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Interesting Conversationalist
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 Posted: Mon Oct 05, 2009 11:15 pm
October already. The air was slowly starting to get a chill to it, the leaves were changing color and falling off the trees, and pumpkins were beginning to be harvested for the upcoming holiday. It seemed time flew, when you were so busy you didn't have time to sleep. Already most of the schools were getting back into the swing of the school year, and that meant several things; studying, tests, and extracurricular activities. Seeing as the first two didn't exactly rank high on most people's 'to do' lists, more often than not it was the latter.
Rea was no exception. Although she never did terribly in school (if she did, her parents took away her horse) she was not exactly one to study for fun, and so, like all the other school kids, she was often doing other things. When she wasn't in school, she was at lacrosse practice. When she wasn't at lacrosse practice, she was riding, and when she wasn't riding, she was dancing.
The cool air of autumn shook the trees as Rea undid her Crystal uniform, goosebumps alighting along her skin. It wouldn't be too much longer before she would have to switch to her long-sleeved leotard when she practiced out here, and not long after that she wouldn't be able to practice in the park at all. Snow, and the results, (shivering, stiffness, hypothermia) were not very conductive for ballet practice. This thought left the redheaded girl frowning a little as she shrugged out of her blouse, revealing a pale blue leotard beneath it. Practicing in the park was one of the many secret pleasures the Marshall girl partook in, enjoying the thick foliage off the beaten trail so that she could have some privacy while she did so. Dancing in the Destiny City Center for the Arts was all well and good, but it wasn't open all the time, and often times the rooms were taken up by other classes. So, when group practices were confined to a strict schedule, she'd just come to the park, wander off the trail a bit, and practice there. No one ever knew the difference, and she got the feeling of (as corny as it sounded) preforming with nature.
Slipping into her ballet shoes, she rested her hand on a tree for balance, moving quickly to the tip of her toes, warming up before she began her private practice, enjoying the sound of the already crispy leaves beneath her ballet shoes.
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Posted: Mon Oct 05, 2009 11:36 pm
Once again, Alex was thankful that his addiction to video games didn't overtake his common sense as he shivered, shoving his hands deep into his coat's pockets. The coat was new in comparison to the rest of his outfit -- baggy bell-bottom jeans a size too big nearly hid his scuffed and worn tennis shoes. Half of his face was already hidden beneath a loud rainbow scarf he picked up at the flea market earlier when the weather was good. Ah, how those people scoffed at him for digging through the pile of winter clothes that lady was selling! He bet that they were regretting it now.
Though the coat would rise in value the colder it got, and there were some new ga- no, Alexander! He could resist the temptation of the shiny cartridges once, and he could do it again! Besides, the coat was a gift from his father. While clothes from the flea-market was more exciting than those found in a department store, they certainty weren't as warm!
Either way, even if he wanted to go sell it, the flea market was closed for the day. As well as the arcade. That in itself was enough to put Alex into a depressed mood. And it was cold out here! As much as Alex loved his video games, he hated to think of what the main characters did. All that running everywhere... No wonder they were always in good shape!
Personally Alexander was surprised that the sun didn't immediately smote him into ash when he stepped outside. It had been awhile since he visited the park. It's been... what, a couple years? Give or take? He turned and picked a path at random, walking. It didn't take long for him to spot the brilliant blue of Rea's leotard.
He stopped, then crouched down and crept closer, curious. What was going on here?
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Interesting Conversationalist
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Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2009 8:40 pm
A flash of color in the corner of her eye made Rea pause, her gaze snapping towards the sound, blue green eyes sifting over the surrounding area warily. Being a senshi had made her cautious, being a lone senshi made her almost paranoid. With all the activity that had been going on recently, she needed a good, healthy dose of caution. In the park she had thought she was safe -- off the beaten path, who would look for her there? Unless...
Unless someone followed her.
Suspicious now, the Crystal girl turned back to what she was doing, extending an arm and sweeping a ballet-shoed toe just a hair over the ground, letting her eyes slide closed, as if concentrating and seemingly forgetting whatever it was had made the noise. She had thought she'd seen a flash of bright color... it was possible it had just been a bird, but for some reason, Rea didn't think so. Perhaps it was just her cynical, skeptical self, but she wouldn't put it past the negaverse to pull something less than moral. Who was she kidding, that was there whole reason for being.
