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 Posted: Sun Mar 23, 2008 2:11 pm
It was not something Lucretia could easily explain. She would sometimes just get these urges to help her father. Not that there were times when she did not wish to, of course, but when ever he mentioned, even off-handedly, that he wanted something, Lucretia felt that familiar feeling that she almost had to do it. She did not even mind, really - she figured it meant she was a good person, and that was definitely something she could live with. But from time to time, it still struck her as odd.
Like today, when she found herself disembarking from the bus in front of the ice cream and smoothie shop to a flurry of odd looks from people in parkas passing by on the sidewalk. In spite of the cold, there were still some people inside, and, well, Kumoru had mentioned that he had a craving for one. Lucretia had secured permission to pickup one for herself as well; she had the money tucked away in the folds of the sheet she had taken to wearing like a dress to cover up the fact that she lacked legs. People thought her odd enough, apparently, for going around in winter with her shoulders and arms bare save for a pair of ribbons; the various sheets she wore when she went out were just to avoid further questions about what her rune meant and so on and so forth.
Giving the passers by a small polite smile, Lucretia drifted across the sidewalk and pushed the smoothie shop door open; the bells mounted over the frame jingled as the door bushed by them, announcing the Raevan's entrance. If nothing else, this little errand would get her out and about a little more.
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Posted: Mon Mar 24, 2008 2:35 pm
Pasha glanced up as the door tinkled open, peeking over the top of her laminated menu. She'd already taken too long to decide...Aki was over at the little coffee bar, fixing up her drink with cream and cinnamon. Melisande had a ready smile for the next person to enter, but the smile faded into a look of surprise as she actually caught sight of the newest customer. How pretty! How unusual!
Forgetting herself, Melisande floated a few inches higher to get a better look. Though she didn't know it, she used the same trick Lucretia knew to disguise her dimensions. The lovely golden coat with the bell shaped flair slipped oddly along the edge of the seat, pulling a bit flatter than legs would have allowed.
The menu settled gently to the table as the Raven forgot what she'd been holding. Melisande's smile returned, shy and a bit more slowly, as she watched the lovely girl enter. She looked just like a princess! A winter princess! Pasha stared, enchanted, and absently wondered what the girl would order.
Something special, to be sure!
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Posted: Mon Mar 24, 2008 4:04 pm
Lucretia drifted lazily to the side to get out of the way of the door as she pondered the menu. She knew already what her father wanted, of course, but choosing for herself was always hard. She could not quite stomach ice cream or milkshakes, but the Raevan did rather enjoy a good slushy drink or Italian ice. They only came in about twenty flavors, though, which did not make her job any easier.
It took about thirty seconds of focused thinking on slushy flavors and floating sideways without looking for Lucretia to bump lightly into the plate-glass window. She jumped a little and moved away from it, letting out a soft nervous laugh, then went over to get in line. Blue raspberry sounded good to her, and she was also curious about why the raspberries were blue. When she got to the front of the line - which did not take long as the place was not crowded - she ordered herself a small slushy to try, along with the coffee smoothie for her father.
She wondered about the blue raspberries while they prepared her order, but did not yet dare ask; maybe it was something that would become obvious when she tasted the drink, and Lucretia was not about to make herself look stupid by asking before hand. Maybe it was supposed to be a surprise until you tasted it anyway....
The cashier had to tap her shoulder lightly to bring Lucretia out of her wondering when the pair of drinks were ready. She thanked him again, still sounding like her thoughts were elsewhere as she took the awkward cardboard drink-holder, and headed over to a small high table by the window. The bus ride over had been quick, and it would be maybe another fifteen minutes or so before the next bus, so Lucretia figured she could stay here and work on her drink until then, and ponder upon the mysteries of the blue-colored slush.
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Posted: Tue Mar 25, 2008 8:53 am
Blue?! Melisande was delighted. Her drink matched! Abruptly, Pasha made up her mind about what she wanted to order. Forgetting to scoot back from the table first, she drifted away from her seat...giving her waist a twist to shake her coat back into place.
The actual ordering was easy enough, even if the man did give her a funny look for using her (Aki's) card on something so small, and in moments she had a lovely pink slushie with a cute bubble lid. Melisande held it carefully with both hands as she edged closer to the girl by the window to get a better look.
Was she enjoying hers? Was the blue better than the pink? She could ask, but Melisande realized she hadn't even tasted hers yet! Still trying to think of a way to say hello without being a bother, Melisande absently took a draw from the thick red straw...eyes going wide and the icy fruit rush.
