Something New [[Cinder]]

Full of shame, the Ghost had returned to his coffee shop every few days. He drifted over to the barista, ordered the same drink and sat in the same shadowed corner as he always had. The days of Kade Warren were over. The flickering figure was back, uttering soft responses whenever a kind souled cared to talk to him. He haunted the 'shop and was quickly becoming a local legend. A pale young man who only ventured out into the light of day to get his coffee. He was unsubstantial as the steam that filtered from the small drinking-hole in his cup. Hooded eyes, a cap of dark hair gracing his head with a contrasting, sharp face.

A name, sir? The barista asked him cheerfully, just as she had so many times before. The first few times she had even mustered up the courage to breath a few words after and a number would be nice too. She was a hopeful creature be the name of Amber and every day he would not tell her the same thing. Kade simply let himself walk over to his table, and when she had a chance, Amber would bring him the coffee. They were beginning to develop a strange bond of the woman talking to Ghost when there weren't many customers, and Ghost answering with his signature silence.

Today was no different than any other day. A blast of relatively cool air hit him as he slipped into the coffee shop. He went over to Amber, had a cup of steaming coffee thrust into his hands, and in turn Ghost slipped some of the local District One currency into her empty hand. Pale fingers curled around the money. Ghost winced. He had been reminded of that girl, Saph. She haunted Ghost's mind, often burning him with her tantalizing charm. Even those flickering memories of a beautiful day meant so much to him. He would imagine himself back in time, sipping from a warm coffee...

...only to find that his hands had unconsciously grabbed at his scorching drink and tipped some of the burning liquid down his throat. Many a times this past month, Ghost had burned his tongue. He supposed some would frown at him and tell the boy that he was getting what he deserved. His mind couldn't wander every time he visited this place, could it? Either it was karma, a self-mutilating habit or Ghost truly was an inhuman memory. If you stuck a hand through him, as many children had been dared to do, you would find he was a simple image with no real substance.

Today was no different than any other day, Kade thought once again with as much humor as an apparition can muster, because once again it mind had lost track of time. He sat, facing a dark wall, a shadow hanging over his head. The shop-keeper, Amber, had planned on having the light above Ghost's table fixed a long while ago, weeks at the least, but she always seemed to have some excuse for ever-dark corner. Kade was beginning to suspect Amber was partial to him, in an older-sister way, and would rather have the mute young man glooming it up in her shop, rather than staying home in an equally dark room with not even a humble girl such as herself for company. He wanted to thank her for this, but Kade also found the shadows overwhelming. He would leave his workshop for only a second, turn from the dark wall and see a much darker worl--

and see Saph?

Flustered, Ghost quickly turned his hunched figure back to the wall. He focused intently on the coffee cup and willed his body to fade away. Having the technical powers of a spirit would be nice now, wouldn't it? He could slip out of the shop, completely unnoticed, perhaps sit in the empty chair next to Saph and watch her. His eyes certainly had gotten a jolt out of seeing that fair, burning girl in place of the usual five o'clock shadows that greeted Kade.

He threw up the hood of his sweater and willed Saph to leave the shop as the awkwardness of the situation and his own thoughts hit him. Avoiding problems was a much easier way to go about life, don't you know. The thing is that Amber was interested in Ghost. She had been working that day, so many weeks ago. She knew Ghosts true colors, remembered the hastily scrawled, four-letter name she had written on his cup. How could you forget that angel-faced girl and brooding guy? Amber was watching Ghost, as per usual. She saw him, noticed Saph and the spirit of the universe possessed her.

"Hey! Hey Ka--Ghost, you're going to be late if you stick around much longer, boy!"

And so began the second meeting of Kade Warren and his Saph.

Ghost was feeling pretty popular right about now, Amber calling out to him, Saph suddenly standing up and greeting him. Was his ex, lovely Melly, (a wince at the mention of her Name, That Which Was Never To Be Spoken) going to show up too? How about we get a maternal figure in here too? Mrs. Kade 'Ghost' Warren? He mentally cursed his luck for not realizing it had been exactly one month since his meeting with Saph. The girl had seemed like a poetic sort, her sudden appearance couldn't be coincidental.

Why, if she had showed up here one month later, that would mean she cared for him, almost as much as he cared for her! Kade wished he was not so selfish and cowardly. He thought about that statement for a few seconds after, immediately coming to the conclusion that he was wrong. Saph cared more for him than he did for her. If he had loved her, even really, truly like the angel-faced dream, he would not have walked out on her. To claim that he had stepped out of the coffee shop so many weeks ago for her own good would be an utter lie. Age nor social standings nor any other absurd need to prove his manliness and ultimately cause the pair of them pain was not the reason for his flight. Kade was just scared of so many things. They had come at him, battering his head with a million difference questions, some whispered in the cruel purr of that Career, the one who had known the price of loving a person and being too selfish to set them free.

Dru, the proud woman hadn't been able to bear the pain of destroying her young love. She could have ended the girl's suffering whilst she slept, but for the selfish want of a creature who loved her equally and kept the long nights bearable. To claim the District One female Career had actually loved their Victor, had actually wished for her to live on after Dru was just a pile of once-pretty bones in the ground was a romantic notion. Even Kade, especially Ghost knew that her love had been false and fake, or if at all real, had been for the gain of the dead, may her soul find peace.

