Violet

[nola_laurielaurence]

New Orleans weather was, frankly, terribly. It was only mid-May and already the temperatures were in the high 80s. It was both intensely humid and unrelentingly sunny, and every tourist who walked by looked like they were in the process of actually melting.

But despite that, Amar was waiting outside for Violet, because it was the polite thing to do, maybe? And also he didn't want to risk the chance of missing her. Not when the semester was over and he had extra time on his hands, and could actually use more friends.

He wasn't actually mad at Diego, though he was committed to the bit for now, but the fact was that he really hadn't cultivated a thriving social life since moving down from Boston. Which was stupid, because Amar was great! People should like him! People who weren't the bones he studied and the grad students who had to do what he said.

He leaned back into the meager shade from Phoenix Effect's awning and crossed his arms. Violet liked books—what did he know about books? It was so hot that he couldn't remember anything. He had read a book before, right?

Comments

[nola_jomarch]

Well now she was going to have a craving. She loved beignets, but she missed apple cider donuts. "I can eat so many cider donuts in one sitting. We have family in Vermont and every time we'd go up to visit, every single picture of me has me coated in a fine dusting of cinnamon sugar like I'm some kind of breakfast cereal."

[nola_laurielaurence]

"Violet Toast Crunch!" Amar exclaimed with a grin. "I could duck face-first into a tub of them and just go bobbing."

[nola_jomarch]

"...well that's my new Twitter display name," she decided, pulling the app up on her phone so she could change it before she forgot.

[nola_laurielaurence]

"I'm honored," he said sincerely. "I don't have a Twitter because I'm sure I'll embarrass myself in front of my students."

[nola_jomarch]

"I am torn between being baffled that there are people who don't have Twitter accounts and being convinced that that is the exact reason you need one," she admitted, smiling. "What do you teach?"

[nola_laurielaurence]

"Anthropology," he told her. "My main focus is forensic, which is part of the hesitation, I think. I know I'll be sharing a link to an article about how identifying a John Doe and talking about how meaningful and important it is to help a family find closure, and then one second later I'll be like, 'OMG this cat looks like a Pikachu!' and negate shatter any illusions anyone has about my attention span."

[nola_jomarch]

"But I really want to see the cat that looks like Pikachu," Violet pointed out. "And Twitter doesn't require an attention span. That's the whole point. Even beyond the fact that I could totally make an argument that PIkachu and forensics are obviously connected."

[nola_laurielaurence]

"All right, go." Amar sat forward, looking expectant.

[nola_jomarch]

"Pikachu is a detective. Detectives investigate crimes. Forensic anything is, by definition, about investigating crimes. Boom, easy." She smiled as she sipped her coffee. "You're lucky to assist Pikachu in his noble purpose."

[nola_laurielaurence]

"I would jump at the chance to be point person to Detective Pikachu," Amar said solemnly. "Jump like Spoink."

[nola_jomarch]

"Isn't Spoink the one that can never stop jumping or its heart stops, though? That seems risky."

[nola_laurielaurence]

"I wouldn't be able to help it," Amar said. "That's just how excited I'd be."

[nola_jomarch]

"That is adorable and also why you need a Twitter," she replied. In her head, it sounded a little like Tigger's bouncing. "To share your Spoink-like enthusiasm."

[nola_laurielaurence]

"But then the coffeehouse social media might stop being my weirdness outlet," he pointed out. "For the local coffee aficionados, I need to make this sacrifice."

[nola_jomarch]

"I'll have to start a fan account and tweet anything particularly quotable completely out of context, just to see what happens." Okay, so she probably wouldn't, but next time she needed to hardcore procrastinate...

[nola_laurielaurence]

"So you can reap all the profits and praise?" Amar grinned. "You're even smarter than I thought."

[nola_jomarch]

"Thank you, thank you. I'd bow, but I'm too lazy to get up when I've finally cooled down from being outside." Violet's grin mirrored his. "So, do I meet your replacement best friend standards?"

[nola_laurielaurence]

Amar made a show of looking over he shoulder before lowering his voice and saying, "Don't tell anyone, but none of the other applicants even compared. You're a shoo-in."