They're just legends [o]

[Alexandra]

<sup>The sound of the car engine coughing its last breath before it turned off both shocked and embarrassed her. Quickly, before turning the wheel to pull up the car window, Alex popped her head out and gave the vicinity a quick scan in search of any curious eyes that might have heard the loud hack. Thankful the coast was clear, she turned back to stare bemused at her wheel, sighed against it, and closed her eyes. ”Please be ok.” She whispered quietly under her breath before moving to grab a jacket on the co-pilot seat and head over outside to the park, looking back once at her car with troubled eyes.

Evening had settled over the park and the sun was just shooting off its last rays of yellowy-orange over the horizon, riming almost every silhouette casting a shadow against it in gold. Alex loved the sunset. Even though it was slightly chilly that evening, the dying sun’s warm colors always reminded her of summer, her favorite time of the year, when she got to stay at Uncle Borris’ place across the southern forests. It was the one place where she could truly relax and not have to tear her hair off worrying over her mother by herself, since her Uncle was even more of an expert than her in taking care of the frivolous woman.

A girl suddenly interrupted her flashbacks. Alex blinked as if waking up from a trance, realizing with a hopeless smile that she’d walked all the way across the park and now stood at its center, alongside a bench where the girl just got up from. “Earth to Alex! Where you daydreaming?” The girl, whom she knew as Sam, waved her hands across Alex’s face and almost shouted. She looked astonished, though Alex knew she was only mocking her. “Was not.” Alex replied and pushed back Sam’s fuzzying hands from her face. “Suure.” Sam said with a smirk, laughed it off a little, and went on. "Well, whatever. You must be dying to know what I called you here for.” She quickly began, settling into a high-pitched voice and girlish posture better known to Alex as gossip-babble-mode. She was happy to see Sam again, but despite herself, she inwardly groaned. "Sam, you’re just lucky my shift finished early today and caught me actually driving nearby. I’m supposed to be home making dinner.” Alex quickly refuted, pocketing her icy hands into her jacket as dusk fell closer down to earth. Sam continued as if she hadn’t listened at all. “So like I was saying…I saw it. Don't put on that face yet. It was real this time! Y'know...Near the outskirts… I swear-“ And off she went again about the midnight creatures that only she seemed able to spot near the forests. Alex couldn’t believe she’d been pulled off her route to listen to her prattle off about scary stories again, though Sam did get into the most amusing moods when she told spooky stuff. And as always, she was powerless to stop the girl from pulling on her arm to walk besides her across the nearly-empty park. She occasionally replied with a ‘yea’ or an ‘oh, really?’ as her friend talked her heart out about her sights and overactive imagination. She was an unstoppable force, but she’d make sure to slip away somehow before her family would be forced to head to bed without their dinner. However, she’s rarely free to hang out these days. So she smiled warmly at Sam as they walked by the park, chatting about the town's urban legends.</sup>

[Lance Talon]

It was obscure, to say the least of things, that Lance, being the Griffin that he was, to wander into werewolf territory. It was all but against the rules and was pretty much begging a fight from anyone who happened to catch him. However, Lance had wanted to get out of the conformity for a bit and enjoy himself looking around different territory and things. He was in his human form, appearing more of a tall Irish man with characteristic red hair than an actual Griffin, anyways. In the back of his mind, Lance had already figured that if there was some sort of confrontation with a werewolf, he would simply deny that he was a Griffin all together and pretend to be confused and the like. It was all set up rather well in his mind at least.

Walking the park had not been the first idea that the Griffin had arrived at, but it was more of an after thought of coming to the place in itself. He wanted a look around, a look around everywhere, and so he continued walking with his hands in the pockets of his jacket just viewing the area as a whole. As he turned his head a fraction, Lance caught sight of what appeared to be two girls talking near the center of the park. Shrugging his shoulders, he started walking over.

