[Souls of Paranoia]Ocean Breeze Coffee - Memento's Crossing [Week 21]

[Pineapple]

The day was bright and sunny, and much warmer then typical. With the temperature closing in on fifty degrees Fahrenheit, the winds calm and the skies clear of any sign of snow or rain. It was half way through November but the snow hasn't started yet, and the cold seemed to be stalled a little while longer. However, soon the snow would be coming in full force.


Hannah had decided that on this day, she would spend some time outside. She had to maintain good arm strength, and she wouldn't do that by just laying around doing nothing each and every day. So Hannah wandered through the city she grew up in, looking around at all the places she remembered, and those that had changed.


Before long Hannah found herself at a small coffee shop that overlooked the ocean, Ocean Breeze Coffee was scribbled on a large decorative wooden sign. Each letter carved out of the sign, and the entire place had a calming rustic feeling to it. It was new and state of the art cafe in the city, as Hannah didn't recall it here before.


As she moved inside of the cafe she was further greeted by seemingly hand carved wooden tables and chairs, the floor appeared to be hardwood, but was likely just a laminate made to look as such. The walls also were wooden, at least it looked as much. However, it was likely a cheap imitation.


It was a very strange contrast when looking behind the bar and seeing shining stainless steel appliances all modern utensils. It made sense of course, why wouldn't they be using modern technology? It just caught Hannahs eye because of all the effort they went to for the atmosphere. She ordered a mocha latte with a hint of cinnamon and took a place outside of the small cafe where she could sip and watch the ocean waves roll in.

 

[Kagura]

Webster spent his morning around the beach, traveling the private docks and visiting Cameron and Martin Yorkton. It was unannounced and he wasn't invited, but those problems were meager when he was invisible. Webster wasn't here for the niceties between the two egotistical brothers but rather some revenge. The last time they had seen each other was at Adam's and they decided to be dicks- only because he showed up a little late.


Well whatever, Webster ransacked the boat without actually taking anything, displacing items and replacing them with others. He originally planned to visit them afterwards, seeing their exact reaction to his prank. Except he was caught- not in the way that they could see him but that they saw the suitcase he turned inside out turn visible again. Rather than listen to them question the entities of ghosts, Webster left the two brothers.


He found his way to the boardwalk instead, where Ocean Breeze Cafe was surprisingly overwhelmed with traffic. Then again, it was a fairly nice for November and left everyone by the beach to gather for their intricate cafe-frappa-mocha-latte. Webster went up to the cashier and got a simple black coffee, looking for an empty chair. He found one next to a woman in a wheelchair- she was attractive, but she was also in a wheelchair. Webster checked her out, and eventually decided it didn't matter "Hey there, beautiful" he smiled a charming smile.

 

[Pineapple]

Hannah enjoyed the view of the waves crashing into the shore, the rolling tides and the salty smell actually calming and refreshing. She hadn't seen the waves of the ocean since she left home for her college and eventual job. Now she could site down and just enjoy the peaceful waves as she sipped her drink. It wasn't quite, but it was peaceful, and Hannah enjoyed it. Maybe she would come out here more often to watch and listen to the waves.


"Hey there, beautiful" A strong masculine voice called out to her as a Man approached her. He had his smile plastered on his face and Hannah instantly knew what was going on. She had been thought it many times before, he was hitting on her. At least, he would soon progress to flirtation. Hannah looked the man up and down quickly to judge him. He was fairly toned, with a strong jawline, however his hair was slightly off, it didn't fit his face. But hair could be changed easily enough. "Hey," Hannah replied with a smile. Helen's bottle was wrapped around her neck as Hannah fiddled with it in her hands, flipping it in circles.


"Oh, he's handsome." Helen remarked about the man. To her, he seemed to be a proper man by first appearances. "What do you think?" Helen asked, trying to judge Hannah's intentions with the man.


Truthfully, Hannah hadn't been hit on since her accident. She went from regular dates and men hitting on her nearly daily, to very few men showing any desires for her. It was a very big change to her, and tat the moment she was just happy someone was paying attention to her. "He's kinda cute, I don't know. Maybe he'll be fun."

 

[Kagura]

The blonde greeted Webster with a smile as he took a thoughtful sip of his coffee, letting it settle on his tongue. While he was drinking, he scanned the woman in front of him again- she was flirting back if the smile on her face said anything. Plus, she was playing with the necklace around her neck, something that sent an odd sense of familiarity through him. It was an ash bottle, and he realized it was actually Ilaria that recognized the ash bottle she was playing with.


