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 Posted: Wed Apr 12, 2017 1:20 am
"Hm... I guesso!" More or less in agreement with Vesna's assessment with the flavor of colors, Aina could barely wait for the kakigoori to be ordered and handed to them. Some of it already tripped onto Aina's hand before Vesna began counting to three, and she suppressed a slight squeal, doing her best to get a good mouthful of the shaved ice when it was time. The cold was pleasant for Aina to taste, moreso than the purple, and she hummed more calmly than the younger Frei.
"I like it, it reminds me of rain," she giggled, opening her eyes to see an impressive portion of her kakigoori already gone. "It tastes good, so 'm sure this is what stars taste like!" Aina smiled, holding her shaved ice up to Vesna. "D'you wanna try mine? 'M glad green tastes good! D'you think it'll really be warmer'n purple?"
"Ah, that is true. Teenagers like their 'selfies' as of late, correct?" Duncan chuckled, a bit shameless about his vague and approximate knowledge of teen culture nowadays - not that he had been trendy even in his youth. "Vesna is young! She has all the time in the world to discover her magic. I'm sure having someone so knowledgeable for a father must help."
It was difficult to hear what the Freis were chatting about in their excitement from the two men's vantage, but so long as they were safely in view, Duncan enjoyed Lorenzo's company all the same - for a boy so young, he seemed very put together. He chuckled, brows upturned. "Trust certainly seems like the best tool to use, in that case. Aina does like her television in the mornings," he replied, smiling, "but I do like to encourage her to read instead. How much television does Vesna watch? If you're worried, provide her with as many alternative activities as you can. Interventions are always more effective than a lecture."
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Posted: Wed Apr 12, 2017 12:00 pm
"Yeah!" Vesna said, offering Aina a taste of hers in return. She took a moment to consider once she swallowed a bite of Aina's. "They're both pretty cold. Well, because it's ice, duh, but I think that the green actually tastes more like... freshness than warmth??" She laughed. "I'm not very good at explaining it. I really like the purple one, though!"
She saw Lorenzo stealing worried glances at her as she ate, and stuck her tongue out at him. "Do you wanna go back now?" she asked Aina. "We can see if our guardians wanna try, maybe." She wasn't quite ready, herself, but the line at the kakigoori stand was getting long and she didn't want to get in the way. "Or we can go check out something else. Did you get any souvenirs yet?? Dad said I could buy one, but I wanted to look at everything before I picked."
"True," Lorenzo admitted. "Her friend, Eden, is apparently popular somewhere online. Instagram, I think?? Even if Vesna could be photographed, I'm not sure how I'd feel about her having a social media following."
He shrugged and said, "I do try to monitor how much television she watches, but what with my practice to run, it can be hard to keep an eye on things. I know it's not so much that it interferes with her Russian tutoring or the exercises that I assign her, but she also seems to have quite a few shows she follows. She at least incorporates it into other hobbies- I bought her a ukelele early on to practice her fine motor skills, and she tries to play theme songs on it a lot."
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Posted: Wed Apr 12, 2017 11:29 pm
Aina took a quick bite off of Vesna’s, humming pleasantly as the ice melted in her mouth. “Mhm! That tastes really fresh,” she agreed, and she perked a bit when Vesna seemed to like purple, too, and held it between them both. “We can share the purple one, if you want! They gave us a lotta shaved ice…”
Duncan didn’t seem to be nearly as worried as Lorenzo was, and Aina waved at them once more while Vesna stuck her tongue out at her guardian. “Okay!” she replied, beginning their trip away from the kakigoori stand. She poked some of the ice with her finger while they floated back to their guardians, and she glanced curiously up at Vesna. “No! Um! I got lots of pictures, though,” she said, wiggling the backpack that her disposable camera was in. “What’re you gonna get? I hope they got stickers.”
“Instagram… I can’t say I’m familiar with it. Vesna is so young, I can understand why you’re weary,” Duncan said, raising his brows; the only person he was close to that used social media was Leigh, and he trusted Aina’s aunt on her judgment of Aina’s media use. He smiled sympathetically at Lorenzo and noticed the Freis approach them from his periphery. “If you ever need help watching Vesna, Lorenzo, I am here for you. And music! That’s delightful – she sounds very diligent.”
“Grandpa! Mister Fisch!” Aina raised her kakigoori up to the two men when they were near. With the summer heat, the shaved ice was already doing an excellent job of melting all over Aina’s hands. “Vesna says purple tastes like stars. D’you wanna try?”
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Posted: Thu Apr 13, 2017 12:03 pm
"Thanks!" Vesna said. "You eat as much as you want, and I'll help you if you need it." She flexed cartoonishly. "I've never eaten before, but I bet I can eat a lot if I put my mind to it."
"I got pictures, too!" Vesna said eagerly. "Do you have an Instagram? I can follow you!" She opened up her Instagram and showed Aina the selection of photos she has taken, some of scenery, and some of the food that she had forced Lorenzo to try. There were a lot of photos of the various souvenir booths, and she scrolled through them thoughtfully as Aina asked her about what she would get. "Hmmmmm. I kind of want... a mysterious mask?? I can think of all kinds of situations where that could come in handy! Dad has some masks at home, but they're all necromancer masks, so they're not very cute." She looked up at the actual stalls and said, "I don't know which one is the cutest though, so maybe you can help me pick. Dad's no good at these kinds of things."
