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 Posted: Mon Mar 16, 2009 6:19 pm
Once Keeta had pushed Joel's stroller though the door and she followed them in. "His tribe nev'a really talked a'loud." She said. "De win' was col' enough t'take de breath from yeh so dey use a lot o' hand gest'as t'get dey points across." She explained.
The floor felt greasy underfoot and she lifted her foot and looked at where she had stepped before pulling a slight face. The cashier, a acne covered dark haired teenage boy, stared at her openly with a 'wtf' look on his face.
To Jaio'lan, the whole place smelled greasy.
When she took another step she nearly slipped, grey eyed wide, winged arms pinwheeling. A man who was standing in line with his young daughter moved quickly to catch her, under the arms.
"Are you all right, Miss?" The man asked, his feline ears twitching. Jiao'lan looked up to him sheepishly. "Yeah, tank-you, Sir." She told him as he helped her steady herself. "Dis floor isn' made fer claws." She added. He chuckled softly. "No it's not." He agreed. "Well, you're welcome." He said with a cheery smile before going before going back to his daughter.
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Posted: Tue Mar 17, 2009 9:11 am
Keeta watched wide-eyed as Jiao'lan slid and almost fell and was about to leap over to help when a nearby gentleman offered his assistance. She breathed a sigh of relief and then quickly closed the short distance between them, her sneakers providing the approrpriate amopunt of traction on the floor. As soon as the man stepped away, Keeta repeated his question, more quietly this time.
"Are you ok? Maybe you should sit down and I can get the food...You can sit and play with Joel for a few minutes?" She was trying to make it so Jiao'lan wouldn't have to cross any more of the treacherous floor than was necessary.
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Posted: Sat Apr 18, 2009 8:43 am
Jiao'lan smiled sheepishly. "Yeah, Ah'm all righ'...tanks." She then looked to the booths and to Joel. "Heh, dat sounds like a good ide'ah." She agreed as stretched up for the handlebars on Joel's stroller. "Hear dat? We's gonna so sit fer'a bit, buddeh." She told him as she steered him toward a table. She then turned Joel so he could see her as well as out into the lobby, and Keeta before sliding into the booth and adjusting her tail.
As more people milled through new pairs of eyes rested on the little woman. She tried not to may them any mind as she chatted and played with Joel. A few people rushed around to peer in the stroller and looked puzzled at the sight of Joel. One woman was staring quite blatantly. Jiao'lan gave her a straight look. "Yeh, gots a prob'em ma'am?" She asked dryly. Looked horrified that she'd been caught. "Ah'm watchin' me friend's boy fer 'er...stare a'meh all yeh wants...bu' leave 'im alone." She said coldly.
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Posted: Mon Apr 20, 2009 8:37 pm
Joel, of course, was oblivious to the stares of the adults, but he did enjoy looking at Jiao'lan's elaborate plumage. He grinned and waved his arms at her, making happy noises, including a couple raspberries. He didn't seem concerned that his mother was out of his line of sight for the moment. She would be back and anyways he had a friend!
Keeta stood in line, tapping her foot impatiently as she waited for her turn to order. Why did amusement parks always have the slowest lines for food? It was a frustrating truth she had learned in her few years living in Gaia, not that she often ate fast food. In fact, she usually made a point to avoid it, but as she heard a teacher once say, "you get what you get and you don't throw a fit."
She frowned at the menu trying to decide what to get and also wishing she had thought to find out what Jiao'lan wanted. For a moment she considered going over to ask, but when she turned and saw the line that had formed behind her, she gave up that notion. Seeing she was up next, she decided on two salads, hoping that wouldn't be objectionable. One Asian Chicken and one Garden Salad and Jiao'lan could pick the one she preferred. She just got some apple dippers for Joel. He wasn't eating tons of solid foods yet and with the promise of icecream and the cheerios she had stashed in the bag, it would be plenty.
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Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2009 4:31 pm
"O-Oh, I'm sorry." The woman said, stumbling over her words. Apparently the small, upset, bird-like woman made her uneasy. She walked away quickly. Jiao'lan looked to Joel and smiled warmly. "Yeh likes me feath'as dun'cha?" She asked with a light laugh as she put the tip of her tail within his grasp. It had the same plumage as the rest of her, only shorter. The woman wondered what he'd do. But he seemed awfully interested in her, so she didn't mind feeding his curiosity. She waggled the very tip of it and watched him.
