Beggar's Wish {open}

[isaac]

It's midnight now.

Except... it wasn't. He lay in the center of the garden, his back to the earth, his eyes on the sky. He looked alone, but he wasn't. The rain was with him. It splattered his face like polluted tears. Despite the urge to catch some of the water, his mouth was closed. Rain wasn't pure anymore. Not like it was when he was younger.

It's quiet now.

Humans no longer cared about the future - only about what was happening here and now. That's why the rain tasted like dirtied tap water. It was acidic, carrying with it the filth humans left behind. He didn't like the flavor of it anymore. Not like he used to.

Sleep until another day.

Along with his mouth, his eyes were glued shut. It was mostly just to prevent getting water in his eye, but it helped him get lost in his dream world as well. He was just in one of those moods. I'm sure you know what I'm talking about: be alone, enjoy the quiet, think a lot. He liked these moods. It was like his own little moment of serenity. Of course, he wouldn't mind company...

Anyone care to oblige?

[rae]

As it turns out...someone would.

Alexandraea had been severely restless. It was the rain, it called to her. Always did, even when she was a little girl. And so, instead of staying inside where the shelter was, she walked outside and became enveloped in droplets. It was then, after looking around, that her eyes caught sight of a garden that pulled her soul to it, beckoning her to come.

Harken to thy call

Breathing, the girl moved, acquiescing to the call of the nature in the gardens. The bottoms of her jeans were soaked within seconds. Droplets caught in her hairs but she moved almost listlessly and they just stayed there, stationary. Like she was not really there even though she was. Was it a mental absence? No, she was aware of everything around her. Rae was simply relaxed until she caught a figure. Stiffening immediately, she stood still, silent until she realized that the figure was lying down.

"Who lies down in the rain?" she questioned aloud. Walking closer, she took a look at the boy on his back. If she thought she was wet...

it can not have been worse than him.

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[isaac]

So true were her thoughts.

He was soaked to the bone and thoroughly enjoyed the sensation. The droplets had swelled as the storm progressed. They mercilessly pelted him like stones, but his body had long grown numb to the feeling. He liked it. It was one of those things that made him feel alive. The labor of breathing through the rain was a joy to him. It reminded him of the struggle to survive. In a weird way, it just did. He liked it.

Like you and me and the smell of rain.

Something beckoned him from his world. It was soft and tainted with curiosity. He resisted the urge to lift his head and peer around. Instead, he listened. Footsteps approached, carrying with them the voice that had spoken so thoughtfully. From what he could tell, it was a girl. Either that or an incredibly femanine boy.

Like you and me and the taste of rain.

The footsteps stopped. Gradually, his eyes flickered open and his head turned, locating the pair of feet off to his left. His gaze trailed upward, coming to a stop at the feet owner's face. Definitely a girl. For a heartbeat, he studied her. He couldn't tell if she was judging him or simply acting out of curiosity.

"Hello...

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[rae]

How odd it was. He had been so still, so unmoving, that a single word emitted from his lips startled her. She had let her mind wander, mentally trying to figure out someone who lie down in the rain. The logic of it had come to her when had spoken and startled her to clear reality. Here, Alexandraea took her sweet time responding, standing still and looking not at him but at the spot next to him. Staring was impolite.

"Hello..." she responded, shaking her head after trails of raindrops had invaded her eyes. It was a ruthless and futile effort and so she didn't bother. His eyes were staring straight up towards her. It had to be some sort of strain and so she lowered herself to her knees. Whatever dry spots that had maintained survival on her jeans drowned in that moment. If she bothered she could almost here the screams. But she didn't, having to instead deal with her wand poking her in the back. Taking it out and shifting it, she kept it in her lap enclosed loosely in her hands.

Besides the rain, there was silence on her end. Rae was thinking at the moment and then she pulled out of it. Curiosity had taken hold of her. She still wondered who lied down on the ground in the rain. A few moments later and she resigned herself to a more simply question.

"Who are you?" she asked him.

