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 Posted: Thu Dec 20, 2007 7:58 pm
_______Description
That's right! A story telling event. Since people have been so itching to write some stuff up, I'm giving you the opportunity to! This is the biggest of the events taking place this Scent Christmas, so please give it your all!
Your story must include your character doing something charitable for someone else this holiday season. Unbeknowest to them their charity was towards a renegade Scent that managed to appear because of Ment's habit to light things he shouldn't~.
Your piece can't be less than 500 words, but no more than 3,000. Make sure to use as much detail as humanely possible when describing said Scent, including what Scent it happens to be, it's name, features, personality etc. It is important. Make sure to use proper spelling, punctuation, grammar, etc. in this piece because it may count against you.
When your piece if finished, title it and post it in this thread. The submission deadline is the 28th of December. The pieces will than be read through and the winner announced on the 1st of January.
The prize?....The very Scent you helped this christmas season.
_______Entries
"Nutmeg Cookies" - Miss Faun
"Ichigo Kiss" - Silver Angel
"Break My Heart of Ice" - PandaLily
"Rainy Day (?) in Winter" - Tahoi
"Hats and Flowers" - Reina320
"Sena Tsubkura & The Cranberry Date Surprise!" - [kaleido]
"In a Lab On Holiday's Eve..." - Seiana_ZI <- WINNER
"Do Angels Like Hot Chocolate?" - NagisaKaoru
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Posted: Mon Dec 24, 2007 5:27 pm
I would like to enter. Here is my entry. Quote: "Nutmeg Cookies" I pulled my scarf tighter about my neck and rubbed my hands together in a useless attempt to summon even a momentary feeling of warmth. The blustery wind on the streets near my home seemed to swim through my coat and sweaters as if they were made of a thin mesh rather than thick layers of wool and cotton, leaving me with an unending shiver in my spine. ‘Great,’ I thought to myself, ‘Today is the perfect day to realize that you have one day left to get Christmas presents!’ In annoyance, I kicked a metal trash can on the side of the street, the satisfying clank I was expecting to hear as it bounced off of the pavement replaced with what sounded like someone or something whimpering. My curiosity piqued, I followed the path the trash can had taken, surprised at what I found where the can would have landed. Curled into a tight ball off to the side of the street was a tiny girl, stick thin, clad in what looked to only be a filmy dress of threadbare cotton. Her eyes darted up at me and I was shocked by the pale tan color of them, a color I was far from accustomed to seeing in someone’s eyes. “Are you lost sweetie?” I asked in a kind voice, extending a hand to her. One of her tiny arms stretched out to me and I noticed the uneven patches of freckles that coated the outer part of her lightly tanned arms. Surprisingly, as soon as her fingers touched mine she threw herself into my arms. I ran my fingers through her short mahogany locks in an attempt to comfort her, the calming scent of nutmeg drifting towards me. “Momma, lets go to the bakery.” I looked down at the girl, slightly confused. “Sweetie, I’m not-” “Nanette. My name’s Nanette.” “Nanette then. I’m not your mother dear. If you’re lost, I’ll help you find your mother…” “I’m not lost. You’re my mommy now. We can go and get some sweets together like all of the other Mommies and Daughters.” A stinging sensation surged through my chest at the thought of my own mother, who seemed to be the exact opposite of the kind of person that Nanette described. Never once had I gone to a candy shop or a bakery or any store of that kind with my mother, yet here was this young girl pulling me by my hand and rambling on about cakes and cookies. I couldn’t help but smile as we entered the small bakery. “What can I get for you two today?” The shopkeeper was a stout woman with a round childish face, the kind of person that looked like she enjoyed a good meal. “We have all sorts of pastries and breads to warm your heart.” I gave Nanette a questioning glance and she released my hand to go press her freckled nose against the glass of the counter. “Wow! There are so many different foods here!” The tiny waif buzzed around the room like a honey bee, her eyes taking in the food just as well as her nose. “I think…I want this one!” A thin finger pointed through the glass to a stack of nutmeg cookies, fresh from the oven. “They look really good.” I nodded to the shopkeeper and she took out two cookies with a sheet of parchment around them, then handed them down to Nanette. “Here, let me pay for those.” I stepped up to the counter and went digging through my wallet for loose change to cover the cost, but the shopkeeper shook her head. “On the house” she said softly. “For the holidays.” She pressed a chubby finger to her lips and waved me towards the door. “Come on Nanette, let’s go.” I glanced around the shop, but the girl was nowhere to be seen. Furrowing my brows in worry, I stepped out onto the street, my eyes darting to and fro to no avail. The girl was gone, the faint scent of nutmeg the only sign that she had even been there to begin with.
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Posted: Tue Dec 25, 2007 11:41 pm
"Ichigo Kiss"
The smell of sweet pastries and fresh roasted coffee beans permeated the air of the café, creating a warm, comfortable atmosphere for patrons to enter and enjoy a moment of relaxation from their hectic holiday shopping. In the lower section to the left of the main door, a young woman sat at a small carved table of dark wood, a large tote bag by her feet and a pair of blue steel knitting needles in her hands. Weaving around the rhythmic clacking of the needles was a string of satin blue yarn, drawing up and out of the patchwork tote bag on the floor. On the table was a glazed clay cup and saucer beside a porcelain teapot and a neat stack of knitted goods. The young lady finished a row in the scarf she was making and set it carefully in her lap, reaching up to take a sip from the steaming teacup before resuming her work.
