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Gracious Conversationalist
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 Posted: Wed Apr 22, 2009 12:05 pm
This will be a Private RP between Redbud-Tree (Ellandra) and Owlied (Elias)Setting: A spacious high-district plaza with few people, in a little fine arts museum surrounded by little cafés and restaurants. On exhibition is an obscure painter-sculptor working on the theme of 'freedom of expression'. Think the area around the Sacré Coeur in paris, but less stuffy.Time: Mid-evening Weather: A woolly warm early summer day, it's been hot in the streets of Vargash. Here I formulate Misha's 'prompt' to both. Letter to Ellandra To Ellandra he sent a short handwritten letter, in which he invites her under the name of Elias, to the address mentioned in the setting. In it he alludes to the possibility of a casual, freeform meeting in a stimulating environment to bask in some fine-taste inspiration with him. A brief description of the man is included, and adds to that he might be familiar with some of her works. The paper has a very subtle scent of sweets. Note to Elias To Elias he deposited a note under Life Essential's banner, inviting him to the same place with the proposition of meeting someone who 'might' know more about this strange 'Life Essentials/ Essential Biotics' place (same he got the prompt mail from). He describes her briefly, in enough terms to quite easily pick her out of a few people. He hints she is the writer of a few books he might have read and enjoyed.
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Posted: Wed Apr 22, 2009 12:29 pm
Ellandra wandered around aimlessly; she'd been here for a few hours already, and her nervousness had only grown with each moment that passed. Perhaps she shouldn't have taken up the letter's offer. . . but she was so desperate for ideas right now that she would do anything.
Though how the letter had come to her she didn't know, as it wasn't like anyone knew that she'd written anything. And then the scent lingering around the letter. Either this "Elias" was a candy-holic, or. . . . had Misha had something to do with this?
Surely not. Oh well, she'd simply have to wait and see what this "Elias" was like. Hopefully nothing bad would happen. . . She chewed her lip absently and adjusted her hat. She'd had to discard her usual thick layers of dresses due to the temperature of the day, along with pulling her hair up into a ponytail.
Due to the heat, she was dressed much less conservatively than she was used to - that being that her arms were actually bared and her dress was of a soft, light blue material rather than her usual heavy brown.
It wouldn't do to get heatstroke when no-one knows who you are, after all. Still, this left her feeling even more nervous than usual, and she absently tried to focus on the exhibit before her to avoid thinking about the soon-to-be approaching stranger.
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Posted: Wed Apr 22, 2009 12:57 pm
A thin fog glazed every window in the nursery, wilting several hearty plants and exasperating their sensitive keeper. Elias held fast a white cotton kerchief, dabbing gently at his temples and the bridge of his nose, his other hand pinching a fresh leaflet. He had lingered in the stuffy attic well past tea time, and knew very well he was stalling.
With the scorching sun came another mysterious letter, and it expressed a far more enticing offer than it's predecessor. A meeting was set at an exhibition - and he was quite late. How could one be so eager to explore a project one day and utterly terrified by it's consequences the next? This man had a knack for asking himself unnecessary questions. 'There is something genuine here, someone real - that is why you are so afraid.' When it was merely an idea on paper Elias was very content with his musings - but a woman, and a known woman at that, lifting these promises from the paper? He wasn't ready for this. No, he was! Wait, he definitely wasn't.
Then why was he scribbling the location of said meeting onto a square patch of parchment? What need did he have for that straw derby placed protectively over his deep blue hair? How did he find himself locking the front door, inching nervously into the mid-evening heat? And where had his mind wandered when he suddenly found himself perusing a row of frightening yet optimistic paintings, those stark blue eyes searching the crowd for a stranger's face...
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Posted: Wed Apr 22, 2009 1:09 pm
Sighing softly, Ellandra adjusted the hat on her head and tugged the brim down a bit to shield her eyes. She didn't know who the man coming to meet her was - what if this was all some elaborate plot to spirit her away from her normal, safe (if rather quiet) life and off into the unknown?
Gah, she really needed to get control over her imagination. It was just a nice, safe meeting, in a very public place . . . although it still seemed a little "off" to her. More like someone's plot for a tacky romance novel than a true event in her life . . . hm . . . Well, she wasn't going to stand around here and terrify herself for too much longer. If this person didn't show up in the next few minutes, she was going to go home.
