Open meme/voice testing

[hasseenthetruth]

Various and sundry voice testing threads go here. Additionally, any meme'ing with any version of Ed I currently or formerly played or that lazy loser I played for a while is valid here, as well.

Comments

[hasseenthetruth]

[ ugh. why did it have to rain today of all days, the day he forgot his umbrella? and he was sure the bus was running late, too, just to make things worse. He was doing his best to at least keep the groceries he'd gone out to buy dry, but at the expense of... well... the entire rest of him. Cold, drenched, and grumpy, he glared down the road in the direction the bus should come from, willing it to show up and rescue him from his misery. ]

[transcender]

[Looks like someone here read the weather report. Deren has a black umbrella poised over his head in one hand, his phone in the other.

Rounding the corner, he notices the not so dry person with a side glance, coming to stand next to him. To offer to share or not? If it'd been a girl he'd have said yes immediately. Still though, it looked like was just going to rain harder.]

....

[A few awkward seconds pass before he sighs.]

Do you want to share?

[hasseenthetruth]

[ it took him a moment to realize he was actually the one being addressed, turning to the speaker with a start. ]

Me? Yeah, thanks...

[ and then he realizes he's seen this guy before, somewhere. ]

...hey, don't you work at the coffee shop?

[transcender]

[He's already shifting the umbrella to cover the other more. His shoulder is probably still getting wet but it's better than being out in what is slowly becoming a torrential flood.]

Huh? Yeah. The one by the university.

[And now that the subject's been broached, this guys familiarity starts to make more sense.] Hey do you order a tall coffee with skim and hazelnut? [He's not got a photographic memory or anything even close but he's gotten pretty good at remembering regulars by their orders.]

[[occ: I just realized I replied to your MAIN thing rather than your comment first off.. sorry that was my bad! And I just rambled off a random order my friend used to get.]]

[hasseenthetruth]

[ it's definitely much better, even if it's a little awkwardly close to someone he doesn't know all that well--and another guy, on top of that. still, it's better than feeling like a drowned cat. ]

Yeah, that's it, I knew I'd seen you somewhere before!

[[OOC: no worries, these things happen! And for now that order will work, I don't go to Starbucks often enough to know what to go with right now anyway.]]

[transcender]

What are you studying? You always seem to have homework.

[Not that he personally has a light load, in fact his backpack he's got slung over one shoulder is shoved full of physics books and binders with scrawled notes.]

[hasseenthetruth]

Computer science. All the professors seem to think their class is the only one I've got, too. Even the general ones.

[ noticing that backpack. ]

You're taking classes too?

[transcender]

[At first he just nods for an answer, before realizing this is when you actually continue the conversation.]

Ah- yeah. Engineering. I take night and afternoon classes. [Which is how he's always working in the morning at the coffee shop.]

[hasseenthetruth]

Seriously? How do you handle having a job on top of that?

[transcender]

By having little to no social life.

[Sadly he says this without much humor because it's painfully true. In fact if he hadn't made friends with one of his customers who happened to excel at having a social life- he'd probably be at home now... passed out on his book covered bed.]

Today I'm lucky, my professor canceled class.

[hasseenthetruth]

Man, that sounds familiar.

[ he hardly even knew the names of anyone else in his classes, and had only gone out for food because he was down to literally nothing at all to eat. ]

Wish my professors would cancel once in a while.

[transcender]

[A smile slips onto his lips, nothing bright, just amused.]

Yeah- there are weeks I'd love a few days off but they always forget they canceled and still expect you to know all the coursework for that day.

[Which is why he's heading towards the library to grab some of the books the outline said they'd be going over this week.

But right now he finally notices the food.]

You know- there's a store close to here that gives discounts to students. [My god he's being helpful again, his friends would be surprised.]

[hasseenthetruth]

Seriously? No one's ever said anything about it to me.

[ and here he is with a bag of full-priced food. ]

How do you find out about this stuff?

[transcender]

[He glances away from Ed, looking down where the bus should be coming from.]

My family was friends with the owners when they lived here, they're Iranian. Supposedly they knew some family I have back in the middle east.

[He shrugs though, because he's never met these mysterious family members nor has he been there and has no real connection to it as such.]

They're nice, and run specials on fresh vegetables. It's probably the only reason I'm not just drinking coffee and eating cheap dollar noodles.

[hasseenthetruth]

[ Fresh vegetables... Ed looked down at the bag of microwave noodles and canned soups, wishing he'd known about this place sooner. Shifting to make sure it stays under the umbrella, he pulls his phone out and loads up the map app. ]

What's it called? I'll check it out when I need stuff again.

[transcender]

[Deren spells it out, the word is foreign obviously but easy to say.]

It's pretty much two streets over.

[When the rain shifts a little, he adjusts the umbrella so they'll continue to be covered.]

You know, they really should have a canopy here. [Is it because they're not close enough to the rich neighborhoods that they're forced to stand in the elements?]

[hasseenthetruth]

[ Ed taps the name into his phone as Deren spells it, making sure he's got it right and autocorrect doesn't change it into something completely unrelated. ]

That's really close... I can still use the same bus route to get there instead of learning a new one.

[ Information stored, he pockets the phone again, looking back out at the downpour. ]

I really thought they would. I haven't gone anywhere yet that doesn't have them... guess I know better than to leave my umbrella behind next time.

[transcender]

[That earns a smile.] Probably the only thing I took after my mother on is the obsession of having an umbrella with me at all times.

[The moment he gets home after a rainy day, he's setting it out to dry so that it can go right back into his bag.]

I'm Deren. [Sure you usually introduced yourself earlier on in the conversation but you know- he's never been good with manners.]

