Incredible

"What is this?" she asked him, touching the drawn faces of each person. This was so incredible.

"I guess I'm not what I seem," he said softly.

"I guess you aren't," she said. "And...I'm sorry. For being so...judging."

Apologize

Apologize.
That is what Ranna had told him to do.
And that was one of the things he had a hard time with.
Aden sat at his table and moodily looked at his paper.
He didn't even know this girl, why should he apologize to her?
Because he really liked her and wanted to get to know her more.
Sighing, Aden went through the list of ways he could apologize.
He scratched nearly everything off of the list as boring, stupid, or cliche'.
Finally  he thought of something.

Nora walked into the coffee shop the next day and sat down at her table, not looking to where Aden normally sat. She didn't care. Right?
 Glaring at her bagel she ripped a bit off and began chewing.
"Nora?"
She turned around, faster than she meant to. She was supposed to be mad at him!
Aden was standing in front of her with a single flower. Her favorite. A Morning Glory. She didn't know how he had kept it alive and open for so long, but he had.
"I wanted to apologize to you. I am sorry I didn't believe you. You were right and I was wrong. If I had opened my eyes I would have seen that."
He set the flower on the table along with a sheet of paper.
On the paper was a 1" by 1" sketch of every person who regularly came into the coffee shop and next to their picture, what was special about them, or at least what he thought was special.
Some of the things on there even Nora didn't know.
Aden had spent the better part of yesterday working on this. He had gone up and asked everyone what made them special.
At the bottom of the paper was a slightly larger 2" by 2" picture of Nora. Underneath the picture it said.
"Has an Uncanny ability to bring out the best in people."

Telepath

"Let go," she snapped, jerking her hand free.

"Nora, wait, please!"

"Why should I?" she asked angrily, blocking the door. He didn't answer quick enough, and she stormed out.

"Next time," Ranna said from behind him. "Don't be so quick to treat her like a ditz."

"But I didn't!"

"Yeah, you did. You didn't believe her. She's got enough of that coming from everyone else."

"Well, of course I didn't believe her! What she was telling me is impossible! There's no way you can read minds."

"If it's so impossible, why are you doubting that you're right?"

"I'm not."

"You're wondering if Nora was right. After all, this is an odd place. Anything could be possible. The sooner you accept the impossible here, the happier you'll be."

"What are you doing?"

"Reading your mind."

"Then what am I thinking now?"

"Mashed potatoes are better with...peanut butter? Ew."

"That's impossible. There's no way you could have known that."

She tapped her head. "Telepath, remember? Apologize to her tomorrow."

Desperation

Aden sat at his table wondering what had just happened.
"N...Nora!" hastily he pushed away from the table and got tangled in the chair legs, but he didn't let it stop him when he smacked his head on the chair, or when he fell over on his butt, or when the chair clanged on the ground.
"Nora!" He pushed himself up and ran after her.
He reached for her hand right as she was walking out the door.

Doubts

She turned and headed towards her table. Aden was there, frowning at the napkin holder. She pulled out a chair.

"Hi."

He looked up quickly, the frown disappearing in what Nora thought should be nominated for Olympic-winning time.

"Oh, hi," he said, offering a smile. "I didn't see you."

"It's crowded today," she observed. "Hard to see the counter. I've been there a while."

"Oh, I see."

"I didn't see you here, either. Ranna's the one who told me you were here."

"She was?"

"Yup."

"Does it scare you when she does that?"

"Does what?"

"When she knows everything?"

"At first it was a little weird, but now I sorta depend on it. Telepathy is very useful in a friend, you know."

"Telepathy?"

"Yeah. Ranna's telepathic. And telekinetic. And she can control fire. She's pretty epic."

"You're...You've got to be joking."

"Why would I joke about something like that?"

"You can't be serious. That kind of stuff doesn't exist."

"The first thing you should know about this place, Aden, is that nothing is at it appears. And neither are you, I guess."

She got up and left the table, leaving the shop without her bagel.

Disappointment

Aden looked at his watch, she should be there now, right? It was before her work. If only he could get out of this meeting!

9:15 he ran into the Coffee Shop, panting.
He glanced around the shop and his heart fell.
He couldn't see her.

Monday Morning

"He came here on Saturday, you know," Ranna said as she filled Nora's order. Nora looked surprised.

"He did?"

"No, I just made that up to mock you," Ranna said sarcastically.

"Well, what did he want?"

"To see you. Duh."

"Oh. Why would he want to do that?"

Ranna gave her an exasperated look.

