2st encounter.

-—- the secost time. moon 20.-—-

The air was crisp, the sun shining in a vivid tangerine way. There was something about the scene that was so eerily defined, as if a new sense or new color came into my eye. The teasing specks of colors all seemed to jump out from their respective neutral-toned housings: the dirt, mud, concrete, cable housings, and the post-winter vegetation. But none of the verdant greens of the still-striving-to-thrive grasses, nor the commercially-eye catching but nauseating colors of the littered bioplastics, ever really captured my attention in full. The same was true for the virtual advertisements that lined the walls, the faint colors of the winter-blossoming flowers, and the clothes of those passing far overhead — none of them overshadowed anything about the scene. They were their own pockets of color, their own exhibits, independent from the rest of the gallery.

The retracted beauty of the scene did little to ease my tension. My body threatened a chill at every moment, though I urged it not to. I felt that if I did, I would miss something that I decided I needed to listen for. The sound of gentle humming machines, the beating of the wings of distant birds, and most intrusively my own breath and heart were the only things I heard. I felt cold. I felt that stranger quite close again, but did not really know if I was dreaming or not. I did not know for fact that they were really there, just behind me. But my mind and my skin crawled in such a way, a feeling I had been having for those handful of weeks. That strange soul had been on my mind ever since then, it was hard to pry it away from my memory. Something was almost unnatural about them, and our little encounter we had a few weeks ago was more than enough to prove that to me.

Their escape was surreal, something that had baffled the security personnel who had heard the tale. I abruptly exhaled, as if I just remembered how to breathe, before ending it in a more lucid sigh. I was reluctant to look behind me. My hair gently swayed in the wind, earthy and choppy, almost tunneling my vision forward. I did not hear them move, but knew well that the air pressure shifted. They were beside me now. I could see the shadows shift. I heard the subtle shift in acoustics. I felt that I should have felt afraid, especially with how tense I was just a few moments ago. It dissolved, though. I was in a serene, lucid state. Perhaps it was a sort of swirling mass of emotion that blended together into a single, uniform grey. Perhaps it was just my more regulated breathing.

They said nothing, and that is just how it was for a spell. I sat, stern and melancholy, and they squatted beside me, no doubt relaxed and casual. Eventually, I decided to confront the silence. Though, it was less decision and more a spilling of an over-boiling mind. I was not even particularly thinking while I spoke, so calmly and to-the-point, "I've had a lot of nightmares since that night, you know?"

They took their time to respond. I could not tell if they were deliberating, or if they were just hardly paying attention. Perhaps I was being too cynical. Perhaps not enough. I heard the prelude to their response, a simple inhale. Puffs of their warm breath paired with their windy and stable tone of voice, "Did I frighten you, stranger?"

A scoff escaped me. Of course I had been frightened. They invaded my place of work, and left like some sort of magical specter. I had not heard anything of note from the security crews. I had not heard anything from the Elpt or Gushnnikst. Not even the company issued anything more than a most minimal internal notice about the situation. It was a bizarre situation, and an breach of privacy and company policy. All that circulated around was hushed-up rumors from other workers. Of course, I was most cryptically asked about every now and again. Practically, A Character of Romance was less a person, and more some office legend. And yet, despite this, they just suddenly showed up, bringing themselves back down to earth once again. I certainly had words, but still felt I needed to hold my tongue. I did not have any particular thought well-structured. I felt angry, in a way, just to know that they were here. It would not add anything if I spoke right now. I might just make myself more uncomfortable if I say something too aggressive.

The dying grass beside me crunched, and they sat down more fully beside me. They were thinking, now, trying to pin down exactly how they were going to continue. For the first few moments, I almost felt my ears perk up like that of a dog’s. But that eagerness soon faded after a continued silence gripped us.

I did not think whatever they might say would make me any less standoffish and perturbed. But I wanted to see what their motive was for coming here, for practically engaging in this conversation, I guess. Maybe I felt that, once I heard the spirit of their actions, I could more easily find time to forgive them. Still, I half-figured they would say something wholly out of pocket. But, why did I want them to redeem themselves in some way? What about that seemed so appetizing? I suppose in hindsight I understand Romance’s motivations far more than I grasp my own.

"The aquamarine reclined under that slivered wax moon -- lounging so calmly in an infinite icy stillness. A pond unmoving, a pond untouched by the likes of beast -- by nomadic leaf, by hand of that so ever-filthy. Quiet angle. The minerals in the water, pikemen against the grass. Even they could only sit in spectacle of the still. Naught came from it -- simple and pure. But all - the twisting vines atop twisting branches, still more -- twisting roots, the wind-whipped blades of green, the cut of the moon. It birthed new attention to this body of dull aqua. It oozed onwards. Pique unshaken." Romance shifted their position, sliding onto the concrete walkway as they spoke. It was a knee's height difference, and they kept their back turned to me. Their head ever-so-slightly turned, but not enough for me to see their face, nor them see mine. "None knew how its roars might sound, once the times’ barrier broke."

It was hard to tune out their words, even though I did not know what they meant. There was something about their cadence that made it hard to turn away from - an erratic rhythm that still seemed to theatrically fit the ramblings they spewed. It all sounded rehearsed in a sense, like the off-kilter elongation of words they oft applied had some sort of artistic meaning, but it was wholly lost on me. It took a moment to recover from, each time they spoke in that manner. This time, something about that made me all the more agitated. I could not get their angle, and I could not understand why any of this had happened. I could not understand why this person was here again, back on the face of reality.

