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 Posted: Thu Mar 19, 2009 2:58 pm
It certainly wasn’t Emiko’s usual joint when it came to the miracle drug of the coffee bean, but, it had been on the way back home. The small coffee shop next to the park had dragged her in at half past four, and here she was an hour and a half later- with three of the largest mugs the shop sold in front of her. She normally wouldn’t have stopped in such a such a public place, but the allure of the open microphone night had dragged her like sticky glue. Plus, the cabbage needed to hear something different than radio two, or the rants of shop owners about the price of beef, right?
About half way into the shop, Emi perched upon a large comfy sofa, her poofy tail curled around a huge vegetable. Now, if the sight of a giant vegetable was not strange enough, this cabbage sat upon its own cushion, and was being sprayed periodically (between sips) every ten minutes by the four foot furry. Also, to top it off, had anyone stepped within a metre of the pair, cutting straight through the rich coffee smell was a distinctively sweet, flowery scent. Where that smell was coming from was anyones guess, but if it was Emi's purfume, somebody needed to mass produce it for its potency alone.
Yet, throughout it all, Emi’s blue eyes were glued upon the stage, watching various people pass through. Some were humorous, a few spouted fantastic poetry, and while some of the music played hadn’t been quite attuned to her tastes, the journalist had enjoyed every moment of it. Apart from the odd re-fill of a new mug of coffee, the middle-aged lady had kept to herself, rapidly writing down notes between gulps of coffee. She’d found a new gem, and she wasn’t about to let this slip her journalistic prowess!
Klia would be proud, she was outside, AND she had taken the cabbage with her.
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Posted: Thu Mar 19, 2009 5:21 pm
Unfortunately for the brave new step, a quiet, velvety voice said out of nowhere, "You're drowning her. Not so much water." Suddenly, the perfume surrounding the table was double-layered and Emi looked up to see a curvy teenager with an overabundance of teal hair and a chic fashion sense studying her. Or, more accurately, studying her cabbage.
The teenager looked up to meet Emi's eyes and smiled faintly. "Thank you, though," she added as if continuing to channel the cabbage.
"Delilah! Oh, for the love of... Stars, Delly, you're gonna scare the poor woman into thinkin' you're a crazy." A very tall, very purple woman came up behind the teenager and set a hand on her shoulder. She smiled brightly, apologetically, and her long ears twitched a bit. "Sorry, miss. She just worries about the other lil ones, that's all."
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Posted: Thu Mar 19, 2009 5:41 pm
Emi's large ears twitched, and then promptly 'poofed' as the journalist jumped out of her skin. Poofed would be an understatement in reality, Emi’s entire set of body fur stood on end, from the tips of her mocha ears to her elbows. It would have been quite impressive if she’d been a small animal, she’d easily added an extra inch to her body, and if that had not been enough to deter predators, her paws twitching into flight mode would have saved the woman’s life. Except, the teenager in front of her was not a predator.
“Drowning?” She stuttered, taking a rather large gulp of coffee.
It took more than a minute to register, and by that time a second lady had joined the teenager. Drowning? Drowning in coffee? She’d only had six cups! She’d spaced her cups out over the space of an hour, so surely not. Light blue eyes flickered from the girl, to her cup, to the cabbage beside her, and back again numerous times until she realised that it wasn’t herself she was talking to, rather the cabbage beside her.
“She didn’t exactly specify how much water to give to it,” Emi added, her fur slowly calming down against her face. Leaning forwards, she shakily placed the coffee cup down on the table, inhaling a deep breath. Right, Emi, you hadn’t quite expected this, but carrying a large cabbage around meant that some people would talk to you whether you liked it or not.
“Other little ones?” Emi finally spoke, rolling the first word around her mouth as if it was sticky toffee. So far she’d met a panda, and her cabbage – while Shiraz had mentioned others, how exactly did this pair know about the cabbages?
Oh Gaia, had she damaged the cabbage already?
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Posted: Thu Mar 19, 2009 11:10 pm
Delilah moved to gently touch the cabbage's leaves. Her movements were supremely respectful and, strangely, gave the impression of her asking the cabbage's permission before making contact. This left the tall woman to explain. She laughed, all cheerfulness and sunshine, and held out a hand. "My name's Kova," she explained, "an' this is my daughter, Delilah. Believe it or not but she was a lil cabbage, too."
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Posted: Fri Mar 20, 2009 9:36 am
Pulling herself onto paws, Emi’s took up the purple girls hand within her own, shaking it gently. Well, wasn’t this a confusing affair?
“Emi, Emiko Pallone, and I haven’t given him for a name,” Pausing half way through her utterance, the woman chuckled. “Well, my colleague says it’s a boy, but from the smell, I’m not so sure,”
“Then again, I’d not even heard about the cabbages until a few weeks ago,” She added in a fluster.
With the coffee down on the table, and Delilah monitoring the cabbage, the journalist floundered like a fish out of water. So, that teenager in front of her used to be a cabbage? Well, she certainly smelt just as flowery as the cabbage, so wait: did that mean they all smelt? Could all children communicate with the cabbages?
