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 Posted: Fri Oct 23, 2009 11:04 pm
Spirit high and smile wide, Ursula Johnson strutted into the shopping district as if she owned the place.
It was uncommon for the orange haired secretary to go out with the intent to actually finance a large shopping spree, but today was a special day. Today, not only was she going to be shopping for herself, but she was determined to assist her shopping-challenged fellow lieutenant with his needs.
His prom shopping.
Suppressing the urge to let out a little squeal of excitement (for shopping for dances is always an enjoyable experience), she turned and paused to allow for her partner to catch up.
"I'm telling you, this is going to be one of the happiest moments in your life, Little Dreads," she explained for the fifteenth or so time, "So you have to look your best! Do you actually own a tie of any sort - no, wait, I don't want to know. Do you have any dress shoes at all? Decent undershirts? Socks?"
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Posted: Sat Oct 24, 2009 12:05 am
In stark contrast, the tall teenager seemed to somehow become smaller and shadowed by Ursula's sheer enthusiasm. The way he was dressed was probably infuriating enough for the other lieutenant to look at - his jeans were baggy and threadbare and his shirt was so overtly 'metal' as to look like a parody of itself. Ursula had exemplified to him how to swipe and shoplift whenever possible, so it was odd to see her actually spending her money on anything. The hall pass was worth it, he had to keep telling himself, less certain every time, Just an afternoon of this and my debts are paid in full.
And then, on top of her usual shopping spree, she had got it into her head to take him prom shopping.
"Nah, but I've got boots," he said knowingly, "and a black jacket. I wear them pretty often. But really, I wasn't planning to go."
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Posted: Sat Oct 24, 2009 12:18 am
"Boots." she reiterated, giving him quite the are you shitting me look. Narrow eyes peered at him over the faux glasses still resting on the bridge of her nose, and her arm extended itself out to take gentle hold of the edge of his shirt, as if she were inspecting it.
Originally, the trip had been planned for just picking up a few items here and there that she'd been putting off for some time. After hearing about the upcoming prom by a gaggle of students in the hall, however, the plans were quick to change. Ursula herself had intentions to go to the students' prom (chaperons were definitely needed, and she would insist if told otherwise), and the idea of any lieutenant not attending the prom was simply appalling. Well, the idea of anyone aside from the twits and geeks not attending prom was a travesty. And thus, opening her most generous heart, Ursula had decided to take it upon herself to prepare young Khaldon for what could possibly be the best evening of his life.
"I swear to God, Khaldun, if this jacket you're talking about is that worn out red and black one, I may just stand here and scream. You know what, no, I don't care. You're getting a new one."
Twirling on her heels, she disappeared into the first store, fully expecting the student to follow after.
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Posted: Sat Oct 24, 2009 12:57 am
"Oh, yeah, boots. Maybe a watch on each, and a skull. They're, what's the word, dark? Edgy? Suave? You must know how to classify shoes better than I do." He returned her look with a the look on your face made it all worth it one in return. His eyes followed her hand, and after a few seconds he had to comment. "In my defense, it was only ten bucks - and I didn't even pay for it."
Khaldun didn't have a date for the prom. Khaldun didn't have a date for any day of the year. And rather than recognize the fact, he'd expected to spend whatever day prom was going to be haunting the place as Hematite instead. He had a few scores to settle and there really was no better way to go about it than slowly and deliberately removing a person's star seed. Ursula seemed determined to change this. How to get it through to her that he had no one to go with without explicitly stating it?
"Hey! Worn!?" Looking incredulous, he stopped as she walked into the first store. Khaldun was actually quite taken with his Negaverse uniform, even if he didn't have many opportunities to show it. The other lieutenant certainly wasn't waiting up for him, so he'd have to finish defending his uniform where she could hear it. It took him a few seconds before he could force himself to walk through the door and catch up with her. "That jacket's been through a lot! Well, some! Especially lately!"
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Posted: Sat Oct 24, 2009 1:25 am
Shaking her head, Hillworth's secretary refused to respond to the idea of anything Khaldun currently owning as being 'suave' in any sense of the word. It was a wonder how he even managed to match, for god's sake.
