"Wanna get something to eat?"
Lyra seemed satisfied, and nodded. "Sure."
"There's a shack over there. I'll go get us something," he told her.
"I'll come with you," she insisted.
It was strange how he'd become accustomed to having Lyra by his side. He anticipated that she would hook her arm around his and reacted accordingly, keeping his arm loose and walking at a slow pace.
What on earth was he really doing there in his tacky shirt and shorts? Right. Lyra had asked him to take her someplace nice, and he'd said yes. It dawned on him that he didn't know why as he began to consider the entire purpose of their expedition to the beach. Something about research, or memories?
"You okay?"
"Fine. Just thinking. Remember anything?"
"Not really," she said, sounding a bit discouraged. "But I'm learning plenty."
"About?"
"You know, people. All about people."
"Really." It was less of a question and more of a statement.
"Yeah!"
"Really?" he repeated.
"I never realized how important looks matter," she stated. "And we all have to look a certain way if we want to be attractive."
He wryly added, "Yeah, well, if you ever want to see humanity at its lowest, look no further."
"How so?"
"The beach is the place where you can see how we judge, because we all have to take our clothes off and people get to see what we hide underneath," Adrian said. "Sort of, I mean. You know what I mean. We all have to meet some standard that's virtually unattainable."
"Doesn't that bother you?"
He shrugged. They stooped underneath the hut. "I guess. I guess not." He gave a small laugh, leaning forward to hand the man a dollar. "I can't do anything about peoples' attitudes. I'm only human—excuse me, two please?" He received two Popsicles.
Lyra took one from him. "Thanks." She gave it a lick. "Mm, green apple. My favorite."
"I guessed," he said, giving his cherry treat a lick.
They started to walk back. It was about four o'clock.
"It shouldn't matter how we look," Lyra said as she sat down.
"It shouldn't. But it does."
"Do you judge people?"
Adrian faced her, arching one eyebrow slightly. She seemed so...innocent, almost child-like in her perception of the world. Maybe it was the amnesia or memory loss. Part of him wanted to lie through his teeth, the other wanted to be honest.
"Yes."
"You do."
"I do. I don't pretend not to," he said. "There's nothing worse than a hypocrite. You know. The ones that say that looks don't matter, and say that they don't have any prejudices at all. Looks do matter, and I might judge people in my head even before they even say a word to me."
"But why?"
He sighed. "I don't know. It's how it works. It's how you're raised, your experiences. And what about you?"
"What?"
"Do you judge?"
"I think I forgot how to judge."
He let out a laugh.
"Don't you feel bad for thinking that way sometimes?"
If her questions were bullets, they could pierce armor.
"Sometimes. No one can stop you from thinking." He gave a lick. "People aren't perfect, you know."
"I'm starting to realize it," she said quietly.
He cleared his throat. "Your Popsicle."
"Huh? Oh!" She began to lick at the juices on her hand. "Melting already?"
"Better eat faster."
Lyra took this to heart and began attacking the Popsicle with her tongue, giving long sensual licks and flicking her tongue around the tip, pursing her lips and swallowing some of it down her throat, sticky juices beginning to get on her face, dripping down and falling onto her chest as she gazed at him with wide, curious eyes—
Adrian slapped himself.
What is wrong with you?
"What?" Lyra mumbled, half a green Popsicle sticking out of her mouth.
He covered his face with his hand, unable to contain himself.
She spat the treat out, her lips and tongue green. "What?" She began to laugh along with him. "What? What's so funny?"
For those first few days he'd harbored a sort of crush on Lyra, never really asking himself why he liked her beyond her obvious physical appearance, though her "assets" would have sufficed. A relationship, a real relationship, couldn't be based purely on physical attraction, after all. It certainly did help, but now he was trying to think of the reasons why he liked her as a person.
Lyra was quirky, no doubt about it. A bit of an oddball at times. She laughed a lot and smiled tons. A bit ditzy, but she was intelligent, and...
She was nice to him.
So what?
Lots of people were nice to him.
Perhaps it was when he looked into her eyes, studied her face, her body language, he saw nothing but honesty. There was no deceit to be found. She didn't feel the need to hide some hidden agenda. Her motives behind the day spent there were...strange, but not malicious in any way.
