My World of 1x1s discussion

Name: Zenzi "Zen" Kailyn Traverse
Age: 22
Appearance:

Height: 5'8"
Weight: 117lbs
Dist. Markings:
Personality: Cool and distrusting, it generally takes a while for Zen to gain friends, though she doesn't often try to in the first place. Most simply mistake this attitude for a shy one, which doesn't matter all that much to her. Once comfortable, she becomes less harsh and more sarcastic, and soon enough after that she is almost sweet, but still teasing.
History: When Zenzi was young she was always moving from place to place, rarely staying much more than a few months. She was completely used to it, since it was all she had known. After a number of very quick moves, her family finally settled down, and for the first time in long time, she attended the same school for an entire year, and stayed in one highschool for two. When she was in an eighth grade art class she had paint spilled on her, the way she met her first consistent friend who she wouldn't leave or lose contact with in a month. After a few years she did like she had done too often before, disappearing completely after telling almost no one that she would be leaving. She hopped towns again for a couple more years, though she stayed in one place for at least a semester when she could. After she left highschool, she landed herself in an apartment near the college which she would be attending.
Other: Zen loves coffee, is almost always drinking some, and has multiple cabinets in her apartment filled with various kinds.

Name: Mark Schultz
Age: 23
Appearance:

Height: 6'0"
Weight: 155lbs
Dist. Markings: Always wears a piece of clothing that references movies/comics/tv shows.
Personality: Pretty open-minded and nonjudgmental, Mark likes to talk to everyone, though sometimes he isn't really aware that he probably shouldn't approach everyone so easily. Though he's kind and sweet, Mark does have his aggressive side and he can get jealous and jump to conclusions. He's protective when it comes to his younger brother and Zen. Life hasn't treated him poorly, but Mark doesn't let that mean he's ignorant when it comes to things. He has a keen mind, usually oriented towards puzzles and finding out things. He doesn't exactly pry into others secrets, but if there's a mystery, Mark will definitely be there trying to find out what's going on.
History: Mark was raised by his mother and his grandparents on his mother's side. His father died when he was young in a car accident and for the most part the family had stuck in the same town. He has a younger brother that is around six years younger than him. As a kid, Mark often hung out with older boys, usually getting into a lot of trouble. Then sometime in fifth or sixth grade, Mark ended up breaking his leg because of an argument with what he thought where his friends. When he hit middle school, Mark left that group of boys and went in search of some more friends. He didn't really find his place among his classmates yet and during this time Mark picked up comic books and became a true fan. Always interested in comics and other popular media, he had a chance to indulge himself in this lull of middle school. A girl, Zen, moved into town when he was in eighth grade and he happened to share an art class with her. After a rather unfortunate incident of clumsiness, Mark spilled paint all over himself and the girl included. It was much to his surprise that he sparked a friendship with her. They managed to go to school together for a couple years, but she moved on. After she left, Mark turned back to schooling, though as he grew, a group of girls began to hang out around him (he was oblivious as to why they suddenly took an interest in him). Still, school life was okay for Mark and soon he found himself heading to college. Much to his surprise, he ran into Zen at the same school and it was as if they never parted as their friendship picked up again.
Other: Other than comics and movies and such, Mark has a pretty large collection of music. He played the violin and the guitar, though he hasn't got the chance to pick up these instruments in a while because of school.

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A morning art class, How annoying... Zenzi stalked down the sidewalk towards the campus, stopping on the way to get a large cup of coffee. Her schedule had been changed unexpectedly, and she wasn't happy with how early it was. She checked her phone, already late and she was hardly into the building. By the time she made it to the room she made as little noise as possible, she didn't want to make a scene to make her feel even more late. With her head down she took another sip of her coffee and skirted around the edge of the room to a place near the back.

