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 Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2012 8:48 pm
Huni Pi Girlie felt her heart break for Petro on his behalf, though she kept her expression that cold smile completely devoid of any affection. The hand playing with the fabric of her wrap clenched tightly, reminder herself she wasn't finished gathering intel. Here was the ghoul he had written extensively about in all his letters, and said letters came to a screeching halt all of a sudden. Well she could only conclude that Needle's feelings had not been as mutual as Tro's. And to listen to these two talk so candidly about it felt like rubbing salt in the metaphorical wound. Oh if only her little nephew were here in person so she didn't have to feel insulted for him. She was going to have to find out why exactly Needle chose this other boil over her nephew. "I seeeee, what was it exactly that made you two want to form a permanent bond?" Even Girlie considered dating a very serious matter. Actually, Girlie especially considered dating a very serious matter. If it was revealed that it was actually Petro's fault, well, it served he boil right for being so... so... Petro about the whole matter.
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Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2012 9:09 pm
Muka stared blankly for a moment. Permanent bond? He wasn't sure for a moment just what she was talking about. Suddenly flashbacks of conversations, snippets with various people. "Oh I think you misunderstand!" Muka giggled, turning to Needle. "Remember Petro's people feel strongly on the male and female bond with one another!"
The strix's head bobbled to Girlie. "Cultural differences, you see!" He was amazed to see them at work. "You seem my family believes that you are to court as often as you find necessary until a proper mate is found. You stay with the person until it is no longer enjoyable and then you go your separate ways. I believe they call this.." he quote fingered. "'Breaking up'. But do not fret, I am very content currently with the situation." As if Girlie for some reason would be discouraged for his news.
"Oh Petro also thought that you meeting my father was a very big thing. Fascinating, hmm?" He tilted his head in explanation for the ghost ghoul, because Girlie would already know these facts. "I explained it to him how it was simply another social standard. He seemed receptive!" Well he merely stated how different that was, but Muka liked to think positively.
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Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2012 9:27 pm
...Permanent bond? Her normal state was a blank stare thanks to the wide-eyed mask, but now she was actually giving one for real. What did permanent bonds have to do with dating? Thankfully, Muka was quicker to connect the dots, and once more she turned to look up at him as he sorted it out for the both of them.
"Oh, yes! That is right, Petro is very adamant about that." The realization was clear in her voice, suddenly understanding some great mystery. Muka filled the ghoul in on his cultural standard, but before she could pipe in her own, the Strix was giving her a little tidbit. He had...thought it was a big deal? Meeting someone wasn't all that important, was it? Granted, Needle didn't really have a set parentage, so she wouldn't quite understand. "Is that so? Interesting!" Would Petro meeting Canvas those few times also be considered a big deal, then? She wasn't her Mother, but it was close enough by translation.
"Ah, but...my clan. We do not date or court or make bonds...anything with feelings is frowned upon, actually. In fact, I could get in a great deal of trouble for this!" The last part was directed at Muka, but she didn't seem too upset. She seemed more than amused though, and pat his arm lightly. "We work and we suffer, that is all we do. I will not be allowed to have such a bond when I return home, but for now I am...experimenting, I suppose you would say? While I am free to do so." It was a sad truth, but years of practice in restraint kept it out of her voice. She didn't mind telling Girlie about her clan's lack of feeling, mostly because Petro already knew it; he had been to the manor with her, and if she really was the talk of the clan, perhaps that tidbit had been passed through as well. Currently she couldn't recall if Muka knew, but...well, he knew now.
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Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2012 9:47 pm
Huni Pi "Aaaah, hanggang laro lang pala kayo." There it was, polite contempt coupled with a sneer that suggested she knew better. "Sooooo there's no plans for future between you two? This is all just fun and games? And you," she pointed at Needle, making sure the ghoul could see the tattoos wined around her fingers, "Chose to have fun with him over 'Matis, did I get that right?"Somewhere in the Monster Dorms, Petro accidentally bit his cheek and felt impending doom. Girlie folded her arms across her chest, "It's for the best, then. I just hope you set it to him traight from the get-go. 'Matis is all steel and stone on the outside, batumbakal, kumbaga but Here?" her fist thumped just over her heart, "All green and gooey. Gets?"
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Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2012 10:03 pm
"How can anyone really plan for the future, Miss? Every moment is a changing one." Muka tilted his head. His wings bristled as her sneer rose enough alarm to his senses for him to finally recognize it. He giggled though at her choice of words. "Petro, it seems, is not much for fun and games. Not an offense, merely an observation! He is a stoic warrior. A defender. Leave fun to me!"
