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 Posted: Mon Mar 08, 2010 9:07 pm
Howl was a very sympathetic soul. He listened to her explanation, and in the middle of her explanation, his right hand pressed up against his chest about where his heart was. He didn't realize he was doing this, but the gesture seemed to come across as something he could truly relate to.
"That is a pity, Miss Calintha." His eyes casually noted the strange distant look, but he tried to avoid mentioning it. Calmly, he closed his eyes for a moment. "I will take the plant then, Miss Calintha. Only as a favor." He opened his eyes slowly, turning to glance to the plant. It really must have been rather strange to not do well with simple plants when one could raise the most strange, exotic plants.
His fingers finally reached out towards his mug, pulling it closer before lifting it up and blowing lightly over the liquid inside. "Mmmm... this tea smells lovely." He hoped that the liquid had cooled sufficiently as he drew the mug to his lips and took a small, quick sip. It, unfortunately, was still a bit too warm for his tastes. At least he didn't burn his tongue.
"It tastes wonderful as well, Miss Calintha. Perhaps I am being a bit presumptuous, but I think you will be able to get a job at Teasvatta without a problem." Lightly, he placed the mug back onto the counter and offered the girl yet another smile.
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Posted: Wed Mar 10, 2010 8:51 pm
"Thank you. You are doing me a big favor Mr. Howl. I don't enjoy seeing dead things." At the mention of dead things, her eyes flashed a little bit. It reminded her too much of her nightmares unfortunately. And nightmares were not something that someone should think about in polite conversation.
"That is good to hear. I'll be needing a job for this summer to bring in some extra funds; not as many people are buying exotic plants this year. Perhaps when spring rolls around fully and its not so cold outside." She couldn't wait. Calintha was tired of sweatshirts, hoodies, coats, and mittens. She wanted warm air and t-shirts and sunshine.
"Though, I'm personally looking forward to there being no school anymore, at least for this year." Meadowview was a chore, and Calintha no longer had any interest in being there. And unfortunately she didn't have high hopes for her appeal. Apparently being dead for a year doesn't help your school record much.
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Posted: Thu Mar 11, 2010 8:39 pm
His eyes fixed themselves upon the girl the moment she mentioned her dislike of dead things. The blonde girl almost seemed to lose the color in her cheeks. Obviously something happened which had upset her deeply.
Calintha continued to try and maintain a strong face, but now Howl had a very concerned look to his face. When she hushed about the school year, he could not help but voice said concern.
"Miss Calintha, I hope I am not intruding too much into your personal life, but you seem a bit bothered." There was a slight pause. "Is there anything you would want to talk about? I may not know what is going on, but I would be willing to listen."
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Posted: Fri Mar 12, 2010 1:42 pm
"I just havent been sleeping very well lately." And by lately, Calintha really meant she hadn't been sleeping well for a month or two now. There were some nights now when she didn't dream at all. Behind her eyelids lay a black space, devoid of thought or emotion and blissfully restful. But unfortunately, these nights were inconsistent enough to make her not want to sleep at all for fear of nightmares.
Some nights had even been worse lately, which was something Calintha had not realized was possible. The dreams were very much the same as they had always been- blood, blackness and teeth. But now... it felt like something was watching. Eyes that were the same, but always a different color. Her nightmares were becoming more sophisticated as well; they had substantial plots to them, not just senseless terror.
Calintha took another sip of tea, closing her eyes as she did so. "I've had nightmares and terrible dreams since.. well... since I woke up in the hospital." She toned down her real feelings about the matter to continue with somewhat polite conversation. Afterall, Howl had asked, and she wasn't going to lie. "Its made getting a restful nights sleep near impossible, though, it has given me quite a lot of time to clean." She laughed a little, because Howl finally knew her secret about why the apartment had been kept so clean.
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Posted: Fri Mar 12, 2010 6:20 pm
As the young lady shared her current dilemma with sleep, or rather, the lack of it, he listened considerately. Sleep deprivation was definitely a serious matter. He had been right in his concern.
He took a small sip from his mug before he began to speak. "It almost makes you wish that there was some sort of drug you could take to ensure that nightmares do not find you." He was completely sympathetic, it showed in his expression, in his voice, and even in his eyes. He attempted a small laugh, but it seemed to dwindle off prematurely, leaving a mildly awkward silence in the air.
"At least you seem to be rather productive in your current state." Again, another laugh attempted to come out, but it fell short of expectations.
With a sigh, he then just came out with it. "I am truly sorry about what you are going through. I know that I probably cannot relate perfectly. However, if it means anything, I will keep you in my thoughts and pray that your nightmares no longer haunt you. Until they invent some sort of machine that can extract nightmares from your mind, I suspect it is about the only thing I can really do to help." He smiled kindly to her, in hopes that maybe his words offered some vague sense of comfort.
