It is currently 15:12 Pacific Time on Thu Aug 5 2004.
Currently the moon is in the waning Gibbous Moon phase (69% full).

Garcia's Pizza Parlor(#2882RJM$)
The first thing some people notice when they step into this room is the noise:
      almost always there is some sort of noise, of music or conversation or 
      the employees in the back, cooking. Others see the lights, harsh 
      yellow-white over the counter and on into the kitchen in the back, a 
      dimmer, indeed faint glow above each of the tables scattered around. No 
      matter which sense is first engaged by the room, almost all soon are 
      captured by the smell of pizza; the smell pervades the place, an aroma of 
      melted cheese, cooked tomato sauces, various meats, vegetables, all 
      subtle, yet all blended together into the overwhelming smell. The smell 
      tells the customer that, despite the less-than-classy look of the 
      restaurant, the product is, undeniably, almost guaranteed to be good.
(Type +view for details.)
  In the corner near the door is a trio of video games and a soda machine.
      Scattered around the room are several tables; lining the back, the 
      counter on which the pizzas are put before they are picked up.
Contents:
Yi
Obvious exits:
STreet  

Mary sits alone in the busy pizza parlor, listlessly eating a slice of
      pepperoni and taking the occasional sip of cola. Her eyes are shadowed, 
      raw and red, as if she'd been crying not that long ago. Her bookbag's on 
      the seat next to her.

Tskilegwa pages: Last known location: ATM machine. She clean out her whole
      account?
You paged Tskilegwa with 'As much as the machine would let her withdraw,
      anyway.'.
From afar, Tskilegwa has never tested the limits of an ATM. Did $250 once!

Upon entering the pizza parlor, Yi does a quick lookaround of the occupants. It
      is done with casual gesture, though a slightly noticeable difference in 
      her entry from other customers could be seen to the perceptive, the way 
      some of the people standing in line move to one side. But, as she tries 
      to get through to order as quietly as possible, one of the kids near the 
      ancient arcade machines runs out of change. "Dang! I'll be right back 
      guys," the boy says, hand sliding into his pocket with an urgent hunt to 
      find a new bill or quarter and getting none.

You paged Tskilegwa with 'It was one of those share/savings accounts that her
      parents set up for her when she was born. She would have wiped it out if 
      she was able to.'.

The girl with the short golden afro and the pale skin is seated at the table
      against the window, some distance from the video games, though the boy 
      with the lack of change has to pass right by her. She looks up sharply 
      when he does, and the boy veers a bit of a circle around her without, it 
      seems, realizing he's doing so.

From afar, Tskilegwa pokes about online. Probably between $200-500.
Long distance to Tskilegwa: Mary nods. Figure about $35 a night for the room
      (checking Motel 6's rates in Yakima, WA)... well, it'll work for a little 
      while. Unfortunately, Mary's been a lil' sheltered. :> Streetwise? Hah.

"Strange," the youth around later grade school age mutters, giving Mary a
      passing look that doesn't really mean anything. As he approaches the line 
      though, he stops when he sees Yi and again reconsiders standing around. 
      Screwing up his courage, the boy cuts to the front. "Hey Wesley, can you 
      spare a quarter?" Wesley, or Antonio as his real name should be, looks 
      down distractedly at the boy. "Hang on a sec'," the counterboy says with 
      an apologetic nod to the customer in front. "No Jesus, you been hittin' 
      me up for quarters since this morning and I don't gotta tell you I'm not 
      goin' to give you any. Now getton outta here! Shoo!" The scold going out, 
      Wesley turns back to the customer. The boy purses his lips together with 
      a restrained expression, like he's holding down a curse. Then Jesus 
      proceeds back towards the games... but before he does so, he slows near 
      the table that Mary sits at, and looks to her. His big, brown eyes put on 
      a puppy-like look as he asks, "Hey, can you spare a quarter?"
Yi simply watches the going-ons with a slightly amused quirk of a smile, taking
      it in as commonplace.

Tskilegwa pages: Might stretch it to a week or 10 days.

