the zhen tornado

who: zhen and evie
where: evie's place, outside
when: morning

The common sitting area of the boarding house was quiet, save for the occasional tapping of a pencil on wood. A radio program played softly upon a stand near the window – where the almost-sunshine of the late morning entered the room. It shined just enough light on the room to remind the tenants that the sporadic movie posters pasted up around the room did have colors other than drab and dreary. An unknown time ago some of the girls, tired of the plain linoleum floors and equally bland furniture, had decided to liven it up with faces such as Gary Cooper and Humphrey Bogart.

It was here that Evelyn was sitting – still dressed in her striped gray cotton robe – her brow furrowed in concentration. A newspaper lay out on the table in front of her, the black and white grid of the crossword standing out from the page. She had seen the headlines and read the articles; although she was just as happy as the next person to see that somebody seemed to be making crack’s in the city’s organized crime, that wasn’t why she had gotten the paper. She needed some kind of puzzle to quiet her mind, and so she had quickly made her way to the Daily Crossword shortly after reading the headlines.

Focusing on 13 Across or 18 Down, Evelyn was able to not think about the speculations that popped up yesterday at work, or dodging the personal questions her co-workers were bound to ask tonight, or the fact that nobody had gotten back to her about Saturday (even though, honestly, she had only put up the notice the day before).

Footsteps on the tile floor alerted her to somebody entering the room, and it was only then that Evelyn finally tore her eyes away from the puzzle.

Zhen had wandered into the room, and she was looking around, hands clasped behind her back. She was wearing bright colors, and one could say she was dressed almost like a gypsie. Lots of skirts, even a little string of bells around her middle, which were actually belly-dancing bells. She had a curious look about her, as she gazed around the walls of the room first, as if not noticing Evie where she sat. Then, however, her eyes locked onto the other girl, and she smiled brightly. "Hello!" she greeted, heading over with a little tinkle of bells. She sat right down next to the girl, and looked at the paper. "Oh! I like the crosswords. Is 'steam' an answer?" she asked.

Evelyn stared.

If she had run into the girl on the street, then she could have managed only a couple subtle glances at the girl’s – well, everything: the bright colors, the bells, the oriental features… And if the girl had walked in during one of her shifts at the Drake, Evelyn would have met her with an expression not betraying the slightest reaction. But Evelyn wasn’t in the mindset that she slipped into when working or in public – she was at home, in the common area of the boarding house. Still dressed in her rayon night-slip and cotton robe, her – barely brushed – hair wasn’t even confined by a simple ponytail. She hadn’t even showered and dressed for the day! This girl had, by all means, caught Evelyn unguarded – and so it took her a moment to reign in her staring and answer the question.

“What? Oh,… no,” she replied distractedly, bringing her mind back to focus on the puzzle. “Well, at least, not yet. I haven’t actually finished it, you see.” Evelyn briefly tried to politely not mention the girl’s odd appearance as she pushed the paper towards the girl to give her a better look. But a jingling from one of the bells drew her attention back to it in a manner that, she figured, it would be even ruder not to acknowledge. “Your outfit is very… interesting.” It was not what she would have thought to say had she been working – but she was definitely not Amelia right now and this girl was not a hotel guest.

"Well maybe it is! We'll have to see." Zhen said, smiling as she glanced over the puzzle. "I hope it is. It's a fun concept, steam. So many different meanings can be tacked on." she added, then turned her attention back on Evie. "Oh, thank you! That was what I was going for." she said, with a nod. "A lot of people sure do like to blend into the background in this city. I mean everywhere you go it's all dark colors, or grey, or whatever, I say be the bright bird. Which are male." she said. "The bright birds, I mean. They're the boys. The females are mostly draber in color, so predators don't go 'oh look! Free lunch!' and eat them and the eggs. Or, that's what I assume, anyhow, I know I read it someplace sometime." she said, making a vague guesture as to blow off the half-remembered idea. "But we're people and most other people out there aren't going to be looking at brightly colored outfits as possible meals. Or the people in them for that matter. What's your name? I bet you have a pretty one."

