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Posted: Tue Nov 27, 2007 2:38 am
Jasmine's actions hadn't gone unnoticed and it wasn't long before she was summoned to the office of the region-supervisor: Madam Belle Richelle Ickroad. Madam Ickroad for short. She was a woman in her late thirties with gentle features and soft blue eyes that, despite their softness, seemed to pierce right through the person she was watching. There was always a kind smile on her face and she tried her hardest to make everyone feel at ease. Her hair was short and fell just below her ears in a gentle brown sway. Underlying this gentle appearance, though, was quite the magnificent strategist.
Madam Ickroad's leadership skills are ocasionally lacking, but for that she has her very capable second only known as 'Sir Oz', someone quite feared for his strictness, yet greatly admired and loved for his skill and fierce loyalty. He is one of those type of men that could scare the hell out of you, but in the mean time inspire such loyalty that someone would gladly die for him. He gives his own loyalty in return and would do the same. He would die to keep his own men safe and will stop at nothing to be able to achieve his goals.
In any case, Jasmine's actions had been noted and she had been summoned in for a debriefing. It was Sir Oz that escorted her to Madam Ickroad. He wasn't mean or scary on purpose, actually, he was quite kind to her, telling her that they just needed to know what had happened and whether she was alright? Next time, she could always call for back-up because he ALWAYS had teams standing by and it was HIS job to track down the bad guys, not hers, not just yet. She should not worry herself over that. Even though his words were kind and he tried to be a calming presence, there still remained a hard 'don't mess with me' vibe underneath that, lurking just beneath the surface.
Finally Jasmine sat in front of Madam Bovary, who was smiling at her.
"Good day, Jasmine. I hope you are fine?" she asked. She motioned to a keyboard set up in front of her and a monitor to the side.
"Will you please let me know what has happened in your encounter with the evolved?" She asked politely, she seemed quite curious and interested in knowing what had happened. "You can type on the keyboard and your answers will appear on that monitor."
She sat back, observing Jasmine intently with her soft blue eyes with that piercing gaze in them.
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Posted: Tue Nov 27, 2007 5:49 pm
Miraculously, Jasmine did not arrive in shackles- something suggested by her Aunt Mary-Anne the moment she arrived to the boarding house two hours after her curfew, explaining to her mother how she had managed to catch and help arrest a criminal. Her mother, of course, was worried, but not as much as her aunt- who had apparently s**t bricks at the mention of the effort. She had earned her punishment- to stay in her room for the next few weeks in her free time, but it was hardly punishment. Nevertheless, she was there and receiving a lecture by Sir Oz on how she could've avoided some of the death threats of the monkey-man by just making sure this place knew. As he kept on explaining, her body still seemed lax, but she was already getting angry on the inside. How would she have known that he and his team would've been there at any second to help? Would this man really think that a bad guy would just wait for his enemy to call for backup? Already silently steaming over Sir Oz's lecture, she sat hesitantly as Madam Ickroad spoke. Jasmine nodded, slowly placing her fingers over the keys of the keyboard she provided her. Looking up, she met the woman's piercing blue eyes and had to turn her head to the monitor. What scary eyes! Although her own light blue orbs didn't hold too much difference with Madam Ickroad's. Changing her attention back to the keyboard, she slowly began typing.
"Well, I was walking home from school when I heard a store clerk screaming- his store had been robbed of almost half its inventory. I asked him who did it, and he said it was some guy with huge forearms and gangster's clothes. So I went to go look for the guy. About thirty minutes later, I saw that another store- one larger that the other one- had been robbed of even more of its inventory and described about the same person, but with smaller arms and different clothes. But before I could put two and two together, the guy walked up behind me and started talking to me. I started to talk myself, trying to hurt him a little bit, and he started running. I gave chase, and that went on for about another thirty minutes. After a while, he tripped over a garbage can and I jumped on top of him to make sure he didn't get up again. Then I sang him to sleep and got a nearby shopkeeper to call the police.
After she finished typing, she looked over her work. "Could be a little more detailed, but whatever..." She critiqued in her mind. Her eyes moved back to the man that had brought her in, to Madam Ickroad, then back to her work. What a weird bunch of people here! Hopefully they would be the only people her she would meet for the day.