It meant that it was a memento, but to Webster that only meant he couldn't be invisible around her and she seemed interested enough. "You spend a lot of time at the beach, or is today just my lucky day?" he takes his sunglasses off the front of his shirt and places them on the table. "Then again, I haven't seen you in a bikini" he keeps the smile on his face.


"It's Helen!" Ilaria's memory finally sparks, and she's in his body, taking up the small portion that Webster allows. Webster adjusts in his seat slightly, but scoots forward to lean casually on the table, crossing his arms and flexing them slightly.

 

[Pineapple]

The man was quick to dive into flirting, and took a seat at her table, placing his coffee and sunglasses on the table. He kept his smile up and released an aura of confidence around him. Hannah simply sipped her coffee with her right brow perked up. "You're coming on strong." Hannah teased back at the man.


"I don't normally come to the beach, so I guess today you just got lucky. Though, I may come around here more often." Hannah smiled as she continued spinning the bottle in her hand. One around her coffee, the other on Helen's bottle. "I don't really wear bikini's anymore. Just lingerie." Hannah said slyly before biting her lower lip.


"Oh please, show some class! You're a lady, not a tramp!" Helen berated Hannah for her comments, but Hannah shrugged the comment away.


"A tramp? Girls can have just as much fun as boys you know," Hannah explained as she released the bite from her lip and sipped her coffee looking out over the ocean and ignoring the man's presence. "Anyways, you didn't even introduce yourself. Is this your first rodeo?"

 

[Kagura]

"Strong is how you catch the good ones" Webster takes another long sip of his coffee, raising a brow in his flirtation. When she spoke about lingerie, he almost choked but tried his best to recover without showing it. Crisis averted, he puts down the coffee and clears his throat experimentally, remembering that she said she might come around here more often.


"You can come around me as often as you want in your lingerie" he laughs in response, watching her bite her lip and getting a little turned on. Despite the fact that this woman was in a wheelchair she was both interested and had a hot body. Although Webster had to wonder why she was in a wheelchair- could she actually feel anything down there?


Ilaria was more than disgusted at the thoughts that were going through his head, "Of course she can feel"


Webster could practically feel her blush through his own skin but the girl in front of her had asked for his name "Webster, and you?"

 

[Pineapple]

When the man introduced himself as Webster, which caused Hannah to give the man a side glance before she redirected her sight back to the ocean. "Hannah," She replied to the man, not looking his way or seeing how he reacted. Hannah enjoyed a good chase, and she hadn't had a good chase for a while. it seemed men were put off by her situation, which did not help with her emotional condition. In ordinary situations she might Flirt with guys like Webster, but she never considered them as a long term partner. However, she felt her pool of possible men was drying up.


Hannah drank from her coffee as she enjoyed the view. Seagulls could be heard crying across the ocean, and swarms of them waddled along the coast on the prowl for unsupervised meals, opportunistic predators. That was when the thought crossed into Hannah's mind. Was this guy flirting with her because he saw her as easy prey? A stray french fry that would be be easier to grab then fighting for any of the fries still in the bag with all of the other seagulls.


Hannah had to wonder if that was what was going on. The man just wanted a girl he could control easier, one that no one else would fight him for. "I doubt you will see me coming anywhere near you, and especially not in lingerie." Hannah said mostly to protect herself. She feared getting into a situation like that more then anything. It would be so easy for a man to control her now.


"Good, you are starting to sound like a proper lady now." Helen said. She sat quietly in the girls mind listening to and watching the situation, judging everything. Hannah didn't mind Helen too much, however he did think that the woman was quite prudish and too old fashioned. She was also very nosy about others affairs.

 

[Kagura]

Hannah. The woman only glanced at him once before glancing to the waves, taking a sip of the drink in front of her. It was a slightly fancier drink, whipped cream on top of the rounder cup she was given. Webster was tempted to ask what it was, but the woman in front of him seemed no longer interested in his chase. In fact, she said she wouldn't go near him, a totally different signal from the last bit of conversation he shared with the woman.


Webster quirked a brow, but his interest caught on the necklace she was still currently playing with. "Helen?" he only asks because of the sudden change in motives, Ilaria said nothing of the sort to think the soul had taken over. Webster digs in his pocket to place the unicorn on the table between them, looking at Hannah. "I'm not interested in pursuing souls- I already have one" he winks at the girl before stretching his legs across into her space.


If this was any usual woman, he'd take the time to do some under the table flirting but Hannah was in a wheelchair after all.