She was busy browsing through various jackets as he walked through the store's entrance. With even the store workers in professional attire, the young Khaldun was dreadfully out of place and stuck out like a sore thumb.
"Yes, worn." came the echo as the shorter woman pulled out a black jacket, then moved to press it against his chest, silently attempting to guess his size. After a few moments of staring, she ordered, "Try this on over your shirt."
Khaldun wasn't an unattractive boy by any means, once the chains, skulls, and piercings were removed. He had a charm about him that Ursula was determined to bring out through a new outfit. Or at least, that's what she told herself; it may as well have been just another excuse for shopping.
"I know it has," she continued, slightly amused by his defensive stand on his jacket, "And do you think the man who is responsible for you having that jacket will be thrilled with the idea of you wearing it to prom?"
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Posted: Sat Oct 24, 2009 2:17 am
The boy darted and jangled into the store, nearly collided with a sharply-dressed and sharp-faced sales rep, and without a word weaved his way into the rows of jackets searching out the orange-haired Ursula. He shoved his hands into his pockets and tried to make himself look as bored as possible.
Khaldun looked at the proffered jacket like it was made out of electric eels. But Ursula wasn't going to take no for an answer, and Khaldun had agreed to do this... in a way. He shrugged his shoulders a few times until he got his arms through the sleeves. It might have looked decent if not for the dreads; it only served to make him look ridiculous. Maybe Ursula would see it differently. He certainly felt out of place in formal wear. Darkness crossed his features, making them appear more forced into humor - Khaldun would be damned before Killingworth dictated his civilian life as well. "Hah. He would, actually, if I looked busy enough. I dunno, can you even imagine him thinking about anything that isn't work? I doubt he's ever been to a prom in his life. There's not enough running miles and not enough harvesting stars... uh. Y'know."
Suddenly he was starting to see the appeal of going.
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Posted: Sat Oct 24, 2009 2:47 am
She pursed her lips as she took a step back, her head tilting as she studied the jacket on the younger boy. Hmmm. Surprisingly not terrible, but still...
Moving over towards the table covered with stacks of shirts, she gently began thumbing through their tags, searching for sizes and at the same time studying prices.
At the mention of his last comment, she began to laugh. Pulling a black shirt from among a stack, she returned back to where he was standing, shoving it into his hands as the grin was still evident on her face.
"His dedication to his job is very admirable," she admitted, "but I'm sure the man does something for downtime. It would be a crime if he didn't own a suit; I'm sure he'd look just as dashing in one as he does in his uniform."
She sighed for a moment, the idea of him attending the dance as a chaperon both appealing and, well, far-fetched. It was a shame.
Pointing to the dressing room, she nodded her head in Khaldun's direction. "Go. I'm not going to buy that shirt until I see that it fits. You don't have to wear the jacket the entire time, but you'll need to look classy before you actually start to... you know, dance and whatever."
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Posted: Sat Oct 24, 2009 3:52 am
Khaldun held the black shirt out at arm's length to look it over suspiciously. "I don't know if he knows downtime any better than sleeping - I ended up running into him at half past two in the morning outside the gym a while back and had to explain what I was doing there empty-handed. I didn't think he would seriously be out there, but he was. Just my luck."
"'Dashing'," he repeated in a mocking tone, followed by a snort. The shirt seemed to have passed his inspections. He wasn't about to do anything cooperative unless explicitly told to, though, and simply stood there until Ursula made it clear he had to try it on. "I'm not sure what would be more creepy, if he's got the romantic instincts of a boulder or if he's secretly writing love poems to you during his 'downtime'."
"I can mosh. They do that at prom, right?" It was all he could do to keep a straight face as he said it. Khaldun disappeared into the dressing room area, and returned about five minutes later. This time he had the black button-up underneath the jacket, and his t-shirt slung over one arm. All Ursula had to do was ignore his jeans and Khaldun might well have looked decent. Better than normal, at any rate. He shifted from foot to food uncomfortably. There was no reason anyone from school (besides Ursula) would be in this store to see him this way, but even the looks from the store workers were making him anxious and embarrassed. "Quick, tell me I can take this off now."
