Attack of the Killer Dust-bunnies (Open)

[Julia Clark]

Julia didn't think of herself as a lazy person. Though some might. Still, she wasn't exactly the most motivated of people, at least not with things like education, a career, or romantic relationships. And sometimes she did try to cut corners to make things a little easier.

For example, at the moment she was vacuuming the shop. Even though she knew she should have put in a new bag before she started, she figured she could suck up just a bit more dust and then only have to change it once instead of twice. Seemed logical.

Watson was sitting by the front door, a bit upset at the noise at the machine. Though he wasn't whining or scared, he looked like he was glaring at the disturbance that had ruined his mid-afternoon nap. So the dog was the first one to notice a customer entering the store. As always, he gave a short back to let Julia know that someone had arrived before walking over to sniff the new friend.

"Don't worry he's friendly," Julia shouted out, though over the vacuum the person might not have heard. Still there was a sign on the door, informing customers of that fact so perhaps they had read that. "Be with you in a minute."

Julia ran the vacuum back and forth once more, trying to finish up the aisle she was one real quick when suddenly, the bag on the vacuum bust it's overstuffed contents. There was a loud bang that made Julia scream out and drop the vacuum, which promptly shut off.

When the dust cloud settled, Julia looked around to see that half of the store was now covered in a fine layer, herself included. She turned to her head to see if the customer had be unlucky as well. "Well, that wasn't good," she noted, trying hard not to laugh or think about how she was going to have to wash all of the clothes on this side of the store, if not the whole store.

[Deleted]

Xun was just walking back from the local sporting goods shop, having just bought a new jar of protein powder and some new workout pants, since the ones he had were getting a bit holey. It wasn't his fault that his power wigged out sometimes and he accidentally cut through the fabric with his sword...

Anyway, he'd already practiced for a while earlier in the day, so he was looking forward to spending the afternoon just wandering, enjoying the late summer day downtown. He went and bought a bubble tea and a bag of shrimp chips as he slowly meandered back to Hammel, which he was munching distractedly while he walked.

A narrow store caught his attention - New2You? Sounded interesting. With a curious expression, and without seeing the sign warning about the dog outside, Xun wandered inside, only to be met with a bark that made him jump and nearly drop his boba. "Ai-ya!" The Chinese boy eyed it warily until a voice further back in the shop called out to him. "A-ah, okay," he stammered, awkwardly trying to shuffle around the sniffing dog further into the shop. "No, ah, no rush, I was just walking by and thought this place looked interesting..."

He was just looking around to see if maybe they had some cheap tank tops or something for working out when the loud bang made him jump once again. "Are you alright!?" he asked worriedly, hearing the woman scream. Xun hurried back to where he'd heard her voice, trying not to suck in too much dust (and failing). He managed to get the stuff in his hair and some of his clothes, but he ignored it for the moment. "What happened?" he asked, his dark contact-clad eyes wide and anxious.

[Julia Clark]

Xun didn't have to be afraid of Watson. He seemed to understand whether people were dog people or not right away. So after his initial checking Xun out, he went back to hanging by the door. Though he ran to Julia's side after the bang and her scream.

Julia gave the boy a smile to show that she was fine. Even though her hair and clothes were covered in a fine later of brown-grey dust.

"I'm fine," she said, waving away his concern. "Nothing a shower and a freak...I mean fresh change of clothes won't cure." She started to shake some of the dust out of her hair, looking at the aisles near her to see how far the cloud had spread.

"Guess the vacuum was tryin to tell me it was full up," she answered, pointing to where the machine lay on the floor. She hoped it still worked okay. Bad enough she'd have to wash clothes, she didn't want to have to pay for a new vacuum too. Hopefully her boss would just laugh this mess off.

"I didn't get you too bad did I?" she asked, coughing a bit. "Maybe we should prop open the door to air this place out a bot...bit," she added, thinking out loud.

[Deleted]

Okay.... She was smiling, so that meant she was okay. Right? Yeah. Xun awkwardly smiled back, although there was still obvious tension in his body from the unexpected, loud sound. And he was holding back a cough from the dust he'd inhaled.

"You are sure?" he asked nervously, though Xun was slowly relaxing as he realized he was probably overreacting (not uncommon for the awkward boy). "If you say so. Nothing ahh... Nothing sharp exploded on you or anything, right?" He did a quick scan-over to make sure she didn't have some, oh, random vacuum shrapnel piercing her body. He saw none. Although seeing her shake out her hair, Xun began to do the same, finally letting himself cough out the dust he'd sucked in.

