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 Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2009 1:50 pm
Izzy stumbled a bit mentally. She was asking him what he wanted to do? Just short of panicking he looked around the playground. He had never really been asked about what he wanted to do, so he had fallen back into the roll of follower right at the get-go. He opened his mouth, about to say 'what ever you want' when he snapped it closed again. She had said to be 'assertive' and to 'man up'. If that's what it took to become strong, then he was going to do it.
Looking around again he tallied in his head what he saw. None of the playground equipment looked fun, and he figured she could probably crush him at any sort of physical sport (minus running from the bullies on the other side of the park). His eyes settled on the old swing set.
"How a-about the swings?" He asked softly, still a little hesitant that she wouldn't like his idea.
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Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2009 2:09 pm
Her face was a mix of reddened cheeks and a clamped down mouth. She had to do this.
“No. Swings are for babies.”
She bit down harder on her lower lip, trying to hard to keep her face strait. He’d react, hopefully in a self-respecting way, and she could applaud him! She was doing it for his own good; that was how she justified her teasing.
B-But… She was never good at lying, and not at all good at pranks. Her snickers snuck through her clamped lips, before she finally collapsed into a fit of giggles. She couldn’t do it! It was just too hard! She’d have to ask the twins how they kept their faces so serious when telling jokes or making pranks.
“Sorry sorry!” She wiped a tear from her eye, hand clutching her stomach tightly as her giggles subsided, “That was mean. I know.”
A tug, and she was holding his wrist, lightly pulling him towards the swings, “The swings are my favorite here, so that’s good!”
Tepin couldn't stop herself; having a normal friend (even if it was a bint child) was too much fun! She had never met a boy her age who didn't tease her! It was like the smiles just HAD to be there, or else she'd explode from glee.
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Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2009 5:32 pm
Izzy's eyes fell at her comment. He sniffed softly, upset at himself for not making the right choice. But he didn't utter a single sound, and he managed to fight back the tears. This got his him going a bit, feeling like holding back the tears was, in fact, making him stronger.
Looking back up at her, he noticed her snickers just before she started laughing. He let out a sigh of relief and laughed a bit too. "Hahaha! You got me!" He said, watching as she almost collapsed.
His small smile grew when she grabbed his wrist and pulled on it. That feeling came back, and a little part of him was relieved to be making contact with her again.
Izzy followed her pull to the swings, still smilingly blissfully. "It's s-sorta like you're f-flying when you g-go real high."
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Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2009 6:21 pm
“Yea!” She turned, smiling as she hefted herself onto the rubber seat of the swing. “That’s exactly what it’s like! You hit the high point… And it’s like you don’t weigh anything at all!”
“But but!!” Feet kicked against the familiar woodchips (Some of which might have been in her skin at one point or another) as she slowly rocked back and forth, “Sometimes if you go to high, it jumps! It always scares me. Like… ‘Yayyyy I’m so high!’ and then it jumps and it ALWAYS shocks me, even though I know it happens!”
She picked up a bit of speed, her eyes scanning the playground in time to catch Sydni scolding Valeriu over some monstrosity he had built.
“Watch though-- I bet since I told you that, now it’s not gunna happen! I fell off last time I swung, and I’ll be fine this time, just to make me look stupid.”
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Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2009 11:19 pm
Izzy carefully took his bag off and set it next to his swing. Sitting down on it he kicked his feet a bit, the goofy smile on his face telling that he liked to listen to her stories. Laughing a bit he kicked the woodchips away from under himself until he could see some dirt before bringing his eyes up and watching Tepin fly higher and higher.
Concern rumbled in his belly a bit, and his brow furrowed in concentration, willing her to not jump or fall off.
"B-be careful, Tepin!" He said, albeit rather softly.
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Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2009 11:26 pm
She frowned. Who was careful in this day and age anyway? It was about living! As soon as she got on that playground, as soon as she was unleashed, it was on!
“That’s no fun!” As if to prove her point, she jerked to the side, letting the swing veer horrendously off course and started it on a wild and unpredictable ride that could very well have sent her flying into Izzy. But by some miracle of fate-- she got off easy. Only a quick knock into one of the support poles. Sure, it’d bruise, but the fun of the stunt always made her try it again.
“See--” Her breath was quicker now, as her feet dizzily dragged across the ground to slow herself down, “ That’s fun.”
“OH!! But don’t try it. You’ll hurt yourself!”
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Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2009 11:37 pm
Izzy's eyes widened in horror as he watched Tepin fly around. Jumping out of his own swing he watched, mouth dropping open, as she ran into one of the poles. "T-t-t-" He couldn't even get her name out right. As she slowed he rushed over to her. "T-Tepin!" He said, worry soaking his voice. "B-b-but that's a hyp-hyp-hypocritical thing t-to say!" Checking her over, his hands itched at his sides to hug her, make sure she really was as okay as she looked. "And that's n-n-not fun at all." He added, very softly.
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Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2009 11:59 pm
“But I’m tougher.” She replied, matter-of-factly and quite to the point. “And I don’t want you to get hurt.”
Tepin rolled up her sleeve with experience; these kinds of injuries were common. In fact, it was actually pretty weird for her to be unharmed-- living with Vale must have changed her more than she thought. With a shrug, she dismissed the green bruise that was forming, opting to ignore the fact that it actually hurt pretty bad.
She didn’t want to go and look like a wimp, after all that she had said and done. She could hold it in, if it meant not looking like a wimp. She looked at him, smiling widely. Ignoring it was easy enough. She had learned through all scrapes and bruises to just ignore the pain away-- even if it still hurt, no one else would tell!
