Private Finished Catch of the Day

Practicing, huh. Adelaida could tell she'd touched on something that was potentially sensitive. She had a tendency to do that.

"I'm going to guess you weren't born with that porting of yours, if you get lost that much. Long story?"

She lit the cigarette and was pleased to know that Aliasse had manners enough to blow the smoke elsewhere. In the nightlife, there were loads of people that didn't have that basic sense.

Adelaida leaned back, lying on the sand. "See, I have a thing for stories. I like hearing what people went through, or what's on their mind. It's nice to know what makes people tick, move the way they do. I personally don't have that much special, so it's nice of the universe to drop someone as interesting as you on my lap."

Adelaida laughed. No one had been so blunt before as to tell her she was abnormal directly, at least not for a long time. It brought up memories of the times when she was hailed as a prodigy at magic - back when she both had the ability and the people to tell her so.

"Hey hey hey now, I fished you out of the water and you thank me by calling me abnormal? Interesting choice," she said, laughing a bit more.

The laughter stopped, and Adelaida turned onto her side while lying in the sand to get a better view of her company. "You're right, I'm not normal. I don't mind talking about it, but not everyone sees it like I do. Been told it's a bit heavy. Never bothered hiding any of it though, people just usually don't ask."

"Guess I'm abnormal in a few ways," Adelaida shrugged. "Abnormally okay. I've been told and I've thought I'm too okay with things quite a few times."

Adelaida's sense of grief and loss was definitely abnormal. She'd suffered things that would break less hardy people, and she got over it as soon as the burns started healing.

"And you haven't? Just a guess." Adelaida was picking up vibes from Aliasse that reminded her of others she'd talked to, like her pupil Michi. Not everyone had her "resilience," or rather, her apathy.

She splayed herself out on the sand casually. "I'm a big believer in talking about things but not everyone is. So I get it if you don't like sharing. All I'm going to say is I'm interested in listening and I'm good with secrets."

She thought back to her interactions with someone else a while back. "Reminds me of this girl I met. We didn't know each other but we talked nothing but secrets. Something about unloading on someone that didn't matter. What did I tell her again? Something like 'you tell me, I tell you, and then we decide after if we care enough to exchange names."

Adelaida was torn. On one hand, she had carte blanche to ask all sorts of questions, but on the other, she really just liked it when people opened up of their own volition. It felt good to not have to manipulate people into giving her answers.

"I'll think of a few questions. For now I'll stick to the basics like what do you even... do? It's fun how many people here have powers that could do amazing things, and they're just sitting around flipping burgers. Like me."

Her shift to the more mundane topics was definitely not an indication of lack of interest. She knew that the past had some weight for Ali, and she wanted to know it. But pushing would just have the opposite effect. This wasn't like it was with Bel, where there was a trade of secrets involved, or with Michi, where she had a valid reason to know.

Adelaida questioned herself again. Why was she so invested in this? And why was she settling herself in for an attempt to make friends just to know?

"You know, I've got a few things on my mind now thanks to you. I don't think it's in a bad way though."

"Well, yeah, but that's not what I meant. I'm wondering why I'm so invested in finding out more. Can't be that you're cute, cause you are, but so's lots of people in this island. They don't interest me as much."

She scratched her head in confusion. Adelaida liked being in control of her own thoughts, so to be interested without a logical explanation for it annoyed her. Her brow furrowed while she thought of possible explanations for her interest, and she frowned for a bit upon failing to come up with one.

"It is what it is, I guess. You ever take anyone out in the line of work?"