[hasseenthetruth]

[ right, introductions are a thing. He's never been very good at social situations in general, so he'd just totally forgotten. ]

Oh, uh, Ed--Edward.

[ He feels a little awkward at not doing that sooner. ]

Does it rain a lot around here?

[transcender]

[Okay now he will try to refrain from thinking of him as 'Tall coffee' guy.]

Not usually, but when it does it seems to pour.

[This city is weird like that.]

[hasseenthetruth]

[ At least he won't take it as an insult, for now. ]

Did you grow up here?

[transcender]

I was born in upstate New York, but we moved here after-

[To go into that conversation or not... yeah let's just skip that depressing part.]

We moved here when I was seven. So I guess I might as well have been born here. You?

[hasseenthetruth]

[ he's all for skipping the depressing parts, himself. ]

Just got here at the start of the school year. Home's out in the middle of nowhere for me.

[transcender]

My mother would probably love that. She's into the idea of living completely off the grid.

[And Deren had agreed with it until he'd actually got out from under her wing.]

[hasseenthetruth]

It's not really all that great. There's never anything to do.

[ and he never felt like he fit in with his classmates there. ]

[transcender]

My mother would love it. Trust me.

[And while there's a bit of a pained expression at the idea of it, there isn't any hate in his voice.]

I like it in Locke, busy without being Manhattan.

[hasseenthetruth]

[ Ed nods at that. ]

Yeah. I don't know if I could've handled something that big, but this is pretty good. It fits what I wanted.

[transcender]

[Okay bus seriously, his arm is going to go numb eventually but he's not going to just suddenly plunge them both into the downpour.]

It's loud, I didn't live there thankfully but the little bit I do remember was just loud.

[There's a few seconds of quiet.] Do you live in the dorms or an apartment?

[hasseenthetruth]

I've never been there, but it just seems too busy for me.

[ seriously. Where is that bus? ]

I'm in the dorms. It was easier. I don't really know anyone here to find roommates for an apartment.

[ Not to mention being a little too awkward to move in with strangers. ]

[transcender]

[Sometimes he wishes he had a dorm, probably has better soundproofing than his little tiny thing]

Smart choice, I'm in an apartment and to afford one and still be able to eat it's so tiny I'm surprised I don't hit my head on a wall when I put my shoes on.

[hasseenthetruth]

[ He laughs a little in spite of himself. ]

The single dorms aren't too big, either, but at least none of it's taken up by the kitchen or bathroom. And I don't have to spend money on toilet paper. How far from campus are you?

[transcender]

No to far, I can walk to work and school.

[Which is probably why it's so expensive for the amount of space he has but no car means he can't go too far from the school.]

[hasseenthetruth]

That's pretty convenient. Saves on the cost of having a car, too.

[ and of course the cost of parking permits. ]

[transcender]

[There's a little half shrug here, because he hadn't really thought of it like that. More like he didn't have the money for a car when he'd left home. But he tilts his head and nods finally.]

Yeah, you're right. I don't have to worry about ever getting pulled over at least.

[Was that a joke? That might have been a joke.]

[hasseenthetruth]

[ It sounded a bit like a joke, at least. ]

Is it close enough that you're waiting on the bus to campus, too?

[ The very, very late bus to campus. ]

[transcender]

I usually just need to take the bus to other parts of the city.

[Though he's starting to wonder if he should get a bike. Really bus? Did you disappear in a void or something?]

[hasseenthetruth]

[ What if it crashed or something? What if it's just disappeared into some land-bound version of the Bermuda Triangle? This place has been getting weird, after all... ]

I haven't really gone anywhere besides the grocery store, myself. At least, for places that aren't walking distance.

[transcender]

There's a nice park, when it's not raining that is.

[A land based Bermuda Triangle is so completely believable for Locke-

Frowning he makes a face.]

Maybe we should... walk to the next stop? We can see if there's anyone waiting there?

[hasseenthetruth]

[ Ordinarily he wouldn't go for that, especially in the rain, but the way the bus is totally failing to show up... ]

Yeah, that's not a bad idea. There's a park? Is it near here, too?

[ It might be nice to get out for some fresh air once in a while. ]

[transcender]

Yeah it's... hold on. [He shifts the umbrella to the other hand before they start walking, this way neither of them should get soaked.

This also frees up his left hand to grab for his phone in his back pocket. A few swipes with his thumb and he's pulling up map of Locke, the green area close to their dot obviously being the park.]

It's there. My dad and I used to go there when I was younger.

[hasseenthetruth]

[ Ed takes a look at the map, noting where it is related to their current position and the locations he knows. ]

You've been recently, too?

[transcender]

Yeah. [He holds the phone so that Edward can see it, before finally putting it back into his pocket.

Oh look! The bus stop! With no one there.]

Okay this is weird. We can't have missed it.

[hasseenthetruth]

[ This is becoming concerning. ]

They wouldn't have stopped service for some reason, would they?

[transcender]

If they did they could have at least put up a sign or put a notice on the news.

[He's getting irritated, and he's not got a very long fuse for these kinds of things.]

Do you want to share a cab? [They're not that far from the school he could pay half without dipping into his food funds.]

[hasseenthetruth]

[ he digs into his pocket to see what he's got for cash.... yeah, he does have enough left, and hopefully with that cheap market nearby... ]

It's looking like the only way we're gonna get back any time soon. Yeah, okay. Let's call one.

[transcender]

I'll do it.

[The phone is out again, left hand dialing. He has to give his full name to get them to send it. Deren Karim.]

Okay it's on it's way. At least we're not on a side street. [It should be easy to spot them. Two boys with groceries and an umbrella.]

[hasseenthetruth]

[ he nods ]

Yeah, and there's probably not gonna be anyone else out to get mixed up with us. Did they say how long?