|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Sat Oct 13, 2007 6:03 pm
"I think he means to rescue you from this fantastic house. Don't forget the comfort! We can't have you living in comfort!" She stood up and shot a quizzical look at the acrobat.
"Or is there something more sinister going on, Tingzy? Are they going to force him to sit on soft pillows and eat fruit all day? The horror!" She cowered in mock fear before falling onto her back making fake groaning noises.
"Nooo, please! No more delicious food! I can't take it! ACK ACK ACK!"
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Oct 14, 2007 4:10 pm
In other circumstances, Tingzhe would have laughed at Qiao.Put the girl in some make-up and she'd be a good clown! But this was part of the one thing that he would never, ever find funny.
"You're not fine. None of us are fine. Home isn't the same, after what happened, and you know it." Tingzhe said, in a low, quiet voice. "This whole town must know what you are, yeah? That's got to SUCK. Cooped up in here eatin' fruit and sittin'on pillows, tryin' to keep the gawkers outside the walls? That gonna give you a whole lotta s**t to write about? Man, you don't even like yer parents. Or at least you never talked about missing them none."
The circus boy finally let Shen-Ru free, but only did so in order to step back. The room was really posh, but it didn't impress him much. It was the kind of boring that old people called 'tasteful'.
And anyway, Tingzhe was ultimately self-serving. He didn't want to be alone to carry this stuff. Shen-Ru would never upstage him. Asking him along was a good game-plan.
"Circus is goin' to the Fire Nation. I dunno where Alya is, but we can find Tosh there no problem."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Oct 14, 2007 5:18 pm
This was getting weird. The way Tingzhe was talking made it sound like he was going to whisk Shen Ru away with him to the circus. What good would a poet do in a circus, she wondered. But it seemed much bigger than that, much much bigger. And who were Alya and Tosh?
It began to dawn on Qiao that she had gotten into something darker than she originally thought when she followed Tingzhe. But why not get all the facts? She felt she was entitled to something for her help.
"Maybe I'm reading too much into this but...is there something I should know? Anything at all?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Oct 14, 2007 7:55 pm
Shen-Ru's nervous smile faded and he looked up at Tingzhe with a sad, but definitely understanding gaze. Things certainly were never going to be the same... if home wasn't safe, why... why should he stay? He bit his bottom lip, bringing a hand up to fiddle with his earring. He could leave... be safe in a traveling group, rather than hoping that he would be left alone and safe in his room, which obviously had failed him before...
He glanced at Qiao, smiled faintly, and told her, "There's a bit much to tell. Soon, perhaps." Then his gaze was back to Tingzhe and he offered a tiny smile, his hand now working to remove his earring. "Give me a few minutes... I'll pack up a few things."
His hand rested lightly on Tingzhe's arm for a moment, before he drew back to go find a bag and a few things he felt he would need.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Oct 15, 2007 12:42 am
"Might wanna take some stuff y'don't mind selling, 'less you wanna stop wearing those fancy silks, man."
Tingzhe's grin was slow in coming, but when it arrived it was wild and sharp and white. He hadn't expected Shen-Ru to go along with his plan without some prodding. This was the guy who'd spent most of their time in prison curled up in his cell, trying to ignore the world.
Wow. Tingzhe really was some kinda awesome.
"Ye'll see. This is gonna be so great. You can read all kindsa fancy-pants characters, yeah? Betcha they can putyou to work with the books or doin' posters or whatever."
He aimlessly poked and prodded at Shen-Ru's posessions, before turning to Qiao.
"We should get outta here first. An' when we do, you might not wanna know." He winked. "We got yer delicate girlness to consider."
The memory of Water Master Sasha beckoning for water as she faced her funeral pyre suddenly came back to him. He ruthlessly crushed it down.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Oct 15, 2007 1:52 am
'Delicate girliness?' Oh no he didn't! She scoffed, flipping her pigtails back and leaning on the floor again.