Evelyn was having trouble keeping up with the random flurries of thoughts and, what seemed, half-thoughts that poured from the girl. She caught what the girl was saying, but trying to connect it all to whatever the original point had been was difficult. One second she was mentioning steam and the next second she was onto birds and predators and free lunches and then cannibalism – or maybe it was just people eating outfits?

She couldn’t help self-consciously fingering her robe as the girl pointed out people’s tendency to wear grays and blend in. Evelyn’s wardrobe was largely neutral – save for some splashes of green that strategically matched her eyes. It was that way for economic reasons – she wanted to get the most out of the outfits she had, and neutral colors could go anywhere. But blending into the background had never been her goal. She had always aimed to stand out, but in a manner that propelled her above society – not cast outside of it.

But before Evelyn could even decide if she wanted to share her opinions on that point, the girl had already switched trains again and was asking her name. Figuring her best strategy would be to just respond to the last thing the girl said, she answered, “Evelyn…” Then, because it was the next logical thing to follow up with, “And yours?”

"Zhen!" she said brightly. "Pleased to meet you, Evelyn! That's a gorgeous name. Very very pretty. And there's lots of variations you could go by too, though I'd be partial to the full name. Names say a lot about a person, y'know?" she asked, though it was rhetorical. "This one is 'polarbear'." she said, pointing to one of the blank spaces on the crossword, and she smiled helpfully.

“Oh, thanks.” Briefly double checking the hint and determining that it seemed to fit, Evelyn absently wrote the answer down. Normally, she wasn’t one to team up on a crossword puzzle – her and puzzles had always been an intimate joy, and she preferred to solve them herself. But, at the moment, this strange girl had her interest – and she could put the actual task of solving the puzzle on the backburner.

“I am partial to it,” she added as she put the pencil down and focused back on the girl, “the full name, I mean: Evelyn. There used to be a boy who tried to go with ‘Lynnie’.” Evelyn gave enough of a frown to show what she thought of that. “My family calls me Evie, though.”

She normally didn’t talk about her family, and especially not to a complete stranger. It was a habit that had spilled over from work. There, she wouldn’t even give them her real name – much less talk about anything personal. Most people at work knew her name as Amelia. Some might have even known she had given her last name as Wright, and even less might’ve known that she was 23. That was it.

But Evelyn wasn’t at work, and there would have been no point in lying about her name to Zhen. And telling somebody that your family used a shortened version of your real name as a nickname wasn’t exactly a revelation, anyway. “Are you… new here?” There were a lot of girls in the boarding house, and Evelyn certainly didn’t know all of them. But if Zhen had been living here long, she was pretty certain she would have noticed. The girl was a ‘bright bird’, after all.

"Evie's very cute." Zhen decided with a grin. "It fits you! You're very cute!" she added, and literally reached up to pinch the girl's cheek gently. "And oh, I don't live here. Or, here meaning this building, I live in the city." she said. "I was here to visit someone, but I found you instead, so now I'm visiting you! And what a nice little visit it's been! I'm happy to have met you." she said, even if they hadn't done much more than establish hellos and Evelyn'd been nice enough to listen to Zhen ramble.

Evelyn stiffened a bit as the girl’s hand reached up to pinch her cheek. The physical contact had been wholly unexpected, and that was something she never really handled with her typical poise. Whether it came from a stranger or even guy she liked, she couldn’t help stiffening involuntarily whenever people leaned to close or touched her unexpectedly.

“It’s been… nice to have met you, too,” Evelyn murmured. Although, honestly, she didn’t think that they had really actually said enough to constitute meeting each other – it had just been a series haphazard vocalized thoughts, really, that they had somehow managed to squeeze introductions into. Although, she was starting to pick up that haphazard seemed to be this girl’s thing – either that or she was on something particularly strong at the moment.