When she looked up again, she noticed that snowflakes had just begun to fall, drifting lazily over the road, dancing around the street lamps, and brushing feathery tips against the windowpane before melting away. Smiling, Han-hui pressed her hand to the window by her table and shivered from its coolness. Suddenly, as if appearing from the very snow itself, she saw a little girl with bare shoulders and arms walk straight up to the window and peek in from outside. Startled, Han-hui sat back in her chair and withdrew her hand to her knitting. The figure outside the window stepped back and walked calmly in the direction of the door.
The tiny bell above the door rang, signifying the arrival of another customer. Han-hui looked anxiously up from her seat by the window, wondering if she would catch a glimpse of the child over the section's railing to assure her that she wasn’t seeing spirits. To her mild relief, the girl did indeed exist, soliciting the standard greeting from the cashier. The girl glanced around briefly before turning and descending the little stairs connecting Han-hui's section to the main level. At this point, Han-hui turned back in her seat and tried to focus once again on her knitting, but she heard soft footsteps approaching and looked up to see the little girl who had peeked through the window at her. Suppressing the impulse to jump in her seat, Han-hui smiled and offered a soft "Hello."
The girl's appearance was both striking and shocking. Her dark brown shoulder-length hair had red undertones, and it fell straight with straight bangs cut across her forehead. She had almond-shaped eyes which looked much larger and rounder than they were because of the calm yet wide-eyed, innocent look about them. Her feet were shod with white socks with red ribbon and white lace fringe in little white rounded shoes with thin buckled straps. The incredibly odd thing, however, was that she was wearing a white jumper dress without sleeves or a sweater underneath, and her shoulders as well as her pale cheeks and lips were red and chapped from the cold, yet she looked apparently unperturbed. "Hello," she returned in the clear crystal ring of a child’s voice.
"My goodness. Aren't you cold?" Han-hui couldn't help but wonder aloud, the needles in her hands frozen in mid-stitch.
"A little, but I don’t let it bother me," the little girl answered even as she sniffled faintly, tilting her head slightly to look at Han-hui's handicraft.
Noticing her interest, Han-hui held up her project for the girl to see better. "You see, I'm making a scarf," she said, gesturing to the other articles of knitwear on the table before continuing, "I'm going to take these down to the shelter and donate them to needy children." She smiled a little. "My name's Hanna. What's yours?"
"I don't know yet," the girl answered. "No one’s given me one."
How very odd! Han-hui kept thinking. Was the little girl a spirit, after all? But spirits ought to have names, too, right? "Would you like a seat, dear?" she offered presently as the child continued to watch her work the scarf.
"Thank you," the girl said politely, and sat in the chair across from Han-hui. Her gradually thawing nose was turning pink, and she wrapped her thin arms around her slender frame in an attempt to speed her warming.
Prickling with pity, the young woman quickly finished the blue scarf with a crochet hook and folded it on top of the stack. She rummaged in her tote bag, asking "Haven’t you got family around?" as she fished out a skein of white Angora yarn and a pair of skinnier needles.
"Not really," the little girl replied, still looking on with interest.
"Well, then, I suppose you haven’t got anyone to dress you, either?" said Han-hui, looping the yarn around the needles. The girl shrugged, a slight movement of her head and rosy shoulders. Han-hui shook her head. "I'd wonder who in their right mind would send a child out into the cold without a proper coat or something warm." She started knitting, the needles sliding and clacking rapidly as the soft white yarn ran up through them. The rhythmic sound and the warmth of the café soon put the little girl to sleep, head pillowed on arms resting on the table’s edge. Once Han-hui looked up and smiled, suddenly noticing a mysteriously faint smell of sweet strawberries.
When the sound of the knitting had stopped, Han-hui was gently shaking the girl's shoulder. The girl yawned discreetly, one hand over her mouth, and blearily leaned back against the wooden chair. Something fuzzy and white was thrust before her face, and the child looked up. "These are for you. Go on, take them," Han-hui said, earnestly. The little girl hesitantly accepted the items and found them to be two small, flat tubes of soft white cloth. "I'm not so skilled with knitting yet, but I thought you could use a pair of arm warmers."
The little girl blinked thoughtfully and said a soft "Thank you," pulling on one of the arm warmers, then the other. The white fur wraps reached up from her forearms all the way up to just above her elbows. The girl's face fairly glowed as she smiled up at Han-hui. "They're so very soft and warm," she remarked, and Han-hui beamed. At the same time, she became aware that the strawberry fragrance had strengthened, smelling more distinctly tangy and sweet, with a hint of something like wax. That's strange… Han-hui thought to herself. She can't be wearing perfume or I think I would have smelled it when she first came in. She sniffed the air appreciatively and stood up, the little girl echoing her movements. "Do you smell that...? I think they must have set out something new," Han-hui said to the girl, offering her hand. "Would you like a muffin?" The girl with the soft new arm wraps smiled charmingly and took her hand, following the young lady up the steps to the counter.
Having ordered a strawberry jelly danish, the pair returned to the table. The little girl unwrapped the pastry from its tissue paper and daintily took a bite. Han-hui smiled, eyes sparkling joyfully, as she watched the pretty child eat, and began to put the knitted scarves and hats into her patchwork bag. She got up to leave, and the little girl hastily jammed the last of the Danish into her mouth, bits of strawberry jelly staining her mouth. She followed Han-hui to the door, and the young woman hesistated. "I've got to drop off these clothes at the shelter," she said. "If you've got anyplace to be, you'd best be getting there."
A look of disappointment shadowed the sweet girl's face, and she looked as if she'd protest, but she nodded and smiled. "Thanks again, Miss Hanna," she said, before leaning up to plant a sticky kiss on Han-hui's cheek. She pushed open the door and skipped off into the snow, disappearing into a nearby shop. Still wondering whether she'd been visited by a little lost angel, Han-hui shook her head and went off toward the shelter, smelling of the strawberry kiss.