"I...dunno." He shook his head with a grin. "I'm trying to figure out what a girl like you is doing hanging around a guy like me."
Adrian was not naive; he held no delusions of his physical appearance. She did say he was cute, but maybe she was just teasing. He racked his head, trying to think of the reasons why Lyra continued to hang around him.
He was nice. Anybody could be nice.
He was kind, sure. Most people wouldn't think to save someone off the streets.
He was funny? He'd tried telling some jokes at the mall, ones that were, in hindsight, in poor taste. Lyra always laughed at his jokes, even when they weren't jokes. And when they were jokes, she still laugh even when he told the punchline wrong.
He was smart? Again, debatable. And being smart didn't always mean you were attractive. Lyra didn't seem like the type to go for an airhead.
And that hug. Not just a simple hug, but something more. It lasted much too long, and she was the one holding onto him, not the other way around. He had saved her. So maybe she felt as if she owed him? Or did she actually like him?
His head was starting to hurt.
"Why not? You're a great friend."
He didn't show his disappointment.
Just friends, huh. Well, at least that's settled.
Still, the potential was there. Friends first, girlfriend later.
Take it slow.
"Adrian?" She cleared her throat. "Your Popiscle."
Red sticky juices ran down his hand and arm. He grinned sheepishly. "Oops."
Into the water, out of the water, rinse and repeat. They played in the water, making sure to thoroughly splash each other until the two of them emerged dripping and shivering and laughing until they wrapped themselves up in their towels. He showed her how to skip rocks across the surface of the water, and how to swim. On the shore Lyra spent some time combing the wet sand for shells or rocks or anything that caught her eye. They took a nice long walk along the shore as he pointed out kites and seagulls, and they wrote each others' names in the wet sand. He drew a big heart around them for fun.
Night approached. The sun, now an orange disc in the sky, was beginning to dip below the mountains across the ocean. It cast a rather haunting glow across Lyra's features as they watched the sun set. There were several loud hollers and music began to play. A certain song began to play, worthy of a cringe.
Let's go, crazy crazy crazy 'til we see the sun!
"A party!" Lyra jumped to her feet, bouncing around. "C'mon, let's go dance!"
I know we only met but let's pretend it's love!
He resisted as she began to drag him to his feet. "Ahaha, I-I'm not much of a dancer, Lyra..."
One Direction? Really?
A rather large crowd of people, some young and some old, had gathered, and people began to dance in all forms. Elderly couples held hands and swayed back and forth. Teenagers flailed their limbs haphazardly, and some grinded. Children jumped around, unsure of how to join in but still wanting to be a part of it all. Lyra seemed to meld into the crowd as she danced, much, much better than he ever could. She took no particular style and had no form whatsoever, just copying whoever was around her. He reluctantly moved his shoulders, put his hands up in the air like he just didn't care even though he did.
And never never never stop for anyone!
Lyra had caught onto the lyrics of the song by the second verse, and sang along with everyone else. Adrian too had joined in, no longer self-conscious about his dancing. It was no wonder his friends seemed like they didn't have a care in the world when they went to Homecoming with their dates. They danced like fools, there was no doubt. But now, he truly understood what it was like to have a dance partner. With them, you had all the confidence in the world, and the only person that really mattered was them. It didn't matter whether it was a rave or a nightclub or a formal dance.
Tonight let's get some, and
"Live while we're young!"
So Adrian danced. The people around him didn't matter. Nothing mattered, except the girl of his dreams right before his eyes.
The dead of night. Empty streets, flickering street lamps and neon signs reflecting off the wet road and a fine mist on his windshield. Soft piano music played on the Honda's radio. A storm was due tomorrow and it seemed that it had come early to crash their little beach party at around eleven. Lyra wrapped her beach towel tighter around her body, shivering slightly. Adrian didn't have to be told to turn on the heat. Despite the fact that he could have recklessly shot down the road at eighty, he cruised along at a safe speed, using his turn signal and making complete stops to give Lyra a comfortable ride. It was amazing, how it took the affections of one girl to make him accommodate.
Adrian pulled into the lot of the high rise and like a gentleman, opened the door for Lyra and shielded her from the rain as they both scrambled inside. She wrapped the towel around her like a blanket. The ride up to the penthouse seemed like an eternity as they both stood in silence, unsure of what to say to each other. No words had been spoken; were they really necessary?
