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 Posted: Sat Jan 14, 2012 8:45 pm
At first, Evelyn was stuck on the feeling that Jessie might be hiding something. However, when he mentioned her father, all thoughts that Jessie could or ever would keep something from her and the rest of the Temple left her mind. Jessie was far too nice for that.
She hadn’t actually told her father about her going to learn to fight. Would he forbid it? At that her thoughts went to her grandmother. She could practically hear her say it. “Evelyn, don’t you pay attention to what your father says. Goodness knows I don’t.”
She nearly said this, but something stopped her. Probably intuition, letting her know that Jessie would NOT teach someone who was disobeying her parents. But she was nineteen already. Certainly she could make some choices on her own. And maybe, just maybe, if she could prove to her father she could defend herself, this whole silly bodyguard business would go away.“I’m allowed to learn, yes,” Evelyn said, not exactly lying.. She nearly sent a warning glance at everyone in her party, but reconsidered it. How were they to know what she and her father had discussed? Gilroy would definitely say something about it later, though. “And whatever game it is, it sounds wonderful. There’s a lesson later tonight, correct?”
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Posted: Sat Jan 14, 2012 8:58 pm
"Yes, there is. I'd understand if you're tired from your journey, but all the same, if you want to make a start, I'd be very happy to have you."
Oh dear. Jessie was very good at choosing his words, wasn't he? And even better at delivering them.
But the slight, twinkling innuendo darted away so gracefully it might not have even been there in the first place. Gloria glared at the side of his head, reminded heavily of when he first scooped the ball so deftly out of her net. "I know that Cressa has been reserving her lesson on drow magic for your return. She knows how interested you were on the topic."
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Posted: Sat Jan 14, 2012 9:15 pm
Evelyn did another pirouette at this excitedly, and Aloisius perked up, suddenly hoping to be the one guarding her at that point. Say the word magic and he’s automatically interested.“Oh, she did! I was so worried that I missed it!!!” Evelyn exclaimed, a smile forming over all of her features.
Gilroy had to try not to snort with laughter at his friend. Of course Evelyn would miss the innuendo in Jessie’s words. The poor girl wouldn’t recognize pervertedness if it grabbed her by the—okay, taking that metaphor too far.
Evelyn stole a side-glance at her friend, sensing something was up with him, but let it go and looked back at the pair of combaters in front of her. “So! Would either of you know where I can find for Lorika?”
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Posted: Sat Jan 14, 2012 9:48 pm
Jessie thought, glancing off to the right a moment as if recalling something. "Hmm, I believe she said she would be catching up on her meditation today, so I would try the second floor altar room first. She'll be overjoyed to see you. Are you going to be sorting out lodgings for your... friends?"
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Posted: Sat Jan 14, 2012 9:58 pm
Evelyn sniffed at the mention of her newfound “bodyguards,” and shook her head rapidly. “No,” she replied, attempting not to sound rude. “No, the only one who needs to stay here is Gilroy.” She lightly punched Gilroy on the shoulder emphasize her point. Gilroy grinned and mock moved to punch her back, which she easily deflected. It was clear to tell this was the only kind of physical fighting that she was capable of, and clear to see that Gilroy was playing.
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Posted: Sat Jan 14, 2012 10:42 pm
He smiled. "I see. Well, I suppose I'll see you later tonight, then. What time will we be starting, Gloria?"
"I dunno, depends how busy you are later," she shrugged.
"Let's say about five thirty, then."
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Posted: Sun Jan 15, 2012 12:33 am
“That sounds lovely. I can’t wait,” she said, her eyes sparkling. “Now, if you’ll excuse me,” she continued, curtsying, causing her hat to slip a little, which she quickly righted, “I should probably go see her. I have…well, things to attend to.” She offered an apologetic smile.
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Posted: Sun Jan 15, 2012 1:10 am
Jessie returned her smile and watched her go, followed by her large posse. Only when Andreas turned around and he saw the words "MY HAIR LOOKS STUPID" still emblazoned on his back did he recall the prank that Cressa had pulled, and he couldn't help but roll his eye at the memory. Hopefully now that he was back at the Temple, Cressa would lift her spell. Hmm, or maybe Jessie could talk to her about it...
