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 Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2007 4:54 pm
Standing infront of the Quan-family owned tea house and cafe was a dashing youth of about eighteen winters dressed in a waiter's garbs. His dark hair had been combed back nicely with either a copious amount of water or gel, but unfortunately one stubborn lock draped over his forehead, and he toyed with it constantly.
"Hey, poster boy." A snicker caught the young man's attention and for once, Yue wasn't fast enough to catch his younger brother as Thomas ran by and swerved away. "Mum needs you again in the kitchen. I'm going home!"
"Meeting Suri, eh?" Yue smirked, hearing a distance but distinct voice shout out his name, as his brother stuck out his tongue at him.
It was the eve of Tanabata, the Star Festival when girls and boys both wrote up their wishes on poem-cards and hang them about. Already the street was decorated with lanterns of every shade possible and Yue realized, as he walked into the cafe where some older customers still lingered, that the shop was by no means under-decorated. Pots of lucky bamboo wrapped in silver and gold strings were on every table, and red lanterns dangled from the ceiling where wish cards already dangled.
"I wish for a battle doll." Yue-Long smiled as he recognized his younger sister's handwriting, thinking of his own doll.
Maybe he ought to buy one for Miya and Bella, but they're already spoiled enough.
He glanced outside again, and saw that the sky was already glorious with fiery clouds, the rising breathes of a hidden dragon. He looked at his watch one last time as he stepped into the kitchen, where he received the unfortunate news that he was doomed to work overtime - but the boss, as well as his mother, was firm and unrelenting. At least she agreed to let him to change into festival clothing before going back to work. Now, dressed in a dark bronze yukata, with black lining at the collar and sleeve cuffs, and then light tan cranes dancing over his body. An obi of stiff bronze silk was tied around his waist, and as he stood with his cheek resting against one palm at the counter, his wooden sandal clicked steadily against the floor. A stack of wish cards was lying besides him, with an ink brush - it was for the customers that walked in, but Yue was tempted to write a wish for himself. His cellphone was besides him as well - he was waiting on a call from Deuce, as usual. Despite the fact that it was after his normal hours at the Deuce mansion as well, Deuce had said something about seeing the tanabata festival earlier.
"Hello, welcome to Symphonia Cafe," he said with a stab at cheerfulness as the bells on the door dinged, announcing the entrance of a new customer.
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Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2007 6:00 pm
Kylie's hair stood out like flame against the back drop of the night sky as she stepped through the door of Cafe. A golden and red kimono top clung to her body as the pictured phoenixes swarmed together on it. The new dark jeans and red boots finished her outfit and as always she had her red and black messenger bag slung across her body. As she entered the cafe she quickly tried to brush a few stray hairs back into their place behind her ears and straighten out her outfit. It was the eve of the festival alright and the streets were already filling with those that were going to be attending. She smiled at the boy who had greeted her even though the slight weariness showed on her face. She had been staying up late to work on costume ideas for Miyu and was only here because she had promised her younger sister Layla that she would.
"Hi. Do I just sit anywhere or should I wait to be seated?" Kylie finally said, still trying to tame the bright red streaks that seemed to be crisscrossing her face in their own intricate patterns.
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Posted: Thu Aug 16, 2007 11:05 am
Following Kylie in was a family of four. An older woman, Demetri, and his parents. The older woman, his mother's mother, had dragged them all out for the festival that Demetri and his father didn't really understand. Even his mother didn't really want to be out. Demetri felt rather uncomfortable in the dress-like thing his grandmother had given him for the occasion. If anyone saw him like this he'd never live it down. Luckily they were pretty far from the teenage haunts. He appreciated the beauty of the dark cloth and the silver pheonix on the back were very appealing, but it just seemed so much like a dress. His father had flat out refused to wear one, and his mother looked radiant in hers. He supposed he looked alright, but it didn't make him look manly in the least. The cranky old bat wouldn't have forgiven him if he'd refused though, so he was stuck.
He looked up at Yue. Now here was a guy that could wear this thing and pull it off. It didn't look the least like a dress on him. He wondered silently how he did it. Looking over the girl in front of him he froze. That was Kylie, the girl he'd met at Descending Angels only a few days ago. Would she remember him? He barely recognized her the outfit she had on. Best not to draw attention to himself. Besides his grandmother probably wouldn't like her much.
