Survival Of The Fittest

"Done."
Cyrus tossed the binder back into his backpack, swept the desk clear and opened a drawer. Scanning the compartment for a few moments, he produced a book and placed it on the desk, opening it as begun to read aloud.
"Moloch whose mind is pure machinery. Moloch whose blood is running money." He spoke dryly, the words having expression but no meaning as far as he was concerned. The book of poems had been something he found at a local thrift shop, later learning that it had actually been banned for obscenity in the late 1950s. This was a point of interest to Cyrus, as he had never come across any banned literature before, and was curious as to what it was about. "Moloch whose eyes are a thousand blind windows. Moloch whose skyscrapers stand in the long streets like endless-" He heard a loud knocking at the door and sighed, putting the book away. "...Jehovahs."

Damn. Just... damn.

There are certain things each person perceives as precious memories. Things like prom. Going to prom with a nice partner. Unfortunaly, nobody seemed to want to go to prom with Aileen. A strange thing. Maybe she wasn't active enough. Anyway, things looked bleak for Aileen. Prom is just one day away and she still hasn't found anyone suitable for her. But things were getting worse. Her parent's cuckoo clock was broken. It suddenly fell after Aileen touched it gently.

Two problems now stood before Aileen. For one, the broken clock, which had to be repaired before the Abdallah parents returned home the next day. And far worse, still no prom date. Fortunaly for her, Aileen heard of a young man in her grade, who was very passionate about repairing stuff.

She arrived at his house, walked to the door, knocked at the door and sincerly hoped that this guy is good in what he does.

The door opened. Cyrus stood before her. Aileen studied his body deeply while greeting him. Suddenly, a light of hope shimmered.

Please be single, please be single, please be single...

Cyrus opened the door, noticing the girl before him was holding a clock as well as a large amount of stress. He sighed, looking over the clock.
"Do you want me to fix the clock, your personal problems, both, or just come to introduce yourself?" He turned around, looking at a clock mounted on the wall. "Because honestly, I have time for all three." He chuckled softly. "Then again, nobody ever comes to say hi, it's always: 'Cyrus, fix my toaster! Cyrus, fix my relationship! Cyrus, fix my bike!'" He smiled and looked down. "Not that I mind, of course. I love helping people and all, but I seem to never get any personal calls." Looking back up, his smile disappeared. "Anyhow, come in, I'll see what I can do." He turned around, walking inside and gesturing for Aileen to follow.

Aileen stood in the treshold for a while. It appears that Cyrus is not only good in repairing broken devices, but is also a soul doctor. And with that, Aileen's hope sank again. The chicks crave these nice guys, well, at least Aileen does. No way he is still without a partner. Her hand unbuttoned some of her blouse. Not to give up early. And who knows, maybe this guy knows some people who's whole desire is to have such a sexy woman as Aileen as a partner.

Following his hand gestures, she went inside. While walking behind him, she started to introduce herself.

"I am Aileen Abdallah, magnificent student of Aurora High. And I am here so you can fix this ugly clock." Beat. "Also, I am, as tragic as it is, still without a prom partner." Another beat. "To answer your questions."

Both arrived at Cyrus' room. Aileen spotted a desk full of tools. Putting the clock on said desk, she hummed an upbeat melody. Still humming, she turned around to Cyrus.

"And now~?"

Cyrus looked over the clock, running a hand over the frame.
"Hm. Okay, first off, how did you break it?" He remained focused on the clock, his eyes never leaving it's carved wood. "I'll be sure to help you with your personal troubles right after, so don't worry about it." He looked over at the girl, glancing down at her blouse. "You might want to button that up, I can see your bra." He chuckled a bit before examining the clock once again.

That's the purpose of having an open blouse, so you can SEE more things. Ah, well...

A few quick movements with her hands, and the blouse was fully buttoned again. Not a good idea to piss the guy who repairs the clock off.

Now... how did it brake? This is an uncomfortable question, and Aileen tapped with her toes a bit before answering.

"I just touched it, and then it fell down! Stupid Gravity, don't you agree?"

In other words, she knocked on it and the pegs wasn't fixated right. Due to the vibrations of the wood, it eventually fell out of the much to large hole in the wall.

