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 Posted: Sun Feb 10, 2008 11:41 am
This is a Private RP between
Ebony Shade
and
Aphismet
Location: Barton Arena
Time: Early afternoon
Weather: sunny, scattered clouds, fairly cold
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Posted: Sun Feb 10, 2008 11:44 am
Aphismet wasn't sure what the dress code was for one of these things. He'd never been to a martial arts tournament before. If he was at least participating, it would be easy; he would wear his training clothes, or maybe a specially-purchased Gi. As a spectator, though... Should he dress normally? Was this something you dressed up for? Unsure, Aphi had opted for normal clothes. When Ebony showed up, if she was dressed to the nines, then Aphi had brought an extra set of clothes which he carried in his backpack.
The man waited at the train station, having taken the transit instead of his car. Ebony would meet him here as they'd agreed, and from here they'd head to the Arena. Barton was always pretty busy on weekends, and Aphismet knew he'd just feel nervous if he tried to drive on these streets he wasn't used to seeing.
Aph ran a hand through his hair, and glanced at his watch. It was almost time. Ebony would be here soon, surely. She was always punctual.
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Posted: Sun Feb 10, 2008 12:13 pm
Indeed, Ebony was very serious when it came to things like punctuality. Yet she'd miscalculated her departure time from Gambino not to mention the fact that every possible means of public transportation would be packed to the gills with people from all over on their way to the tournament as well. So now, much to her dislike, Ebony was running somewhat late as the train finally pulled into the station. Her foot tapped impatiently as passengers in front of her were getting off rather slowly. Muttering curses under her breath, she checked her watch. Great, she had 15 minutes to find Aphismet and get to the arena on time for the start of the tournament. Just great.
Once free of the train, Ebony made a mad dash across the platforms and towards the station entrance. Lucky she was dressed for running; plain jeans, gym shoes and a layered black t-shirt with a light grey longsleeve below. Of course since it was still cold out, Ebony had slapped on some gloves, a hat and a scarf for warmth. Ebony never stalled in her efforts to get to the doors and flew right out like a horse at the races. In such a rush, she was more than likely forgetting to actually look for Aphi.
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Posted: Sun Feb 10, 2008 12:23 pm
Aphismet frowned, a little concerned as the minutes ticked by. Ebony's plan had been quite precise. Meet at 1:05, arrive at arena at 1:20, be in the seat at 1:30 in time for the start of the event. But now it was 1:15, and Aphismet hadn't seen hide nor hair of his teacher yet.
Another throng of people exited the station, as another train let off its passengers. Aphismet combed the mob with his eyes, hoping to spot the purple-haired girl. Maybe he'd been waiting at the wrong station? he thought, beginning to feel paranoid and unsure. He checked his notes again, verifying. Yes, this was the right place. Ebony should-
Aphismet gasped as he spotted a familiar female rushing past. He started after her, not sure if it really was her, hidden under a scarf and hat like that, but he was almost certain. "Ebony!" he called after the woman, jogging to catch up through the crowd. "Ebony!!"
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Posted: Sun Feb 10, 2008 12:38 pm
The purple haired woman's head snapped around for the person who'd called out her name just then. Yet, she'd neglected to stop her feet fast enough to keep from crashing into the group of people just standing outside and chatting excitedly about the tournament. It was utterly horrible and embarrassing as six people, men and women, shouted and crashed to the ground.
A face normally not so inclined to emotion was now etched with pain and embarrassment before she placed it in her gloved hands. Her hat had fallen off during and was now revealing those long, strands of violet that were very much ruffled do to both hat hair and the ordeal. Today just was not turning out to be her day.
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Posted: Sun Feb 10, 2008 12:52 pm
Aphismet could normally have laughed and found the situation funny, since it was very much the kind of thing that happened in movies. In real life, however, it wasn't as amusing. Aph rushed forward with concern, eyes wide. "Oh my god! Ebony, are you okay?! Is everyone alright?" With his own gloved hands, Aph reached down to pull Ebony back to her feet, then proceeding to help everyone else.
"You should be more careful-... although I never thought I'd have to tell YOU that," he said with a bit of a smile, handing Ebony her hat which he'd picked up off the ground and dusted. "Are you okay to run? We're going to be late," he said, watching his teacher with concern.
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Posted: Sun Feb 10, 2008 1:08 pm
Normally, she would have shrugged the help and gotten up herself, but for once Ebony had allowed another to help her instead. Maybe it was shock from the fall, maybe it was just embarrassment from being so clumsy in front of such a large crowd. Whatever the case, she allowed Aphismet to pull her up from the ground.
Taking her hat from him, Ebony quietly responded. "T-thank you. No...I'm fine. Sorry everyone. Yes, I'll try to be more careful..." Course the others were fairly upset, yet they seemed to easily get over it and were saying things like, 'it's okay...', 'yeah yeah, things happen...', 'everyones okay and that's what matters...' After getting up and dusting off, they all waved and went on their way.
Yet, Ebony hadn't moved since placing her hat back on.
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Posted: Sun Feb 10, 2008 1:16 pm
Aphismet had started to walk off as well, heading in the same direction as the group of people, when he noticed Ebony wasn't following. He stopped and glanced over, lifting an eyebrow. "What's wrong?" he asked, turning and regaining the woman's side once again. "Come on, surely you're not that upset over it? You were in a hurry and I distracted you, and it was an honest accident. It happens to everyone. Besides, they weren't mad, so it's nothing to worry about. Okay?" Aphismet smiled encouragingly.