Mary looks up as the boy comes back over to her, and for a moment her face
      twitches into an expression of scorn, the pale eyes narrowing and the 
      wide mouth twisting into a grimace. Then her jaw clenches visibly and she 
      turns away from him and pulls her soda toward her. "Leave me alone," she 
      says, low and flat.
Jesus draws back at the hostility emitting from the girl. Eyes narrowing at
      her, the boy snorts and jerks his head away, hands shoving into his 
      pockets as he makes his way to the games. Though unlikely to be heard by 
      anyone else, he utters a short, "Bitch" under his breath before hurrying 
      away. Yi watches what happens, her amusement fizzling at the anger 
      directed at the boy. Shaking her head, she's about to leave her place in 
      line when Wesley calls to her. "Hey you gonna order?" The ragabash 
      quickly looks back then, and glances up at the menu. "Ah, yes. Two slices 
      of pepperoni, please." Paying up, the Gnawer obtains her pizza on a 
      couple of plates, and then swings her way down the narrow walk around the 
      tables. Instead of looking for a place to sit though, she walks over 
      towards the kids playing at the game machines. The ragabash passes by 
      Mary's table as well, sparing a brief stop and neutral gaze at her, 
      before heading further down the way Jesus went.

Hidden under the Cantonese heritage and careful masks of calm is the cunning
      danger of the wolf within, peeking out in Yi's manner of observing her 
      surroundings in a discreetly alert manner. Though petite at about 5'4" 
      with a slim, boyish figure, she hardly gives off the impression of a 
      helpless, fragile woman. Her straight, long black hair streaks with 
      highlights, adding just a bit of color to enhance her dark eyes and give 
      her the classic Asian girl appearance that would blend her into the 
      crowds. Though technically an adult, Yi seems to take up the easygoing 
      street teen look well. Slim under her layers of baggy clothes, a hooded 
      double-layered flannel sweatshirt, navy, grey and white small-boxed plaid 
      on the outside with a thick grey hood covers around an ivory white 
      sweater. Peeking out from underneath the hems of the sweater, a large 
      sized olive-drab green shirt whose sleeves are long enough to pull out 
      and cover half her palms. A faded grey-blue pair of baggy jeans fit over 
      her lower body, the cuffs falling over rugged boots. The only things that 
      shine from the girl are the thin chain which loops her neck, and her dark 
      eyes that gleam brightly. Her hair is straight and black, framing her 
      face neatly and adding emphasis to her feeling of latent intelligence and 
      perceptiveness. One who pays attention to her might notice the thin scars 
      upon neck, forehead and her limbs which make her look as if she had gone 
      through some rough times before. (+detail Yi's Scars) Aside from that 
      though, she moves with a fluid grace and speaks with a mixed, distinct 
      accent of one whose native language clearly is not English but good 
      enough to be considered fairly fluent.

