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 Posted: Tue Dec 06, 2005 1:14 pm
Rhea skipped happily up to the shop, her wool-mittened hands turning the doorknob before Elysia could even get to the front pathway, hands filled with bags. The little girl had been excitable all day, and always relished a chance to get away from the house. Elysia had brought her to town to buy Christmas gifts, and she figured that they may as well stop by the Stationary Shop on the way home...you never knew who'd be there.
"C'mon Sizzla! It's cold!" she shouted from the doorway, her breath lingering in the air in front of a pair of rosy cheeks. Holding the door open for her mother with as much strength as she could muster, the pair made quite an entrance into the Shop.
Elysia put the bags down on the ground, just inside the door, and proceeded to pull off her winter protective gear: gloves, scarf and hat...and of course, a winter coat. She would rather deal with summer heat than the frigid cold, and she liked to pile on the layers when she had to deal with the elements. "Alright...I wonder if anyone's here? Well, we'll take a look around and see. Rhea, we should find you a nice journal here while we're at it. I'm sure you'll want to learn to write soon..." she said, nodding to a shelf packed with empty books.
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Posted: Tue Dec 06, 2005 1:44 pm
"Hey Sylvester!" Smerdle said, struggling to keep up with the Tale. She wasn't carrying bags, but she did have a homicidal baby strapped to her chest and the band-aid-covered hands of someone who had pissed said baby off before. "You sure you don't want to wear your hat?"
"Nuh uh," Sylvester said. His ears were a little cold, but they were almost there! He hoped someone else was in the shop, and he hoped they weren't bleeding. Strange things had been happening lately, and he wasn't quite ready to repeat them.
He stopped at the entrance to the shop and waited for his mother to catch up before pushing open the door and stepping inside, only to have his new glasses fog up instantly. "Cool," he said softly. "Mama, I can't see."
Smerdle waved briefly at the woman and little girl already inside before pulling off her son's glasses, wiping them off, and putting them back on his face.
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Posted: Tue Dec 06, 2005 2:00 pm
Elysia had just finished taking off her coat and hanging it on the edge of a shelf when she heard people come into the shop. Turning, she saw a little...giraffe? and what seemed to be his mother...who wasn't a giraffe at all.
"Hello!" Elysia said, waving at the newcomers. "Nice to meet you! Come here often?" She extended a hand in greeting, as was customary for her.
Rhea had been perusing the journals that she could get at...those on the lowest shelves, when she heard commotion coming from the front door of the shop. Peeking her head around the bookshelf, she saw a young woman, and a funny looking kid come walking through the door. Her eyes grew wide as she realized just what he was. "No way!" she shouted as she jumped out from behind the bookshelf. "Are you really a giraffe!?" Her eyes were bright with excitement, and she was practically bouncing up and down, ready to ask questions. "That is SO cool."
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Posted: Tue Dec 06, 2005 2:24 pm
"Hello," Smerdle said, taking off her glove and shaking Elysia's hand. "We don't come here as much as I'm sure Sylvester would like, but we're around." She smiled and started to remove her coat, careful not to jostle Brownie.
Sylvester looked around quickly for the source of the voice, calming when he saw it was someone close to his age with no visible claws or sharp teeth. "Not a real real giraffe," he said. "I came from here." He took a step closer. "What's your name?"
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Posted: Tue Dec 06, 2005 2:33 pm
"Yeah, Rhea's always excited to come here. Most of the times that we're here, there's someone new to meet..." Noticing that the woman had a baby strapped to her chest, she offered a hand to help. "Here, let me get your coat for you. Looks like you've got all kinds of things to worry about! I'm Elysia by the way...You can call me Sizzla. That's what everyone else calls me anyway. What did you say your name was? And who is this little one?" she asked looking down at Brownie.
"What'a'ya mean, you're not a real giraffe? You certainly look like one...though you're much more civilized of course! I like your spots!" She shuffled a bit closer to the boy as well, wanting to take a closer look at him. She was infinitely curious about new people, and this kid would really take the cake for her meeting of Tales so far. Rhea thought that so far, he was the most interesting of all!