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Posted: Sat Aug 18, 2007 10:32 am
Yue's eyes lingered a bit on Kylie, taking in her unique but practical outfit. It was brilliant! As her hair caught the setting sun's light, he smiled - it looked like fire. He noticed the slight haggardness of her face before he smiled back at her. People these days, always working so hard.
"Ah, feel free to sit wherever you like." He said and gestured to the almost-empty room, bathed in soft red light. "Someone will be there to take your orders in just a few moments." A few chuckles escaped as Yue watched Kylie trying to tame her hair - it was a pain that ue understood. His mother had insisted on putting some gel on his hair coming to work, and already, locks here and there were popping out to return into a state of chaos.
Yue glanced at his own reflection for a moment in the glass before looking at the new group of customers, grinning foolishly to himself at the unwillingness written so plainly across his face. "Welcome to Symphonia Cafe," a shock of recognition flashed across his face - he knew the old lady's face. It was someone that his mother talked to rather frequently. He couldn't remember her name, exactly... but would the old lady recognize him?
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Posted: Sat Aug 18, 2007 10:07 pm
The old woman looked up at the tall boy and didn't quite smile. She'd grown bitter and cranky in her old age and didn't like to smile as it gave people the wrong impression. As a general rule she didn't like new people.
"Hello Boy. Hows your mother? If its bad news I don't want to hear it." She grumbled in her gravelly voice that came from years of chain smoking.
Demetri just rolled his eyes. She was rude, it was her nature, but he'd never understand it. She preferred to be in the spotlight most of the time and firmly believed she was one of, if not the, most important person in the room. It didn't matter what room or who the company was. It was just her disposition.
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Posted: Sun Aug 19, 2007 2:10 pm
Kylie finally managed to get her hair into some resemblance of order before smiling at the boy who worked there and looking around for a table. He was fairly cute but tonight wasn't the night for flirting. Layla would be here any minute and tonight was girl's night only. No boy---Demetri? Kylie's eyes picked up on the unique shade of purple as she settled into the booth that faced the door near the windows at the front of the cafe that she had selected. He must have been part of the group that she had heard come in behind her. Well, if didn't say hello then he obviously hadn't grown a backbone since last they met and in that case it wasn't her place to speak first. Leaning back in the booth she loved the relief of getting off her feet finally and smiled sweetly at the boy who had greeted her. Maybe he would be their waiter?
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Posted: Sun Aug 19, 2007 6:14 pm
The four of them sat down at a booth a ways from Kylie. His grandmother had made a bit of a scene about only being able to sit in a booth because the chairs were far too hard on her back and bottom.
"I am 87 years old you know! I've lived long enough to deserve a booth!" She defended herself though no one was challenging her right to a booth nor even suggesting they sit somewhere else. They were used to her and knew not to fight with her about anything.
Demetri leaned his head on his elbow and listened to his grandmother complain to his parents about how small he was. "What're you feeding him? I'll have no grandchild of mine become a sissy! You, haven't you got yourself a girl yet?" He rolled his eyes. Why was it everyone was so obsessed with his love-life?
"No grandma. I haven't."
"Don't you snap at me child! I'm 87 years old! I've lived long enough to deserve my grandchild's respect! What are you teaching him anyway?" she rounded on his father. Demetri excused himself claiming he needed to use the restroom. He couldn't take her any longer.
He doubled back and approached Kylie. "Uh... Hey. Could I sit with you for a while? Shes driving me nuts..."
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Posted: Sun Aug 19, 2007 7:34 pm
Kylie had been sipping a cappuccino that she had ordered when Demetri approached. Unfortunately the cutie that had greeted her at the door didn't seem to be her waiter. Demetri's table was further away but even from this distance she could here his grandmother and she couldn't help but just roll her eyes and nod to his request. If she had a family member like that should have made for the door, not another booth.
"Out for the carnival with your family?" Her eyes slid to the door with that comment as she waited for her sister. Layla was a big girl, sixteen to be exact, and she could take care of herself, but she was also the baby of the family and Kylie was a little over protective sometimes.