To Ulmuka's credit he'd never seen Petro do much laughing or joking. Inquiries, questions, smirking. He knew the type and respected it immensely. It was simply a different point of view. This ghoul though, his relative, was coming very close to insulting Needle outright and despite Muka's jokes, he was picking up on it and didn't like it very much.
"Petro is a very good friend and he and I spoke before Needle and I began to date." Ulmuka's head leaned but not too close. He was not the type to start a confrontation, that was just rude. "and I do not believe that.. hmm.. " he hooted gently in thought. "he would not appreciate you speaking ill of Needle in the way, I believe, you are intending."
He rose back up to full height again, neck craning him higher. "Many people are green and gooey on the inside." he stated matter of factly. "It's what you do with it." His giggle was there but not as jovial.
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Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2012 10:44 pm
"Plus...I do not have a future waiting for me." Needle added quietly, an odd sort of hurt constricting her chest. How could she plan for something she didn't have? While she was in school she felt like she had forever to enjoy it, but now that she was being forced to think about it...she was almost done her first year. She only had two more, and it seemed they were going by very fast. Then, if the Elders allowed her to stay the full term...she would have to go back to the way it was before. Her future would be the same as her past, but perhaps with more mental pain than the physical she was used to.
"That is true. However I...do have fun with Petro, when I see him." She confirmed Muka's assumptions about Petro, while clarifying one little point for all present. He up and disappeared for a few months there, but it wasn't her place to bring that up; it felt like a cop-out to blame it all on him. Granted, the Monster dorms were a maze and were hard to get through even by able standards! Muka was a different sort of fun, Petro was incredibly more subdued; neither was a problem, though. She liked them both for varying reasons, and they were both good friends of hers.
Muka had once again come to her defense, and she looked up at the Strix to offer him a small, somewhat weak smile. She appreciated him literally sticking his neck out for her, and really would have to find a way to thank him for it.
"Set him straight? I have not kept anything from him." She didn't think so, anyway; he had been to her home, he had seen their way of life. It should have been obvious, even if she only alluded to it. The Engraver had long since shifted from this being a conversation about dating. Now, in her mind, she was feeling guilty over accidentally ignoring a good friend in favour of Muka's company. The idea that this ran deeper than friendship was already lost on her, but she was still incredibly uncomfortable by the situation. She had never really had a friend outside of Lattice, and due to her general inexperience it was rather distressing to not know what to do from here.
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Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2012 6:26 am
HI ANOTHER HUNI PROXY POST Huni Pi "Ano 'kamo?" Girlie's eye twitched, training her gaze at the Strix, not the least bit perturbed by the boil straightening himself. She was accustomed to men who towered over her, and while she was tall here in the maul, she was considered of average height back home. "You spoke about this arrangment between yourself and Needle with Petro? And he was alright with it? Hardly sounds like the little scarling I helped raise," her tone became imperious, as if she herself had taken offense. "And I'm not speaking ill, just stating what I've learned from the two of you. After how he wrote so highly of the sisters, I suppose I was just expecting someone...different." Girlie chose not to elaborate any further. She shrugged again, though her arms had fallen to her sides, her stance shifting ever so slightly. Girlie's body may look relaxed and calm, but there was an intensity in her eyes that suggested otherwise. She had no alligience to these two, no due cause to be concerned over their well-being, other than how it would affect her nephew. And learning that Ulmuka had spoken to Petro about dating Needle, well, perhaps her nephew would be better off finishing his last year without these two in his life. Two... wait... her thoughts went onto a different tangent, "And your sister? 'Matis mentioned in his letters there were two of you. Is she dating Ulmuka rin? Or does your Culture have concepts of exclusivity?" she asked of the strix. A genuine question that one, Girlie had heard other Halloweeners could have multiple partners at a time (an intriguing concept to be sure) and Petro did write he had gone to this prom with two ghouls.
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Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2012 6:47 am
Needle was fine to listen to Girlie direct all of these strange accusations towards her. She didn't understand why this situation was so important to a stranger, and so she just continued on listening, continued feeling the now-familiar pangs of guilt, and continued to not have any idea of where to go from here. Being told she was expecting something different did make her feel strange, but that was because Needle had never been anything other than herself. Why should someone expect different?
But then Girlie said a trigger word. An instant button that had Needle tensing.
"I will stop you there." Needle said with a polite calm despite the bubbling anger that was building in her core. Her hand moved from Ulmuka's and she shifted, standing a little closer to the strange Tikbalang. As always she kept a somewhat respectful distance, her hands folded neatly and unassuming in front of her. "And I will say this in a way you will no doubt understand." Her hands unfolded, one moving to rest on the curve of her hip and the other raising to point at the general direction of the female's head, using her voice as a judge in this darker room. Girlie had made a big show of pointing at her several times now, after all.
