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 Posted: Wed Aug 20, 2008 7:18 pm
"How....how did this happen...?"
Micajah's face paled deeply as he stared at the disaster that spread on the floor before him, his eyes moving quickly back and forth from the spilled soda that puddled onto fabric to his foot when has not listened to him at all and kicked the offensive drink over. As the orange quickly turned the pure white fabric a pretty shade of sherbet he could only feel his own face change to a different color in a mirroring effect.
He'd been close...so very close. The sleepless nights of working with a pattern in a language he barely understood, the figuring out that an iron would burn his hands a lot less if he didn't try to do more than one thing at once, all of it seemed for waste now as the frills and lace no longer held their pretty snowflake shape. They now dropped in a manner that no amount of bleach and starch would ever be able to fix (and smelled rather like orange fanta), so Micajah knew he'd past a point of no return.
"Great. Just great. I'm out of fabric to try again, and I'm pretty sure I'm out of money as well. I can't call Father and ask him to wire me over some to buy cloth for costumes with, since he said not to waste my money on frivolous things anyway, so..."
He was out of options now unless he could somehow find a way to get a bargain from the shopkeeper in charge of all the sewing supplies, and with a disheartened kick of his leg he sent the pile of fabric he'd been stressing over into the corner and out of his sight and mind. Micajah's next concern was for his wallet, which was on the table and happening to have a few more dollars than he'd previously thought, and he shoved that into his pocket as he gathered up any and all sewing supplies that he could find. Everything was done by hand in his case so a sewing machine wasn't on the list, but as he pocketed and cased up needle after needle and spool after spool it became more and more aware that he looked like a merchant on his way to sell goods.
"Alright, I'll see what I can mange. This shouldn't be too hard, right?"
With a grunt and a bit of a stagger he hoisted his satchel strap over his shoulder and the bag itself onto his hip, making his way to his room's door and out before he could hesitate and just cry like he honestly wanted to. He knew that it was no use crying over spill soda on Lolita dresses however, and as he started out into the main courtyard on his way to the mall his backed up his sniffs and hiccups in an effort to stay brave.
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Posted: Wed Aug 27, 2008 9:54 am
Herei had gone out for a walk outside, a little bored with all the papers he had let pile up. It was good to go outside and get some fresh air, anyways. It was a nice day out; there was no reason to stay cooped up in his office. In fact, he might just go back and get his work to finish it out here. Ah, killing two birds with one stone. Perfect.
It was on his way back that he ran into one of the students. Having never met the boy personally, Herei could only be reasonably certain it was on Mister Micajah Ackhart. (It was his job to know all the students, after all.) Taking a slight detour, Herei approached the boy. He was wearing his usual flowing robes, though his left arm was tucked close to his body, almost protective.
Hmm. Was he crying?
"Is something wrong?"
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Posted: Wed Aug 27, 2008 1:14 pm
Micajah startled as a voice caught his ears and called out to him, and as his face turned up it was indeed very obvious that he'd been crying. Small streams of tears ran down his cheeks in silent rivers as he blinked at the Professor he didn't know, his nose red from being rubbed and the corners of his eyes a little red and puffy as well. It wasn't like he'd be audibly sobbing or anything, as Micajah had some pride as a man, but he wasn't too ashamed to let out a few bitter tears. He'd worked so hard after all and deserved to feel stupid like this.
Only when he was alone of course. So now that there was someone addressing him, an adult (and a teacher to boot) it made him feel quite small and overly childish. He wasn't sure how he could explain the fact that he was crying over a ruined dress, or the fact that he was making a dress at all. It would have been much easier on the boy if he'd recognized the man as Herei Fang, but alas he only knew names. Not faces.
"Ah, yes, fine. Not crying, no, allergies. Pretty bad ones, actually."
Micajah chided himself instantly for telling such an outlandish lie to a teacher, one he didn't even know in the first place, and he quickly rubbed the back of his sleeves over his face in an effort to get whatever tears that still fell out of the way. His cheek was still bruised from his encounter a little while ago, though not as much anymore, and the slight pressure from his hand left behind no pain.
"Sorry, hope I didn't bother you."
He feigned a smile in an attempt to show he wasn't inwardly still mourning.
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Posted: Wed Aug 27, 2008 2:59 pm
Herei sighed and rubbed his face with his uninjured hand. Of course the youth hadn't admitted to crying; when did boys ever swallow their pride enough to actually admit they had feelings, hmm? Never. Well, he'd play along, for now. Maybe he could do something for the student, at any rate. "Allergies, hmm?" He needed work on his lying skills. "Should you like to see the school doctor?"