“You’re here to visit someone? I hope they aren’t waiting on you. It’s not that you’re a bother at all, though – it’s been a dull morning and I don’t mind the company – I would just hate to have someone waiting on my account.”

She wasn’t trying to send her away. After the initial shock of Zhen’s overall presence was starting to kind of wear off, Evelyn found her interesting. Whether Zhen was a girl she would prefer to hang out with more… the jury was still out on that one. She seemed friendly enough – maybe too friendly for having just met someone – but she also kind of seemed… all over the place, mentally. But in that moment Evelyn was definitely interested enough to talk more with the girl before coming to a decision either way.

"Oh, it's fine." Zhen said, waving off the concern. "I'd rather stay and talk to you anyhow." she said. "I love meeting new people. They've all got interesting stories and lives. What's your story? Where do you work? What do you do? Do you have any hobbies? What are you interested in?" she asked. "If you could have one wish granted right this very second, what would it be?" she rattled off, then waited expectantly for Evelyn's reply.

There were a couple moments of blinking as Zhen shot out the questions. And then there were a couple moments of thought as she wondered how she should answer – or what she should answer. Remembering her strategy, she focused on the last question – except she found out kind of hard to answer it now that she was on the spot. There were a lot of things she had wanted, and there were a lot of things in her life she had been dissatisfied with – even though she knew she didn’t really have a right to be – but what did she actually want in that moment? … Nothing but a blank.

Ah, screw it. Evelyn just opened up her mouth and let the first thing flow out: “A plane.” The answer surprised her. Feeling like she had to explain – both to Zhen and to herself – she continued, “I mean… not so much for traveling per se… I guess that’s kind of weird – to have always liked planes but never really thought about where I’d actually like to go if I got in one. Especially since they’re supposed to be for travel and getting to places, anyways.”

Evelyn was rambling now, and she didn’t particularly like it. Getting her thoughts together, she cleared her throat as she straightened up. “I mean – I guess I just like the idea of flying in one – or just flying one – and also building one.” She paused for a moment before added, “I used to want to be something of an engineer, back in high school.” But, well, that really hadn’t panned out for her, had it?

It dawned at her that what she really should have said was “I wish somebody could cover my Saturday shift so I can spend it with my niece.” Hadn’t that been part of the reason she had been stressed enough to jump to the crossword in the first place? But, she was ashamed to realize, that answer hadn’t crossed her mind at all after Zhen asked the question.

Zhen listened avidly, giving Evie her full attention as she spoke. "Okay come with me." she said, standing up and she held out her hand to Evie. She didn't explain what she meant there, she just thought she'd do something, and Zhen was a girl who went with impulses. It was just what she did. Now was no different, and when she'd said about building a plane, that gave her an idea.

Was she serious?

Evelyn had her mouth open, looking at the girl incredulously. Go with her? Now? Like this?

“I—Go where? Outside or something?” She eyed Zhen suspiciously. “I mean – I – I’m not even dressed.”

And she really wasn’t. Evelyn didn’t leave without pinning her hair up, and not only was it down – she had only run a brush through it once or twice. Not to mention the whole fact that she didn’t really have clothes on. Not real clothes, anyway. She still wore the same night slip she had slept in, for crying out loud! No bra – no girdle -- not even stockings! She only had flimsy slippers covering her feet… and Zhen wanted her to go with her… like this?

“And – I mean, and it’s winter,” Evelyn pointed to the window outside. Sure, there was some kinda-sun maybe kinda-peeking through… but it was still January. Not to mention the fact that following a complete stranger – who kinda seemed not of the soundest mind – who just suddenly stands up and says “Come with me” was an incredibly stupid idea.

But Evelyn couldn’t help admitting she was, well, curious as to what Zhen was thinking. More than a bit. But even curiosity didn’t get the better of Evelyn’s judgement when she knew something just sounded like a really. Idiotic. Idea.

