Heathens

The snow lay like a blanket over Philadelphia. Thick, heavy flakes drifted down from the sky and settled down to rest. The streets were quiet and few people made their way down the sidewalk, wrapped from head to toe, keeping warm and to themselves. The streetlights illuminated the town in a comfortable warm glow that seemed to make time stand still. Slowly, one by one, the lights from the windows above began to extinguish as people settled in for the night, warm and cozy in their homes. The moon peeked through the clouds, as if to wish the city a good night. Somewhere in the distance the sound car engine purred through the air, the only noise to disturb the wind and the silence of snowfall.

Looking out on the street from the catwalk of a fire escape of all places, Fjor sighed, content. Something about this sort of weather stirred something inside his heart. The silence, the snow, it reminded him of home. Of the woods of Scandinavia in the old days as the hush of winter lie on the land. It reminded him of men, women, and children sitting around a bonfire, telling stories and enjoying good food, the flames dancing up towards the heavens. Such as it used to be, so long ago.

Fjor tugged the scarf around his neck a little tighter with his teeth and then bounded down the metal stairs. The scarf, a bright pink cloth, looked rather ridiculous on the sleek black cat, but it was warm. As much as Fjor loathed the color, looking silly was better than freezing. Still, as his paws sunk into the snow on the ground, he shivered. Thinking back, hindsight told Fjor it might have been a good idea to have stolen some little boots from the pet store along with the scarf. Then again, he looked bad enough now without becoming the personification of a fairytale character.

The cat chuckled at the thought, but as he slinked down the the street padding through the snow, the wind blew again, cutting through him to the bone. Shelter was beginning to seem more and more appealing. Fjor looked around, his ears perked up, and searched for a place that seemed a feasible mark. He spied one storefront that still had it's lights on. Meowing in triumph, he bounded across the street and leapt onto the windowsill. Peering in, Fjor saw shelves after shelves of old, dusty books. The store was dimly lit, but looked oh so warm.

The feline jumped down from the window and took a few minutes to walk around the building, looking for another way in. In all his years, Fjor had never found a way to defeat push doors. Still, he often found there were other ways to gain entrance to a place than the front door. Even if no physical entrance presented itself, there were still ways. After a few moments, it became clear to Fjor the latter option was in need here, after no ajar window or door presented itself.

Running back to the front of the store, Fjor hopped back up to the front window and waited. Before long, a girl emerged from the back. Fjor smirked to himself, as well as a cat could. Young women found little, shivering cats adorable. Add the cute little scarf, and this would be too easy.

Doing his best to look as cute and needy as possible, Fjor began to scratch against the window and meow loudly, doing his best to attract the girl's attention and persuade her to open the door. He perked up his ears and opened his eyes as wide as he could, swishing his tail back and forth as he continued to scratch with one cute little paw.

Take the bait, dammit. Come on, come on, I'm cute, adorable and freezing my ass off. Just walk over here and open the damn door...

"Locking up? Oh, don't even worry about it. I can handle it. ...Of course I'm sure! I'll be out of here before too long, anyways. ...Is it really that cold? ...Of course, I'll be sure to get to my apartment safely. I really can't thank you enough, Mrs. Winthrope.... Err, I'm sorry, Mrs. Julia. I'm not used to that nickname yet... ...Ahaha, yeah, you're telling me. Have a wonderful evening..."

From the back room of a small bookstore on the campus of Drexel University, Nomina Torres sat in a swiveling computer chair and listened quietly as her boss pulled out of the parking lot and away from the vicinity altogether. Nomina, commonly called by her nickname "Mina", was a second-year student at Drexel University, although she was currently savoring a much-needed winter break. Her finals had been torturous, but in the end she had pulled through and earned some better-than decent grades in the process. It had been a very good start to her holiday. She still had to work of course, but Mina loved her job and it was rarely a chore unless she was under some major pressure.

