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 Posted: Wed Apr 28, 2010 9:00 pm
Tara had probably passed the reasonable question point several minutes prior. She blinked a bit as Andrea seemed to burst, finally, and was torn between pursuing his last, very interesting admission, and trying to reassure him.
"I'm sorry." That was a good place to start, wasn't it? "I didn't mean to upset you, really. I just wanted to help. I promise. I'll back off if you really want me to, but I think what you just said is important." She gulped, hoping he wouldn't clam up just when it was getting good.
Turning back to the plant, Tara bent a smaller leaf back and forth, finally breaking it off. "You need the inside," she explained, digging a nail into the leaf and pulling it open. "Not the stuff just under the skin, since that'll just make it worse. But the real insides." She stuck a finger inside to demonstrate, dabbing some of the gel on her face. "It was maybe half this size, I guess? I've only had it for a few weeks. I'm not really an expert, though. Not in plants."
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Posted: Thu Apr 29, 2010 10:39 am
The sophomore scrutinized Tara for a moment, and actually considered, for a moment, asking if she was one of those "senshi" people he had seen a few time and heard much more about on the news. But really, whatever they were - terrorists, kids playing superhero, space aliens, whatever - what were the chances he was in class with one? She would probably just think he was crazy for asking.
So he let the topic go, wilting momentarily with a tired sigh. "Maybe, if you really want, we can talk about it later."
But the plant quickly took up his attention again, and he quirked a brow as Tara opened up one of the fleshy leaves. "So, just like, rub the stuff inside on my face?" And then Andrea balked slightly at her admission that she was not actually a plant expert. "Wait, you're sure this will work though, right? The stuff works straight out of the plant? You don't have to do anything to it first?"
He was thankful suddenly for the bandages, since they prevented her from lunging suddenly and rubbing leaf on his face before he was certain he really wanted some of this herbal healing.
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Posted: Thu Apr 29, 2010 10:48 pm
"Later's fine. Later's good." Tara could wait, as long as she knew that she would get what she wanted eventually. In the meantime, she was all for making Andrea feel better. And considering that her constant needling had made the situation worse, she had her work cut out for her.
She tried to be patient as he doubted her again. "You don't rub, really. I don't think you want to rub scratches like those. But you can dab. And it's safe like this, I promise. See?" Again, she applied a bit of the raw aloe to her face. "No red, no stinging. All they do to it in factories is add preservatives and perfumes and stuff. This is much simpler."
While Tara wouldn't be any worse off if he decided he didn't want her help, she was hoping he would accept. If- as she suspected- it was a youma that attacked him, it was her duty to try and patch things up. But more importantly, if there was a way she could make him feel better, she had to try.
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Posted: Sun May 02, 2010 7:40 pm
Andrea took her response with the assumption that they would both just forget about it in about five minutes, and focused his full attention now on her proposed remedy. Nodding slowly, he brushed his fingertip ever so lightly along the longest of the cuts on his face and took note of the locations of the little sticky strip bandages holding the wounds shut.
"Alright," he told her. "I'll give it a try and let you know in Spanish later how it worked?" Andrea smiled a little and held out one finger for a dab of plant goop.
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Posted: Tue May 04, 2010 8:23 pm
While a bit annoyed by his lack of enthusiasm, Tara still smiled pleasantly. She was just waiting, she reminded herself. Answers were worth waiting for. Even if waiting was not her strong suit.
"It should work pretty fast," she said, watching as Andrea applied the gel. "But yeah, let me know. If you'd like, I can tell you where I got my plant. It's a pretty cheap place- I mean price-wise, not nice-wise. It's nice. Really."
By that point, Tara was stalling and praying she wouldn't have to go to class. As if it knew, the first bell rang, and she let out a sigh of disappointment. "I guess that's our cue. What'd they stick you with first today?"
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Posted: Sat May 08, 2010 8:39 pm
Hesitantly at first, Andrea rubbed the goop with one finger along one of the cuts, opening his mouth to keep the skin smooth and flat with the hope that it would make the light pressure hurt a little less. It felt ... goopy and gross, but also sort of cooling and nice. Running over one of the closure bandages with his fingertip tugged uncomfortably enough to make him vocalize a small, "ow", and he did his best to avoid them after that.
There was a sort of cooling feeling, too, though, which the sophomore thought could potentially just be his imagination, but he figured he would give it a chance anyway.
"Sure, I'll let you know in Spanish how it goes, and you can give me the name of the place then maybe?" He looked up as the bell rang, opening his mouth and working his jaw like an awkward yawn to test how the cuts felt now. "I've got chem right now. Starting a new chapter, so no experiments, but no tests or anything, either." Andrea shrugged lightly, and adjusted his backpack straps on his shoulders. "How about you?"
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Posted: Mon May 10, 2010 11:04 pm
"Yeah, let me know! I mean, relax and all, but I'd like to hear how it works. Or whatever you feel like talking about." Tara could only hope that included potentially monsterous dogs on the loose. Or aliens. Aliens were always fun to talk about.
She let out a huge sigh as Andrea explained his first class. "You lucky devil, you. I wish I had chem. Chem was awesome. Even when we weren't blowing things up." Tara allowed herself to reminisce for a few moments before answering his question. "Sadly, I'm stuck in the bane of my existence this morning. It should be against the law to subject innocent students to history class first thing Monday morning. If we can't sue the school for defamation, we should try them on cruel and unusual punishment."
Taking another sip of tea, Tara eyed him sadly. "I don't suppose you feel like switching? Pretty please?" Despite the implausibility of her suggestion, she was desperate enough to try it anyway.
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Posted: Thu May 13, 2010 8:20 pm
"Chem's alright, but I definitely like the experiments better than the lectures for sure, though," he conceded. At her suggestion that they trade, though, he laughed. "Aah, if only we could do that. I dunno how well I would do in your history class this late in the year, though. You would have the advantage of already having taken Chem, though."
Andrea rubbed his chin and grinned impishly. "I guess that would mean I would be getting the better end of the stick that way, though. But I dunno if I could live with myself failing your history class for a day, especially if you have a pop quiz or something." He started to edge down the hallway away from her locker in the general direction of his class room. "I'll see you in Spanish, though? Thanks again! I think my face is feeling better already!"
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Posted: Mon May 17, 2010 4:14 pm
Tara rolled her eyes. "You wouldn't do any worse than me, I promise." If not for History and English, she might not be as far behind as she was after her lost year. "But if you need help with Chem homework anytime, look me up. I'm more into Bio or Physics, but I still know my way around a Bunsen burner."
While it looked for a moment like he would agree, in the end Tara had to concede defeat. "I guess I'll have to go fail that pop quiz myself, then," she said lightheartedly. After the first few bad grades in that class back in middle school, it had stopped bothering her. "Anytime. I mean it, really." She waved and shut her locker, spinning the dial on the lock twice for good measure. "See you in Spanish!"
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Posted: Mon May 17, 2010 11:42 pm
"Oh, sure, thanks," Andrea replied in her offer of help with science, blinking a moment before smiling. He realized he really did not know her very well at all, other than that she was That Girl In His Spanish Class. Perhaps he could take her up on that later, if for no other reason than to get to know her a bit better. ... That, and his Chem final was approaching like a freight train. Andrea was fairly confident he would be hard-pressed to bomb it, but if she could help him get a few more points....
But right, he had class now. "Yeah, see you in Spanish!"
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