Wait, who was the man in the straw hat over there? He was searching for someone. . .
'Please don't let it be me you're lookig for . . . . I just want to be able to go home! Please, please, please. . .'
No such luck, it would seem.
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Posted: Wed Apr 22, 2009 1:23 pm
There eyes met - hadn't they? Surely that plain, rather nervous looking woman in the soft blue dress wasn't his contact. Elias let out a relieved sigh, letting his eyes fall over the crowd once more, moving his restless hands in tight circles over one another. But when his eyes came back to that small woman and she was still watching him her gray eyes suddenly held meaning. It was her - the possibility, the writer. And she appeared just as clueless as he did.
At first Elias held his ground, forgetting his intentions, had he any at all. It had been a rouse. An excuse to pull Elias out of his home and make him appear foolish. A practical joke by the hands of children, perhaps the very same group who smashed out his front window the previous summer? Quick to submit to Mother's paranoia, Elias felt helpless. First he gestured toward the woman, meaningful, then he pulled back, bracing himself in the direction of home. But he couldn't run away. As if pulled by a string, Elias found himself moving shyly in her direction, desperately avoiding the expressions of his peers. At an arms length he called out to her in a voice willowy and unsure. "Ah...Mmmiss?"
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Posted: Wed Apr 22, 2009 1:34 pm
Ellandra flinched when the strange man spoke her name and dropped her head, biting her lip.
"Y-yes?" Clearly he didn't want to be here any more than she did. This was a set up of some sort, though she couldn't figure out what it was for, or why. She did have a suspicion of who was behind it though., albeit no way to prove it. Careful now, careful . . . . this man wanted to run away too, and if he did there would be no understanding of why this was happening.
"Is - is there s-something I can - can help you with?" She asked, hoping her voice wasn't shaking too much.
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Posted: Wed Apr 22, 2009 1:45 pm
Now he was sure this was a trick. Elias felt a rush of blood hit his cheeks, a manifestation of frustration and embarrassment. Two white hands, palms now shining with sweat, found their way to his trouser pockets as he fumbled over his thoughts. "I...assumed..." But he managed little more than that, sure of his mistake and painfully aware of the disappointment creeping over his skin. "I'm sorry. I received...a letter this morning. I thought I was looking for you." He must have sounded like a loon, and now he had a horrified young lady stuttering before him. Perhaps it was best to turn and leave, and he planned on doing just that. Didn't want to make a scene.
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Posted: Wed Apr 22, 2009 1:58 pm
Ah, this did seem like something a hyperactive bunny-person might just do. Ellandra bit her lip and stepped forward, toward this strange man who seemed as timid as herself, and spoke.
"W-wait, please. . . . maybe - maybe I c-can h-help you. . ." Maybe she could at that. And maybe she couldn't. But she'd need know what he needed help with before she knew whether she could truly help or not!
She bit her lip again, gnawed on it, really, and extended her hand a little.
"P-please. . . even if - if this is a misunderstanding of some s-sort...... I m-might be able to help you."
Enormous gray eyes fixed on the fidgeting man, waiting to see if he would take flight. Two timid creatures, each as afraid as the other, staring one another down to see what might happen.
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Posted: Wed Apr 22, 2009 2:10 pm
Elias took note of the way this timid little woman chewed at her pout and pulled her eyes wide, curious. What was she thinking? If she was afraid she would let him go. Perhaps he misunderstood, were these really the habits of a shy creature? Or was this confidence? Years spent socializing with his parents and plants left him with little knowledge of varied personalities. Still, she seemed eager to assist him, and it would alleviate his confusion if she happened to be his counterpart.
"Well, I'm looking for..." Did the letter give a name? From his left pocket he withdrew the slip of paper carrying this address, silently fretting. Why hadn't he thought to bring the letter? He couldn't very well discuss his business in such a public place, someone might overhear. Could he even really trust the stranger before him with such delicate information? "I was sent here by request. To meet an author." That was just vague enough to work.
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Posted: Wed Apr 22, 2009 2:20 pm
Well, that settled that. As far as she knew she was the only author in the area, and there were only a few people who knew that she was one. One of those was very likely to be a certain rabbit-eared candy-addict. Especially since she doubted her editor or the publishing company would do something like this.