Not on Saturday

Aden looked up as she left.
Then back down at his picture.
Maybe he was good compared to some, but the pictures rarely turned out the way he wanted them to. Something was always just a little bit... off.
He tried to finish his picture but couldn't. Nora wasn't coming in today.
It wasn't like he had only come in for her... right?
He came in to draw people, just like he did every day.
Seeing Nora was just a side benefit.
Aden gathered his papers together.
He did come to see Nora today. Who was he kidding. He really liked her. Maybe he could find out where she lived?
No that would really seem like a stalker.
He would just have to wait until he saw her again here.
He slowly stood up and walked out of the store.

All in Your Head

"You do know that she doesn't come in on Saturday, right?" Ranna asked, refilling his tea. "Not in the morning, at least. Sometimes she'll come in at night, if she's bored and lonely enough. Just letting you know."

His pencil stopped, then started again.

"You're rather good," she continued. "Despite what you think." She tapped her head, then walked away.

Curiosity

Aden came into the coffee shop the next day having watched four episodes of My Little Pony.
He found he quite liked it.
Not enough to buy a tv, but maybe enough to watch more. Maybe. He really didn't like watching electronics. He would much rather listen to something, or read a book, or draw.
He was actually drawing right now.
Just little sketches on the page, about 3 inches tall each.
He wondered where Nora was and what time her work was.                                                                              

Bring on the Ice Cream

She ran back right after work.

"You did? And?"

"And he's completely honest. A bit boring, actually. No gruesome secrets, not on top, at least. He's so...open. How do people live like that?"

"We may never know," Nora shrugged. All she knew that he wasn't making fun of her, or thinking she was a freak for liking what she liked. He got it. He got her.

"You're all giddy again. No, I'm not rescheduling this Girl Night. I have things to talk about, we're going to need kleenex's, and lots of ice cream. Watching Titanic. Both of us have to watch the end."

"You're going to make me cry with you? After how happy I feel right now?"

"Trust me, Nora. I need this, you need this, tomorrow you can start on your big bright future trying to woo this guy you've known for three days."

I'll Keep your Secrets

Aden waved back at her, hoping she noticed.
"Bye Nora!"
He smiled and then looked at Ranna. "Already done what?"
She gave him a small smile and a bagel then turned around.
Aden sighed.
"Well, lover boy, how's it going?" Yuuto's voice sounded behind his ear.
Aden jumped, "Yuuto! Don't scare me like that!"
Yuuto smiled and sat down across from him.
"How's it goin? You have sat with her now, what three times? Any interesting stuff?"
"What is My Little Pony about?" Aden asked, he would have to watch it sometime.
Yuuto gave Aden a skeptical look.
"It is about pony's... pink, purple and blue pony's."
"Oh." Aden said, interested.
"Oh? why do you ask?"
"No reason."

Not So Bad

"Well, it promotes stuff like honesty and friendship and trust, but it also has this really great animation and character development. I like how it shows that friends can clash, but they can also get along." She had started off talking warily, but by the end of her description her eagerness was back. "It's really great. And funny, too!"

She took a good long look at this guy. He didn't seem too bad. He didn't seem to be playing at anything.

Still, she was gonna ask Ranna to scan his mind."

"Already done," Ranna said, handing Nora her bagel bag. "And you're going to be late to work if you don't run."

"Oh, thanks, Ranna! Bye!" She started to run out the door, then paused and turned back. "Bye, Aden!"

She ran off across the street.

Unexpected

"Friendship is magic?" Aden asked, his tone questioning.
"It sounds like it promotes good values just by the title!" He had heard the titles of some other tv shows, "Sex and the City," "Desperate Housewives." And they did not sound like they promoted anything worth doing.
"What is it you like about the show?"

Nora was a little taken aback, she had thought he would ridicule or tease just a little bit. But no. He was totally accepting.
Maybe this guy was not normal.

Promise You Won't Laugh?

"Promise you won't laugh?" she whispered, leaning in close so no one else would hear. Normally she would never dream of telling someone this. She had no idea why she was telling a stranger now.

"I promise," he said, and it sounded like he meant it. She took a deep breath.

"It's called...wow, I can't believe I'm telling you this...My Little Pony....Friendship is Magic," she mumbled, not bothering to push her hair back in a subconscious attempt to hide what she'd said. "It's what Ranna and I always watch on Girl's Nights. Tradition, you know."

Prodding

"I don't exactly know what normal is, Nora. Come on, tell me! I don't see how it can be worse than people watching!"
he leaned forward expectantly.
Nora leaned back and looked away.
"Just tell me, Nora!" Aden proded.
Maybe he should try watching TV one day, or getting an e-mail. Or not.
Just one more thing to worry about, no need to do that.
Aden sketched Nora's worry face behind his eyelids, trying to save it for later.