Gabriel wondered if it was someone's mission in life that he could not be happy. Well, life has been calm and he was thankful for that. Work was good, but here's where the problem came. He worked at home on computer programs for an upscale company, but his favorite laptop has wee, minor problem. He was getting mad and well, that power that was given to him by San erupted. He blew up the screen.

That incident can explain why he's actually out in public and staring down at a few laptops, particularly at this brand new and very shiny V-10. Oh, how wonderful it is. It has even better features than his trusty one that now sits in a garbage bin. Seemingly violet eyes stared from behind wire-rimmed glasses at the card that was describing it.

So far, so good. He was having an undisrupted time and he was pretty happy for as far as one who has to get a new computer goes. Heck, he managed to even get a little snazzy for the trip. He had on a cranberry red, insanely soft, cotton dress shirt that buttoned up underneath a simple, light Armani jacket and black slacks to match. You can imagine, his shoes were black too. Ultra comfortable.

One long, index finger guided his gaze down the guard and only disrupted his reading to push back blonde hair. "Mm.. They say that this works well for new programs." But then he turned to look at one of those 'alien computers'. It was a monster size. Had a little alien head too, but extremely good reputation. He just may have to go both.

For now though, he'd be spending the time staring at that little card.

"Are you gonna get one of those?"

The voice was... for lack of a better word... chirpy. Like a little bird, maybe, only it didn't belong to a bird, but rather to a somewhat scantily clad young woman with long blue hair and silver eyes. Now, she wasn't quite at the point of 'indecent exposure', but if her tank top were any smaller and her jeans any tighter, she would be.

"I like that one," she added, pointing to a completely different computer than the one that Gabriel was currently considering. Why? Because it was made by the same company--or a subsidy or whatever thereof--as... she had been? The same company that produced her Palm Pilot, anyhow...

It was probably unsuitable for Gabriel's purposes, but it was a nice computer in its own way.

Gabriel slowly turned his head to the side and took in her appearance. Little lights flashed off in his mind, but he had to be polite in public. "What makes it so special?" He stared at the computer she pointed to and he gave it more skeptical looks than he would a tabloid magazine.

Well, that wasn't something she could really explain to just anybody. Cassie is very much an airhead, but there are some things that even an airhead remembers. Things like her literal attachment to her Palm Pilot and related issues are one of the few things that she is guarded about.

"I just like it," she answers with a bright smile. One might wonder why she doesn't do commercials or perhaps modeling... "My name's Cassie. What's your name?"

Change the subject now.

Gabriel gave the computer a few more stares and he thought it best to leave it alone so he won't burn it into oblivion. He straightened up, but he broguht the little card to his eye level so he wouldn't have to look at the girl. That was his way of partially ignoring her.

"Gabriel Blacey."

"That's a nice name."

Silence for a moment...

"So, are you going to get one of those, Gabe?"

Yes, she just shortened his name without permission. Whatcha gonna do about it?

Gabriel lowered the card so that he could glare over top. She shortened his name. Shortened it. Unfortunately though, she was right. Gabriel can't do anything about it. Heck, he could probably do more about it with San than he could with this girl in front of him.

"Yes. I need it." He about hissed. "You seem like a busy person. Why are you doddling?"

"How come you need it?" she asked, instead of answering his question. Busy? Hah. Cassie's main occupation seemed to be wandering around the mall--or other places, when the mall was closed--and asking questions and attempting to make friends with random strangers.

This, by the way, was her favorite store.

"Because it's for work. I work for a computer software program. Without a computer, I am in trouble. Therefore, I need a computer. Presently though, I am being delayed by you." He muttered underneath his breath a nice little sentence.

'Why do I always get bothered with brats?'

"What kind of software?" she persisted, ignoring or perhaps not hearing the comment under his breath. Or perhaps she simply didn't care... Nah. It bothered her when people didn't like her. She liked everybody, she wanted everybody to like her...

"Why don't you have a computer?"

"It has several divisions." Gabriel sighed, throwing the card onto the shelf. "I help with gaming, simulations, and a few governmental programs as well as firewalls." Then he gave her a hard glare. "No more questions about that."

"Why don't I have one? It blew up. I have to replace it because I have a dead line." He growled, turning his back on her and started looking at more at a furious pace.

"Why'd it blow up?"

You knew she was going to ask that, didn't you...

Didn't you.

"It. Just. Did." You could almost see the fire burning in his eyes. Surprising that he could keep so cool and calm other than his voice inflextion and eyes. Well, they did say that eyes revealed everything, now don't they? He took a step back to keep a nice amount of distance. "Sometimes, they do that." A growl rumbled in his throat when he decided to look at one higher than his eye level.

