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 Posted: Fri May 01, 2009 2:05 pm
Private RP between Smerdle (Astan) and XxLoveLikeWinterxX (Verdant) Location: A coffee shop somewhere around town. Time: Early afternoon. Weather: Pleasant for now, but a little muggy. It looks like rain is on the way. ----------------- Astan didn't hang out in many coffee houses. The drinks were more expensive than any drink really had a right to be and the ambiance left something to be desired when you were naturally loud and gargantuan. Perhaps that was why the big man had chosen to sit outside. He had been asked by his band's lead singer, Varis, to wait at this coffee shop in particular, at this precise time, in order to return an expensive violin to Varis' girlfriend, Sherry. Why Varis had wanted to borrow a violin in the first place was something Astan couldn't fathom, but he had nothing better to do today so he had agreed. There he sat, sipping some form of latte, a well-worn violin case on the table in front of him.
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Posted: Fri May 01, 2009 2:29 pm
Verdant Lindstrom loved coffee houses. Yes, the prices were outrageous- unless you knew where to go. He was in desperate need of an ice-cold drink swimming in chocolate and orange creme and knew where to get it.
The muggy weather, pleasant as it was, threatened to ruin the more elegant of his outfits, so he had decided on an outfit that was the heigth of steampunk fashion: a worn-looking (but beautifully decorated) vest, a white long-sleeve shirt, pants marked with intricate clockwork designs, and brown boots that would hurt like hell if he kicked you. He was also wearing his favorite top hat and carried an umbrella; it could start raining at any moment.
Finally, he arrived at the café and smiled. "Orange creme-chocolate frappaccino, here I come!"
That was when he tripped over his own foot and came crashing down on a table where a tough-looking man was seated.
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Posted: Tue May 05, 2009 12:07 pm
His attention momentarily held by the fetching posterior of a rather scantily-clad redhead crossing the street nearby, Astan didn't notice the man falling toward him until it was too late. Thankfully, his coffee was safely in his grasp at the moment. The violin, however, was not as lucky. It bounced once, twice, three times at the force of Verdant's fall, each bounce bringing it closer to the edge of the table. With a startled grunt, Astan dropped his latte, attempting to do so away from the other man's elegant attire, and reached for the case to steady it.
Despite the frantic nature of the past thirty seconds or so, Astan seemed largely nonplussed. He pushed the hair out of his eyes with the hand that wasn't still holding the violin and said, "H...hey man. You okay?"
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Posted: Wed May 06, 2009 10:39 pm
"Urgh... yes, I'm okay..." groaned Verdant as he peeled his face from the table. That was going to hurt like a b***h later on, but he shrugged it off and prevented the bruise that would form on his face with some of his magic. He then looked at the attractive (if not totally scary-big and menacing) man in front of him, then at the coffe cup on the ground. "I can't say the same for your latté, though. Mind if I replace it for you?"
Verdant didn't want this guy angry; he could hold his ground, but the man looked like he tear him in half twice.
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Posted: Mon May 11, 2009 5:43 am
Astan looked down at his now-undrinkable coffee and smiled. "Nah, I think it sacrificed itself for the greater good." Not wanting to seem rude, he added, "I guess I could try something else though, if you insist. Something you think's good." The latte hadn't been much more than pale coffee, but Astan was hesitant to order any of the fancier things on the menu for fear that they too would be undrinkable, but for reasons of taste, not whether they were seeping across the cement at his feet. Checking on the violin again, he bent over to retrieve the lid and cup. "I'll just take care of this." Now where were the napkins?
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Posted: Tue May 12, 2009 11:29 pm
'Oh, thank you merciful God for not letting this guy want to pound my face into the ground,' Verdant thought to himself. 'The last thing I want to do is piss this guy off.' Why Verdant was so fearful of the man he couldn't say, but it was better than being really arrogant and getting himself killed.
"Oh, I think I'm on top of the napkins," Verdant quipped as he pulled them out from under his belly. They were crumpled and slightly torn, but he was pretty sure they'd still be of some use to the guy. "Alright, I'll be right back." The nereid hopped off the table and skipped into the coffee house.
Verdant's luck seemed to be fluctuating. He'd slammed his face into a table and spilled a guy's drink, but there was no line for him to wait in, so he strode right up to the cashier. He was a really cute guy, too; he must've been new 'cos he'd never seen the guy before. Piercing brown eyes, shoulder-length dark brown hair, and a million-dollar smile. Verdant bloomed on the spot and tugged his top hat down in embarrassment.
