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 Posted: Mon Oct 19, 2009 5:38 pm
The day was clear and bright, if not a bit cold for the middle of autumn. Jin Tian wouldn't have known either way if the coldness was right for the season or not. To him, it was his first autumn. It could have been blazing hot out and he would not have said otherwise.
Despite the rather frigid wind that was blowing, Epsilon, the seemingly young boy who had saved him, had insisted that they go out for a walk to the park. Tian accepted the boy's wants passively, though inwardly he wondered if it was such a good idea to be out. It was cold after all and he didn't want Epsilon to be getting sick. Tian said nothing though as he walked sedately beside his exuberant companion.
"Isn't it such a nice day out Tian?" Epsilon chimed happily with a bright smile. The boy never seemed to run out of smiles. "I'm glad we decided to go on this walk."
"Indeed." Jin Tian replied in his regal way, voice neither too loud or too soft as they walked along the winding path to the park area. Already the Herald could hear the excited squeals of children. It was a foreign noise and he asked Epsilon what it was.
"Children of course." Epsilon readily supplied, taking in Tian's confused look. "They're like small adult, you know? Don't worry, you'll see soon enough." He added, taking Tian's larger hand in his own. The teen was the only one who ever touched Tian without receiving an icy glare. The older male had to wonder over why this was.
Unaware of this special treatment, Epsilon swung Tian hand lightly, leading the angel the rest of the way to the park.
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Posted: Mon Oct 19, 2009 6:21 pm
Ophelia had decided she needed a day out of the house. She didn't do it often, Dmitri didn't like it when she did, but she didn't think he would care today. Last night had been one of his bad nights, lots of yelling and on her end, lots of crying, it seemed better that she wasn't there right now.
It was cold but her coat kept her a least a little warm, though it was obvious that it wouldn't be too good for too much long, it was made more for the fall and the holes they had made for her wings weren't the best for when it was windy.
She found herself wandering to the park, it was one of the fee places she knew and it wasn't all that far from home so it seemed to be a good choice. Besides she liked watching the other children play and occasionally there would one nice enough to invite her over and let her play with them too.
If all went well it wouldn't be a completely terrible day, at least that's what she was hoping for. For now she sat on a bench watching them, sitting on her hands to keep them warm since she was missing gloves.
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Posted: Mon Oct 19, 2009 7:02 pm
Epsilon was chattering happily, and was effectively being ignored by Tian, when the teen spotted the little girl all alone on the bench. Eppi left Tian, bounding up to the girl, a bright ball of sunshine on the cold day.
"Hi." The teen said by way of announcement, inky black hair winking with a rainbow of colors whenever the sun hit it just right. He plopped himself down on the bench next to the girl, motion to Tian to hurry up and come over.
Jin Tian tried not to roll his eyes, reluctantly making his way over. He didn't sit, but merely stood by the sitting Epsilon, looking tall and forlorn, a complete opposite to the teen.
"My name's Epsilon." Epsilon chirped. "You're hands look cold, want my gloves?" He tugged off his own gloves, much to Tian's surprise, and offered them to the girl with a dazzlingly smile.
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Posted: Mon Oct 19, 2009 7:38 pm
Ophelia was a little taken a back when the teen came over to her and started being all friendly. She was use to it from other kids but nice adults (and anyone taller than her was pretty much an adult) were a rarity in her world.
"Hello," she said a little weakly and then added to be polite, "I'm Ophelia."
She didn't really know how to reply in response to the offer of gloves, she really was cold, but she had heard that you weren't suppose to take things from strangers. "I'm uh, I'm alright..."
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Posted: Mon Oct 19, 2009 8:02 pm
Epsilon continued to grin, oblivious to Ophelia's discomfort. "Well, it's nice to meet you Ophelia." He said, trying to press his gloves to the little girl. "Please, I would feel much better if you took them."
Tian on the other hand, did notice the girl's subtly nervous refusal. "Perhaps you should keep your gloves to yourself." Jin Tian murmured, looking over the girl. Were all children like this? "It's obvious that she doesn't want them."
"What?" Epsilon pouted. "Of course she does. Right Ophelia? Don't listen to Tian. He's just a little grumpy." The boy continued to hold out his gloves. It was hard to find any ill intent in the happy, open face. Epsilon's lilac eyes were kind, no darkness lurking in them. He was honestly worried for the little girl.
Jin Tian watched this all, smoothing silver hair behind a deer-like ear. Epsilon's kindness always baffled him. It seemed boundless.
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Posted: Mon Oct 19, 2009 8:20 pm
When he spoke Ophelia's eyes moved over to Jin Tian for the first time. She couldn't help feel a little intimidated and in awe of him at the same time. He was tall and seemed fairly serious, at the same time his hair was pretty and his antlers beautiful. She stared at him for a moment before turning back to Epsilon.
"I..." she started still a little unsure before finally deciding she would take the gloves from the happy teen. Continued refusal would be rude and she didn't want to do that. "Thank you very much."