Some business women, dressed in suits with briefcases took their seats in a booth very close to the one Jiao'lan and Joel were seated in. One took out a laptop and tapped into the Wi-Fi, while the others fusses with their blackberries and paperwork. Every now and again, a woman with long, curled black hair and olive skin would look at the pair. It wasn't a look of confusion but a look of happiness when she saw Joel. "Margo." One of her companions called and snapped her fingers. The woman snapped back to attention. "Oh, sorry...so...they wanted to close the escrow on the Olsen account, right?" She asked. The blond who had hailed her attention nodded. "Thanks for coming back to planet Earth." She quipped.
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Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2009 4:47 pm
Joel's eyes immediately became fixated on Jiao'lan's tail. What was this strange new thing moving in front of him? He became very still as he watched her twitch it around within his reach. After a moment, he tentatively reached out and gripped it with one hand. He grinned when he managed to capture it and wiggled a little in pleasure. His other hand joined the first, holding the twitching tail end and pulling it closer so he could look at it better.
Keeta arrived a moment or two later, carrying a precariously balanced tray with two salads, two bottles of water that didn't want to remain upright and a small package of apples. As she approached she was clearly mumbling something to herself.
".....have to make everything so expensive at these places. 250g for a bottle of water...."
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Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2009 5:04 pm
She beamed at Joel as he inspected her tail before attempting to gently poke his nose with the end of it. Out of the corner of her eye, Jiao'lan saw Keeta on her way back. She laid her bag in her lap and began to dig through it for her coin purse. Once finding the drawstring purse she laid it on the table. "Ah knows et. Dese places is such rip-offs." She agreed. "'Ow much was me share?" She asked. "Yeh sai' two hun'erd an' fifteh gol' fer de wat'a..." She spoke aloud, as if thinking.
For some reason she couldn't do the maths properly at the moment. "Ah tink me brain's gone on strike." She said with a chuckle as her stomach growled. "Actul'eh...Ah knows et did." She corrected herself. The woman was somewhat curious about what you could get to eat at such a greasy seeming place. Whatever it was, she hoped it wasn't dripping in oil. She wasn't sure her stomach could handle that at the moment.
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Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2009 5:18 pm
Joel squealed happily as Jiao'lan poked him, continuing to try and maintain a good grip on it. It was certain more fun than holding his other toy that didn't move on it's own. He enjoyed chewing on his other toy though. It felt good in his mouth. Hmmm....how would this feel? Joel brought the tip of the tail closer, attempting to get it into his mouth.
Keeta, unaware of what Joel was trying to do, set the food on the table as she slid into the seat.
"Eh....don't worry about the money yet, let's eat. I got you a salad, I hope that's ok? You can pick either one, I would be ok eaith either. I'm afaid I don't know what things you like to eat...." she trailed off uncertainly, hoping the fare was acceptable.
"One's a fancified garden salad and the other's dubbed the Asian Chicken Salad."
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Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2009 5:30 pm
Jiao'lan wasn't paying attention to Joel either. She felt his plump little fists on her tail but so long as he was happy, she was content as well.
The young woman nodded to Keeta. "Ah, dun care eith'a." She looked at the salads. The chicken seemed odd to her. She had never seen bird meat because her kind never ate them. "What kind'a meat es 'cheekin'?" She asked, unable to place the name. She blushed lightly feeling rather stupid.
The seasonings also smelled rather strong. Not bad, exactly...but different.
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Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2009 5:51 pm
Keeta blinked at Jiao'lan, at first confused by the question. Who didn't know what a chicken was? Then she remembered that her friend was no more from Gaia than herself. Mentally she pictured a chicken and was about to descibe it, when she realized what a stupid thing she had done. Her face paled and she tried to think of a way to water down the news.
How stupid could she be?! A chicken was a bird... it was just so automatic to think of them as food that she hadn't stopped to think of them in their living form. She bit her lip, trying to figure out how Jiao'lan might react to the news. Slowly she reached for the chicken salad, pulling it towards herself, figuing the other woman would want nothing to do with it.
"Erm....chicken is a kind of bird," she said quietly, cheeks red with embarassment.
It was at this moment that Joel managed to get Jiao'lan's tail in his mouth.