He gave a dry, awkward chuckle. "I guess so," he replied, glancing down at the machine. "Too bad it, ahhh, couldn't have told you beforehand." Xun looked around at the mess it had created. Someone like him, with his ability, could get all this stuff dusted in no time... He kept that thought in the back of his mind for now.

"Oh, no, I ah, I'm fine," the Chinese boy reassured her, brushing off a few extra sprinkles of dust. "That doesn't sound like a bad idea though." Without really thinking too much, Xun zoomed towards the front door and propped it open, leaving a trail in his super-speed wake. "Your ahhh... Your dog won't run away, will he?" Xun asked uncertainly, eyeing the animal again. He could probably catch him if he needed to, but he didn't want to...

[Julia Clark]

"I'm fine. It's just dust...a lot of dust," Julia said, trying to reassure the boy as she attempted to brush off her clothing. She was starting to worry that she had really scared the kid. So she smiled even more, hoping to set him at ease.

"Oh well, that's life," Julia said with a laugh that turned into a cough. She bent over to unplug the vacuum and make sure it was really off. It had already done enough damage and she didn't want it springing to life again suddenly and making even more of a mess. Or freaking out her potential customer.

Julia gasped when the boy took off with a burst of speed and zoomed over to open the door. Sure she had lived in Pilot Ridge and went to Hammel, but it still took her by surprise. "Wow," she said. She had never tired of meeting new metas, or seeing their powers on display. And though she had long since come to terms with her own ability, she still felt hints of jealousy seeing someone with a "more useful" ability. But she didn't let that show.

"Oh...Watson?" she asked, realizing the boy had asked her a question. "Nah he won't go anywhere. He's a good boy." Hearing his name the dog had perked up, but he stayed where he was.

"So you're a Hammel kid then, right?" she asked, smiling.

[Deleted]

"Okay... Okay," Xun replied, finally convinced that the woman was alright as she said she was. That was good. He wouldn't have to call an ambulance or anything and tell them he'd found a woman screaming on the floor after a vacuum exploded on her... Xun gave a smaller smile back once he realized it was probably polite.

"You are... Very easy-going," the Chinese boy commented, almost curiously. "It seems like most people would be very upset if something like this happened to them." It was something that made Xun sort of admire the woman already.

He hadn't really meant to show off his ability so openly, it had just sorta... Happened. He needed to get something done fast, so he did. Xun checked to make sure the door would stay open before he started wandering more slowly back, making a wide berth around the dog.

"Watson? That is his name?" Xun asked, peeking back at the animal. "I will admit, I am not a big dog fan," he said sheepishly. "I... I guess probably because I've never had one, and there were always these really mean ones I would pass by on my way to school when I was younger." They'd bark at poor little Xun behind a chain-link fence and he'd run off in fear.

He blinked at the mention of Hammel. "O-oh, yes I am," Xun nodded. "W... Did you used to go there?" He wasn't sure how else she would know. "Oh, I am Xun," he added as he stepped close enough to offer his hand to shake. "Um... I... I could help you clean up, if you would like..." He had nothing he needed to go do.

[Julia Clark]

"Thanks kid," Julia said, grinning at what she took as a compliment. "It's not like getting upset would change anything." She shrugged at the explanation, causing some dust to fall off her shirt.

"Yes. Watson's harmless," she said. "I can send him to the back if you want?" Though she'd rather prove to the boy that some dogs could be nice, if Xun was really afraid Watson would be okay in the back for a bit. He had some toys and such back there in case of dog-fearing customers. It happened now and then.

"Sure did," Julia answered with a grin. She might not have been all that proud of her ability, but she'd always been proud to be a Hammel alumni. She hoped she hadn't spooked the boy with the question. He seemed a bit on edge.

"Nice to meet you Xun, I'm Julia." Stepping forward, she shook his outstretched hand, not realizing her own hand was covered in a soapy/dusty mix until it was too late. "Oops. Sorry about that," she said, wiping her hands on her jeans.

"Don't feel like you have to, though I would enjoy the con...company." She started to pull some of the dust covered clothes off the racks. "Grab me a cart?" She pointed to the small shopping carts near the door in case Xun wanted to help. She figured she might as well get some of the clothes into the washers in the back. Then she could deal with the mess on the floor while they were going.