"You will not speak of my Sister as you have been speaking to me." Her tone darkened, the generally even-toned, expressionless Engraver allowing more of what she really felt into her voice. "The respect for my friend has made me endure your slandering assumptions and has kept me from walking away, but that is as far as it will get you. I do not care who you are in relation to Petro...You will keep Lattice out of this." Needle's voice clearly steeled, quite firm in her resolve to not have Lattice's character also questioned. Lattice was a sweet ghoul, a timid ghoul, and Needle would have none of it.
"Why is this so important to you? What does my dating Ulmuka have to do with my friendship to Petro? Am I missing a social rule where I am not allowed to have male friends upon dating one?" Her voice had smoothed, evened out to the way it had been before Lattice was dragged into the conversation. Her hands had dropped, folding neatly in front of her as they had been before...but she did not return to Muka's arm just yet. This whole thing was confusing her, and she had quite enough of it now.
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Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2012 9:22 am
Girlie's stance did not change in the slightest, her arms were still resting by her sides, her shoulders relaxed as she listened to the ghoul's... was that anger she heard? It was hard to tell with the monotone and the somewhat reserved body language. She did, however, understand the warning (because Girlie did not see it quite as threat) but would not concede. "If she gives me no reason to, I won't." She shrugged, it was as simple as that to the female tikbalang.
And as for why this was so important to her? Girlie thought that it was obvious by now, but apparently she had to explain. She sighed dramatically, complete with a hand pressing against her clavicle, "When we go for months without hearing word about how little 'Matis is doing, we thought the worst. That someone somehow managed to destroy his FEAR core, or worse, tame him. And to find out that we've all been worried sick was all because he'd had his heart broken by one of the ghouls he so clearly has a crush on?"
Again, back at the Monster Dorms, Petro bit the inside of his cheek and muttered something along the lines of someone must be talking about him.
Girlie gave the strix a passing glance, "And with one of his good friends pa naman?" then back to Needle, "I knew there was a reason his father was so against him being sent outside of the Clan."
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Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2012 10:04 am
Muka was suddenly amused. He stepped forward to Needle the took her hand in his own, tangling their fingers together. "AH YES.. and to the truth!" It was as if all the roundabouts and excuses had finally been brushed away.
"Come on, Needle. It seems we are unwitting bystanders in a familial drama. You see we are being imposed upon becase The Clan hasn't heard from Petro. Sounds a bit more like a family issue than our own." He clacked his teeth, clearly amused at this point. "They do not know what it is like to be at school." All of the students had their issues with home, good or bad, and families often times just didn't understand.
"It seems, Miss, that these issues are ones that should be handled with directness and honesty. Something that Needle and myself have fully provided. But to be sure, the core of your problem is with Petro himself." Muka's head bobbled and he released his hand from Needle's to slide around her waist. He was hoping to leave, remove her from this situation and take things a bit more directly to the heart of the matter, Petro.
"So Needle and myself will go talk to Petro directly. I am not much for gossip myself." He giggled. "Especially from strangers."
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Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2012 10:13 am
"Even then. You will not." Needle repeated, this time near growling. She listened as politely as she could, her weight shifting minutely from one leg to the other. They hadn't heard from Petro either?
She did have something to say back, a lot of somethings actually. Muka had taken her hand, effectively distracting her with both action and words. What he was saying made sense, too. She and her sister rarely wrote back to the Clan, but the difference was their Elders - or even Canvas - wouldn't come barreling up to a mostly-stranger to blame them for it. No, the blame would always rest entirely on the twins themselves...and so, by that same logic, it also fell to Petro, not her, for his lettered silence.
"You are not the only ones who had not seen him in months." She informed Girlie seriously, feeling Muka's hand slide around her waist. "He disappeared from our lives, too." The Engraver allowed Muka to guide her away, staying silent for the time being. She felt...strange. She was being blamed for something she knew nothing about, and she really did want to talk to Petro now.
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Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2012 10:25 am
Girlie simply snorted, "Damayan kaming lahat, but I wouldn't expect outsiders to understand." While she meant the sentiment, it could also referred to her language. The show Ulmuka made of staking his claim on the Engraver merited a roll of Girlie's eyes, but she made no motion to stop or follow them as they left. The extent of her effort was to make a parting comment of: "I can see why he'd avoid you." And exit the shop, still intent on continuing her window shopping. She was still here after all, no sense in letting her fun end so quickly.
She already knew what to report back to her Clan and what course of action to take. But that would be after she met her nephew in person. And judging from what the pair of Halloweeners said, it shouldn't be too long a wait until then.
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