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Friendly Conversationalist
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 Posted: Tue Feb 03, 2009 11:24 pm
When he had received the simple paper invite, Alberto couldn't believe his luck. Valentine's Day had come around again, and while the past few years had slipped by with a look back on past ones with a small sigh, he was anticipating this year.
It marked the first time he'd ever been asked by somebody else to meet him. Normally he did the asking (not that he minded it much - he liked an assertive girl every now and then). Past holidays came to mind, when he was a younger boy.. past holidays where he would casually slip a note into a girl's bag as he passed by her desk as a young school boy, or make light conversation with the young ladies in town when he grew a little older.
So did this mean that somebody here.. ?
The note was simple, instructing him to meet at the Gardens for a Valentine's rendezvous, and he felt some of his childhood wiliness returning to him. He'd spent time thinking about what would most befit a young woman at LOTUS, but the choice was rather difficult. He didn't know very many of them, and he didn't want to be entirely too general. Needless to say he felt rather ridiculous having come empty-handed, so he had a card on the ready as well as a small handful of white lilacs. The other gift he kept tucked away in a bag under his arm, the heat from the present making his side itch from the steam.
Finally he burst through the Garden doors and into the beautiful weather. Alberto hadn't felt a thrill like this in ages; outside of flirting offhandedly with random girls while he was on duty with the guerrilla fighters, it'd been entirely too long since he'd seriously seen somebody.
With that, he planted himself by the entrance and waited where the note had told him. His anticipation was masked under a cool smile, but on the inside his curiosity was biting at him.
Who could it be? Hope she's cute.
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Posted: Fri Feb 06, 2009 12:27 am
Valentine's Day -- oh, how I find you so strange.
Johannes had received an invitation --anonymous-- indicating to go to the Gardens for a special Valentine's Day meeting. He was intrigued more by the fact of who invited him rather than the meaning or the 'date' itself. "I don't know all the women here, just 2 or 3...and one I hope is not the one I think she is." Not that he minded but he thought it awkward. VERY awkward.
Still, he decided that whoever the girl was, she should receive something adequate -- a bouquet of pink-tainted rosebuds with a small card in between them that read "May Your Day Be Special" and signed by Johannes, as well as a small box of chocolates. Johannes was trying to be cordial yet somewhat impersonal -- he didn't mind a bit of romance, but it wasn't really one of his priorities.
Which is why he always couldn't figure out how people would sometimes go crazy on Valentine's Day, looking for romance. Should it be a quiet affair, an intimate affair between two people....the whole world doesn't need to know X girl and X boy fell in love because X girl was about to fall in front of the incoming bus and X boy saved her. Well, that was a morbid example, but still.
Johannes was walking toward the Garden, hoping that he's on time. Taking out his invitation and reading it, he said "The invitation said to wait by the entrance by the Gardens." "Hmm...mmm?" uttered he as he noticed someone else by the entrance as well. Was this the assigned entrance for everyone?
"Hello!" exclaimed Johannes to the young man "Is this also your special rendezvous for your Valentine?" Johannes smiled while asking, positioning himself near the entrance. He looked around a bit, wondering where his was.
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Friendly Conversationalist
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Posted: Sun Feb 08, 2009 11:04 pm
As the young blonde man joined him, Alberto nodded cordially. So it seemed this must be the designated meeting place for all the parties, was it? The warmth of the bag under his arm was making him itchy as the steam permeated the corners of the box. Perhaps he should have let it cool down before taking it off the stove..
"Yeah," he replied quietly as he stood up straight and shifted what he was carrying. "You got any idea what time yours is showin' up? Mine hasn't gotten here yet." And he was beginning to grow a little impatient with his curiosity. It was only common courtesy that when you invite somebody, you show up on time. The girl must have no sense of time.. but depending on the girl, it's almost kind of cute. Almost.
Alberto reached for the note he'd been given that described the details of the meeting. It was the proper time, yes, in fact past the proper time... and this was the place..
