Unexpected encounter // Open

Usually, Idrys was not that kind of girl who would have gone out alone with no exact goal, only to walk around and look at the city. She sometimes went out to jog by herself, but now it was a whole different story. She had left home in order to spend a cool night with one of her best friends in the city, one she had been talking to about this sleepover for a while now. However, Claudia had ditched Idrys because she had an important car race to attend; she had offered to take her friend as well, but she knew all too well that Idrys was not into this kind of entertainment, so she quickly refused. It was almost midnight when the blonde had left her friend's appartment and was now walking the empty streets all by herself. She was thinking about many things: what Claudia had done, how she missed home and how tiring her job could be. She was thinking of all these, even though they were not connected to each other at all. She entered the narrow alleys of the park, finally picking a bench and sitting down. It was quiet, too quiet; and she could only hear the wind blowing through the leaves and the sound of her own breathing.

outfit.

It was one of those nights that Drew didn't exactly know what he would do with himself, one of the nights he didn't have anything better to do than to roam Berlin, his thoughts far away from where he was physically. A light jacket covered his bear arms, a simple tank-top underneath and jeans, black hair a bit of a mess. He could've done better, but what was the point? It wasn't like a lot of people roamed Berlin's parks at Midnight. At least...that's what he'd told himself when he'd taken a break from the routine at Evanesca. A week off...maybe it would help him think about his choice to join the Academy. Sometimes he wasn't so certain, but what else would he have done? A cop? Nah...not his style. Possibly...he might have settled with something a bit less action-filled. He liked books and history, so he might have ended up there...somewhere. All these thoughts were jumbled and hard for him to understand. At his young age, yet being an adult...he figured maybe, just maybe, he was supposed to understand them a bit better than he did. But he didn't. It's the reason he'd taken a break from the classes, from the sessions, from the...routine. It wasn't that he hated it, but he, just like everyone else he guessed, needed his space at times. Life was a complicated subject, and a fascinating one. So complex and hard to understand at times, yet...fascinating. As his thoughts wandered further from his self, he almost mindlessly took note of the girl. Ok, maybe woman would be a better term...but the girl...she seemed to have just as much on her mind as he did, so he reigned in his thoughts as much as he could and found the courage, surprisingly enough, to approach her. He was cautious at first, a bit unsure of how she would take his approaching her, and found the words, "Are you ok?" It was really the only thing that came to mind for him to say...which he found almost embarrassing, but really...what else would've been appropriate?

Gently crossing her legs, Idrys pulled out her cellphone out of her purse, despite the fact that she was pretty sure that she was not going to do anything with it. She could call one of her classmates from college, but she was not that sure that she actually wanted to talk to any of them. Or she could give Alex a call, but it was a bit awkward for her to call him only because she didn't have someone to talk to. She didn't even know why she was in this weird mood, but she was hoping that it would go away the next morning, when she would have to wake up and head for school, then for work.
Deep in thought, she didn't even notice that someone else was walking the alleys of the park. When she heard that voice so close to her, she almost jumped slightly, raising her hazel eyes to look at the young man. She frowned ever-so-slightly, suddenly wondering if she had seemed really off, and dark, and twisty.
"Hi," she greeted him, nodding quickly. "Yes, I... I'm fine," she assured him, her confused look asking for him to explain why he was there, talking to her.

Drew watched her. He realized he'd startled her and felt a bit bad that he had. That hadn't been his intention, but he understood the feeling of not really being where you physically were. It was a feeling he was quite familiar with although he didn't like to that fact.
He caught her confused look and how she'd answered his question. He thought about taking a step back from her, to try and show that he hadn't meant to startle her, but didn't actually do it. "Ok...You just seemed...well, I don't know...a bit lost?"he struggled for an explanation and he knew 'lost' hadn't been the best word he could've used. His more advanced vocabulary escaped him at the moment though.

Idrys had definetly been a bit off, and she was not even sure why. Let's just say that she had no idea what was happening between her and Alex, and she sometimes felt like she was all by herself in this different city and this different country and she did not know what was going on with her life. Maybe she was just homesick, maybe it was the fact that she had just talked to her parents and her best friends from Texas...
She realized that her reaction had made the young man feel a little bit guilty, so she put on a warm smile, trying to convince him that everything was alright.
"Yes, I guess I was a bit... lost. It's okay," she replied. "I'm Idrys, by the way."