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Posted: Wed Nov 28, 2007 3:29 am
((*snicker* How long would she have been in the training program? Sir Oz has a tendency to believe every evolved in their system knows all the ins and outs, Belle doesn't forget though. If she's been in for just a few months, she shouldn't reeeeally know these people since they're the ones handing out missions and coordinating all the evo stuff. *grin* ))
Madam Ickroad nodded and wrote something down on a clipboard she had pulled out just before. "I see. First of all, were you injured?" She asked, looking Jasmine over once more. She waited for Jasmine to answer that before she nodded and continued.
"You said you used your powers. How did that go? Do you think you have improved since you were taken into the program?" she smiled kindly at Jasmine, truly curious and truly interested in her. "Will you please describe to me what you did and what the effects were on the other man?"
That was odd. Madam Ickroad wasn't drilling Jasmine for what had happened at all, instead focusing on Jasmine herself.
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Posted: Wed Nov 28, 2007 2:18 pm
((Probably for about a month, since I said two months in the Christmas thread. xP ))
Injured? Was she hurt that day? “Not if you have to ask.” Jasmine replied in her mind, determined not to delve into that matter since she couldn't remember if she were hurt on something that happened only three or four days ago. She hovered over the keyboard again. “No. At least- not enough to remember that I was actually hurt.” Her eyes again drifted off, hoping that something of at least a little more entertainment would catch her eye. Hearing the questions afterwards, however, she tensed again.
“Well, I still haven't been there long, but I did notice that even though I still couldn't control my voice completely, but it even seemed more powerful- a lot more concentrated when I used it, and not just flinging harmful soundwaves at no one in particular. It was more intent on reaching the person I wanted to hear and not the ones that I didn't...” She wrote down what she had noticed when she reminisced about the catch when she was making sure she was not injured. Jasmine had actually felt proud that her voice was getting even a slight bit easier to control.
“Well, I first kind of mumbled at him, just for him to know that I was ready to hurt him if I had to. But he ignored my warning and I spoke louder. That's when I started to scare him and he ran. Then I chased him and sang to him a German song and he fell asleep.” The girl stared blankly at the monitor- she kind of sounded gullible for someone a lot of teachers have classed as smart.
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Posted: Wed Nov 28, 2007 2:49 pm
Belle nodded and scribbled something else down on the clipboard. "That's interesting. Thank you for telling me this, Jasmine," she smiled at the girl. "You've done very well. Thank you." She inclined her head.
Behind Jasmine's back, not visible to her, Sir Oz was frowning. He had straigthened a bit as he gave Belle a look.
Belle smiled, first at him and then at Jasmine, her eyes twinkling. "Ah, Jasmine, it just occured to me that we have not yet been properly introduced. Haven't we? I am Belle," she smiled. "And I am the region supervisor of the New York area. This means that I am in charge and aware of all evolved activity. Sir Oz?" She motioned for him to come forwards.
He did so, walking forwards quite briskly and then taking his spot just behind Belle's chair. He looked quite formidable as he did so.
However, when he spoke next, his voice was quite soft. "My apologies, miss. I was unaware you had not been properly briefed on this situation," he told Jasmine. "Naturally, if you had, we would have helped prepare you for the situation you found yourself in the other day."
Belle continued, "You see, Jasmine, you are currently only enrolled in a training facility to help you control your powers. And while we do actively encourage young evolveds to help us out in matters of crime fighting, we do tend to wait with that until they have a fair amount of control and at least a few years of experience under supervision," she chuckled.
Sir Oz was smiling faintly too. "Indeed, madam. But you beat us to that," he told Jasmine.
((aaah, I could have gone on another ten paragraphs, but giving you a chance to respond, if you feel like it. xD))
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Posted: Wed Nov 28, 2007 3:58 pm
“Nice to meet you, Miss Belle.” She responded with a smile. The silent girl seemed to shrink slightly as Sir Oz made his way across the room and behind Miss Belle- if she had been ready to be introduced, she might have gotten a small warning that these two might scare her just a little, but now she was regretting ever speaking to that store clerk and try to play Super. But she had a small feeling that the two were hiding their real selves underneath a thin sheet of fake kindness and overall bullshitting. She knew she messed up, but they didn't need to fake out that they thought it was their fault. She had been to over a million plays, she knew how to spot acting and bullshitting from actual speech and feelings!