Currently she was camped out in the back room (or "inventory room") of the tiny shop, now closed for business, with five or six books cracked open in front of her. Even when she wasn't necessarily "in school", Mina still liked to read up about things relating to her major, or just read in general. The problem with that was she had some rather rowdy neighbors in her apartment complex, and they would no doubt be celebrating the holidays well before they actually happened. Mina's boss was very kind to Mina, however, and would generously let Mina stay in the store after closing where she could read to her heart's content in peace and quiet. Mina was incredibly grateful to have such a completely awesome boss.

Mina started to get lost in the book she was currently focusing on, but it wasn't all that long before it suddenly hit her that she still had yet to temporarily lock up after her boss's departure. Mina stood and stretched; a tiny feeling of anxiety present in her chest. "I really don't want to abuse Mrs. Winthrope's kindness, so I'll only stay an hour or so. Maybe less." Mina decided as she made her way out into the main store area.

The faint smell of fish wafting about the otherwise cozy place cause Mina's nose to crinkle up a bit; it seemed as though her boss had stored some of her leftovers from lunch with her husband in the "staff mini-fridge" and had forgotten to take them home with her. It was also possible that she had intentionally left them for Mina, as Mina hadn't eaten since that morning. It wasn't that Mina necessarily disliked fish, but being a poor broke college kid often caused her to resort to foodstuffs such as tuna to get by. Mina was so sick of tuna; just the smell of it or anything fish in general repulsed her, but in a rather nonchalant way. Mina was pretty good at not giving two fucks when it came to food.

Mina approached the front door to lock up, but suddenly there was one of the strangest and most unnerving cats Mina had ever seen. ...Wearing a pink scarf? It was so unusual, and it made her jump a little when she first saw it. The scarf made her think that maybe the cat belonged to someone, but... "Drexel is a mostly no-pets campus.... And I'm not really aware of any facilities nearby that allow them. So it had to come from pretty far away."

Mina didn't really like animals, but she didn't hate them either. She stood for a minute and debated internally over what to do. On one hand, the cat DID look rather cold. On the other hand, Mina didn't really even belong in the store at this hour and she just couldn't bring herself to betray her boss's trust and let a stray(?) cat into the store when there weren't supposed to be HUMANS in the store. Pretending to not notice the cat just wasn't going to fly, so Mina decided to open the door a bit and try to figure out why the cat was even there in the first place. Even though she had a pretty good idea already.

Warm air tainted with the scents within the bookstore spilled out into the bitter atmosphere as Mina opened the door somewhat and peaked her head out. "Hey, uh, kitty..." Mina began, not really sure how to start talking to a cat. "You... You're a little cold, aren't ya. Boss says it's supposed to be a doozy of a night tonight. I don't have anything you want, and the streets get pretty dangerous if you stay out too long. You should probably head on home," she told the cat rather casually, still kind of uncomfortable. The cat undoubtably had a long way to go to get home. Mina just kept looking at it; it wasn't like she enjoyed seeing animals out on the street alone in the old just because she didn't particularly like them. This cat didn't exactly look like a typical stray, but it didn't look like a total house cat, either.

Yes! Thank Doom for young, attractive, gullible women!

The mortal had stood there for over a minute. Fjor was worried that the girl was going to go and leave him out in the cold, so he had redoubled his efforts at being cute. He even went out into the snow for a few moments and allowed himself to be covered in the stuff, just so he could garner a bit of sympathy. By the time he reappeared, the human seemed to have made up her mind and was walking towards the door.

As she opened the door, the warmth of the store seemed to leak out into the street. Not only that, but there was also the distinct, heavenly smell of fish. Tuna, if Fjor's nose did not lie. His ears perked up, his hairs stood on end, and his eyes grew wide. With a loud, happy meow Fjor leapt off the ledge and scurried in between the young woman's leg, into the store.

Once inside, the warmth of the place wrapped itself around the cat. He purred loudly as he trotted through the store, following his nose towards the intoxicating aroma. Surely, the store was nice enough, and if he had the chance Fjor decided he would peruse the shelves discreetly to see if there was anything of worth in the place. At present, however, the fish was his sole goal.