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Posted: Wed Dec 26, 2007 3:48 pm
Break my heart of Ice
This story begins with a simple scent known as Iced Grape. Some might know it as one of the newer scents available for purchase at a chain store called The Body Shop. But for a certain girl, it’ll change her life forever. It all starts with a young girl the age of 13 who was determined to be charitable this year…
Lily was that certain girl. She had never done charitable things before unless it was one of those school-wide events to help people. This year her mom let her go out by herself to collect her community hours. Today, she was going to wrap gifts and act like an elf for the local orphanage. Her friends from school were going to be there but she doubted that they’d keep their promise and make it there to help all the little kids. Lily got to the gift wrapping building where they would wrap for the young orphans. Lily didn’t see her friends or most of the people that had signed up to help out.
“Welcome everyone.” A lady’s voice boomed to everyone in the current room. “Today is not for profit but for happiness of many kids ages eight through twelve. I would like all the adults to wrap the oddly shaped gifts while the student volunteers to wrap the cube or rectangular boxes. We only have today so please work hard!” She finished up as she rushed away happily to her station to begin wrapping the oddly shaped stuffed animals and toys without boxes.
Lily walked to an empty cubicle space that provided wrapping paper, some gifts and just basically everything that she needed to use to wrap the box. She picked up a shoe box that was filled with a stuffed toy, some stationary and a small Kinder Surprise like toy. Lily took off the lid and wrapped it. She wrapped the bottom part of it and placed the lid carefully on top. It was wrapped at a B-grade level but it was topped with a ribbon that took away from the un-neat wrapping of the box itself. She took it and placed it to be carded and put into the loading truck. She continued to wrap boxes to the best of her ability until all of them were wrapped and had ribbon on them.
The lady dismissed them all and said that they could go home for the day, but she stopped Lily when she was going to pick up the community hours she would be getting by doing what she did today.
“Lily, could you stay and help deliver the presents?” The lady asked her. Lily shrugged and agreed to do it for no hours at all. She helped the lady load the truck and she sat in the passenger seat while the lady drove towards the orphanage a little ways away from the building.
They were there in a matter of seconds. The landlady of the orphanage was at the door waiting for them. She informed the two that all the orphans were away for the afternoon and that they would be delighted when they came back, looking foreword to presents. Lily helped them place gifts in stockings and under trees. The lady thanked Lily and gave her the hours that she earned for the day. Lily departed the orphanage and began her trek home. It was closer than from the gift wrapping building.
The air was frigid as the sun started to set at around four o’clock in the afternoon. Lily was minding her own business as a young boy ran up to her. He had come from inside the orphanage. It seemed that he was the only kid who was in the building but was out of sight when she had placed the gifts inside.
He scoffed at her as he swung his head to the side, making his long purple hair swing to the side. Lily’s face winced a bit as she wanted to just burst out at this boy who seemed to have a heart of ice. ’So this is what I get for volunteering today. Why must things never go around and come around?’ Lily complained to herself.
The young boy looked at her with a look that seemed not content. It was like he had something against Lily or something. Lily thought this boy was a pigment of her imagination but then she smelled a faint grape scent. It was accompanied with a frosty side that seemed to be as cold as the air around them. Lily stepped aside and continued her way, but was stopped by a rude little raspberry that was aimed toward her.
“What goes around comes around you know.” Lily said as she turned around and blew a raspberry back to the young boy. “And tie up that hair. It’s a disgrace to men.” She retorted to him before trotting off in a mess of fury.
“None of your business!” He yelled back with the burning dislike of losing to anyone as he tied his hair up with an icy blue ribbon. Lily didn’t look back or even respond. She was okay with losing to a little kid who she didn’t know. But she felt a small hand grab onto the back of her shirt. She looked back to see the boy holding her shirt in a discontented way.
“Look here mister, I’m n-“Lily started but was cut off. “Oliver. The name’s Oliver.” He spat out sharply that cut through Lily’s heart like a blade of ice.
“Fine, Oliver. I’m not your mom, so you can’t just CLING to strangers.” She told him trying to get the end of her shirt back.
“No, but you’re my NEW mom. So congrats, it’s a boy.” He said in a smart aleck tone.
“Hey, I never agreed to be your mom or sibling for that matter.” Lily said as her shirt got free from the young boy smelled of faint grapes.
Oliver's face was denying the fact that Lily didn't want to be with him. “It’s not your choice!” He shouted as he was on the verge of tears. But his words cut as sharp as his previous ones. Lily was stopped in her tracks of retorts. “I don’t got a home. So you got to take me in…” He said in his burning passion of hate for the orphanage and the kids in it.
Lily felt sorry for this young boy who was family-less for the holiday season. “Okay, Lets go home, Oliver.” She said softly with a smile as she wrapped an arm around Oliver’s shoulder.
“Doesn’t mean I’m going to be nice now.” Oliver said as he unwillingly returned her gesture with a warm hug.
’With your welcoming arms, please melt my heart of ice…’
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Posted: Wed Dec 26, 2007 4:35 pm
Rainy Day (?) in Winter
Watching the child at the corner, Kier couldn’t help but marvel at what was either someone’s sheer stupidity or the child’s own imperviousness to the cold. While it was true that jeans and a green turtleneck shirt were a good choice of clothes, they alone still shouldn’t be enough to keep one warm...right? As far as Kier could tell, the girl’s clothes weren’t layered, so--approaching the girl, Kier caught her attention and rubbed her arms, tilting her head inquisitively. Wasn’t she freezing?
