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 Posted: Tue Nov 29, 2011 7:29 pm
If Roch's mission had been to get her to willingly exit her room, he'd used the right technique. She didn't hesitate when he held the door open for her, slipping past him with a half-smile.
"Somethin' you ain't never told nobody?" Her green eyes widened as she soaked that tidbit of information in. This must be something pretty special, and Lark was all ears. "Gotta admit, Roch, this is real excitin' fer me. I appreciate it." Her voice, when she spoke that last bit, was very quiet. Solemn. She didn't just appreciate him being her friend and showing her these things. More than that. She appreciated him taking the time to check on her.
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Posted: Tue Nov 29, 2011 7:35 pm
"Hey, you told me yourself you've only had time to meet a few people," Roch said. "And me, I'm a callous b*****d that's died a handful of times already, and can keep from havin' nightmares most of the time. So I figure bein' such a cold blooded jacker means I can focus on other's trauma instead of being wrapped up in my own."
He motioned the direction of the smithy with a hand, letting her go first. When she was inside he headed for the protective gear, handing her one of the welding helmets. "Put this on," he told her.
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Posted: Tue Nov 29, 2011 7:47 pm
"Yeah, well... s'all th'same." She cleared her throat and shook her head. "Y'ain't a cold-blooded jacker, neither, Roch," she chided him gently, patting him on the shoulder as she slipped into the smithy. When he handed her the helmet she immediately tucked her hat into the back of her pants with one hand while reaching for the helmet with the other.
"What's this hat do?"
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Posted: Tue Nov 29, 2011 7:54 pm
"When you're sharpening the blade, it tends to throw sparks," Roch explained, grabbing the bottle of oil to wet his guitar edge before he started pumping the wheel to get it started. "I first summoned my guitar when I was eight. Just about that time I met my granddad for the first time, although I didn't know who he was at the time."
He dropped the front part of his mask down and brought the guitar to the wheel, starting to sharpen it with a precision that came with knowing ones weapon intimately.
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Posted: Tue Nov 29, 2011 7:58 pm
Lark planted herself on a nearby stool (she wasn't sure what it was used for, if anything) and rested her elbows on her knees. The wheel against the blade made an almost soothing noise, and Lark lost herself in the sight of the sparks flicking from the blade. He'd summoned his guitar when he was eight?
"I was twelve when I first summoned Ben. Fact, it was m'birthday. M'dad told me to summon m'weapon. Shoulda seent his face when Ben showed up." She shook her head. "I think he cried fer weeks."
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Posted: Tue Nov 29, 2011 8:01 pm
Roch was silent, thinking of the way he'd summoned his guitar. He finished off the curve, pulling away from the wheel to look at her. "My granddad has a string of daggers, I guess you could say. They play like a keyboard. I ain't sure how he does the minors, I haven't looked that close at it. But needless to say, he does a JACKload of sharpening. He showed me how to do this. Over and over again, until I could sharpen it in my sleep."
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Posted: Tue Nov 29, 2011 8:10 pm
Lark hummed softly as she mulled over Roch's words.
"Practice makes perfect, yeah?" The words were a near whisper. She shook her head.
"Roch... how would y'feel if y'saw yer weapon jus... disappeared in fronta ya?" Her face was pale beneath that helmet, but for the moment she was thankful of the barrier it placed between Roch and herself.
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Posted: Tue Nov 29, 2011 9:13 pm
"Their barrier," he said, "It blocked our FEAR. Nothing less, nothing more. Do you really think they could have kept us grims in nets if we could get our weapons?" he asked her, looking over. "Sure, my edge is a bit bulky on one side, but I can cut through what I want."
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Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2011 8:53 am
She shook her head, not convinced it was that simple.
"Y'know, s'hard fer me. I didn't feel like I had control ov'r what was goin' on. And then Ben..." She cleared her throat, her voice tight as she tried to speak past the knot that was lodged there. "Ben disappeared. Gone." She lifted a hand and snapped her fingers.
"That simple. I couldn't do nothin', Roch." Lark shook her head.
"I couldn't do nothin'."
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Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2011 9:07 am
Roch put the guitar down on the table, walked over to her, and crouched down in front of her, pulling her into a hug. "Hey," he said quietly. "Hey, c'mon, darklin, I know it's scary, I know you've been cryin, but it's okay now. You aren't alone," he said.
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Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2011 9:25 am
The helmet clattered to the floor as she wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face against his should.
"Yer th'first real friend I made here, Roch," she choked out. "If it weren't fer you I don't know what I'd do." Her skinny arms tightened around his neck. "It ain't been easy fer me. I hadda leave behind m'best mate Kettil." She sniffled and pulled away, digging in her pocket for her hankie so that she could dab at her nose.
"N'even that was goin' wrong," she snorted, frustratedly wiping her eyes with the heel of her hand, "cuz he got a crush on some stupid ghoul here."
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Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2011 9:31 am
Hmmm? He had a ghoul best friend, and he wouldn't be bothered if she had a crush on someone else, as long as he liked the guy... But maybe Lark's relationship was different than his and Danny's, huh? "Yeah? Uh, that sucks," he said, patting her back awkwardly. "Do you like him? I mean, other than as a friend? Or is it the ghoul you don't like?"
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Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2011 9:38 am
Lark grunted loudly.
Loudly.
"The ghoul." Mostly. "She's gotta boil already, n' ... she's stupid, too. Real stupid."
Nuff said.
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Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2011 9:42 am
"Huuuh, yeah, this sounds familiar," he drawled. "My best friend's sort of in that position--the guy one, not the ghoul," he corrected quickly. Because Roch thought it was perfectly fine to have a best guy friend and a best ghoul friend. "It's sometimes real hard to STOP liking someone, even though you know they got someone already."
He pulled back, looking at her with a wicked little grin. "But I might be handy in this problem. You wanna do something a little, tiny, itty bit mean to your pal, though?"
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Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2011 9:49 am
Lark gave Roch a dubious look.
"Well..." she cleared her throat. "That's what Ket said. He said he was tryna keep things... friendly. But I already popped Freya in th'face." She rubbed her nose a little more with the hankie. "He got real upset n' we got into a fight on HIM."
Lark grunted again, her brow furrowing as she peered at Roch.
"What you got in mind, then?"
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