Unaware to Jasmine herself, her head tilted to the side as they explained what she had apparently missed by being rash. If she could speak at the moment, she would have been making soft and blubbering sounds of confusion of being explained to two different people what she did wrong. “Ah... I'm sorry, I didn't know that I would get in trouble for this...” The girl typed, hatching up a plan for them to unleash their true personalities. Jasmine really grew tired of many people hiding themselves behind a mask to make sure she was comfortable. “If you want to be a playwright, you have to be sick- sick for attention. We get in the audience's face, we want to control them. To change them, if you will.” A show writer with some acclaim told her once after watching a play he wrote- really one of the only people who made much sense to her.
((Pf, I don't mind with responses like that, I love reading them. >w<))
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Posted: Thu Nov 29, 2007 2:01 pm
Belle looked honestly surprised. "In trouble? Oh my goodness, no of course not!"
"Not at all," Sir Oz agreed. "As a matter of fact, we owe you our gratitude for taking care of the matter."
Belle nodded, "As a matter of fact, if you are eager to help out in such cases, and if you aspire to become one of our supers, then I could arrange for you to be partnered with one of our established men. For just a few hours, of course."
"And just to see you what you think," Sir Oz odded. He was leaning against the wall now, more relaxed and arms folded, closely observing Jasmine.
Belle nodded and smiled at Jasmine again. "If you do aspire to become a superhero, I would rather have it you do it while partnered with someone experienced, than try by yourself and risk getting hurt," she smiled.
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Posted: Thu Nov 29, 2007 5:15 pm
Well, at least she wouldn’t be in trouble. Jasmine leaned back in her chair with a sigh, raising her hand to her face so she could nibble on her fore-fingernail while they spoke- in almost unison, she noted thoughtfully. Her eyes quickly shuffled between the two characters before her, making sure she could find any ticks of losing patience with the silent girl. Most of her plans of finding their true nature, however, were abandoned when Miss Belle offered her to find out what an actual old-fashioned bad guy versus good guy was like. Jasmine let out an excited shiver- much like she did when Mr. Charles mentioned the same kind of opportunity.
She began typing her answer, glancing at Sir Oz every once in a while, since he had his eyes intently focused on her. “Well, I would love to! I think a chance to see a professional at work would be a sight to see. I’m still not too all the way certain about becoming a Super, but it was exciting to track down that guy and put my powers to use.”
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Posted: Mon Dec 03, 2007 8:50 am
Belle smiled, looking quite pleased. Oz not so much. He spoke before Belle could. "Naturally, a certain degree of control on your part would be required," he told her. "Otherwise you could potentially injure your own partner."
"A silent partnership, perhaps?" Belle suggested, eyes twinkling. A smile pulled onto the corners of her mouth.
"You'd need to learn hand-to hand combat first," Oz spoke, almost absent-mindedly, counting of some checklist in his mind.
"Perhaps start by observation, at a close range, but still a safe distance away?" Belle suggested once more. She was smiling now, obviously enjoying the exchange. It would seem she and Oz had these kinds of interactions more than once.
"Outfit to hide your identity," Oz summed up.
"We have plenty of tailors," Belle was still smiling. She winked at Jasmine. Things would be just fine.
"A mask, obviously," Oz muttered, frowning at some spot in the wall as he went over the issue in his head.
"Or a visor or goggles. Photon wears a visor," Belle told Jasmine.
"Something that's able to shut out any sound, yet can immediatly be drawn back."
"We have plenty of technicians," Belle laughed now.
"Not to mention discipline, knowing how to follow orders, sign language," Oz' intent gaze was back on Jasmine.
"We're not training a soldier," Belle dismissed that, "She wants to know what it's like. Don't you?" She smiled kindly at Jasmine. "What do you think?"
