On the next day, Fionna is at the cafeteria of her college. She's still thinking about the encounter she had with that guy, Steven.
She's not sure if she should try to find him again or something like that, he just walked away after finishing drinking and didn't tell much more. She sighs and eats her food calmly.
Suddenly, she feels someone sitting next to her and hears a voice next to her. "Don't tell me I got a space in your mind."
Fionna nearly drops her fork in surprise, her heart skipping a beat at the sound of the voice. She looks up to find Steven sitting beside her, a mischievous grin playing on his lips as he casually picks up a piece of her uneaten bread and takes a bite.
She stares at him, slightly flustered. "What are you doing here?" she asks, her voice betraying a mix of surprise and curiosity. "Shouldn't you be… I don't know, doing something else?"
Steven shrugs. "Nyeh, I thought on getting fully-high today, but I did that last night, so I decided to follow your track."
Fionna's eyebrows furrow in confusion, unsure of whether she should be annoyed or amused. "Follow my track? Are you stalking me now?"
Steven grins, unbothered. "Stalking is such a strong word. Let's call it... casual observation. I mean, you did make quite an impression on me last night." He leans back in his chair, crossing his arms as he looks at her with a knowing glint in his eyes. "I thought I'd see how the fearless Fionna spends her day after a wild night out."
Fionna can't help but laugh, despite herself. "You really are something else, aren't you?" She sets her fork down, leaning forward slightly. "But seriously, Steven... I didn't think I'd see you again. You kinda disappeared on me last night."
Steven smirks, his eyes glinting with amusement as he picks up another piece of her bread. "Well, I'm not the clingy type," he says nonchalantly, his tone light but with an underlying mystery. "Besides, I didn't exactly think you'd be waiting around for me to come back." He shrugs again, looking almost playful. "But here I am. Couldn't resist seeing how you'd react to me showing up."
Fionna narrows her eyes, feeling a mixture of annoyance and intrigue. "You're really full of surprises, aren't you?"
"Hey, life's too short for boring encounters," Steven replies, leaning back in his chair, clearly unfazed by her questioning. "You seemed like the type to appreciate the unexpected." He pauses, his gaze softening for a moment. "Besides, you didn't exactly run away screaming last night. I'm curious to see how far your 'stubborn' attitude goes."
Fionna glances around the cafeteria, realizing that people are starting to notice the unusual presence at her table. She sighs inwardly, feeling a bit self-conscious but unwilling to let Steven off the hook. "I'm not one for drama, you know. And last night was definitely… unusual. But that doesn't mean I'm okay with you popping up out of nowhere like this."
Steven chuckles. "Fair enough. But if you didn't want me here, you'd've already gotten up and left, right?" He raises an eyebrow, challenging her. "You're still sitting here, so clearly, you're not as annoyed as you're pretending to be."
Fionna hesitates, her gaze lingering on him. She wants to be angry at the sudden intrusion, but there's something about Steven that makes her want to understand him more, something she can't quite explain. "I guess you've got a point." She says finally, her voice quieter. "But I don't get you, Steven. You're not like anyone I've ever met. Why are you even talking to me?"
Steven's grin faltered just a bit, and for a moment, something unguarded flickered in his eyes. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table, his tone dropping from playful to something more thoughtful.
"Maybe I don't know either." He admitted, studying her carefully. "But you didn't look at me like I was some kind of freak. Most people do. And that makes you... interesting."
Fionna felt her cheeks warm slightly but held his gaze. "So, what? You decided to hunt me down because I didn't scream and run? That's a pretty low bar."
Steven chuckled, the playful spark returning. "Fair point. But maybe it's more than that. Maybe I'm just curious. You seem... different. Most people wouldn't handle what you saw last night so well."
Fionna leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms. "Curious, huh? Well, curiosity killed the cat. Or in your case, maybe something a little bigger."
Steven smirked. "Good thing I'm not a cat. Besides, you asked a lot of questions last night. Figured it's only fair I get to ask some too."
Fionna raised an eyebrow. "Oh, so now we're playing twenty questions?"
"Nah. Just one for now. Why didn't you run?"
His question caught her off guard. She opened her mouth, then closed it, considering. Why didn't she run? She should have. Any sane person would have. But instead, here she was, talking to him again.
"I guess... I don't know. Maybe I wanted to understand. Maybe I thought there was more to you than some guy with a rock in his head."
Steven's smile softened. "Diamond. It's a diamond. Makes me sound more valuable."
Fionna rolled her eyes but smiled faintly. "Right. Diamond. Well, whatever it is, I figured there had to be a story behind it. People don't just end up like you for no reason."
Steven leaned back, watching her. "Smart girl. Most people don't bother thinking that far. But you're right. There's a story. Not sure you'd want to hear it, though. It's not exactly a bedtime tale."
Fionna shrugged. "Try me. I've heard worse."
Steven studied her for a long moment before smirking. "Not today. Gotta keep some mystery, don't I? But maybe... maybe I'll tell you a bit if you hang around."
Fionna sighed, shaking her head. "You're impossible."
Steven laughed. "And yet, here you are. Starting to think you like impossible things."
Fionna couldn't help but shake her head, amused despite herself. "You're insufferable, you know that?"
Steven grinned, unbothered by her teasing. "I get that a lot." He leans back and stretches. "So, is there anything interesting I could know about you?"