"And when I shaked it, I could clearly hear the parts rattling." Also, the hour hands stopped moving. The other one too, but at least the wood frame seems to be somehow okay... Disregarding some scratchers and similiar.

Cyrus shrugged and pulled the chair out from under the desk. He sat down and turned the clock over, opening up the hatch on the back. He chuckles a bit more.
"Aileen, this clock is fine. You just knocked some hooks and latches out of place." He reached into the clock with both hands, moving some pieces around. "The rattling was from a loose gear knocking against the frame." He grabbed a screwdriver and reached in again. "This will only take a few minutes." He spoke again, not looking up from the clock. "So, no date for prom yet?"

Not broken? That's also good. On Aileen' face a big smile of relief formed. She watched as Cyrus handled the screwdriver. Then...

"So, no date for prom yet?"

At this point, Aileen rubbed her hands a litte. It was a sign that she was thinking. Thinking on what she should say. The conversation moved surprisingly fast to this topic, and Aileen still had hope. For her, it was important to go with someone. It would look ridiculous if a wonderful person like her would go alone, as if she was some kind of loner. Of course, she could just say that nobody was worthy enough of her, but that would stretch the truth a little. Her mind was fixated on Cyrus again. A plan formed in her head.

1. Find out if Cyrus is without a partner
2. Make him her partner
3. Prom, here I come

"Yeaaaah..." The brunette woman began her answer with a long-drawn-out word. "Still have no prom partner. Isn't this so terrible? Just a little more than 24 hours 'till Prom, and I am still alone."

Aileen stepped nearer towards Cyrus, untill only three inches air seperated them.

He pulled the screwdriver out, placing it to the side and closing the hatch to the clock. He smiled, turning the clock right-side up.
"Done. But yeah, I'm willing to go with you. Not like I have anyone to go with." He got up from his chair. "That is, if you're okay with me." He smiled at Aileen, not seeming to care about how incredibly close she was. "Besides, I'm sure you could get anyone else if you wanted to."

...that went fast

A moment of surprise filled the room with an akward silence. Aileen heard various responses in the last weeks.

>Sorry, already with someone!<
>I am gay...<
>Heh? I like men, you dyke!<
>AGH! Go away!<
>...I AM 28!<

Cyrus' sudden and voiced willingness to go to prom with Aileen caused a burst of joy in her. Her plan was a huge success. She had a prom partner, that stupid clock was repaired and... well that's it. After Cyrus complimented her, she finally lost any self-restrain and hugged him, calling him a damned toady. To express her gratitude, of course. Even though Aileen barely knew Cyrus, she really didn't mind. Because damn, at least she got a date. The learning to know each other part can come later.

After finishing hugging Cyrus, she stepped a few inches back from him.

"So... my father and me will be here tomorrow at 6 o'clock. Dress finely. And feel amazed!"

With these words, she grabbed the clock and went out of Cyrus' room. Just being here for a few minutes, and already a comprehensive victory! Her parents would probably chide her for going to prom with someone she only knew for a few minutes, but as it said so beautyfully: Drastic situations requiere drastic measures

I am so fucking awesome

[Aileen Aurora Abdallah: Continued somewhere else]

Cyrus chuckled softly as she hugged him, keeping his smile after she left. He sat back down, turning around in his chair.
"Moloch, whose factories dream and croak in the fog!"

[Cyrus White continued elsewhere.]

A quick reminder: Please stick to third person past tense for IC SOTF posts, as stated in the rules. While we understand that some variety is simply a stylistic choice, at a certain point it becomes a comprehensibility issue. Specifically, referring to other characters as "you" outside the context of dialogue/thoughts is problematic, as your character is addressing the other character, not the handler. Similarly, switching back and forth at random between past tense ("He spoke dryly, the words having expression but no meaning as far as he was concerned.") and present tense ("Cyrus tosses the binder back into his backpack, sweeping the desk clear and opening a drawer. Scanning the compartment for a few moments, he pulls out a book and places it on the desk, opening it and beginning to read aloud.") makes posts incredibly difficult to follow. As a reminder, the style used on SOTF is past tense, and posts should all adhere to that as the default/primary tense so as to allow the overall site to remain a cohesive read.

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