"What the ******** was that?" said Gloria, as the group disappeared inside the Temple. Jessie turned to her, surprised at the tone of her voice. She had her arms folded and an odd, raised-eyebrows expression on her face, like she was waiting for a child to answer why they'd scribbled all over the walls.
"What do you mean?"
"You!" she clarified, "Her!"
He cocked his head uncertainly, and she sighed. "Uggh, don't pretend you don't know what you just did. You got some kind of crush or something?"
"What?" Jessie said, laughing. He didn't quite meet her eyes. "Oh, Gloria, don't be so childish. A crush?"
"Well, what else d'ya wanna call it? Dropping everything when she comes over, SHAAAMELESSLY flirting, and I just watched you makin' eyes after her all the way up the path. Definitely looks like a crush from where I'm standing."
"Don't be so ridiculous. Evelyn is a very delicate young lady. I'm right to be concerned for her wellbeing."
She tutted about him and smirked, expression turning playful. "Oh, yeah, well, why can't you be 'concerned for MY wellbeing' for a change?"
"You, Gloria, are perfectly capable of looking after yourself."
"But what if I'd prefer it if YOU looked after me?" she asked, moving a little closer. He didn't move away, but didn't reply either. She let out a long, slow exhale. "And what about Cressa?"
He looked at her blankly. "What about her?"
"Oh my god, you're IMPOSSIBLE. Fine, fine, fine, when you stop getting your feet wet in de Nile, let me know, and then maybe we can have a PROPER girl-to-girl chat."
"If you're asking how she'd feel about me potentially mating with other women, such as yourself, I'm not sure it would bother her," he said, as they both moved up towards the Temple. "Things... work differently for us. Where we come from, we are more... open about such things. Relationships."
She looked at him as if she wanted him to elaborate. He shook his head. "I do not feel like explaining, it would sound too strange to you. Nonetheless, if such a union were to become a real possibility for me, I would talk to her about it first."
"Okaaay, weird, but whatever," she said, clapping him on the shoulder, "I suppose being 'open' leaves room for a lot more fun anyway. I can definitely dig that."
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Posted: Sun Jan 15, 2012 2:14 am
Evelyn had the sinking feeling that her hat and hair weren’t serving the purpose that she wanted them to. As she walked to Lorika’s office, she heard comments about her escorts—the exact comments she thought her hat would detract from. Granted, she still heard many “Oh, my Overseer, look at her hat” exclamations—but they were quickly followed by “Forget the hat, who are THEY?”
She sighed and the chewed her bottom lip. Gilroy—who could tell she was getting stressed—placed a hand on her shoulder, and smiled at her. Her returning smile was a pitiful attempt.“Hey. It’s not so bad. Think of it like this—how many people get to have bodyguards?”“You mean how many people are dubbed incompetent at watching out for themselves?”“…okay, it does sound really bad when you say it like that.”“I’m sorry, Roy. I just…it’s just different. I’ll adjust.”Gilroy did feel bad for her, but he was also rather excited he got to see the Temple again—he had only seen it briefly once, and only from the outside. He realized it had been redone since then, and when he tried to recall what it looked like before, he was stuck grasping at straws.
He had to hand it to the Atlons. It had taken him a very long time to be as composed as they were and treat the Harper family like his employers and not his friends. He still wasn’t able to manage it around Evelyn. Although, if the rumors around the Harper home were true—and they usually were—the trio had been severely reprimanded by Claire Harper for their treatment of her granddaughter. Gilroy had also received his own instructions from Claire—“You make sure that she writes me often, understand, little Gilroy?” He figured he could at least manage that.
Evelyn and her crew made it up to the alter room, without too much incident or ado from any acolytes. Evelyn leaned against the archway, her hands lightly touching it, and coughed a little. “Lorika…can I talk to you?”
