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 Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2007 1:22 pm
"I'm sure it will be,"Said Celia sounding quite content for the moment. She was really enjoying herself.
Normally, large crowds of people made her uncomfortable, but not so much at the moment. She was having too much fun to really pay any attention to the other people in the room, except for the occasional joke someone would say loud eneough that the whole bar could hear, resulting in everyone laughing.
After they had ordered, Celia tilted her head a little, and then asked "Hey Baran, what's your family like? I mean, you told me about your sister who runs the weapons shop, but....What's the rest of your family like?" She always wondered what it would be like to have siblings.
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Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2007 9:57 pm
"Oh, um," Baran placed the tip of his fork in his mouth while he thought about her question. "Well, there's me and my sister and our parents. My sister, Taika, and I were both raised to eventually take over our parents' shop. She's much more interested in that sort of thing than I am, though. I used to bribe her into taking my shifts when we were younger so I could go to parties or out with my friends. My parents weren't too happy about that." He laughed lightly, now tapping his fork lightly on the edge of the table as he continued.
"She's pretty cool, for a little sister. I think she only ratted me out a few times. My parents aren't bad, either. The shop's from my mom's side of the family, so she's more strict about it. I know she was the one who gave it the overhaul; before it sold mostly older artifacts and collector's trinkets-- old pictures and pieces of jewelry and stuff like that. My dad is also from Luwa; his side of the family are in the fishing business. He's... really hardworking." Baran shrugged. "Not that I don't like him or anything. I just don't know him that well. He has to help my grandparents and uncle with their work as well as work for our shop. I think they're both still hoping that I'll come back to work for them someday."
He paused, not sure what else Celia would like to hear and whether or not he should give more detail or less. He had heard that she didn't know anything about her own family and, while he thought it would be rude to inquire, Baran really wanted to ask about that.
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Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2007 11:33 pm
"It sounds nice to have a family like that,"She said, smiling a lot. She sat for a moment, examining Baran's expression, and reading it very accurately.
"I can't remember my real family, they're probably dead....I was found floating in a river,"She said, shrugging like it was something people heard about regularly.
"My foster parents were very nice people. Neither of them worked anymore, they were retired....but my dad used to fix things all the time all over the place. Everyone in the village knew if something broke, he was probably able to fix it. He only fell off the roof once, but that wasn't much of a problem. My mom liked to cook, a lot. She taught me how to make a lot of what I know how to....She's the one who got me into reading. She used to read me fairy tales, and tell me stories about the old kings and queens of Draqueen. Of course....I think she made half of them up just to please me,"Celia said, with a bit of a laugh.
"They were killed when our village was attacked..."Celia was keeping the details a little low, but it was hard to tell if it was intentional or not, "I can't even begin to think what they'd say if they found out I was a Dragon Knight now...Mom would probably make Kahaku a swetter."
There was a small cough from the rafters, kind of like a cat sneezing. Obviously, Kahaku wasn't too into the idea of wearing a swetter.
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Posted: Tue May 15, 2007 3:27 pm
Kamikits ((Chibi, your posts really tend to creep me out. heart )) "Ch...children?" Ana asked, eyes widening slightly. "Oh, yes... I never had any brothers or sister but I used to watch my younger cousins." She smiled, relaxing slightly for the first time that night. "Both my parents had siblings with children younger than me. I spent a lot of time with them. I remember this one time when my uncle and his wife went on a business trip out of town and I was supposed to watch their three kids for six days..." Ana's voice trailed off as she thought back to the time before she worked at the Dragon Castle.
"Oh, wow," one of her hands flew to her mouth as she turned a deep shade of red. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to go babbling on like that..."((*snerk* It's all Empress, she's like that. ;D She's really fun.)) "Oh, no. I like listening to you talk, Ana. It's interesting to hear your experiences," Liozu said calmly, inwardly smirking. Ah, sweet Ana. Making it so easy to give reassurance and encouragement to confide in Empress. On top of that...
"That's really nice, by the way. I have several sisters, but I thought they were mostly a pain. Though now... children don't seem like such a bad idea, in the future, sometime." Liozu shrugged, and inwardly, she laughed long and loud at Liozu's look of fury and incredulous snarl as she revealed how much she'd picked up of his past.
