Hi There -Alex-

[Ann Hudgins]

//outfit//

The semester was over! Ann, in particular, couldn't be happier. She really felt like the last few weeks of school were giving her gray hairs. She'd yet to actually find one...but the stress was insane. She couldn't go to the library or any populated area of the school because of the amounts of panic the students were exuding from Finals.

Yes, she had a near master level control of her powers now, but even through all of her progress, she couldn't fight off the overpowering levels of stress on campus during the last two weeks of the semester. She had done her best and now that it was over, she felt the weight of all the other students problems melt off of her. She felt better than she probably ever had before.

Well, not as good as the day Alex had proposed to her, but damn it was close.

Ann adjusted her phone on the table in front of her and smiled faintly. She had offered to take Alex out to lunch, in celebration of the end of their semesters and the beginning of perhaps one of the best summers ever.

Ann was happy. And she'd be even happier as soon as Alex arrived.

[Alexander McKenzie]

Alex was running late. One of his exams had taken longer than he'd expected, but it had also been easier than he'd hoped, so he at least had that. After firing off a text that he was running a bit behind, he threw himself into his car and headed for Kali's.

Now that the school year was done, he was looking forward to the summer. Though he expected to be working more hours, especially since Kali had promoted him to an assistant manager (which was scary, thinking that he'd started as a dish washer way back when he was seventeen), but he was also looking forward to spending more time with Ann. They could do thing without classes or homework getting in the way, and that was exciting.

Finally, he pulled into the lot for Kali's and headed inside, tucking his keys into his pocket. Ann was easy to spot, and he quickly made his way over to her booth. As he always did (and much to his primarily female classmates delight), he was wearing the ring she had given him to wear for the duration of their engagement, and no other. Though he had an extensive collection of rings at home, lately he'd taken to just wearing the one.

"Hello, beautiful," he murmured, brushing a gentle kiss against Ann's ear before moving to sit opposite her. "I didn't keep you waiting long, did I? I really didn't expect that exam to go so long." Casting a slightly glance toward the counter, he couldn't see Kali, but that didn't mean anything most days. "Kali hadn't come over and harassed you, has she?" He liked Kali, he really did, but she had a way of being overbearing at times. Hopefully, today she was behaving.

[Ann Hudgins]

Ann had recently become addicted to this game on her phone called Flow, or something. It was a puzzle game that involved a grid and different colors. Using all of tiles in the grid, you have to figure out the paths for each color and fill it up. Ann loved brain teasers and these particular puzzles started out pretty easy and then got super hard. She had made it through most of the game already, and she couldn't wait to finish.

She was crouched in an intense look over her phone on the table while she played, swiping across her screen in a trance. She distantly heard the guitar riff sound across the place a few times as patrons came in and out for their specialty coffees or lunches. Ann eventually called her game to a close, as she had breezed through a few levels quickly, and then sat back to correct her couple of minutes of bad posture.

She was just about to check the time on her phone when she got a text from Alex. Instantly she was excited to see what the message was and checked. Great! He was on the way.

Only a few more minutes now.

Ann contented herself by fiddling with the ring on her finger. That perfect little opal stone on the silver band. She smiled happily at it and sighed. Ann had never before thought herself the romantic type. She never considered a future of hers that involved a male, and a perfect relationship. When she went to Hammel that reality seemed even more impossible.

And then she met Alex, that random day where they were partners on a science project. Or was it history....?

No, it was science.

Anyway, since then he has been such a huge part of her life, and now this ring meant he was going to be her future. Ann realized her eyes had welled up in an overflow of emotion and she drew in a big breath.

"Geez girl, get yourself together," she whispered to herself. She put her hand in her lap and started to look around the Kafe, to distract herself.

When Alex finally got there she breathed a sigh of relief. She was much less likely to make a fool of herself when he was there. "Hiya darlin'," she drawled first, "nah I wasn't here too long. Just sat here." and definitely didn't stare at the ring and almost start crying. I'd never to that.

She grinned. Kali was like the older sister to Alex he never wanted. She was a great, albeit terrifying woman whose daughter was the most adorable thing on this planet, and Alex ever since their first date, was always weary that Kali was going to do something to embarrass Ann. That hadn't happened yet. "Oh she was in when I first got here but left to pick up Brandy from daycare, I think. Said hi, gave me a muffin, you know, the usual." She grinned to herself and then turned her gaze and attention to Alex.

"How was the final?"

[Alexander McKenzie]

At least Ann was occupied on the drive over. For Alex, he was just eager to see his fiancée again. Regardless of the fact they lived together now, he still found himself missing her during the day. Conrad would probably call it sappy, but he didn’t care. To him, it was just more proof they belonged together.

Funny, there had been a time in his life that none of this had seemed possible. The idea of being in love had been both terrifying and unreachable, and getting married had seemed out of the question. But the longer he went without anything happening boosted his confidence that this was the right thing. That nothing was going to happen, and he could feel safe going forward. With Ann, that was easy.

Turning into his familiar spot in the Kafe’s lot, he was genuinely happy to be there. Now school was over for the semester, he’d be spending more time there because able to actually help Kali manage the place, rather than ducking in and out for short shifts when he could between classes and homework. Maybe he could actually start to settle in the role she’d given him. It was still a little alien to him, but he was also excited to learn more.