When he reached the front desk, he bounded up onto the counter with the sort of acrobatic agility only found in cats. It was there he saw it. A small refrigerator hidden underneath the hardwood counter. Ah, how far man had come in the process of food storage. From their earliest day where salting everything was the norm, a practice which was thankfully outdated, to the personal cooling system. The human race had come so far in their existence, and would hopefully go so much further. It was almost enough to bring a tear to his eye. Or perhaps that was just the prospect of have fish again after almost a year without. Yes, it was most certainly the fish.

He looked back at the girl and meowed loudly. He then jumped down to the fridge and began scratching at the door.

Alright girly. Be nice to the cute little kitty. Be nice to the cute, hungry, little kitty...

His stomach growled as he scratched against the metal.

"Shoot!" Mina exclaimed as the cat ran in past her. She had apparently given it the wrong idea. Smacking her palm against her forehead, she shut and locked the door and then turned around. She watched the creature run about; a little nervous but also slightly entertained. At least the kitty could warm up some while she attempted to catch it.

...Or maybe she wouldn't have too? The cat seemed to almost immediately attracted to the fishy-smelling refrigerator, predictably. Mina approached it slowly and cautiously, preparing to pick it up and put it back outside. She stopped, however.

"...Ah, whatever. I doubt she'll mind...." Mina sighed, popping the refrigerator open. The leftovers were in one of those sectioned styrofoam containers seated next to a pint of half in half which was commonly used for coffee. As Mina pulled both out, she unknowingly knocked a plastic baggie full of some form of plant material onto the floor. "...I think my boss has cats, actually. Maybe she has some toys around here or something." Mina mused, trying to think of ways to at least lure the cat closer to the door. She planned on letting it eat in peace, then returning it to wherever it came from. She sighed. "I wonder what would happen if she walked in right now... Actually, I take that back. I don't want to jynx it."

Mina opened the container and discovered one of the compartments conveniently empty. She set it on ground and poured a little half and half into the empty compartment, then looked at the half and half. "This probably tastes like fish after sitting next to it for so long... Might as well get rid of it." She conceded, clearing out the other compartment and dumping the rest of the white liquid into it. The little baggie on the floor continued to go unnoticed.

"Well, it's all yours. I have to eat tuna all the time because of my food budget, so I'm pretty sick of fish."

Fjor purred softly as the food was set out before him. Along with the fish, the girl had been kind enough to offer some milk as well. He padded up to the small bowl and licked a few times. His face scrunched up. Half and half. Yuck! Still, he supposed beggars can't be choosers, so he lapped up the bowl, along with devouring the tuna salad.

After he was done, he licked his lips and meowed happily. It had been a good while since he had the pleasure of such a nice meal. He then promptly hopped down from the counter and headed into the back room. He didn't want to be thrown out quite yet. Besides, if he could find a window, door, or vent to fiddle with, he could guarantee a way back into the store. It would be nice to have the place to himself when it was closed. He wouldn't mind going through their selection. It was so rare he had access to a good book.

Still, he could not dawdle for long. He reminded himself that he soon had to find a mortal. Time was running out, and he couldn't afford to wait for long. Soon everything would be aligned and if he did not have the proper measures in place, it would be a long while before he got such a chance again. And if he didn't act on this opportunity now, he very well might be the only one left next time. That would do no good for the long game. No good at all.

He began searching through the rows of shelves for anything he could tamper with to allow himself access the store. If he was going to find a mortal, it would be in this city. He would need a way to entertain himself in the meantime.

As he looked, a bundle of things caught his eye. A purse and some other belongings. Fjor tilted his head. It was odd. Something jingled in the back of his head. This purse seemed familiar. He walked over and sniffed it. No help there. He opened it up and began looking through it when it hit him. This was the girl! Well, this was her purse, but the purse belonged to the girl!

Nomina Torres. A fine young women. He must have not noticed her in the relative darkness of the store. He had no idea how he had missed the fact she worked here. He had been busy with other research, but it was still a lapse that shouldn't have happened. The girl was nice. He began looking into her after an incident that involved him failing to catch dinner and becoming stuck in a tree. The situation was particularly embarrassing, but Miss Torres had helped him out when so many other mortals had simply walked by.

She was a prime candidate for Partnership.