It was so delicious! It was so sweet! It was so...cold! With a whimper, Pasha put the heel of her hand to her forehead, eyes squeezed tightly shut. "OwwWWWwww!"
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Posted: Wed Mar 26, 2008 8:22 pm
Hearing the girl whimper in pain, Lucretia turned a deadpan stare to Melisande. She studied her for a moment, one eyebrow lifting slightly as she sucked on the straw in her slushy. Then, swallowing the icy drink with no such brain-freeze problems, she set the plastic cup down on the small round table and turned where she hovered over the chair to face the other lady more directly.
"Hello," Lucretia said flatly, wondering if the other had, in fact, been watching her, and for how long.
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Posted: Thu Mar 27, 2008 11:27 pm
"Mmmhi~" Still squinting a bit from the cold shock, Pasha offered a wavering smile. Her voice was a bit faint, but friendly. "You're better at that." The last of the pain faded swiftly, and Melisande sighed in relief. Who knew something so delicious could be so difficult!?
"Is it...good?" Cheeks a bit pink, from the cold and from the sudden conversation, Melisande gathered her courage to ask. She tilted her head toward Lucretia's drink, more curious than shy. "The blue kind, I mean..."
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Posted: Mon Apr 07, 2008 1:46 pm
Lucretia glanced at the cup on the table and shrugged a little. "Yeah, it's pretty good," she replied, her tone starting to sound at least a little more friendly. The Raevan studied the other girl's drink for a moment, then added, "But I've never had the pink before."
It only took a moment to come up with the obvious solution to this mystery of drinks. "Want to try a sip of mine, and then I can try a sip of yours?" Even though the other girl was basically a stranger, Lucretia did not believe in cooties like her brothers did. So she thought it would be okay to trade slushies.
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Posted: Mon Apr 07, 2008 2:35 pm
Pasha brightened instantly, and dropped her eyes as she nodded. That was a great idea! Sliding hers gently across the table, she finally smiled up at the other girl. "Yes, thank you! Here..."
A soft hand on Meli's shoulder startled her, focused as she was on tempting slushies. "Pasha? Did you meet a new friend?" Aki held her coffee in one hand, steam still rising from the hole in the lid. Offering a smile to Lucretia, she lifted her drink in lieu of a wave. Dropping her voice just a bit, sweetly, she leaned a bit towards Melisande. "How pretty! Don't you think she'd like to meet Roux?"
"Roux?" Melisande twisted to blink at Aki for a moment, blue eyes wide, before they crinkled with a smile. "Y-yes! Um...would you...oh." Turning back to Lucretia, Pasha paused...realizing suddenly she hadn't even introduced herself yet.
"I...I'm sorry. My name is Melisande!" Holding the edges of her golden coat, as though it were a dress, Pasha dipped in place. "And this is my Aki. She's drinking coffee, which..." Melisande dropped her voice, pitching it perfectly to carry to Lucretia with conspiratorial confidence. "...isn't very good at all."
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Posted: Sun Apr 13, 2008 8:37 pm
A small smile touching her lips, Lucretia passed the other girl her cup, and accepted hers in return. She was just taking a sip of the pink slushy when the new girl was joined by another. The smile disappeared, and the blank look returned as the ice rose looked up at the one who had just joined them.
The thought occurred to her that she had not yet introduced herself, either, but as soon as Roux was mentioned, Lucretia's eyes flashed. Setting Melisande's cup down on the table, she grasped the edge of it in both hands, leaning closer to her and Aki. How did they also know that name?
"Roux? Where is he?" she asked, her voice taking on a sudden surprising intensity. Her father had always instructed her to be polite, to say please and thank you, to make no demands, and to introduce herself to strangers, but right now, Lucretia was afraid this opportunity to find out who Roux was would slip away. She could feel the weight of her father's teaching slowly crushing her own burning desire, however, and after a moment, her intensity faded.
"Very pleased to meet you both," Lucretia replied after letting her previous question hang in the air for a moment. "My apologies. My name is Lucretia. My father is not with me, else I would introduce you to him as well." She bowed deeply to both of them, one at a time.
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Posted: Thu Apr 17, 2008 4:50 pm
Pasha jumped, obviously startled, as Lucretia lunged at the mention of Roux's name. "He, ah? He...he... A few pale petals, jogged loose from Melisande's shock, floated free. Aki settled a comforting hand on the Raevan's shoulder to quiet her stuttering.
"Lucretia, well met! You know Roux?" Aki spoke to Lucretia over the crown of Pasha's head, hand still upon her shoulder. "I'm assuming he's still with Chloe...unless they've moved, I have their number here somewhere." Aki stepped back to rifle through her bag, with little immediate luck. "Hmm. I'll look for it. Excuse me!"