Mark's leg bounced, looking up at the clock as the seconds ticked away. In a sudden burst of panic, he had woken up two hours earlier than his alarm clock and got ready and out the door before he realized that it was only just five in the morning instead of the seven am he imagined it was. Still, it left him plenty of time to eat and page through a comic. Even with having plenty time until class started, he showed up fifteen minutes early, unable to sit around his apartment for long in his excitement to start school. His eyes flicked over once in a while as students trickled in and then remained fixed in the front as the teacher introduced herself. Then to his surprise, and the other students, the door opened again and a girl with brilliant purple hair walked in. His mouth quirked into a smile, a wave of sympathy going out to the poor soul.

Zen ignored the few looks she got, this wasn't the first time she'd arrived someplace late, especially since it was so early. For the second that she glanced up she caught a smile on someone's face and she shot a glare back. These people are nuts for wanting to be here right now. When she turned back to her cup her toe caught on the leg of a chair and she was immediately much more awake than she had been seconds before. Aside from just taking a chair down with her, the cup had slipped out of her hand and dropped onto the smiling person. "Ughh, so much for avoiding a scene..." She groaned almost inaudibly.

Mark leaped out of his chair to avoid when the person suddenly tripped, but he was too slow and hot coffee was on his jeans, t-shirt, and shoes. He bit back a loud curse, and stood looking down, somewhat shocked from the suddenly hot liquid burning him through his clothes. His eyes flicked up towards the girl, sort of expecting an apology but not shouting for one either. He could feel the others in the class staring at the scene, some of them even giggling in reaction. "I-Um, well, I'll go change my clothes," he muttered. Thank goodness he had some clothes for later that day for a gym class.

Zen let out a long sigh before pushing herself up, correcting the chair, and landing in it. She didn't say anything to him, but did take a better look at him for a moment. Familiar... Except, she couldn't exactly pinpoint what was so familiar. Hopefully she could at least get her schedule fixed back the way it used to be to that she wouldn't have to see these people again. After a silence only interrupted by muffled laughter and whispers, the professor at the front of the room resumed. Zen didn't pay much attention though, she was more focused on the fact that she was now tired, embarrassed, and her coffee was either on the floor or the person she'd dumped it on. Fantastic start of the day.

Mark didn't really wait to see if the girl was okay or not, figuring he had the most casualties from the spilled coffee rather than her. Rummaging through his bag, he pulled out the extra gym clothes, in the process accidentally pulling out a couple of notebooks. He didn't bother to shove it back in and instead started towards the door. Briefly he looked annoyed how the professor continued like a robot, but he was out the the door before it could be seen on his face. Making his way to the restrooms, he hurriedly entered, not wanting to miss anymore of class than he already had.

Still ignoring the teacher, Zen was preoccupied and with trying to figure out what the hell was so familiar about the coffee soaked person. She could swear she knew him from somewhere, except she traveled so much it could be a number of people. Possibly... no, not likely. That was more like the plot of a movie. Through her hair she kept an eye on the door to hopefully get another look once he returned.

The door opened slowly again as Mark slipped back into the room, feeling conspicuous. He was wearing another t-shirt, this one grey with a small "Deathly Hallows" printed just above where his heart, and a pair of basketball shorts. Though he tried to clean his shoes as much as possible, there was still a small stain visible. He bobbed his head at the teacher, giving her a sheepish smile before he made his way back to his seat. Shoving the bundle of clothes back into his bag, he glanced briefly back to the girl with purple hair. It would be a pain if he sat next to her all that semester.

Zen looked forward again once he had sat down, now less irritated at the events, and more at the fact that she couldn't figure out who this guy was. After at least twenty minutes of thought she turned towards him slightly again. "I swear I know you." She muttered just loud enough to be heard.

Looking over to the purple-haired girl, Mark frowned in puzzlement after he overcame his surprise at her statement. He looked her up and down. With hair like that, he was pretty sure if he'd seen her somewhere before and he slowly began to shake his head. "I don't know, maybe?" He kept his voice low to match hers, flicking his gaze back to the front to see that the professor was still robotically speaking. "What's your name?"

"Zenzi, Traverse." She answered, knowing that if- wherever she had meet this person before -she had told her name, he should recognize it. It wasn't exactly a very common name. The teacher didn't seem to notice their quiet conversation, or just didn't care. Either way. As long as there wasn't yet another scene to be made, there were already too many for one morning.

