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 Posted: Sat Oct 01, 2005 4:00 pm
Laundry. A nesscary evil. Noyama. An underapreciated demon slave of said nesscary evil. Though, it was alright, she had nothing better to do. None of her daughters--or her single son--seemed to really need her all that much anymore. It was a harsh truth, but really...they didn't seem to need her at all.
"Twila!" She called over to the girl from the clothesline as she spotted her leaving the home. "Where going?"
"Shopping," she answered, not even bothering to glance over her shoulder let alone stop walking.
"Want go with you?" Noyama questioned, more hopeful than anything. Her ears lowered when the girl continued and shook her head.
"I'm okay!" Twila called in reply. "See you later!" And she was gone. The last of them to leave, actually.
Despite her bitter feelings toward Noharu, Kilah had become surprisingly fond of Karoko...as much as one like Kilah could, anyway. She'd gone somewhere with her, and with Lucky, hence why the protector wasn't worried. Sango had gone off to visit her friends, and Kotoki...That boy wasn't social anyway. Who knew where he was.
Shrugging the dissapointment the rejection of her company brought on, she pulled out another shirt and hung it carefully up. The familiar dark purple color stared back at her, "Don't make me slap a b***h." written across it in white. Definetly Kilah's.
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Posted: Sat Oct 01, 2005 4:17 pm
It was sheer coincidence that Banda happened to be in the area. He had spent most of the morning at the SkullMonkey HQ, but, when no one had shown up, Venoch's restlessness had finally convinced him to leave. They had left, the infant perched on his usual spot on Banda's shoulder, the physical embodiment of a shoulder demon. Or so Venoch liked to think.
The walk home led them past this area, and it wasn't long before Banda recognized the place. On a whim, he changed directions and, ignoring complaints from Ven, started for Noyama's house--passing Twila on the way, in fact.
It was long before house, clothesline, and girl came into view. Grinning faintly, Banda slowed his pace and raised a hand in greeting, ignoring an annoyed his from his shoulder. "Noya? Hi, um...Need any help with that?"
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Posted: Sat Oct 01, 2005 4:28 pm
The focus she'd had on the shirt had been intense for such a simple task. That which was reading the white writing. She could understand only 'me', and frowned at that. Kilah had been right. She should know how to do these things!
In the midst of arguing with herself over what to do about her daughters recent anger issues she was positive sparked from the fact she hardly qualified as a 'good' mother figure, a voice broke her thoughts and brought her back to the present. "Oh, hel-" And she froze, staring at him for a few seconds. "-lo."
The pause was short, but long enough for her to think. Kilah didn't talk to her, she only talked with Lucky. Still, Kilah was loud, and it wasn't uncommon for everyone in the house to hear everything she said. Suddenly aggravated, the demons ears lowered again, in a more fierce way than they had last time.
"No," she answered angrily, an odd tone for her. Sharply, she turned back to her task. In the surprise of Banda alone being here, Venoch went completely unnoticed for now. Not that Noyama was a very observant one...
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Posted: Sat Oct 01, 2005 4:43 pm
"Oh." Banda's smile faltered, hand closing and sinking back to his side. Her tone had gone unnoticed--he couldn't hear her, after all--but her expression was enough to hint at it. Briefly he debated simply leaving. She didn't seem to happy to see him, after all. Ah well, there went that hope...
However, Venoch had something else in mind. This was somewhere new and, bitchy woman or not, he intended to explore it. The young SM crouched on Banda's shoulder, eyeing the distance to the ground, then ran down his caretaker's back, talon-like claws reopening holes they had already torn in the fabric before he jumped to the ground and started away. Every few days Banda would sew them up again, but his beloved coat still looked the worse for wear.
Banda's back arched slightly in an attempt to avoid the claws and once Ven was on the ground he shot the infant a frown, while the demon ignored. Sighing, he decided he might as well make the best of the situation and tried again, leaving the infant to his explorations and waking towards Noya. "You sure? Everything'd be hung up faster, and the.. Maybe we could talk? Or something..?"
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Posted: Sat Oct 01, 2005 4:52 pm
Noyama leered at him. "Maybe you should go fall off the face of the Earth, since you're so good at it," the teenager muttered in the island language. It hardly seemed nesscary, since she could just as easily say it and English and he wouldn't hear it. It was in times of anger she reverted to her native tounge.
"No, no help," she repeated, a hint of warning in her voice. It wouldn't have any effect what so ever, but... Well, quite frankly she was just pissed off. "What talk about?" It was more of a hiss than a question.
As rare as her temper once, when it finally came out, it seemed vicious enough to rival Kilah's every day attitude.
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Posted: Sat Oct 01, 2005 5:05 pm
By now Banda was very confused, and more than a little hurt. Had he done something wrong? Noya had said something he couldn't understand, even if he had been able to hear it, and what followed was rather...cold, and angry, and not at all like the Noyama he remembered.
"I-i dunno," he admitted, eyes falling to the ground. Out of habit, he lifted his hand to rub the back of his neck, confusion getting the better of his words--it was hard to pronounce anything correctly when you couldn't hear yourself and were too busy worrying to pay attention. "Jus' mizzed ya, an' was aroun', so I.. Dunno, though' I'd drop by an' say hi, an', ah... I'm sorry for both'rin' ya.."
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Posted: Sat Oct 01, 2005 5:14 pm
When his words stopped...being real words, the guilt hit her harder than she'd expected considering being furious three seconds ago. People must have had to struggle to understand her like that--no wonder Kilah was always so mad at her! There was silence for a while, Noyama not being at all productive clutching the same shirt the entire time and staring at the ground.
