Cookie Dough

Naturally Thalia had to go to the best ice cream shop in town. Some cheap second brand ice cream would not do the trick. Unfortunately though she did't have any money on her, she had spent that all on the large lunch she had just eaten. "Hello," She greeted a friendly looking woman. "Give me $10," Tali commanded, and the woman did so. It depended on the day as to whether she felt bad for stealing people's money, today she did kind of feel bad, but oh well, it was ice cream so the lady would have to deal with it. "Hey," Thalia smiled at the attendant. "Can i have a medium sized bowl of cookie dough ice cream?" She asked. Usually she would just compel the person there to give her the ice cream for free, but there were too many people around for that, and it would be far too obvious. She wasn't that stupid. 

    Well guess who was stupid? Marshall, who had been coerced into going to the most expensive ice cream shop in town. He wasn't rich. Heck, he was still saving up for college. So why he had decided it was worth spending 54 dollars buying five one liter tubs of ice cream? Britta. It was always Britta. Naturally she wouldn't eat anything from the grocery store, and since no one else in his family liked Tiger Ice Cream, Marshall was left to pick a second flavor. And, considering there were seven of them, two liters just wouldn't do. So, five liters of ice cream it was then. Would he get reimbursed for this costly grocery trip? No, because his dad had just about as much money in the bank as he did...not that Marshall was bitter about it or anything. Maybe he should consider being a philanthropist. He was getting pretty good at it.

    The shop door jingled as Marshall pushed his way inside. The air conditioning was a blessing after the sweltering heat outside. Sporting a red bandana alongside his muscle-shirt and plain shorts, the young man once more looked out of place. Lifting his skateboard by the trucks, Marshall lumbered over to the deep freeze. Hefting five one liter tubs of ice cream from the freezer, the broad-shouldered giant nearly froze as his gaze rested on a familiar figure. Samantha.

    "Hey there, Princess." He spoke after a moment's thought, tucking the last tub of ice cream beneath his arm. The frozen plastic melted wet spots against his side, but the sweaty skateboarder wasn't complaining. "Not still trying to curb those hunger pangs, are you?"

Thalia turned around and shook her head with a sigh once she realized who it was. "Honestly, what are you doing? Two run ins in one week? Someone might think you were stalking me," Her gaze dropped to the ice cream that he was holding. "You got enough there?" She asked while raising a brow. "And no, I am perfectly fine today," Tali was very fine today, in all senses. She had eaten enough to satisfy her need for sustenance, and so she went to get some nice ice cream to top it all off. Thalia was also rather content today because she had just 'bought' a bunch of new clothes that were obviously very expensive. 

Before dropping out of Uni, she had planned on majoring in art and then transferring to fashion school. Clothing had always been a passion of hers, and perhaps she may get into it again. After all, she could ace any interview she got. Returning her attention to Marshall, Tali tipped her head to the side waiting for his response. What remarkable remark would he come up with today? And really, Princess? How creative. Maybe she should come up with a nickname for him... hmm...

    Marshall's eyes glimmered with amusement at her remark. He'd never stalked anyone before. But if he did, Marshall liked to think he could be a really good stalker. "Stalking you? Come on Princess, I 'd be a little more discreet than this." he offered a wink as he shifted the Ice cream evenly between his arms, setting his skateboard down in the process. Setting his foot on top to keep the board from rolling away, he glanced up just in time to hear her final comment.

    Did he have enough, though? "To be honest, I'm not sure. I've got six other mouths to feed." Big families, you know? Well..maybe she didn't know. Marshall began to reflect upon their previous meeting and this one too. Maybe she was alone? Well, that wasn't really something you could discern just by meeting someone unless their attire clearly proved it. But Samantha remained a mystery to him still. And why did it bother her he'd seen her yet again? Perhaps their first encounter had mad her more upset than she cared to admit?

    Now carefully monitoring his words, Marshall only nodded at the comment about her welfare. Saying anything around her might get him in trouble.

Oh he would only get in trouble if he said something stupid... which seemed to be the only thing he ever said. Wait. Did he just wink at her? He actually had the audacity to wink at her? Honestly, people these days. "Well, Goldy-locks, its not often that you bump into someone like you in high end places two days in a row," An ice cream parlor may not be that much of a high end place, but then again, there were plenty of other cheaper ice cream places around. 