"Who're you calling girly? You obsess over your looks more than I do, Mr Fancycoat."
Actually, Shen Ru was dressed girlier than the both of them but she wasn;t one to make joke about 'artsy' folk. They were sensitive.
"Do you need any help looking for a place to hide? You could always use the cart, and my grandpa does love rebellion."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Oct 15, 2007 4:47 am
"'Course I do." Tingzhe preened in front of the flat, shiny, expensive mirror on Shen-Ru's desk. What a great find! Sometimes he forgot how cool his eyes looked when he grinned and the edges crinkled.
He whirled around to face Qiao again, and stuck his tongue out impishly. Adults loved it when he did that to big animals.
"People pay t'see this face, y'know. I'm cute. That's why you got this big crush on me, callin' me Tingzhy an' trying to get me in a little cart. S'okay. I don't blame you none."
Tingzhe, for his part, had a couple years to puberty yet,and didn't see the big deal of all that icky dating stuff. But he was sure that once he hit puberty, he would be fabulously good-looking and popular, and have plenty of time to figure it out. Yeah. Right. Yeah. He would absolutely not be ugly and kicked from the show. He-
Never wanted to turn thirteen, and was doing just fine the way he was.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Oct 15, 2007 4:59 am
Shen-Ru listened to the two of them with an amused expression on his face, shaking his head now and then as he packed up some less outstanding clothes of his - which he was hard pressed to find, since his mother insisted on all of them wearing nothing but the best. He still packed up a few of his silks, which were mostly planned to be sold, and his jewelries his mother had given him over the years.
"Tingzhe, you're far too aware of yourself," the poet said softly from where he was by his desk, waving the other away from it so he could gather up scrolls and ink and quills, because he was nothing without his poetry, really, and he needed something to write it on.
"I do think that Miss... this miss knows how to take care of herself. She said she can bend, and... she did get you to my home and within it, did she not?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Oct 15, 2007 5:08 am
Qiao's expression went from blank to disgusted to back to blank. Crush? Him? NO. Too young anyway. And vain.
"Heheheheheheheh, NO WAY." She chuckled in the flatest tone she could muster.
"Just for that I'm going to call you the girliest name I can think of. As soon as I think of one. Now do you want the cart or what?"
She turned to Shen Ru and grinned as nicely as she could. Probably looked really creepy though. She didn't smile like that often.
"Aww, how sweet! Thank you! Listen to the poet, he knows what he's talking about!"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Oct 15, 2007 5:49 am
"We just need t'get to the circus. It's not far."
Tingzhe resumed checking himself out in the mirror, completely ignoring Qiao's flat tone. The ones who had it the worst always protested a ton.
"You want in? Sounds like yer ol' man's a pain in the butt."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Oct 15, 2007 5:59 am
Qiao's eyes widened considerably. In? Did he mean she could run off with them? To the circus? That would be a lot more fun than traveling with the old fart. And she was a little overdue for a vacation.
After a few moments she finally spoke up, grinning broadly. "....I'm in."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Oct 15, 2007 6:02 am
"Tingzhe, you seem to be amassing a gang," Shen-Ru mumbled, looking over his room once more, before closing up his bag with a sigh. "I think I'm ready now... How are we getting out?" He arched an eyebrow, looking at Tingzhe expectantly.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Oct 15, 2007 6:09 am
"Pretty weird gang though, eh? And before we leave completely, we have to stop by the cart. I wanna get my stuff and tell my grandpa where I'm going. It's cool, he won't stop me."
She looked back at Shen Ru and poked him on the shoulder. "Hey, you and me can make posters! I'm a mapmaker by trade but I'm a pretty good artist if I do say so myself."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Oct 15, 2007 6:12 am
"Posters?" Shen-Ru's eyebrows rose, before he nodded slightly, the tiniest of smiles appearing on his lips as he looked at Qiao. "That would be rather nice, yes. I don't know if I'm... qualified for performing."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
