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 Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2013 10:42 am
The young man, almost out of his teenage years, was enjoying the day just as he always had. He sometimes allowed himself to forget that he was a senshi and just return to doing the things he liked to do. Causing trouble, of course.
Right now, he was casually sauntering down the street, glancing over his shoulders every now and then to check if anyone had noted him. He had managed to get himself a few nice looking wallets so far, though he had not turned to pickpocketing in a long time and he thought his skills might be rusty.
So far, though, no one had noticed. He'd have to find a quiet corner to take the cash and dump the wallets, not really interested in taking identities or stealing credit cards. Really, he was just doing it for the hell of it.
He spotted a target up ahead that he could almost recognize and moved after it, smirking as he got closer and saw that it was Castille. He didn't announce himself yet, following behind her, sizing her up and seeing if she had anything he could take off her person first.
Of course, she had a good chance that he might give it back.
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Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2013 11:45 am
Castille had gotten out of school that day happy and perfectly fine. It was only after her friend shouted "I can't wait to give you your Valentines Day card!" that she began to panic. Valentines Day! She had completely forgotten about the holiday that was only a few days away. Her panic blossomed into creativity and excitement soon enough, and she decided that cookies would be the perfect Valentines Day gift. She practically ran home to grab her purse and an extra layer of clothing to keep away the cold before making her way downtown to the shopping district.
Shopping list in hand, she gazed at the windows decorated with all manners of pink, red and white, oblivious to the fact that she had a temporary stalker among the people on the street. Instead she hummed to herself merrily, thinking of chocolate chips, pink frosting and adorable boxes.
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Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2013 1:06 pm
Nathan knew in the back of his head that today was important for most folks, and he knew why, but he was choosing to ignore it. Love was complicated and he was not used to having to try and figure out these things normal people called 'emotions'. If he was better at it, he might have already realized he was in too deep all across the board, and he had more feelings than he was giving credit to. Or admitting. His civilian life was no less complicated than his powered up one, but at least as Nathan he could feign blissful ignorance.
Though, he couldn't deny being glad to see his friend. Maybe one of the few that actually classically defined the word, in that they got along and enjoyed the others company. At least, Nathan enjoyed it when he got to see her, and knew it had been too long since the last run in.
He moved toward her and tried to pickpocket her, but found he had no clear target to go for. Instead, he swooped in and took her list out of her hand, looking at it with interest.
"Doing some romance shopping, eh? Whose the lucky guy? Girl? Dog?" He grinned at her by way of saying hello, offering her the list back with a wiggle of his hand that just screamed he was going to pull it away when she went for it.
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Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2013 4:05 pm
Love was something Castille was unfamiliar with, though not for lack of trying. She chose to ignore that part of Valentines Day and instead focused on the love between friends and family.
Castille hand instinctively closed as the paper was torn from her grasp. She spun on the spot to find a familiar grin flashing back at her. It had been quite a while since she had run into Nathan, and she was happy to see that he had managed to stay out of jail. Her heart gave a momentary jump, though from surprise or nerves she couldn't tell, and decided not to think about.
Her cheeks colored as she grinned back, her gaze divided between the fluttering paper and the grin that she found contagious. "Dog! Really? Couldn't just leave it with the people?" She reached for the teasing paper, knowing that he would probably move it away from her. As much of a pain as he could be and often was, the blonde had no trouble admitting that she was glad that he appeared to talk to her. He was the most troublesome of her friends, and certainly the loudest, but their mutual connection through the adventures they had as senshi had put him in a different category in her mind.
"No lucky guy." she mumbled. "Just some friends that I am baking for."
Chancing a glance at Nate's face, she said "I see you have managed to stay out of trouble. Or at least out of prison."
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Posted: Sun Feb 17, 2013 12:59 am
"Where's the fun in that? I don't think you'd turn the same shade of red if I stuck with normal." He laughed, lifting the paper up and out of her reach, though not for long. He offered it to her with surprising lack of effort on her part.
It was probably because he was plotting to annoy her in a different way, and didn't want to use up all her patience in one fell swoop.
Or maybe he was just being nicer than he was known to be.
"Cops just can't catch me. Speaking of, let's keep walking. If you see any, just let me know." He grinned at her, moving to set a pace that seemed normal and definitely non-suspicious, whether she really wanted to be walking or not. "Why not just buy cookies or whatever, instead of wasting the time baking it?"