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Posted: Sun Mar 14, 2010 9:47 pm
"Yea, its amazing what you can do when you have 8 extra hours in your day. Its time management at its best." Calintha gave Howl a smile, letting him know that it was okay to joke around about things. In the short time that she had known him, the girl had never seen Howl look so out of sorts. By the way he was laughing awkwardly, Calintha realized that he probably didn't know what to say about things.
"Thank you Howl, it means a lot." She raised her eyes up from her mug to meet Howl's teal gaze. "It really does." Calintha nodded, reassuring her statement. And she meant it- having people care enough to listen was a blessing.
She smiled again before switching up the topic of conversation. "Would you care for a cookie? In my extra time I've come to enjoy baking them." The added benefit was that the smell of them cooling in the kitchen was soothing and sometimes even assisted in her falling back asleep. Having fresh cookies around didn't hurt either.
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Posted: Mon Mar 15, 2010 12:46 pm
For a moment, he was quiet. It seemed as if he was truly absorbing the messages she had just given him. One of the messages had been hinted, so it technically took a bit more time to absorb. Yet, the whole time, his lips remained in that gentle curl of a smile.
Since humor was obviously encouraged, the effeminate lad promptly aimed to add some into the mix. "Yes, that would be rather lovely. You must be a young lady aiming to steal my heart, Miss Calintha. You are intelligent, know your way around a potted plant, prepare the most excellent tea, and you can bake? Any young man would have to be insane to not fall in love with you the moment they became acquainted with you!" He laughed gently. There were some words of truth in there, but in all honesty, the blonde girl before him was far too plain for his personal preference. All young ladies had some sort of charm, but Howl was finicky.
A lock of his hair managed to get out of place and partially obscure his vision for a moment, which he quickly tended to, using a finger to guide it out of the line of his sight. "I am curious what sort of cookies you made, my dear?"
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Posted: Mon Mar 15, 2010 9:51 pm
Calintha shared his laugh, but as soon as he did she knew that he (thankfully) joking. She knew by this point that it wasn't a date, and she was revealed. The more Cali hung out with Howl, the more she wanted him as a friend and not a boyfriend. He was nice enough for sure, and a gentleman to boot, but he was almost too polite for her. She was sure that he would make a fantastic friend, however. "Well I'm glad I know how to woo a heart. As for cookies, I have a few different kinds."
She got up and crossed the kitchen, picking up a stainless steel cookie tin. Popping it open on the island revealed several different compartments inside. "I've got basic sugar cookies, snickerdoodles, peanut butter, ginger snaps, and of course chocolate chip." What could she say? A few days ago she had one of the worst nights in a while. In the morning it had looked like a flour and sugar apocalypse had hit her kitchen. To be honest, she didn't even remember baking the chocolate chip cookies at the end she had been so tired. "Any catch your fancy?"
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Posted: Tue Mar 16, 2010 12:58 pm
As he listened to the various different types of cookies, his fingers managed to slide up to his mug and pull it towards him to take a drink. His tea finally seemed to be the perfect temperature, so he drank a few sips as delicately as possible. Nobody could accuse him of slurping his tea (or soups in other cases). His father would have swatted his hand when he was younger for being so rude.
As the girl listed off the cookies, he nodded his head lightly. He pulled the mug away from his lips and uttered "Basic sugar cookies go well with tea, because they do not overpower in flavor, allowing one to still taste even the subtlest of teas." He nodded his head gently once more before adding a simple "Thank you, Miss Calintha." Setting his mug down, he glanced in the offered cookie tin and plucked out a rather small plain cookie. He was rather neutral on sweets. He had no sweet tooth, but he also did not turn away any sort of baked goods. To show his hostess that he appreciated her efforts, he took a bite and proceeded to offer a compliment after her swallowed the mouthful.
"Ah, that was just what I needed. Sincerely a wonderful sugar cookie."
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Posted: Wed Mar 17, 2010 9:35 pm
"I'm glad you enjoyed it." Calintha herself took a peanut butter cookie and munched down on it. It was still just as good as when she baked them a few days before. With her other hand she managed to put the top back on the tin. "Wouldn't want them getting hard."
Calintha gave a smile and took another sip of her tea. It was almost gone now, and the last dregs were getting strong. "So are you graduating this year?" It had dawned on Calintha that she had no clue how old Howl was, other than the fact that he was high school aged. In the back of her mind, she hoped that she wasn't being offensive.
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Posted: Thu Mar 18, 2010 12:58 pm
By the time his companion began to put the cookies away, he had finished up his small sugar cookie. He nodded his head, as if to acknowledge that her explanation was sufficient. He would have probably offered a simple "Indeed," if it weren't for the fact his mouth was full of cookie. The simplest matters of manners had obviously been drilled into his mind when he was young.