"Six people? Wow, your mother must be a brave lady," She couldn't imagine dealing with more than two children. That meant there were either five or four of these siblings running around. That was a scary thought. Five little Marshall's running around. His poor mother, Tali almost admired her. 

    Of course he had the audacity to wink at her! It's not like he was flirting with her. That would just be gross, not to mention a little inappropriate considering he barely knew her. Goldy-locks? Marshall's face scrunched uncomfortably at the comment, his cheeks growing heated. If his hands had been free, one of them would've probably found themselves running through that gilded hair. But instead, he could only stare back at her, uncomfortable at the rising heat in his cheeks.

"Someone like me?" Well, that sounded familiar. "And what makes you think we're so different from one another, hmm?" Was it so painfully obvious that they were worlds apart? Surely clothing couldn't admit so much about one person, could it? Her comment about his mother brought a sad smile to his face. Yeah, she was. But the pitiful words never made it past his lips as his gaze was diverted by the woman at the till. His turn already? "Excuse me." Skirting around Thalia he set the buckets of ice cream on the counter, carefully fishing around for his wallet. Fifty-four dollars...sheesh. Why exactly was this place so expensive?

Ew, no. She would not flirt with the likes of him. "How are we different you ask?" Was it not obvious? Well, aside from the whole gifted thing... was he gifted? Thalia was now curious. Perhaps she should ask him. I mean why not. If he wasn't then so what, and if he was, well then it would seem like they did have more in common than she thought. She decided to follow him over to the counter, i mean it was just rude to walk away in the middle of a conversation.

"Isn't it rather obvious? I mean you don't seem anything like me. We have completely different tastes of wardrobe, you have a family-" She didn't really mean to say that last part. Thalia had a family somewhere, but she couldn't really leave Mapleridge to find them, and her brother, well who knows where he was by now. "Anyway, that's beside the point," Thalia added quickly. "We are very different," Or so she liked to believe. Truthfully she was no rich 'princess' she was a thief, a very good thief. 

    Well you know what they say, bad thieves get hanged; Good thieves get lost. As he paid for the ice cream, Marshall tried to show some interest in what she was saying. Her opinions well...to him they were a little...um...worthless. Despite what she might say, they weren't as different as she made them seem. Sure their attire might attribute them to different worlds. Their hobbies and interests would probably never coincide, but when you got down to the nitty-gritty of it all, how different could they be?

    Since visiting his friend Andre, Marshell frequently pondered what made them all so different. Reapers, Gifted, and the rest of them. Where the lines of division they'd drawn anything more than illusions? Were the gifted really as 'special', and the reapers as 'damned' as everyone made them out to be? He couldn't be the only one wondering these things. But no one had answers. No one knew why people were disappearing. Why the Gifted began to emerge. And why some just...didn't make it.

    Lost in his mantra of thought, Marshall found himself completely lost in their current conversation. Gathering the ice cream bags in one hand, he gathered his skateboard in the other. Tossing Samantha a smile, he only said, "If you say so Princess." After all, why not just let her be right? The Icecream parlor was no place to unload the inner workings of his mind, and Samantha was not the person to tell them to.

Thalia frowned and stormed after him. Oh dear, now she was upset. He was just walking away again? No, 'good talking to ya, catch you later next time i decide to stalk you'? Hmph. "Wait," Now that she was following him she didn't know what she would do. Why had she gone after him, he infuriated her. "Are you gifted?" Thalia decided to ask. I mean there was no harm in it. However what it he was a seeker... maybe she would just make him forget the question. Oh well, he had to answer it truthfully now since she had compelled him to do so. Tali was generally curious as to whether he was like her. Of course she would never admit that she was gifted to him, even if he did turn out to be gifted. He didn't even know her real name. Maybe there was no harm in telling him, he didn't seem to know her anyway.

Oh geeze, what was happening to her? Why was she following this person. No. As soon as she got her answer she would be out of there. Why bother wasting her time on some scum like this? She had far better things to do like... well, she would come up with something to do. Maybe become the mayor, or be an actress. The options were limitless. However becoming the mayor in one day would probably be rather suspicious. 

With a glance over his shoulder, Marshall looked surprised he was being accompanied. "If I didn't know better Princess, I'd think you[\i] were stalking me." setting his skateboard down with a clatter, he pushed his way through the door, using one foot to guide the board and the other to balance himself. "Well, see ya!" he'd begun to say, just as she decided to drop a rather loaded question.