The girl mimicked her movements absently, cloudy grey eyes looking curiously up into her own. They stood staring at each other for a few minutes. When it became clear that Kier would not speak up, the girl kicked a clump of snow uncertainly with one booted foot, saying, “Hey, lady, whatcha doing? Are you cold, lady?”
Kier shook her head, eliciting a surprised response. “But you’re rubbing your arms, lady; doesn’t that mean you’re cold?”
Smiling slightly, Kier shrugged. Indicating her thick coat, then pointing at the girl’s lack thereof, Kier rubbed her arms and tilted her head again, raising her eyebrows. Realization slowly dawned on the child’s face. Clapping her hands together, she blurted, “Oh, you mean am I cold, right?” Grinning at the nod she got in response--she got it right!--her expression took on a pondering look. Shaking her head, she fixed her dark brown, near black hair, parting her bangs down the middle and clipping them up on each side with a small teardrop shaped clip. That done, she paused and shook her head again, saying slowly, “Well, actually, I guess...kinda. But yanno, it’s okay; it’s really pretty out here and I-I-hachoo!” She sneezed violently, causing Kier to start forward. Before the child could continue, Kier had already bundled her up in her coat and scarf and was pulling her away from the spot.
She stumbled and nearly fell in surprise, but it was not long before she was keeping pace beside Kier. At first, amiable, if somewhat perplexed silence formed between them, stretching on for a few blocks. Then: “Hey lady, where’re we going?” Kier smiled down at her, placing a finger to her lips. “Mm, you don’t talk much do you, lady?” Kier chuckled silently. Well, that was one way of thinking about it... Ruffling her hair--short in the back and long bangs in the front, how funny--Kier grinned when they came within sight of a clothing store. This one would do nicely.
“Hey, lady, what’re we doing here? It’s nice and warm ‘n all, but this is like that place where I went to a while before, where these guys were like ‘hey you, what’re you doing all by yourself, ahh don’t touch that!’ Right around then, I kinda sorta knocked over these weird headless statue-things-with-clothes--I didn’t mean to though! And when I did that they turned weird colors--a bit like tomato soup, actually. It was a nice color, but I dunno if it was healthy for them.” Pausing for a moment to giggle, she added, in afterthought, “And I found out my name was Yu ‘cuz that’s what they kept calling me, so that’s my name, I think.” Yu smiled so sunnily at this conclusion that Kier was at a loss for a response. Oookayyy. Well. That was...special. Coughing discreetly, Kier led her over to the children’s section.
Yu raised her eyebrows at their destination, rocking back on the balls of her feet. “Hey lady, what’re we doing here? Are you going shopping, lady? ‘Cuz if you are, I think all these are too small for you.” Kier grinned merrily, shaking her head. Kier pointed first at Yu, then gestured at the clothes racks in a sweeping motion. She gave Yu a moment to interpret her motions while she opened her wallet, counting up her money. It ought to be enough, though she might have to get presents another day... Hearing a quiet gasp of understanding, Kier looked down at the child beside her, raising her eyebrows. Yu looked up at her, saying, “Wait, wait, you mean I’m going shopping? You’re going shopping for me?” At Kier’s nod, Yu tilted her head inquiringly, one hand twirling the bangs framing her face. “Why?”
Kier shrugged, smiling warmly. She pointed at Yu, rubbed her arms, and pretended to shiver.
“Because...I...was cold?”
Kier nodded. Yu stared, dumbstruck. Then, smiling brilliantly, she gave Kier a hug.
+++
Several discarded sweaters and strange special observations later, Kier found herself wondering what in the world a store was doing with a raincoat in the winter. And why, out of all the things in the store, Yu wanted this one most of all. It wasn’t warm enough, and it was too big, and--and tugging on the sleeve, Kier found herself pinned down with a hopeful, bright-eyed look. In an instant, any thoughts built up against the coat dissipated. It wasn’t so bad, Kier supposed. True, the sleeves went beyond the girl’s fingertips and the hem came down close to her ankles, but...it wasn’t bad. Just...a little odd, but in a way, so was she. Besides, the coat would be supplemented by other things, sweaters, a scarf maybe. And, watching Yu flit back and forth through the racks, Kier supposed it was fitting--it matched the scent she kept catching, a scent that reminded her of most of rainy days. Shrugging, Kier sighed and smiled to herself. Ah, whatever. As long as she was kept warm under that coat, it was fine.
+++
“Hey, lady?”
Kier looked down at her newly bundled-up friend, raising an eyebrow. Yu held onto her hand, swinging it back and forth as they walked. The way to Kier’s home was remarkably quiet in the late afternoon; the only sound to be heard was the snow crunching under their boots. Yu lapsed into silence for a moment, closing her eyes to follow some pleasant train of thought.
“Thanks.”
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Posted: Thu Dec 27, 2007 12:22 pm
Hats and Flowers
The five of us watched as a person walked up to the gate of one of the Court of Nobles’ places. At once Anna and Eva made bets on what would happen. Anna said that the small child would just be told to go away nicely; she had too much kindness put into the Nobles. Eva on the other hand thought they might send a dog or two onto them. Amy stood behind me, asking why someone would even go to a Noble’s home in the first place while Reina leaned against a mail box, complaining about how she needed to get down to the docks soon and what we where waiting for. I studied the person, a girl, from where we stood across the road. She wore a yellow-orange long sleeve dress that ended at her knees and no shoes despite the cold and snow we had on the ground. I shivered while standing there and pulled my hat around closer to my face.