"Things don't 'just blow up,'" she argued. "There's always some kind of a reason."

((Blah, short and crappy... >.>))

Poof went Gabriel's patience.

A 'friendly' little fire started to make a home right on Cassie's shoe. While it was making a nice home, Gabriel was glaring at it and much to his annoyance to make itself known, it got a tad bit bigger. Though, he didn't mind that it was actually hurting the girl at the moment. She was annoying him just SO much.

"As I said. It. Just. Happened."

Cassie can be oblivious about a lot of things. Have a fire on her shoe is not one of them.

"Eep!"

Stamp, stamp. Accidentally kick Gabriel with flaming shoe.

Oops?

Gabriel hit the floor in a crouch, holding onto his leg that was kicked for no reason. That made him even more angry and a little fire came to life on her sleeve. Though, from the last time, he was sure it would back fire. The bad thing was he didn't know how to exstinguish it. All he got do was go 'Oh shit."

What sleeve?

"EEEEEEEEE!"

She's related to hamadryads. Forest spirits, for lack of a better term.

Cassie does not like fire.

"Make it stop!"

"I haven't figured HOW!" He yelled at her. No way was he using his Armani jacket for that. "Roll on the floor and try to stamp it out." Then there was a long pause. "You're burning like like my computer. The fire's even a little blue." He stared at her for alittle more and that was it.

He glared more. If she was in kahoots with his computer, he didn't like her very much at all.

"It hurts!"

Never mind the computer thing. Never mind the odd color of the flames. Never mind that the smell more resembles burning electrical circuits than roasting flesh... Cassie's not thinking about anything but that this hurts and she doesn't know how to make it stop...

Her hair's going to catch fire in a moment, if she doesn't get this out soon.

"Help me!"

"You're an IDIOT!"

Gabriel grabbed the girl and forcefully shoved her to the ground and about beat her right off the floor to get the flames out.

She whimpered as he put out the flames, and, as he finished, sat up with an absolutely pitiful expression on her face, feeling her shoulder with hesitant fingers. The skin didn't look so much burned as melted... like plastic.

"Why did you do that?" The burning, not the putting out.

Gabriel took the question another way because he wasn't going to answer the real intent. "Because you were.." He looked at her arm. "Melting and you were too stupid to figure out how to put it out yourself. Would you have rather died?"

"That's not what I meant... Why did you set me on fire? It hurt."

Her silvery eyes flicked to her shoulder and she winced. Hopefully she could do something about that... she wasn't precisely human, and so human diseases didn't quite affect her in the same way, but still... infections could be nasty.

And it looked like it was going to scar horribly.

He was going to be stubborn.

"Why do you like that computer?"

Sigh. Oh, whatever.

"'Cause it's a relative. Why did you set me on fire!?"

"Relative? Meaning you are just a piece of technology?" He again avoided that question. Who could answer it when they didn't know themselves?

"No..."

She pulled a small handheld computer out of her back pocket. The blue of the little cover was maybe a shade darker than her hair, and the silver more metallic than her eyes, but...

"I'm just connected to one. See? Why did you set me on fire?"

She's going to keep asking that until she gets some kind of an answer.

"You're one of those.. things." He didn't know the name, but he's read about them. Gabriel simply rolled his shoulders at her question. "You're never going to get an answer despite how many times you ask."

"Please tell me. I didn't do anything to you, so why did you set me on fire?"

She can be stubborn too.

"Here's your answer. You pissed me off. I can't control it. So in short, I don't know why I set you on fire." He pointed an accusatory finger at you. "What about YOU? Why do you continue to sit here and ask me this? After all, you're MELTING. Just like my LAPTOP."

She scrambled backward, away from him, eyes getting just a tad wide from fear.

"Don't do it again, please?"

Cassie has decided that she doesn't like this human. He's mean and scary and he sets people on fire.

Gabriel shot another glare at her before checking his leg. That'll be a nice big bruise. "Then don't piss me off." Gabriel stared at her, mock glaring to see if he could scare her. He was mean like that.

"I wasn't trying to..." she protested, standing up and taking another couple steps backwards.

"I just wanted to know... And I like people..."

Usually.

He looked over and hid a smirk in the collar of his jacket. "Well, you can see where that gets you." Gets her melted obviously. "You should be careful who you should bother. Especially when one can easily find out what you are."

"You're horrible."

And with that firm--and rather unusual--opinion from Cassie, she fled. He might set her on fire again, after all.

She was going to have to find a jacket somewhere so that people didn't ask about what happened to her shoulder. It didn't look right...

((And, whee, I think it's over.))