"Let's have a nice talk. One small step forward."
Stanley pushed open the door quietly, to be greeted by a small hallway, three seats next to a wall, and another door—a waiting room. A person was sitting on one of the three chairs, waiting patiently.
{Yeah, um, what was I expecting? There's not even a single bit of decoration.}
Stanley looked around, disappointed, trying to hide his embarrassment at walking in with a grin to the person sitting down. Daryl, however, looked more joyful than before. A big smile formed across his face, growing while he gathered his words.
He pushed ahead of Stanley, standing and staring at the door, with open arms to the person sitting straight upwards.
Daryl: "Sheng-Ri! It's been a week! I've heard many things from your trip!"
Daryl kept his arms open for a hug, which that person is now known as Sheng-Ri. She stood up, opened her arms like a big yawn, and gave him a big hug with a pat on the back, just like Daryl wanted.
She spoke after hugging, "Good trip, okay experience, I need rest, Daryl. Let me sleep on that chair, please."
She spoke very calmly and straight-toned, like she was fed up and was holding in big emotions from a calm mind.
"Oh yeah, I totally understand, right, man, but greet Stanley. He's standing just there, you know."
She barely acknowledged Stanley. "Yeah sure." She sighed.
She let go of Daryl and stretched her arms before walking over to Stanley with a vibe of serenity and dullness that makes people happy.
Sheng-Ri: "I'm Sheng-Ri Parano."
She answered with basic responses.
I come from Sola Ranstona, A place of white-toned people. You?"
She reached out her right arm slowly and slightly drowsily to Stanley, who was a bit uncomfortable near Sheng-Ri.
{She's… gorgeous. Way out of my league. Wait. Shit. I saw her before. Sola FRECHIA. On a bench. Oh shit. Don't stare, idiot. Say something normal. Think, Goddamn it.
Stanley: "Stanley Kleitos. I come from one of the many Suran planets out here in Andromeda. You know, S-Sheng-ri. I'd sworn I saw you at this place I was just at today. Sola FRECHIA."
Her dour eyes opened up further at the comment from Stanley. He was right. They did run into each other.
She bit the inside of her left cheek and replied, "Whoa, A random guy did look at me in my formal gear and walked away. That was you?"
Her tone was smooth as snow, and her voice soothing to the average Joe. She looked sleepy, but still, a thousand words couldn't process the amount of positive and "Other" thoughts Stanley was getting at this moment.
Sheng-Ri Parano looked extremely tired in this conversation. She wore a Tailored Ivory coat with charcoal fitted pants. Underneath her jacket was a black thermal, keeping her warm, inside the winter clothes. She had a smooth woven fabric scarf that was the same colour as raisin. Her head shape was oval, and she had a pointy nose that stuck out more than her thin, pale pink lips. Big eyes that seemed fogged and cloudy, like she was blind. Her biggest standout was the messy long curtain bangs that stretched down to her ribs and middle back.
Beautiful, pale silver, sleek hair, combined with charcoal black eyebrows that seemed to be dyed. Her tall boots seemed to be made of leather and steel-capped. One thing stuck out: her eye patch, faintly covering something crystal pink on her skin, that was only one millimetre from being covered completely.
Aside from her unique race, Sheng-Ri didn't look terrifying, yet having a incredible muscular frame underneath her clothes that emphasised her medium-chested self and near-hourglass body. She looked sweet and like a friend you've known for too long. Comfort was being sent into Stanley's soul.
She gave Stanley a run for his money, being taller than him by a whole head, dwarfing him the whole conversation. She didn't break eye contact, despite looking like she'd nod off to her dreams with one slow blink.
Stanley: "Yeah, Sheng-Ri, That's me, alright. What else can I say?"
He said, seeming like he figured out his words in the last second before saying it.
Sheng-Ri: "Nothing much. It happened. But now, I'm waiting for Au-"
The doors creaked apart.
Stanley froze and was confused. Were his eyes playing tricks on him?
The woman walking through them wasn't entirely solid.
Light passed through her shoulder like mist behind glass or fog from far away.
Sheng-Ri showed a bit more glee, seeing this person. She was waiting for her.
"Oouhhh." She mumbled and raised both arms, and swung both in sarcastic joy. She was just as tired.
Sheng-Ri: "Let's talk more. Come on." She turned behind Stanley, pushing the door while he was still there, panicking.
The other woman in a slim, tactical outfit made for thieves that matched the opaque walked even more slowly, with a droopy grin on her face.
"I'm Fucking Tired, Move Aurora!" She shouted, making the others' faces come to life with worry, as she speed-walked past Daryl and caught up closely to Stanley and Sheng-Ri.
Stanley: "Oh-Uh, Lemme move quickly. Sorry. Oops. My bad."
