing them, her mind was to scattered at the moment. Unfortunately, that meant she didn't notice that when she had dropped the book, it had flipped over and she was now looking at it upside down.

Maybe he'd just sit there and drink his coffee. That would be good, she didn't know if she'd be able to talk at all to him. Though, just the fact he was there at all made her squirm in her seat, she couldn't help it. She was so worried she would make a fool out of herself that she was doing a good job of it. And what if he talked to her? Oh, that would be dreadful. She knew it wouldn't end well if she didn't get a grip on herself, which was easier said then done. She was no good with the whole social interaction, she usually kept to herself. No embarrassment that way, she was safe. She needed to relax herself though, she lifted her drink up, then decided more caffeine and chocolate was not something she needed right now and put it back down again. Instead she swallowed saliva and attempted to breathe slowly.

[jared]

Jared really hadn't meant to scare the girl when he'd asked to sit down at her table, but the fact she had jumped didn't go unnoticed by him, and neither did the severe blush which was going across her face. Jared knew only too well what it was like to get caught up in a world of your own. Being on his own, he had time to lose himself in various worlds of his own. Not one world the same, and none of them particularly nice or good. Only his dream world was good, and that was settling down with a lovely girl who would forgive his past ways and help him move on with his life into the future. But he had a feeling it would never happen, but he always felt happy and safe in that world, and so he visited it often.

He flashed her a smile, "Thanks love, I appreciate, and sorry I startled you, didn't realise you were miles away." Jared said, as he sat down slowly across from her, and began to drink his coffee. He noticed she wasn't really saying very much, well, he was a stranger after all, no rule said she had to talk to him. She seemed distracted somehow, or was it just that world she was losing herself in again? He figured he would never know. He looked away for a few seconds, and when he turned back she was reading the book he had seen lying on the table, only it appeared to be upside down. He couldn't help himself.

"You know love, you'd do much better reading that book if you held it up the right way, or are you pretending to be in Australia?" He asked her, with a wink, and a slight laugh. Maybe he should have left her alone, she seemed to have issues, but then, didn't he? And really, catching someone reading a book upside down, it was just way too good an opportunity to let slip for a bit of teasing. Deep down Jared was a good guy, he knew it from within, he had just been messed around so much, that he thought playing with people's lives would help him, but it didn't. It only made things worse.

[shayaras]

Seemed to be going fine for a moment there, Shay even started to relax a little when it seemed the man had no interest in her. But it didn't last, it never did. There was always something that ruined it. Shay was never able to get out of an awkward situation with her dignity intact. Maybe she had also picked up some bad luck from her old friend or something, it seemed she never got a break. Shay looked at the man confused for a moment then looked at the book and for the first time since she picked it up, actually looked at the words. They were, in fact, upside down. Shay felt her face grow hotter again and knew she was blushing more then ever.

"....bloody hell....." she mumbled to herself. She should have known this would happen. Whenever you tried to not look stupid, something always happened to make it happen. Never failed. And Shay had a real knack for it too. She'd thought about attempting to switch out Jessica for someone else, but she wasn't sure who to replace her with. Not to mention she wasn't even one hundred percent sure she could control it like that. She could end up with someone dreadful if she did that. Shay closed the book and looked up at the man. She wanted to try and get out of this mess, but wasn't fully sure how she could.

"If you must know," she began, "there is a quiz in the book. I was merely checking the answers, not that it's any of your business." She attempted to sound indignant, but doubted she came off like that around her embarrassment. Not too mention she was a terrible liar, she couldn't look people in the eyes while she lied, so it was obvious. Now was no different either as Shay's line of sight preferred to stare up to the corner of the room as opposed to the man's eyes. And then there was the absurdity of the lie itself. It was a book on genetics, not a child's menu, of course there wasn't a quiz where the answers were upside down on the pages. Shay didn't give in though, she attempted to look perfectly serious and as if she believed what she had said. Not that she was succeeding at it.