[Alexandra]

“You’re positive it wasn’t just a stray dog or something? I mean -do you hear yourself when you talk about these things?” Alex stared at her friend with a look that clearly questioned her sanity, though Sam knew she was just dramatizing a bit. Still, Alex’s act wasn’t humorous enough to keep her from frowning and pouting, like a child. Like her mom. God, she’s so much like her sometimes! Alex thought and laughed inwardly before Sam broke in again. “Aren’t you supposed to be my friend? Friends are supposed to trust each other. And if you won’t believe me, who will?” Typical Sam, resorting to dirty tricks. Perhaps thinking her case was rapidly reaching its dead-end conclusion for the night, Sam tried tapping into Alex’s guilt as a last resort, puppy-dog eyes and all, but that was an ancient trick.“Sam, you can’t be serious…” She kept staring and just then Alex thought if the trick was ancient, then she should be dust for still falling for it. “T-There’s Katy…and Michael.” Alex sighed, brushing her fingers through her hair in frustration as she pulled her face back and changed the view from the cropped, green pasture of the park to the twinkling stars poking through the setting twilight.

There was hardly a sound to distract Alex but the faint rustle of their shoes crushing the fresh grass and the distant ring of far-away laughter. Maybe that had been a boy and his dog taking an evening stroll. Or some child and its parents packing up to go home after a fun picnic day at the park. In either case, the laugh had been cheerful and genuine. Alex’s chuckle was sarcastic and nervous. "You want me to go with you. To check it out.” She stated matter-o-fact. She knew how Sam’s mind worked. She knew every loophole. "Come on Alex. It’ll be fun.” Sam insisted further, burying her pretty blue eyes into Alexandra’s almost-silver ones and making her bite her lower lip. Since when are the outskirts fun?

But just before Alex would commit herself to an exhausting weekend at her friend’s cabin at the woods, Sam surprised her by signaling into the distance. “Hey look.” She said, peering intently through the dim lighting of the lamp posts. “That guy sure doesn’t look like he’s from around here.” Alex shifted her gaze trying to follow her friend’s line of vision, squinting as she tried focusing her sight through the shallow darkness. It was just another person, she thought at first as she saw him walking –apparently toward them. But on a closer look, he did bare distinct characteristics. For one thing, he had dark red hair, like burgundy. Alex hardly saw any redheads around town and none of them where guys. “Hello!” Sam’s voice suddenly drifted toward him as he got closer and the girls stopped their already slow walk. Alexandra snapped a shocked stare at her as she waved her hand up in an obviously friendly beckon. “Oh relax Alex.” She murmured under her breath before beaming toward the stranger when he finally closed the distance. “Hi there. You new around these parts?” Sam asked without reserve. Alex looked away unbelieving, combing locks of her dark hair back with her fingers again before looking back at the mystery guy and murmuring a small ‘hello’ of her own.

[Lance Talon]

All but overly pleased by the greeting from the girl, Lance waved his hand back with a half smile. "Why hello," he answered back as the red haired man walked up to the two girls now fully in sight. A half smirk was mixed with a half smile written onto the red haired man's face giving him the obscure look of someone ready to burst out laughing for some reason beyond what others could possibly see. Despite this, the girl who had called out the hello appeared, at least in Lance's mind, to be rather pleased herself that he had acknowledged her. "Yep, I'm somewhat new around these parts," Lance continued with a shrug of his shoulders. "I just wanted to get out for a bit and see what there is to see around here."

Not very perceptive of the fact the other girl did not appear to be as enthusiastic as her friend to talk, Lance put his arms behind his head and put up another smile. "So I'm guessing you two are from around these parts?" he grinned a bit to himself. He was all the more willing to hold up a conversation with a human that appeared interested... human... Yet they were both human, at least as it appeared again to Lance's thoughts. He had been around humans long enough to distinct them from other beings pretty easily. He also found them to be a fantastic race of beings who knew how to have a lot of fun. "Is there anything fun to do in this town by the way?" he asked with another grin.

[Alexandra]

How could she just suddenly switch her attention so entirely to a complete stranger? As if Alex had up and vanished into thin air. It was irritating, even though she did know that when it came to guys, Sam did tend to become blondish, but friends just don’t do that. In fact, she wanted to give that thought a shout out to her dearest friend, but then something coursing calmly behind her angry thoughts told her to keep her mouth shut and let Sam’s thoughts drift elsewhere and away from certain, sweaty doom near the woods, away from her mom. So instead of letting her annoyance bubble up, Alex distracted herself by looking over the guy that had caught Sam’s attention so fully while they get acquainted. A good look this time.