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Posted: Sat Oct 24, 2009 4:30 am
One eyebrow rose and she came close to asking why in the hell he was wandering around the gym that early in the morning anyhow. Oh, right. Lieutenant in the Negaverse, all that jumble.
It was hard to believe sometimes that this lanky kid was a fellow peer in the Negaverse, and not just some degenerate student. It was a wonder. ******** wonder.
Her cheeks tinged pink at his comment's implication, silly or not, and she pointed once more to the dressing room. "GO."
As he made his way in to change, she took the time to collect herself, her face returning to its normal pale shade. She finally accepted the comment for the joke it was, and shook her head.
"Poetry would be rather... awkward, I'd imagine. What, roses are red, violets are blue, join me at prom or it's probation for you?"
Musing, she pondered further over the idea, though, of the General-King attending the joint-schools prom. "It would be a rather entertaining evening, though, if he were to be there. After all, if all three schools are in attendance, I imagine a great deal of our adversaries will be there in civilian form. Hm."
She intentionally ignored his comment about moshing and decided to let him figure out the dancing part on his own. After going through the trouble of outfit shopping (which she loved doing anyways, of course), she wasn't going to scare him off by explaining the joy of slow dancing and awkward hand placing.
As he walked out, she gave a small clap, very satisfied with the results she was seeing.
"Very handsome, Khaldun, I must say." she complimented him, motioning for him to turn a circle so she could get a better view all the while ignoring his plea to escape back into the dressing room. "Please tell me, by the way, that you have any sort of dress slacks in that closet of yours?"
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Posted: Sat Oct 24, 2009 5:15 am
"So tell him that next time you're bringing him a soy latte or whatever," he shrugged, completely missing the point. There were some things he liked about Ursula, and others that made him feel like deeper inspection would drive him as mad as a page straight out of the Necronomicon. He opted to take the non-romantic direction of advice. "It'd be a hell of a lot easier to just go after 'stars' off random people and maybe catch one or two adversaries unaware in the process. Means no fighting and no injuries. I don't need more scars, I'll tell you that much."
It wasn't a proud pirouette as much as a slow, sad shuffle in a circle with hunched shoulders and downcast eyes. Maybe Ursula would pick up on his pain if he got obvious enough. The things he did to get out of detention! To her question, he merely raised his eyebrows. "I told you, I've got an outfit I go out on the town with already. If it's not part of that I've never needed it. What is so great about this prom thing, anyway?"
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Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2009 1:42 am
"I just might."
The idea was beginning to sound more appealing the longer her thoughts dwelled on it. "Nobody would expect it. Minimal adults, spike a few punches, lock the doors... it's all over from there. It would alert the media though, unless we could find some way to cover it up. Hm."
Her thoughts drifted off for a few silent moments, thoughts of the prom moving more towards her lack of a date than anything else. Would Charonite be up for the idea of chaperon? How would she even begin to approach him on such a topic, ugh, how embarrassing. Plans were no problem, but hey, want to go together since I don't have a date despite being the hottest chick this side of the Negaverse?
She returned to reality as she noticed the irritated student still staring at her, and that's when the idea began to form slowly in her head.
"You're not wearing that outfit, Khaldun." came the response, a sternness to her voice. "We're just going to have to get you some pants, as well some shoes. Well, okay, maybe you can just use your boots."
She wasn't MADE of money, after all.
Debating her way to approach her next topic, Nealite latched on to his last question. What was so great about going to prom?
"I'm surprised you of all guys haven't figured that one out yet," she commented, feigning surprise, "I mean, after all, there's no better time to get laid than after a night out at Prom! You do like sex dont you, Khaldun?"
