MC frowned as she pressed end on the call. That was six times in a row that 707 hadn't answered her. She didn't make the calls back to back, but she felt like he would get annoyed at her fairly quickly already due to the amount. She needed to get a hold of him though, she had to get back into the apartment and couldn't do so without his help. She was reduced to wandering around the city, it was a good way to get her surroundings down at least. She couldn't get lost if she knew where to go after all. The kitten she stopped to pet was still running through her mind as she stepped into a small restaurant. She had a little money left in her account from her mother, enough to buy a meal in the very least, and eating would give Seven some time to wake up and hopefully contact her.
She ordered a small burger meal and a cola before moving to sit at a table near the back where very few people were. She didn't want to inconvenience any of the couples who were enjoying their lazy weekend afternoon, and she would rather not sit somewhere that many people could see how alone she really was. The burger didn't even leave a taste in her mouth, she ate it robotically as she thought over her situation. She was halfway through her lunch when she noticed a flash of white from the corner of her eye. There was a boy heading her way with his own tray of food, his white and pink hair swishing as he moved and his eyes remaining downcast while he weaved his way towards her. He looked up when he approached her table, his eyes locking with hers as he took an involuntary step back.
"Sorry... I didn't realize that the table was... occupied..." He explained in his soft soothing tones. His voice was so different from his appearance, it was one that would put her at ease if not mixed with the thuggish vibes his hair and clothing reeked of.
"No... no it's fine." She assured him as he looked down once again. "I was um... I was almost done anyway so..." She allowed her words to die away into nothing as she bit down on her lip and stared at her food. Her eagerness to be polite and nice to this boy had created an awkward atmosphere between them. She could tell in the way he shifted from foot to foot and glanced around the packed tables behind him that he was just as uncomfortable as she was. "Um!" She called out as he turned to leave, "You can uh... sit with me if you want, I am about to leave so the table will be all yours in a minute."
"Thank you." He sighed in relief as he shifted to sit across from her. She gave him a reassuring smile, which he returned before looking down at his food and away from her. "I am Ray, by the way..." he mumbled as he lifted his cup up and wrapped his lips around the straw.
"Mirae Cheo, but you can call me MC, everyone does." She replied as she gave him another smile, a polite one this time.
"Pleasure to meet you, MC." His voice was so soft and formal that she couldn't help imagining him as some long lost prince or- she internally smacked herself, her imagination needed to take a vacation.
"Same Ray." He looked up when she said his name, and she didn't know if it was the lighting or his cheeks themselves, but his face was tinted a light shade of red. She ducked her head at the sight and watched as his slim fingers wrapped around his own burger. They sat in silence, him eating while she picked at her food. It almost felt normal to her to eat with someone she didn't really know, she certainly had been bonding with people she had never met over the last couple of days so eating with a stranger was nothing different, was it?
At that moment her phone began to ring out. She glanced down to where it rested on the table to see that it was none other than 707 calling her. She glanced between the phone and her impromptu lunch partner a few times, a mistake as it caused her to miss the hackers call.
"Ah.. sorry I should really call him back." She said as she grabbed her phone from the table with one hand and gathered her trash with the other.
"Your boyfriend?" He asked. She felt her cheeks warming at the question and quickly ducked her head.
"Ah... no. not my boyfriend.. A... a friend." She answered when she noticed that he was still looking at her curiously. He nodded and shifted to let her out, she kept her head ducked as she moved between him and the column separating them from the rest of the restaurant.
"Oh, hey... MC?" She paused and turned to face him while balancing her trash on the tray.
"Yeah?" He stood slightly and reached into his pocket, pulling a black wallet with a green swirling design that reminded her of an eye from it and flipping the leather open. She raised a brow when he pulled a plain business card with his name, the fact he was a student, and a phone number from it and holding it out to her.
"Um, I hope this isn't weird..." He mumbled as she stared at the offered card. "I uh, I wanted to thank you. You saved me from embarrassing myself by going back through all those tables for a to go bag so..."
"It's-" she began.
"If-" he began at the same time. There was a pause where they simply stared at one another before the both let out a nervous chuckle. "If," he said again when they calmed down, "you are out and around and hungry you can call me or text me and I'll um... I'll buy you a meal."
"Thank's Ray. You don't have to..." She said as her hand moved to tuck her phone in her pocket.
"No no, I want to, one good turn deserves another after all." His words, spoken in his soft tone that would make anyone want to lean in for more, had her cheeks burning as she giggled lightly.
"Okay then, it's a deal." She said as her fingers grasped the edge of the card. He released it as soon as she steadied her grip and returned to his seat.
"See you around MC." He called to her cheerfully over his shoulder. She smiled as she slipped the card into her pocket.
"Yeah, see you around." Even though he had his back to her, she still gave him a small wave in farewell. She turned away from him then and found the nearest trash bin to rid herself of her tray before stepping outside. She pulled her phone from her pocket, bringing Ray's card with it, and stared at the two objects before returning the card and tapping on her screen to cut it on. 707 had called twice, she hadn't expected him to do that. The smile it brought to her lips remained until he answered her call.
"MC! Where are you!!" there was no joking manner in his voice as it shouted over the phone and into her ear. She held it a bit away from herself before bringing it back and taking a moment to compose herself.
"I was just eating lunch at Wacdonalds. Waiting on you to wake up." She explained.
"I called you." he said simply.
"Yeah, I saw..."
"Twice."
"Well I called you six times with no answer..." She pointed out. There was a pause on his end where all she could hear was the clicking of his fingers on his keyboard. She sucked in her breath and held it as she waited for him to speak once again.
"I told you not to leave the apartment until I woke up." His words were flat and lifeless, the clicking of the keyboard still actively going on in the background. "Where are you now? Are you close?" She knew he meant 'to the apartment', the thought that she was becoming like the RFA's pet weighed on her as the question hung between them.
"Yeah, I'm just a couple blocks away," she said simply.
"Good. Good good good... okay, get back to the apartment and text me as soon as you're at the door so I can let you in. We still don't know who Unknown is so we don't know if they are... antagonistic.." His choice of wording raised her brow.
"Seven. Zero. Seven. You looked up my school history." she chided in the same tone that her mother used when she did something bad.
"Yeah, I did, call it me running your background. You're one of us now so it's my job to do that." He explained simply, the tapping was constant, she was surprised that his fingers didn't grow tired. "Look, I'm sorry I'm snappy, work..." he sighed, "Work is getting to me. I just... I want- I need to know you're safe okay?" She ducked her head as a small smile tugged at her lips.
"Yeah.. okay... it's okay..." she mumbled as she turned the corner. The apartment building was in view now, but it was still at the other end of the street.
"Good, well then, Defender of Justice Seven Zero Seven out!" He exclaimed in his playful tone before ending the call. She chuckled as she pulled the phone from her ear and glanced through the RFA app to see if she missed anything else. She didn't pay attention to her surroundings as she walked, having taken them all in when she was on her way to the department store before. If she had looked up even once she may have noticed a flash of white hair as the same guy she had just been dining with ducked between alleyways behind her.