"I'm Rhea," she said, giving him a little bow. Last time, the bow had been appropriate for meeting Jiro, so she figured she'd do it again and see what happened. She wasn't too fond of the handshake, though she knew that Sizzla used it as her form of greeting. She thought of just running up and hugging his long neck tightly, but she resisted. She wanted to make friends, not scare the other Tales away. She was learning quickly what NOT to do. "Rhea Medea Arshan-Marvel. Nice to meetcha. Did you come from the Tome too?"
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Posted: Tue Dec 06, 2005 3:09 pm
"Nice to meet you, Sizzla. Everyone calls me Smerdle. Well, it is my name, but not my first. Long story. Not that long, but I'm still not going to tell it." She grinned and let Sizzla take her coat. "This is Brownie," she continued, gesturing toward the baby. "I'm taking care of her for a bit since my friend is out of town."
"I'm Sylvester." He would have shaken Rhea's hand, but then she bowed and he thought it was pretty neat so he bowed a bit too, careful of his glasses. "Thanks about the spots. I don't think about 'em much." He poked at one and said, "Yeah, I came from the Tome. Mama said I'm six months old!" He extended his arm. "You can touch if you'd like."
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Posted: Wed Dec 07, 2005 1:05 pm
((Work's been hellacious today. This'll probably be my only post today...Sorry! sweatdrop ))
"Nice name. Good to meet you Smerdle! No need to tell the story...My nickname's got quite a story behind it as well, but of course, there's no need for all that explanation," she said, and then looked down at the white and crimson-haired baby. "She's very pretty," Elysia commented. "Is she a handful? She looks like she might just be..." She gave a laugh, and looked over to where Rhea was introducing herself to the giraffe Tale. "Looks like they're making friends already. Did you get him from the Study?"
"A pleasure to meet you Syl-vester!" she exclaimed, happy that the bow had been appropriate. He seemed to like it enough to bow back, and she broke out into a wide grin. "Yeah, I'll bet you're used to the spots. I've just never seen anyone like you." She paused, giving him another look-over. "Six months! Wow, you're waaaay older than me," she said, instantly respecting the Tale based solely on his age. "I'll bet you know a lot more than I do about this Gaia world I was born into. Do you like it here? What do you do for fun? Are you a veggie-eater?" The last question was meant to be 'Are you a vegetarian?', but Rhea couldn't remember quite what the word was.
Reaching out with her hand at his offer, she made sure to ask permission first. "Can I? Can I hug you neck?" The request was innocent, but she wasn't sure if he'd think she was weird.
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Posted: Wed Dec 07, 2005 10:05 pm
(( That's okay! I only checked in at 10pm anyway. domokun ))
"You hear that? You're pretty," Smerdle said to the disgruntled toddler. Brownie squirmed and folded her arms, continuing to ignore the adults. "Yeah, a handful is probably the nicest way to put what she is," she laughed.
"Yup. I like all kinds of veggies," Sylvester answered, unfazed by Rhea's questions. After all, he liked to ask questions too, so why not answer some for a change? "Gaia's cool enough. For fun I mostly watch TV. But that's only really fun by myself. I also play in the yard or here," he added. "Me'n some other kids played upstairs once. There was a big baby bed with a jack-in-the-box and all sorts of other stuff, all scratched up." He had stood on his toes to emphasize the 'big' part, but dropped again by the end of the sentence. "It woulda been really scary without the other kids there. Maybe we could explore sometime?"
At her question, a smile spread across his face. Could she hug him? Well, sure! No one had ever asked like that, they just did it, usually picking him up in the process, a side effect he really didn't enjoy all that much. Just his neck? Okay! He couldn't remember a time anyone had wanted to hug it, although Viddy had pet it all those months ago. It was just a stupid neck that was so unbendy that he couldn't even reach his face half the time. But if it made her happy... "Sure!"
Aww. Smerdle couldn't recall Sylvester ever getting asked to be hugged before and it was, much to her dismay, adorable. "I came here for wedding invitations," Smerdle told Sizzla, smiling. "Not mine," she added quickly. "The Study was disturbing, but other people have different opinions, so I guess it's not the same for everyone. Has Rhea met any of the other kids from here?"