If he didn't notice that, he's either blind or you need to make sure he still has a pulse.
"Um, can I have two orange creme-chocolate frappuccinos with whipped cream and vanilla syrup?" The cute cashier grabbed two cups off a shelf behind him and took a black marker out of his apron pocket.
"Name?"
"Verdant," he replied sheepishly. The guy smiled as he wrote the names and made the drinks. In under a minute, the frappuccinos were ready to go. Talk about fast service!
Verdant gave the cashier the money, a "thank you" and took the drinks and receipt. On the slip of paper was a telephone number.
YES!!!
"Here you go, dude," Verdant said as he set the frappuccino in front of the scary-big guy. "I love that drink; nothing like chocolate and orange creme to brighten your day." Except the cashier's number.
"So, um, sorry about earlier. My name's Verdant. What's yours?"
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Posted: Fri May 15, 2009 7:06 pm
Having soaked the coffee up to the best of his ability, Astan pushed the wet napkins into his old cup and tucked it under his chair just as another was set in front of him. He had found it amusing that the other man had napkins hidden on his person, but maybe that was because he could barely remember to bring his keys with him each morning, let alone any other useful items. This new cup was clear and Astan could see bits of translucent goo laced throughout the whipped cream. Interesting. He broke open his straw and slipped it into the liquid.
This Verdant guy seemed awfully chipper for someone who had just planted his face into a table. "I'm Astan. Take a seat, man. You can help me wait." He took a sip of the frappuccino. "Hey, this is pretty good. I never would have thought..." He shook the cup and sucked on the straw again. "What are you up to?" Astan was thoroughly convinced Verdant was on his way someplace important, not entirely able to come to terms with the fact that some people took as much pleasure in the daily use of top hats as he did in ribbed undershirts and jeans.
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Posted: Fri May 15, 2009 10:57 pm
"Thank you," Verdant replied as he sat himself down across from Astan. He really had nothing better to do that day and felt that it'd be nice to enjoy his drink in the company of a possible new friend. "You like the drink, eh? It's my favorite drink ever, but this is the only place I can get it."
The nereid took a sip of his frappuccino before answering Astan. "Nothing much, really. I had a craving for this drink, so I got dressed and came on over here. Sorry about the violin case, by the way. I almost knocked it off the table! Um, what are you up to, Astan? Are you waiting for somebody?"
The normally social Verdant seemed to have disappeared. Astan seemed nice enough, but Verdant felt intimidated by him for some reason. He sipped his drink again and chuckled. He realized it wasn't 'cos he was intimidated, it was 'cos he'd spilled the guy's drink. Verdant was such flake sometimes.
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Posted: Mon May 18, 2009 9:51 am
"Yeah, it's good," Astan said. "Like one of those chocolate oranges you get at Christmas. And adding coffee to anything only makes it better." He took another sip and nodded at Verdant's question.
"Waiting to drop this off with Sherry, my friend's girlfriend, and then meeting that same friend after for practice on our new song. You'd think he'd just come down here himself, right? I think they're fighting again." He chuckled briefly, setting his cup next to the case. "Whatever. None of my business." He ran a thumb over the edge of the side of the case closest to him. There were a couple of dings and scratches, but nothing he could say hadn't been there before.
If Astan noticed Verdant's discomfort, he didn't react to it. With the initial shock of the Coffee Crisis worn off, he had quickly gone back to his overly talkative self.
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Posted: Mon May 18, 2009 10:29 pm
"Chocolate oranges? I don't think I've ever had one of those before." Verdant tried to think back to remember if he'd ever eaten one. As far as he could remember he hadn't, but there were a lot of things he still hadn't done. He'd only been living for four years, after all; cut a nymph some slack!
Verdant sipped on his drink slowly as he listened to Astan's reply. His interest was piqued when he heard that he and his friend would be recording a new song. "Wait, so you're in a band? What kind of music do you play? What instrument do you play? What bands have influenced your music style?" Verdant blushed and laughed nervously. "Oh, sorry about that. It's just that I'm a musician too and I enjoy discussing music."
Verdant took a big sip of his drink as he tried to hide his embarrassment. He was just glad he hadn't bloomed again.