Sentimentality was still foreign to him, in its most common forms. In his way, though, even he knew how to cherish things that were important to him.
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Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2013 12:17 pm
Castille laughed, taking the paper back and tucking it into her purse before Nate decided to take it back again. Her looked turned puzzled as he walked away. She rolled her eyes, trotting a couple of steps to catch up with the longer legged boy.
"What have you done now? Robbed a bank, or beat up a guy?"
She was mostly kidding, though a small part of her wasn't entirely convinced that wasn't the case. "I like to make things for people. It's more personal you know? Because you took the time to make something instead of buying the same thingat the store."
They kept walking, Castille resisting the urge to look behind her to see if the police were chasing them yet. "Haven't you ever made anything for someone before?"
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Posted: Thu Feb 21, 2013 1:09 am
"Nah, not today. That was yesterday, and I never repeat myself in the same week." He pulled a couple of the wallets he had taken from his pocket and showed her, grinning broadly at his catches for the day, like a fisherman on a good run.
He supposed he understood the idea of putting in effort to make a gift for someone, but he also understood that most people would just as soon toss the thing out if it wasn't something useful to them, or exact to their tastes. There was a lot of risk of just wasting hours for no real pay off, which was not that big of a draw for the young Darrow.
But there were people he could almost see himself making the effort for, if he was forced to make a gift. Castille among them.
"I can't say I have," he said, shaking his head. He didn't have the best upbringing and anything he brought home to his disinterested mother was likely thrown out on the same day. So he stopped making things, and she continued not to notice. He was too old and jaded by the time he moved in with Tony to care about things like that.
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Posted: Thu Feb 21, 2013 10:11 pm
A sigh escaped from between her lips when he pulled out his bounty for the day. Pickpocketing was his crime of choice today. It used to be that she would look at this kind of behavior with stern disdain. Being a police officer's daughter, she was taught to obey the law. But for now, all she could do was shake her head and let a small smile slip. Maybe it was because she was a senshi, and regularly broke the law and often public property. Or maybe it was the fact that she wasn't little anymore, that the rules didn't seem as cut and dry as they used to be.
They passed by the bakery, and the smell of fresh bread wafted over them for a minute. Castille inhaled deeply, reveling in the lovely scent.
"I like to make things." she said, glancing back at the bakery, as if to catch one more bit of bread smell. "It's fun, and most of the time, it's way cheaper." She pulled her list out, taking note of the various ingredients.
"You see, I can spend thirty bucks on all of these ingredients, and make enough cookies to give to at least a dozen people. That's less than 3 bucks for each person!" She seemed pleased with herself, a self satisfied smile on her face.
"I bet your dad would like something you made." she ventured, looking up at the sky instead of the Darrow boy. "Or your mom?"
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Posted: Sat Feb 23, 2013 10:46 pm
Nathan grinned at her and offered her one of the wallets. It was a feminine one, red leather. He thought it looked like a match for her. Not that it was really his to give, or hers to take, but who was counting? All she needed to do was mark it or break it in a specific way, so it looked like she'd had it for a while, and no one would be any wiser and no one could match its identity.
Not that he thought anyone would really put up a federal case to try and find their wallet.
He noticed the way she was looking at the bakery and stopped, looking back at the baked goods on display. He grunted.
"Yeah, but you can't eat it until their done. But if you buy something from a store, like that bakery, you can eat it right now. You want something?" He wandered toward it, pocketing his illgotten gains once again. Good thing his pants had a lot of pockets. He didn't comment on his mom or dad, though he had a thoughtful look on his face. He'd abandoned his mom and searched down his dad, then refused to let himself bond with the elder Darrow. Male teenager logic.
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Posted: Sat Feb 23, 2013 11:33 pm
Castille looked to him, waving away the stolen wallet. Even if she were more lax against rules, the act of stealing wasn't one that she was going to participate in. She looked back at the bakery to find Nate was already walking towards it. he let her sweet tooth override her displeasure of her companion probably using stolen money to get a snack and followed him in.
"Have you never had raw cookie dough? It's probably one of the greatest things in the world." she said, walking into the bakery and inhaling deeply. It smelled of bread and cookies and....happiness. Utter happiness.