At the sudden sound of a dog barking, the girl ran away from the gate of the mansion at once. Amy yelped and clung to my shoulder tightly, muttering about wanting to go home. Reina stood up and started to walk down the street, saying she was going now, while Eva grinned and was paid money by Anna for winning the bet. “Let’s go shopping!” The blond girl said happily, heading off away from the icy waters that Reina had to work near. Amy called off to the vampire to be home by seven for dinner before running off to catch up with her two sisters. Standing there all alone, I looked to where the girl had once been standing and stared at the spot. Something about her was biting at me. A gust of wind smacked into me, almost knocking me over. When I got my surroundings, I noticed my new hat flying on the wind.
“Oh no!” I yelled, watching as it flopped down in the Noble’s yard. With that it was gone for sure. The three girls called back to me, telling me to hurry up.
---
Somehow, before we went shopping we ended up at The Gilded Lily. It always amazed me that the shop owners had so many flowers in bloom even in the winter. While the girls all looked over the menu for sweet things, I looked off to the blooming array of flowers. ‘Oh my gosh!’ I thought suddenly, snapped out of my moment of boredom. The girl from the house was inside of the shop! Calling to the three that I had to use the rest room, I dashed inside to get a closer look at the girl.
At the moment she was sniffing a flower, unaware of those around her. I ducked behind a stand of lilies and noticed the girl had brown hair. From my angle it looked like her hair was a dark-dark brown from behind and cut very short, not even going past her ears. She turned for a moment and I got a better look at the light skinned girl’s face. The front of her hair, her bangs, were a much lighter brown than the back and grew longer as well; framing her young face. Her eyes stared right at me, a pure white color without a pupil. I was frozen for a moment when I saw this, then shook my head of it.
“Reb, the bath room isn’t here.” Amy’s voice snapped me out of the deer-in-the-headlights state I was in and forced me to turn and look at her.
“I know.” I muttered, glancing back to the girl. But she was gone again. I walked past Amy over to where the girl had been, looking at the flowers she had sniffed. “Amy, what sort of flowers are these?” I asked.
The little elf girl came up beside me. “I think they’re vanilla, Reb, why?” she asked, leaning over my shoulder.
I shook my head and took three of them. “No reason.” I answered, before going to the counter and buying them.
---
Eva and Anna soon bid us ado like Reina had, the two shopping together. Amy and I walked all around until we ended up in Cyrus Square on a bench. Amy chatted happily about all kinds of gifts she might be getting while I looked off into space. My companion’s talking suddenly stopped and I felt a tugging on my arm. I turned and saw the white eyed girl starring up at me with my hat on her head. I fumbled with the flowers and my balance, and finally losing second, falling to the ground with a thump. Seeing stars for a moment, I slowly sat up, in time to see the little girl picking up the flowers; they must have fallen.
She smiled happily holding out the flowers. “Dropped these!” the girl chimed in a melodic voice.
I smiled to her and took the flowers, saying nothing about my hat.
“Hey, that’s Reb’s-” Amy started to say but I gave her a look to stop.
Taking back the flowers, I started to speak fast as to keep the girl there. “Thank you very much, um…What did you say your name was?” I asked her while I stood up. I put a hand behind her shoulder and lead her to the bench to sit.
“Kaori.” She answered, plopping down on the wood. Nodding my head I introduced Amy and myself to her. She bobbed her head up and down in understanding or maybe just to mock me.
The three of us sat in silence for a long moment, Amy seeming to be on edge with this small child here. Maybe she was jealous.
Kaori kicked her feet back and forth, smiling while she sat there. I looked to her and offered the girl the slightly crushed flowers. “You where smelling these at The Gilded Lily, right?” I asked.
She took one with sparkling eyes and hugged me. “Thanki Rebbie!” She said happily, then sat back and took off my hat. Kaori held it back out to me. “Sorry.”
I shook my head. “No, keep it, Kaori, you must be cold.” As we spoke Amy jumped up and ran to greet Anna and Eva who had returned from shopping.
Kaori looked fearful as the other two girls came and dropped my hat in my lap, getting up and running off. I watched as she left and looked to the black piece of cloth. Sighing, I placed it on my head, stopping when I smelled something different about it. It smelled like vanilla and brown sugar. Yum, I loved that smell. The vanilla must have come from the flowers, but where did the brown sugar come from?
“Hey Reb, those are really pretty Orange blossoms.” Anna comment as she and Eva came back, arms full from shopping.