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Posted: Wed May 20, 2009 5:14 am
Astan grinned. A fellow musician! Although from the sound of it, a much more focused one than he was. "Let's see." He ticked off Verdant's questions on his fingers as he answered them. "Rock mostly, drums, and..." He paused. Of course, a lot of groups and musicians had influenced him in the years since he had first started playing, but all that flashed through his mind at the moment was a skinny, fourteen-year-old Varis standing on top of his parents' coffee table and announcing, We're doin' it for the babes, Astan! Woooooo! Not exactly the most musical of influences.
"Um, I like Metallica, the Stones, Zepplin overall, stuff like that. I'm getting into other diverse stuff lately too," he added, recalling the large talking drum he had picked up recently. "I guess it took me a while to realize there was more to drumming than flailing at the snare like a Muppet."
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Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 10:29 am
"Oh, so your a drummer? I hear they get all the chicks." Thank God I'm not a drummer. "I'm a singer, mostly. I've recently become a one-man band after the rest of the band ditched me for my archnemesis. You ever hear of Beloved Ambivalence? Yeah, those fools."
Take care, my love! That savors strongly of bitterness.
"Er, anywhoo, it sounds like you're more interested in older rock bands. Van Halen too? Hot for Teacher is one of my favorite songs by them, even though I'm not really a fan of that certain genre." What kind of music did Verdant listen to? "Hmm... I guess I'm more of a screamo/Goth person, but I love New Wave and Techno too. Alesana, AFI, and Bush are my favorite bands. I cannot get enough of Shawn Milke's voice; heavenly is one word to describe it." Of course, Verdant's idea of Heaven involved copious amounts of non-alcoholic drinks, hot virile men, and a giant field of flowers.
"Heh-heh... I love the Muppets! Anywhoo, you said you're getting into more diverse stuff. Wanna tell more about that?"
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Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 10:30 am
"Oh, so your a drummer? I hear they get all the chicks." Thank God I'm not a drummer. "I'm a singer, mostly. I've recently become a one-man band after the rest of the band ditched me for my archnemesis. You ever hear of Beloved Ambivalence? Yeah, those fools."
Take care, my love! That savors strongly of bitterness.
"Er, anywhoo, it sounds like you're more interested in older rock bands. Van Halen too? Hot for Teacher is one of my favorite songs by them, even though I'm not really a fan of that certain genre." What kind of music did Verdant listen to? "Hmm... I guess I'm more of a screamo/Goth person, but I love New Wave and Techno too. Alesana, AFI, and Bush are my favorite bands. I cannot get enough of Shawn Milke's voice; heavenly is one word to describe it." Of course, Verdant's idea of Heaven involved copious amounts of non-alcoholic drinks, hot virile men, and a giant field of flowers.
"Heh-heh... I love the Muppets! Anywhoo, you said you're getting into more diverse stuff. Wanna tell more about that?"
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Posted: Fri May 22, 2009 8:29 pm
"I don't know about that," Astan said, breaking into a brief laugh. Girls did seem to flock around him at abnormally high rates after gigs, but their singer got his fair share too, girlfriend or not. "That sucks about your band. I think I saw posters advertising them once. They sound like real assholes." He coughed into his hand. "Sorry."
Astan slurped at the remainder of his drink, setting the cup aside when it was empty. "Definitely Van Halen. Mostly the David Lee Roth and Sammy Hagar years though. Goth, eh?" Astan grinned. "Can't say I'm into that, but this city would be kind of boring if we were all the same. I'll have to look up that Shawn guy though."
Astan nodded, preparing to launch into an explanation of what had made him decide it would be a good idea to pick up an African drum, when out of the corner of his eye he spotted Sherry hurrying their way. "Well... Hey Sher!" He waved, but she ignored him, grabbing at the violin.
"Astan. We have to go." She pushed a strand of lank mousy brown hair behind her ear and pulled her dun trenchcoat tighter around her body with her free hand. Sherry certainly didn't look like a rock star's girlfriend.
"Um, I'm talking. What d'you need me for?"
Sherry looked from Astan to Verdant then back again. "It's important."
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Posted: Tue May 26, 2009 6:33 pm
"Um, it's okay, Astan. You can leave, if you'd like. I actually have to get going too; practice makes perfect, after all!" Verdant got up, pushed in his seat, and picked up his drink. He bowed before the impatient girl, apparently named Sher, and waved goodbye to Astan after giving him a worn piece of paper with his number on it. "Let's meet up again sometime; maybe we can exchange music!"
With that, the nymph headed home to enjoy the rest of his sinfully delicious frappuccino.
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