But if the plan was going to work, she needed a distraction. Her eyes looked around quickly, trying to find something--anything--to grab at in order to change the subject to more casual (And less accusing) territory. She found it! On the ground near his swing! That bag! He had gone so far as to take it off, earlier, right? That meant it was important. Hopefully he’d be willing to talk about it, instead of her reckless behavior.
“Hey…” Her other arm reached up unconsciously, grabbing at her shoulder tenderly, “What’s in your bag, anyway? Is it like.. Stuff to play with? That’s a big bag.”
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Posted: Thu Apr 30, 2009 12:12 am
His brow furrowed more at how quickly the green bruise had appeared. It was going to only get worse than that. She smiled, but he had a feeling it hurt. Even just a little.
'The girl!' Izzy thought to himself, crossing his arms, eyebrows nearly touching as he chewed on his lip. She was going to get herself into an early grave, and then what would he do! He'd have to work hard to try and protect her, that was for sure.
Sure enough, she grabbed her shoulder as she asked about his bag. And as she did his mind reeled.
He had packed the balm that Xipe Totec had left him with his last errand. He was told it would help heal and soothe most small injuries, since he was tripping and falling so much.
"N-no, it's not t-toys." He said, grabbing it and sitting down. He unzipped it, revealing various bags of various sizes. Some of them were clear and revealed either dirt or seeds of various sizes. Others where burlap and tied closed. "It's for m-my work." He said, digging around until he pulled out the small container. "Let me see y-your arm, Tepin. This will m-make it feel b-better faster."
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Posted: Thu Apr 30, 2009 12:38 am
She peered into the bag from above, wondering if the kid was actually a drug dealer or something. The contents certainly looked weird enough, and little plastic baggies were always a sign of drugs. Whenever they had learned about them in the drug prevention assemblies at school, it always would show lots of plants in a little ziplock baggie.
And that pretty fit his bag to a tee.
“Wait-- What do you do? It’s not shady, right? You’re a good guy, right?”
Still, even though she asked, she already knew the answer. If she didn’t, she wouldn’t have plopped down across from him, rolling her sleeve up once more to let him access her arm with more ease. Shady guys were never that shy-- that was just silly to think! He had to be a good guy.
Only after accepting his treatment did it occur to her, “Hey, what is that stuff, anyway?”
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Posted: Thu Apr 30, 2009 12:52 am
Izzy blinked at her question. He didn't really know himself. Did being in the Game make him a bad person? But... he was just planting stuff, right? He smiled.
"O-of course I'm a g-good g-guy!" He said, taking the lid off the balm. It smelled sweet and minty, and was tinged a bit green and yellow. He used his finger to take some out of the container and started to lightly dab it on the bruise. "I p-plant seeds. Th-that's why I came t-to the park t-today."
After he had covered the entire bruise with the balm, he looked at it a bit closer. The bruise had stopped spreading and was looking a bit paler. Nodding in a approving way, he looked at Tepin.
"It's h-herbs. I'm n-not sure which ones..." He sniffed it again. "M-mint and.. A-arnica." He smiled, proud that he remembered what it was called. "Arnica is a-also c-called leopards b-bane..." Screwing the cap back on, he remembered old photos from his mothers old text books of the big yellow flower. "It's g-good for bruises."
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Posted: Thu Apr 30, 2009 1:10 am
Leopard’s Bane. What kind of cat was it that Varu had fought in the jungle? Maybe he could use some of this stuff! That way, he’d be safe from all kinds of nasties that’d be there to scratch at him… Nah, even she knew that was silly. Waving some plants at a leopard wasn’t going to do anything to scare it off!
She grinned as she looked her arm, even if it hadn’t of worked, she would have been happy anyway. He was nice enough to go out of her way to help her, the sentiment alone made her feel warm and fuzzy.
“How do you know all that stuff, anyway? You must be really smart, or something.”
Shoot-- they really were opposites! What this kid lacked in muscle must have been made up for with brains. Hrmmm. She’d have to be careful. It was always the smart kids who would make fun of her. She couldn’t let him know her secret, or else he’d make fun of her too!
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Posted: Thu Apr 30, 2009 11:12 am
Izzy blushed a bit as he repacked the balm into the bag. "I-I wouldn't say that. I j-just studied p-plants. Arnica h-has a really dist-tinct smell anyway." It was the first time that someone around his own age had ever complimented him. "My m-mom taught me everything I-I know." Izzy added, thought wandering back to his mom, alone in the little apartment. Keeping his eyes on his bag he tried not to let his sadness show.
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Posted: Thu Apr 30, 2009 1:18 pm
Well, of course he studied plants if he knew so much! He was just being silly mentioning that! But really, she was the tiniest bit jealous. Maybe if her mom would have taken the time to study with her, she could have been smart like Izzy.
“Hey--” Her distraction had not worked, and somehow he looked down compared to earlier, “You should give me your phone number.”
She nodded, wrapping her arms around her knees.
“That way, we can meet up again!”
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Posted: Thu Apr 30, 2009 10:53 pm
Izzy's eyebrows scrunched. He didn't have a phone. In fact, he had never had a phone. If they had needed to talk to someone they would go find them or use the restaurant phone later at night when it wasn't ringing off the hook with orders.
"I d-don't have a phone nu-number." He said, looking at her, a small frown on his face. "I don't h-have a phone." Would she find him weird for that? He hoped he wouldn't have to explain that he didn't have a phone because he lived in an abandoned building's crawl space.
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