"Wait." The idea that crossed his mind them was accompanied with a sharp chill. He had known that Valentine's back at home was not merely a romantic holiday (although that's where the emphasis was most often placed) but set aside for giving gifts to loved ones - family and friends, as well as lovers. Had he been so excited by the idea of flirting that perhaps.. ?
"I think.. we may be partners here." He pointed at Johannes and then himself. "I.. I think we were supposed to meet up." If he wasn't so embarrassed by how much he was anticipating a girl, he would have been laughing pretty loudly by now. However all that he could muster was a sheepish smile and an embarrassed tint of red to his face.
Well, what was did was done. If this boy was to be his partner, then so be it. Goodwill was something they taught to them in church all the time, right?
"Here, uh.. ?" He held out the warm bag with one hand and the flowers in the other, before he blinked at those and pulled them back a little. "Sorry 'bout the flowers.. was planning for.. y'know." And this time he did laugh. It was rather funny, when one looked at it.
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Posted: Wed Feb 11, 2009 2:48 am
"Actually, she was supposed to be here by now..." said Johannes as he looked around. The other man was checking his note, until he uttered "wait"
"Hmm?" The man made some gestures and indicated that they were supposed to meet up -- in other words, they were each other's partners. Nevertheless to say, Johannes was...surprised, to be polite. "Say what?"
Johannes...was speechless. He didn't know about the man's background obviously, but at least back home, Valentine's Day was usually regarded as a day for love...most preferably, romantic love. With the opposite sex.
That wasn't a limit though -- you can share Valentine's Day with your family and friends but...right. This was awkward. If only Alberto (his brother) could see me now, thought Johannes.
Noticing the fact that the other man seemed to be red like a tomato, Johannes thought that perhaps they were both expecting women. Then again....no, that's not possible. Such things don't exist!
"Ah...hahaha!" "Yes, well, I think we were in the same boat, no?" Johannes exclaimed, trying to take the flowers with his hand that was holding the bouquet -- and you know, passing the bouquet by. "Uh, here..." said he as he gave the choclates. "At least this everyone likes!" said Johannes as he smiled, also indicating that he'll take the bag as soon as that hand is free.
"We haven't introduced ourselves, have we?" "I'm Johannes."
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Friendly Conversationalist
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Posted: Fri Feb 13, 2009 5:41 pm
"Agreed." Alberto had to laugh at his own expectations. There was nothing wrong with forging friendly bonds, either - and a new possible friend in place of the chance to flirt was, he had to admit (begrudgingly) a fair trade-off. "Oh, sorry.. I'm Alberto." He stuck his hand out to shake his companion's, when he realized he had pulled the flowers back when the youth had made to take them. Instead, he held them out for a trade, doing a bit of a juggling act with the box of chocolates he had just gotten, the bag, and the flowers.
Well, he wanted them, so there was no point in keeping them. He'd brought them for him (oh, such irony). Besides, Johannes had brought him chocolate, and that was definitely a treat. Expectations or not, it certainly wasn't a bad trade off.
"Oh, here." He held out the bag to Johannes. "I, uh.. didn't know what kin' of person I was gonna get, so I cooked somethin'." Cooking wasn't a hobby of his, but something he only did when the occasion called for it. Everyone in his family knew how to cook, in order to properly feed themselves and provide for their future families (given the financial situation in his household growing up, everyone had to rotate cooking and cleaning duties). "They're nacatamales. They have pork, potatoes, corn, 'n some tomato." He idly wondered if the young man was allergic to any of those but shrugged it off.
It was something his mother always liked to cook for guests, especially if they weren't from the area. So to Alberto's mind, it was a gift aimed to please - since the reaction to it was normally a good one, or so he remembered.
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Posted: Sat Feb 14, 2009 7:49 pm
“Alberto?” thought Johannes. He couldn‘t help but smile at such a pure coincidence. Really -- what were the odds of finding someone with that name? “Na ja…thank you” commented he while he also attempted to juggle everything -- eventually getting Alberto’s flowers on his side.