As she thought before, his hair seemed like an oddity for some reason. Which was a weird thought itself. She’d seen redheads before –maybe not one so dark, but who’s counting?- but his seemed uniquely different, like glistening ruby instead of that ill, pale chestnut. Other than that, his skin was light, which wasn’t really uncommon around here, and he had…hazel eyes? She wasn’t sure. It was too dark to see clearly. Then she realized that she must have looked like an idiot staring at him like that while they talked, so she focused on whatever it was that they were talking about instead and noticed he was smirking. “What’s so funny?” Alex had asked, tilting her head and furrowing her brows with curiosity, but Sam had continued without letting her interrupt. "I live around here. Alex is actually from the next town over.”Again, Alexandra fixed another look on her friend’s blondish, she-wished-she-could-smack head. She did not just tell him where she lived! Seemingly unaffected by Alex's glare though, Sam continued with a sly smile, not flirty, but one a bit too friendly for Alex's taste nonetheless. “This town’s lots of fun if you know where to go, when, and with whom. Speaking of, we were just talking of heading over to the outski-“ Before she could finish the deadly sentence, Lady Gaga suddenly started singing Bad romance and broke her off. It took a second for her to search her back pocket and take out her cell phone with the ring tone sounding crazy loud. Alex chuckled as Sam looked into the glowing screen and excused herself to talk to an angry-sounding sister voice and walked away.

Alex stared after her friend, pursing her lips, feeling an itch she had to scratch at the top of her head before putting her hands inside her jean pockets. Leaving her alone with the guy wasn’t fair, but nothing she couldn’t handle. She whirled and met the man’s gaze above her own, suddenly disliking that he seemed bigger than her. “So yea…That’s my friend Samantha. I’m sorry she bothered you. You must have been…busy or something,” She peered past him, wondering why he was all alone and stuff in the middle of the park. She imagined he must have wanted some time alone. She stared back at him then and suddenly blurted without thinking. “So what was so funny before?” One of her dark brows rose quiestioningly just as her lips pressed into a hard line.

[Lance Talon]

Hah... humans will never change.... Lance thought to himself with a grin. He was pleased with this notion... that they would remain a predictable species for at least a little bit longer. Not surprised by Lady Gaga's blurting out and interrupting the conversation, Lance watched for a minute as the girl walked away. Turning his head back and finding that the other girl was staring at him strangely, Lance blinked with the question as to what she was thinking about in mind. As the girl began to talk again, Lance simply went along with the started conversation.

"Ah," Lance answered lightly to the girl's first word. "I'm Lance Talon, and trust me, it's fine. I've met people far more spontaneous than that." He half grinned to himself, and as she brought up the question as to what he had been laughing at, Lance found himself stopping for a minute. "Oh I just have a habit of finding everything humorous," he answered back. "Mostly just your friend's actions in general." He half smirked.

"So you're from a town over? In which direction?" Lance asked mildly with half hearted interest but more or less just wanting to keep the conversation going. Maybe once the other girl came back, they could go out and do some sports or something interesting. It was all a question of things in the end.

[Alexandra]

“Spontaneous” was one word for her, Alex thought with a snort while biting back a smirk that wanted to say ‘You don’t know the half of it’, but that was none of his business.

So. His name was Lance Talon. Really? Lance…She repeated the name several times in her head with deliberate slowness, trying to pin down what it reminded her of. Maybe it was just her, but it seemed sort of knightly. As in, form the middle-ages knightly. But then again, she hasn’t been out much over the last years after moving with her step-dad, so maybe she should keep that thought to herself in case he’d think her old-fashioned or uncool or something like that. Wait, why should she care what he thought of her? Mentally giving herself a quick shake, she listened to Lance answer before he smirked again. “Do they now.” She eyed him carefully, getting the urge to cross her arms over her chest, but resisting the rude gesture.

He continued to talk to her however when she thought she had clearly given him the ok to leave with a last friendly goodbye. “The nearest town from here is Noel. Y’know, couple of miles through the forest? Are you really not from around?” Alex looked dubious of that truth, but she sensed Lance was not even paying that much attention to her. She glanced over her shoulder briefly, her silver-blue eyes searching for the wine-colored coat and bright, blond hair of her friend and finding her almost at the parking lot still speaking into her phone. “Are you hoping for something?” Alex asked after locking back her eyes on him.