Stanley ducked under Sheng-Ri's arm, which was close to his head, accidentally bumping her body in the process, and because of his thoughts, hit the wall on his left right after touching her.
They both walked out slowly, Sheng-Ri holding the door for the shorter person and closing it for her. Daryl, now sitting in a chair, slowly turned his head to Stanley, "BAHAHAHHAH! What the fuck was that? I get it, Brother. You walked into a wall. She obviously wasn't in conversation mood. 'Tard. His grin and body language of clapping and shaking from the chair out of pure humour proved he wasn't judging him and making a fool out of him for that, but embracing that decision.
{My god. Oh my fucking god. Was it that bad? Goddamn it all. Magnus, save me already from this laughing hyena. And, he's still going. He also dared to use the slang word "Retard" on me. Like what?? Am I just another awkward guy to her? No. I stand out. Surely.}
"Stanley Kleitos."
He turned his head back to the door to see a middle-aged man with facial hair poking his head through the double doors, looking like an uncommon man on the street.
"I've been looking forward to meeting you for some time."
Daryl looked at him with another grin. Just respect filled this smile. He fixed his posture almost instantaneously from the chair, posing like a chair model.
Daryl: "Hey, Magnus. Stanley, go."
His tone sounded more like advice than ever rather than normal "people-to-people" dialogue. It sounded more like he was proud he got to order Stanley to talk to Magnus.
Magnus: "Don't be shy. The others haven't spread any bad things, my dear Stanley?"
He gave off Santa Claus' hearty, lovable vibes and no weird intent at all, even for their first meeting. A leader was right there, and he seemed like a retail shop owner based on his looks.
Stanley: "Oh, yeah. Magnus. Right."
Stanley didn't stutter this time. Magnus didn't make him feel like he was judging Stanley.
He walked over to the metal doors and walked into a meeting room setting, before closing the door behind him.
The room was simple, with a short carpet as the floor and the walls being white. The roof has modernised lights due to the budget from the group members and a whiteboard on Stanley's right and a touch-screen TV on the back. The room was an oval shape, and a table with about twenty chairs that all seemed incredibly businesslike and comfortable for posture. Magnus walked around the right side to sit right at the head, directly behind the table. He seemed kinder than he actually looks. His body language shows that.
Magnus: "Cm on Cm on. I won't bite." He smiled joyously, infecting the sad sack that was Stanley with a faint grin as he moved to the left side to sit next to him, on his right side.
'What interested you when you first came here?" He said in his old-fashioned narrator accent.
{What interested me? I'd expected a whole interview. Not a review on the planet. Maybe he's tryna butter up me so he can get my "Communication Skills" out to be checked and marked in his mental notepad.}
"Definitely the rocks. I wanted to be a geologist."
Magnus smiles. He looked like an avid coffee drinker with his mid-taper haircut and black knitted sweater.
"Why?"
"Rocks and planets' formations interested me as a kid, you know?"
"Anything else?"
"About this planet?" Asked Stanley.
"Oh yeah." He remarked.
"Then, the air? That's an answer, right?"
"The air. Yeah, that's a great answer, Stanley." He put his elbow on the table and spun around his index finger for two seconds, implying air.
"What else?"
"The gravity."
"What else?"
The sounds." Stanley's tone was starting to make him seem doubtful, while Magnus noticed this and changed his tone to support that doubt.
"What else?"
"I took a rock."
Then Magnus smiles.
"Show me the rock, Stanley."
"Uh, sure."
He dug hard into his right pocket from his puffer jacket, taking out a rock that had double the holes of Swiss cheese and looked to be the same as dry boulder stuff.
Stanley: "…What?"
Magnus looked at the rock only for a few seconds, then looked back at Stanley, doing a few double takes, then laughing to himself before coughing like an old man.
Stanley: "No, seriously, Mr. Magnus."
"Everyone else looked at the buildings."
Pause.
"You looked at the planet."
"The gift of curiosity. is with everyone. Most don't try to pursue that gift. You just proved you weren't like others."
silence. One side had a grinning man. The other, A young adult realising words he should've heard a while ago.
Magnus: "You see, these people here are all people I helped in some way or another. Advice, Therapy, Revenge. You know. I know a lot of people are what I'm saying."
Stanley looked back at the man with realisation spreading across his facial muscles. He couldn't hide this realisation away.
Magnus: "It was only these people who are part of the Broken Halo group, which I started collecting some time ago, that actually pursued something. I've helped countless over my years; the fifteen I had planned to be in this group actually pursued something, leading to the same amount of development I had when I was young."
Stanley: "Mm hmm." He was deep listening and couldn't spare a word.
"Quick question, Magnus. We've never met. You've never helped me. How can I qualify for this thing, where unique people are just around me? I'm not that unique. I know it sounds doom and gloom, but I know."
