What could be more relaxing? (Demetra)

[Demetra Katsaros]

"Eh, my idea of fun is probably different from most people," I replied nonchalantly as I punched in my number onto Connor's cell phone. I guess I was planning on having him at least do that, since I wasn't going to write it down on a piece of paper and hand it to him, but oh well. It wasn't the end of the world. "Tai chi is just one form of exercise for me. I also swim and jog, but not competitively. I don't like how fierce and pressured some teams get about winning, so I'd rather just try to beat my own times." See, I didn't really have a problem with losing myself. I try my best, and if somebody did better, well, then they earned the winning title. Other people don't see it the same way. They get into arguments about why they lost. They feel deep disappointment if they don't win, which might cost them wins in the future. I wasn't interested in encouraging the behavior or being part of that vicious cycle.

I slid the phone back to his side of the table. My contact was under Demetra. I thought about putting a smiley face, but that was kind of tacky, and he had no way of seeing it anyhow. I supposed he had to ask some one else to go through his contacts and place the call for him until he figured out how to use it, maybe memorize the order and placement of buttons. "But uh, I'm not just an airheaded jock." Okay, I wasn't even a regular jock. I didn't really like labels, anyhow. "I do a lot of research, and not just for school. If I'm curious about something, I look it up. I spend a fair amount of time at the library, just browsing through books or occasionally using the Internet. You just have to be careful of your sources."

Hmm. This water was going fast. How could the peanut butter sandwich be so good and yet so evil? "And of course, I love any volunteer work for about any good cause. I don't really see why people think of it as work just because you don't get paid. All the activities are free, and you get to meet some really nice people." I sighed. Whenever people asked me about myself, I felt like I talked too much. It wasn't that I didn't like blabbering. I just assumed that people wanted to speak about other things besides me.

"What about you? What kind of stuff are you into?"

[Connor Dwyre]

The phone was returned, and Connor would mess around with it later. As she spoke, his focus was still on her. She was deep, not superficial. Connor liked that about her. She also seemed honest, which was another quality that was exceptionally hard to come by. He chuckled at the airheaded jock comment. "I wouldn't have pegged you for an airhead, or a jock. You are more intelligent than a good deal of people I've come across, and you're athletic cause you keep in shape. That's not being a jock. That's taking care of yourself."

Connor had also nodded in agreement with her view on competition. He was alright if he lost in something. He had lost a number of sparring matches and was alright with them all. It was just more experience and taught him more than if he had won.

She held a lot of interests, and all of them were about being kind, helping others, or bettering herself in one way or another. When she asked about him, he felt he paled in comparison. "Well, like I said, I'm not exactly exciting. I spend a good deal of time reading. I love to learn about anything. I also love music. Though, not exactly a big rap fan. It's a bit... harsh on the ears, some of it." He smiled. "I love to train, but mostly, I love to just wander. At night, when it's dark, I feel like I'm at home. The night sounds, the small things like the rippling of water, or the scent of something pleasant in the air. Things most people miss with all the noise or sights to distract them."

He sighed. It was boring. To most, anyway. "Everyone misses the small things because of just that. Their small. I can't, because it is what I have to go on. But, yeah. Reading, training, and just taking a walk. I'd like to volunteer to help out, but the organizations don't usually accept help from me. I'm not looked at as much more than a liability." He shrugged. "So, I donate where I can." He did also sing, but it was private, and in the sanctuary of his room, when he knew he was alone.

The sandwich had taken all the moisture form his mouth, and the water supply was dangerously low. Such a good sandwich, but such power within! It was unfair.

"I know... boring. But, I don't really need much. I like living simply."

[Demetra Katsaros]

"Hey, I'm the judge on what is boring," I told him sternly as I wagged my peanut butter dotted finger at him. Upon realizing the aforementioned feature of my digit, I licked it off. He didn't see that, right? Err, I should say, he didn't have any way of knowing...
"That's not boring at all. There's no reason you have to live up to other people's expectations of what is considered fun. Loud parties and barrels of booze don't have to be any more enjoyable than a quiet evening if you don't want it to be." I sighed and leaned my head onto my hand, which was propped up by the elbow supported by the table (Lord, I'm like a piece of architecture).