Lyra gave a sneeze as they entered her flat.
"You should dry your hair. Don't wanna get sick," he said with a smile.
Lyra took his advice, and went into the bathroom. Seconds later he heard the sound of her hair dryer blowing. He scrambled toward her desk, searching for her passport. Upon finding it, he immediately whipped out his phone and began to take as much pictures as he could. He had to work fast.
The hair dryer stopped, and he hid the phone and put the passport back in its place.
She emerged seconds later, her hair a bit messy. "Thanks for taking me out today."
Sure, he felt like a cold was coming on and he had sand between his fingernails and toes and in all sorts of places sand wasn't supposed to be, but it was worth it.
"No problem. I had a great time."
She leaned in and gave him a hug. He gladly returned it, feeling the dampness of her bikini seep through his shirt. His heart raced slightly. The entire ride home had been spent in silence. Lyra was beat, tired from cheering and dancing, and was content to listen to the radio croon. He'd thought about all the ways he could do it.
Now. Kiss her now.
He considered just swooping in. He thought about doing it like the movies. Just one, right on her cheek. All he had to do was turn his head and brush his lips there. Not even a kiss. It was a peck. Even less than a peck. He could do that, couldn't he?
Do it, you wimp.
"Bye!" He waved as the elevator doors shut.
He wanted to. He really did.
His hair still damp, Adrian sat down in his chair and opened his laptop, attaching a USB cable running from his Nikon to the computer. Much like his room, his desktop was cluttered with various files and programs. His mouse clicked twice and he copied the images in a folder.
He'd taken a snapshot of Lyra's passport, and now, he had a good look.
Surname
HARTSTEIN
Given Names
LYRA
Nationality
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Date of Birth
1 March 1994
Place of Birth
WASHINGTON, U.S.A.
"Born in Washington..."
He printed the images out in color and put them inside a portfolio. He went online and did a Google search for the process to look for birth certificates.
Something continued to bother him: Lyra's identity. Her passport was simply too brand new to be issued nearly a decade before. His passport's stitching was starting to fall apart, and the pages were yellow. Lyra's, issued around the same time his was, looked like it had come right off the press. It was just a hinting suspicion, but the journalist in him told him that he should investigate. Plus, he would be able to track down Lyra's parents.
Sets of pushups, sets of curl ups until two in the morning. Every time he wanted to stop, he kicked himself to keep going. The pain was worth it. The end result was worth the effort.
He went to bed sore.
Lyra sat slouched on her couch, idly flipping through the channels on her TV. She balanced her iPad on her lap as she browsed the cornucopia of information to be found on Google and Wikipedia. Her coffee table had an open psychology textbook and an encyclopedia. Humans had all the information in the world at their fingertips, or even just a short walk to the library away. Volumes of encyclopedias and textbooks had more than enough information to satisfy their needs.
So why am I here?
Yes. Why was she the one here? Why couldn't they just do it themselves? Why was she the one having the condense it all into some sort of university research paper?
Of course, she was thankful for this opportunity. This was her dream. She knew there was some sort of caveat. Call it a hunch.
Lyra pushed those thoughts out of her mind, and began reading up on gender roles, and found herself absorbed in what seemed to be polar opposites with her home.
Here, it seemed that men typically dominated. The stereotypical roles of males were to be the breadwinner of the household, while the females remained at home and cooked and cleaned and tended to the children. Efforts to acquire women's rights were a battle for equality, and only recently had there been advancements.
Nudity, at least in the United States of America, seemed to be a taboo. In other countries such as those in Europe, which were much more liberal in some aspects, a topless woman taking a stroll was barely spared a glance.
Social norms, as they called it, had their place in America.
For example, the foreign concept of personal space. There was a time and a place for certain distances of comfort. In a musical concert it was acceptable to be nearly brushing up against another person, while waiting in line or walking on the street, it was not. A simple nuzzle that she thought was normal was considered intimate. Holding hands was reserved for couples and female acquaintances. It boggled her mind.
Human psychology, she found, was especially fascinating. Their minds worked in mysterious ways that psychologists still struggled to understand. At the same time, ponies and humans shared many things. She had started with development from conception to birth. She studied Piaget and Kohlberg and Erickson and delved into theories of human behavior.