[jared]

When she mumbled 'bloody hell', which wasn't that audible, but clear enough that Jared heard it, he just looked away for a few seconds and concentrated on his coffee, drinking it. He did rather like the look of the girl, but he didn't want to annoy her, or for want of better words, scare her. So, he desperately tried to avert his attention elsewhere. But it wasn't working. It wasn't easy to ignore the beauty of the young female sitting across from him.

After he had commented on the book being better if it weren't upside down, she didn't say anything. At least, not right away. He did see her face glow a bright red however, and the book seemed to remain upside down for quite some time after he had pointed it out. So, she either hadn't heard him, or heard him and was trying to ignore him, or heard him, and was desperately trying to hide her embarrassment. He didn't know which it would be, but he had a feeling he knew which one it was.

Then he heard her speak, and he had to hold back a laugh from her rather indignant tone. He just put his bottom lip over his top lip, and semi smiled, the best he could, without laughing, and nodded his head. "Of course." He agreed, and then just because he really couldn't help himself, "I'm Jared Richards by the way, couldn't help but notice you appear to be British like me, or at least have an English accent." He said, and then took another sip of his coffee. If he felt that she didn't react to him very well, or he felt he was making her uncomfortable, then he'd go and ask for his coffee to be put into a take-away cup and he'd just leave her be and head off to his apartment.

[shayaras]

Grr, she hated this. Why'd she have to get so worked up over things, it was a nuisance. Her heart started beating fast, her face reddened, and she always ended up saying something stupid and embarrassing herself. And all because some guy had talked to her. Well, hot guy, and that just made it worse. She felt her nerves going haywire and her leg was bobbing up and down constantly due to anxiety. She attempted to steady herself, regulate her breathing by taking deep breaths. Though, she tried to do it subtly, she didn't want the man to notice. If she could calm herself a little, lessen the flow of blood going into her head and causing her to panic, she might be able to stop herself before doing anything embarrassing again.

"I'm Jared Richards by the way, couldn't help but notice you appear to be British like me, or at least have an English accent."

Oh, thank god. A change in subject. Shay was all too happy to get away from the upside down book issue. And she didn't want that to be all the guy saw of her. He'd go off and tell everyone about the girl with the upside down book. She'd much rather he left with a better impression of her, now all she had to do was make one. If she could that is, she still had to fight her overly protective instincts that kept her from being very social. They locked her into a personal shell and tried to keep her from the world instead of letting her explore. She hated how much effort it took just to carry on a conversation with someone. Though it was certainly helpful in empathizing with her old friend who had to live with this and could have a lot of trouble with it life. Shay didn't have to live like that though.

"Um, yeah." Then suddenly realizing that not only was very lacking in information, it would probably be taken inaccurately, so she quickly added to it, "Well, no... Well, my parents were from London, but not me..." she said a bit shyly. Shay glanced over at another table where there were more college students chatting loudly and having a good time. There was a blonde girl there getting right into the conversation and was also carrying on about a couple at once, giving her input here and there. Shay wished she was her right about now, then remembered she could be. Theoretically at least, but it was really seeming like a good idea to Shay at the moment. There were many risks and problems that could occur, but Shay wanted to get rid of this anti-social hell. She didn't know why she was suddenly so desperate to shed it all of a sudden, but right now, she was finding herself really sick of not being able to talk to people. She looked over at the man named Jared and couldn't help but notice he had really nice eyes. She immediately looked down at the table and felt herself going red in the face again. Shay mentally chided herself and finally decided it would be for the last time.

She let her mind follow the pull that connected to the blonde girl. She was being pulled in many directions, considering how many people were there. She attempted to ignore the pull toward Jared. She could learn quite a bit about him by absorbing him, and she found herself quite curious about that but instead focused on the blonde girl. Shay connected to the girl and could feel the adrenaline rush as she became a part of her. The parts of Jessica were wiped away and this new girl took her place. Shay gripped the table a bit as she felt the changes happen all over her body. She felt her body shrink a bit in weight, Jess had been on the heavier side, whereas this new girl was quite fit. Her hair also got a bit lighter in colour, the new girl being blonde and all, hopefully it wasn't something really notice able. Shay got a head rush and her eyes filled with colours. She waited a moment for it to dissipate and then shook her head a bit.