 

[Pineapple]

As Hannah ignored the man he spoke up questioningly towards her. "Helen? I'm not interested in pursuing souls- I already have one." Webster said, and it caused Hannah to turned to look at the man but her eye was caught by a pink unicorn plush sitting on the table suddenly in front of him. Hannah was confused at first, but she wasn't dumb, she quickly pieced together that this man, Webster, had a memento, and that was it. Further, his soul knew Helen by her memento.


"Ilaria!" Helen said out from Hannah's mouth. Helen positioned Hannah's body to face the man better as she placed Hannah's drink down and settled her bottle to the table. "Ilaria, how are you?" Helen asked, but she didn't wait for a reply. "It's good to be back so quickly after that troy fiasco, Hannah's a much better body to be in."


"Who's Ilaria?" Hannah asked of Helen, hoping to be explained. "What can so do?"


"Ilaria's just a teenage girl, she got murdered. The toy is her memento. Now her power is invisibility, her host body can turn invisible as long as they hold the memento." Helen explained about the girl.


Hannah found the girls story short, but also sad. Then again, she expected every souls story to be a sad one. Though, the power was one that Hannah had a hard time seeing any good in. "Invisibility? sounds like a creepers dream." Hannah said out loud to all of the people and souls present.

 

[Kagura]

"Ilaria's fine" Webster doesn't bother letting Ilaria take control of his body, brushing off Helen's friendliness. She caught his interest when she briefly mentioned the name he heard more than enough times recently. It was Troy again, or rather the 'Troy fiasco' - what were the chances that she was involved in it as well.


It sounded as if the soul questioned his powers but he knew that probably wasn't the case, it was Hannah speaking. "A creeper power? Invisibility has a lot more uses than..." Webster waited for Ilaria's prompt but she left him to hang. "Whatever it is you do" Webster tries to wave off his slip up, going back to his coffee.

 

[Pineapple]

The man seemed to brush off Helen's questions in regards to Ilaria, instead focusing on Hannah's statement about his powers by replying his was more useful then Hannah's. Hannah replied with a snicker and shoot her head. "You don't even know what I can do." Hannah teased back at the man. Suddenly he was a bit more interesting. Another person with a soul. Likely his soul recognized Helen's memento. Which raised the question, was he here because of Helen? He had to have known when he approached her.


"Unbelievable. He's speaking for Ilaria. I hope the poor dear is okay in there. She hasn't had the best of hosts over the years." Helen said to Hannah, which did prompt Hannah to wonder what it is that Helen meant. "Invisibility is a great power for criminals. He's had plenty of those over her years. Mostly thieves." Helen explained about Ilaria.


It lead Hannah to the question of what kind of man this Webster was. Was he just another in a long line of criminal bodies for Ilaria? A thief? Was he some sort of peeper, or was he just a normal guy with her memento. Either way, Hannah intended to approach slowly. She wanted to learn about this man. He didn't let Ilaria speak, and it's possibly to keep her silent and suppressed. Not good traits for a man to possess. "I'm sure Ilaria knows. Why won't she tell you?" Hannah inquired. Hannah was having fun with the situation now, and she figured with the right line of questions she could learn a lot more about Webster. "I think she doesn't like you very much, Webster. What does that say about you?"

 

[Kagura]

The man finishes off his coffee before responding, placing the empty cup on the table and levelling a glance at the woman. "I'd like to know what you can do" it's an invitation, seeing as the woman didn't directly turn down his pursuit. However, she was already suspicious of him, knowing that Ilaria could tell him what Helen could do.


"I don't want to hear from Ilaria, I want to hear from you" he wasn't going to mention that Ilaria was brewing in her anger in the back of his mind. She was tirelessly shove to the side by Webster and it was hard for her to reign control. The minute she found out it was Helen she wanted to talk to her but Webster wasn't interested in souls relations. People with souls were the ONLY people he was meeting.


When Hannah asked about Ilaria hating him, he half shrugged and finally allowed her into his body, visibly upset. Ilaria shifted into a more comfortable position and tested the range of motion she had, happy that Webster had given her full control. "Helen" she breaths a sigh of relief, "Webster is certainly better than Derek or Veronica, but he's started giving into temptations." Ilaria said it as if it was everyday news, which it was for her, every soul was eventually influenced by the powers she wielded.

 

[Pineapple]

Webster said he wanted to hear from Hannah what she could do, his tone clearly sexual. it seemed Webster hadn't caught on that Hannah had moved past the idle flirtation, she was interested in other things now. Memento's and Ilaria mainly. "Then... maybe it will stay secret." Hannah replied to Webster with a wink as she drank from her coffee, still having half of her beverage to finish.