Fionna was silent for a moment, unsure of how to answer. She wasn't used to people asking about her, and certainly not in such an intrusive, unexpected way. It felt different from all the times people had tried to be polite or ask the usual surface-level questions. But there was something about Steven's presence, the way he didn't shy away from the weird or the uncomfortable, that made her feel strangely at ease.
"Well," She began slowly, her eyes flicking over to the cafeteria tray in front of her. "I guess I'm studying physics, for one. Not exactly the most exciting thing to lead with, though." She hesitated, then looked back at him, her voice growing a little shy. "And I have this taste for anime and manga."
Steven raised an eyebrow and laughs. "So I'm talking to a weeb? Didn't expect that coming."
Fionna's face flushed at the unexpected comment, her initial embarrassment quickly giving way to a slight smirk. "Hey, don't knock it until you try it," she replied, crossing her arms. "Anime has some pretty deep stuff in it. You wouldn't get it."
Steven's grin only widened, and he leaned in slightly, as if considering her challenge. "A weeb with physics and anime? I think I've found a mystery of my own here." He shook his head. "Honestly, I would've pegged you as more of a straight-laced, textbook kind of person."
Fionna rolled her eyes, but she couldn't suppress the smile tugging at her lips. "Yeah, well, there's more to me than just equations and physics problems." She hesitated, then added. "And there's more to you than just a guy with a diamond in his head."
Steven chuckled, giving her a mock salute. "Fair point. You're one of the few who doesn't just see the weird shit and run." He sat back in his chair, regarding her with a renewed sense of interest. "Guess that makes us even, huh? A weeb and a jerk."
Fionna laughed, feeling a warm sense of connection with Steven despite the bizarre nature of their interactions. She'd never imagined that a conversation with someone like him could feel so natural, so easy, even in its strangeness.
"Yeah, I guess we're even." Fionna replied, feeling a little more comfortable in the moment. "But you're still not getting my bread."
Steven's eyes twinkled with mischief as he reached for the last piece of her bread anyway. "Oh, I'm definitely getting the bread. This is just the beginning."
Fionna's laughter filled the space between them, but she couldn't help but roll her eyes as Steven grabbed the last piece of bread. She half-heartedly protested, but the playful glint in his eyes made it hard to stay mad. There was something about his easy confidence that was both frustrating and oddly comforting.
"Are you always this obnoxious?" She asked, her tone light but with a hint of challenge.
"Only when it's fun." Steven shot back, taking a slow bite of the bread as though savoring the victory.
Fionna leaned back in her chair, watching him. The cafeteria noise seemed to fade away, leaving just the two of them in their own little bubble. It felt strange, how easily the walls she usually built around herself were starting to crumble in his presence.
She took a deep breath. "So, what now? You're just gonna hang around and harass me every day?"
Steven laughs and stretches. "Yeah, that's a good idea. But I guess you got better things to do." He rises to his feet and stretches. "Can I see something on your hand?"
Fionna raised an eyebrow at Steven's request. "My hand? What for?"
Steven smirked, his gaze flicking to her hand resting on the table. "Just wanna see something."
Fionna hesitated for a moment before shrugging, figuring it wasn't worth making a big deal out of. She extended her hand toward him. "Fine. You're weird, though."
He grins and take her hand. He pulls a marker from the diamond and quickly write something on her hand before letting go of it. "There's my number. Call me if you want, but if I was you, I wouldn't. See ya, cutie." He turns around and walks away.
The moment Steven walks away, Fionna's mind races, her hand still tingling where his marker touched her skin. She stares at the number written in black ink across her palm, feeling a strange mix of emotions. Part of her is irritated by his cocky, unpredictable behavior, but another part is intrigued, curious about the mysterious person he's revealed himself to be, and unsure of what comes next.
She glances down at the number, as though it might hold some kind of answer. Her heart beats a little faster. Why had she let him do that? Why had she let him in this much already?
Fionna shakes her head and grabs her tray, pushing the confusing thoughts to the back of her mind. She has class in a few minutes, and she needs to focus. But as she walks across campus, her hand still feels warm from where Steven had touched it, and she wonders if she'll ever get the chance to make sense of him, or of what this weird connection could mean.
Later that night, Fionna finds herself at her desk, trying to get through her assignments. But every time she looks at her phone, her eyes inevitably drift to the number Steven had written on her hand earlier. It's almost like it's calling to her.
She sighs and places the phone back down, focusing on her homework. But the thought of Steven, his unexpected presence in her life, his playful yet mysterious demeanor, keeps interrupting her thoughts. She stares at her phone for a moment before finally giving in.
With a reluctant breath, Fionna picks it up, unlocking the screen, and taps the number into a new message. Her fingers hover over the keyboard, uncertain of what to say.
"Hey, it's Fionna. You're a pain in the ass, but… I guess I'm curious about that story you mentioned."
She hesitates before sending, her heart pounding in her chest as if it were some huge step.
Almost immediately, the phone buzzes in her hand.
"Didnt expect you to actually text me"
"Im surprised lol"
"Meet me at the park midnight"
"Ill answer whatever you ask"
Fionna reads the messages twice, a mix of excitement and dread rising within her. She looks out of her window, seeing the moon hanging in the sky, and knows that tonight might be the night she finds out more about Steven's strange world.
[TO BE CONTINUED]