At least, it normally didn’t. For whatever reason, Reason didn’t seem to be quite winning out on this one. And after a quick scan of the suddenly very dreary looking room, Evelyn found herself turning to Zhen and saying, “I mean – I’d have to change into something more appropriate and… well, warmer, for one thing.”

"Okay, you can do that." she said. "But make it colorful! Don't take too long, put on something relaxing, and let's go fast!" she encouraged. "I'll wait, or I could come help you pick something out!" she added, ever ready to help. It was something Zhen always wanted to do, and she thought at the moment she could be helpful here. Since even with a housecoat, the girl had chosen gray for a color. No one ever even really saw robes, it was a perfect excuse to get wild and crazy with the colors. But no. So, she thought maybe Evelyn might need some aid in that department.

“I think… you should wait here, or you could come up if you want. It’s just – my roommate’s still asleep and the room is so small… and I don’t want to wake her.” Evelyn was already making her way to the stair as she talked, clearly taking the suggestion to hurry into account, “but I can come out and show you the outfit and you can tell me what you think!”

Running up the stairs and into her room, she already knew what she would pick: her favorite dress, a guilty little pleasure that usually remained tucked to the back. It was a largely sleeveless, short hem, wraparound number – the product of a vulnerable moment where she had given into her vanity. The fabric was light gray with a white and green floral-like print. The color seemed unimpressive on the hanger – undoubtedly the reason why the price was marked low in spite of the stylish design. But against her dark hair and green eyes the colors simply popped, and Evelyn found herself in love with it. She loved the fit, the colors, the feel, the shorter-than-she-normally-wore hemline… everything. And so she bought it, and since then it had remained mostly on its hanger excepting on venture to a dance hall with friends. Otherwise she had always deemed it not dressy enough, or too dressy, or not warm enough, or just simply inappropriate for the event at hand…

…all of which made it perfect to wear now.

Zhen let the girl go, pleased her enthusiasm seemed to have sank in properly. She looked around, added a few answers onto the crossword, and then took to gazing out the window. Or, she had been gazing out the window, then she started drawing little things in the frost patterns on the panes. Like stars, and hearts and all that kind of thing. She was starting on a little monkey, and then started doing animals. She was patient, just waiting for Evie.

Heeding Zhen’s “let’s go fast!” comment, Evelyn hastily stripped out of her nightclothes and into the dress. But no amount of rushing was going to make her forgo pinning her hair up –albeit the result was considerably less groomed than her typical look. The dress was designed for the indoors and summer, so she pulled on white sweater-jacket – the only outerwear she owned that would entirely cover up and dull the color. She finally wrapped on a reddish scarf, whose color was bright against the outfit even if it wasn’t by itself, and – as if to prove to Zhen that she could be colorful – Evelyn scavenged for a tube of red lipstick from her small vanity.

She began applying the color in swift, hurried strokes and -- what the hell was she doing?! Evelyn stopped her hand and stared in horror at her reflection. Her hair, half-pinned, loose strands messily cascading down around her… the garishly bright color glaring from her mouth… wearing a dress ill-suited for nearly every activity she attended to go someplace she didn’t know with some girl she had just met… this. Wasn’t. Her!

She grabbed a napkin and tried to blot some brightness off her lips – but the color wasn’t going to give up so easily. Straightening up, and trying to regain some of the self-control her reflection clearly didn’t show, Evelyn made her way out of the room, ready to tell Zhen that she had come to her senses and was not going anywhere with the girl.

Zhen turned back towards the door when Evie got back and she smiled brightly. "Oh, you look nice!" she said. "Though I'd leave the hair down. I get the feeling you wear it up all the time and you know there's nothing quite so sensual as a woman who's got her hair down in a nicely touchable fashion." she told her matter-o-factly. "Trust me! It'll get attention for you! Anyways, are you ready to go?" she asked, walking up and offering her hand.