“Orange blossoms?” I repeated, looking down to the last two flowers in my lap. “I thought these were vanilla…”
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Posted: Thu Dec 27, 2007 5:52 pm
Sena Tsubkura & The Cranberry Date Surprise! When she wasn't lounging around her parents' estate, attending the A-list galas or bossing her servants around, Sena enjoyed going to the library. With the advent of electronic games and personal computers, fewer and fewer people bothered picking up books, so the library was a perfect place to kick back and read without being disturbed. Winter vacation had arrived, and library was devoid of life with the local university students home for the holidays. Despite the library staff's best efforts to make the library a festive place, virtually no one bothered with the elaborate, and surprisingly extensive, collection of holiday books on display. "What a complete waste of holiday cheer," Sena said with disappointment laced in her tone. Absent mindedly plucking up a book from the display, she broke into a genuine, girlish smile. In her hands, she held a copy of one of her favorite childhood, scratch-and-sniff books: Happy Scentmas! Sniffing Your Way Through the Winter Holidays! However, being the lady she was, she certainly couldn't stick her nose in a book with the possibility that someone might see her. Sena Tsubokura, if nothing, had a reputation to uphold. Scanning the room and not seeing another person in sight, she stole a sniff at the bowl of cranberry sauce on the cover. "Oh God, something's never change," Sena reveled, quickly drawing the book away before anyone saw her. Scoping out the room, she hurried to a corner sofa and flopped down like an excited child. Kicking off her heels, she prepared to indulge in zero-calorie, holiday bliss. The spine of the book creaked lightly. Obviously there were other sniffers about as it didn't have the stiffness of negligence. Looking over her shoulder a last time to make sure she was completely alone, she turned to the first page: sweet potato pie. Finely manicured nails scratched at the familiar spot on the page. However, the scent that rose wasn’t the caramel and marshmallow sweetness of oven fresh sweet potato pie. Like the cover, it smelled liked cranberries. "Perhaps the book is older than I thought," Sena sighed, turning the page to find a gorgeous spiced pear and apple pie. She scratched again, and again she was greeted with cranberries. Turkey and stuffing? No, cranberries. Mashed potatoes and gravy? Still, cranberries. Sena plowed through the book, page by page, and every last one of them reeked of cranberries, and some other fruit that she couldn’t identify. Her frustrated sentiment echoed through the vacant library, "What in Santa's knickers is with all the blasted cranberries?!" "You gotta problem with cranberries, old lady?!" a voice challenged back, with equal balances of sugar and spice, but not completely nice. From beside the sofa, a girl with pigtails of burgundy popped up to stare at her with wide chestnut brown eyes. Her cheeks were puffed out in a mixture of bittersweet sadness with a little smattering of tartness on the side. "Only when they prevent me from enjoying one of my favorite books, yeah," Sena retorted tapping her finger on the picture of the honey-roasted ham that smelled suspiciously like cranberries. The delicate tone from her voice lightly shifted to the husky, dark one she saved for her attendants, but with a playful, Italian mobster flair to it. "And don't call me old. My name is Sena, and I will have you know that I am well under Christmas Cake Age, thank you very much. What’s your name, kid?""I don't have one, Sena," the child pouted tartly, leaning on the armrest and narrowing her eyes at Sena before her. The rich scent of cranberries and dates filled the air, forcing Sena's brow to quirk in interest. Taking a deep breath, the debutante realized that the child was responsible for the corrupted scratch-and-sniff book. Propping her chin up with her on the palm of her hand, Sena's violet eyes looked at the child with mild curiosity. Light freckles dotted the child’s lightly browned skin, and rose tinted her cheeks, accentuating her sassy pout. Despite the puffed chipmunk cheeks, the debutante saw vast amounts of potential in the little girl, especially with her cute beret tipped to one side, simple pleated shirt and sailor-style top. A wicked smile crept across the Mafioso princess' lips. It had been ages since she played with a doll, but as fate would have it, the holiday really brought out the child within Sena. "Well, my dear, a dignified lady cannot go about without a name to leave people talking about. It's simply not done. How are people supposed to gossip enviously about you? First things first, we shall select a name. Something memorable and appealing," Sena said with delight, tapping the child lightly on the nose to emphasize her point. The child wrinkled her nose, thoroughly enjoying the woman's plotting. Since she'd snuck away people merely treated her like another homeless orphan, but the flashy, overdressed lady acting like Queen of the Children's Section actually took an interest in her. "Cranberries and dates are appealing!" the child rejoiced enthusiastically, tugging on her dark pink scarf beneath the light brown sailor collar. "Yes, but it should be a unique name, and not associated with food," Sena said matter-of-factly, wagging her finger lightly, but nodding in appreciation of the child's brave effort. Sitting up, she scanned the nearby shelves, and found a high fashion magazine. Walking over, she plucked it up and flicked through the pages of clothing and accessory designers, until she reached the page of one her favorites, she turned the magazine to show the picture of gorgeous accessories and a classy lady in the margin, "This, my protégé, is Ms. Vivienne Westwood, a true class act. When I look at you, you have the same class, sass, and lively attitude that her line of products embodies," Sena lectured, pointing to the luxury retail goods with a neatly manicured fingernail. Touching the girl's chin, she tilted the child's face up to the light. "Do you really think I am all those things?" the child said with wide, doe eyes. Clasping her small hands to the woman's, a classic smile worthy of a young Audrey Hepburn crossed the fruity child. "I really, really like it. Vivivivienne," she purred, throwing her arms akimbo and cocking a hip to the side spunkily. "Vivienne. There's only two Vi's, but we can call you Vivi or Vienne for short," Sena said, giving a sage nod and returning the magazine to the rack gingerly. Holding her hand out, she motioned back to the sofa. Sitting down, Sena motioned for Vienne to sit beside her. Opening her designer handbag, the woman took out a rather sizable cosmetics bag that simply didn’t seem like it would fit in such a small bag. Now their first order of business was behind them, the debutante decided it was make over time for little Vivienne. "Wow! Are those all yours? What are you going to do with all that?" Vivienne asked, poking her nose into the bag excitedly, but keeping her fingers lightly wrapped around the edge of the cosmetics bag. Ever last piece was a famous name brand and more expensive than the child's imagination could calculate. "Are you a princess or something, Sena?""Something like that, Vienne," Sena said, picking