Sweeping an arm wide, the redheaded girl went through her routine, easily multitasking between conspiracy theories and a seemingly very absorbing dance, all senses alert for another indication that someone was there.
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Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2009 8:51 pm
Bing! Plus 200 discovery experience! Level up! New skill acquired: sneak. Aw yeah, I have SKILLS! Alexander thought to himself, staring in mute amazement at the sheer flexibility Rea demonstrated with ease. And then... she stared dancing. Something clicked in Alex's head, urging the boy to dive for his own pocket and pull out his video recorder. It had seen many years and been through many places to the point where Alex could easily find it if someone stole it. How many other people had duct-tape colored video cameras? It was a mummy in and of itself, and the only curse it had was a stubborn lense that was loath to move. Alex had wised up since missing out on some valuable footage one night, so that was the first thing to go. The cap usually left the lense with little to no complaint, hanging from a cord tied to the camera to prevent its loss. This time, however, the cap took it a step forward and took the cord with it as it fell, making a rather loud THMP! sound as it hit the ground. The sound Alex made to dive after it was an even louder crash of leaves violently thrashing together. Bum ba dah daaaaah. You have lost a level! You can no longer use ability "sneak." Idiot!
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Interesting Conversationalist
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Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2009 9:09 pm
THERE!
Again, Rea's head snapped in that direction, her eyes locking on the offending bush, watching as a teenage boy stumbled around behind it. At first she was relieved -- had it been someone from the negaverse, they would have certainly jumped out and said something cheesy or something. However, when the initial relief had ebbed a little, she realized that he was fumbling with what looked like... a video camera?
He was taping her?!
Rea wouldn't say she bared her teeth when she was mad. That was unlady-like, and had often earned herself many a scoldings from the teachers Crystal (LADIES do not SNARL). So Rea had learned to express extreme dislike in a different way -- through looks that could kill. She didn't use it often -- it wasn't often that anyone invoked her ire too much, and when they did, she usually just offered them a cold look and shoulder, as well as a heavy dose of the silent treatment.
Now, however, was the exception.
In an instant she was dashing at the offender, her lacrosse and ballet practices treating her well, and, seeing as Alex was already on the ground, seemingly making love to the bush, she overtook him in a heartbeat, tackling him. In retrospect, she could have gone without the tackle, but it was sheer luck she had decided not to go senshi, just in case it wasn't a negaverse lieutenant, and it was the only way she could think of detaining him.
"Who are you?!" She hissed, glancing at the video camera which had bounced (thankfully on a bed of leaves) just a foot or so away from his left hand, both it and its partner pressed firmly against the forest floor. "Why were you videotaping me?!"
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Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2009 9:22 pm
Aha! He got it! He hated the lense, but didn't have the willpower to throw it away. That, and he needed it to protect his lense, since once they were scratched they were difficult to repair and --
oh.
Oh sweet critical hit.
Alexander could see on his camera screen that someone was looking at him. And they didn't look very happy. At all. With a yelp he spun and scrambled to get away, taking to his heels and trusting in his feet to get him out of there and to freedom.
He didn't get very far. He felt someone collide into him, then the rush as the ground rose up in an attempt to catch him. "Aaaghhoffowowow!" He whined, spitting out the mixture of dirt and leaves that made up the forest floor. "I'm just passin through geeze your knees are sharp! I just needed something to upload onto YouTube in order to make sure that I don't lose subscribers and you just happened to be here when I walked by so I figured, 'oh hey there's something that'd be cool!' so I started recording I mean I'd have totally asked if it was okay but you looked busy so I decided to hang back and record and then ask afterwards providing that I'd have rememered and if I didn't I'd have blurred out your face or at least change the colors so you couldn't be recognized, like maybe add a few sepia filters or something to make it look vintage but c'mon I didn't mean anything honest!"
Snake? Snake?! SNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAKE! Game over, man! Game over! Her knees are pointy, ooooow!
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Interesting Conversationalist
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Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2009 9:44 pm
"What? What are you talking about? Wait, you were going to put that on youtube?! I'm only wearing a leotard you stalker!" She replied, still glaring daggers at the now face-planted boy, digging her knee firmly between his shoulder blades, making quite sure he wasn't going anywhere, "What school are you from? You're from Hillworth, aren't you?! Stalker!"
She knew it. She knew those Hillworth boys were trouble. They seemed innocent enough, and then they try to grab your a**, or videotape you half naked in the park. You couldn't trust them as far as you could throw them.