“Thanks… ” Evelyn replied, momentarily distracted, as she peered warily at the girl. Flattering though it was, she was hard-pressed to accept fashion compliments from a girl who, well… was there really a need for explanation? Although, Evelyn begrudgingly admitted that Zhen did look quite pretty – she just wasn’t sure if it was because of the outfit or simply in spite of it. Either way, it didn’t change the fact that she was annoyed with herself, and slightly peeved at Zhen, for going as far as dressing the way she had.

And Evelyn was not going to budge on the hair issue. Even if it probably would have looked better down – she could show at least some self-control today. And honestly – with the careless manner she had pinned it up in – she wouldn’t be surprised if the hair fell down during walking anyway. Focusing Zhen’s attention away from the hair issue, Evelyn asked, “So, where are we going?”

She didn’t take Zhen’s hand, but rather made her way towards the exit and waited for the girl there. And—hadn’t she returned to say she wasn’t going? But now that she was downstairs, and already dressed (if only technically), and a touch of Reason-defying curiosity was starting to eat at her… Evelyn had resigned herself to seeing this through.

"It's a surprise." Zhen told her, skipping over to the exit with Evie. Then she opened the door with a flourish, stepping outside and she bowed deeply, as if presenting the girl to the whole world that lay beyond the door. "You'll just have to wait and see!" Though for once, Zhen actually did have a specific location in mind and wouldn't be just randomly wandering around doing whatever struck her fancy at the time. She occasionally did wish granting, or as much of that as she could, and she was on a mission now, damnit.

Evelyn adjusted her scarf and hugged her white jacket even tighter around her. It wasn’t that she was cold, just… horribly self-conscious of her appearance at the moment. Although she worked to seem nonchalant about the whole thing, she couldn’t stop her hand shooting up to try to adjust her hair. Bringing it back down, she quickly played it off as being vain rather than self-conscious.

She followed Zhen without bothering to ask where they were going again – it was clear the girl had no intention of telling her until they got there. In the back of her mind a little warning voice kept telling her this was a bad idea, but she kept her face calm as she clutched her purse tighter. It was a small comfort, but the small knife her brother had given her before moving out brought a little bit of security.

Zhen walked along, looking around and then back towards Evelyn. "You look so uncomfortable! Relax!" she said. "And if you're worried--it's broad daylight, we're not going towards any alleys and on the street with tons of other people, you know." she pointed out. "Haven't you ever just gone off the path a little?" she asked, genuinely wanting to know.

Feeling more uncomfortable knowing Zhen had noticed her uncomfortable-ness, Evelyn gave a nonchalant shrug as she answered, “I try not to.” It was true. When she had a goal, she had tunnel-vision. For a large part of her life that goal had been getting out of this city and into a university. But when that didn’t happen, she had felt lost until she determined that she would just have to move out of her parents’ place and move up within the city. Unfortunately she didn’t have a specific plan for achieving that yet.

“Anyways, my brother is off the path enough for the whole family.” Her parents didn’t need her getting in trouble as well; she was the youngest, and couldn’t help feeling that her whole family worried about her more because of it. And she didn’t want them to worry, or try to fix things, or baby her… so she had always made a point of taking care of and controlling herself.

"You try not to what? Relax? Or find your own way?" Zhen asked, tone curious as she watched the girl out of the corner of her eye as they walked. Then she paused as she thought things over. "Well, off the path his own way, I would imagine, which would still mean you were following if you went along the same one. I'm talking about your own." she clarified. It was odd. She'd had the same type of conversation with people before, and they always seemed to take what she said as news, or didn't follow well unless it was pointed out like they were idiots--even if she was aware they weren't. It required patience, which Zhen had a lot of.