Shortly afterwards he seemed to loosen up and Ilaria came out to talk with Helen, explaining that Webster isn't as bad as what Hannah could only assume was previous hosts. yet she claimed he was slipping and giving into temptations. "Oh my. well, you keep him on the right path. you will be much happier if he stays out of trouble." Helen spoke up quickly.


Hannah however took her own moment after Helen spoke up to voice her own thoughts. "Webster's becoming a bad boy huh?" Hannah said with a smirk on her face. "I've had my fair share of bad boys before. Now I'm looking for a good man who knows how to treat a woman right." Hannah said to tease Webster more.

 

[Kagura]

When Helen berated Ilaria on Webster's actions and that he needed to stay out of trouble, the soul diverted her eyes. It made her heart sink to be told something like that by Helen but at the same time the woman didn't understand what it was like to have her power. Every new body she possessed, everybody she tried to help- the power went to their head. Dustin was only a poor teenager who listened in on conversations. The conversation's became about drug deals and dangerous situations that Ilaria couldn't help but stay invisible in. It wasn't too long before he was in the drug wars themselves and stole from Lady Red.


Ilaria was caught off guard by what looked like flirting on Hannah's part, asking whether Webster was becoming a bad boy. "Sure...?" she was very unsure of the question as a whole so answered it as so. To Ilaria, Webster wasn't the worst body she had, but he was a contender. Ilaria still hadn't seen him at his worst- it was always right before they died that they were at their worst. She still remembered getting shot in Dustin's body and having him struggle off to an alley to die, only carrying her memento.


Hannah continued to say she had been through her fair share of bad boys and that she was looking for a man who knew how to treat a woman right. "I know how to treat woman" Ilaria tried to ignore Webster's suaveness in his own brain, enjoying the reign of control she had for the moment. Webster took partial control again, but Ilaria didn't have to fight much to continue the conversation.


"Keep looking" was the only advice she had before Webster took his full control back, readjusting his position to where he was sitting before.

 

[Pineapple]

Ilaria rolled Webster eyes at Helens remarks, and told Hannah to keep looking. Hannah chuckled a bit as she finished her coffee off. "Thanks Ilaria," Hannah said to the girl for her warning.


"Oh Ilaria, that's just like her." Helen remarked inwards to Hannah, which prompted Hannah to question what Helen meant. "Oh, she's annoyed with me telling her to keep Webster on track. That girl, she never grew out of a moody teenager." Helen explained. She didn't sound annoyed with Ilaria or anything like that, more amused with the girl. Helen figured that one day Ilaria would get the hang of things.


Hannah looked into Websters eyes before talking to him again. "I talked to the ladies in your life. The reviews weren't very good." Hannah joked with the man, a smile on her face. She was enjoying herself. She decided against perusing Webster. At least for now, but she was interested in the man and memento. Hannah heard memento's tend to find each other, so she expected to meet more as times went by. however, she also figured that since only those with memento's could really talk to each other about them, it was important to make connections with the others. As well she didn't mind Webster. however, she wasn't sure how much she would enjoy being alone with the man. "Now Webster, if you plan to land a good lady you should work with Ilaria a bit more. She's got control of how us woman will think of you."

 

[Kagura]

Webster wasn't very amused with the camaraderie Hannah was trying to establish, it was obvious by now she was making fun of him. It was the jovial way she handled the situation, as if Webster was one big joke for trying to hit on any woman- let alone her. Frankly, he was offended that she tried to give him advice on his love life.


Ilaria had barely said anything about him, and now it was as if he was the scum of the earth for hitting on a girl who showed interest in him first. Hannah went farther to say that he should work with Ilaria as if she knew any better. The girl was a minor and she talked to the women he slept with of her own volition. Although it certainly left a bitter taste in Ilaria's mouth- she was more committed to helping people than to spiting him.


Webster did not want to work with Ilaria, the only use she provided for him was the invisibility that he used so often. Webster knew everything else she had to say was either a nag, or complaint in his direction that he couldn't shut out. Realizing his anger had gone to the wrong person, he looks at Hannah and fights back with the only thing he can think of, "That chair dictates what everyone thinks of you."

 

[Pineapple]

It seemed that Webster grew aggressive and angry with Hannah from her comments. "That chair dictates what everyone thinks of you." Webster declared at Hannah is some sort of revenge for her comments. Hannah looked at Webster with her mouth open in a silent gasp, unable to comprehend what would bring him to think such things were alright to say.


"I guess Ilaria was right." Hannah said as she left her drink on the table and turned around, quick to leave. She didn't wait for any response or reply, she just left a quickly as she could. It wasn't until he was around a corner and away from the cafe that her tears started. It was rude, but Hannah believed it was true.