He had never had a chance to rifle through her things. He was interested. He pulled out some make-up, a mirror, and other items that women carry in their bags. Then he came upon a small leather case.

Visa? She's a foreigner? Interesting... Oh Miss Torres, I would read your mind, but that would take all the fun out of all your surprises.

"Hey, you get back here!!" Mina called as the cat escaped into the back room. She tossed the empty containers into the trash bin before pursuing the cat into the next room, only to find it... rummaging around in her purse...? She blinked.

"What are you- don't do that!!" Mina cried helplessly, as if it were a person going through her things. Alas, it was too late. The cat dug up the very thing Mina never let anyone who didn't need to see under any circumstances, not even a stray cat. A wave of emotions washed over Mina. She slumped to her knees, bottom lip slightly quivering. She let out a long, pained sigh which hiccuped only a little as she did her best to fight back tears.

"Urg... My visa....." Mina commented, her words tainted heavily with raw emotion. The sound of her own voice made her draw back a bit; she rubbed her damp eyes and tried to regain her composure. Unfortunately, her attempts were to no avail. "You... Managed to slip it out of the lining of my bag. Jeez... I keep it hidden for a reason, you know?" Mina seemed to have completely forgotten she was talking who a cat who probably didn't understand her at all.

"I... I'm trying really hard to become a citizen... It's just- I couldn't help it! My parents never took me and then... Well they couldn't after they split up and... Well now I'm in college so I can get myself nationalized- It's just been hard! The process takes forever... Oh my Amaterasu, why am I blubbering like this..." Mina stammered, lowering her face into her palm. "Bah... I can't even think straight now. This whole nightmare is just the worst. It's so bad it has been GIVING me nightmares..."

Mina sighed again, wiping her eyes one last time. She got up and moved to take the leather-bound visa from the cat; to return it to it's hiding place.

Fjor watched as the girl talked. He watched. He always watched. Sometimes, he had to act. He understood what this girl was going through. No home, no one to love you, having to work just to be recognized. It was torture. It wasn't fair. Then again, little in life ever is.

Was it fair what he wanted to do with her? Fair to rip her from one messed up life to the next? Then again, what was fair? Little. If she kept going on this track, what would happen to her? Sure, she might get over what she was going through right now, find someone who was just average, marry, have kids. She would live a boring, average life. Was that fair? Why wasn't everyone offered the chance for excitement, to have a one in a trillion experience? No, that didn't justify this.

Only the ends justify the means. And damnit, the ends are worth it. For me and for her...

He stared for another moment, watching her put away her things. He sighed.

"If you want to escape a nightmare, you wake up. Nomina. It's time to wake you up."

Maybe I should have brought a jacket... The thick flakes of snow continues to fall from the sky, a cold wind blowing as Justin thought this. The teen leaned back on the bench he was sitting in, flipping through several pages inside his journal, looking at various doodles and written thoughts. He had just been inside the local library on campus, not being a fan of buying books and instead preferring to check them out. In all honesty he could have stayed inside, but he had been in a hurry to get back to his dorm. At least, that had been the plan. When he had gotten back, there was a key item missing that he sort of needed. That was his key to the dorm. None of the people he shared with kept a spare outside, and nobody else was there. Which was why he had to walk all the way back to the library, find his key, and start to walk back out. By that point he was getting tired, and had to debate on continuing home or taking a break to sit down, despite it being cold. He settled on the latter.
"Well, at least the cold doesn't bother me much. Besides, I've got my coffee. That works." He muttered to himself, pulling a capped thermos out of his satchel. Despite having gotten it the first time he left his dorm, the drink inside was still warm. Justin held it in his hands, keeping it there as he picked his journal back up once more, opening it to a certain page. He placed the thermos back down on the sidewalk next to his feet, picking a pen up and starting to write something into his journal.
Note to self, remember keys next time. The teen thought it out as he wrote, closing the book and looking up at the snow.

What was left of the sun was shining through the tiny cracks of the dark white puffy clouds that lazed their way across the sky ever so slowly, as if having no plans to leave any time soon. Below these clouds lay a beach with rather wild looking waves that were easily tamed by the mortals on simple boards. They would glide through the tunnels as if it were nothing and silence the beast of the waters.