"Madam! Safety procedures must be taken into account!" Oz protested immediatly. "I have a team of professionals, and--"
"And I'm sure they will be able to handle a seventeen year older girl ((replace with proper age)). For heaven's sake, it is not as if we're out to fight Solarduct!" Belle protested. "We're talking about a bit of hands-on experience!"
"Ah--" Oz seemed to have forgotten that for a moment. "Of course. I apologise."
"That's quite alright," Belle chuckled, "It's your job to be prepared, after all." She winked at Jasmine again.
"My apologies, miss," Oz told Jasmine, "I do get carried away sometimes, worrying about the myriad of posibilities." He smiled a bit sheepishly at her.
"I do hope we have not scared you of!" Belle asked Jasmine. There was a slight crease in her forehead, indicating a small amount of worry.
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Posted: Mon Dec 03, 2007 8:23 pm
Jasmine couldn't help herself now. Almost unnoticeable, confused-sounding 'Eh?” sounds escaped her throat as the two yet again spoke as if they were reading each other's minds. Her eyes jolted from one person to the other as she tried her best to make sure she comprehended what they were saying. Hand-to-hand? That wouldn't have been the first on her list, but she felt that would be a necessity at some point. And a costume... Again, not something that was on the first of the list, but something to distort the view of her face would be a good thing. Some kind of machine to close off sound...? The silent girl blinked- guessing it was for the other person. At the mentioning of sign language, her shoulders drooped- she had given up using it a long time ago, when she became too confused about it. Most people could not understand it, anyway. Jasmine stared at her hands- no way she could even try learning it again.
The girl nodded slowly as Ms. Belle spoke again, but started dulling out the conversation as she finally found a stereotype for both of the adults. Sir Oz, as she saw, seemed to be a high-ranking general of some sort in the Agency, turned sharp and cold by his experiences- he spoke with a sense that his mind was always reeling with options of how to do this and how to get away from that. Ms. Belle, on the contrary, was someone who did not go to the main action most of the time, and therefore remained soft and gentle- but having an equally sharp mind and eyes that could almost read thoughts.
Hearing Sir Oz's apology, Jasmine managed to stifle a small laugh. “Don't worry about it.” She typed, still smiling. “A lot of my relatives are just like you, Sir Oz.” Of course, Aunt Mary-Anne was the first one she thought of when she wrote the description.
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Posted: Fri Dec 14, 2007 12:06 pm
Sir Oz smiled. "Is that so?"
Belle smiled too. "I'm glad we did not scare you off. Lets try and get this matter settled properly, shall we?" she asked that to Oz and then turned back to Jasmine. "I assume you're interested?"
She waited for Jasmine to agree before she continued. "I propose for you to go along for one to two hours a week with one of Oz's crews, so you can see what it's like and how things work, so you can get a feel for it," she suggested.
Oz nodded. "I've got Charlie and Edwin that can handle a tag-on. When?"
"How about friday afternoon?" Belle suggested, "it's usually a fairly high crime-time and you have the last few hours off, do you not? Oz, would that work?"
Oz nodded. "Yes. Charlie and Ed do their rounds in that way. They usually've more than enough business to take care of on fridays. You up for it?" he asked Jasmine. He gave her a challenging smirk.
Belle looked inquiringly at her, as well.
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Posted: Fri Dec 14, 2007 2:12 pm
“Yeah,” She typed as a response for Sir Oz. “A few of them... Are not as sane, however.” Jasmine let out a grin, shaking her head in the reminder of how crazy her New York family was. Her aunt, of course, ran the house with her husband Garth- who was very quiet and easy to lie to, by the girl's memory. Many of the others that either worked there or visited there were daughters, sons, nieces, nephews, and other relatives of Aunt Mary-Anne and Garth, who never really looked happy to see them. Yet the put on their fake faces and greeted them as if they were the single most important thing on the planet.
Jasmine looked at Miss Belle when she asked her the question. The girl's hands in her lap, she gave a polite nod. Listening to the rest of the conversation, she opened up her notebook that she thought she was going to need to use and wrote down the names of the people they mentioned. Hearing Sir Oz with his challenging smile, she gave her own grin that was equally challenging as his. “Sure, I'm up for it."