"So, did those six days go all right?" While Empress might not exactly be interested in if they went good or bad, Ana's thoughts on the event and whatnot was important. Ana, gentle little flower that she was, to be watered and cared for, was important.
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Posted: Wed May 16, 2007 10:57 am
((Whoo back. >>; ))
Baran grinned in spite of himself at the thought of one of the elemental duel dragons wearing a hand-knitted sweater like a lapdog.
"Heh. That would be pretty amusing. You think you'd actually be able to get it on Kahaku?" Baran asked, tactfully steering the conversation onto a lighter topic. Their food arrived and he stopped playing with his fork in favor of loading it with pasta and putting it in his mouth instead.
"They went pretty well," Ana nodded, heart pounding nervously. "I... I mean, they're sweet kids, so I didn't really have to do much work. It was mostly just cooking and making sure they got to school and back home."
She gave a tentative smile followed by a shy giggle. "I never would have thought you'd be so interested in children," Ana said. "Oh! Not... not that I know much about you. I mean, I haven't been trying to figure out your past or anything creepy... Um... Not that I wouldn't like to hear about it. I just meant that I haven't been, you know, stalking you or anything like that."
Oh, great, she moaned silently, that was real smooth. I should just fall down right in the middle of the path. Maybe that will get my foot out of my mouth.
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Posted: Fri May 18, 2007 1:00 pm
A brief smirk twisted over Liozu's lips; humouros and bordering on soft, but nothing like Liozu's usual cheerful smiles, before he chuckled and shook his head.
"My life is really nothing special, Ana... There was a lot of people around, all the time." Liozu shrugged and raised an eyebrow as he titled his head down at the girl.
"Though with that many women in the house, I learned to listen to them, and like it," he grinned and waved a hand down the street where a green area could be seen parting the houses. "So don't worry about it, Ana. Even if you had tried to find out about my past, I wouldn't have found you a stalker. And there's the park. Hard to see in this light, but..." It was a small park, a perfectly groomed little diamond of green in the city, with swings and a plot of sand for children to play in.
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Posted: Sat May 19, 2007 3:05 am
Ana nodded, peering forward at the park ahead. "Oh," she suddenly breathed, "I've been here once before, several years ago." She continued to look around as they grew closer, becoming more nervous as she realized she really didn't know what Liozu had in mind. She had been in a relationship a couple times in the past, but they were tame to the point of boredom; half the time she hadn't remembered she was involved in them at all.
This, however, promised to be different, and Ana couldn't tell if she was excited or very, very afraid.
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Posted: Sat May 19, 2007 4:53 am
"You have? It's a pretty place, isn't it?" Liozu's voice was soft, and for a moment it seemed as if he was talking about something else entirely. Empress certainly was. Ana was perfect, even as shy as she was, like that little park. Quaint and sweet, there didn't seem to be any immediate possibility for changing it, but looking beyond that and there was all sorts of ways to twist and change the park into complete chaos, but with its own beautiful order.
"Beat you to the swings, Ana," Liozu smirked, playful and challenging, before he started to run; it wasn't an all-out tilt, if only to give Ana a chance to react and get her own legs in gear. Empress didn't mind playing a bit of soft at the beginning stages. A good base was everything after all. It also gave her a chance to find out how the other person would react, in this "pure" state. It was fun, on all its own, even if she might have a less than beneficial reason for it.
((I think I'm having way too fun with Empress. Somebody stop me. xD))
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Posted: Sun May 20, 2007 7:10 pm
"She could probably have guilted him into it,"she said, with a little laugh. She didn't mind talking about it so much, but it left her with an oddly emptied feeling.
Celia was also glad when the food came; any kind of topic change was nice. She neatly wrapped a little of the pasta on her fork and tried it, eyes lighting up immediately. "This is fantastic!"She said, slightly in shock of how good it really was.
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Posted: Sun May 20, 2007 10:50 pm
Baran nodded, swallowed, then grinned back at Celia. "I'm glad you like it. They won some award for it a couple years back."
Glancing out the window again, he could see that the outside terrace was filling up quickly with many other couples, giving him a smug feeling that made the knowledge that he'd have to sneak past the guys on duty (less because they would rat him out and more because they might use that possibility as future blackmail if they ever wanted to get out of work) and slip in through the window to the HQ fade away into nothing.