"You really have some nerve, Romance," I practically spat out. My face was red as I spoke, embarrassed for being so overwhelmed. "Creeping into my company, and then leaving like some sort of close-up magician. And then you just vanished from public eye, too. I have not heard anything about you since then."

I looked away, not even wanting to see their back in my view. "Five times, these past weeks. Five times, I sat in fear as I thought I saw you in my room. Dead of the night. Just a strange specter in the dark, watching me with those plain-gaze eyes of yours. Your gaze, your body, all completely motionless, and I remained paralyzed just the same." My breathing was shallow as I spoke, and I think I began to realize that. But I didn't take the time to regulate it, choking out. "Each time I blinked, I thought you got a little closer."

I took a moment. I looked back down, and coincidentally towards Romance again. They remained still. They left me room to continue speaking. "I've had to sleep with the lights on now. I know it was just sleep paralysis, but I really wasn't sure the first two times. It's been hard, even, moving around the building at night. I even got so worked up about coming outside for my pre-work relaxation, just in case I came across you again." I let out a chopped bitter laugh, "Seems I had reason. I hoped I had got over all that by now." It felt odd, even mentioning those waking nightmares I had. I knew that Romance was not personally responsible for them; they might have been the subject of them, but it was not like they created the dream itself. I think I was just confronted by all the mess of thoughts I had about the situation at that point. It was just more ammunition I needed to unload.

It was quiet, again. My voice was not incredibly loud, but I was speaking much louder than I typically would. It left an emptiness in the air and head. The passing wind quietly rung the wind chimes a few buildings away, gently providing a bit of strange, distantly mystical atmosphere. I could see their shoulders lightly move as they breathed, and the light puffs of steamy air escaping somewhere above them. They turned themselves in full, dipping their head down deeply. Their waned, lavender-ended chops of hair bounced as they bowed. Thick synthetic lashes softly outlining their closed, pensive, but effortless eyes. They remained as still for a breath, before gazing up. "I'm sorry for doing that to you."

I stared back at them. I did not know what to think, but I was still angry with them. The apology almost made me angrier, even though it should have satisfied some part of my gripes. It must have shown in my brow, and their eyes shot down to look at the ground. It stung to see it. I knew I was being hardheaded. I sighed, deflecting their apology half-spitefully, "You didn't come here just to apologize to me, did you?"

Their face emoted for a split moment. Romance's brow trembled no more than twice, seemingly conflicted. It gave off this feeling that they purposefully cloaked their reactions in some form of stoicism. They sighed, and effortlessly smoothed the sigh into speech, "You are right, I had other reasons. But I think I recognize now that it was immature to ask something of someone who I had harmed, and not made things up to."

It was clear to me at that point that they were not here maliciously. I guess, at that point, it was clear that they were just a person, too. It hurt to swallow, but I knew it was probably for the best if I did not remain antagonistic. Sure, it was vaguely cathartic at first, but I did not think that being bitter would help me process this any more. The way they spoke, they intended on mending relations with me, even though I hardly knew them outside being a practical haunt. It was not like I had some magical task I could give them to all the sudden make us buddies. But they seemed to know that, too. We both sat in silence for a spin of time.

Just as I stood, they did too. It was jarring how synchronized the actions were. They kept their gaze averted, but I began to loosen my animosity I held with them. After a moment, I spoke. My tone was a bit more calm, and more fixedly neutral. They met my eyes when I asked, "You intend on coming back here again, don't you?"

They nodded, and held their head highly again. They were particularly tall, and almost reached my eye-level despite standing a knee's height below me. "I do, but only if I am welcome. I understand that this place might be somewhere you come to relax. A beautiful place deserves not to be defiled."

I thought for a moment, but about nothing in particular. I think my mind just needed time and space to process everything. Eventually, I responded, "I guess I don't mind. You have a more relaxed energy about you; if anything your company might make things more quiet. Just... give me some time. Five days or so, just as a break, so I can think through this a few times." I did not know how to feel. I still felt the heavy heat of anger in my body, but I did not feel angry at Romance anymore. They seemed sort of... genuine. Even though I knew well that they had other intentions, they still wanted to make things up. And I think that in itself helped me keep them in a more neutral light. “I can meet you back here in the evening.”

They nodded again, and turned to take leave. They walked down the empty streets, turning at some arbitrary alley, completely wordless. I did not feel any need to stop them, and they seemed to understand. I was not sure if I needed to report this at all to the company. Sure, I knew there were a bunch of people looking for A Character of Romance right now, but it felt like I would be betraying Romance's trust if I did so. It did not really matter, though. I figured that they would have seen Romance on the cameras - either my company or the Elpt. I opted against reporting any of it.

I turned back towards the path I came from. It was a half-maintained area, water stains against the brick and concrete passage. Vines hung down from the pierced holes in the barrel vault of the alleyway. The plants lightly distorted the trickled beams of light that came down from it.

I took a step forward, and heard both the crunch of dying grasses, and a more wet, soft crinkling. I moved my foot, half-expecting to see a wrapper for a vending item in my company's soft branding palette, not yet decomposed. But it was instead a qochrij blossom, its petals both wielding a powerful ultramarine and a dull, iron blue. Juices flowed from it as it tried to slowly form itself back into shape. It looked so freshly-picked. The flowers usually grew up towards the higher areas of the city, so I had to wonder if Romance had left this as a sort of apology. It added on to the internal conflict I felt about them. Not knowing what else to do with myself at this point, I went back to the office building. I knew well I was not going to be thinking straight during the workday, drowning out the real world with trying to process this encounter again and again.