She leaned back in her chair. “I'm guessing I just took the red pill...” The silent girl mused with a smile. “Oh, how the s**t is going to hit the fan when I get home...”
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Posted: Mon Dec 24, 2007 7:31 am
"Excellent!" Belle smiled, "Just excellent! Now, on to outfitting with you," she smiled and winked. "Thank you for coming in Jasmine, I appreciate it." She extended her hand once more for Jasmine to shake.
"Heh. Outfitting," Oz snorted and then motioned for Jasmine to follow him while he stalked out of the room. He didn't go as fast as he usually did, making sure the kid could keep up with him.
"Outfitting is down three floors," Oz explained, "We'll be getting you one of those nifty spandex costumes our superheroes like to wear," he was smirking, obviously not believing that statement. "They're good, sturdy materials that'll protect you from most things, as hideous as they might look." They had passed the elevator and continued on to the stairs. Oz wasn't about to waste an opportunity to test the girl. While they descended the stairs, his pace increased more and more, wanting Jasmine to keep up with him while he kept on explaining some things to her. The outfit she'd have a say in, and it wouldn't be definite, if she'd start out on the hero-scene, it'd be her trademark suit, so she could give some of her preferences. Once well known she'd get a different suit, a better one. Nobody knew when that would be and they'd just assume she lived through it all to get there, too, he told her while still smirking.
They had arrived at the designated floor and he paused at the doorway, still smirking at Jasmine. He wasn't out of breath, showing he had an extraordinary good physique.
When Jasmine had caught up with him, he gave her the opportunity to catch her breath for a few seconds ((or so I'm assuming. Oz set a murdering pace)) and then continued on through the hallway, making a right and then walking into a room that was a cross between a dressing room, a wardrobe and a tailorshop. It was the exact opposite as the rest of the agency. A large room with colorful outfits and accesories everywhere while there were machines and other things to fix outfits scattered across the rooms. Various people were working on an outfit here or there and they could be seen to work on a Flashcharge suit which was slightly different from his usual outfit. The tailorroom was obviously home to a few very creative minds.
Oz looked around and let out a piercing whistle on his fingers. Several of the working people jumped and gave him annoyed glares.
A short woman came rushing forwards, her hair was gray and pulled upwards in a large fluffy bun. She wore small spectacles that didn't hide her big, purple eyes in the slightest.
"Sir Oz! Don't tell me you've ruined those high-tech suits of you AGAIN!" she exclaimed.
"Agatha," Oz greeted her dryly. "The girl needs outfitting. She'll be going out with my boys. NS to be."
"Oh oh!" Agatha seemed terribly excited as she clapped her hands together and then pulled Jasmine forwards to stand on a chair. "How lovely, dear! Another girl in the team, that's wonderful! Wonderful! What are you powers? Don't demonstrate if they'll blow everything up like dear Thomas did!" she smiled fondly at Jasmine.
A few others had also come up, looking just as excited as Agatha did as they started measuring and taking Jasmine's sizes and then bringing out colors, trying to see what looked good on her and.... let's just say they had a field day with it.
"It's her voice," Oz told Agatha before Jasmine could speak, "she can't speak normally yet, or she'll affect you." He seemed to be enjoying the scene. He had been a victim of these fiends just one time to many!
Agatha tutted, "No talking? Such a shame, dear. Hm, I see you have a sketchpad. You write on that? What will your superhero name be, sweetheart?" she asked Jasmine, peering at her over the top of her spectacles.
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Posted: Mon Dec 24, 2007 6:59 pm
Jasmine took the hand with a grateful smile, giving it a gentle shake before she followed Sir Oz out of the room. The man, despite having the look of restraint on his part, was walking abnormally fast for the usually lax girl. She struggled to walk by the man, even though she didn't show so as she scoffed at his joke. The spandex she could live without- she didn't have the body to pull that particular type of drapery off. Hell- she didn't think anyone did. To her, you could put the most attractive models in that type of clothing and turn them into some hideous beast.