Snapping his fingers as it clicked in his mind, Mark suddenly beamed at her before realizing the snap of his fingers were a little loud. The other students stared at him as if he suddenly grew another limb and he ducked his head down a bit until they turned away eventually. Then his excitement returned to Zen and he leaned forward slightly. "Hey, it's me. It's Mark Schultz," he said, fighting hard to keep his voice near a whisper.

Zen raised an eyebrow when he snapped, obviously her name meant something. She sent a glare in the direction of the people who turned around, looking back once they decided they'd seen enough. Mark Shultz... Mark... "High school." She said quickly once she recognized the name. No wonder he was so familiar to her, it was her friend from the longest time she'd stayed in one town. Rather odd they would end up in the same school again, meeting in a similar manner as well. "Weird way to meet a second time."

Recalling the incident when he tripped so magnificently, Mark thought it was only karma that he met Zen again in a similar manner, though he was the victim this time. "Yeah, yeah." Mark gave a laugh, shaking his head and shaking it again to get the hair out of his eyes. This time he didn't even notice the others students and he studied Zen's face, comparing her to the memory of the girl he had been friends with back in the early years of high school.

"I think I was a bit more graceful with the landing though." Zen shrugged, staring at the front of the room where the teacher still stood going on and on about something boring. Though it was probably her lack of caffination thinking, she pictured the woman with slightly different features, like pointed teeth. "Y'know she could be a cannibal and nobody would know." She muttered with a glance to the clock on her phone. Either she'd been sitting there for longer than she thought, or time was passing faster than normal. At least she'd be able to get more coffee soon. Maybe a nap.

"Maybe. But then again, falling onto your face is never graceful," he replied lightly, grinning slightly. Though he looked forward to class earlier that morning, it was far from Mark's mind now, remembering the many times he got into mischief with Zen. With her comment, he gave her a puzzled look and focused back on the teacher. The woman looked stern and based off of how detached she was from teaching the material, Mark had to admit that he wouldn't be too surprised if Zen's words turned out true. Giving a shrug, he said lightly, "I think a witch suits her more."

"At least I have an excuse, nobody should have to be awake so early in the morning." Zen yawned quietly, fading fast now that the initial shock of tripping over a chair and losing her drink was starting to wear off. Not much longer it seemed, then she could leave. Was there a good cafe or something somewhere on campus? "Yeah, that could work. Robot maybe? Nothing really phases her out of speech mode. Except maybe water. But that would work against a witch too. What else would water hurt?"

"Maybe. But you're awake enough to get coffee and pay for it," he pointed out with a small smile, a teasing glint in his eyes. Though Mark wasn't exactly a morning person, he never found much difficulty waking up unless he spent a night staying up study for a test. For some reason his luck turned bad whenever he had a test and he would be fighting off yawns that day. Watching the teacher for a moment with his head tilted to the side, a frown creasing his brow, Mark gave a shrug. "If you have enough water, it isn't good, 'cause it floods."

"And now the issue would be staying up without it." Zen let out a small huff, checking the clock on her phone one more time. So close, but so far. Only a few more minutes. "Yeah, if there's enough water to flood and its not actually a weakness or something, you could always just drown whatever it is. I mean, unless it's an aquatic creature or something. Long as you confirm it's not human first."

"Oh, so the excitement of meeting someone again after two years isn't enough to wake you?" Mark looked at her with amusement, shaking his head to himself slightly as he listened to the rest of her words. He didn't really expect her to go on such a tangent, but he listened with interest anyways, giving a shrug in response when he didn't know what else to add. Instead, he checked his phone as well, her action making him sort of anxious as well despite himself. Frowning, he tried to think up his class schedule, wondering if he could spend some time to chat with Zen and then wondering if he cared if he missed part of his next class.

"Nah, not really. That wore off already." Zen said with a small grin. Weirder things had happened to her, so not much bothered her anymore. The second the teacher announced class was over and they could leave Zen was the first to stand and toss her bag over her shoulder. "Finally over." She stretched her arms up over her head outside the door. "So when's your next class? I don't have another for a couple hours. Don't think so anyway."