With his cookie gone, he could focus his attentions on his tea and the conversation. The tea was the first thing to get his attention, as he lifted up his mug by the handle and drank some more. Cookies did have a way of making one's mouth feel dry. The best remedy was to drink something. Most people went with milk, but in this instance, tea worked just as well.
The question of his age was rather welcome. "Unfortunately, as lovely as that sounds, I suspect I will be stuck in my current school for another 2 years. I am merely a sophomore, Miss Calintha. Living my 16th year in such a lovely school." Anybody who knew Hillworth knew that it was far from a lovely school. He took a sip of his tea again, then returned the question.
"I take it that you are of graduating age, thus your mentions earlier about making an appeal to graduate. Would you happen to be 17 or 18 years old?"
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Posted: Fri Mar 19, 2010 10:59 pm
Calintha giggled softly at the mention of Hillworth being a 'lovely' school. She hadn't been familiar with Destiny City schools until just recently, but even she knew enough to know that the military style boarding school was not a nice place to be. She'd heard some nasty rumors about the place, dealing with just about everything. The teachers were mean, the facilities were old and ill kept, fights broke out every day (if not every hour!)
However, she didn't know how much of it was true. The girl took another bite of cookie before answering. "I am 17, though I will be 18 in June." It was a weird though, to be turning a 'legal' age. She could smoke...not that she particularly wanted to. She could vote between leaders she didn't agree with. Calintha could also be free from her parents, but they were paying for her apartment; if just barely. She couldn't exist in the city without their support. "As far as my appeal goes, I don't have high hopes. They placed me in the 11th grade in the system, simply because they couldn't really ascertain how much schooling I'd actually received as of late."
Calintha smiled wryly. She had a small hope that it would come back positive, and she could graduate and get on with her life. But a large part of her knew it wouldn't happen. It wasn't all bad, however, she would at least have time to make friends and contacts within Destiny City that she could rely on in the future. "Its not too terrible I guess, to have to do another year of schooling. Just kind of lame is all."
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Posted: Sat Mar 20, 2010 11:37 am
"Ah, a legal adult during one of the most free seasons out there. I hope you make certain to not go wild just because you have new found freedoms." He glanced to the girl with a reassuring smile, as if he was saying silently I am not worried at all, Miss Calintha. He then carefully listened to her dilemma, nodding his head at certain points to assure he understood what she was saying.
"Well, at least you seem to go to a reasonable enough school. I wouldn't be surprised if you could work out some sort of half-year graduation deal if you manage to earn enough credits by then. I know some schools are fine with such." Pause. "Either way, I hope that your appeal goes through without a hitch."
It would have been nice if Howl could have moved on with his life after just one year of Hillworth. Yet, that was destined to not be the case. He sipped from his mug lightly as he thought over such things. Yes, he was destined to be stuck at Hillworth for another 2 years. At least he had a 1 month period during the whole year where he could forget about it all. July just couldn't get here fast enough.
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Posted: Sat Mar 20, 2010 7:48 pm
"Hopefully yes, and thank you. But if not, I guess I've had a lot of schooling, and I can have a little more." She shrugged it off. It wasn't a pleasing prospect, to go through 14 years of school. Though, she was lucky they were only requiring her to redo half of her Junior year, rather than the full amount. At least the small things seemed to be in her favor.
"I'm sorry, that you are at Hillworth by the way. I've not really met any boys that attended there, but there are lots of nasty rumors. You don't seem anything like the type of person that they send there." Howl was polite to a 'T', kind, and not at all sketchy or scary. Part of Calintha wondered why Howl was sent there, but the only thing that she could think of was that he got blamed for something else and was too polite to say no.
She knew that explanation was ridiculous, and that Howl, for all of being effeminate was not a pushover. But he had to have some kind of mishap or mixup to be sent to a reform school. It made her wonder, but Calintha would never ask. Howl had already shown his dislike at even saying that he attended there, she doubted he would tell her the reason behind it.
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Posted: Sat Mar 20, 2010 8:13 pm
"Sadly, I wish I could say the rumors were false. However, then I would be fibbing, and anybody's mother would be rather upset to find her son fibbing." He was no fool, and he was rather certain that the usual questions were looming around in Miss Calintha's head. Though, at the same time, he couldn't help but remember Franz's random, off the wall logic for why Howl had been sent to Hillworth.
Ah Franz, always the strange one.
As he took a final sip of tea from his mug, he somewhat sighed into the mug. If there was one thing that the blonde young lady had gotten correct, it was the fact that the teal haired young man would avoid the subject of his placement at such a facility. "I suspect I should get going soon, my dear. I will probably need to get a bit creative on how I bring this lovely plant back to my dorm. Waiting until curfew is up is probably not a good approach to such a dilemma." He laughed lightly before hoisting himself up to his feet.
"I thank you kindly for the plant, Miss Calintha."
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