The Joining: The Cycle of the Shards Book One

20: Shanna

     Shanna knocked at the door a total of three times, both excited and a little nervous at the prospect of spending time with Kyle. Truth be told, she never thought she would find herself standing here outside his door. But she figured if she waited for him to make the first move she would be waiting a much longer time than she wanted to, and besides, she much preferred to make that move herself. Waiting and wasting time was not her style. She knocked again, a tad impatiently. It was his house, he obviously wanted her there, he should be answering as quickly as possible!

Almost as if on cue, the door opened slowly, and there he stood. He had dressed up almost as if they were going out on an actual date instead of merely hanging out at his house, albeit unsupervised. With his freshly combed hair and his smart clothes, she could not deny that she liked the look of him this way, although a little bit of unkemptness wouldn't be unwelcome either. He paused as he took her in as much as she was taking him in, and stuttered slightly as he welcomed her.

"H..Hi! Welcome." She thought it was sweet of him, and a little bit of a confidence booster for her. Like him, she had taken a little bit of extra time to freshen up before she arrived at his place. She had looked in her closet and her room itself for a better outfit than just a t-shirt and jeans, and settled on a jacket and shirt combo with a long skirt that she thought accentuated her nicely. It seemed from Kyle's reaction that she was right.

"Hi!" She responded brightly. "You look nice!" Kyle smiled slightly.

"Thanks, uh, so do you." He said, and then stood at the door awkwardly. Neither of them were sure how to move forward, until suddenly it looked like Kyle was pushed forward slightly from an unseen force, and he caught himself before he fell onto Shanna. "Would...Would you like to come inside?"

Shanna smiled, mentally having had been timing how long it would take for him to get to the obvious invitation, even though it was implicit from the original talk. "I'd love to, thank you!" Kyle quickly stood aside, as though afraid to touch her, as she walked inside. He grimaced at the air, and then closed the door.

For Critock, all his speeches and best laid plans went completely out the window once Shanna knocked on the door. What was he supposed to do now? What was he supposed to say? Was he supposed to start a courtship ritual? How long was he going to have to waste time before they could get down to the important business of discussing how she was going to get him access to the files he needed? When he finally got his mind back enough to open the door, he was struck dumb yet again, whether by Kyle quietly reasserting himself or from his own stupidity by the look of the beautiful young girl. He realized that at that point he was in real trouble and yet again Tom was right, and he half expected to hear a 'told-you-so' coming from the wisp, but there was none coming. There didn't have to be, if a soul could look smug it would be exactly how Tom was now, floating confidently. Critock had gulped as he took her in, glad that he had taken the time to dress at least a tenth of how she looked, and couldn't think of a thing to say for a moment before suddenly remembering his limited manners. They made their awkward pleasantries and it took Tom pushing him slightly to get him to do the thing she was invited here to do, and then he backed out of the way quickly, wishing to avoid any kind of physical contact if at all possible. He didn't need that excuse for Kyle to go into overload and make another run at regaining control.

As Shanna entered Kyle's home, she stopped to take everything in, glancing around the connected rooms. He came in from behind her, closing the door and moving around her, leaving enough space for an entire other person. Tom, for his part, was keeping his distance, almost overseeing the interaction between the pair, but knowing that he could not now interfere less he give away his presence to Shanna and blow the entire operation. Critock assessed her but was silent as she walked through the kitchen to the dining table. "Nice place."