â Alva Makota â
Goldilock and one bear.
Goldilock and one bear.
Alva's eyes flickered from the stranger's feet to her own. After a few minutes, she noticed she was trying to get into the same step as him. It was something she would always do with Paul and for some reason she was doing it with that man as well. She quickly came to conclusion that it was to distract herself. "Just fine, miss. Happens all the time," he then answered her question. Her eyebrows shot upwards and she found herself staring at him for a moment.
"How in the world is that just fine?" As she spoke, she shook her head to move her bangs out of her eyes. The rain immediately forced them back down though, much to her annoyance. "Is that what your doctor told you? Have you even seen a doctor?" she continued to ask. He was either naive (or an idiot, as she would prefer to say) or stubborn if he called that just fine. Alva then realized that she was prying without meaning to. Her head quickly snapped to the front once again as an abnormal warmth spread across her face. She wasn't sure where all the questions were coming from. It wasn't like she cared much about the man's personal life or decisions, so why was she prying? Alva's eyebrows knitted together into a frown as confusion set in.
His pace seemed to quicken because Alva found herself falling behind. Ah, I hate the rain, she growled in her mind as she tried to match him once again. She would have no trouble keeping up with him if it wasn't for the rain; it slowed her, tired her quicker, and had her trembling from the cold. Even though she could stand the cold much more than the usual person, it was too much for her â especially with the little protection she had. "No need to worry miss. I just need to get to the store before curfew and then get back home." Her eyes glanced towards him as he spoke. Without noticing, she began to wonder what the reasons were for him needing to go to a store at such hour and during the storm. She decided it must be important if he was risking being out past curfew. She quickly shook the thoughts out of her head though, finding it strange she was even thinking about such things.
"What about you miss? I'm afraid I do not know your name, and you are out awfully late for such a storm." His voice cut her from her thoughts. Her body stiffened immediately when she noticed the attention had been drawn to herself and a million thoughts began racing through her mind in a matter of seconds. His pace slowed down, she noticed, and she knew she had to be careful about her answer. Fear, once again, ran through her entire being but she made sure not to show one bit. Really, Alva didn't see why she should explain herself to him. Yet if he was suspicious, he would be even more if she avoided answering his question. That being said, she knew she had no choice but to answer him.
Her eyes rested one again on him. Unlike most people who tended to look away whenever they lied, she would always look at the person when she lied. "Alva," she said calmly. It felt like she had been lost in her thoughts for more than few minutes but she had reacted after a moment of seconds. "My name is Alva Locke. I'm looking for my brother who hasn't come home yet." Her alias sounded strange coming from her. Alva had no creativity whatsoever so when they were choosing their false names, Alva was one of the last ones to decide. She ended up finally choosing one when Johann, being who he was, made a joke about calling her 'goldilock' and without any other idea, she settled with Locke (she added the e to make her feel like the creative person she knows she isn't). Of course, she didn't tell her younger brother or he would simply never let it go.
Alva turned to face the front once again and her eyesight hit the ground. Before she could even realize what she was doing, the words continued to roll out of her mind. "And your name? I can say the same thing about you being out here, especially with that, um, condition of yours." Alva grew more frightened at that point. This time, though, the cause wasn't the man besides her but herself. Her actions, thoughts, and words weren't hers. She had no clue where they were coming from and the fact that her behavior was that out of place made her fear that she was losing her mind in the storm.
The sound of the rain muffled most of the sound around them; that included the coughing that had started up again. Yet Alva heard the sound of it loud and clear and her body tensed up significantly as an uncomfortable feeling hit her. It wasn't as bad as the one before but Alva's eyes were on him to make sure he was all right either way. She had started to ask him if he was fine but she caught herself before she could make it to the second letter. Her jaw clenched and her eyesight returned to the ground as an uncomfortable feeling hit her. It seemed slightly familiar but Alva couldn't place where it had come from or why â and by how uneasy it made her feel, she really didn't want to find out.