The girl gave him an odd look as the man promptly passed the elevator and quickened his steps as he walked down the long set of stairs. She was now quickening herself as well, giving him a 'Why the Hell did you speed up?' look as he was explaining to her about how these brightly-clad uniforms were always under construction. Jasmine had noticed Sir Oz's constant smirk, but hers had long since faded away when they began walking- or 'walking with a purpose', a theater teacher had explained to her once why one would be very fast on stage and still look like they're walking. This was an understatement, she realized, as she was having much trouble keeping her face emotionless as they could have well enough been sprinting down the stairs.
She had fallen a bit behind, but was speedy enough to see him stop and turn to her, giving off the same grin he had worn since he started that marathon. Jasmine balanced herself on the wall with her hand, letting a few exhausting breaths escape and enter her as she sought for an equilibrium in her lungs. When she was finished, she gave him a scathing glare, but watched curiously as he let her into the room.
The girl took note of the inverted appearance of the room compared to where else she had been beforehand. She smiled as colorful fabric was scattered about the room, giving her the feeling she had been in the middle of Broadway's own costume development. She soon swallowed a panicked gulp as she remembered their purpose here. These were all professionals- people that made costumes for a living. And her own Drama club's costume designers were hectic as it was- they always swarmed the actor or actress as they fitted them for a costume- and that was with people who weren't professionals. And Sir Oz was going to let that fury unleash at her.
Jasmine cringed at his whistle, quickly giving him another glare. But she had soon been stolen away by Agatha and her squad of costume designers, who seemed to be in good spirits since they were given a new slice of meat to experiment with. She nodded at the last question the short woman had asked, writing into her sketchbook as the others worked away. “It's”
She stopped writing. What would be her name? Thinking quickly, she remembered the Greek Nymph that was cursed by Hera to only repeat people’s sentences. She turned back to writing. “Echo, Miss Agatha.” Jasmine smiled, showing the book to the lady. ((>w< Agatha's adorable~))
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Posted: Tue Dec 25, 2007 3:24 am
"Echo, hm?" Agatha looked Jasmine over in contemplative silence for a moment before she nodded and beamed at her. "That suits you, dear. Oh my, a new super to be! How absolutely, dreadfully wonderful!" She seemed to quiver in excitement even as she stood back and watched her designers unfold their powers and ocassionally directed them or tutted at them. Mostly she was just looking at Jasmine, but not really seeing her. In her mind she was already constructing an outfit, trying to see how this or that looked on her.
Meanwhile, a few of the designers were already argueing with each other.
"Blue and orange, definitly. It'll bring out her eyes!"
"Nonono, Flashcharge has blue, we'll have to go with a different one, how about fuchsia with green?"
"Are you KIDDING? That clashes horribly! You want her to be a walking target?! Why not back it red and white immediatly!"
"You're BOTH wrong! We should go with orange and white!"
"See! ORANGE! But white is impractical! It gets dirty so quick!"
"Alright, alright, orange brings out her eyes better, that's true, but we do not have fuchsia or green yet!"
"Let me guess, your favorite combination?"
"..."
"Heh."
"Thought so. We're NOT dressing one of our supers in those hideous colors."
"Orange though."
"Orange."
"What about orange with fuchsia lightning bolts?!"
"..."
"..."
"What?"
"That's NOT her power--"
"You idiot, suits are--"
"But lightning bolts are COOL--"
"No they're NOT--"
"You're such a--"
"Madam AGATHA?" the harassed designer finally called out.
All three designers seemed to turn towards her as one, all of them holding various colorful fabrics in their hands and with heated blushes on their faces.
Agatha shook her head, but she was smiling. "No lightning bolts," she told them curtly. The designer slumped, but she gave him a kind smile. "It's a nice suggestion, but not in this case," she winked. She then gave her full attention to Jasmine. "What do you think?" she asked the silent girl. "I do agree one of the main colors should be orange, because it would really bring out your eyes. Which other colors would you like to see?"
The three designers turned to Jasmine, looking up with a certain amount of surprise. Oh yes! The subject could give her opinion TOO.
((Ok, now I DO have a design in mind for her. If you have any ideas just let me know. xD))
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