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Posted: Thu Dec 08, 2005 2:27 pm
"Most of my kids were pretty well-behaved as babies, but I had one that was just a nightmare! She definitely was a handful. I can relate to that," Sizzla said, trying to get the toddler to break into a smile by making stupid faces at her. But of course, she got no reaction. "Tough cookie, she is," she said with a grin. "Actually, Rhea has met a few other Tales...We went to the Halloween Festival, and she got to meet Angelus and Chailyn. And just the other day we were here, and came across Jiro and his guardian Akiya." Sizzla shifted her weight to her other foot, looking around to see if there was somewhere they could sit and talk. "Wanna sit down somewhere? I know you've got an armful, and you're probably ready to take a load off..."
Rhea looked at the tall boy with glasses, a grin forming from ear to ear. He was answering her questions, and she appreciated the gesture. Some of the other Tales she'd met had backed off immediately once she'd started in on the questions, but Sylvester seemed more than happy to answer her inquiries. "I don't like too many vegetables really," Rhea said, nodding. "But I can see how you would like them. I've read about giraffes in books before, but I've never seen any up close!" She listened intently to what he liked to do, trying not to interrupt him.
"TV?" she asked, only having seen a television once...when it wasn't on. "I've seen a TV before, but Sizzla says it'll rot my brain, and I don't want that, oh no!" She said, shaking her head adamantly. She lowered her voice just enough so Sizzla couldn't hear, and held a hand up to deflect her voice while she whispered to Sylvester: "But I'd like to see this TV sometime. Maybe you can show me?"
Looking toward the back of the shop, Rhea wondered what could possibly be upstairs. "Do people live here? Maybe that's why there was baby stuff up there...But why was it all scratched up? Did you see anyone up there? We should definitely go exploring sometime! I don't think I'd get scared," she said, her voice sounding wary, but her face showing enthusiasm for the idea.
And then it was the moment Rhea had been waiting for...Ever since seeing this kid, she'd had this prodding urge to hug his neck. She didn't know why, but if he let her, she'd be more than happy to give it a squeeze. After he gave her permission, she ran her hands over his spotted coat, and up to his neck, where she tried to get her arms around it, to no avail. She was much too short for that...unless he helped her out a bit. Her cheeks reddened a bit, and she stood on tiptoe to "whisper" something into his ear...the ear that was quite far from where she was standing. "Can you bend down a bit...I'm kinda short," she said, hoping he'd oblige. It was a bit embarassing, but Rhea didn't care. She wanted to give into the hugging urge!
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Posted: Thu Dec 08, 2005 10:26 pm
"Oh, that's good that she's met some of the others. He knows Angelus and Jiro, and he'll have to meet Chailyn too, once I tell him she exists. He mostly just knows whoever we've run into here." Smerdle looked around, choosing one of the armchairs near the one Huni had occupied the morning Sylvester had been born. Brownie stood up on Smerdle's lap to peek over the arm of the chair at the two Tales, but quickly sat again when she saw what idiots they were being.
Rhea's little hands on his fur felt funny, mostly because they were rubbing it half the wrong way, but it wasn't that bad. His ears pricked up at her request. Oh! He should have thought of that. Silly. "Yeah, sure," he said, trying to think of the easiest way to accomplish getting closer to the ground without the risk of losing his balance. Aha! Flicking his tail out of the way, he dropped to the floor, crossing his legs in front of him. "'Kay," he added, just to let her know he was settled.
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Posted: Sat Dec 10, 2005 7:37 am
"Yeah, we've run into a few people here. The Halloween Festival was fun, because Rhea got to meet a few people at once. It's been pretty hectic since she's arrived...I'm not used to a kid who's constantly curious about everything!" Sitting down in the chair next to Smerdle's, she gave a large sigh, her body relaxing as it hit the soft chair. "I hardly get a chance to sit down anymore, so this is nice. Rhea likes to drag me around when we get out of the house...It's quite a long walk to get here, and it's even worse when you're trying to keep up with an energetic little kid who likes to run! Do you live around here?" she asked, curious about where most people on Gaia lived. Gambino seemed to be full of tourists these days, all of them heading for the casino. At least her house was far enough away that the bright lights of the island city didn't disturb her.