Giving a small scoff in amusement, Mark shook his head in disbelief, though it wasn't exactly surprising to hear that from here. From what he remembered of Zen in the past, she was always unfazed by what went around with her, probably because she moved around a lot. He followed after her out of the classroom, barely paying attention to the frown on the professor's face when she recognized him as part of the disturbance of her class. At her question, Mark pulled out his phone, flipping to where he took a picture of his schedule. Frowning when he couldn't find it, he pulled his backpack from his one shoulder to ruffle through the loose papers he gathered from his past classes with their syllabuses. Eventually finding the desired paper, Mark pulled it out with a small triumphant "ah-ha" before he looked over it. Smiling, he looked up at Zen. "Looks like today I'm free too. Wanna go somewhere? We can grab some coffee to replace the one you spilled."

Zen watched in amusement as Mark dug through everything before finally, and somewhat dramatically, pulling out a schedule. "Yeah, sure. There's a cafe I stop at on the way here that's good. I think they have food there too, if you want. I wouldn't know if it's any good, I've never actually eaten there." She shrugged, leading the way down the hall towards the door. "Then again, I don't eat out at all." It wasn't that she didn't like the idea of restaurants, she just didn't like the idea of paying for a single meal you may not even like or finish. "So how long have you been here? Been a couple months for me. I'm assuming you've gotten here recently, 'cause the alternative is neither of us pay very much attention. Or we just haven't had any schedules that overlap even a little."

Giving a small nod, he gestured for her to take the lead. "Sounds like a nice place to check out," he commented. He personally liked to go around to visit the odd and lesser known cafes around town. Usually Mark ended up finding some really cool places and he even ran into a cafe owner who liked comics as much as him. Shaking his head to get his bangs away from his eyes, Mark looked back over how long he'd been at that school. "I think probably a year?" He looked at Zen and gave a shrug. "Yeah, probably a year. And I guess it's just been coincidence that we only ran into each other now. I mean, campus can be a small world or a large one. One time I met someone from my grade school whereas I've never seen so-and-so since middle school."

"Well I don't usually spend much time on campus." Zen stuck her hands in her pockets, trying to think of where she did spend her time. Outside of class, she hung around the cafe or her apartment, worked, and sometimes she would wander around town. "Now that I think about it, it kinda makes sense we haven't seen each other. I don't really go anywhere." She actually couldn't name any hobbies, perhaps she should look into that.

Mark gave an mmm in agreement, smiling slightly as he did so, thinking of how he was the same when he started going to this school. Then he basically found comic fan haven when he ran into a couple of other kids in the library. Now he did study groups and some fun activities with those kids that kept him busy. His family was well-off, especially since his grandfather was the one supporting his educational career, so he didn't need a job at the moment. "Well, you're probably right about that. How many credits are you taking, anyway?"

"Fourteen or fifteen, plus I have a job just outside town most weekends." Zen gave a small shrug, at least she did something. And she wasn't exactly the most people-loving person in the world, so she didn't mind her lack of a social life. "It's around the corner from here." She said once she saw the turn ahead, walking slightly faster without noticing.

"Yeah, that's tough. But at least you have a job. I mean, I'm fine off, but I want to work at a comic bookstore just for fun, you know?" He jogged to catch up with her sudden change in pace, though he paid no mind. Mark kept his eyes out for their destination until he saw the cafe. It wasn't particularly crowded, but it had enough people inside that made him think it must be an okay place if they could get that much business. Glancing over to Zen, he gave a small shrug. "So you come here all the time? Do you know the owners or something?" he asked conversationally.

"That sounds like someplace you'd work." Zen said with a smirk as she reached out to pull open the door. The scent of freshly ground coffee beans hit her face and someone behind the counter waved at her, already turning to start a cup of coffee. "Yeah, I think so. I'm definitely here enough, I don't have to order anymore." By the time they reached the counter the girl working handed her the cup. "Large black, same as always." Zen nodded, noticing the look that clearly said she would have to explain who her friend was next time she came on her own. Turning to Mark, the girl with a nametag that read Taylor smiled and clasped her hands in front of her. "What would you like today?" She asked in a voice so overpoweringly sweet it could be used as syrup.