"Am sorry," she apologized after most of the awkwardness had passed, finally hanging the shirt up. Kicking the basket to the side, she turned her attention to only him, frowning. "Go away for long time! Not okay! Understand like woman Kilah speak of, but not okay, Banda! Lyrus worry! Noyama worry!"
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Posted: Sat Oct 01, 2005 5:43 pm
It was by sheer luck that Banda noticed her apology, having glanced up to search for Ven so that they might leave and stop bothering her, and happening to catch the movement out of the corner of his eye. He relaxed a bit, managing a faint smile once more, though her frown left him uneasy. However, her words cleared things up a bit. "Oh..."
He took a moment to rerun her words through his head, then nodded slightly in agreement, sighing. "I apologize, I hadn't meant for any of it to happen... Moo just kicked me out, and, um, I didn't want to bother anyone by asking for help, so I've been busy trying to find a job and somewhere to stay and... Wait, what woman?" He quirked a brow, confused. He liked someone?
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Posted: Sat Oct 01, 2005 5:59 pm
She relaxed, sighing in relief. It was only natural to expect an arguement. It hardly seemed (to her) like something Banda would protest against, but she'd been prepared for it anyway. "Not okay, Banda. Ask for help important! Friends help friends! For helping!"
When he appeared to be confused, her eyes narrowed and searched his face for any sign he was lying. Either she wasn't good at finding such things, or he was being honest. Whichever it was, she seemed satisfied he really didn't know. "Am wrong? No person? Banda with person, yes?" Person was easier to say than woman. That just...annoyed her...
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Posted: Sat Oct 01, 2005 6:16 pm
Nodding slightly, he managed a faint smile, but let his eyes wander back towards the ground. "I just... didn't want to get in the way." People had their own lives and, as well as he knew his friends would have taken him in without question, he didn't want to interrupt that. If he hadn't had such good luck with the job and the apartment, however, he would have eventually sought someone out.
Now came the confusing bit. He glanced back up, thinking. He was with someone? When had he said...Oh. Jo. Lyrus must have mentioned her to Kilah or someone, and.. Yeah, that made more sense. "Well, no. I met up with an old friend of mine, and now I'm renting the apartment behind her house. We're not together or anything. She, uh..." To spill, or not to spill? "...She came home drunk from a part one night, and came into the wrong building. Ended up at my house and I left her stay the night, just to be sure she didn't get sick or hurt herself or anything, and the next morning she left and I haven't seen her since. So, no, I'm not with anyone."
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Posted: Sat Oct 01, 2005 6:23 pm
Noyama blinked once before staring at him warningly. The 'If you're lying, I'll claw your eyes out' kind of stare. It was surprising she could pull that look off, but she got by. Her expression softened and she nodded her head, believeing every word.
Turning back to the clothesline, she sighed heavily in relief. Her eyes flickered to the basket, and suddenly she found the chore annoying. So...'screw it', as Kilah would say. Turning toward the house, she motioned for Banda to follow her. There were many questions, but they could wait...
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Posted: Sat Oct 01, 2005 6:33 pm
Her stared was unnerving. It was the kind of stare Banda would associated with Noharu, not her sister. He audibly sighed in relief when it faded, smiling, though it faltered somewhat when she turned away. Hoping she hadn't said anything he should have 'heard', he merely nodded in reply to the gesture, but hesitated. Should he leave Venoch? He wasn't sure where the infant had gone...But he was fairly sure the demon could take care of himself. A quick glance around, and he followed behind Noya for the house. At least she wasn't mad anymore...
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Posted: Sat Oct 01, 2005 6:46 pm
Unlike the first room which lacked any, the kitchen had a nice amount of funiture. It was also the most evolved room in the house. Most of the time, Noyama stayed out of it. The stove, fridge, and the sink against the wall tended to scare her.
A table was in the center of the room, and took up the majority of it. Three chairs lined each side, and two on each end. She pointed for him to sit down and opened the cabinet over the sink. It was painfully obvious how much she hated this part of the house--but the other rooms lacked chairs, and supposedly chairs were good.
"Banda want tea?" The girl asked, making sure to look over her shoulder enough so he could read her lips when she spoke.
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Posted: Sat Oct 01, 2005 6:58 pm
Banda, on the other hand, was somewhat reassured simply by the fact that the house had a kitchen at all. He wouldn't have been at all surprised if it hadn't, but it made the whole situation seem somewhat more real when even Noyama had a fridge.
With her gesture, he nodded and sunk down onto one of the chairs, gaze following her over towards the sink. At the offer he automatically shook his head, but quickly reconsidered, nodding once more and murmuring a reply. "If it's not too much trouble, thanks.." He was tempted to ask if she wanted his help, but decided against it after reflecting back to her reaction to the laundry question, and settled for waiting silently in his chair, pulling his hat off and absently wringing it in his hands.
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Posted: Sat Oct 01, 2005 7:08 pm
Noyama nodded and hummed to herself and gathered the drinks. Setting the cup down infront of him, she giggled and gestured with her now free hand toward his hat. "Kilah does that." It must be a thing with hats.
Personally, she hated the things. They hurt her ears. Sitting down--for once in a chair, not on the floor--she shifted awkwardly. These things were so uncomfortable! Why others prefered them she'd never know. "So, um... Kitty at house tell about other person. Not like you? Why not like Banda?"
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