Spectra sighed after the 'explosive' conclusion to their confrontation. After Zaleila spoke up she shook her head. "I fear I may have been a bit hasty. And after sharing stories with Barusa about how we need to be careful what we do for the others around us... Still, he deserved a wake-up call. Honestly, to claim you "maddeningly seek the truth" and yet persistently ignore what's right in front of you, it's delusion. I honestly don't even know why he carries this perceived grudge. Some men do simply have trouble around strong women, though I'd certainly hope it's nothing so childish..." She said, thinking aloud as she considered the 'strained' interactions between them, for some reason. She certainly didn't make a habit of accumulating enemies, so it was truly a mystery to her....<br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/>-----------------. 900 years ago .... ------------<br/><br/><br/>Bzzt bzzt bzzt bzzt~~~!!!<br/><br/>"Aagrghh... Hmmnnmm... Ack! Hnn... Fine... Fine... I'm up I'm... O.O late?! What the--?! What happened?!"  Eyes wide and in a hurried panick he noticed a sticky note on the alarm clock, ripping it off it took a moment for his eyes to focus before making out the words.<br/>"Hey Grandi, You've been so busy lately, figured you'd like to sleep in, love..."<br/>He crumpled the note up and hastily tossed it away. "Aagh! Not today! Not today! Gotta hurry, gotta hurry---!" Grandus scrambled to get himself prepared and out the door, though it seemed nothing was going his way, all the hot water was gone, leaving him with a bracing but wholly unsatisfyingly cold shower that hardly helped one feel clean and ready for such a big day. The cereal was down to crumbs, and the toaster seemed to burn anything put into it into an unrecognizably charred crisp.<br/><br/>"Grrah! No more time to waste, there's a coffee shop in the lobby, I can grab something there before the appointment..."<br/><br/>Rushing as fast as he could he made his way to his destination, with just enough time to hit the lobby coffee shop for an on the go breakfast. Nothing was going to stop him now, he was going to make that meeting, he was going to fucking shine and dazzle, and he was going to beging the first day of the rest of his life on a high note even if it killed him!<br/><br/>Thankfully the shop was fairly empty, and he could already see it, right there in the display case, the extra fluffy double chocolate muffin, ready to go and guaranteed to turn your day around with just the right flavor filled sugary, seratonin and endorphin fixing chocolate taste sensation he needed!<br/><br/>He took a moment to breathe a sigh of relief as he walked in the door. However before he could approach the counter a tall dark figure had already made her way there. Her tone was so sickeningly sweet and carefree, that he couldn't help but feel it grating against him as his morning had been nothing but trials and hardships. How lucky this woman must be to live such a carefree life.<br/><br/>"I'd like a large... No, extra large French Vanilla... Hehe, I'm not too worried about the figure, and a bit of a pick me up throughout the day never hurts. Hmm, I'll also have a..."<br/><br/>His eyes went wide as he saw the woman lean down, examining the muffins, her thin black spaded tail swaying curiously behind her emphasizing her contemplation.<br/><br/>"Hmm... The double chocolate..."<br/><br/>O.O No, no, NO!!! Anything but that--!!!<br/><br/>"You know, I ALWAYS have that, perhaps, I'll try the marionberry."<br/><br/>Phew!<br/><br/>"Oh, wait... That's a savory berry isn't it? You know, I'd rather not have something savory so early. I'll just go with the double chocolate. What can I say, it's a classic for a reason right?"<br/><br/>He watched as the one thing that could potentially turn around this car wreck of a morning was handed off to the vapid carefree woman before him. Did she even know?! Did she have any inkling of a clue just what she had, what she was doing?!<br/><br/>"Thank you." She says, taking her order and leaving a nice big tip in the jar. Meanwhile, shock, devastation, calamity of catastrophies, Grandus' morning simply continues to get worse, meanwhile ditzy people like her get to breeze through life and have everything handed to them on a silver platter, what he wouldn't give to --<br/><br/>"Are you ok?" He comes out of his fevered anger to see the woman standing before him, looking at him with concern and compassion in her eyes.<br/>"... Mm, yeah... Fine." He grumbles, doing his best not to acknowledge the woman and her sunny demeanor.<br/>"Hmm..." She sighs cocking her head in disbelief. "You know what you need?" She says, starting to reach into her bag, Grandus' eyes daring to open wider and wider with the prospect his morning might finally be turning around. Perhaps this woman wasn't so bad, maybe she actually was just a nice person who cared maybe...<br/><br/>"A banana."<br/><br/>-_- ...<br/><br/>"Potassium helps with blood pressure and stress. Here, on me." She says with a smile handing over the yellow fruit before giving him a pat on the back and walking off with her same carefree attitude.<br/><br/>A banana... A banana... A fucking banana?! She seriously thinks a banana can replace the light and fluffy delicacy of a double chocolate muffin?! Rragh!!! In a fiery fury he tossed the condescending convection as far away as he possibly could. Damn her and her banana, a paltry pathetic pastry replacement!!!<br/><br/>Fine, if that's how the fates would have it, he would simply go to his interview hungry!<br/><br/>He arrived on time, the first thing to go right all morning. He even has a little time to wait as it would appear his interviewer has yet to arrive. Time passes, his appointment time comes and goes. He sits in his chair impatiently, forcing back feelings of lingering frustration and starvation through sheer force of will alone. He WILL have this interview, he refused to let anything else go wrong!<br/><br/>Seconds turned to minutes, minutes passed with the subtle dull thudding roar of a sledge hammer to the head as 5 minutes became 10, 10 became 20, before long it had been an hour. He felt as though he were in a waking nightmare... What the Hell was going on?!<br/><br/>The door opens, a female secretary looks at him with a look of surprise. "Oh my... You're still here... I thought we'd contacted everyone already... I'm so sorry but there won't be any interviews today, the strangest thing happened, the boss was on his way in, when he slipped and fell on, of all the ridiculous things, a BANANA!!! He says it just came out of nowhere like it fell from the sky or something! Anyway, sorry for the inconvenience but, someone will have to contact you for another time."<br/><br/>He didn't even hear the rest, by the time she said the word banana his eye was already twitching. His face had already cemented into a twisted mixture of torment and a fake toothy smile. To this day even the sight of a banana makes him wince, though not as much as the sight of that woman...<br/><br/><br/>The end.<br/><br/><br/>Editors note: Based on a true story by trusted source, I. C. Weiner.  Fact checked by Seymour Butts, and archived by I. P. Freely  Not affiliated with any known news or research facilities.