through the bag systematically and holding up shade after shade to the child's complexion. Initially, many of the colors clashed as Vivienne's complexion was darker than her own. Thankfully, she managed to find some light neutrals that would be the icing on the small girl's cake. With the natural cranberry glow in Vivi's golden brown cheeks and lips, the main focus of her makeover would be bringing out the child's deep brown eyes. Wisps of shimmering white and plum eye shadow and a hint of silver eyeliner brought Vivienne's warm eyes to life effortlessly. After applying a light, iridescent gloss to the cranberry lips, she held a mirror up for her client’s approval, "What do you think, Miss Vivienne?""Is that really me? I feel like a princess in a dream," Vivi gasped, fluttering her eyelashes as if attempting to wake from a dream. Pulling her bangs from her eyes, she giggled heartily from her soul, easing a smile onto Sena's face. Catching sigh of the brush on the debutante's lap, Vivienne yanked the ribbons from her hair, letting her rich curls tumble down her back loosely. The shelves of books blurred and her skirt billowed as Vivienne spun a couple of graceful pirouettes before sitting down again with her ribbons clutched in her hands. "Smart girl. One's hair style should match their ensemble and makeup accordingly," Sena commended the girl, running her slender fingers through the Vienne's lush curls, untangling them easily. Deciding where to part Vivi's hair, Sena used the tail of her comb to draw a straight, clean part in the curls. Drawing her bangs back, save for a couple of loose curls to frame Vivienne's face, Sena braided the top half of the hair and coiled it into an ornate bun. Taking one of the ribbons, she fastened the bun in place, leaving the rest of the gorgeous curls to hang freely. "Perfect. It’s a style which suits a classy, young lady like yourself, Vivienne.""Thank you so much, Sena! This has been so much fun," Vivienne said, touching her hair lightly, as if it were fragile crystal. Tears welled up in the corners of her eyes, but before they could roll down her freckled cheeks, Sena quickly dabbed them with a handkerchief. After all that work, it would be a waste for some happy tears to go and ruin it all. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but operating hours are now over," the librarian said, rather heartbroken to interrupt the two girls' conversation. "It's no trouble at all. I'll take all those over there, and we’ll be on our way. I hear home baked cookies calling our names anyway," Sena said, motioning to the entire Christmas book display absently as she packed her purse up and slipped her heels back on. Vivienne rose up, imitating Sena’s graceful mannerisms including how she smoothed her skirt and slipped on her shoes. Taking Sena's hand by her own volition, the spicy tot wrinkled her nose at the debutante again. "You're going to bake cookies? Don't princesses have people who do that for them?" Vivienne giggled, entwining her little fingers in Sena's as they followed the librarian to the check-out counter. Sena couldn't help but cackle right out at Vivi's brazenly accurate commentary about her fantastic action plan. "Yes, yes we do, but unlike other princess, I frost my own cookies," she said taking the large stack of books in one arm, motioning her for driver and the doorman to get their lazy, overpaid rears out of the car to fetch the rest of them with a simple snap of her fingers. Vivienne gawked as the men hurried, double-time up the walk: one to quickly take the books from Sena's arms and the other to relieve the poor librarian of all the additional books on the cart. For all her sass, the child was rendered speechless by the power Sena wielded over her father's henchmen. "I'll show you how to do that, too."
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Posted: Fri Dec 28, 2007 10:47 am
"In a Lab on a Holiday's Eve..."
If there was one thing that she found incredibly boring, it was mixing chemicals. She was a doctor, not a chemist! Yet, there she was, in the lab, mixing chemicals in a vain attempt to find a cure for the newest strain of flu. It was the holidays! She shouldn’t be sitting there, laboring away in a lab! Sure, she had no one in particular that she was eager to go home to, but a relaxed night with her elderly dog sounded like a fine way to spend the eve of the holidays.
Dr. Azalea Brick sighed, placing a test tube in a holder over a burning fire from a Bunsen burner. If she could get that chemical to the right temperature, maybe she could force it to fuse with some lithium… or something. At this point, Dr. Brick doubted it would do much good, but she was feeling pessimistic at being stuck in a lab at such a ridiculous time of year.
“Ma’am?” The poor doctor practically jumped right out of her pants. She grabbed the test tube right out of its holder and pointed it menacingly in the direction of the voice. When she saw the face of a pouting child, Azalea slowly lowered it. “Ma’am! I just thought you could use this.”
The invader got on its feet and made its way over to Azalea. It set a beaker in her hand, containing a strange compound unfamiliar to her. She observed it in confusion, before making her way over to the microscope. Perhaps this … thing was onto something. Azalea glanced over to it in confusion, before placing a sample in a dish and placing it under her light microscope.
“Well, I’ll be! You already fused the element with my compound! How--?!” Azalea cut herself off, looking back at the child. It, as Azalea saw it since it had no distinguishable gender, just shrugged. “Where did you come from, anyway?”
“I don’t know, ma’am. I just appeared one day! I went towards the place that smelled the most familiar. A hospital smells really familiar, ma’am. Not sure why, but it does. So I found myself here.” Now when Azalea thought of it, she had noticed that the child smelled a bit like a typical sterile doctor’s office. She was not totally sure why; perhaps the child had dug into one of the offices and had used something to wash itself.
Azalea turned her light microscope off and ventured closer to get a better look. The child was pristine. She could have wiped one of those dirt-sensitive cloths all over it, and not come up with a solitary spec. While she wondered how the child kept itself so clean, that question was soon answered by the package of hand wipes it took out of its pocket. It then wiped Azalea’s face. “You’re all sweaty and nasty. Let me fix that.”
She knit her brows. “Uh, thanks.” As the child cleaned her sweatiness off, she took the chance to take a closer look at the gregarious one. The hair on the young thing was already white. At least no one would notice when it greyed. There was nothing there that could possibly grey. It was kept tidy in a hair-cut that remained very close to its head. The hair was very straight, and only reached the nape of the child’s neck. Its skin was not much darker. If the child tried hard enough, it could probably blend in with the notepad that was lying on Azalea’s work bench. The eyes were a lush, fertile green of the forest, and perhaps were the child’s most distinguishable feature. She imagined they were only so green because the child represented medicine, which was supposed to help people blossom. …Or something like that. After all, Azalea was never one for poetry or idealistic things.