[Lance Talon]

The fact that his thoughts were mildly answered at the idea of the girl living in Noel town, Lance half smirked to himself again pleasantly. Hah... he thought to himself resisting an outright laugh as the girl talked about actually not being around the area. "I'm kinda from around here.... but not really," Lance answered back with a shrug of his shoulders. It was easy enough not to give a full description of things when there was no real need of it.

Suddenly blinking a bit as she asked if he was hoping for something, Lance couldn't hold it in anymore and simply laughed a fraction. "Just looking for things to do, ya know? Keep busy, look around, the usual," he answered back thinking about how cheesy it sounded from him. The red haired griffin hidden in human form, put his hands behind his head and stretched.

"I'm just bored is all...." he finished. Boredom... was not an option for one such as Lance. It simply did not conform in his vocabulary and was more of a swear word than anything. This was what had prompted him to step directly into werewolf territory to begin with. The idea of adventure of some sorts... of actually doing something.... However, it also seemed to prompt a few troubles with manners being that it was werewolf territory he was stepping into.

"If you want to go chasing after your friend who's already all but getting in her car, feel free," Lance half smirked again. "It doesn't seem like talking to me would be on your top ten list." Yes... it finally hit Lance that maybe this girl wasn't wanting to actually talk to him which prompted that last set of words. Yet what Lance didn't appear to realizing was that his wording was a bit obscure on the matter he was addressing.

[Alexandra]

<sup>Alexandra kept staring he man like she was trying to pick him apart and scope through his inner workings, or at least figure out what made that smirk of his keep ticking on and on. She could almost swear he was being smug about something, but that would be too presumptuous of her. He was still just a stranger after all. He did seem oblivious to reading moods though. That was a sure sore spot. But she had her manners so she couldn’t outright ignore him. After he spoke again however, she thought it wouldn’t so difficult to do just that.

He had shrugged at his words nonchalantly and all, but it was evident that he didn’t want her prodding into that question further. Either that or he was trying to be mysterious. The thought made her chuckle as she asked “Are you into riddles?” and the words sorta bounced from her tongue as she giggled them through. The man broke into some laughter of his own after her question, which only drew in her curiosity and as he stretched she pondered.

The usual? He was walking by himself through an almost deserted park after sunset. What exactly was he hoping he would find? By the looks of him, he wasn’t carrying anything like a basketball or anything obvious like that. If there were friends waiting somewhere around the vicinity, though she hadn’t seen any more young-looking men on her way from the lot, then they were probably already angry he hasn’t shown up yet. But he seemed too relaxed. Alexandra stole a glance of their surroundings as if to verify the validity of her theories, though she knew they would stay as only that. He spoke again after a short pause, making her look over her shoulder to check on Sam again as he went on and ended with that unexpected statement. So he finally caught on. She stared for a moment, contemplating his words and what o reply to them, before speaking. “This evening had not exactly been on my to-do list of today. Your appearance was not all bad though. It did save me from a trip to survival-camp at the outskirts. And Sam probably does need saving, but I donno. I know who she’s talking to so…” And Sam didn’t seem like she was about to bolt to her car and launch of. “You won’t find much at the park at this hour though.” Maybe she could clue him into not wasting his time randomly walking around the park a dusk.</sup>

[Lance Talon]

Surprised that the girl had brought up the idea of riddles, Lance half laughed to himself retaining an easy smirk. Wasn't thinking of that kinda stuff but hey, whatever.... he thought to himself keeping the grin easily. Guess it was too much to hope for something exciting or extreme at this hour..... he finally sighed to himself not truly pleased with what had finally come to mind as fact. It was like a nuisance now that he had realized it, and Lance was quickly tucking the nuisance out of sight and out of mind completely. Well I guess I could go stir up something or the like with the werewolves... not much into the fighting though....

Looking back at the girl still named Sam as the other girl talked something about the outskirts and things, Lance nodded suddenly feeling somewhat excited. "What's at the outskirts?" he asked with a sudden and very prominent grin on his face. His entire being had seemed to lighten up at the idea of some sort of misadventure or the like out in the middle of nowhere. "Some sort of grouping or something?" he followed up.

((OOC: sorry I didn't reply yesterday. I got a tad sick.))