Towards the shore a crowd had gathered, excited, chattering, and chirping away at each other like birds as they pulled out cameras and snapped photos of the other mortals on their boards made of gods knew what. Near the crowd a stereo pumped out music that was considered popular, but was more of noise to a certain someone we shall not mention yet, at the time and a mad sat upon a high tower with a surfboard next to his high-chair. A sign read on the back and side of the chair, "life guard", but the man seemed to be sleeping more than paying attention.

The crowd went wild as the surfers performed various tricks and made the "Ooh..." sound and cringed as they watched the surfers wash out and fail in their performance. The surfers were rather graceful though, as this was the finals. This area was a competition for the Surfing Championship tournament, and watching people who think they're all that wash out was rather amusing, at least to a certain someone that stood next to the watch tower with the sleeping guard.

Remember that someone that did not like the music being played? Him. He stood at a medium height with strange white hair and colored contacts that hid his true eye color. The man seemed rather young, but still a bit old, as if he were just entering his college year. The man watched the surfers toy with the waves, going through tunnels and performing dangerous and daring tricks. His boredom had been overwhelming him lately, and he needed a break from searching for a certain someone, so here he was, wasting his time at a simple mortal's competition.

It probably wasn't the brightest of the man's decision considering his circumstances, but relaxing and having fun was this man's style. Although it didn't help that every moment he saw a somewhat talented human he was reminded of his need to look for a worthy mortal...again. This man, was a god. Well, used to be a god. He was kicked off his high chair and sent to the world of the mortals by some other divine beings that thought the world was theirs' to rule. He was among many others, so he had not made too big of a fuss about it. After a while though, the others began to die off. The number of gods similar to him were becoming smaller and smaller, he was beginning to panic. He sought for a human to give him some kind of divine power, but each time they either didn't fit his expectations or died soon after. Heck, one of them tried to use him for their personal gain and make a fortune, but he had found out and the "chosen one" was conveniently run over by a bus.

The name of this god, was Drijven, but he had been going under the alias of Harvey in this era. It was a rather uncommon name in this era, but it was what he had chosen. Many names were used, each one being rather common, but this name had quite taken to his liking for some reason. This man, Drijven, was the god of the ocean, water, and such similar to it.

He watched the contest go by as the people screamed in excitement as someone pulled off an excellent trick, 'Some pretty big fans..' he commented in his thoughts. Next to him but higher up, there was a cackle from a walkie talkie that must have been the life guard's. The guard was forced to wake rather harshly as the device was in his ear, he had been using it as a pillow for some reason. The guard listened to the voice on the other end while he was half asleep, but was soon wide awake. A dangerous wave was coming, and the surfers were to be called back while the wave passed. He pulled on a chain and a blaring sound was emitted from a horn.

The ocean god cringed and covered his ears, annoyed with the sudden loud noise, and returned to watching the waters as the surfers were either messed up in the middle of a trick or began to paddle their way back, thinking that the round was just over.
Harvey was kind of disappointed, if it were a dangerous wave, wouldn't it be fun, or were the competition hosts just that paranoid about injuries?
"ShorelySurely it's not that bad of a wave..." the ocean god mumbled in slight annoyance.

Mina jumped at the sound of a voice coming from seemingly nowhere, and the fear of potentially being robbed washed over her like a wave over the shore. She stiffened up profusely and took a very cautious peak behind her, out the door of the back room and into the main area of the store, but she saw no one. "Curious," she thought to herself, "Maybe they're hiding...? How did they even get into the store, for that matter? I didn't hear any glass breaking, alarms sounding; nothing at all..."

"Who's there?" Mina finally called out hesitantly. She didn't move a muscle; just continued looking in the general direction behind her. She didn't see anything at all, and that was what worried her the most. "Am I just going crazy...?" she questioned herself under her breath as she tried to figure out what the heck was going on, "Are they just playing with me? Is it all in my head...?"