His dark blue eyes dropped down from the menu to focus on the barista. His mouth tugged up in a small, friendly smile and he stepped closer to the counter so he didn't have to speak that loud. If Mark was wearing a hoodie or his normal jeans, he might have tucked his hands in his pockets, but he remembered that he had his gym clothes on instead. Probably should find out if his clothes were permanently stained from Zen's coffee spill earlier that day. Scratching the back of his head, Mark bounced on his heels as he thought. "Um, well, I think I'll have a medium caramel mocha latte," Mark said, giving a small nod as he confirmed this with himself.

((If it's not it should be, sounds yummy))

"Alright, just wait here a moment!" Turning to the back, Taylor flipped out a cup and threw together his order faster than what seemed normal, towering whipped cream on top as she set it back down on the front counter. "Have a nice day!" She said loudly, Zen paid and gave her a small wave before heading off to an empty table. "Before you ask, yes, she is always loud and fairly annoying. It's weird." She leaned on the table and took a long drink, setting the cup down and holding it between her hands.

He looked at her impressed and he gave an appreciative nod as he picked up his drink. Quickly paying, he followed after Zen. "I probably wouldn't have asked, but, uh, good to know." Mark slipped into the seat across from her, flashing a smile. Stirring the straw around, he took a couple sips of pure whip cream before he got to the latte part. He gave a small noise in appreciation and he gave a small nod. "You're right. It's a really neat cafe."

"Yeah, I like it 'cause even when it's busy it's not crazy or loud. Plus it's between my apartment and campus. So that's nice." Zen replied, half-watching the people come in and out and run around outside. She saw a few people who were regulars like herself, some that looked completely lost, one or two who pranced in, decided it didn't look fancy enough, and pranced back out. "People are weird to watch." She commented after a bit of silence as she rolled the cup between her hands slightly.

"Really? I guess I tend to not pay attention to them much. Too lost in my own thoughts or I usually get caught staring and it ends up being an awkward situation," Mark said with a small laugh and shook his head. One time he was sitting alone on campus enjoying his lunch and when his eyes wandered from his comic book with thought, he blinked to realize he happened to be staring at a girl. She gave him a scowl and gave him a rather rude and uncalled for gesture before packing her things and leaving. Though Mark didn't think he didn't deserve a gesture, it made him wonder if his face while lost in thought was really that bad.

"That sounds like there's some story behind it." Zen grinned slightly and leaned back in her chair, her eyes now on a man on his way towards the ground after tripping on whatever. "Ouch." She muttered, turning back to Mark and sipping her coffee. "So you've probably had slightly more of a life than me, anywhere you've been that's interesting?" Since she rarely actually went off her usual route, she didn't know if there was actually a lot around or if everything was just the same old boring shops they had in every other town.

Mark shrugged and gave a smalls sideways smile at her. "Oh, well, not really." He rubbed the back of his neck, looking down at the table. "I mean, I haven't lived in as many places as you. I'm sure you've been to more cool places. But I guess the Lego shop shrine kind of place was pretty interesting. This guy had a giant collection of Legos that you could look at and he sold some sets occasionally." As he spoke, he became more excited and his eyes lit up. He had to force himself to stop or else he would have launched into a rambling monologue about every single thing he saw.

Raising an eyebrow, Zen listened to him somewhat interested. "That doesn't sound like something I've seen. Or remembered seeing, at least." She said, trying to picture what sort of people would go there. Obviously she knew at least one type. "I've moved more times than I can remember or count, but I've always been a bit of a shut-in." Despite her 'travels' she wasn't one to get out much, and that hasn't exactly changed. "There were a couple of interesting things, like once I saw the 'International Banana Museum' in California. No idea what they were thinking there."