Lyra flipped through the pages, finding herself uninterested. While it was interesting enough, the part she needed was to be found in another chapter.
RELATIONSHIPS AND LOVE
This part was the most crucial in her research.
There's a typo somewhere in all of this. I know it.
Ahem. And also...
FIRST BITCHES
1717258 One Direction? You have failed me. Now, I must leave. *Grows a pair of wings and flies away.*
1717276
"Live While You're Young" is soooooo catchy and I hate myself for liking it
Good chapter! No typos as far as I could tell.
Good grief, poor Lyra's going to drive him to madness before she realizes it unless she starts learning about certain things sooooon.
1717285
Reminds me of that Bieber/Slipknot mashup I stumbled across a while back.
1717285
Eh, One Direction is alright. You can't judge people based on their tastes....most of the time!
Ew, One Direction? I mean, I guess if you like it you like it but just... Ew.
Anyways, awesome chapter. The last sentences made me grin like a madman.
1D...
1 fucking Direction...
1 FUCKING DIRECTION
A piece of quality work this is, please continue.
My cursor only went one direction when I clicked on the link......
To the back button..
You should've picked fun by the band that sung Abt getting drunk and high in a bar
Now getting to music, I noticed your in Seattle And I have not seen hide nor hair of NIRVANA!
And I would really love a romantic scene, even if it may be just a dream
One Direction... i hate you for linking that... but i can redirect that hatred at one direction soo... you're forgiven... for now.
Stiiiiiill waiting for Adrian to get surprise-murdered. I suppose assassinated would be more accurate than surprise-murdered, but, I don't think Gilda has a real assassin-thing going for her.
It's pretty rare that I read a story because of the cover image being... eh there's no legitimately classy way to say sexy is there? Not without sounding like you're desperately trying not to sound creepy anyway. But yeah, that art snagged me, but the story looks good so I think I'll be reading.
1717508
The sexiness hooks you in, and then you realize, "Hey, this isn't sex! It's...what is this? I don't know! I'll keep reading! I'll favorite and give the author likes and spread it all over his fac—"
1717515
Like I said, not often that a story jumps at me through sex appeal (there's a reason I haven't checked that ol' "View Mature" box), but the story looks good on its own merit and hence I'll be sticking around.
FINALLY AN UPDATE!
That is weird. I could've sworn I favorited this story when it first came out. Meh, just gives me more chapters to read now.
>In other countries such as those in Europe, which were much more liberal in some aspects, a topless woman taking a stroll was barely spared a glance.
Oh come on, we're not THAT bad.
Though up here in the frozen north it's probably more because taking a stroll topless would be rather stupid most times of the year, and quite uncomfortable for the rest. We DO have a lot less emphasis on the strict social codes that you Vinlanders have, but I'm pretty sure that doesn't apply to, say, the British. Which says a lot of where you got the lot of that from...
Hahaha I love you, and why all the One Direction hate? (Not that I am a fan myself) but there's no need to go AHXDJXNFJCEDJCNEFKJCNRVGTVTGR F*** YOU 1D!
1717258 Fine. You win this round. This is the first and most likely only human-pony story I'll fav, but dammit, you've earned it.
I mean, "If Jason Bourne Had Breasts." BRILLIANT.
1717351 I HEARD THAT.
1717508
From an online Thesaurus when I punched in 'Sexy'.
Main Entry:
sexy  [sek-see] Show IPA
Part of Speech: adjective
Definition: being erotically attractive to another
Synonyms: arousing, come-hither, cuddly, flirtatious, hot*, inviting, kissable, libidinous, mature, provocative, provoking, racy, risqué, seductive, sensual, sensuous, slinky, spicy*, steamy, suggestive, titillating, voluptuous
Antonyms: disgusting, unattractive, unsexy
Provocative*, Seductive, and voluptuous works for me.
(*Since depending on context it can be used to say something is annoying, or to make something worse. I like to imply that it makes one libido worse, if you get what I mean.)
To all the people complaining about One Direction, replace it with I'm A Believer. I don't know why, but that song seemed to fit well there to me.
1717906
You know I didn't just throw it in there just for the heck of it.
"Let's pretend it's love~"
Why the ugly beibers?