The rest of their meal passed quietly, with a few lighthearted snatches of conversation. After he paid for their meal, they wandered down the streets of the city once more, orange lights from windows and a few streetlamps illuminating their way.
After giving a soft gasp, Ana hurried after him, her dress flipping slightly with the speed and light wind, flashing oblivious leg. She reached the swings a second after him, breathing harder than normal, with a flush on her cheeks that wasn't from nerves.
Dropping down onto one of the low swings, she crossed her legs at the ankle, her light skin shining brightly in the moonlight as one hand hitched her skirt up to her knee, the other still tightly clasping her sketchbook. Ana dipped her head slightly and leaned forward, chest moving with her fast breath and hair slipping in strands past her open mouth.
"I... I haven't done th-that in ages," she said, suddenly looking up at Liozu's face with an uncharactaristic daring that startled her into giggles.
((And I am all too happy to help you with the fun. XD; ))
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Posted: Mon May 21, 2007 8:11 am
Grinning brightly as he sat down on the swing beside the one Ana sat on, Liozu set it lightly into movement, enjoying Ana's sudden "brightness", so to speak. And she had nice legs. Laughing softly as Ana started to giggle, Liozu nodded.
"Me neither. A bit of impulse can give startling, if enjoyable, results sometimes, can't they?" Liozu smiled lopsidedly and leaned forward, stretching out a hand to hook Ana's slipping hair behind an ear.
"I like how it makes you look, you know." Liozu paused for half a beat, then quickly changed subject as to not have Ana hanging herself up too much (at the moment, at least) on the compliment. "Do you see anything you want to draw?" Liozu asked as he indicated the sketchbook Ana was clutching.
She was pretty in this light, pale and bright. Of course, Ana was pretty in daylight, too, but the more subtler moonlight made Empress wonder how she'd look in other lights. Flushed and embarassed, but not closing up... if only from a nervous need to please. The idea made Empress mentally smirk and her insides... or mental insides, warm. For a second, there was a mass of dark hair cascading down Liozu's back, though in the next, the moonlight speared down and destroyed the illusion of something that could have been a woman.
There was only Liozu and Ana on the swings in the dark park.
((Mwahahah. XD; ))
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Posted: Mon May 21, 2007 5:16 pm
"No, wait!" After his long silence, Illusia had finally spoken up and was now standing, staring at Jett. he was shocked over what his friend had told them, of course, and however pressing security was he just had to know. "How... when did this happen? And why didn't you tell us?" Or me if no one else, was the following, unspoken question that the Secretary of the State asked with his eyes as he held onto the ruler's gaze.
((D= IT LIVES!!! .... XD Or not. XDD))
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Posted: Mon May 21, 2007 5:25 pm
Slowly, Jett looked away. "I was in a duel with the leader of the demonic army. She...cheated. I never brought it up because I never saw the effects of it. Until now."
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Posted: Mon May 21, 2007 5:34 pm
"And what were those?" The turquoise haired man inquired, imploring the other silently with his eyes as well.
((XDDD Small but.... OH SO LOVELY. WHAT on EARTH will Jett and Kushina SAY?! XD;;; ))
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Posted: Mon May 21, 2007 8:49 pm
((*applauds for the dramatic revival*))
Ana was silent for a moment, looking down at her feet as she swayed slightly on the wooden swing, her hands grasping the chains loosely.
"I... yes." She finally answered, her face hot. Just when she had finally relaxed a little, she was again just as nervous as ever. Had he really touched her face? ...Had he, in fact, given her a compliment about her looks?
Oh, she wanted to run back to the castle so badly and, under ordinary circumstances, might have, but there was something here she wanted even more.
She didn't speak again for several long seconds, very aware of Liozu's politely curious gaze on the side of her face. Maybe if he looked away, she'd be able to ask, but, no, she could't just tell him to do that. She could simply take back her words, tell him that there wasn't anything she wanted and that she'd been stupid to take along her book and it was really getting late and maybe they should head back now.
"Could," Ana breathed the word on a burning impulse, feeling tears start behind her eyes in her nervousness, "I, maybe, draw... you?"
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