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Posted: Sun Jan 15, 2012 6:23 am
Lorika was kneeling with her head bowed before the altar, but she was not in deep meditation - only in thought. "Yes, who is it?" she said as Evelyn entreated upon her from the doorway. When she looked round, her eyes remained blank with lack of recognition for a few moments - then they widened. Well, Lorika wasn't likely to forget the face of her friend for long. "Evie?"
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Posted: Sun Jan 15, 2012 6:03 pm
 Not surprisingly, Xeiashi was busy reading again. Surprisingly, it was that levitation book that he had started earlier in the week. The countless attempts to levitate that many objects for the move had all failed in some way, requiring more reading, more understanding, and even more failed attempts. The current issue was the fact that he simply couldn't concentrate enough to keep a few dozen objects all levitating and under control, and simply levitating it all in a box had failed (or would, he wasn't about to test it with anything breakable). Even Xeiashi, with his love of all things paper-bound, was getting quite annoyed with the book and its unhelpfulness, and was taking a break and thinking aimless thoughts when he detected a familiar aura near the front of the Temple. 'Evelyn's back, that's ni...EVELYN'S BACK. ....AND SHE WAS GONE! SHE WAS GONE AND NOW SHE IS BACK AND I'M SICK OF THESE PEOPLE WHO CAN'T DISCUSS PROPERLY AND WHY AM I STILL SITTING HERE Typical, really. He hadn't noticed the departure, hadn't paid any attention to her absence, and only now was putting two and two together to figure out where his friend had gone. But now, finally noticing the fact, he calmly closed his book, placed it on the table...and bolted out of the library as fast as he possibly could, dodging around the occasional wanderer in his single-minded tracking. The aura itself had disappeared, but he had last noticed it somewhere upstairs, and the only place that could cause such a disappearance would be the Altar Room. Even in his excitement, the blue-haired kid knew that it would be better to avoid bursting in and shouting many things, so he changed his course to the numerous chairs in the room below. Impatiently, he began looking around for something interesting. The walls were boring, and he already knew most of the things there were to learn about the walls. The chairs were similarly boring, with only a cleanliness and durability enchantment worked in, as was common for the Order's furniture. He wandered to the windows and gazed out for a while, taking in the scenery, but the view reminded him of the time that he had been blasted into the roof by the Spellcasting Center explosion, all those months ago. That, in turn, reminded him of of Panda, and the events leading up to the explosion, and mostly of his complicity in the then-harmless fun...meanwhile, one of his hands had found the oak shard that he had started carrying shortly after the incident and was now fiddling with it. He focused on the insignificant-looking piece of wood, felt the lingering threads of the great Professor's magic locked within, and felt guilty again, for the first time in weeks (a new record, actually). Such was his thought that he forgot to sit down, and so a dead-to-the-world spellcasting student became an annoying, view-killing pillar in all but form.
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Posted: Sun Jan 15, 2012 9:47 pm
A few minutes later, Forte found herself getting bored, so she decided to go back to shore and take a rest. Upon returning to the shore she realized her little spot on the beach was missing something very vital. "Oh dear me," the musician said to herself. "It seems that in my haste to get in the water I neglected to get myself an umbrella...."Luckily for her, a couple who was leaving the beach generously offered her their umbrella, and she gratefully accepted. Setting the red umbrella up, Forte put on her sunglasses, laid down on her beach towel and closed her eyes. The wind was a bit cold because she had just gotten out of the water, but that feeling would soon pass. A few minutes later, another person showed up on the beach. Dressed in a bikini, sandals and sunglasses with towel in hand was none other than Glee Harmony.  "Such a wonderful day to be at the beach!" she said happily as she ran toward the water. Unfortunately for her, after she set up her things on the sand, the curly brown-haired girl's eyes fell upon the half-sleeping organist, who was still thinking about her new composition and oblivious to the world, so oblivious she didn't notice two young guys walking past her. Is that who I think it is?! Glee thought to herself. Why is she even here?! And...why are those guys staring at her?! Is it because...she actually looks good in that swimsuit?! She can't look better than me! Ugh, I hate her even more!"Well, well," Glee said snarkily, as she sauntered over. She was trying to impress the guys, but it didn't work and they walked away. The girl then turned her focus back on her enemy. "Look who it is. The creepy organ girl from back home."Forte stirred a little. She took off her sunglasses and rubbed the sleepiness from her partially-open eyes. Putting the sunglasses back on, she opened her blue eyes fully and finally came to terms with what stood over her. "Oh Heavens," she said, annoyed. "What poor rock did you crawl out from under?""Shouldn't I be asking you that?" the self-centered girl replied in the same snarky tone. "You're such a creep. Why are you even outside? Can't you tell you're not welcome here?""You've no right to ask me anything of the sort," Forte said, a hint of aggression in her clear voice. "I am here to enjoy the day, nothing more, nothing less. You, on the other hand, must either show off or make my life a living hell everytime you lay eyes on me, am I correct?"Glee gritted her teeth, saying nothing in response. Forte laughed. "Well, unfortunately for you, there aren't that many people around today to show off for. And although I may not be near a piano or an organ, I would strongly advise you to turn around, go back to whatever you were going to do, and leave me alone. I am not in the mood for confrontation today."The sandy brown-haired girl sat up, dusting some of the now-dried sand off of her legs, which Glee noticed, were actually very pretty. She wasn't supposed to be pretty! She was a creepy organ player who spent her days in darkness, playing horribly frightening music and being hermit-like in general! She was about to do what Forte had said when all of a sudden a thought struck her. The musician was obviously tired...maybe she'd tuckered herself out earlier? Who cares...it was the perfect opportunity to strike! "That's it!" Glee said suddenly and loud enough for other beachgoers to hear. "I challenge you to a swimming contest!"Forte looked over at her. "A swimming contest?""Yes! A swimming contest!" the self-centered girl confirmed. "And this time, things will be different. I took swimming lessons for five years at our local Park District back home! I even won two competitions! There's no way you can win!"Sighing, the composer stood up. "Very well, I accept your challenge. It will amuse me until I can write down my new composition," she said, an evil grin spreading across her face. "What are we to do?""A race from the shore to...that thing out there!" Glee said, pointing to a buoy out in the water. It looked quite a ways out. "That's a buoy," Forte said. "Are you really that stupid or are you acting?" This time it was her voice that was layered in sarcasm. "Shut up!" the curly-brown-haired girl yelled. "Let's go! Get ready to lose!"The two girls took their place at a line someone had drawn in the sand. People gathered around to watch the two girls race, wondering what exactly was going to happen. It was at that moment that two others appeared on the beach, but not to swim. They had lawn chairs and an umbrella in tow and were just about to settle down when they took notice of the two rivals standing close to the water's edge. "Is that...Forte?" Alexi asked. "And Glee?! What on earth is SHE doing here?!""I thought someone locked her in a closet," Sven said. "Wishful thinking," the girl replied. "But...the last time they were in the vicinity of one another they wanted to kill each other. Now they're standing side by side like they're friends. What do you think they're doing Sven?""I don't know," he said. "But it's too bad there's no piano out in the middle of the water or something, or else Forte could get Glee out of here.""Indeed," Alexi agreed. "Well, let's just watch for now, but if it gets serious we should intervene. I don't know Forte all that well, but I would trust her to take care of the situation if an organ was around. But there isn't, so there's a possibility this could lead to legit violence this time."Sven nodded, setting up his lawn chair and sitting down. Alexi put the umbrella in the ground and did the same. "On your marks..." A person called out. "Get set...GO!!!" Forte and Glee took off, each diving in the water at the exact same time. People were cheering and yelling as they watched the two girls swim toward the buoy in the distance. Glee felt herself moving swiftly through the water. She knew she was going to win. There was no possibility of defeat. Five years and two successful swimming competitions under her belt meant she was just as good at swimming as she was singing...or so she thought. Forte knew she was tired; that was why she'd headed back to shore to rest for a while. It wasn't that she couldn't do it; she knew her abilities well, but she also knew her limits. Five years of