Mary hardly even looks up this time, but continues to pick at her pizza and
      nurse her soda. Underneath the baggy black t-shirt, her shoulders are 
      hunched, and her face is tight and withdrawn, the very picture of gloomy 
      sullen adolescence.
Yi, when she reaches the game machines, seems to draw a few pairs of eyes and
      causes another smallish invisible bubble to form around where she is. 
      But, she actually approaches the young Jesus before tapping him lightly 
      on the shoulder. The boy jumps, quickly glancing over his shoulder to see 
      the ragabash smiling at him. He doesn't return the smile though, instead 
      his expression one of confusion. "Whaddya want?" he asks. In reply, Yi 
      offers over a plate with a slice atop. "Here. You looked hungry," she 
      says quietly, yet her voice is just loud enough to be heard over the din 
      of the machine. Jesus just looks more confused then, though his eyes 
      travel down to the fresh pepperoni and melted cheese. The boy hesitantly 
      takes the plate from Yi, muttering a small thanks before he turns back to 
      the game. He is about to bite down on the pizza, before he realizes 
      there's a quarter atop one of the slices of pepperoni as well. The boy 
      blinks, then grins at his luck, turning around to say another thanks, but 
      Yi is already headed back towards the front. Again, she stops at Mary's 
      table, this time actually looking down at her for a longer span.
Mary endures the staring for only a few seconds before saying, in unfriendly
      and clipped tones, "Do you *want* something?" She doesn't look up.
Yi shrugs a shoulder, her head shaking once. "No... I just wanted to see if you
      were rude to everyone you see, or just to little boys." Unlike many, she 
      doesn't look afraid of the negativity radiating from the girl.
Mary looks up from her meal (late lunch, early dinner, what's the difference?)
      with a frown. "What are you, the Nice Patrol? Is it any of your 
      *business*?"
"You could say that." Yi fully faces the girl, her pizza slice in the
      meanwhile, cooling in her hand. "I don't like seeing people being angry 
      and mean. I guess, I am just surprised because you seem like a nice 
      person having a bad day." Her words are calm, said without any hostile 
      bias.
Mary's lips press together. She's quiet for a moment, then shrugs curtly and
      looks down at her half-eaten piece of pizza. "I guess," she mutters, 
      pushing the plate away from her and planting her elbows on the table.
Nodding once, Yi seems sympathetic still. "Better to talk about it than hold
      your anger in," she says as unsolicited advice. "My name is Yi, by the 
      way." Her hand comes out in offer of a shake, transfering the pizza on a 
      plate to the other.
Mary hesitates, then says, "Laura." She doesn't shake hands, but nothing's
      stopping Yi from taking the seat across from the girl.
Yi holds her hand out there for a second longer before retracting it. She
      doesn't seem offended by the lack of contact, but she doesn't barge in 
      and sit down either. "Nice to meet you, Laura," she says instead with a 
      dip of her head in her more habitual way of greeting. "I apologize if 
      I've interrupted your meal."
Mary shrugs, looking less angry and more listless now, the way she was when Yi
      walked in, before Jesus tried to bum change off of her. "Nah, it's okay. 
      I'm pretty much done anyway."
Yi looks down at the half eaten pizza, then gestures to it. "Do you mind, then,
      if I take it?" A strange request perhaps, since the ragabash has her own 
      slice right in her hand.
Mary shrugs again. "Be my guest." She pushes the plate a little further away
      and takes a sip of cola. She hasn't looked back up at the Chinese girl.
Yi slips her hand beneath the plate, taking it up. "Thank you," she says with
      appreciation. She turns, as if to leave, but doesn't. Instead, the Gnawer 
      looks back. "If you will pardon me once more, may I ask why you look like 
      you are feeling rather... restless?"
Mary looks up now, with a frown that says that Yi either hit the mark or got
      close to it. Yet she feigns ignorance. "What d'you mean, restless?"
Shrugging casually, Yi lets the question roll off. "You seemed bothered by
      something. And I suggested before, maybe if you talked to someone about 
      it, it might help clear your mind a little. But, if it is a personal 
      matter... I don't think you'd want to tell a stranger like me." She 
      smiles, friendly, but it still carries a foreign quality to the 
      expression.
Mary squints a bit, eyebrows drawing together in a deeper frown. She shrugs
      again and looks away. "It's not, I mean, yeah, it's kinda personal," she 
      says into her soda.
Yi tilts her head. "And more than that, perhaps telling a stranger is easier
      than telling someone you may know," the ragabash says in convoluted 
      logic. "Then again, if we know each other's names, we aren't that much of 
      a stranger to each other any more, are we?"
Mary looks up again, confused. "Huh?"
Yi laughs lightly. "I admire your pride. A quiet pride is connected to the
      spirit." The ragabash looks down at the girl, then back over towards the 
      door. "Well, I best be going. I do hope your day is better, Laura. And 
      thank you again, for the pizza."
"Uh, welcome," says 'Laura', still looking confused. Perhaps even moreso.
"My friends will thank you too," Yi replies with a dip of her head. Then, she's
      walking away from the booth, leaving the confused girl to her listless 
      self again. Before she actually exits the parlor, she turns and lifts the 
      half-eaten pizza in a salute meant as a goodbye wave, before pushing the 
      door open and disappearing outside.
Mary watches Yi go, then shakes her head a bit and settles down to finishing
      her soda and brooding.