Oh and thats the way sand is supposed to be. Braddah would know aftah living tree miles way from da primest beaches in da world.... I think i went a bit overboard with the bragging there.
1717258 Dammit. I was in the bathroom with constipation when this was posted. I finally goot out, hoping I might be first! Well.. Damn. If ur wondering how I knew, its cuz I fav'd and hav it set up for email alerts. My iPod released the Magc Ping of Summoning, elling me either my FB or ymail had updated with new content. And lo and behold, THIS!
Love this story, keep up the good work!
also, i dont give a **** what music i am linked to. if it fits in whatever is happening in the story, im fine with it!
1717969 I HATE sand. I live by a river. Not too much sand over here. Bronx FTW. Oh yeah..JOISEH FIST PUMPIN AN BROOKLYN RAGE! My cousins are hilarious. You should really get cousins from Jersey and Brooklyn. And some from queens. The stereotypes ppl have about nw yorkerrs... Its all in Brooklyn. Manhattan is just...Manhattan. And the Bronx.. Well thats an issue for another day.
1717351 They are not bad, but I dont like them either. I dont DISLIKE them, but I dont like them. Oh yeah.... LET US TELL YOU ABOUT THE WANTED.. Pffttfffbwahahahahahahahahahah! Ow gawd, i love that meme.. Anywho. PARAMORE FOREVER !
Awesome chapter. WHO IS THE DAMN STALKER?!?!??
"bleached hair and errant purple highlight"
IT"S GILDAAAA
EDIT: oh god. I think I just figured out who the mystery employers are... but I'm not going to spoil it just in case I'm right.
well we know whats going to happen
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This is getting serious.
I KNEW IT WAS GILDA!!!!!
1717757
Yup, actually kind of highlights my point about there being no classy ways to say sexy that don't sound like you're creepily trying to sound classy.
1718962
That seems fairly subjective, though it really comes down to the speaker in question I think.
Adrian seems to be trying to moving awful quick to the relationship. He's going to end up shooting himself in the foot.
Lyra's need to study psychology and sociology is interesting. For the most part, those ponies seem to be just like people. Cultural and social norms, taboos and other things might need to be studied upon because there's a lot of things that Equestria does that Earth does not. But ultimately the personalities don't seem much differet.
Looking forward to seeing how this turns out.
I read this instead of sleeping.
Five gay guys step into a bar. What direction are they all looking? 1 DIRECTION.
Eh, author bum'd us on this one, but hey, it was a great chapter to make it up for us...
1717316Oh god no.
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I leave my reaction to our hero's moment of cowardice to the professionals:
cdn.derpiboo.ru/media/BAhbBlsHOgZmSSI6MjAxMi8wNi8yNy8wM18yMV8xMV8zNTJfMjI0NjNfX3N3ZWV0aWVfYmVsbGVfYW5pbWF0ZWQGOgZFVA/22463__safe_scootaloo_animated_sweetie-belle_hearts-and-hooves-day_oh-come-on.gif
That said, I look forward to just how far over his head Adrian is going to get.
NEW CHAPTER?!!!!!!!!
*stops doing the mane of new Vinyl Scratch and Lyra figures*
big man... pig man...
HA HA! Charade you are...
(*stupid adrian... I don't like him...*)
You burn my ears with your musical choices. I gave up the Amelie soundt-track for that!
I'll have you know it was not worth it.
Other the that, good chapter. It's definitely Gilda. I knew it.
1719009
I don't know if you people have ever gone on a date or anything, but trying to give a girl a little peck on the cheek doesn't equal a proposal. They've gone out for two little "dates", and he's attracted to her.
1720735
You seem to be under the impression that characters are reliable and honest. Perhaps you skipped a chapter or three
1720735
She does know that she was a pony from Equestria. She's just living t Adrian about it.
1720933 I don't think so... and it's not a matter of are they really being followed but of Adrain coming to the conclusion that they're being followed. While he might actually be being followed because he doesn't really have much to go on it except he saw the same women twice in two days in a row and on the first day she followed them around for a bit. That's all he has to go on... unless he knows that he was being watched when he was at home.
1720966
I'm talking about Lyra.
1720933
You're half right. I haven't been out for a while. But I knew the last girl I was with for almost a year before I even thought about making a move. So yeah, it's possible. But the concept making a move on someone I've known for less than a week is foreign to me