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 Posted: Mon Mar 04, 2013 6:24 pm
Ikebana's reaction to the pop was sudden, confusion written on his face and surprise fluttering about his eyes with each blink. It was perfect, wholly anticipated, and Mandrake grinned proudly at the colt... who... proceeded to give a small smile and nod, then return to the flowers. When his attention drifted back, Mandrake's expression turned from righteous victory to curdled milk.
What the heck was that?!
Now righteously indignant, the filly dropped onto her rump beside Ikebana and pulled at her cheeks with her hooves, tugging her eyelids down and quietly gnashing her teeth. More unpleasant faces followed, as well as some rolling and strolling behind and around the arrangement and Ikebana once more. How was it possible for him to stay so interested in something he told her was boring and yet he was acting like it was the most interesting thing in the amusement park! When the faces alone became boring, Mandrake flopped across from him again and began rolling around on her sides, making various unattractive and otherwise unpleasant noises that might be comparable to zombie groans. Occasionally she thrashed a hoof in mid air as if her body was twitching, then eventually she came down limply and fell silent, eyes open only just enough to see Ikebana's silhouette against the sunlight.
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Posted: Mon Mar 04, 2013 6:33 pm
A fourth flower was added to the mix as Mandrake... what was she doing? She sat down beside him, and out of his peripheral vision he could see that she was doing something to her face, pushing it around like a baker punching dough. Was she having some kind of reaction to the flowers? If not inspirational, allergic?
Ikebana said nothing, softly touching the flower petals and fluffing them into their prettiest arrangement, then tilting his head and selecting another bloom. Yes, five flowers. Perfection. It would be perfectly weighted.
But perhaps too quiet. It lacked whimsy, a certain...
... a....
... certain...
Ikebana looked up to see Mandrake... dying? He leaned forward, looking through the arrangement at her, his eyes slowly narrowing as he tried to ascertain as to whether she was well or not.
She was certainly breathing.
Was she trying to get a rise out of him?
Maybe she had a... condition.
It would be more polite not to say anything, would it not? Ikebana cleared his throat gently and touched the fifth flower, making sure it was properly weighted on the rest. The arrangement, at least, was coming together.
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Posted: Wed Mar 20, 2013 9:54 am
Ignored. Again.
Every time she did something strange and looked to see his reaction, Mandrake never caught a glance from Ikebana. Laying on her side, her whole body tensed up. Her eyes were open plainly, glaring up at the flower he adjusted gently with the slightest touch of a hoof. It was no longer a matter of being bored in the presence of a boring task. No, for Mandrake Blossom there was a new mission in the works; she needed to get this kid to react to something. He wasn't even looking annoyed! Of course she would prefer if he laughed but anything was better than him just flat out pretending she didn't exist and wasn't acting like a loony.
She wanted to get right up in his face and ask point blank what his deal was but that wouldn't be productive at all, not for the results she was after. Besides, he would probably just have some sort of calm explanation, like "Oh, I was just being polite". PAH! No, she wouldn't give him the satisfaction -- she refused!
Mandrake got up again, shook off the bits of grass that clung to her hair from the exaggerated fall, and walked behind Ikebana. She loomed over his left shoulder, staring intently at the flowers as if they were actually interested, and planted her rump right on the ground. Silence persisted between them, minutes slowly ticking as she waited for the right opportunity. Slowly, one hoof reached up, carefully across Ikabana's back, and lightly tapped his right shoulder. Mandrake pulled her leg back immediately, pretending as if she hadn't just tapped him at all. She even laid on the innocent foal look, with big googoo eyes.
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Posted: Thu Mar 28, 2013 9:03 am
After her... attack... Mandrake Blossom was up again. This time, Ikebana's brain refused to refocus, tracking her movements in his peripheral vision, his hoof prodding uselessly at the last flower he had set down. Almost mechanically, he produced the last reed and weighted it against the rest of the flowers, and just as simply, the arrangement seemed to be done.
But he could take no pleasure in it. Ikebana was having a hard time even noticing that he'd completed the thing. Mandrake was sitting very close beside him, staring with a sudden and unbreakable fascination at the flowers. What was she on about, this strange filly? He couldn't account for it. He shook his head lightly and tried to profit from the example of her focus, looking dumbly at the flowers as though he'd never seen them before.
What was -- oh yes, yes, they were done, he thought to himself, nodding. He should probably say something, let Mandrake know that the whole boring exercise was over --
But then someone tapped him on the shoulder, vying for his attention. Ikebana turned quickly, letting out a soft 'hm?' as he did so, only to find ... well... nobody waiting for him there. He turned again, this time the other way, blinking in confusion.
Until he saw Mandrake's look of utter innocence, her eyes practically sparkling with blamelessness. And then it all came together, all her strange behaviour and silliness: she was just trying to get a rise out of him. And why shouldn't she? All he had done with her was ignore her in favor of flowers.
Lord, how he must have come off. She had fainted dead away and all he did was stare and then look away politely.
She ... she really did fake her own death there.
A grin cracked across Ikebana's face. Unchecked, it blossomed into a smile, and then into a laugh.
Ikebana's laugh, so often unused, always tried to make itself worthwhile. It was a clear laugh, and sweet, and so pure and ringing and earnest that it turned him instantly from serious to boyish. His bright blue eyes seemed brighter as they watered from mirth, and he hung his head in mock embarrassment and defeat.
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Posted: Tue Apr 09, 2013 7:09 pm
As soon as that grin crept up, Mandrake's innocent facade shattered into one of genuine surprise. She stared as it spread, softly, gently, then let out a laugh like sparkling water, clear and crisp. If she weren't already sitting, she would have plopped back on her rump. Instead, she leaned back, a smile of her own snaking into view before the weight on her front hooves lifted and she was on her back once more, absolutely howling.
FINALLY!
She wasn't sure if he was finished, in fact it seemed a bit sparse for an arrangement but she didn't know anything about that nor what Ikebana had in mind for it, but she didn't care. As far as she was concerned, she'd beaten him at his own game and she was reveling in her rewarded; his laughter.
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Posted: Tue Apr 09, 2013 8:32 pm
Ikebana continued to laugh, watching Mandrake fall over again, lifting a hoof and wiping his wet eyes. He sucked in a breath and tried to stop laughing, and his laughter did melt away somewhat into a quiet thrum, but when he tried to speak another little chuckle came out of him.
He hadn't laughed like this in -- well -- probably ever. It was a shaking, silly feeling, like his ribs had gone all weak and his cheeks were too sore to hold up his smile any longer. But it made him feel lighter, and better all around. She was ridiculous, this filly. She really was.
And he liked that, he decided.
"Mandrake," he said. "You really are something else. I hope we can go out again sometime... I promise it would be more interesting than arrange flowers."
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