“I do go my own way! …and I relax,” Evelyn muttered a bit defensively. “I just… set my goals – what I want – and I work for it. What I try not to do is… fall off my path.” It was largely true, even if her path had never been one of intentionally living outside the mainstream. She had long ago determined that, to best get what she want, a significant knowledge of social norms would help her more-so than throwing them out the window. But even if it was mostly true, her voice couldn’t summon the complete confidence behind it – simply because she really didn’t know what she was specifically aiming for now. She only knew that she didn’t want to be where she was. It also didn’t help that every decision she made to better herself seemed double-edged.

Zhen laughed a little. "You went and put on something beautiful, then immediately did your best to cover it all up. You've been fussing with your hair. You're clearly a person ruled by the status quo. What other people think is key to you. And that dictates your behavior. That's hardly your own path." she said, even if her tone wasn't in any way sharp. "And you wouldn't be so uptight about even the suggestion that you do something different if you could relax. We're just having a conversation, Evie. But you sure are taking it personally and seriously and offensively, if you really look at it."

Well, that shut her up. For now. But she wasn’t really humble in her silence, more… sulky. Yeah, she didn’t appreciate that viewpoint in the slightest. Unfortunately Zhen’s critique on her self-consciousness and uptightness only served to exacerbate the problem. But, harshly aware of it now, Evelyn was damned if she was going to fidget or something to betray that fact. She wanted to cross her arms or thrust a fist upon her hip before responding. But Zhen had already observed her offended nature, and she didn’t want to prove the girl right any further.

God, what she’d give to have pockets to shove hands into right now! Instead she settled for just keeping them limply by her side, sighing. “Was there actually something you wanted to show me, or did you bring me out here to tell me what I’m doing wrong with my life?” Even though the girl’s tone was closer to that of an observation than critique. “I could’ve just stayed home, after all.” And, right now, Evelyn was starting to wish she had – did anybody enjoy being critiqued by some girl they just met?

"Oh, I haven't said you were doing anything wrong." Zhen said, looking back. "But the fact that you took it that way makes me wonder if you wonder that." she continued. "All I've been doing is telling you what I see. If you choose to view it like it's negative, or that you percieve that others might think it's wrong..." she shook her head. "You second-guess a lot, don't you?" she asked, though it was rhetorical. "Yes, I have something to show you. It's just up here." she said, making a vague gesture up the street. There was a store there, though she didn't point at it specifically.

… Talking to this girl was just one big mindfuck – or a mine field. Whatever it was, Evelyn’s mind was feeling increasingly agitated and battered throughout their discourse. God, she hadn’t even showered or eaten anything to be thinking so hard about what she said about what Zhen said about what she said… and what all that did or did not reveal about her (Evelyn). It was just… ugh.

She was relieved when Zhen hinted that the place was close, and picked up her pace as she followed the direction of the gesture. She would have preferred to go the whole way without talking, but completely ignoring Zhen as the girl took her someplace Evelyn didn’t know about seemed… infeasible. So, glancing at the girl from the corner of her eye, she asked,

“So, what about you? What’s your story?” It occurred to her that she really should have asked that question before agreeing to wonder off with the girl, but better late than never. Anyways, she definitely preferred Zhen talking about Zhen to Zhen talking about her at the moment.

"My story is a little of this, a little of that." Zhen said. "I've moved all over the world. I've seen different cultures and different people, and all of them are fascinating." she shared. "Originally I'm from China. I got here a few years ago, and it's one of the stranger places I've been. America is strange in general." she continued, noticing that Evelyn had picked up the pace, though she didn't actually keep up with her, staying at her own sort of leisurely one.

Evelyn stopped a moment and glanced back at Zhen as she answered. She found the girl’s response… to be really interesting, actually. She herself had never been outside of the city, even though she had avidly read numerous books and magazines about other places. “That’s… interesting.” Her bruised ego wouldn’t let her admit how truly she meant that, though. She really wanted to know more about the other places, particularly countries, Zhen had been; instead Evelyn only asked, “How’s it strange?”