“Come and join me if you like, the coffee here is great,” Emi offered, large caramel ears fluttering to the sides of her head.
In the background a new person rose to the stage, plucked up his old string guitar, and started singing. It was a quiet song, but, the young man could certainly sing, his voice radiating around the cosy coffee shop.
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Posted: Fri Mar 20, 2009 5:42 pm
"If you're sure?" Kova hesitated for a moment and then beamed brightly. She regarded the cups littering the table with amusement. "Okey dokey," she agreed," but I think I better go an' get my own or the waitress will cut you off." She glanced at her daughter. "I'll be back, Delly." Without waiting for a response, she skipped off towards the counter.
Delilah looked up at Emi, regarded her puzzled face, and offered a faint smile. "Don't mind my Mama," she said softly. "She'll be back."
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Posted: Fri Mar 20, 2009 6:11 pm
"Coffee has always been a great weakness of mine," Emi admitted to the teenager, feeling the sudden need to cover up the rather large amount of coffee she had drank over the past hour. Why she drank so much was anyone's guess, but the milky bittersweet liquid had eased the journalist into a quiet night of watching others.
Perching, once more, back down beside the cabbage, she pulled the huge vegetable towards her side, making room for the teenager to sit on the other side of the cabbage had she so wished.
"Can you communicate with all of the cabbages?" She questioned, a tone of genuine curiosity ringing with each syllable. Pausing for a brief second to pluck up her half filled mug, Emi took another sip before she re-phrased her question hastily, barely leaving a second for Delilah to reply between each sentence.
"Sorry that must have been rather rude of me," Emi spoke, idly stroking one of the cabbage's vast leaves between finger and thumb.
"Do you come here often?"
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Posted: Sat Mar 21, 2009 5:40 pm
"Oh, I come enough. They do really nice pie." Delilah sat down carefully in the offered spot, very clearly conscious of the cabbage's position. She looked at the plant again and then politely lifted her bright eyes to meet Emi's. "I don't know if I can or not. This is the first cabbage I've ever met," she admitted. "I've seen my baby pictures but, when we're like this, parents really don't like to drag us around. I suppose." She tilted her head. "The cabbages are kinda big."
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Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2009 4:04 am
“I couldn’t get any time off work, and I daren’t leave it alone. So, it’s been coming to work with me,”
“We went along to a conference yesterday, and to a farm last week, where the lady even dug out a few old baby grows, it’s quite profitable,” Emi joked, stroking one of the outside leaves affectionately.
The older lady took a moment to take another sip before speaking again, although as the conversation carried on, she visibly relaxed into her seat. Pie, eah? Mmm, well, that certainly sounded good.
“I’m sure she or he appreciates it,” She started, her gaze now set back onto the stage where the guitarist was singing.
“As much as I love pie, so does my hips, my workmate is always moaning,” The middle aged lady commented with a chuckle, it was one of Klia's lines really.
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Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2009 7:10 pm
Thoughtfully, Delilah craned her neck to give Emi's hips a solemn consideration. Then she shrugged; it made no difference to her what the other woman ate or didn't eat. "The berry pies are especially good," she added with the air of someone sharing information, not selling the product. Then she smiled suddenly and the expression was warmer. "It's good that you're taking her out. What's her name?"
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Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2009 7:43 pm
HER? Emi did a comedic double take, first to the vegetable, then to Delilah, and then back, one finger clearly pointed to the cabbage at all times. The receptionist had been determined it was going to be a little boy, so determined that she was planning to take the pair out to purchase a football that they had failed to acquire on the first trip to the shop. Coffee half way to her mouth, the journalist tried to take another sip.
“Did you just say she?” Emi questioned, almost choking on her sip of coffee. She hadn't yet noticed it, the last time Delilah had mentioned gender was the very moment she'd spoken to the journalist, and somehow that small fact had bi-passed those large ears.
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Posted: Sun Mar 29, 2009 8:59 pm
Placid aqua eyes regarded Emi and her blustering reaction; Delilah seemed to be meditating on it, trying to draw out some kind of unknown meaning. Then she smiled a bit. "Yes," she answered. "Her. You didn't think such a pretty thing was a boy, did you?"
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Posted: Wed Apr 01, 2009 8:49 am
"M-my workmate was determined it was a boy," The journalist stuttered. Oh Gaia, Emi hoped Klia hadn't already bought that football yet. So, she was going to have a little girl then, eah? A girl, full of sugar, spice and all things nice- well, perhaps a girl would be easier. Afterall, looking after a child would be no easy feat, but perhaps flustered journalist would have a slightly easier time relating with a girl. It would be just like living with her sister again she told herself.
"Edwin, that's her name," Inhaling both a deep breath, and a large gulp of coffee, Emi shakily returned Delilah's smile.
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Posted: Sun Apr 05, 2009 8:18 pm
"It's a very nice name." It was impossible to tell if Delilah was joking or not; she continued to smile faintly. Then she cocked her head to one side. "How did you get her?" she asked. "I think there's a trick to it all. Some people ask, some are made to, it's all different."
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