Mina then looked at the cat. She contemplated stuffing it in her bag and making a run for it. No sense in leaving the poor creature behind; there was no telling what the brutes around this place would do. "Maybe I can climb out a window without the robbers noticing me... That is, if they weren't talking to me. If they've already seen me then I should just run... But where to? I don't remember where the nearest emergency phone is..."

Two books were placed neatly on the counter, a girl with pale brown hair and blue eyes watching the librarian as she scanned each book and then the girl's library card. These books had been narrowed down from a collection of at least ten that Fae had piled on the table earlier to read after she had finished working that day. She had always enjoyed reading, marveling at the creative wonders of fiction; it was one of the best things about being stuck here in a mortal body. The beauty of the worlds that the human imagination could weave, the endless possibilities that were contained within the covers of a book, they were something incredible to her and she would have likely never discovered them if it were not for the banishment of the New Gods.

"Enjoy your books, honey," smiled the librarian as she handed them back to Fae, "And be careful out there, it looks like it's snowing again."
"Thankyou," she smiled, "But don't worry, I'll be fine." She was confident that a little snow wouldn't hurt her. In fact, she couldn't wait to get out there and see the unique white flakes that made up the soft blanket of snow outside. Though any other season would be better for sitting outside and reading a good book, winter would always be Faeneth's favourite season. After all, she was a goddess of winter, ice and snow, it pretty much came with the job description.

As she wandered outside into the snow, she hugged the books to her chest in order to protect them from the frozen water that fell from the sky. Despite this, she wore her mint coloured hoodie undone with the sleeves pushed up to her elbows, seemingly not minding the cold at all. Fae missed the crisp freshness of the cold so much sometimes that she'd get up purposefully early in order to take a walk before the sun's rays warmed the streets. Unfortunately, she often had to submit to the needs of her mortal body, meaning that she couldn't always spend as much time in the cold as she'd like without having to wear layers like any other human.

Though she'd have to clear some of these snow covered paths when she went to work in the park tomorrow morning, she didn't think about that as she headed home. What did pique her curiosity however, was a teen sat on a bench nearby with hardly any layers on at all. She had unknowingly stopped walking at the curious sight. He appeared to be writing something in a small notebook, but surely it would make more sense for him to do that inside where it was warm?

Spoiler:

Fjor rolled his eyes. They always acted like this. Every single one. All five of them. It was always, "Did someone break in?" or "Am I crazy?" or in the worst particular case, "There go the voices again." None of them had good excuses, really. Even his older partners had heard stories and legends about talking cats. Nowadays he saw them on the television all the time. The humans simply wouldn't allow themselves any sort of fantastical thought in their day to day lives. They were for the most part practical, cautious, and safe. He could never be certain if that was a design flaw or if it was beneficial. He believed that each and every human should have one great adventure in his life, yet he had seen quite the opposite in his years. The Breadwinner mentality had won out after the Explorer was constrained. Fjor tried his best to fix that in his partners.

He padded up to Nomina and jumped into her lap. He sat down on her legs and hoped she wouldn't jump.

"It's not a burglar, it's not your mind playing tricks on you. It's not your employer or fellow employees returning for some odd reason. It's not the TV upstairs, someone outside, whispering in the vents, the building creaking, or any other excuse you can come up with. Wake up and see what's right in front of you Nomina Torres. A cat in a bright pink, fluffy scarf is sitting on your lap and speaking to you. Accept it.

"My name is Drottin Fjorlagg Vardmader. You, however, have the privilege of addressing me simply as Fjor. You may as well get used to me. We're going to be together for, hopefully, a very long time."

He stared back into her eyes, his golden yellow globes not moving an inch. His tail swayed back and forth.

It was a shame that the sky was covered by the clouds today. Surfing is always better when the sun was beating on your back, thought certain girl. This girl had golden blonde and wavy hair that was 2 1/2 feet long, deep blue eyes, and was 5'9". She was a sophmore at college, and a senior at surfing. Her name was April Ford. April was a good 300 meters away from the beaches behind her with another girl about the same age as her. They were the finalists at this year's regional surfing contest, and this was the final rounde. Who ever gets the better score will be considered the best surfer in the entire region.