"Well," Zhen said, shrugging one shoulder. "It's dubbed to be the land of the free." she said. "But it spawns people who all want to be copies of one another." she said. "It seems like while there's a feeling of freedom, there's so much self-imposed repression that it almost makes having it not worth what it's sold for. Granted, other countries are repressed as well, just in other ways. It's just odd to view a culture who doesn't have all the restrictions put upon them by government, and yet they run around doing it themselves. I can't quite figure out why people do that."

Evelyn wasn’t sure if she should answer, especially since Zhen had just made a similar observation about her… or maybe she was the only one making that connection. Huh, she normally wasn’t this self-conscious… or maybe she was, and just hadn’t known it. Well, what Zhen considered repression, Evelyn – up till now – had always thought of as self-control; and – up till now – she would’ve thought that was a good thing. And she still did! Although, it seemed, that when she tried to say as such to Zhen… she couldn’t really manage it with the certainty she felt. She didn’t like that. In fact, she was starting to realize she wasn’t liking a lot of things about her behavior, or reactions, when she was around the girl – short though the time was. Trying to remedy that, Evelyn decided she would speak up.

“Well… maybe, for some people, it’s not repression. Maybe… they feel they can get some things – things they want – by behaving a certain way.” Okay, so maybe Evelyn wasn’t really talking about the entire country, here. “I mean, you’ve got to figure out what you want… and you’ve got to figure out what you’re willing to risk, or sacrifice, to get it.” Her voice was steadier here, because this was a Fact of Life she had long since adhered to. “Some people stay focused on their goal. They control themselves because… not doing so might cost them that goal.”

"Oh, I'm sure they do feel that way." Zhen said, not appearing to latch onto the fact that Evelyn was talking about herself, even if she did. She'd put it in a hypothetical manner, so she would continue it. "But I'm also sure if everyone always did exactly as the rest of the world thought they should, that eventually they aren't going to be doing so well. Do you ever wonder why people have breakdowns? Or mid life crisises?" she asked. "It's because they stop and look around at their life, and realize that it's all cardboard cut outs of what they'd been told they wanted. Or pretty little lies all wrapped up in a bow, but that doesn't make it any less a lie. It's recognizing that their life is just as two dimensional, because all they did was go through life following some path, or behaving ways other people told them to." she said. She got to the shop door and held it open politely for Evelyn. "There are always ways to get what you want. And there are also sacrifices to be made at times. But doing it your own way...it's much more satisfying than letting the rest of the world tell you how to be. People would be happier for it if they let themselves breathe. And people remember the bright birds so much better than the ones who blend into the background."

Evelyn bit her tongue. Unfortunately it was because she didn’t have a response instead of her holding in some witty comeback. She had already thrown out her best argument, but the girl had smoothly disassembled it in a manner that left Evelyn feeling her most uncomfortable – which was really saying something, seeing how the morning had gone. Oh, Zhen’s words had affected her… but she ignored it for now as she walked into the shop, and took a quick look around before turning back to Zhen. “… Where are we?”

"We are in a hobby shop." Zhen told her with a bright flourish, throwing her arms up into the air like she was presenting something awesome. "Annnd we're going this way!" she said, dashing off through the aisles, and stopping not that far away. She bowed and presented a row of shelves. "Pick one." she said. "Or pick more than one if you're feeling adventurous." The wall of products were all model planes.

Evelyn’s brow furrowed as she looked where Zhen directed; … model planes? Her eyes widened in surprise as she took that in. Although Zhen had said she wanted to show her something, Evelyn had chalked it up to the girl’s spastic nature rather than anything she had actually said… In spite of the discomfort she felt around the girl, a corner of her mouth quirked up into a small smile as she bent down and surveyed the selection. Then she straightened up and looked at Zhen.

