T'challa's Transformation

"It's James, isn't it?"

"What?"

"Your name is James."

"Oh. Yeah. It's Jimi." His eyes never left the screen of his phone. He was still nervous about being here at all. He didn't know why he felt so guilty, but he did.

"Jimi. That's nice. James is a nice name too." She smiled, and the dimple in her cheek deepened a little. "Where are you from?"

He looked up from his phone, curious to hear her accent while answering her question. Instead he noticed she had asked him something else.

"...I'm from North Carolina," he said after a beat, confused by the direction of the conversation. He had expected them to be talking about music or movies or something cultural they both liked. It was their only topic of common interest.

"And how long have you been here? In Africa?" She had gone back to looking out over the street below them, where a man with a guitar stood on the corner and sang softly to draw in passing tourists into his small shop nearby. The salesman seemed to be doing well; many passers-by had stopped to listen to him sing. Jimi preferred his own style of music, but he saw that there was a certain beauty in this man's voice that made people stop and listen like he was hearing for the first time again every time a new verse began. He wondered why he'd never heard anything like this before in America -- nothing so raw and real.

"I've been here for about five months now," Jimi replied, keeping his eyes on the singer as well. A tourist danced in place on the sidewalk behind the singer; Jimi couldn't tell if it was because they were having fun or if they'd had one too many drinks already that afternoon. "I'm only here until my visa runs out though," he added as an afterthought, unsure if it was something she would want to know or not hear -- It certainly wasn't what she had asked him originally! That thought made him feel even more guilty than the unasked question did...but why? Why did it matter what she wanted to hear? They hardly knew each other...did they?

Jimi shook his head and tried to focus on their conversation again; he really didn't want her to think he was rude! "Do you like living here?" She turned toward him just as he turned toward her, and their eyes met across the table between them. Her smile faded slightly when she saw his face tense up slightly at her question; she could see that he wasn't sure how to answer it without hurting her feelings somehow. "You can say whatever you want," she added quickly, reaching across the table with one hand slowly so as not to startle him and put her slim fingers over his other hand resting loosely on top of his phone where it sat face down on the table between them now between them now as well. He could feel her gentle touch through his thick leather gloves, almost burning him through them as she held him there against his will; unwilling but unable to pull away from her touch now that they were connected this way like this together across this table now sharing this moment together now too now...now...like...now...too...now...? Oh no...time is slipping away from me again! Will I ever have another chance like this? Am I making a mistake by getting distracted by things like this when I might never get another chance like this ever again? What if I do get another chance like this someday and I'm not ready for it because I'm not thinking right now right here what am I thinking right now right here right now right here right now RIGHT NOW!!!?!?!?!???!!??!?!!!?!?!?!?!?!??!??!?!!??!?!!??!?!!!!!!??????!!!!!!!!!???????????!!!!!!!!!????????????????????????????!!!!!!!!!?????????????????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11111!!!111!!!11111111111!1!1!!!!1!1!1!1!1*&*%$#^#$?^%$^%$^%$^*&^*&^$^^^#^#^^#^^#^^#$#$#$#$^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^11111!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111!1!!11!!!11!!11!!!11!!11!!!11!!11!!!11!!11!!!11!!1!1!!!!1!1!1!1!1 *&*%$#^#$?^%$^%$^%$^*&^*&^$^^^#^#^^#^^#^^#$#$#$#$^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^--*-~-~-~-~ -~-~~--~~---~~~~~~-----~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~--~~~~----~~~~~~------~~~~~~~-----~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~--~~~~----~~~~~~------~~~~~~~-----~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~--~~~~----~~~~~~------~~~~~~~-----~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~--~~~~----~~~~~~------~~~~~~~-----~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~--~~~~----~~~~~~------~~~~~~~-----~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~--~~~~----~~~~~~------a light overhead spun rapidly around above me and i could only stare dumbly at its swirling colors in awe as i pushed myself inside further into my new existence feeling myself slip further away from reality and closer yet towards some unknown fate i couldnt quite make out yet my earlier reluctance melted away like snow under sunlight realizing i wasnt going anywhere any longer soon enough my curiosity got the better of me causing me to turn around and take a look around me finally noticing that i appeared to be standing on some sort of platform covered in soft grass a ring of wooden pillars surrounded me each carved intricately out of wood some kind of writing carved into each pillar going all around except for one pillar which contained something much different i walked over towards it curiously examining it closely finding that what looked like someone carved out of stone stood there at shoulder height an animal head rested atop its shoulders with two large horns protruding out either side of its face its body wrapped tightly with strips of thin cloth alongside a loincloth covering its groin area around its waist hung an assortment of weapons strapped onto its body i moved closer still finding myself drawn towards it unable to break away from its gaze suddenly my fear vanished replaced with curiosity instead i wanted more than anything else more than anything else more than anything else more than anything else more than anything else more than anything else more than anything else more than anything else more than anything else more than anything else more than anything else more than anything else more than anything elselike someone removing pieces from my mind 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