TR: Familiarity (Idalia and Suekeichi)

[Event !]

Hey, you look familiar! Did we go to school together?

[Idalia Tsavaris]

It had been a while since Idalia had been able to make it out to the mall. She was excited about the idea she was about to get herself a new pair of shoes. With the weather warming Idalia was ready for her summer to start. Dressed in a pair of shorts and a tank top that let her hurricane tattoo be seen by the world Ida was ready to take on the world. She was even planning a trip to the beach to give her dog Ike a chance to play in the waves. And it didn’t hurt that she had a few vacation days to take care of. Where better to go than the beach? She of course needed to do a lot of shopping in preparation. Her first stop was the shoe store. Idalia loved shoes. It was perhaps her biggest weakness and without even realizing it she left with a pair of new professional pumps, bright red stiletto type sandals and blue diamond patterned flip-flops. She was just about out when a few bags caught her eye. Before she turned around to go back she very firmly reminded herself that she had already spent too much. She still needed a suit and sunglasses.

It wasn’t often Ida treated herself to this kind of mini shopping spree. Idalia wasn’t a huge fan of shopping but she loved to go with friends. Sadly none of her friends were free to go today and so it felt like an errand but a fun one. Trying on what must have been a hundred sunglasses Idalia finally found the perfect pair for a cheap price of ten dollars. She found that finding cheap sunglasses was best. If she bought some twenty or thirty dollar pair she would sit on them and break them within days. If she bought cheap ones they lasted forever. Or at least until Ike stepped on them. Last on the list was a swim suit. She felt extremely successful when a blue and green top and matching shorts were in her possession. She loved the way the top showed off her tattoo. She loved it when she could show it off. Most people at work knew she had it but it was a professional atmosphere and she had to hide such things.

Spying the doughnut shop Ida decided to stop in and treat herself to one last thing. She was dying for something sweet and minty. She stopped in and ordered a mint chocolate iced coffee. Carefully balancing that with all of her bags to a table it was easy to see that sitting was going to be how this was going to have to work. She looked down at the bags and poked the shoes with her wedge sandals and smiled to herself. She had definitely went a little overboard with the shoes. She settled into her seat and a content smile crossed her features and she ran a hand through her long hair getting it out of her face. She sipped at her drink and relaxed. It seemed she was always running around one place to the next. She was very much like a vortex, there one moment and gone the next. She giggled to herself at the thought of a tornado spitting her out and picking her back up. She had a problem, everything came back to weather. Well, she supposed it was part of the job description.

[Suekeichi Minamori]

Suekeichi was ready for summer too. While spring usually brought out the first blooms, there was a specific beauty of the lingering flowers that survived into the summer months. Summer also meant more sunshine, and it also meant time to refresh his own wardrobe a bit. Moving to Pilot Ridge during the colder months left him with his winter clothes. His "all season" wardrobe consisted mostly of various button down shirts in varying colors of the rainbow. He needed something fresh and new that would carrying him through the warmer months.

So he too was at the mall that day, traversing the crowded walkways with a few bags from the stores he'd visited. He'd gotten rather strange looks from a few passers by as he'd stopped to investigate one of the property's plants. Though the looks came over his animated tirade --in pointed Japanese-- over the increase of plastic plants in the world.

["Sure they look alright, but they are clearly imposters! These plants do absolutely nothing. The only talent they have is gathering dust! DUST! They aren't aesthetically pleasing, and they don't produce oxygen. What's the point?! Is it because they don't want to take the time to water them? Lazy bastards!"]

And then it was if the tirade never happened. He bid the imposter plant adieu, retrieved his bags from the floor and continued on his way. The next stop would have been outside to take his clothes home and head to the park for some much needed outdoor time. But he found himself in line at the doughnut shop contemplating if he just wanted a cup of tea or if he wanted a pastry of some sort as well. As the queue shifted, his gaze caught a familiar face. The woman it belonged to was fetching, if anyone had asked him. But he wouldn't have paid her a second thought if he hadn't felt like he had met her before.

Tea and an apple turnover in hand, Suekeichi made his way to Idalia's table. Standing close enough to indicate he was addressing her, but far enough away to not be too close, he gave her a smile. His upper body bowed a bit --a Japanese habit that would seemingly never die-- as he spoke.

"Pardon me. I don't mean to intrude. But you look familiar. You didn't, by chance, attend Oxford University did you?"

[Idalia Tsavaris]

Idalia was checking her phone for a moment when someone’s shadow fell over her. She glanced up to see a familiar looking man. She narrowed her eyes at him trying to figure out where she knew him from. Had they worked together once upon a time? No… that wasn’t it. Her eyes widened as she bowed and he indicated she looked familiar as well. She suppressed a sigh. At least he didn’t come over and say something along the lines of ‘hey, you’re that Weather Lady!’ She had a Ph.D for heaven’s sake! Weather Lady was indeed an insult but his follow up question flattered her and relieved her from the fear of being only known as the face of the person who said the weather. She did so much more than that. Everyone in her class had known what they were getting into when they had started in Meteorology. No one trusted weathermen or weatherwomen.

He bowed, that was different. Her eyes widened a little but she quickly stalled her shock. She swallowed some more of her coffee and shook her head at him. “No, sorry,” she shrugged, “But now that you mention it, you look familiar as well.” She cocked her head at him and subtly shifted her bags closer to the wall. Glancing around she noticed several of the tables were full. “It’s a little crowded in here, would you like to sit? We can get to the bottom of this mystery.” She gave him a pleasant smile and gestured at the chair opposite her. She put her elbows on the table and tapped her fingers together thoughtfully. “I went to MIT, you didn’t perhaps come around for a conference or something?” She wasn’t sure if he was familiar from college, or if it was farther back. It wasn’t rare to run into Hammel faculty around these parts. Or perhaps she knew him through one of her sisters. He seemed to be closer to Rio’s age, or rather what Rio’s age would have been.

Taking a few more gulps she could feeling the refreshing cool minty taste start to clear her mind and the caffeine taking hold of her awareness and giving it a good solid shake to alertness. “I’m Idalia, by the way,” she held out her hand to greet him. Maybe with a name he could figure out whether he knew her from an actually meeting or whether or not that was the name of a person he saw on the news every now and again. Ida’s eyes took in his face and his features and for some reason sitting here with him standing a little ways a way brought back memories. Perhaps he had been a teacher, or even a visiting professor in one of her classes. Either way she felt the need to treat him with all the respect in the world. After all he had already proved himself by being so polite.