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Posted: Mon Oct 19, 2009 8:32 pm
"You're welcome." Epsilon looked proud when the gloves were accepted and stuck his tongue out at Tian like a child.
"Careful or you may found yourself with one less tongue." Tian stated coolly, barely giving the startled Eppi another glance, pink gazed still focused on Ophelia. "Where are your parents?" The male demanded rather suddenly of Ophelia. "You're so tiny that you shouldn't be out by yourself." Jin Tian didn't mean to sound harsh but that's how it came out, causing Epsilon to groan.
"Remember how I told you to be nice?" The teen asked, smacking the tall, antlered man. "Please ignore him Ophelia."
"Well, I still want to know." Tian huffed, having meant well. "You told me children shouldn't be without their parents. I want to know why she doesn't have hers."
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Posted: Mon Oct 19, 2009 9:10 pm
Ophelia smiled a little at the exchange between the two at first, at least she smiled for a bit until questioned about her parents. She looked over at Tian and frown a little as she thought about how to answer.
"I... I don't have parents but Dmitri looks after me. He was really busy today, I made him let me go out, its not his fault, its mine. I'm good at looking after myself," she said to the other herald, louder than she had yet spoken (which was really about a normal volume level since she was so soft spoken). She always felt a very strong need to defend Dmitri anytime anything the man did was questioned, even when she was the one questioning. It was why she couldn't just ignore it like Epsilon had suggested.
She looked down at her feet when she was done and turned a little red out of embarrassment of what she would label an "outburst" on her part.
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Posted: Mon Oct 19, 2009 9:34 pm
Epsilon looked stricken and Tian just sighed apologetically. The tall male moved to the other side of Ophelia and eased himself down to the bench next to the little girl.
"Please forgive me." He started heavily, as if this was the most serious thing in the world. "I did not mean to...upset you miss Ophelia. I'm sure you are very good at looking after yourself." Jin Tian didn't smile, but he did pat the top of the girl's dark head rather fondly in a regal manner. Sometimes he forgot that he couldn't order people around like servants. It had taken Epsilon a long while to teach Tian how to apologize correctly.
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Posted: Mon Oct 19, 2009 10:07 pm
Ophelia's cheeks flushed a little more with the pat on her head and tensed for a moment. She felt a little more embarrassed about the whole and also wasn't very use to physical contact.
"No, I'm sorry, I didn't meant to... It's my fault..." that train of thought trailed off, but then she once again smiled a little, "Thank you for being so nice to me"
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Posted: Mon Oct 19, 2009 10:16 pm
Tian frowned and was about to contradict Ophelia's apology before Epsilon cut in.
"It's easy when someone is nice herself." The teen praised, pearly white teeth flashing. "At the risk of sounding like a creepy stalker," Eppi added, "you look like you need some ice cream." He pointed to the nearby ice cream stand, giving the little girl a pointed look.
Jin Tian rolled his eyes at Epsilon's comment. "I think it is you who want the ice cream Eppi."
"Oh, well, yeah." The boy giggled.
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Posted: Mon Oct 19, 2009 10:37 pm
It was about now that Ophelia decided that she liked these two. Their kindness up until now had definitely been leading her to this conclusion but the deciding factor had to be the offer of ice cream. the little angel girl had a weak spot for ice cream, enough that she was willing to ignore the cold that she was feeling.
So she nodded her head, a little slowly and uncertainly but it was a nod accompanied by a smile a bit bigger than it had been up until now.
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Posted: Mon Oct 19, 2009 11:39 pm
"Yeah?" Epsilon's eyes lit up at Ophelia's nod. "Oh good. It would have been horrible if I had to eat ice cream alone." The teen hopped up, about to run off to the stand before he stopped, looking perplexed.
"Oh, right. What flavor do you want Ophelia?" He asked politely. "Tian gets vanilla and I get strawberry." Epsilon made a humming noise, looking excitedly at Ophelia.
Jin Tian, for the most part, remained silent. He had no idea what this ice cream was or if it was even edible. How could vanilla be a flavor?
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Posted: Tue Oct 20, 2009 5:51 pm
"I like vanilla too," Ophelia replied. Dmitri had once jokingly made fun of her for liking such a plain flavor but she hadn't minded, vanilla was her favourite. "Thank you for the ice cream" she added, thanking Epsilon preemptively. She would probably thank him about ten more times before the end of the day.
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Posted: Tue Oct 20, 2009 6:34 pm
"Vanilla it is then. Sometimes the simplest flavor is the sweetest." The teen chimed. "And, you're very welcome Ophelia." He added, before bounding off to the stand for their ice cream.
There was a rather pregnant pause as Tian didn't know what to say exactly. The antlered male tended to be more subdued than his excitable counter part. He cleared his throat after a moment and looked down at Ophelia.
"What does vanilla taste like?" He asked, melodious voice infused with confusion and curiosity. It was the first question that had come to mind.
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