Just my Luck [Omino]

It had not been a great day for Murphy.

He could get over the fact that his alarm hadn't gone off, he was fine with the fact that there was no hot water in the shower and he'd been forced to bathe freezing cold, in fact, he was also alright with having been clipped by a car on his way to class. It was only after going through all that trouble to get to class and seeing the little orange notice saying that it was canceled did he become irked. It seemed his 'gift' was up and active today...wonderful.

Deciding that it was going to suck no matter what he did, Murphy had ditched the rest of his classes and headed downtown. Maybe if he was lucky he could find a bar open at this hour and drink himself into oblivion, just skip today entirely. He'd been wandering about for an hour or so when he nearly ran over the woman with her coffee, and when he'd tried to catch himself on something he grabbed the edge of the cart, which wobbled and sent him to the ground flat on his back.

He lay there for a few moments, bracing for either a faceful of hot coffee or a kick to the stomach. When neither happened he opened one cautious eye and found himself staring at... an angel? Oh no, the passing sunlight had just caught her hair making her look like she had a golden aura, though her looks were real. She definitely had the trademark beauty that most of the island's inhabitants seemed to receive and he was suddenly very conscious about his own outfit of secondhands and thrift store finds. “Er, no problem. My apologies, wasn't looking where I was goin'. Y'all right?”

@"ReD"

He winced when she moved aside, momentarily blinded by sunlight and gently waved her hand away. “M'fine ma'am, nothing permanent I'm sure. Just been one of those days yeah?” He sat up with a grunt and managed to stand on the first try, weaving a little bit as he did so. He doubted it was a concussion. Sure he was a little dizzy and a little scrambled, but that would probably clear right up after a few moments.

Murphy gave the woman another once over. She was older than he, but not by much and her outfit was business wear but only just. Was she a graduate from the academy now working on the island? Unsure of what else to say he offered his hand awkwardly, “Murphy Banks, student at Starlight, you sure you're alright? Didn't managed to spill your coffee did I?”

@"ReD"

@"ReD"

You could tell a lot about a person by how they shook your hand. The inexperienced often shook lightly, as if afraid to hurt the other person. The aggressive would try to crush the other's hand in a poor attempt at dominance. Murphy purposefully gripped in an odd way, trying to force the person to adapt and judged them by how well they reacted. Yuka, on the other hand, had the grip of someone of confidence. Someone who was used to making deals and had become comfortable with both her position and, perhaps more importantly, her opposition's position. She must've been supremely competent, no wonder she'd been hired and kept on.

He began to ask her where she worked but her own questions about his education threw him off. "A pleasure to meet you miss Sake. Ah, school has been good. I've only been here a week or so but their mathmatics and programming classes are good. Of course, the all expenses paid is a godsend. Admittedly I'm still... adjusting to the island itself." he watched as a woman with small horns and a demonic tail walked arm in arm with... was that a werewolf? He thought of himself as a fairly cosmopolitan individual, but he still had to force himself not to stare at the couple.

The man blinked in surprise when she asked to make up to him what he'd assumed was his fault in the first place. Still, it wasn't everyday an attractive young lady asked him to lunch.

"Sure! I mean, yeah, I'd be glad to join you. My classes are done for the day." If she worked for a successful business on the island this could be a good opportunity to network, and he could use more acquaintances his age... he'd been beginning to think that damn near everyone on the island was in high school.

Hell, maybe my luck's finally turning around.

@"ReD"

"Normal...yeah." It was a thought that had never really occurred to him, and he was a little ashamed to realize how good he'd had it compared to many of the others on the island. True his gift kept people at a distance from him, but because it wasn't really visible or tangible he'd never really been persecuted or judged because of it.

He realized she'd started off down the street and hurried to follow her falling into step with ease. "Well if you mean what my so called 'gift' is, I think they called me a... oh hang on a sec... tychomancer?" The examiner had spent nearly an hour babbling on about observation of circumstances to predict and modify outcomes. Murphy had fallen asleep half way through. He refrained from mentioning that the only direct ability he had was an aura of bad luck that he could amplify if for some reason he wanted to screw over himself and everyone around him.

"But what of yourself? What brought you to the island?" He asked, attempting to shift the topic away from himself. He imagined her gift was something like hyper intelligence, or even charisma given how easily he'd opened up to her given his usual tendencies. She seemed kind enough, there probably wasn't any harm in sharing a little about himself.

As they walked he felt a familiar wave of unease telling him that his power was at work and instinctively moved inwards away from the curb, looking up and down the street for what could go wrong.

@"ReD"

"Ah, I'm post-secondary. Going for degrees in Computer Sciences and Mathematics." The question had stung his pride a little bit. Sure he was slightly younger than her, but to be confused for a member of the high school hurt a little more than it should have.

A little younger... something about that seemed off to him. He did some quick math in his head. She'd mentioned that she'd come from Japan, and a time when education for women was not widespread. He wasn't great at history nor political science, but wouldn't that place her from... the early 1900s?

Huh.

"Well, I was born in California and never really left." He continued quickly, "I never really had a reason to leave until I got the letter to come here. Glad I did though, doubt I could have afforded tuition at home."

A gust of wind caused him to look up, expecting thunderheads to be gathering around the island. Instead he could make out something dangling about up on the top of one of the buildings precariously. Was that... was that a piano? His initial unease escalated to near panic and he moved closer to the woman, aiming to push her aside if the thing came crashing down.