Drew nodded, returning the smile somewhat hesitantly. He was still feeling a bit iffy now that he'd startled the poor girl, making him feel somewhat guilty, but he mentally shook it off for the moment.
"I know the feeling," he told her. "And I'm Drew. At least...Drew is what everyone's been calling me; my full name's Andrew," he said, also returning the introduction.

Being as shy and quiet as she was, Idrys did not make friends easily; she was not even good at starting a conversation with a person she didn't know. But that night, she couldn't lie: she could have used some unknown company, even though she had not necessarily expected for someone to pass by her and more than that, start a conversation. Drew however seemed like a nice guy and she could see that he was just as lost as she was.
"Andrew, that's a beautiful name. Do you mind if I call you Andy? I like it better than Drew," she smiled sweetly, then glanced down at the empty spot near her. "Do you wanna... have a seat?" she asked, gently raising her shoulder.

Drew allowed his smile to soften up a bit and become more natural and he felt a bit more relaxed now that introductions had been exchanged.
He nodded. "Yeah, you can call me Andy," he said. He'd actually been called that a lot more when he was younger. He then accepted the offer of taking a seat. His gaze traveled around the surrounding area. Not to make it any more awkward and not quite knowing what else to say, he decided on telling her a bit more about him...for no real reason. "I come from New York. My mother and friends used to call me Andy a lot," he said with a bit of a smile at the memories.

Idrys smiled as well, her eyes wandering around the empty alleys of the park. It was a chilly night, but luckily, she had got her boots and her sweater on, so she was not cold. She was more fond of the cold weather than the hot one actually, so the wind blowing through the naked tree branches did pretty good to the atmosphere, she felt a little bit better.
Hearing Andy's reply, her eyebrows shot up and she turned her brown eyes to look at him.
"So I am not the only American in Berlin, that is good to know. I'm from Texas," she smiled, surprised by the coincidence.

Drew smiled and looked back over Idrys, also a bit surprised by the fact that they were both from the States. "Wow!" he said, still trying to get over his surprise and nodding a bit as that sank in. "That's a pretty amazing coincidence!" he said, finally able to push the original surprise out of his mind. "So...uh...you got family back in the US?" he asked. Why was he even asking when he knew if she returned the question, he'd have a hard time answering? He'd lost his parents when he was young and had lived with his grandparents in Brooklyn ever since that...and then they'd just shoed him out and on his way, hence his ending up in Berlin.

Idrys was just as surprised about the coincidence, but she liked it nonetheless. Who would have expected her to meet a fellow American while taking a mere walk in the park, all by herself, way too late for her to be outside? However, despite the fact that she had left home hoping to be alone, maybe it was better to have someone to talk to, someone to take her mind off those nasty things she had been thinking about all day long. She smiled hearing his question, nodding quickly in reply.
"Yes, I do," she said. "My parents are still in Texas, and I also have an older half-sister in New York, but I can't say that we are too close," she explained. "How about you?" she asked, not knowing that maybe it was not the best thing to ask, seeing that Andy's situation was... special.

Drew nodded, biting his lip when she asked about him. It was nice she had family in the States. If he had any family whatsoever besides his grandparents back home, he would've staid himself in New York.
"I...I uhh...lost my parents when I was young...They were killed in an accident in Manhattan..." he said. There was no point in lying. He'd been lying to almost everyone, even himself basically since he'd gotten on the plane for Berlin from LaGaurdia airport back in NY. "I live with my grandparents in Brooklyn after that."

Andy seemed like a nice, cheerful guy, if he had approached a stranger like she was, only to see if she was okay, because she had seemed a bit lost for a moment. Idrys was convinced that he was a kind young man, probably different than the other guys. And despite seeming a bit off as well, she had expected him to have a happy, cheerful life, just the way he seemed to deserve. She sighed ever-so-slightly when she heard that it was not all bright like it was on her side, and Andy had a more difficult life than she did.
"I'm... I'm sorry," she replied, gently raising her shoulders.

Drew shrugged and sighed softly. He knew it was never what anyone expected from him as his story. He didn't think it was any different with Idrys. Based on her reaction, it wasn't.
"It's ok. It wasn't your fault. And...in all reality...the accident was just what we call it...an accident. It just so happened that this one was a bit too serious," he said, his voice a bit quiet. He had always been somewhat shy after the accident killed his parents. He figured it was one of those things that had to do with the trauma and after-effects of losing his parents.