He shrugged and tucked his free hand back into his robe. "No, no, no bother at all. I was only busy slacking off." A cheerful, carefree smile. "A nice change of pace, even." The Adviser really did enjoy meeting all the students. "Oh, but where are my manners?" he asked, sounded slightly aghast. "I'm Adviser Herei Fang." Once again, he offered up his free hand, looking for a shake. Of course, Micajah would introduce himself, how was he to know Herei already knew him. "Is there anything I can do for you?"
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Posted: Sun Aug 31, 2008 11:30 am
Great. I happened to get stopped, when I'm crying, by an Adviser. Hooray for first impressions.
"My name is Micajah Akart, and the please is all mine."
Micajah did indeed introduce himself, as he would have even if he did know that the teacher knew him, and he gingerly shook the offered hand before he retracted his own back against his body and interlocked its fingers with the other. He looked almost like he was praying with his hands in that position, a praying merchant on their way somewhere, and he quickly dropped his hands to his side and looked around.
"Ah, no, I should be alright. I was on my way to the mall to see if I could get some more sewing supplies, since I happened to run into an accident with one of the projects I was working on. Trouble is..."
Micajah stopped suddenly as he realized he was rambling on, something he didn't feel in the mood to do right now without whining like a ninny, and he clapped his mouth shut.
"I'm just going to try and get something sew my costumes with."
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Posted: Mon Sep 01, 2008 5:23 pm
The good Adviser rose his eyebrows, scritching at his chin as Micajah explained his predicament. Herei almost found it a little odd, that of all the students on the island, he would run into the one who enjoyed sewing...and needed some help with said hobby. The Chinese man almost found himself expecting some sort of joke. This was too coincidental.
Oh, what was he thinking? This was a student! He should help!
Smile still firmly in place, Herei reached out to ruffle light brown hair and pat his shoulder reassuringly. "Come with me," he said, offering no further explanation as he turned, heading back towards his office. He was going there anyways, he might as well get the boy the supplies he needed for his project. The Adviser couldn't help but wonder if Micajah realized he probably wandered into the best person possible, considering his current situation.
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Posted: Wed Sep 03, 2008 9:24 am
At the slight ruffle of his hair Micajah felt his cheeks burn with a mixture of embarrassment and shock, mostly because he hadn't been pat on the head in a very long time (let alone by someone he'd just met). It made the fifteen-year-old feel like a little child, but maybe that wasn't such a bad thing sometimes.
"...yes, sir."
Micajah didn't even question why Herei wanted him to follow him, as he didn't know about the man's hobbies that well (he hadn't finished reading profiles), so he shifted his steps and made his way in line behind the injured Adviser. There wasn't much in mind for him to say to produce any kinds of small talk so he kept his mouth closed save for the occasional sniffles that were a direct result his his tears from minutes before.
I wonder why this is happening to me?
"S'not my lucky day. . ."
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Posted: Thu Sep 11, 2008 2:45 pm
Herei couldn't help but laugh a little. He quickly covered his mouth his his free hand and shook his head. "On the contrary, Mr. Ackhart, it most certainly is." He lead the boy down to his office and pushed into the small room. He made for his closet, pausing for a moment as he spied his teapot. "Would you like some tea?" he offered, pulling open the cabinet doors. In the large cupboard were entire outfits. Amazingly crafted garments, as it were. Herei was good with his hands.
"Now. What was it you needed?" he asked, bending down to open his drawers. "How about you just have a look through all this, hmm? See what you need." Sometimes you don't realize you need something until you see it, after all. Called inspiration, or something like that.
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Posted: Thu Sep 11, 2008 9:16 pm
"Tea sounds nice, thank you Adviser."
Micajah had indeed noticed the outfits hanging in the closet, his eyes right away drawn to them as soon as they came into view. It was hard for any man of the cloth (so to speak) to ignore any type of fine clothing and Micajah was no different.
If he had any less manners his jaw would have been hanging open and his neck careening to get a better view, but he had more sense than that and simply stayed in one place until he was invited to look through several drawers of things.
Who was this man fate had let him knock into? A angel of some kind?!
"Can...can I really look through all of this? Are you sure it's okay for me to use some of your things?"
It wasn't that he was unsure, it was more or less like he was still in shock. Here, all along, there was someone else who liked sewing.
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Posted: Sat Sep 13, 2008 11:58 am
"Of course," Herei replied with the same, manufactured smile, twisting to fill his teapot with water and turn the little hotplate on. He really needed some better equipment, the amount he was serving up tea this these. It was practically his niche in life, making tea. "Do you like green tea?" he asked, pulling out a tea bag for himself.
"Oh, hmm?" Herei shrugged and nodded. "I wouldn't have offered if I didn't mean it. Now, go on. Rummage." He rubbed the side of his face as he waited for the tea to boil. "Now, refresh my memory. What kind of project were you working on? Did you need help?"
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Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2008 7:49 pm
"Green tea would be fine, thank you."
