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 Posted: Wed May 16, 2007 6:29 pm
Estelle cracked a smile. She happened to like this man, he wasn't the sniveling sort of cheater that she normally saw. "Well then, this won't bother you at all," she said, flipping the card over to reveal the Ancestors card, turned in reverse. "Ah.. People see you as a procrastinator, and many believe that if left to your own devices you will never go ahead in life. Because of this, people will try to help you along whenever they can. Don't be offended, they are only trying to help."
Manny laughed softly as the man teased the girl. They were fun, they didn't seem afraid like many of the people mama introduced her too. Selecting the spinning tops since the girl seemed to have a flair for chaos, she sat down with her legs spread out, her skirts tucked carefully under her legs. "Just sit down like this, and watch," she instructed, setting one top to spin wildly in a circle. Just as it hit the point opposite her she let the other top loose, giving a little cheer when it slammed into the first, knocking it out of its circle. "You just try to knock the other person's top away, and sometimes you can do even more than two."
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Posted: Wed May 16, 2007 6:40 pm
"Feh, I don't need help," Mikael said stubbornly, as if the thought were crazy. Though he didn't tell her that her prediction was incorrect. Perhaps that was because he noticed what she said was possibly true. "Maybe they should help Kai first. He's far more of a pansy," he laughed, though the rough comment had been made with affection towards his older brother.
Riley sat reluctantly, fore normally sitting meant that something boring was going to come, like Liam's speach lessons. She didn't feel like napping yet! But her mind was quickly changed as the two tops crashed together. Her attention had been caught and she leaned forward eagerly, her eyes bright. "WAHOO YEAH!" she cried, grinning more like a cat then the bird who's DNA she shared. Anything involving crashes was awsome in her book. "I try?" she questioned hopefully, her body seeming to quiver with anticipation and energy.
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Posted: Wed May 16, 2007 6:47 pm
Palming the last card, Estelle looked at him with something suspicious in her eyes, "Perhaps people know you a bit better that you know yourself. But who can ever say, I can only tell what the spirits want to tell me." She flipped the last card over, pausing when she saw what it was. For some reason, the image on its face brought a shiver to her spine, and she tapped it a few times. "This one," she said softly, "Is the biggest problem you will have to face in the near future. Someone unfettered by emotion and morality. Someone sarcastic and tactless. This person will stand in your way at every turn."
Yes! She'd found something that this girl seemed to like. "Sure," she told her, handing over a blue ringed top, "Just twist with your wrist and let it go." To give her a target Manuela set hers to spin steadily, using a trick her mama had taught her.
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Posted: Wed May 16, 2007 6:57 pm
"Bah, if spirits knew everything there would be a lot less for me to do," Mikael replied with a dense sense of apathy. He wasn't the suspicious type and he wasn't afraid to let her know that, obviously. "And as for my problem..." He leaned forward, his eyes narrowing in a competitive and rivaling nature, "...it's most likely my twin. And he's been doing all that stuff already." He held no hate or contempt for his brother, only a healthy sense of ambition towards him. He would get the better of him! Someday.
Riley accepted the top eagerly. Despite her enthusiasm, she skills at actually spinning the toy were...lacking. She tried to mimic what Manny had done in order to set it off on a good motion. Instead, however, the top she released wobbled and then fell over as though it would rather not play. She furrowed her brow in frustration, "Ohhh~!" She'd try again! And she'd get it this time! She picked up the top and readied to attempt the spin once more.
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Posted: Thu May 17, 2007 2:42 pm
Estelle stroked the card with her index finger, peering towards the curtain door. If she was right the man that Manny had left with was his twin. He didn't really seem the vindictive type. But then again, there was only so much you could tell from a person's appearence. "Perhaps," she mused, "But perhaps you should look deeper. Are you interested in anything specific?" Maybe straying from that particular subject would open his mind a bit.
Manuela got up on her knees to give the girl a little more room. "Nice and slow," she advised, almost to herself. This girl seemed fairly confident, and Mama had told her that confident people liked to do things on their own. That was one of her very first lessons.
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Posted: Thu May 17, 2007 4:10 pm
Now here was something a little more to his liking. He grinned knowingly. Perhaps now she'd tell him something he actually wanted to hear, not this personality and future meeting rubbish! "Ohh, I'm interested in lots of things...women, money, promotions..." He sounded amused when he said this and not at all ashamed. Seemed pretty typical stuff. It shouldn't be a surprising suggestion to Estelle.
Riley stuck out her tongue slightly as she concentrated, trying to get this whole game right. She took more care this time around, but was still slap-dash and reckless in her attempt. So the top wobbled and flopped, not quite turning correctly but it certainly was progress. She didn't even stop to mourn over her second failure-she took it again and tried it once more! After about 4 more tries she got it to work, a wide, proud smile on her face. "There! Hehe!"
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Posted: Thu May 17, 2007 4:40 pm
Estelle shifted in her seat, adjusting her shoulders so that her bosom protruded from her collar. That would certainly get his attention. "Women are nothing but trouble," she warned, "I don't have to be a fortune teller to tell you that. But, if you want." She reached for the shelf to her right, removing two red candles and a small onyx dish before she continued, "I can tell you something that may be interesting."
When the tops finally collided Manuela clapped cheerfully, happy for the girl that had tried so hard and finally succeeded. That was the spirit. "You did it!" she shouted, not mentioning the fact that the tops had simply tumbled over when they hit. She scooped them up into her hands, holding one of them out to Riley, "Now at same time!" That was the real game after all, since she seemed to have a sort of hang on spinning it.