She nodded slightly, and returned her attention to the man before her.
"I - I think I know who s-sent you," she said quietly. "Al-although. . . I don't know w-why. . . I can . .. . I can t-try to. . . . to help you. . . b-because it is - is me . . . .they s-sent you t-to f-find."
Said rabbit-eared candy-addict would be getting a visit from her soon to explain the mess he'd drug her into.
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Posted: Wed Apr 22, 2009 2:31 pm
Surprised by her nature and uncomfortable with both the heat and the present situation, Elias crossed his arms protectively over his chest. Perspiration burned beneath the brim of his hat, bringing a self conscious knot into his throat. So she did have the information he sought. Why, then, did she seem so unaware? The chances of two female authors being at this particular exhibition with a searching look in the eyes was slim. This was his author, all right.
A quick and awkward hand dabbed away at a ghost white neck while Elias searched his companion. He was nothing but a gear behind the face of a watch, and she appeared to be his connecting gear. "I was told...you had information...a-a letter. Essential Biotics..." That last phrase spiraled into a feverish mumbling, obscured beneath Elias' growing insecurity.
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Posted: Wed Apr 22, 2009 2:45 pm
Oh yes. Misha was involved in this all the way to the ends of his long bunny-ears.
"D-did this..... this l-letter s-say what I c-could h-help you with?"
Really, Misha! It was one thing to keep her safe and bring her home, but to set her up was another thing entirely! She had the awkward feeling of being shoved into a blind date - was that what the bunny had planned? well, if so, he would be sorely disappointed. She would tell this man what she could, nothing more, and then she was going home.
"I'll........ I'll t-try to - to help you, s-sir.........." And as soon as she had helped this man, she was going rabbit hunting. She'd - she'd steal all of his candy!
Or something. Okay, maybe she'd just beg him why he'd felt the need to torment her this way.
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Posted: Wed Apr 22, 2009 2:53 pm
That consistent stuttering was making Elias far more uncomfortable than he previously thought possible. Was his presence really that unnerving? 'It could be an issue of her tongue'. He decided not to linger on the habit and instead pressed onward with the matter at hand, and in a quick spurt of information, too. "You'd be able to tell me more about the...well, project." Thus far his subtleties had proven fruitless and he feared someone might be listening in. There were people all around and, though the gathering was scant by normal standards, he had never been around this many inhabitants of the city at once. He assumed the author might be capable of veiling the information meant for him.
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Posted: Wed Apr 22, 2009 3:07 pm
Ellandra bit her lip again. She really didn't know anything about what he was asking, aside from the vaguest of impressions. It seemed she couldn't really help him, after all. Irritation with Misha welled up in her, still her nervous stutter as she spoke.
"Well, I'm afraid i don't know anything about any project - aside from what appears to be a rather crude attempt to set you and I up on a blind date, for which my friend who works at the company you mentioned is going to pay dearly for."
Her almost nonexistent temper was in full swing now - Misha had probably even just decided to set them up because of the similarity of their names, if this man's name indeed was Elias. She softened her tone a little when she noticed that her fellow "victim" was about to bolt.
"I - I'm sorry, sir. . . . I just realized w-why we've b-been brought h-here........ W-we should....... g-go somewhere l-less o-open, th-though, I th-think. . ."
That Misha! She'd te his ears in a knot the next time she saw him!
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Posted: Wed Apr 22, 2009 3:31 pm
That sudden outburst stole the air right from his lungs while answering at least one of his questions - her stutter was nerve based. Luckily for Elias this woman appeared far more capable of being blunt. Her expression, entwined with these revelations, left him burning. He was embarrassed, yes, but furthermore he was confused - almost afraid. Why would someone go so far out of their way to organize a meeting between two timid and uninterested people. It couldn't be for a blind date, what sort of intrusive reason is that? Who could possibly benefit?
And now she was claiming to know nothing of Essentic Biotics and suggesting they go somewhere more private anyway? It was a trap! Oh, his Mother had been right all along. You can't trust people on the other side of the door. They do strange and unusual things, spying from afar, fueling their sociopathic desires for amusement. Should he stay or should he go? What was the point of staying if she didn't know about the project - who was she?! "I'm sorry, but -- who? Who called me here? Why?" Here comes the panic...
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