“Model planes… are you serious?” The tone wasn’t entirely disapproving. It was more asked as if she were… waiting for the other shoe to crop, or for her to wake up, or for something to happen to make sense of this venture. Because people just really, really didn’t act like this. Most people just ignored a complete stranger sitting in a room doing a crossword puzzle – Evelyn would ignore a complete stranger and go about her day. People did not start talking animatedly to the stranger, and then drag the stranger along to a hobby shop because they admitted something silly like building planes. So yeah, Evelyn was a bit… wary and confused about the whole situation.

But as she asked the question, one particular model caught her eye; and after reading the label she couldn’t help reaching out and grabbing it for a closer look. It was of a Lockheed L-10 Electra, and Evelyn really couldn’t but smile a bit at that: it was Amelia’s plane.

"I asked you to make a wish, didn't I?" Zhen asked. "Well, I didn't ask for no reason! I was planning on granting it in whatever way I could, and so here we are. You wanted a plane, so...let's get you a plane." she said firmly, with a nod as she stood back so Evie could look them all over. She looked over Evie's shoulder as she chose one, and she smiled. "Earhart!" she said. "Brilliant. Do you want that one?" she asked.

Evelyn was torn between saying “Thank you for the thought” or “You’re really weird”. Really, it was a matter of her earlier distaste for the girl combating with her softer mood now that the purpose of the trip had been revealed. At Zhen’s question Evelyn put the plane back and turned around. A tired smile was the best she could manage as she faced the girl, “Thanks, for the thought… most people wouldn’t have done something like this.” A compromise of the two responses. “But I should really save my money.” She gave a genuinely apologetic shrug with a hint of regret. Because the gesture was sweet, though very odd, and because Evelyn knew that her money really should be saved and put to better use.

"Who said anything about you paying for it?" Zhen asked. "I wouldn't be much of a wish granter if you had to pay for it, now would I?" she continued in a 'silly girl!' tone. "That would just be mean! And not at all fun or good for you! No, I was going to be getting it. I just wanted you to pick out which one you wanted." she said with a firm nod. Then she picked up the set again, and started to head towards the counter.

Evelyn didn’t know how to respond. It seemed that trying to refuse the girl’s offer would just be rude… which was the last thing you wanted to do when somebody was trying to do something nice, right? Disinterest, or aggression, or rudeness she could handle – she had to with her job. Evelyn dealt with assholes and cheeky behavior on a daily basis, it was familiar territory. But this act of… random niceness? She wasn’t a stranger from thoughtful acts such as this… it just usually came from her family and close friends. That was normal. From a complete stranger…? That was abnormal.

She followed Zhen to the counter, and watched the girl pay for the model. “Thanks. But you didn’t have to do this. I mean, why would you do this?” Evelyn was grateful, but she couldn’t help feeling suspicious as well. In this city, people just didn’t do randomly nice things for strangers without a catch.

Zhen handed the bag over to Evelyn, and smiled. "Because I can." she said. "And you looked like you needed a little brightness in your day." she added. "I hope the rest of it will be good!" she added, leaning over and very quickly smooching Evie's cheek. Then she started away, waving over her shoulder. "It was nice meeting you!" she called.

Evelyn watched the girl go, feeling mentally… well, she wasn’t sure. She imagined it was the feeling someone would get if a disastrous tornado ripped through their living room only to finally leave with only a few pictures hanging sideways as the rest of the room seemed untouched. In the same way the homeowner wouldn’t believe his eyes, and couldn’t shake the feeling that the foundation or something had to be cracked after such an event… well, Evelyn was kind of feeling that now. Zhen had arrived, shed a criticizing light on the most profound truths of her existence, granted her a wish, and then vanished. And she was still double-checking that the foundation of her being hadn’t cracked or something.

Feeling the shopowner’s eyes on her, Evelyn gave him an awkward smile and walked towards home. And, lost in thought about the morning’s events and constantly glancing down at the model in the bag, she made it all the way home not realizing she hadn’t picked at her dress or adjusted her falling hair. It had just been that odd of a morning.