He spoke with a hint of sadness at the end there.
Magnus: "Well, Stanley, if no one said that this was pre-planned, let me say that now. There is a CELESTICA invention, the White Echo, which allows people to see in the future."
His body language showed what he was saying in an expressive way, as an extension of his words, which he explained using his hands. Spreading them up in the sky, clenching his fists. He was good with words.
"I'm not a CELESTICA, but I got to use it recently. Ever since, I planned out this odd group of people based on future events in the middle of my life. It took me an hour to finish seeing everything I wanted!"
Stanley: "You. Mean."
"Yeah."
"
"You'd known I'd go through that weird door."
"Yes."
"You'd known things I'd do in the future."
"Yep."
"…The amount of shit you could've stopped. Wars, deaths, viruses, hell, even my planet's fall off."
Silence.
"Seeing the future isn't 'The" future. By me seeing the future, I'd still technically be on track, time moving forward. Nothing would change. I was destined to see that."
'Everything builds to a point. I am gonna change the world. Stanley"
He went serious for a second. Magnus meant that with every ounce of his body.
Then changed back."But I have to make sure that this opportunity isn't wasted and you don't lose this talent of yours."
He tapped Stanley right on the middle of his chest and spoke something he couldn't believe. and repeated it with emphasis every time.
"You are special."
"You are special."
"You are special."
"You are special."
"You are special."
"Stop."
"You are special."
"Magnus, man. I-"
"You are. special.Yes, you."
"You are special."
"I can't possibly. No way."
"You are special. Better."
"Magnus. Shut up. You're not convincing me."
"You are special."
"You are special."
Stanley was getting emotionally aggravated now. Magnus was touching his heart, and he couldn't accept it.
"You are special."
"STOP!"
"Do you have any idea of how much talent I lost? So much!"
"You are special."
"I lost relationships, Friends, Family over dumb shit. HOW CAN I SPECIAL?"
His voice was getting more aggravated, and Stanley's face turned more sour, with his eyes turning red.
Magnus went in for a hug.
"Not saying this to damage you. Not saying this to hurt you. You are special, Stanley. More than you know. More special than all these people he-"
"DID YOU SAY THAT TO THEM TOO? HUH? TO MAKE THEM FEEL SPECIAL? I'M NOT A STUPID GUY! I KNOW THIS TRAP! THE KINDNESS! THE ACCEPTANCE!"
"You are special. Stanley Kl-"
"SHUT THE FUCK UP, MAGNUS!"
Stanley pushed his chair backwards, standing up and agitated. Magnus got up slowly. And his face of happiness changed to one of experience and pure, raw tranquillity. His mask went off, and his eye bags were easily visible now with no more smile, squinting to mask it.
"You are special."
He walked closer.
"SHUT UP!"
"You are special."
"HOW CAN I BE? LOOK AT ME?"
"You are special. More than anyone.
"HOW CAN I BE?"
Magnus, for the first time here, quickly looked to the right, away from Stanley.
'Nobody told me that. Stanley. That I was special."
"No. You're definitely special. LOOK AT YOU! LOOK AT ME!"
His arms opened up to a hug as Stanley's thoughts combated his doubtful side. He needed someone right now to prove that those happy dreams are real."
"You are special. Not just a cog in the machine."
He went in for a massive hug, and Stanley took it, with his arms being enclosed by Magnus's.
"You're not lying, right?"
He needed Stanley's mind to register that.
It finally started just then.
It started with faint sobs, quiet enough that only Stanley could hear his panting breath, then changing fast into waterworks.
"You are special."
Stanley's arms escaped the soft grasp and hugged him back. Grabbing him tightly.
Magnus smiled.
"You are special."
Loud crying started next, as they both were hugging in a corner of the lit room.
"Oh god, I haven't cried in so long. Being a man is hard."
Each time he said that, it never got generic or repetitive. Each time and sentence had its own purpose in getting Stanley there.
"You are special."
His big sobs stopped, and Stanley gave him a big, heavy few taps on the back. This really meant something to him.
"Good job for letting it out."
"Gee, Thanks." He truly and happily grinned after taking his chin off Magnus's shoulder and, separating their hug, to sit back down in the chairs.
"Now, you're somewhat mentally prepped."
"The election, right? Those five are gonna try to be "Supreme Chancellor" and maybe even stop the long line of Delacroix royalty. I'm kind of worried.
"We are all going to a planet close by tomorrow. Watch the event with a big crowd. Be a part of the culture." He stated.
Stanley: "You sure this isn't your "Magical" plan? That we're meant to be there."
Magnus: "Ah." He raised his hands jokingly as he was caught by the policemen.
"You caught me."