The child grinned. “There you go, ma’am.” This child was very polite. It kept calling her “ma’am,” and very few people did that these days. Azalea liked that. “You look lots better now!”
Since the child was being so nice, Azalea was beginning to feel a bit bad about mentally referring to it as an ‘it.’ Perhaps she should use one of those gender neutral pronouns for it. Xe, that was it. This child was not an it, but a xe. And Azalea would show xir the kindness that xe seemed to lack in xir life. After all, what kind of child would be in a hospital for comfort on the eve of the holidays? “Well, thank you, dear. Do you have a name?”
Xe thought carefully. After a few minutes, xe shook xir head. “Nah. I like the name Phoenix, though. It’s a bird that rises from ashes and makes new life. That’s sort of what medicines do, right? They make the person recover from their sicknesses and have new, sparkling life!”
This child was strangely charming. Azalea chuckled. “Well, you certainly know more about the legend than I do. Phoenix it is, then.” Without the child’s consent, she scooped the young one up. Squealing, Phoenix giggled and clung to xir new mother. “Well, Phoenix, I think I’ve done enough work for today. Don’t you?”
The child only giggled, nodding. This was fun! Xe liked being so high off the ground.
“Then let’s go home. But first, I’m going to go get you a birth certificate. So it’s more official.” She set the child down so she could put away the more volatile chemicals, but left the rest out for the next shift to take over. Then, she scooped the child back up and headed for the door.
While they were heading towards the door, the cheerful child suddenly became confused. Xe tilted xir head. “Home?” Dr. Brick nodded, kissing the child’s nose. Phoenix began giggling in response, squirming a bit on the doctor’s arms.
“Yes, dear. We’re going home. You can met ol’ Zander when we get there.”
“Oh, goodie! I can’t wait to meet Zander! Is he cool?”
With a chuckle and a nod, Azalea headed out the door.(( Yes, this scent exists. Proof here. It's possible to order a "medicinal" scent from that page. ))
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Codebreaking Conversationalist
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Posted: Sat Dec 29, 2007 10:27 am
Do Angels like Hot Chocolate?
The cold frost nipped at the body of a young man as he walked down the frosty lane with a brightly colored festive bag under his arm. The sweet tune of "Silver Bells" streamed past his hidden lips. A scarf of ivory white was wrapped tightly around the man's face obscuring all his facial features from view with exception of his emerald green eyes. The wind tossed his short scruffy brunette hair around his head like a halo. As he made his way through the crowd, the orphanage came into view. With an inward smile, the man hopped the stairs and pushed past the oak wood doors and into the old orphanage.
Inside it smelled strongly like some kind of Christmas scented Oust. The man took off his scarf and heavy winter coat and hung them on the rack placed near the door. A bright green and red banner read, "Welcome Angels!" He walked to the sign in booth. He signed his name in a swirling hand. "Welcome Mr. Simon."
Simon walked over to the gathering crowd of orphans and angels and looked for a child that didn't have an angel to receive a gift from. Through all the laughter and the merry faces, Simon saw one that just didn't look happy. All the other children either didn't see the lone boy, or chose to ignore him. None of the other adults saw the boy sitting by the lit fireplace at all. With a soft smile, Simon approached the boy.
An overwhelming scent of milky chocolate washed over Simon. He breathed in the scent deeply with a sigh as he exhaled. The boy turned his celestial blue eyes suddenly to Simon. "Sir," the boy's songbird voice asked, "Is there something you need from me?"
The boy was beautiful with his ebony black skin and his pale silver hair. A single strand of chocolate brown hung in his face, slightly obscuring the boy's right eye from view. A white cross marking peeked from the boy's forehead. A red spider mark took up the middle of his chest. His braid draped over his shoulder and ran gently to the small of the boy's back. The scent of hot chocolate seemed to be emitted from the boy.
"My name is Simon. What's yours?" the man asked holding out a hand. The boy stared. "I'm... Dinin. Din for short," the boy sweetly replied, though his face was cold. "Are you drinking something?" Simon asked out of curiosity. "No." Simon was confused. He smelled hot chocolate, but there was no hot chocolate. The boy suddenly grasped Simon's hands with his gloved ones. The velvet green cape around the boy's shoulders gave a different idea about the boy other than 'orphan'. The young lad looked more like royalty. His cloths and the way he carried himself were very regal.
Hesitating a bit, Simon extended the Christmas-covered bag. "I'll be your angel for today. Here. A Christmas present from me to you," the man said to Dinin. The ink black hands released themselves from Simon's left and closed on the bag. "For me? Are you sure?" Dinin asked. With a tender nod, the bag was pushed deeper into Dinin's grasp. The scent of hot chocolate blazed as if excited. The ebon boy dug through the layers of red and green tissue his eyes growing wider and wider with each sheet. Finally, he pulled out an teddy bear with an angel's wings and halo. "Thank you, Simon," the boy gasped before vanishing up the stairs to play with his new friend. Simon went to follow, but Dinin had all but disappeared, not to be found in any of the rooms. "He'll return. I'm sure of it," Simon sighed hopefully. He had taken a liking to the small ebony boy. He sat to wait for the small boy on the stair that led to the rooms until darkness fell across the orphanage. Just as he went to leave, he smelled a strong smell of creamy hot chocolate in the cold night.
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