“Oh?” Johannes took the bag from him, peering inside to see what was in it. “Nacatamales?” pronouncing it with a Spanish accent, “they sound delicious, danke.” Johannes smiled while he tried to get one out of the bag. They were still a bit warm, and the smell was familiar. “You know, I have a brother back home whose name is also Alberto” said Johannes, then taking a bite out of the nacatamales. Yes, they were indeed delicious -- just like the tortillas de patata that his mother would make sometimes.
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Friendly Conversationalist
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Posted: Sun Mar 01, 2009 1:49 pm
Alberto gave the young boy a pleased nod when he received the flowers and the nacatamales. His pronunciation was spot on, and he had to wonder about how he was able to do it so flawlessly.
'Must speak Spanish,' he figured, but then the subject of Johannes' brother was raised. "Yeah?" He raised his eyebrows. So this boy was speaking German (or.. what he assumed was German - he'd only heard a little of it spoken on the docks at home), but had a Spanish brother? "He Spanish?"
It'd been a while since he'd heard somebody speaking his mother language to him, and it was rather refreshing. It was disorienting enough to be so far-flung from the familiar, but amazing at the same time how correct pronunciation of one word brought him back and eased his anxieties a bit. He moved to stand upright and stretch his back, thumbing open the box of chocolates he'd received. The smell of chocolate was something he missed as well.
"So do you come from Spain or.. ?" he asked as he popped one into his mouth.
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Posted: Sat Mar 14, 2009 8:27 am
"Yes, he is -- I'm adopted" said Johannes. "I am from Austria, originally" explained while he took another bite out of the nacatamales, "but due to...certain circumstances (Johannes cringed a bit), I was brought to Spain by my adoptive father when I was young."
He had placed the flowers under his arm (carefully) but Johannes was getting tired of standing -- and he thought about whether Alberto was too. "Would you like to sit somewhere?" asked as he pointed towards the gardens.
"How about you?" "Where do you come from, Alberto?"
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Friendly Conversationalist
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Posted: Mon Jul 20, 2009 4:41 pm
"Yeah, let's do that." At the offer of finding a place to sit, Alberto nodded gratefully. He had been shifting back and forth on his feet for a little while as his legs stiffened up - had they been standing that long. He started off towards the Gardens, making sure to stay by Johannes as he digested the information the boy divulged to him about his home. The way he cringed at the mention of certain circumstances reminded Alberto that, like many other that were at LOTUS, he likely had something in his past that may have pushed him here.
"Me?" He bit into another chocolate, and his reply came out a little muffled. After a moment of chewing and swallowing, he tried again. "I'm from Nicaragua, uh, San Juan area." He recalled the busy river and docks, the presence of fisherman and Marines. It seemed like a lifetime ago. "Not much goin' on there, at least last time I was there." He paused in thought for a moment until he spotted a bench a few feet from them. He made his way to it and sat down gratefully, scooting over to leave Johannes plenty of room.
"Funny how different things are now, don't ya think?"
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Posted: Sat Jul 25, 2009 5:11 am
"Nicaragua? Oh, how good! That must mean you know Spanish, yes??" Johannes was happy -- while he didn't mind speaking in English, as it could be expected, he prefered to speak in Spanish if the opportunity arises. There are just some things that you know to express better in one language than the other. He then proceeded to sit down next to him on the bench.
Johannes put the flowers on his left side and held the bag of nacatamales more comfortably than previously. He took another bite out of them and chewed a bit faster, to answer Alberto's comment. "Yes, different..." Johannes couldn't really say much. His original home didn't seem to be affected much by time's disruption of the order of things, last time he checked. Then again, the next update that he'll receive from his family might indicate something like that happening.
"It's the way life goes, yes?" "However one wishes, things can't remain the same forever."
"This much I know..." His voice trailing off, Johannes smiled and chuckled weakly.
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Friendly Conversationalist
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Posted: Sat Sep 05, 2009 3:29 pm
"Uh.. yeah." Alberto blinked at the young boy's enthusiasm but nodded slowly. Guessing by such a reaction that Johannes probably wanted to switch gears, he switched into his native language. It was embarrassing to admit, but hearing the words made him feel a little more at ease. Mixed and matched memories of childhood and home flashed through his head briefly.