Melisande twisted to watch Aki wander to the next nearest table, and set her purse down for ease of searching, before turning back to Lucretia. In truth, the bow had charmed the nervousness right out of her, and Pasha's tiny smile reappeared.
"I haven't seen him in a very long time. Is Roux your friend, too?" With one finger, Pasha carefully pushed the abandoned pink slushie a bit closer to Lucretia. Now that the excitement was over, she was still curious about the drink!
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Posted: Wed May 14, 2008 9:27 am
"I don't know of him, but there is someone who hates me because of Roux," she replied more calmly. "So I want to meet him to see if I can figure out why."
Lucretia relaxed again, settling back against her chair and picking up her own slushy. She slid the pink one back to Melisande across the table with one finger, the condensation on the outside of the plastic cup turning to frost at her touch. "The pink one is very good," the ice rose Raevan said with a small smile. "Did you like the blue one?" Her eyes kept darting back to Aki, silently hoping she would find whatever information she might have to contact Roux. But Lucretia knew her desperation looked rude, so she did her best to conceal it.
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Posted: Tue May 20, 2008 2:58 pm
"Oh, well..." A strong part of her urged Pasha to simply nod, to be graceful and not mention that she hadn't yet tried the blue one. Another part of her, a new and tiny part, encouraged her quietly to speak up. "The blue one? You know, I forgot to try it!"
Dimpling with a smile, Pasha met Lucretia's eyes, a tiny bit proud of herself. Lucretia was a little bit intimidating...the icy Frei was hard to read, despite her large and lovely eyes. "I don't know why someone wouldn't like you, though...especially over someone you haven't met."
"People are funny like that, Pasha." Aki returned with a slip of paper held between two fingers, and interjected casually into the conversation. "But it's a reflection on them, not you. Don't forget that."
Aki's tone was a bit motherly, but then, that was her right. Melisande had been through enough at the hands of others, hopefully it was a lesson Lucretia didn't also have to learn first hand. She handed the paper to Lucretia with a smile, and hoped she was doing the right thing.
"Here, sweetie. Like I said, it's been a while...I have no idea if the number still works. It's a place to start, though!" Good luck, Aki thought silently.
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Posted: Wed May 28, 2008 9:02 pm
Smiling a little again, Lucretia slid her slushy cup across the table to Melisande again. The cup was still about half-full.
After a moment's thought, the ice rose Raevan glanced over at Aki and spoke again: "Maybe you know the rude one, since you know of Roux. His name is Rivener. All red and black, with long hair." Her smile vanished at the thought of him and her expression became deadpan.
She took the paper that the woman handed her, looking eager again as she studied it. "Thank you, I'll call as soon as I can."
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Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2008 6:58 pm
For a moment, a new kind of thrill shot through Melisande. She’d taken a leap in saying anything about the slushy, and though she had no fear of Lucretia, Pasha’s own uncertainties had almost stilled her tongue. Now, though, she had a sweet reward sitting right in front of her, and a warm little spot of pride in her heart. ”Thank you!” Accepting the cup with both hands, she offered Lucretia a genuine, affectionate smile before taking a tiny sip.
No sooner than the coldsweetsour touched her tongue did his name settle like a weight into the conversation.
Pasha swallowed, no longer tasting the slushie, and slid the cup gently back to her new acquaintance. She could feel Aki’s eyes on her, but Melisande didn’t look to her guardian. Instead, she looked at the table for a long moment, getting her thoughts into order. ”Rivener.” What could she say? He had hurt her feelings, truly hurt her, but Rivener had helped her understand something important about herself.
Aki did not speak, but she was indeed watching Melisande as the Raevan sat in quiet contemplation. Aki’s own thoughts on the subject were obvious…her face settled as flatly as Lucretia’s did, into a cold elven mask of disdain.
”I know him.” Pasha lifted her eyes, and surprisingly, found a new kind of strength. A tiny smile quirked at the corner of her lips, and she shook her head, curls bouncing. ”He doesn’t want to know me. That’s okay. There are other people I’d rather spend my time with anyway. Like you, Lucretia.” There was nothing false in Pasha’s tone. Lucretia was a bit hard to read, but she was calm and giving. Melisande shrugged lightly, and finally met Aki’s eyes.
Aki relaxed slowly, and offered her charge a wry smile. If Pasha could deal with it, she could deal with it. “I think we’re leaving to run errands soon, Lucretia. Would you like to join us, or could we offer you a ride home?” She took a careful sip of her own drink, steam still curling through the hole in the coffee cup lid.
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