swimming lessons was a great deal of time, but the composer didn't let that rattle her. She could feel herself tiring with every stroke but she didn't stop moving. It was Glee who reached the buoy first. She touched it and started swimming back to the shore, the crowd cheering even louder. This exhilarated her; she loved the people's attention, loved to be in the spotlight. As she swam, she made sure her style was artsy and good-looking, so she could greet her adoring fans when she made it back to shore and won the race. As she neared the shore, the crowd cheered as loud as they possibly could, and Glee started kicking her feet in the air and throwing her arms up, showing them that she was excited to win and celebrate with them. But when she finally arrived, she realized it wasn't her they were cheering for. Standing victoriously on the beach, with arms crossed, a devilish grin on her face and cheering people around her, was Forte. "But...but!" Glee said in protest. "...I reached the thing...the buoy first! I was winning the whole time...HOW DID YOU BEAT ME?!"The composer closed her eyes and laughed. "You honestly don't know?" she asked. "Well fine, I'll explain. It's because you were too busy showing off. You were too focused on how you looked to the audience that you neglected to swim decently, and as such you fell behind without even realizing it. Your appearance to an audience isn't what really matters; it's how you carry out your task at hand."Glee stared at her for a few seconds before an angry expression found its way onto her face. "Say...I do believe I gave you similar advice before, back in high school," the musician said with a hint of sarcasm. "You should have recalled it." Forte flashed her devilish smile again, turning around and heading back to her things on the beach. The self-centered girl's face turned bright red in anger. She (somehow) resisted the urge to attack Forte head-on...probably because there were all those people around. There was no way she could get a clear shot at her. Just then the composer turned back around. "Oh, and you said you had five years of swimming experience?" she said, laughing quietly. "Try ten."((There is one joke in each of Sven's lines. I wanted to find a certain video for the joke in the second line, but YouTube apparently doesn't have it. If you understand the jokes, go get yourself some cookies, because you are awesome.))
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Posted: Mon Jan 16, 2012 12:48 am
Evelyn blinked, but then realized why Lorika wouldn’t recognize her. It was almost what she was going for.“Yes, ‘Rika! It’s me,” she said, moving toward the woman. “How are you?”
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Posted: Mon Jan 16, 2012 10:37 am
Lorika got to her feet and hugged her friend. "I'm great...! How are you?! I'm so pleased to see you! I was so surprised when you suddenly left like that without saying anything, but I understand why you did. Did spending some time with your family do you good?" she beamed.
The elves had, after Cressa's little disguise-of-the-truth, neglected to tell her the whole story. Which was, as Cressa had predicted, a good thing, as the whole truth would've made the priestess worry. Hopefully it wouldn't cause much confusion now that Evelyn had returned.
(( Soooo tired, I feel like half of this post is grammatically incorrect but can;t for the life of me fix it, LMAO ))
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Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2012 2:24 am
Evelyn happily returned the hug.
At Lorika’s question thoughts of her family flashed in her head. Oh, how she had missed them all. An aching in her chest told her she missed them again. “I did, very much. It was wonderful. I hadn’t realized how much I missed them all.”
Evelyn motioned to have Gilroy move forward. In an instant he was at her side, the Altons a few staggered feet behind. Evelyn twiddled her fingers for a moment before looking up at the priestess with hopeful eyes.
“There are some things that we need to discuss, though. This guy here,” she said, grabbing Gilroy’s shoulder with a smile, “is my dear, dear friend Gilroy. He’s going to be staying here now…if that’s okay.”Evelyn paused. She thought to mention a thousand things—he was already a member of the Order, from back in War times, that he was actually a servant of hers, that she wasn’t even sure if he wanted to be at the Order for any other reason than to be with her. In the end, she said none of these things and moved on to the three black-haired surprisingly silent boys.
“These three back here…are my bodyguards. They will be trading out who will be watching me every eight hours or so…so they won’t need lodging…”[[Forgive me if I'm disorganized. My brain is totally gone right now.]]
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