These two had no idea that there was a dangerous wave coming, only a big one... a really BIG one. Off the edge of the horizon, they sea see a slightly larger wave then the others before and after it. "Thats mine!" both girls yelled. They rotated so that they would be facing the coast and started paddling to gain speed. Only as the two young adults started their acceleration did they noticed that the life guards sent the signal for evacuation. All the other contestants that have already lost in earlier rounds were trying to return to the beach.

The other girl looked at April, "I think we should skip this one." April just looked back with a grin and replied to her, "I'm not an idiot, once I get out of the way, your just gonna stay and surf this babe out. I'm staying." The other girl staired at her, sighed, and stop paddling. After a few moments, the premature wave caught up and surpassed her. They were still pretty far back from the coast so the wave was still not in the dangerous stage. April simply srugged and kept paddling. After what seemed like forever, April looked back and saw that the wave started to make shape.

She climbed up on to her board into a kneeling postion. She kept a slow pace with her paddling so that the wave could catch up to her. As she started to feel the Pacific water under her to rising, she jumped into a standing position and rotated the board parrallel to the wave. As the wave got closer and closer to the beach, April could feel herself go higher and higher. 'Heh, whats everybody so afraid about? Its not that bad,' April thoght to herself. Shortly after, the wave started to make itself into that tunnel of water that most people picture when someone say's the word 'wave'. April slowed herself down a small bit so that she can be considered to be inside the tunnel. The opening was roughly 12ft tall; April didn't need to hunch down like most she did for most of the waves earlier that day.

The inside of the wave was beautiful. Dispite the cloudy weather, she could still see the green wall of water wraped all around her. April was to marvelled by the sight that she didn't notice her board starting to shake...

Nothing stuck out to Justin at first as he glanced around at his snow covered surroundings, only the occasional car driving by on the street to make any noise. The girl standing on the sidewalk didn't catch his attention at first either, until he saw that nobody else was around, and more importantly she seemed to be looking at him, as if curious about something.
"Uh...hey." He simply greeted her, setting his journal back into his satchel after he made the note to himself. Surprisingly, he still wasn't too affected by the cold air, or at least didn't appear to be. Despite the stranger standing there, Justin wasn't one to be too bothered by it, instead keeping a casual demeanor, giving her a slight grin. "Maybe you should get yourself a bag or something, it would make carrying those books easier. Plus, you wouldn't have to worry about them getting wet." He suggested, pointing at the books she held close to her as he grabbed his thermos off the ground, twisting the cap off and watching as the hot steam drifted up into the air. The cold air reminded him of winter where he grew up, back in Massachusetts. He remembered the good and bad side of living in any state in the New England weather, getting an equal amount of both the pleasant extremes and the not so pleasant extremes of weather, rain, snow, heat, all of it. The winter was always something to look forward to, with snow days and all sorts of activities being possible with the snow.

At the sound of the teen's voice Fae became painfully aware that she was just standing there in the snow. In a small moment of embarrassment as she felt his gaze on her, she called out a hasty, "Sorry!"
Despite this, the guy seemed unbothered by her presence, merely grinning slightly. As he spoke once more, suggesting she invest in a bag to carry the books she was holding, she wandered through the fresh layer of snow towards him.
"You're probably right, though maybe you should invest in a jacket and scarf if you're going to sit out in the cold like that," she replied with a small smile, "You wouldn't need that coffee to keep you warm then."

Fae could smell the coffee as the cap of the thermos was removed, wrinkling her nose in distaste at the scent. She had never really liked coffee, unless there was so much sugar in it that you couldn't really call it coffee anymore. The milder taste of tea, especially common British blends, suited her quite a bit more - though even then she liked a bit of sugar in it. In her mortal body she could definitely appreciate the warmth that such drinks provided on chilly days like this, but even in the grip of winter she'd often prefer to drink something cold.

"Why are you out here anyway?" She asked, this question the one she was most curious to hear the answer to. It was already dark out; most people would be heading home rather than sitting out in the snow. They'd want to sit in their living rooms and warm up by a fireplace or a radiator, so why didn't he?