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[isaac]

Isaac found himself watching her as she lowered herself to his knees, probably trying to make it easier for him to see her. If it had been any other moment, any other person, any other weather, he would have sat up, or even stood, to introduce himself. For some reason, though, he didn't feel compelled to. He just wanted to lay there. Their moment of silence was almost serene. In a strange way, he was enjoying it. Most of the time he kept to himself when he was in this type of mood, but, for whatever reason, he enjoyed welcoming her into it. And he didn't even know her name.

Then silence took flight, fleeing from his grasp.

Who was he? He stopped staring at her and looked to the sky. Who was he? That was a damn good question. He knew she had simply wanted a name, but the question alone caused him to think. Rain drops obscured his vision, blinding him from making out the details of the sky. He didn't really mind. He should've been thinking more about how long it was taking him to answer her question. He probably looked dumb. Too slow to even think up his own name. Finally, his attention returned to her. He smiled weakly.

"Isaac," he said quietly, deciding it was best not to shout away the rain. "Isaac Dale Maniaci. Who are you?"

[rae]

On the contrary, she did not think of him dumb nor slow nor anything else that would degrade his intelligence. Indeed, that same question made her think the very same thoughts at times. Vaguely. Alex had an idea of what was going on in his head. So, while she was waiting for his reply, she closed her green eyes off to the world, sitting there in silence and stillness. Her eyes were perked, listening to the rain fall on different surfaces.

Leaves...grass...rocks...dirt...water...bark...clothes...hair.

People.

Her eyes snap open at his reply. It had taken a small while but she didn't mind. In this time, this place, this moment she was in no hurry to go anywhere. She was patient and had no desire to be demanding. She simply wanted a reply. It could come in the next life time for all she cared. But still he replied. Isaac Dale Maniaci.

"Sounds Italian..." Alexandraea murmured, looking down into the sky. Rain drops trailed down her face and she lost herself in thought, day dream. Alex was in another time, another space where she knew Isaac more intimately than she actually did. They were friends, they had a certain understanding--but this was punctured by reality. In reality they were strangers, sitting and laying in the rain with no agenda of their own. Well, perhaps Maniaci had an agenda but Rae...Rae had nothing.

"I am...human." Her reply was soft, barely above a whisper as she waited a few minutes. "A witch by...the name of Alexandraea Sorcha Davan."

Her position shifted lightly until she was cross legged. Her eyes had seen how his vision was obscured by the molecular collection and moved her right hand over his eyes. It may not have blocked the rain but it was an attempt. She could try--she could try.

"Why lay down in the rain?"

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[isaac]

Italian? There was no reply in him, though his eyes never left her. Maybe he had come from an Italian heritage, but that information was just as lost to him as the catacomes of Egypt. There were no resources for him to run to if he ever found the need to know. His mother and father... No, it didn't matter. That was all history. He who lives in the past will never see the future, but die alone a miserable soul. That was a lesson he had taught himself long, long ago.

Back when things were worth remembering.

Back when rain was pure.

When her reply came, he wasn't entirely with her. His mind had almost floated from his body. It was one of those heartbeat quick moments that left him dangling above them, staring down at a couple. They were strangers and yet... they weren't. It was a bizarre situation, one that he had never fansied himself being caught in. Except, this time he found himself lingering on their strange emotional connection. Maybe it wasn't even a connection. Just a feeling. It was foreign, but pleasant.

She was... like him.

"Alexandraea Sorcha Davan." The repitition of her name rolled off his tongue. It flowed nicely, drawing a smile to his once stiffened lips. "You have a very beautiful name, human Alexandraea." Oh yes, he had caught her decision that she was human. Was he human? Fictional doubts played with his imagination. He could be, just as easily as he could not.

And then, she did something that surprised him. The feeling showed on his face as his orbs shifted to fixate on her hovering hand. It was too close for him to focus on it entirely, but his pupils dialated enough to allow him some detail. Whatever attempt she was making to block the rain was working, to an extent. He didn't feel the need to blink as rapidly as before. "Thank you." That familiar smile returned, but it was warmer this time. Less abstract. Not so much like a child's scribble anymore.

And then she asked a question he knew was to come. It was the next logical thing to ask.

Why lay down in the rain?

"Because it doesn't make sense."