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Posted: Thu May 17, 2007 4:56 pm
Mikael wasn't shy nor did he have tact. So it didn't take him long to visably take notice of Estelle's...change in position. "I happen to like trouble," He said in a low tone, eyeing her with a grin. Well, he was easily amused. But then most people picked up on that pretty quickly. Mikael wasn't a complicated guy for the most part. "But...I'm listening," he said, leaning forward slightly in his chair.
Riley took her top with a determined nod, a firey twinkle in her eyes. She shifted so that she sat on her knees, leaning forward and holding her top, prepared. She was ready to go! Time to see what she could really do. Right? Right? "Ready ready!"
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Posted: Thu May 17, 2007 5:17 pm
Estelle laughed softly, adding an almost flirtatious tone to it. She set the two candles in the center of the table, placing the bowl in between them. After lighting the candles she resumed her previous position, motioning to the bowl with her hands. "It will take a moment for the wax to warm," she explained, watching the flames flicker in the corner of her eye.
Manuela pumped her little fist into the air, then leaned forward like Riley. "Ready," she responded, before spinning her top out into the circle. It was going pretty fast, but not fast enough that it would hurt the other girl should she slam her hand into it.
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Posted: Thu May 17, 2007 5:54 pm
Mikael couldn't say he was disappointed. Now that he realized there was something rather pleasant to look at. He only leaned forward, his forearms resting on the table. His gaze flickered at the bowl and candles for a mere moment before going back to the true source of interest. "That's alright...I'm rahter content with waiting," she said grinning.
At Manuela's go, Riley released her top with a sharp, quick movement of her hands, setting it spinning on the ground rather successfully. It twirled and swayed, moving this way and that on the ground, heading towards the other top...
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Posted: Thu May 17, 2007 6:16 pm
Estelle took a deep breath, holding her hand to her collarbone. It wasn't hard for her to follow his gaze, but that had been her purpose in the motion. Once he was a little out of the zone he'd be much easier to read, and likely much more open to her advice. He was a nice guy, somewhere in there, and she wanted him to listen to at least one bit of what she said. She reached out her hand to feel the warmth of the candle. It was just about done, which was kind of cool.
The tops clicked and ticked as they glanced off of each other, then made a wide arc as they came to the point where they were going to collide. Manuela squeaked happily, then cheered as the two slammed into each other and shot off to the sides. "Yay!" she yelled, though she wasn't sure which one had gone out first.
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Posted: Thu May 17, 2007 6:26 pm
Mikael wasn't reallly paying much attention to the candles. To be honest, fortune or no fortune he was finally enjoying himself. It was a definate imporvement from those stupid slot machines...and those boring predictions of his personality. Like he needed any of that stuff.
"YEAH!" Riley cried with loud enthusiasm, laughing with a wide, thrilled smile as she jumped to her feet. Her sharp eyes couldn't catch which had gone off first either...so she declared easily, "TIE!" Eagerly she looked at Manny with fierce energy and a grin, "Again?" They had to do a tie braker after all! And besides...it was the game that mattered, not so much who won or lost.
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Posted: Thu May 17, 2007 7:32 pm
When the wax was finally liquid in the top of the candles she tipped them to pour the excess into the bowl. She kept on until it was just about full, then put the candles back in their place. With that done she dipped two of her fingers in the wax, pulling them back quickly to draw a cross on her exposed chest. "For the saints," she told him, then pointed to the bowl, "Feel it, it's an interesting cover. It clings, and chills." Her eyes had narrowed slightly, though whether it was from the dim light or something else remained to be seen. Her pipe sat on the corner of the table, faintly smoking in its disuse.
"Yep!" Manuela cried, scrambling over to grab her top, now laying on its side. "An' maybe he can play too," she offered, gesturing to who she took to be her father. Realizing she hadn't introduced herself, she blinked, "Oh, an' my name's Manuela." It seemed the more she played games the less of a grip on that proper gram she had.
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Posted: Sat May 19, 2007 1:56 pm
Mikael wasn't the type to believe in god, nor the saints that would follow Him. So the cross only brought an uninterested and unbelieving look from his eyes. Though he did look-how could he not with the convientant location it had been made upon? But when asked to feel the mixture he looked as if he didn't agree with the idea. Unless of course that meant touching the mark she had made upon herself, but it seemed doubtful that was the implication. So, with a rather miffed look he placed the tips of his fingers in the bowl, as if this whole thing was getting just a little boring. He did his best to distract himself from the actual ritual and just focus on her instead. That made it better.
Riley puffed up her cheeks sourly for a moment before letting the air out while looking at Runeh. She waved a hand at him, smirking and daring him to refuse. "Come pway, brother Runeh!" Maybe she could finally beat him at something! Runeh always seemed to win...
Runeh shrugged, grinning knowlingly as he came to sit beside the toddlers. "Why not? You did insist ever so forcefully!" he laughed.
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Posted: Mon May 21, 2007 3:19 pm
Estelle showed a sly smile, lifting a lit match to hold in front of their faces. "And it can all be gone in a second, much like life," she told him, then dropped it into the bowl of wax which quickly lit ablaze. There was a special coating on the bowl, a kind of oil made from whale blubber. It would burn steadily at a low temperature until she chose to put it out. "A lot of things can be told from the obvious," she crooned, letting her fingers dance across the top of the flames, "But some are all in the detail. Look into the fire, tell me what you see."
Manuela nodded cheerfully, tossing a third top to the man, "A'course." So he was her brother, oh well, it was all really the same thing when it came down to it. They were family, so they would take care of each other. "Do it just like her," she advised him, setting hers to spin steadily like she had for Riley.
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