Although they did say her dancing was cool...
Narrowing her eyes, she stared at Alex's back for a few moments, thinking long and hard before slowly shifting her knees so they weren't digging into him so badly. Wow, this guy was kind of a whiner. Maybe he was innocent. Sitting down on his lower back, Rea wrinkled her nose a little, wary. "Alright stalker, lets try this again. Who are you?"
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Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2009 9:56 pm
"I was but if you totally weren't cool with it then I wouldn't and yaaaaaagh!" He squeaked as she dug her knee in, unsuccessfully flailing about much like a splashing magikarp. Only more pathetic.
"Ooow! Okay! Okayokay! Yeah, but you make it sound like I went there by choice -- and what the hell is a leotard anyway you're more covered up than a girl on MySpace or a friggin' magazine cover what's there to be worried about?"
And then she shifted, and Alex breathed a sigh of relief before spitting out another wayward leaf. "Pffthaghr. Nature. Umwh- oh! Geeze, I'm not a stalker! A stalker's someone that follows you from place to place and I'm too lazy for that. 'm Alex, miss leotard. 'less you have a more pleasant name to go by...?"
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Interesting Conversationalist
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Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2009 10:15 pm
"Oh, so you're a PERVERT. My mistake," She replied with a snort, returning her knee to his lower back and giving him another harsh grind of bone on bone. Man, what was up with this guy? He sure knew the best wrong thing to say. Then again, he didn't exactly seem like a sinister, malicious b*****d or anything.
... oh what the hell.
Relaxing a bit, Rea let up on her torture, letting go of his wrists and standing up, crossing her arms across her chest defensively, giving him a calculating, unamused look. "Rea. At least you had the decency to add 'miss.' At least your a quasi-polite pervert." Extending her hand, she offered it to Alex, not sure whether or not to trust him. He seemed pathetic enough. Maybe he was being honest and just... wasn't very eloquent. Judging by his bony frame, he certainly wasn't a meat-head. Well at least that was good.
Giving him a slightly skeptical look, Rea shook her head, eying him for a moment. "Are you stupid, or are you always like this around girls? Because trust me, if you act like this all the time, you're not going to get far, especially not with a girl," Glancing at his scarf, she quirked an eyebrow at him, "On second thought, perhaps that's what you were going for all along."
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Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2009 10:25 pm
That certainly threw Alex off. "Hey. Wait, wait, what?! Pervert?! Oh c'mon! Can I go back to being a stalkaaaaghghghghrrr!" Note to self: when you see this girl? RUN. AWAY. Also delete footage. The world doesn't need to know this happened. In fact, I don't need to know of it. Ahh, my kingdom for a reset button!
When she stood up, Alex tensed up. Great. Great great great now what? Should he try to run? No! His camera! Where was it? Could he grab it? I mean, friends don't leave friends behind, even if said friend is a piece of technical junk that started this whole fias- huh? Cautiously, Alex pushed himself up and stared at the offered hand. He took it carefully as if he expected it to bite him, then stood up and used he opportunity to dust himself off.
"What? Heeeey. This scarf is cozy!" He retorted, drawing himself up and squaring his shoulders. "It was either this or one covered with teddy bears. Trust me, if people see you wearing stuff as loud as this, they tend to leave you alone. 's how I've made it to the arcade and back in one piece." He shrugged, making a Point to keep his eyes locked on her's and to not stray downwards at any moment. If she could tackle him like that, he didn't even want to consider what sort of fate he'd seal for himself with a single glance.
"Whaddya mean by 'like this'? Chatty? 's not just special treatment, I do this a lot. I can't help it -- silence is pretty intimidating like a teacher waiting just around the corner, ready to catch you on your way to slip into class."
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Interesting Conversationalist
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Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2009 10:39 pm
Rea raised an eyebrow at Alex when he seemed hesitant to take her hand, keeping perfectly still -- one wrong move and he might start flapping around like a fish again. She kind of felt bad... perhaps she had been too harsh with him. It was hard to feel much more than sympathy. Had she really hit him that hard?
Pulling him to his feet with a soft grunt, she watched him brush off for a few moments, letting him get his bearings before placing one hand on her hip, giving him a slightly amused look at his claim. "It may be cozy, but it also could easily be construe as an offer," she replied, the corners of her lips curling in a slight smile. Teddy bears huh? Giving a shallow bow to let him know she conceded to his point, the redheaded girl's smile faded for a second, that scolding, skeptical look returning easily, eyes rolling.