[rae]

Alexandraea looked at him, his smiles, and listened to his words. She nodded, idly, looking up in the the sky. Faintly, she could feel the beginning of her arm aching. Alex ignored them--the pain didn't exist. Not in her eyes nor in anyone else's. And, just like the mind tended to do...the faint beginnings of aches disappeared. Evaporated into thin air.

"Many people pronounce my name wrong," she replied at his comment about her name. Interesting--he had called her name beautiful. It was just a name--and many people did pronounce it wrong. Al-ex-ahn-dray-ah Sore-huh Dah-vahn. It was an off name of Irish decent. Except her first--her first name was an oddity. "Thus they must not find it as beautiful as you seem to do."

Her green eyes fixated to his face, she knelt down so she could see better. Rae took care not to get too close to him. It would...puncture something both tangible and intangible. A barrier. Her hand would not go any further without permission from him. It was, in a sense, laying atop something. Like Isaac was laying in the rain.

"Because it makes no sense..." she repeated, amused. It was the perfect answer for a boring question. A sigh escaped her lips, taking form in the moisture filled air. What had her mom said...humidity was high when it rained? That was logical, humidity was water vapor in the air. One hundred percent was a downpour.

"What if it makes sense because it does not make sense?" she asked, looking at him from her lower elevation. Was was about a foot above him, close but not close enough to make him claustrophobic. "Huh, Isaac?"

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[isaac]

He was instantly entertained by her drawl about her name. He had absolutely no skill in pronouncing other's names correctly, nor had he ever really wanted to. If they didn't pause to stumble over his name, why should he take the time for theirs? "Remember that you pronounced it for me, Alexandraea. Repeating is a skill that even a bird has mastered in this world."

The remains of his previous smile insisted on lingering behind, similar to the way a rain can stop but the scent continues to cling to everything and everyone. "Besides, I'm sure I wouldn't think it so beautiful if you had written it down and asked me to read it aloud. That would not have ended nicely."

By now, she had shifted. She was kneeling closer to him, adjusting so there was not so much strain on her raised shoulder. Surely that must be painful. He would have definitely lowered his arm by now. She must have more endurance than he. That wouldn't be a surprise at all. No, it would be expected. Even now his insides were shivering from the rain's chilling lick.

When she spoke again, he took note of the amusement in her tone. He, too, had thought that was a pretty... special reply. Her head tilted toward his, leaving about a foot of space between the tips of their noses. Still, they were close enough to cause them to breathe the same air.

Isaac grinned up at her, taking her words as almost a challenge. He had a sudden witty spark in his ice blue eyes. They danced, hinting his amusment and the creativity behind his next reply. "The only reason it makes sense is because I told you it didn't." There was a pause as he looked up at her in silence.

"What now?"

[rae]

Alexandraea looked towards him some more, her eyes boring intently into his for a few moments. Silence gave itself to a pregnant pause, and she looked at him, unblinking.

"I have spoken it to people and they have mispronounced it since. Stupid people who like to grate my nerves, I think," she replied, breaking the silence like a mirror. Someone could guess that she was now to receive seven years bad luck. Shrugging, she rejected that luck. She rejected fate--

rejected.

"Well, perhaps your name...is handsome. If that is a compliment to you then so be it. I would not know. Never, I know you too little." Alex told him, blinking away water. It was still raining. It may have been her imagination but it seemed that the rain had hardened. The drops cut into her face; perhaps there was a little bit of ice. With strict, sudden realization, Alexandraea realized just exactly how cold she was. She was freezing! Inadvertently she found herself moving closer to the only other source of heat. Rae realized this and moved back farther than she was, somehow managing to keep her hand in its place above his eyes.

"The only reason it makes sense is indeed because you told me it didn't. You, after all, don't make any sense at all. So, you saying that something doesn't make any sense can only mean that it does." This would stand as her reply to the question. Alexandraea smirked a little but her teeth were on the verge of chattering. The only thing preventing them was the pressure that Alexandraea was putting on her jaw. Her words were spoken low but slowly, finding it difficult to speak without revealing this weakness.

"I like people who don't make sense," she added, closing her eyes again, getting cold. She was wet in this weather. 'Mom would have a fit,' she thought, opening her eyes to look once again at Maniaci, waiting for whatever reply he had to give.
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