<div class="floatleft">(https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/7f/36/ab/7f36ab980d4c3cee5e4de335571c10b5.jpg)</div><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: times new roman;"><strong>Name:</strong> Elena Charlie Vandel (https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=250173.msg12381845#msg12381845) - Clone #2, aka, Nicole.<br/><strong>City | Date | Time:</strong> Lulekani Township near Phalaborwa, South Africa | March 17 2015 | 04:30 PM<br/><strong>Tagging | Mentioning:</strong> Julie, Closed.<br/><strong>Content:</strong> Questionable food choices -- ohhello.</span><br/><hr/><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: times new roman;"><br/><br/>Nicole didn't catch too many little personality nuances on their first exchange of words, nor did she allow herself to read too deeply into things despite the fact her consciousness was pulled by a team of horses made entirely of curiosity. All she knew was the woman was attractive, seemingly educated, and dressed for doing things far exciting than sitting around on a bench eating local cuisine. So she considered herself lucky that the woman had roamed by, that she could understand the children enough to know that Nicole herself was approachable. It seemed like they both spent a few long moments looking at each other and laughing before her company spoke up, her words accompanied by a little smirk that looked suspiciously devious, even though her chuckle was surely filled with nothing but good intentions. Nicole nodded to the woman's question about her pickup lines, grinning playfully the entire time. Truly, even cheesy pickup lines had a chance of working on Nicole. She found them funny, and she was rather social, so anyone brave enough to introduce themselves could catch her attention. Intently, her eyes followed the woman's movements - first her eyes ran over the woman's body as she leaned back, then over her shoulder and down her reaching arm until her eyes locked on to the now disappearing hand. However, that changed when the woman spoke again, as Nicole's eyes took the same leisurely path back up to lock on her face.<br/><br/>If anything, Nicole was courteous, and part of that included being an active listener. No staring off elsewhere when she was supposed to be listening, and almost instinctively her hands laid atop one another in her lap, the balled up cloth napkin beneath that in her lap. <br/><br/>"I'd offer you a drink," the brunette said, as the her shoulders rose and fell with indifference. Nicole's head tilted curiously, eyes resting on the woman's own. "But I'm afraid all I've got are two bottles of icy tap water." The control her grin held over her face strengthened as the woman set the drinks on the table, and she even chuckled, herself, as Nicole found herself offered one. It did look quite good, and to say it was more than warm outside was stating the obvious. Peeling her eyes off of her company's, Nicole allowed her lower lip to be tugged between her teeth and nibbled on ever so gently for the briefest of moment as she glanced away, her left hand - the one resting atop her right - reaching out to take a water, which was then opened. "Thank you," she offered up, as the bottle was brought up to allow Nicole to take a long drink of it. Nicole's eyes closed momentarily, but when more words were spoken, the bottle was lowered, capped, and orbs had come to rest on the pretty woman's face. <br/><br/>"I didn't actually introduce myself," came her words, and Nicole's eyes seemed to <em>light up</em> with interest. She even wiggled a little in her seat, posture correcting, foot hanging from the bench swinging idly in mild restlessness. There was no hesitation in shaking the woman's hand, either, though she didn't interject to introduce herself at once. <br/><br/>To describe Nicole in the moments as Julie spoke would be hard, but the obvious was just that: she was paying close attention to everything she was saying, and she <em>enjoyed</em> it. Really, she was all smiles-mixed-with grins, every breath she drew in those moments mixed with the mild thrill of discovery. With the bottle of water held against the bench in her right hand, Nicole found herself running through her soft, silky hair idly as she listened, right up until she chuckled at the joke of <em>aristocracy.</em><br/><br/>Only then did she find it appropriate to speak. "I'm Nicole," she smiled sweetly, hand slipping into her hair once again and traveling smoothly through it just <em>once</em> more before her hand with its' perfectly cared for nails returned to her lap. "Nicole Vandel, and Nicole is fine, or Nicki if you want," smiling, she let out a little shrug, the accent on her words just making her seem more foreign, especially with the heavy twist of French influence, "What's brought you here?" Unlike Julie, Nicole wasn't thinking about offering up anything right away. She just wanted to know more, and so she'd asked. Thankfully, Julie was more than willing to share - so much so that Nicole wagered the woman may have even if she hadn't breathed the question.<br/><br/>What came began as a simple explanation, and after a precursory glance along Nicole's entire body - and believe me, as Julie brought her eyes back to Nicole's face, she made it a point to look Julie right in the eyes, quite pointedly -  and from there, the woman's words began to tell a story. It obviously not only kept Nicole's attention, but the woman's words seemed to pull her emotionally along through the tale, as well. Nicole looked some mix of disgusted and heartbroken near the end of the story, about when Julie herself trailed off and apologized. Nicole looked perhaps a bit sad, then, or at least sullen. Not that her spirit was dampened, but because that was just another facet of this beautiful, wild place that could also be so disgustingly ugly. Taking a moment to wipe her eyes - yes, perhaps some moisture had accumulated, there - as Julie finished up her story, Nicole took another drink of the deliciously cold water in her grasp and summarized the words that'd pooled in her mind. Julie had Nicole's full attention again by the time she'd offered to let her <em>come by</em> and she couldn't help but stare a little.<br/><br/>Had this woman, a relative stranger, who'd just opened up to the point of making herself feel uncomfortable, just offer to let her go and interact with animals? This came as hard to believe, but she knew she'd heard everything okay. Unlike Julie, Nicole didn't feel uncomfortable or awkward at all. <br/><br/>Smiling sweetly, Nicole shrugged, addressing the woman's apology first. "It's okay, I'm glad you shared," she made sure to meet the woman's eyes to make sure she meant it. Then, despite the fact Julie said she was <em>done</em> conversing about herself, Nicole had things to say. "I'm also glad you're so passionate about your work. Very sweet of you to get <em>stuck</em> on care center duty for such a cute sounding creature." She teasingly put emphasis on <em>stuck</em>, as the woman was sure there were far worse things to have to do. This left mostly the woman's question to answer, and Nicole seemed to ponder this one briefly. Without warning, Nicole placed her water on the table, as well as her napkin, and put her hands back in her lap. "I'm from Canada," she began, not really good enough at lying to say she was from anywhere else. And with the accent, would Julie really believe her, anyways? "I'm a teacher, among many other things." <em>That</em> was a hilarious understatement, so much so it tickled her and her smile widened, deepened, "I am just traveling and found my way here, where there was a need as the normal instructor was ill." A soft shrug, as she found it quite mundane, even though Nicole knew that said a lot. To teach in places like this was far more involved than anything in Canada. "She's back on her feet, now, and so I've nowhere exciting to go, really. The group she is with asked me to sign up and volunteer with them, but..." Nicole sort of looked elsewhere, gaze meandering, "I hate paperwork," she admitted nonchalantly, as her gaze came to return to Julie after a short stint of silence. "I'd love to go wherever you'll take me, though."<br/><br/>As Nicole waited for Julie's response, she was plainly aware of other going-ons with Elena and the others connected. She may have even seemed mildly distracted for the briefest of moments after speaking, her bottom lip subjected to further biting and nibbling. Yet, truly, if she had this habit... well, the skin of her lower lip was no worse for the wear.</span></span>