He wondered how things at home were doing - not that he had much of a home to go back to. Nobody to write to at home, and the books he had read so far brought him no clues about his father's whereabouts. It was a childish impulse but he didn't want to believe he was dead, despite the odds that this was likely the case.
But when Alberto heard the words that came out of Johannes' mouth, he turned to look. Words like that out of the mouth of a child? He didn't know how old he was, but by the looks of things, he still appeared to have quite a lot of growing up to do. Life experiences do change a person on the inside - here seemed to be a prime example.
"That's true," he said simply as he let his gaze drop to the ground. What a heavy conversation this had turned into! "But life that doesn't change isn't living. That's boring." Despite all the hard times he'd had fighting in the jungle, it was quite a different life from the one he lived at home. Even now, things were drastically different. But even then, he learned a lot and got to see different things. That was what it meant to live, right?
"Accept that things change, you know? Go with it and change what you don't like. 'Cause if you don't, then you're not living your life." Alberto stretched his legs out in front of him, letting them rest in the walkway. He gave Johannes an amused glance. "Besides, this conversation's getting too serious for my liking."
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Posted: Sun Sep 27, 2009 4:18 pm
Johannes looked at Alberto as he stated his opinions about life. He knows that things change. Change what I don't like? But...I like my adopted family, thought Johannes. I only want to find my real parents...
He was confused at what Alberto was saying -- it made sense, but for some reason it also created new questions for Johannes. Searching for his real family, did that mean he didn't like his adopted family? What did Alberto mean by living life? (Johannes initially thought he was talking about the way his brother "lived life" but then shook it off as improbability)
Deciding to best leave it at that -- and not make the mistake of perhaps insulting his new friend, who apparently tried to mean well--, Johannes smiled back at Alberto. Chuckling, he said: "I'm sorry, you'll find I tend to do that with my conversations sometimes." "It's ingrained in me, I suppose."
"You are right -- this has become too serious. Today's Valentine's Day! It's a happy day, regardless." "Maybe we should shift the conversation to something else."
Johannes made himself more comfortable by crossing his legs, one on top of another. He still carried the nacamatales in his hand, eating another. "What kind of person were you expecting to meet today?" Johannes tried to sound as polite as possible, since he really doesn't know if the other man...lives that way. He grinned quite a bit, though.
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Friendly Conversationalist
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Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2009 11:28 am
Alberto sensed an underlying confusion in Johannes after he had finished what he had said. Had he somehow missed the mark? Mistakes did happen, and he supposed it was thanks to his rambling off of so little information. Ah well, it was a learning experience, and if it was a problem, his new friend didn't seem to think it needed mentioning.
"No problem." He shook his head and gave the boy a smile, deciding to let him carry the conversation for the time being. It would probably be best, since he was feeling a little embarrassed himself for the assumptions he had made.
He idly popped one more chocolate into his mouth and put the box away, saving the rest for later. He let his mind drift for a moment, chewing the candy thoughtfully as he leaned back and watched the sky, but as soon as Johannes had brought up the subject of who he had been expecting to meet, he coughed in surprise.
"I, uh..." He was feeling a little sheepish again. "I guess I was thinkin' more in the.. traditional sense? I expected to meet a girl." He shrugged. "I mean this ain't bad at all; I'm all for making new friends. But.." His statement hung, and he couldn't keep the grin away. He missed the courting game, even if his statistics weren't as stellar as he liked to think. "What about you? I'm kinda thinkin' you may have been expectin' a girl yourself." He turned the tables on him now and awaited his answer with an amused expression.
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Posted: Mon May 17, 2010 11:47 am
"Haha, of course! I'm still expecting one to pop out of the bushes and yell 'gotcha'!'" exclaimed Johannes while laughing out loud. It seems that Alberto was a normal young man as well. Not that there was anything wrong with...that way, but...it was unusual.
"Well, this has been fun, to say the least." Johannes packed up his belongings and stood up from the bench. Looking at Alberto, he said: "I think we both did not get what we expected but also we both acquired a new friend." "At least I hope that is so?"
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