Did she really just ask that? Marshall cast her a rather stern look that was broken up by a deep chuckle. He wasn't the only person amused. Another civilian entering the ice cream store seemed to think it was funny as well. "No. you're Gifted." The declaration wasn't one made based on assumption, but rather to make her uncomfortable. Marshall had no knowledge of what she was and as long as she wasn't harming anyone, he didn't really care. "Maybe if you spent a little less time thinking the whole world revolves around you, you'd already have your answer." He wasn't telling her to actively snoop through other people's business. But paying attention to community happenings? It wouldn't hurt her much.

Marshall's departure from the Seekers hadn't been a quiet affair. Most people knew of it by now, especially given the time he spent at the soup kitchen. While anyone could conspire he left because he was gifted, it couldn't be logically argued. He'd been with the Seekers up until the last Calling, and he'd been so intent on finding Andre, he'd been on every shift and patrol they would put him on. After discovering his friend was a Reaper, Marshall left. There were no secrets, no hidden motives. That was the story.

But, feeling he owed her some sort of response, Marshall shrugged his shoulders. "But since you asked, I am gifted. I have many gifts." He wasn't about to tell her what they were obviously. Even he didn't think his mini-talents were that great. "Have you ever heard of Barry Allen, the fastest man alive?" But, since he was still pulling her leg, he didn't mind embellishing a little.

Thalia honestly didn't care if people laughed. They were all beneath her anyway. "I am not gifted," She snapped with a frown, although it was a lie. "Although come to think of it, I guess you could say i am, because I am a rather exceptional designer," She added, to make it sound a lot more casual. And no, she was not stalking him, he was being delusional, why would she stalk him, she had better things to do with her time. 

His comment about the whole world revolving around her did sting a bit, and she didn't believe that, but then again, she wouldn't mind that thought. "I don't think everything revolves around me," She muttered quietly to herself. "However, I do carefully choose where to spend my time and energy, because there are obviously people in this world who don't matter," Yes, she was talking about him. If Thalia could control the heat she would probably melt his ice cream just because, but she didn't so she just glared at him instead. "And if you are about to suggest that you are the Flash, then don't bother, there is nothing special about you," Why was it that he always got under her skin. Maybe because what he was saying did have truth to it, and she didn't want to accept her life for what ti was... no, that didn't sound right. 

    You call this spending your time wisely? Odd. Girls really were ridiculous, whether they liked to admit it or not. Samantha was the most ridiculous of them all, although Maeve came a close second. Both girls were odd for completely different reasons, but odd nonetheless. Marshall's coy smile didn't falter beneath her harsh words. He was beyond the point of taking it personal. When it came down to it, Thalia wasn't wrong. There wasn't anything special about him. But boy, was she making herself look silly admitting it.

    "Leaping to conclusions are we?" He sounded more amused than offended. "Gee Princess, if I didn't know better I'd think you liked to argue. Wouldn't be surprised, you're good at it." But Marshall wasn't here to argue. And Samantha no longer got to hear the amazing story of how he someone related to Barry Allen. Marshall who was very artistically gifted could draw a pretty wicked Marvel spin-off, but no, Samantha didn't need to hear that anymore.

    It wasn't just her leaping to conclusions. She wasn't exactly...his type. Not in a lovey-feely sort of way, but in an everyday relationship way. All they did was constantly bicker, and Marshall hated conflict. Casting a glance at his watch, Marshall's smile evaporated. He was running late. "Anyway Princess, maybe I'll see you around...if you're still stalking me that is." With a playful wink meant to diffuse the tension, Marshall pushed away on his skateboard without giving much chance for protest.

Thalia was not going to go after him. It was not worth it. "Stop winking at me! Its creepy!" She called after him and turned on her heel. Ugh, that boy was just... just. Infuriating! "I hope your ice cream melts," She muttered bitterly and walked off in the other direction. If she could help it, Thalia wouldn't cross paths with him again. Although somewhere deep down inside her she wanted to meet him again. Maybe actually tell him her real name... No! He was annoying, she hoped he would get hit my a bus. This internal conflict kept going on, and Thalia almost walked onto the street and got hit my a bus herself. She was going to go and sort her life out. After her conversation with Maeve, Thalia planned on doing something  with her life, so off she went to go find herself an interview to ace. She would go and get an internship, and maybe sweet talk her way into an important position in some high end designer brand business.