"You know, you're much deeper on that level than I could ever be." Did I mean that? I was a pretty passionate person, very hardcore about what I was into, my beliefs and such. I guess I meant 'deep' in a different way.

I chewed lightly on my bottom lip (not too hard-- don't want any bleeding here) as I thought about how to explain what I wanted to say. Oh. Maybe that was just it. "For one, you have a way with words. I don't find myself at a loss for words very often, but when I do, it's usually about describing something. The way you speak about nature and stuff is like poetry. I can use all the fancy words I want, but I'll never be artistic in that way. And because I lack it, I respect it." Hmmm. I still wasn't sure if I was making sense. Well, I had to be making sense on some level. After all, I was speaking the English language in fairly well-structured sentences. But I couldn't get at the feeling that he evoked, the one that I could never reach, and that was exactly it. Since I couldn't, it further proved that I couldn't. Ah ha.

[Connor Dwyre]

She had spoken in a sudden sternness, but he understood. She was right. Loud parties weren't always exciting, and Connor found more excitement in a good book than at a booze filled rendezvous. He didn't know about her peanut finger, and so he had not commented on it. Her next words caused him to pause.

Poetic? He blushed a bit. He wasn't used to being complimented like that. Well, not much at all. Sara had given him a co0mpliment about his fighting, but that was it. This was, as she had put it, deeper. Connor didn't have much of an explanation. It was just the way he was. "I... enjoy peace. I read a lot, and I guess the poetry sticks with me more than other things. I never thought it influenced my speech though." Apparently it had, for she had just pointed it out.

"I find beauty in simplicity, and in the small things that I am happy I don't miss. It's rare that I find anyone I can share those things with. Few people even go out at night just to walk around and take it in, without using their eyes." His mind took over, and his face reflected thought, something he had been thinking about for a long, long time. "Eventually, I hope to find someone I can share those things with, and they don't find me weird for it." He 'looked' up, and shrugged.

"Hasn't exactly happened yet. And I fear if I hold my breath, I'll pass out long before it does." He grinned. "Se la vie." The sandwich was now gone, and Connor gave a slight frown at that. The water, which had been refilled, would be refreshing. However, something even more refreshing than the cool flow of water from glass to mouth was his shared conversation with Demetra. He very much hoped that this would not be the last time he would get to spend time with her.

[Demetra Katsaros]

Yay! More water! Alright, so it wasn't as exciting as my exclamation points make it seem, but I did like water, and I was still pretty thirsty. Still, my mouth would be busy continuing this conversation with Connor for a bit more before I would let it pause to take a sip.

"Awww. Don't worry about it too much," I reassured him. Was he talking about romantic love with a partner, or was he just merely suggesting that he wanted a deeper relationship with a platonic friend who could share his simple joys in the world? I'd try not to direct his statement one way or the other. "Sometimes it's hard to find people you connect with on that level. It's difficult for even those who you would assume to be incredibly lucky with the life they have. Everyone is different, and it's our uniqueness that often makes it hard to fit into each others' shoes and walk in them for awhile. People don't always remember that we have to take a step back and look at what makes us all the same in order to create these bonds."

I could obviously relate a bit to what he was saying. Now, it wasn't that I couldn't find people to get along with; I was just constantly searching for something deeper, and no, this was not a search for love. It was a search for somebody who understood what direction I was coming from, what I wanted to do with my life, and why it was so incredibly important, from the little decisions I made each day to the battles I was eventually faced with, often due to somebody's ignorance. The closest thing I had to this was my mom, and hey, there were some dumb people who thought I was lame for treating my own mother like a friend, as if parents were off-limits to be a buddy. But those people weren't the ones I was looking for.

"Anyway, it's been really great talking to you," I went on after allowing myself to take a gulp of water, "but I should get going. I keep pretty busy, if you couldn't guess." I stood up and ruffled my hands through his hair as I passed him by. "You have my number, though, so you can give me a call sometime."

[Exit Demetra.]