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Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2009 6:04 pm
Jiao'lan's eyes widened and she let out a slight yelp. Out of reflex her tail flew from Joel's mouth and hands and into her own. She picked up a napkin and dried it off. "Stron' bite..." She said sheepishly before what Keeta said had set in. "Et's...a...bir'..." She turned pale but tried to keep the look of horror off of her face. Eating a bird, to her, was like eating cows in India. It just didn't happen. Keikancho-Jin were very, very close to birds being half avian themselves.
She pulled the other salad closer to herself and popped off the lid. She just looked at it for a moment as if trying to decide wether she could eat. Her stomach was twisting and flopping. It would be like someone sitting down for a meal with Hannibal Lecter. Without taking her eyes off of her salad she reached for her bottle of water and unscrewed it before taking a sip.
Life here was very, very, very different.
She knew this now.
Jiao'lan swallowed a gob of spit that had collected in the back of her mouth. It had gone extreemly dry. So she picked up the dressing, opened it and squirted some onto the lettuce before mixing it in. She stabbed a mouthful and just looked at it, half way between her mouth and the bowl.
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Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2009 7:41 pm
Joel, of course, did not understand why the thing came flying out of his mouth and then disappeared. He blinked in confusion, before resorting to crying. Confusion was scary!
Keeta at first thought the yelp was in response to her statement, but soon figured out what happened when Jiao'lan began to wipe off her tail and Joel began to cry. As frustrating as it was to have your child cry in a public place, Keeta was glad of it at the moment, because it gave her an excuse to be occupied and delay further conversation for the moment. She hadn't missed how pale her friend had turned.
She pretended to fumble with the straps on the stroller, drawing it out as she 'rescued' her son. Joel was reaching for her with both arms, his crying already subsided some, but he still wanted comforting.
How could she be so stupid!?
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Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2009 8:02 pm
She still felt rather sick from the whole concept but lifted her eyes to Joel, her maternal side kicking into gear. "Oh, Ah'm sorreh, Joel..." She said, brows furrowing. Jiao'lan wasn't sure what she could do for him. Every time she looked toward them her eyes would be drawn to the sliced chicken breast and she shuddered.
The woman attempted to take a bite of salad again and managed to chew and swallow it before her stomach gave a giant lurch. She gagged out an "E'scuse meh." Before jumping to her feet and rushing to the lavatory.
She nearly ran over an elderly woman in the process and only make a croaking sound as she tried to apollogise as she zipped past her. She knelt in front of the toilet bowl and took deep, slow breaths to try and keep her food down. She wasn't sure if she was going to be sick, but she most certainly didn't want to chance getting ill in the lobby where everyone was trying to eat.
After a few minutes she decided she'd be able to keep everything in place. She pushed herself to her feet, and brushed herself off before walking to the washbasin and rising onto the balls of her feet to wash her hands before splashing a little cold water on her face.
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Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2009 8:48 pm
Joel had calmed down to the fussing stage, but Keeta didn't really notice. Her hands were just soothing him automatically. She sat down robotically and stared at nothing.
Stupid.Stupid.Stupid.Stupid..... The word was endlessly repeated in her head. She had actually made her friend want to throw up. She had sickened her to that point with her dietary habits. Would Jiao'lan even want to be her friend anymore?
After a couple moments, she noticed Joel had calmed and she returned him to the stroller. Her eyes found the food on the table and noted, with little surpise, that she was no longer hungry. With the way she had run to the bathroom, she didn't figure Jiao'lan was hungry either. Only bothering to save the apples and water, Keeta picked up everything else on the table and deposited in the nearest trashbin. She didn't believe for a minute that Jiao'lan would subscribe to the idea of out of sight, out of mind, but maybe it would make thing easier at least....
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Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2009 9:07 pm
A tiny bit of the colour had returned to Jiao'lan's face as she made her way back to the table. She slid into her side of the booth and unscrewed the cap on her bottle of water before taking a small sip of it. "Es Joel doin' bett'a?" She asked, her voice even, but quiet.
She looked to Keeta and then to her own hands which were resting on the table. There was a sort of static sound buzzing in her ears. There was so much to process in such a short amount of time. This was a completely different word from the one she grew up in. Apparently, eating birds was part of the local diet.
Keeta didn't know that eating birds would upset her, she reasoned. Afterall, she was half human as well as avian and her friend knew nothing of her culture or heritage. It wasn't on purpose. Yet, she stayed quiet.
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