"Much appreciated," Lorenzo said as Duncan offered his help. By far, Duncan and Claire were his favorite of the Lab guardians he met based on what little he knew of them- they both felt soothing to speak with. "She's diligent," he agreed, "In her own way. Does Aina have any such interests? For her physical age, Vesna seems to act a little young sometimes- maybe they might have something in common. They certainly seem to be getting along all right." Though he had to admit, it was rare to see Vesna disagree with anybody- she bickered most with him, and he supposed that could be seen as intimacy. Of a sort.
As Aina and Vesna came back, he mentally groaned at the thought of eating more food. "I-I'm all right, thank you, Aina. It's so kind of you to offer. Did you know that actually, stars are fiery?"
"Yeah, literally," said Vesna, "But I'm talking about, like, pretty, magical stars."
"Duly noted."
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Posted: Thu Apr 13, 2017 7:10 pm
“Mhm! Thank you, Vesna!” Aina giggled; Vesna’s cheerfulness was dazzling to the Frei. Given the height difference between them, Aina leaned her head forward and floated a little higher to see the Instagram pictures on Vesna’s phone. She was only slightly aware of Instagram from pictures her aunt had taken, and it was cool to see another person use it. “I don’t have an Instagram yet… ‘cause I don’t have a phone with all the fancy stuff in it,” she explained, a bit disappointed; but she perked up. “But, um, I can follow you when I make one! Can I post pictures from my DS an’ my camera there?” she asked, quickly rummaging through her bag to try and find her disposable camera. Once she did, she showed it to Vesna, hopeful for an affirmative.
“I can help you!” Aina smiled, glancing around the area they were in for any masks in sight. So far, there were none, but she kept vigilant. “Somethin’ cute, like a puppy or a kitty? A necromancer mask sounds cool, though!”
“Of course, Lorenzo – any time you need help, do not be afraid to call,” Duncan smiled, nodding. He hummed, chuckling, as he gave Mr. Fisch a deep nod. “Oh, yes, it sounds like both of our girls have more interests than we have time for, but I would have it no other way. She does like her cartoons, art – reading, music, to name a few,” he glanced at the Freis. “They are. It looks like they’re making fast friends.”
“Okay!” Aina did not push when Lorenzo passed down her offer of kakigoori, instead handing it to her grandfather, who took a polite spoonful to taste. Her eyes widened at the fact, and she shook her head; “Mm-mm! But—but aren’t stars s’pose to be rocks?” she asked, thinking back on asteroids in the stars’ place – she giggled at Vesna’s assertion despite, nodding in agreement.
“Like cute lil’ ones! Vesna, did you see these?” Aina pulled out a small bag of konpeito from her backpack. “I can’t eat ‘em, but I’m gunna give ‘em to my Auntie.”
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Posted: Thu Apr 13, 2017 7:24 pm
"I think you can if you scan them in," Vesna considered. "My dad's office has a scanner if you don't have one! I can help you if you want." She perked up, adding, "Do you have a 3DS or a DS?? I have a 3DS if you wanna trade friend codes!"
She considered her hypothetical mask. "I already have a friend who's... kind of a puppy...?? So that might be weird for him. But a kitty sounds good!" She liked Buddy, after all, even if it was a bit of a stretch to call him "cute". At best, Buddy was unconventionally cute.
"The same goes to you," Lorenzo added, somewhat hopelessly, he thought- the only situations he could imagine himself being particularly useful in involved Horrible Accidents. "We should make sure they meet again soon!"
He leaned in towards Aina and confided, "Very astute! The truth is that they're fiery rocks. That's why you can see them so well from so far away." They were also, of course, useful in magic. The areas where science and magic overlapped were stranger than most parts of either discipline, but that was best left to specialists like Doctor Kyou, he supposed. Lorenzo was no magical scientist.
"Those are so cute!" Vesna gushed. "Konpeito, right?? I'm really excited to eat those when I get a stomach. I read about them in manga and stuff!"
She looked up at Lorenzo. "We wanted to look around at the souvenir booths. Can we?"
Lorenzo turned to Duncan. "I don't see why not. Should we join them?"
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Posted: Thu Apr 13, 2017 10:29 pm
“Mhm! I got a 3DS!” she smiled, tucking her disposable camera back in her bag to get out the 3DS in question. Once that was out, she took a moment to find the friend list; the top light was fading in and out in a bright green from all the StreetPasses in the area. “Kind of a puppy?” Aina asked, glancing up at Vesna with a curious frown. “Are you friends with… um, a werepuppy?”
“Of course! Well, it was nice to run into you both here,” Duncan laughed, “I believe I have your phone number marked in the Lab directory. When would be best for me to call you, Lorenzo?” he asked, not wanting to intrude on the necromancer’s busy schedule.
“Fiery rocks?” Aina giggled, looking a tad disbelieving at Lorenzo as she tried to think on it. “But I thought space was s’pose to be cold?” She was quick to change topics, though, as Vesna gushed about the konpeito – she nodded, pointing over yonder to the general direction of the booth they were from. “Mhm! I saw ‘em over there! What’s a manga?” she asked. Duncan couldn’t help but chuckle at how closely Aina was keeping to Vesna already, and he nodded at her and Lorenzo’s inquiry, waving them onward.
“Absolutely,” Duncan answered, and he heard the taiko drums start up again in the distance.
FIN
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