He hoped she wasn't angry about something else, something he had no idea about... Or maybe she really was hurt? Aphismet frowned at the sudden realization, and looked Ebony up and down, looking for signs of blood, or torn clothes, but there was nothing out of the ordinary. "You're not hurt, are you?" he asked again, even though she'd said she was fine. Aphismet found it easy to believe that she'd be the type to say she was fine, when she really wasn't.
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Posted: Sun Feb 10, 2008 1:30 pm
Ebony was staring off after the group of people she'd just moments before had crashed into. Something was perplexing her with how they'd reacted towards her. They'd been...nice. They could have easily gotten angry and yelled, but...they hadn't. And now they were all off laughing and chatting as if nothing had happened at all.
Finally snapping out of it, "Huh? Oh, no no. I'm fine. Really." She smiled as to reassure him. "Just lost in a thought. Sorry. But yes, let's go before we miss anymore of the opening ceremonies." And with that she started to dash forward once more.
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Posted: Sun Feb 10, 2008 1:43 pm
Aphismet quirked his lips, still not sure he believed her. She'd been acting a little strange, too strange to be really okay, but if she wanted him to desist in his questions, he would. With a final sigh and shrug, hoping she wasn't hiding anything important, Aphismet followed her as they quickly made their way to the Arena.
People were all filing in now, and Aphismet and Ebony had found themselves in the thick of it. By the time they'd shown their tickets and found their seats, the opening ceremonies Ebony had mentioned were nearly over. Still, Aphismet reasoned, at least they didn't miss any of the good stuff.
"So, did you train any of these folks?" Aph asked with a smirk as they sat down. "Or even better, have you ever been in one of these tournaments before?" Skilled as she was, Aphi was sure Ebony could have easily qualified for entrance, at the very least. But since the purple-haired woman was normally so low-key, she might not be interested in the competition...
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Posted: Sun Feb 10, 2008 2:00 pm
Adjusting her scarf more loosely around her neck, Ebony had somewhat forgotten the events at the train station by now. She gave a musing smile in response to Aphismet's smirk and questions which could have meant anything honestly. A gloved finger meet her lips before pointing to the spectacle before them.
Both men and women had come out with glorious, silkened gi uniforms. A bit too flashy for tournament play, yet there weren't there for that. These people were there for a quick exhibition of skills while the officials and contestants got ready for the matches.
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Posted: Sun Feb 10, 2008 2:06 pm
Aphismet looked sheepish as he was told to shush, although a moment later he was left to wonder if he really WAS supposed to be quiet, or if it was a ploy on Ebony's part to dodge the questions. It could have been either, as everyone nearby had settled into a hush, watching the stage carefully.
Aphismet's eyes were riveted as well, as these people went ahead with their forms, poetry in motion. Aphismet used to think he was doing quite well in his tutored classes, but now he could plainly see that he had very far left to go. He could only recognize a little less than half the techniques used on stage, and he could do none of them with the level of grace and strength that was being shown.
Still, instead of feeling dejected about it all, Aphismet felt motivated to learn more. He wanted to be able to do that! He wanted to be able to protect his family and friends, he wanted that level of self-discipline. That's where he lacked the most.
Aphismet had a million questions during the demonstration, and often glanced at Ebony, opening his mouth, but he'd clamp it shut a moment later. Shh, she'd said. He'll ask later.
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Posted: Sun Feb 10, 2008 2:20 pm
Ploy or not, it did get the questions to stop. At least...for the moment, but she could easily tell that her pupil was just aching to ask questions as he gazed in awe of the displays before him. A smile crept among her lips as she couldn't help but be happy that he was enjoying himself. It was refreshing to do something for someone who wasn't truly looking for anything else in return except maybe more lessons and possibly...a friendship.
It was sometime after the matches had finally gotten under way that Ebony stood up and gave a stretch. Looking at her watch then to Aphismet, "Come on." Yes, they were taking some sort of intermission, but the tournament was far from over.
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Posted: Sun Feb 10, 2008 2:39 pm
Aphismet glanced up, surprised, as Ebony moved out of her seat. There was a small break, but for some reason Aphi hadn't expected to move. He got up to follow, smiling widely, thinking that it would be okay to speak now that the general consensus seemed to be that noise was acceptable now.
"That's amazing, the stuff they can do! What belts are they, what style were they doing? That third match in particular was really awesome, wouldn't you say? And the weapons demonstrations, wow! I don't think I'd ever be able to learn to do THAT with a sword!" Aphismet followed Ebony, chattering excitedly, hoping she didn't mind all the questions.
Aphi also proceeded to ask question after question of technical things, referring to this or that match, this or that demonstration... He was really impressed with everything, and was still trying to learn as he'd watched.
Realizing that he hadn't even let Ebony get in a single word edge-wise, Aphismet chuckled self-consciously, running a hand through his hair. "Ah, sorry, I'm getting a little over-excited, hunh? Thanks for inviting me, Ebony."
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Posted: Sun Feb 10, 2008 3:45 pm
His excitement was contagious and she found herself cracking a smile more often today than she had in years. Ebony would have tried her best to answer as many questions as she could, but he never gave her the chance. So she merely went with a simple response, "No, you're fine. And quite welcome too. I must say though, has been a very long time since I've attended one of these. Feels good to be back amongst all the ruckus."
Leading them down a long corridor well away from all the crowds, Ebony headed straight for the elevator at the end. She had yet to tell Aphismet where they were heading.
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