"I doubt you would. I would've missed it if it didn't rain terribly that day." Sipping his coffee, Mark tried to think back of the days when he had hung out with Zen and tried to remember if he noticed those features. He probably didn't know she was a shut-in because he was sort of one himself. Blinking back to the present, dismissing the wandering thought, Mark nodded and gave a small scoff in amusement. "I doubt many people really think when it comes to certain monuments and museums. I mean, there are things like the largest ball of yarn to collections of gum. But I guess it caters to the weird people that like those kind of things."

"Sometimes they just collect really weird stuff. Or have a weird fetish, but that's weird to think about." Zen went to take another drink of her coffee, only to find that the cup was empty, and she had in fact finished it during the conversation which had apparently lasted longer than she thought. She set down the cup, stretched her arms over her head and leaned back before turning to Mark again. "So, do you have some interesting place you frequent? Or would it be a good time to head off and meet up later?"

Mark paused a couple seconds to think over what she said before he suddenly began shaking his head. "Yeah, you're right. Better to not think on that more than I have too," he said with a laugh. Sipping the last dregs of his coffee, he silently noted hers was gone as well. Mark was just about to suggest to stay longer when Zen spoke up again. "Oh, well, other than that Lego place and the comic bookstore? Hmm, nothing much really. Does a Chinese restaurant count? It's around the corner from my place. The food is great and there's this guy who has a side bakery too." He bit his lip to cut himself off from rambling again and he tilted his head side to side while he considered her next question, then shrugged. "I guess if you have other things to do we can part ways. My class is still in forty minutes or so."

"Yeah, could do that- ahh, wait, I have work I should probably do before the last minute..." Zen sighed, she really needed to get on that, she had a bad habit of putting things off and later forgetting. Grabbing her bag off the corner of her chair and letting it hang off her shoulder, she stood and turned towards him one more time. "Guess I'll see you in class sometime then," she took her phone out and flipped over to the contacts page before turning it towards him. "Unless you get bored or something. Never know."

"Oh, yeah, yeah. No, that's fine. You should probably get to that class. Can't be disturbing more than one class in a day," Mark said, a slight tease entering his voice as he referred to the coffee spilling incident. Taking her phone, his fingers moved expertly across the screen as he entered his phone number. "Well knowing school, I'll definitely be bored at some point. It's almost a requirement when your working on getting an education." Holding the phone back to her, Mark slowly rose to his feet, giving her a friendly grin.

Zen rolled her eyes and dropped her phone back into her pocket. "Yeah, that's true. See ya." She gave him a small wave on the way out the door and headed off towards her apartment. Unless she had moved it, her work still would be in about the same place, so at least she wouldn't have to go digging around searching for it.

Mark stayed where he was for a few more moments, smiling to himself as he thought over how small the world could be. Those times in early high school were probably the best and it was all because of Zen. Normally his life was pretty ho-hum as he plodded along, but Zen seemed to spice up his life in the most craziest ways. Like the spilled coffee as an example. Drumming his hands on the table, he got to his feet, nodding over to the cashier with a smile before he stepped outside onto the sidewalk. Tucking his hands in his pockets, Mark began to wander back to campus, taking his time since he didn't want to be in class longer than necessary.

A couple of guys, hidden in a small alley just out of sight. Not exactly the sort of person you expect to see up to anything good. Impatient with waiting although they hadn't been there for very long in the first place, one of them lunged out at the first person who crossed their line of sight. The other stepped out in front of him, blocking the way back onto the street. "Sorry to bother you kid, well not really, but we're gonna have to take whatever's on you. Call it business." He crossed his arms while the shorter of the two yanked at the bag. "What kind of guy carries around a purse, anyway?"

Mark stopped just short in his steps to avoid colliding into a taller, not so much older young man. His eyes darted to the other guy, a tingling sensation on the back of his neck making him feel like something wasn't right. There were bad parts of town and the average criminals, but they usually weren't so close to campus. As his backpack was taken from his shoulders, he resisted the urge to shove the other guy away, waiting to see where the situation was headed first before he provoked a fight. Looking up at the guy, Mark couldn't help but roll his eyes. "It's a backpack, doofus. Maybe you recognize it from those picture books you've still been reading."