She and him, they were of the same mold. Rich cowards entranced by something they could not, would not allow themselves to have. Like the glittering diamonds Ghost worked with. He had the pleasure of running his fingers over the smooth, lovely surface of a white diamond, but in the end it was not his to keep. Nothing truly belonged to anybody, every moment you live is borrowed time. So make the most of it, offered the throaty growl of that second-place fool. Kade was inclined to believe her, though he tried mightily and heroically to hide this from his face.

Smooth as a diamond, not a blemishing hint of emotion to break the facade. Ghost regarded Saph like a slightly dazed, lost wanderer who you once knew, the time of person who wandered the streets of District One in search of something they would never find. He feigned surprise, falling just short of what a Career might look like when lying. For some reason he found it remarkable easy to do, especially to one he held so dearly. Young, ravishing Saph with her pretty blue eyes and silk brown hair. He held her in higher regard than even that Melly who had haunted and plagued his existence for years, and would stalk him like a malevolent spirit for years yet to come.

"Oh, Saph! How," he cleared his throat and allowed his eyes to wander for a moment. Focusing on her face was painful, bringing back those flickering, dancing images of another time, the same place. "How are you?" he asked her, smiling with a strained graciousness that the careful, ever-watching Saph would pick up on. Kade's eyes floated over to the door in a quiet, soft manner that the Ghost had grown accustomed to. He turned back to Saph as she began to speak to him, addressing him in a completely different way than he remembered. For some reason, Ghost had expected something, something less than this. His memory had protected her from the white witches spell, but with her person, with that girl standing to his side, he could not ignore the bewitching glances, the words she spoke, Ghost looked helplessly at Amber, who only grinned viciously in his direction. She watched on.

His body made no move to sit down. Ghost stood statue still, the insane hope that if he was deathlike enough, the frustrated teen could disappear without a trace. It would be for the best, really. Saph was interested in him (or so he thought) but she deserved somebody braver. His selfish reasons hid behind the shield of noble intent, laughing in the face of good intentions. The air scarcely stirred, the silence was so complete in the small bubble of an area surrounding the reluctant associates (for they were nothing more than that.)

Still, in the interest of preserving his gentleman status in the eyes of Saph and the curious cast of coffee-house dwellers, he reluctantly replied. "Oh, I've been very busy, very busy you see, because of my work. It taxes me, leaves me no time, you see, for anything besides my work and my sleep, with only short trips over here," Ghost told her, stumbling and tripping over the syrupy, thick thing in his mouth that passed for a tongue. His words were repetitious and Ghost thought that he had gone a little overboard on the etiquette. There was no redeeming quality to his words except that he had managed to say it with his eyebrows arched in an Earnest Expression, and he was rather proud of his evasive skills. It is a truly admirable task, not looking out those jewel-eyes when you're speaking directly to Saph.

Kade Warren, a creator, was absolutely having a fit over this--if you only catch a glimpse of her eyes you can leave satisfied, knowing that your next few pieces will be full of inspiration and silently laughing joy. To ignore the chance to examine the masterpiece of her looking-glass eyes was a blatant offense to all that Ghost had worked for, all that he had accomplished in his short career of solo craftsmanship.

Ah well, he thought sourly. Ghost looked around, embarrassed to be seen by this coffee shop crowd. They would no doubt pester him tomorrow about the pretty young thing he had been spotted with. People just love a good scandal, and anybody rich enough to frequent the shop as many times a week as Kade did would no doubt have the time to back up the money, meaning that they would pursue him for weeks. Even old Amber, standing quietly behind the counter and attempting to make herself a cup of joe-- (failing by the looks of it, he could hardly keep a snickering smile off of his sly face) --but anyways even his short-time friend would annoy him to no ends, to no avail either. People just couldn't get enough of other people!

Ending his ever so productive train of self-loathing, pitying thoughts, Ghost finally reached out two slender hands and pulled back a seat almost directly across from Saph. He edged it over to the side, hoping the awkward position would somehow cause one of the two people to develop a neck ache and have to excuse his or herself in a hurry (preferably himself, if the world and karma had their way, it would be Ghost) Ghost fidgeted with some lint in his jacket pocket, glanced around uneasily before his eyes snapped to Saph's face and she began to talk. The words she spoke were unimportant in that first instant, he was staring at her, mentally cursing himself for it. Kade broke contact as soon as he came back to himself. No. Not for the best, better to focus on work. Try again. Ten years! His thoughts short circuited, leaving Ghost with the vague impression that avoiding Saph had been for the best. How could he think anything else when her eyes were challenging him, confronting him and forcing him to in turn face his own inner-issues. Melly had never had such power over him, Melly with her soft blonde hair and deep brown eyes. Saph with dark hair and light eyes. Both had been pretty young things, both were if his facts weren't incorrect.

How could he have ever thought, how could he think to leave this girl? She, she... he had to win her... those blue... back... her--those eyes Giving up on thinking at all, Ghost let his jaw fall slack. He watched her, and that was it. No angst to add flavor and drama to his growing attraction, his mind had finally decided to forsaken all pretenses of civil, adult thoughts. The fact of the matter was that she was irresistible in person.

ooc- oh you romantic boy, how about you actually tell the girl all these things?

Saph was babbling like a brook. Her mouth moved quickly, little stutters breaking the long string of words every few sentences. Kade strained his ears while trying to catch up with the sound of her voice. He also strained his eyes in order to watch Saph...

ooc- I'm thinking maybe we should wait a few days and maybe restart this thread? Y'know? Kade could just run away again, or maybe Saph wants to ^^ ?