She looked over at Jared again and the embarrassment was gone. She didn't feel the need to look away, her heart slowed to normal, and her anxiety melted away. Yes, the blonde girl.... Rebecca was it? Shay believed that's what her name was, though memories were difficult to access, but yes, she was very outgoing. Shay took a drink of her Cafe mocha, and found she wasn't enjoying it as much as she had been before. Her love of chocolate gone now, it was good, but she just wasn't craving it. Frankly, she believed she would probably prefer something a little more... Irish? Oh well, she deal with that later, right now was time to try and rectify her mistakes.

"Sorry about that, got a bit dizzy for a second. I didn't get much sleep last night, I stayed up studying too long." she said as an excuse, though she had in fact been studying last night, she had gotten a good amount of sleep. Just seemed like a viable excuse for what had just happened. "Anyway, as I was saying, I was born here in America, my parents are from London, I just picked up my speech habits from them and the rest of my family." Shay liked her accent, it seemed one of the few things that were actually hers. It was something that made her feel like there was something within her that wasn't anyone else and it was a comforting thought. "It probably sounds a bit weak to you though, if you're actually from Britain. I've been there a couple times to visit family though, and I think it's quite nice." Shay told him with a bit of a smile. She was feeling a lot more comfortable now, all that trouble she was having before seemed so silly. It was just talking after all, so what had been the big deal?

[jared]

Jared watched her casually after he had mentioned about her being British or having an English accent at least. He wondered if she was actually going to say something, anything. He realised she must be very shy, and maybe the best thing he could do for her, would be to just leave her alone. However, she did begin to talk to him, and he listened carefully after taking another sip of his drink.

So, she was British, he smiled, then a pause, no, she wasn't British, well what was she then? She certainly had an English accent. Then she explained that her parents were from London, but not herself. So, she obviously got the accent from her parents then. That made sense. He smiled at her again, nodding his head as he took in what she said. "I see, so you're like British by default because your folks are, but you're not exactly British, because.....?" He was going to say because you weren't born in Britain, but he didn't want to put words into her mouth and he figured she might explain the rest of it soon enough.

She went silent again for a while, and he watched as she kept glancing over at a table with students at it. He was trying desperately hard not to be nosy, but he couldn't help but wonder what was so interesting about the table she kept looking at, apart from the fact it had a rather pretty blonde. Then a thought suddenly ran through his head, maybe she didn't bat for his team, so to speak. Maybe she had a thing for women and that's why she was struggling to talk to him.

He should just finish his drink and leave, however he felt compelled to stay. He continued to glance at her, and as he did so, he could swear he saw her hair suddenly get lighter, but he shook his head, it was probably just the light above her head and she had been moving. So he shrugged it off. She then suddenly began to talk again and more clearly this time. She was apologising to him. He just looked at her with a friendly smile.

"That's alright love, I've had worse bloody happen to me, believe me." He was of course referring to when Rayne phased her hand into his stomach and left him with a rather nasty wound. He shuddered thinking about it, he had then crawled and smeared some of Claire's blood onto him, so he could self heal like she did. He still wasn't impressed about what he did back then, he was so glad he was a changed man now. Or at least, he was trying to be a changed man.

When she began to explain her situation even more, he nodded his head, so it was pretty much like he had said before. "So, pretty much like I said before then, British by default, well, American, but because your parents are British you'd have British Citizenship." He nodded his head at that, and couldn't help feeling a little bit proud for coming away with that piece of information. "Actually, it's not half bad, your accent. Not as rough as mine, but that isn't a bloody bad thing." He laughed then, well she certainly seemed to have got a bit more talkative, so maybe he'd hang around after all.

"So, what you studying then, if you don't mind me asking? Also, I don't believe I caught your name." Although she did seem to have been a little out of sorts before, so it was possible she had just forgotten to introduce herself, or had she given her name and he had been too busy staring at her to hear her say it?