I remember you

by Strata


The girl

Sombra was never a 'short hair' kind of man. Probably has something to do with the horrible experiences of middle school, being taped to a chair and given an unwilling buzz cut by the local gang of bullies, roaming like vultures, moving from one bit of pray to the next. That's when he started Tae Kwon Do, and problems began to fade, and he was free to grow his hair out as long as he wanted, and his foster mother didn't really care. If there were no nits, it could be down to his ankles. So, he cultivated what he called his 'mane,' a thicket of fluffy black hair that made his head look stupidly big, but in a little bit of a cute way.

He reminisced upon this as he combed it every which way, trying to make it look as good as possible. Half-used containers of gels and shampoos littered the misty bathroom as he clocked his second hour trying to make himself look and smell as good as possible. Okay, two hours is not fair. He was asleep for about one of them, because the smell of "Chick Magnet Cologne" assaulted his senses so violently they simply stopped working. Luckily he didn't get a coronary and woke up some while later, rather groggy. As he finally threw his comb to the floor in frustration, he noticed the bags under his eyes. Cant remember five minutes I haven't thought about Cadence... he realized. It must've been keeping the otherwise well-kept man up at night. He cussed, and ran a hand through his hair, deciding "that'll do."

He emerged from the steam-filled bathroom, putting his tongue in his cheek as he wished he could take the cuss back. He'd been a little irritable, but he put that up to the sleep thing. Fetching a cucumber from the fridge, he chopped off two pieces, and put them in the fridge, planning to use them later.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

ready! and it only took three hours. he internally monologued. straightening the buttoned shirt, he pulled around his belt, and admired himself in the mirror. not bad, not bad. he noticed a glint in the mirror behind him. his sword. the one he had forged after the armour set, the one he usually hung up in the store for decoration. the one that remained white-hot three hours after I finished it. it was a curious blade, it was. rather strangely, he decided to slowly turn around and pick it up from where it was leaning against a wall. Holding it in one arm, he admired the image of himself like that. Strong, powerful, handsome. He was powerful. A slight hot breeze blew through the window, and his hair flapped triumphantly in the wind.CHAMPION.

He dropped the sword, disgusted. He was a humble man. He loved shiny rocks. This tomfoolery with swords wasn't good for his health. He hurriedly left the house, scared of himself. The time was roughly 12:53. The movie was at 1:15. He wasn't going to be late, as the tiny Spanish town was so small, no-one really owned any transport more high-tech than a bicycle. He walked over to Cadence's house on Ken Street, trying to pretend like he didn't recognize it. He knocked on the door, and heard a few voices inside. Muffled.

When the door opened, it wasn't Cadence, like he'd been expecting, but a small, short but very cute and round-eyed girl, he judged to be about seven. They both looked each other dead in the eyes for a few moments, before the Professor smiled and awkwardly said
"hey there little one."
"Hello mister."
she extended a hand, tentatively. It took Sombra a moment to realize that she was asking for a handshake.
"What good manners!" he said as he shook her hand. She kept staring at him. A little unnervingly, and he realized that she wasn't from around these parts. Her skin wasn't as tanned, and her hair was a lively purple. huh. Her parents let her dye her hair at this age? who am I to judge, I suppose. her eyes were quite cute, as they were deep and piercing. Cadence came to the door, and ruffled her hair affectionately.
"met my new toy boy, have you Trace?" she smiled at the professor cheekily. He smiled back, cheeks turning red as Strawberries in the summertime.
"what's a toy boy?" She asked, looking up at Cadence.
"Nothing you need to worry your cute little head about."

At that moment, a car pulled up to the driveway. odd. She must work in the other town. he thought as a tall, slightly pale woman stepped out of the car. Her hair was very long, and she tied it back in a ponytail. It was, keeping in theme, dyed, but this time a wide array of colors. The three ladies certainly did make the professor feel a little dull. the pale woman spoke up.
"Hello, Cadence dear. And who is this?"
"This is the owner of the assorted jeweler on the corner of Malboro. He's taking me to see Quatermass and the Pit."
"classic. Good taste, sir."
"please-" he piped up
"call me Sombra. No-one uses my first name, ha."

the woman's eyes narrowed as she looked at him, seemingly attempting to decipher something. She walked up to him, until they were shoe to shoe. She really was TALL. Quite intimidating. Jeez, she must be almost seven feet. She stopped squinting and shook his hand.
"I'm Tracey's teacher and foster parent, Celeste. Nice to meet you." she said, cautiously. She seemed genuinely mistrusting of him.
"n-nice to meet you too." he muttered. weakly trying to reduce the tension, he spoke again.
"interesting. I was raised my foster parents as well."
"Hm." She then smiled at Cadence and Tracey, and walked indoors.
"take care of her!" she called back in a melodic, sing-song tune.

Cadence turned to Sombra.
"shall we go?"