Micajah nodded his thanks before he started to go through the fabric in the drawers before him, his face growing brighter and brighter with each bit he sorted aside. He had never expected to see anything of this quality on the island without having to order it or something, so he could hardly contain the excitement on his face.
"I was working on a dress for my Halloween costume. I was about two-thirds of the way done when my messy eating and drinking habits caught up to me and bit me in the back. I ruined everything I had been trying to do, everything I'd spent sleepless nights working on."
The distaste for his failure sounded strong in Micajah's voice, and his expression was one of sorrow right away. He must have been amusing to watch as it went from one thing to another, and if he had been a Noh actor (or a mime) he probably would have been very popular.
"I'll need to start over now, but I can't seem to decide what would work best. I could try the dress once more, but..."
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Posted: Fri Sep 19, 2008 12:44 pm
Herei prepared the tea and listened patiently. Being an Adviser, listening (besides nasty mind tricks) was on of the things he did best. "I see," he finally said once Micajah had finished his tragic tale. "Well, like I said, you are welcome to anything you find in my box of wonders." He shrugged and walked over, offering Micajah a teacup on a saucer. "Though, I don't suggest not sleeping. You won't fare so well in class."
As an Adviser, he was obligated to say that sort of thing.
"Now, for your Halloween outfit, is it? Clever idea. I don't think Shinkami did anything for Halloween last year, that would be fun. Get the newer students involved, don't you think? But, your outfit. You, wanted a dress?" Herei wasn't about to comment on the idea. "Have you taken proper measurements?"
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Posted: Thu Sep 25, 2008 8:19 pm
Micajah's face turned a little scarlet as he heard the skepticism in Herei's voice about the dress (or at least what he thought was him being skeptic) and he nodded his head anyway.
"Yes, a cute little Gothic Lolita style dress. Really popular in Japan as of now, that style. I had the measurements all written down on paper but I don't think they'd fit now anyway. I've lost some weight thanks to working on everything and not focusing on anything, so I probably need to remeasure. Yeah,"
He nodded his head as he looked through the different kinds of fabrics in the boxes, his eyes straying onto a bit that held a beautiful floral print. The color itself was white and the flowers were muted shades of pink, black, and gray and were only arranged in set areas.
"If I use new fabric I'll certainly need to, since I'm not sure how much the fabric will give or get based on pulling and sewing. If I needed to wash it to give a distressed look than that too..."
Micajah trailed off into his own thoughts as he continued to look, only vaguely aware that Herei had mentioned something else. Something about the school not doing an event.
"So one wasn't held, or no one dressed up at all? It'd be a shame if it was the second reason, since there's always a way to dress up. I'd love to make costumes and hold a party or something."
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Posted: Mon Sep 29, 2008 9:02 am
Herei nodded. "Very important to take your own measurements," he agreed, "as just about every dress pattern you find will be for a lady." Unless it was drawn by the Adviser himself, but finding one of those was nearly impossible. (He was a fan of feminine robes, really, but wasn't above wearing the occasional dress in the situation proved appropriate. Or entirely inappropriate, and those times were almost better.)
"There wasn't a party," Herei clarified. "But I wouldn't stop you if you'd like to, ah, take matters into your own hands." Shouldn't the students be encourage to practice leadership, organization, things like that? It wasn't all about academics. "Would you like to?" A wicked smile. Then the Chinese man finally remembered the tea, and set about letting the tea steep.
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Posted: Tue Sep 30, 2008 12:30 pm
"Run a party? Me?"
Micajah sounded slightly incredulous to the suggestion, even though he was the one who said in the first place that he would like to have one, but he honestly hadn't thought of holding something all on his own. Sure he wouldn't have minded doing it if the thought had ever occurred to him to take charge and, now that someone had mentioned doing so, he actually had to think it over.
"I wouldn't mind doing it - it's a chance to meet all the students and perhaps most of the staff. I've been here for over a year, enrolled in all of these classes, yet I'm still so far behind in knowing who is who. It's kind of shameful and stupid to admit."
He was supposed to know everyone by now, or at least that was his plan, but being a hermit for almost four months kind of took a toll on all of that. One kid had gotten expelled and one ran away (or something) so all that was left was to find everyone and put faces to names. As he thought he brushed his hair from out of his face, vaguely aware of how long it had grown.
"I think I would probably need a sponsor or something, and a place to hold the event. We could always use the mall like they did for the Christmas event, but I'll need some help decorating..."
Micajah rifled though his bag, which he had set down when he started to check fabric, and he pulled out his sketch book to a semi-clean page. He didn't mind writing over the pattern scrawled on, he'd never make that outfit anyway, and slowly he started a list of what he'd need.
"Candy, event items, prizes....oh man, what should be offered as prizes...?"
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