"Ohhhh, so you're a nerd."
As if that explained it, Rea shook her head a little, listening quietly as he continued, sighing a little dramatically before slipping back into a small grin, still shaking her head. Well, he was a piece of work, but he wasn't a particularly dangerous piece of work. Except maybe to himself.
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Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2009 10:46 pm
Rather than worrying about hitting him too hard, perhaps she should be wondering if she didn't hit him enough. He was about to retort before he paused, taking a moment to look at his bright rainbow scarf again. Bright. Rainbow. He groaned, quietly hiding his face in his hands. "Excuse me, I dropped my dignity around here somewhere. Do you see it? Oh, wait, I just stepped on it! Nevermind." He needed to drag this back with him to the flea market next time he went and see if anyone was willing to trade. While it was nice, he didn't want any of his fellow students to think of him as having The Gay as some of them put it. Considering it was an all boy's school...
...
Yep. Time to get a new one.
At the accusation, he lowered his hand and spread both his arms out in a wide shrug. "Minus the pocket protectors and thick glasses, that... pretty much sums me up, miss ballerina dancer." Ohcrit I looked at her shoes pleasepleaseplease don't accuse me of looking down aaaagh!
"So, uh, Rea, what brings you out here into the park? Aren't you cold?" CRAPILOOKEDDOWNAGAIN.
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Interesting Conversationalist
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Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2009 10:59 pm
"Jumpy, aren't you?" The elder Marshall girl chuckled, glancing down when he did and giving him a bewildered look, shaking her head in mild disbelief. What an quirky guy... and yet it was slightly endearing. He just couldn't catch a break, could he? Saying the wrong thing, picking the wrong clothes... even if it was nearing winter, she didn't know many guys who would even consider wearing a rainbow scarf. She had to give him credit for it -- he hadn't seemed bothered until she had mentioned it. If it didn't bother him, and it helped him keep warm, more power to him.
Although now that he mentioned it...
Curling her arms around herself as best she could, Rea shivered a bit, glancing back at where her stuff lay a few feet away. "Yeah... I suppose I should put my clothes back on, huh?" She teased, heading back towards her back and bending down to grab her uniform, sliding it on over her leotard as it had been before. A quick pull on a ribbon loosened her shoes, and she slid into her white school ones, lastly grabbing her own cream scarf, throwing it over one shoulder.
"Hm..."
Glancing back at Alex, she grabbed the edge of his scarf, uncurling it from around his neck and replacing it with hers, snaking the rainbow one around her own neck, looking a little pleased with herself.
"There. Feel better now?"
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Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2009 11:10 pm
"I like to think I have a trigger finger," He replied, before nodding. "But yeah, jumpy's that too. It gets to ya once you after getting surprised one too many times at Hillworth considering the crowd there."
When Rea turned to go grab her clothes, Alexander made a point to look away (didn't girls want their privacy? In real life, that is -- MySpace begged to differ) and pick up his camera, flicking the leaves and dirt off of it before screwing the wayward lense cap back on. He needed to fix that...
When she came back, Alex dropped his jaw in surprise when she traded scarves. "I- ah- wh-" he stammered, looking at her in bewilderment before laughing nervously. "Yeah, actually. Ah... Thanks. You sure about this, though?"
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Interesting Conversationalist
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Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2009 11:19 pm
"I knew it."
Rea gave him a mildly triumphant look, watching him fiddle with his camera, wondering if she had perhaps accidentally broke it in some way. She would feel pretty terrible if she had, considering, well, he wasn't actually a badguy. Or a bad guy, really. A little thoughtless, totally twitchy, but overall a generally nice-seeming guy. Certainly not like the last pair of Hillworth boys she had met. Well, just the one. The other wasn't bad, but his friend was a real flirt.
Maybe that just came standard at Hillworth.
Waving a hand at him dismissively, she glanced down to admire her new 'prize,' admiring the colors for a moment before nodding easily, shrugging. "Mmhm. I don't think it has the same connotation for girls as it does with guys. And if it does, I really don't care what other people think." Wasn't THAT the truth. She didn't have much of a reputation for being a 'sweet, nice girl' but hey, at least she wasn't one of the rich, prissy girls either.
Although she didn't so much as twitch, Rea continued to glance down at the camera, expression unreadable.
"Hope I didn't break anything."
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