People watching

When you were a semi-paranormal immortal being, the best (and often most entertaining) thing to do during your lunch break was people watch. Sat at a table in a quiet little London cafe that was slightly off the tourist track, The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland -or Britain, or England or Arthur to pub landlords that new the man well- was watching a conversation between a pair of girls. The girls in question were sat at a table diagonally to his right. Both were blond though one had pink streaks in her short hair and seemed to be somewhere between fifteen and seventeen years old. They were dressed simply; jeans, t shirts and doc martins though again there was a slight difference. The other girl was still wearing her jacket.

Right off the bat, England could tell that the one with pink streaks was extremely outgoing and would quite happily flip the bird to anyone who told her to change. The other was a lot more reserved and probably painfully shy if the way she pulled her sleeves over her hands was anything to go by. As a personified nation who had lived for millennia, there still things about his people that would confuse him every so often. The friendship from the girls' body language was one of them. How could two people who were so different be such good friends?

How did he know they were friends? Simple. The pink haired one would smile sweetly at some of the males close to her age that flirted with her while her friend would shuffle closer and her expression became one of dangerous calm. England recognised the silent warning to back off; it was one he had seen from his own brothers when he was still young. The fact that the shyer one looked rather wolf like at those moments -and a lot like his brothers actually... frightening- told him that she would protect the other from the wiles of men even though she seemed perfectly relaxed and at ease by everything. However, it was slightly different the other way around. When a male flirted with the shy one, the pink haired one would raise her eyebrows and smile mischievously at her friend who, in response, would widen her eyes before blushing furiously. England saw the same protectiveness in the pink haired ones eyes but he also watched her playfully shove her friend before looping her arm through the other's. 'You want her, you have to get my acceptance first.' Yes that was the message she was sending.

England smiled. It wasn't everyday you saw such things. Oh, their conversation seemed to have changed. He didn't hear any words in fact, in the two hours he'd been here neither had said a thing. Their conversation seemed to be made from small gestures, mainly facial ones. It took a long time to get to know a person so well you can communicate in the subtlest of ways. The shy one's eyes kept flickering to one young man in the corner. When her friend noticed (which didn't take long) she smirked and raised an eyebrow. 'Is someone interested in a guy?'
The shy one blushed as her shoulders shot up to her ears. 'Of course not!' England almost chuckled from the blatant denial. The pink haired one didn't fail to notice how the other's eyes still continued to the young man in the corner. The pink haired one turned to the man then jerked her heads slightly towards him. 'That one?'
Her friend just shrunk a little a her chair. The other gave the man a once over then smiled and nodded once slowly. 'Not a bad choice.'
The shy one seemed to shrink even more and buried her face in her arms. 'Can we change the subject? you're embarrassing me!'

The change of conversation came when Ruby turned decided to look at people's energy. Her and her friend Talia were both fairly spiritual. Talia was pagan and had been for several years while Ruby had been able to read people via their energies almost all her life. They had very interesting chats about energy. Talia would ask about their friends and Ruby would give descriptions though never on Talia's own energy only that the girl was an energy vampire with very little control.
Another customer caught Talia's eye but in the sense that, for the first time ever, she could almost feel the energy rolling off him in waves. The man in question looked to be in his early to mid twenties, had straw colour hair and was wearing a dark green military uniform. He was sat diagonally to their left and wasn't looking at them though it was possible that he could see them in his peripheral vision form the angle he was sitting at.
"What about that guy just there?"
"What about him Tal?"
"His energy. It must be strong if even I can feel it and I still rely on you to tell me if I'm draining people again."
"Which you have been by the way. That poor waiter that served us earlier has been looking pale for the last few hours and he was fine earlier. Reign yourself in."
"I would if I knew how. Think you could take a look at the guy in military uniform?"
Ruby smiled. "I don't see why not. You said that you could feel his energy and that's very interesting."
Her bright blue eyes became slightly glassy as she stared at the man at the table to their diagonal left. Talia covered up the staring and took up a similar posture and stared out the window. Anyone who walked by would assume the two were simply daydreaming. Ruby snapped out of her daze after a minute or two and clicked her fingers in front of Talia's face to get her attention.
"He's very interesting. His energy is... a nightmare to describe. It feels old and wise but there was a bit that felt kinda... not evil but definitely not nice. Then there was a part that felt like pure chaos! But that was kind of forcefully smothered by energy that seemed more... what's that 'r' word you use for classy people?"
"Refined?"
"Thats the one. Yeah, that guy is veeeery interesting. Oh andTal? You might want to get some sugar in you before you try to drain the poor man."
"What?"
"You're at it again."
"Shit..." Talia took this moment to scoff down a bit of chocolate cake.

Back with England, he was very thankful that, as a magical nation, he had enhanced senses. Nightmare when France decided to parade around the Summit wearing a new 'perfume' (and he used perfume in the loosest sense of course) that had driven England and his brother's insane. It had smelt disgusting! It was probably one of the few times he was glad to have his older brothers around at a G8 Summit as France had decided to 'help relieve his sexual tension' and while England was focusing on trying not to throw up from the scent of the damn perfume, his brothers had taken turns to hit the pervert.
He'd heard every word of the girl's quiet conversation about energy and the description about his own. It made him chuckle that the pink haired one, Ruby if he remembered correctly, had picked up bits and pieces from all parts of his life and she would probably never know it. He himself could do it as well and at Ruby's warning to Talia, he decided to have a quick glance at the girls. Ruby's energy was more like a large balls of light that circled her middle about a metre away from her body. He also saw dark purple circular jaws that were snapping at smaller balls of the brighter energy being thrown at them. The jaws were connected to lines and his eyes followed them back to the source which turned out to be the shy girl, Talia. He mentally flinched as he understood Ruby's warning. Some of the jaws were still facing him and seemed tempted by his energy but the free meal from Ruby kept them occupied. He also suddenly felt sorry for Talia. Both girls had hinted that Talia had practically no control over her own energy though he could see that she was desperately trying to pull them closer to her. It wasn't working at all but he admired her for trying. He also felt glad that Talia had a friend like Ruby. Someone who could control their own energy and keep Talia's energy vampire appetite at bay. He understood just how deep their friendship went at that point. Talia relied on Ruby's energy to prevent her from draining anyone who came too close and Ruby could tell someone she trusted about the things she had seen and could see and also had someone to teach about energy.

He continued to drink his tea and decided to send a little of his own energy toward the struggling energy vampire to give her friend a quick break. It might also help the distract the jaws that still watched him. He watched as Talia suddenly sat bolt upright looking far more energised than earlier.
He would have helped a little more however, the girls had finished their drinks and snacks and chose that moment to leave. Talia had dropped their reciept on his table but it was folded up. Odd. He opened it up and there was a small message hastily scrawled on the blank side.
'Thank you for the pick me up.'
Such manners from his own people made him smile. He folded up the message, stuck it in his pocket and headed back to the Summit Building. Lunch had definitely been more interesting than watching his fellow nations argue and beat the crap out of each other.