Staring at the rows of delectable treats, she almost didn't realize that Nate hadn't answered her question. In fact, he seemed to have completely ignored the question about his parents. Was it really that bad? She knew he and his father didn't get along; one afternoon with the two of them at the library was more than enough evidence of that. But come to think of it, he never mentioned his mother..
Avoiding his gaze while this development gave her a few thoughts, she said "So I'm surprised you don't have a date for Valentines Day. I was under the impression that you were popular with girls. Or at least that's how you present yourself." She flashed him a humorous grin before going back to deciding on whether to get a doughnut or a lemon scone.
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Posted: Sat Feb 23, 2013 11:52 pm
Nathan looked thoughtful.
He'd never made cookies before, so he'd never really had raw cookie dough as it was meant to be had (despite parents trying to say it was bad for kids). He had experience with others making cookies, but he just ignored it until they were actual cookies.
"I'll have to make an effort to have some cookie dough. I'm not the baking type, surprising, I know." He was making a slight confession, but they were friends for a while so it was fair.
He looked at her and frowned, offering the man at the counter some money.
"Who says I don't have a date?" he said with a cocky, teasing tone. He nodded his head at her. "Get whatever you want. My treat." He peered into the cases to get something for himself. Or a few somethings, as he liked baked goods just as much as the next person.
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Posted: Sat Feb 23, 2013 11:58 pm
"Your treat, or the guy down the street's treat?" her tone was mocking, and she meant to tease, not to accuse.
"You will certainly have to make some cookies dough and eat it sometime." she added, pointing to a lemon and blueberry scone with a smile toward the guy behind the counter. While he pulled out her choices, she eyed the rest of the rows, just in case something else caught her eye. Nothing jumped out at her, and she accepted the two scones with a thank you and a nod.
While she waited for Nate to get his things, she said "Well, I figured if you are out causing trouble, then you must not have a date. Most people don't break the law when they are getting ready to make a good impression on someone."
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Posted: Sun Feb 24, 2013 10:27 am
"Finder, keeper, right?" He shrugged, and reached into his pocket again, this time pulling out a wallet that was actually attached to a chain that was connected to his pants. His wallet, though it was woefully thin. He showed her. He'd taken the money out of it, and assumed that was enough to prove it was his.
He hadn't had time to put the ill gotten cash into his wallet yet.
"Maybe I was just out looking for my date," he said, walking with his bag of treats. He might even share one with his step mother, since Valentine's was a girl holiday, but he might not. He was not the best at being kind for no reason, or at least not without covering it with jerk-ish motives.
"After all, I did just take you to lunch, didn't I?" He grinned at her. Baked treats hardly counted as lunch, or a date, but he figured he mess with her a bit.
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Posted: Sun Feb 24, 2013 11:32 am
So he had actually used his own money huh? Castille was surprised. Though he was probably going to take the stuff out of the other ones, it was still a small gesture that showed he really was a...decent person every once in a while.
Or maybe the wallets were just too girl for him to use in public.
They resumed their walking, and Castille bit into her lemon scone first. For a moment she wasn't listening to Nate as the fantastic taste washed over her. It was wonderful! Like a lemon drop cookie, but flaky and more lemon-y....
Her mind squealed to a halt as he said "After all, I did just take you to lunch, didn't I?" She blinked a couple of times and looked at him. He did just buy her food didn't he? But...but...her brain shut off for a second. A date!?
But but but but.... "This d-doesn't count as a date." she said, heart much closer to her throat, but not quite in full on nerves mode. "There are rules for what counts and what doesn't." That's right. There was a set of requirements... I think.
Honestly, she had never been on a date, so those requirements were fuzzy to her.
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Posted: Sun Feb 24, 2013 12:04 pm
Decent was a bit of a stretch, but he had a little bit of good in him, when he wasn't obligated to. Sure, he served as a loyal senshi, but that was different. He was a warrior, and he believed in his power and used that to keep his fellow senshi alive. Or at the very least, beat up some enemies.
Plus he had a lot of fun with that.
He looked at her when she stopped short, not anticipating quite the total shut down that he got. He arched an eyebrow and grinned, bag of baked goods under one arm and the other hand resting on his hip almost challengingly.
"And what are the requirements? I've never been good with rules, so we'll just call it close enough, right? Who cares? You're having fun, right?" He could step it up, if she wasn't. He was always game to step things up.
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