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Posted: Sun Aug 19, 2007 8:08 pm
He smiled in gratitude. He would've liked to leave but knew it would only be worse for him in the long run. He'd be doomed to suffer through 'can't even spend the night with his 87 year-old grandmother who deserves his respect. After all, she had lived long enough to earn it.' He rolled his eyes at the inner thought. "Yeah, none of us really want to except the old bat, but mom can't say no to her and if dad and I refused we'd never hear the end of it." He fidgeted slightly. He wasn't exactly comfortable with the girl, but it was infinitely better than being with his family. "Thanks for what you did the other day. It actually helped. They've left me alone since then. Its probably not permanent but a big relief."
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Posted: Sun Aug 19, 2007 10:06 pm
Kylie grinned a little and nodded. "I know you probably thought I was crazy at the time but I'm glad it helped a little. I'm used to dealing with kids like that I kinda. I have two sisters and I'm the toughest one I guess so I end up protecting them." Here she had to stop and shake her head. "Although it's because of that that my twin, Rena, has been teasing me about my angel. I guess I can take down strangers with no problem but I can barely even verbally fend off my sisters." Grinning at Demetri she was about to ask about his grandmother more when she caught site of a flash of red hair outside the window that was only a few shades more orange than her own. "Actually, there's my younger one now. Layla. She's the one who wanted me to go tonight. I think you two might be around the same age. She's 16."
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Posted: Mon Aug 20, 2007 3:10 am
Demetri liked Kylie a lot more now that she was calm and less condescending. She seemed almost normal even, not that he could really talk about being normal. "I don't have any brothers or sisters." He shrugged, it never really bothered him that he was an only child. He'd never given much thought to the idea of siblings.
"Should I go?" He didn't want to intrude on their evening uninvited. He wasn't sure how things like that worked. With friends people usually didn't mind an extra person and with significant others they did. He didn't know about younger sisters.
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Posted: Mon Aug 20, 2007 8:10 am
"Well, consider yourself lucky." Kylie mused out loud. She had always wanted to be an only child or at least have a brother but instead she was one of 3 girls. It could be more then annoying at times.
When Demetri brought up leaving Kylie just shook her head. "Nah, you can stay as long as you like. It's going to take her a minute to get through the crowd anyways and she needs to meet more people her own age. She can be really quiet so it's kinda hard for her to make friends when she barely ever talks. Which is odd now that I really think about it since she won't shut up at home."
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Posted: Mon Aug 20, 2007 1:49 pm
He'd never given any real amount of thought or energy into the subject. "I don't know if I'd want a sibling either. It might be nice to have my parents focus on making someone else perfect, but who knows?" He shrugged and sat down across from her. Sitting it was easier to hide from his grandmother who was glancing around demanding that his parents do a better job on him before her only grandchild became a fruit.
"I'm not really her age, a couple years younger. I'm still in middle school after all." He didn't particularly want to be, but he wasn't smart enough to skip grades. On the contrary he had periods of time that left him really struggling just to keep up with classes. It wasn't that he was stupid, just that their family moved around a lot for the last ten years or so.
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Posted: Mon Aug 20, 2007 3:37 pm
He recognized the old lady, mainly due to her crabby attitude. He smiled slightly to himself as the family of four parted and situated themselves in a booth faraway from the counter. Even so, he heard the matronly woman's exclaimations quite clearly.
"Your sister?" He asked Layla as she walked in, gesturing to where Kylie and Demetri were seated. She looked like she was looking for someone. He smiled at her briefly before greeting the next customer - who turned out to be his brother, clad in a traditional yukata of dark green and shimmer gold. Coercing his brother into standing at the counter, he walked out to the booth.
"You guys want to order a drink?" He asked Demetri and Layla, a notebook clutched in one hand and a pen in the other.
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Posted: Mon Aug 20, 2007 5:14 pm
Demetri smiled at Layla and stood up as she came over. His grandmother would be proud of his half-chivalry. She had run it into his head for so long that he just did it out of habit these days, rather than any desire to be chivalrous.
"Just water for me please."
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