Ann’s greeting made his heart proud a little, but that was normal. It seemed to be his standard reaction to her. “I’m glad you weren’t here too long. And that Kali didn’t harass you.” Kali was an amazing boss, but she really could be like an older sister sometimes. Especially when Ann was around. “She’ll probably be back soon.” Brandy often hung out at the Kafe, usually in Kali’s office, but it wasn’t uncommon to see her trotting around the main area too.

“It was good. Easier than I expected, so that either means I knew what I was doing, or I missed something big. Either way, it’s done.” And now they had a whole summer with one another. “It’s really weird to think I have two years left before I can actually go into the field.” A little sad, too, being that he’d invested his first two years at the U of V in physics with the end goal of studying astrophysics. If he’d just realized sooner than he wanted to go down the nursing path, he could be nearly done by now. Still, his job at Kali’s paid the rent, and kept them afloat. He could wait a little longer. “Enough about school, though. What do you want to do this summer?” They had endless choices, and several months to fill.

[Ann Hudgins]

Ann hadn't seen Brandy in a while, and that would soon need to be corrected. That little toddler had her mother's headstrong attitude and an unbridled sense of wonder. Since the girl could speak she was always asking, "why?" It...well it did get annoying, but it was also cute. Generally Ann was only used to dealing with children in the setting of a Dojang, and there was a certain expectation of discipline there that one just didn't have in other areas of society. Also Brandy was perhaps the first infant Ann had really even been around. She was both fascinated and horrified.

There were, after a few instances, where Ann even played with the idea of spawning. She imagined little tattooed Alex's running around a house and the image was slightly intimidating. But some part of her heart was fascinated by the idea. She couldn't wait, honestly. To 'have it all,' especially with Alex. But that was also eons down the road. Eons.

Eons.

Ann smiled when he told her about his exams, "I'm glad it's over, but I know you did perfect." Alex was smart as hell. Of course he did well. He wasn't one of those college boys who barely showed up for class and partied all the time. He was a devout student and over their semesters together, they had more study-dates than 'date'-dates...which really wasn't a bad thing! Ann wanted that. She wanted her nose to the grindstone, perfect grades, and to graduate as soon as possible. That was one of the reasons why they worked so well together, their work ethic was so compatible.

"That's awesome news! I'm almost ready to jump into grad school. And that's truly terrifying. I mean, I swear I just walked across the stage for my diploma like...last week." Time really has flown. Almost like she wasn't even there for most of it.

"Ooh Summer. Well, and I know this is a pretty big stretch, but I definitely want to take a vacation. Not like....a touristy vacation. Somewhere with as small of a population as possible. Like camping. Or...uhm..." This idea wasn't fully fleshed out and she eventually shrugged her shoulders, "What do you think?"

((I'm SORRY about the lateness. I'm in the process of moving.))

[Alexander McKenzie]

Alex adored Brandy. It was hard not to. He’d always liked kids of almost any age. Hell, he’d worked as a babysitter for extra money during his days at Hammel. Brandy’s incessant streams of ‘why’ were nothing new to him, and he was quite capable of sitting with her for ages giving her increasingly weird and playful answers to her questions. With Ann, he’d already conquered so many of his fears. For so long he’d thought he’d be alone forever, too scared to make the leap to any kind of relationship in case something happened. While he still worried that a relapse was possible in the future, he was a little less afraid of having to face it alone. Ann knew, and she hadn’t run away once she did. If he could overcome that... the thoughts of having a family didn’t seem so far out of reach. One day, anyway. Maybe not now. Certain things about that made him nervous, like possibly passing down his crap genetics. Maybe it was time to contact his old oncologist to find out just how likely that was.

But back to happier thoughts.

Ann’s faith in him made him smile, and he reached out to gently touch her hand so she could feel just how happy she made him. He was still careful with any negative emotions he was feeling, whether it was stress or anything else, but positive feelings? He liked showing Ann just how he felt with just one touch. “Thanks, Ann. If you think I did well, then I’m sure I did too.” Ann’s faith in him often pulled him through the particularly rough subjects.

“Well, yeah, but just think how amazing you’ll do in grad school.” Alex smiled proudly and rested his fingers against her hand a little more firmly. “I’m so proud of you,” he murmured in a loving tone.

In previous summers they’d both been busy working, and didn’t have time to do much beyond weekend dates. This summer, Alex had a little saved up, and he wanted to do something fun with Ann. So when she suggested a little vacation, he perked up. His parents had been asking lately if they could visit. Perhaps this would be a good time. “I like the idea of a vacation. Camping could be fun.” He tilted his head slightly at her. “What about going to Illinois for a bit? My parents keep asking when we’re going to visit. I mean, Chicago’s not small, but we could look at campgrounds in Illinois and do that after visiting? Or visit on the way back?” Alex’s parents had always been loving and accepting of Ann, and he was grateful for that. “Or we could do something totally different, too.” After a minute, he glanced over to the counter. “Are you hungry? I can go swipe something from the kitchen if you want.” He truthfully wouldn’t mind something. Writing the exam had left him feeling starving. Besides, they could talk more over lunch and try to make a game plan for the summer.