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Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2009 7:14 pm
"A quarantine?" he suggested idly, fiddling with the jacket sleeves. Anything that meant he didn't have to fight - he was already preoccupied with tracking down this Sailor Tisiphone before the week was out. He lowered the volume of his voice in a conspiratorial fashion. "I think everyone wants to believe there's a mystery pandemic on the loose anyhow. People without their, uh, star, I think that's what I've heard is the 'scientific explanation' for what kills them. What a tragedy it'd be if it struck one of the other schools, right?"
"You know," he thought aloud, jokingly, as Ursula lapsed into silence, "if they made this the dreaded detention at Hillworth, even I'd probably become a straight-A student."
Khaldun turned a furious shade of red that was quartered by pale scar lines, and bared his teeth in a mockery of a good-humored grin. He even dared to use her first name. "Is the pope Catholic, Ursula? Did you forget who you were talking to here? Y'know, I don't think I ever told you why I have dreadlocks - I've got a dread for every girl I've slept with. No lie! So with all this generosity you may just help to score me another dread on prom night with my date. That I've, uh, got to find. Now that I'm going."
He sounded slightly flustered, but seemed to be talking to Nealite as though she were a fellow bearer of Y chromosome that he was trying to impress with his womanizing record.
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Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2009 7:40 pm
"Sickness could work, but it's a stretch," she acknowledged, her foot tapping softly on the carpet. "For something to work that fast, though, in a gymnasium would probably call for some major drama with the media though."
Ignoring his comment about shopping detention, she moved forward and linked her arm around his, resting her head against his soon to be newly owned jacket. Letting out a dramatic sigh, she faked a pout, hugging onto his arm. "And here I thought you wore them in honor of your role model, Little Dreads. You little heartbreaker you."
Reaching up to give one of his many dreads a playful tug, she then moved back to point to the dressing room, releasing him from his awkward cloth imprisonment. She knew of Khaldun's advances, as well as his lack of success. It pleased her to hear him accept the fact he was going, which was the perfect lead-in she needed.
"Speaking of going, there's a small something I need you to do for me, in exchange for the clothing," she casually tossed out, one hand flipping back her hair as the other rested at her side, "...and a date. A really hot date."
There. If that didn't do the convincing, she wasn't sure it was ever going to work.
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Posted: Mon Oct 26, 2009 10:16 am
"Oh ******** no!" That was loud enough to turn a few high-class heads in the store. Khaldun didn't even notice, too caught up in disgust at the idea. He'd always had dreadlocks - he'd had them before he even met Killingworth. "I've had my hair like this longer than this year. And the day that I call him my role model, please, just kill me. Put me out of my misery. I declare myself unfit to live like that."
Without another word he hurried into the dressing room, ecstatic to peel off the fancy dress clothes. He returned to her with far more confidence and far less borrowed sophistication, and the jacket and shirt jumbled together in his hands. Wrinkles? Never heard of them!
"Finally, the catch," he began, eying the other lieutenant. There was no such thing as altruism, and no reason to expect it from another Negaverse lieutenant of all people. Ursula cut him off to add an extra incentive, which made Khaldun change his tune. "But keep talking. I'll bite. What's the favor?"
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Posted: Mon Oct 26, 2009 10:29 am
She let out an exasperated sigh as she watched him return with the clothes wadded up in his arms. Really, the child was what, seventeen now? Shouldn't he have some respect for nice possessions?
Taking the clothes from him, she began to unwad and fold them as she spoke, attempting to keep her tone as casual and nonchalant as possible.
"Just a little thing, really. Mmm, I need you to speak to your PE teacher and convince him how good an idea this Prom thing is."
The jacket was straightened out now and back on its hanger, and nimble fingers worked on folding the shirt. "And, while you're at it, you'll need to mention how Miss Johnson is in need for an escort, as she'll also be attending as a chaperon."
Her cheeks were slightly flushing by this point, and she refused to look directly at the younger lieutenant. Ursula herself knew approaching Charonite herself would be far too awkward, despite the fact the idea was good and would probably gain her another figurative gold star, but no respectable lady should be the one inquiring for a date. No, no, that was tacky and Ursula refused to look that desperate.
Finished with the shirt, she turned back towards him and finally met his gaze.
"Well?"
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