As Sylvester moved into a new, more reachable position, Rhea stood back to watch him fold his legs underneath him, dropping down onto the floor. "That was very graceful, I must say," she said, giggling. "You're ready?" she asked, getting confirmation before wrapping her short arms around his neck. She gave it a squeeze, quite strong for a girl her age, and then released him, smiling happily. "Thanks! That really made my day!" She followed the hug up with a few more petting strokes of his spotted coat, and then plopped down in front of him, indian-style. Now that they were both sitting, they could be more comfortable. "So, what else do you like, besides TV? Do you read books?" Rhea thought that maybe they could find some other things that they had in common. "Do you like games?"
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Posted: Sun Dec 11, 2005 7:24 pm
"We live a little outside Aekea, actually. But we used to live here, so I'm kind of attached. This week we're staying in Barton though, so it's fairly close." Smerdle leaned back in the chair, stretching her legs out in front of her.
Rhea attempted to wrap her arms around him again, and this time it worked! He held still for a moment, but then put his hand on her back and pat it a few times so the hug wouldn't be terribly one-sided. As she settled down in front of him, he leaned back on his arms, waiting for her to get comfortable and listening to her new questions. "Books are okay," he answered. "I can't read a lot of the ones we have at home, but one time I was in a place where I could read everything! It was awesome! Mama reads to me here, mostly." Hmm. He played games with Morry, but no one was supposed to know about her. "I've played tag and stuff. Hide and seek," he said. "But not much by myself. How 'bout you?"
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Posted: Sat Dec 17, 2005 9:02 am
Getting comfortable, Elysia pulled off her coat one sleeve at a time. Finally sitting back in her chair, she nodded to Smerdle. "I haven't spent too much time in Aekea...New things are popping up around there every day it seems. I'm a bit intimidated by urban sprawl. I used to live in Durem, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to raise all of the kids there. It can be rough sometimes..."
She went on while picking bits of lint off of her sweater, in an unconscious habit.
"But my oldest son, Kappa, he lives in Durem, and he loves it. Maybe I'm just getting old," she chuckled. "But I dunno. Living in the city doesn't appeal to me any more. What do you do for a living?" she asked. "If you don't mind me asking of course..."
Rhea appreciated Sylvester giving her a semi-hug, but she knew he was doing it to be nice. She had only asked to hug him, and had wanted nothing in return. It wasn't every day that you can say you've hugged a giraffe!
"A place where you could read everything?" A quizzical look crossed Rhea's face. "Where's that at? I think I want to go there! There are still some books that I think are hard to read...but I'm getting better at the reading thing...I really like hearing about things I've never seen before. It makes me want to experience everything!"
Games...did she like games? Come to think of it, Rhea had never played a game before...Maybe now would be a good time to start...
"Well, the only kinds of games I know are word games...But the games you're talking about sound fun. I've never played anything like that before...Do you think we could play some sometime?"
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Posted: Sat Dec 17, 2005 9:14 pm
"It's still a bit rural where we are," Smerdle said, tugging at Brownie's little knitted poncho... thing. The toddler held on briefly, then let her aunt pull the piece of fabric off of her arms. "I suppose we were lucky. I'm sure no one wants to live where we do, but it's warm and it doesn't leak, so I can't complain. Most of my checks that don't go toward food, go to the cable bill. Sylvester's kind of a pop culture fanatic." At the question about her work situation, Smerdle ducked her head in embarrassment. "I act," she half-muttered. "Not so much anymore, but a few years ago I was on a soap and some commercials. Now it's mostly voiceover or jobs completely unrelated to acting. Those are definitely more common." She smiled to herself, suddenly finding fiddling with Brownie's clothing to be the most interesting thing in the world. After a couple of seconds, she looked up. "What do you do?" she asked. "If you don't mind me asking," she chuckled.
"Well..." How to describe Guaxa? He didn't even know where it was. "Um, the place I read the books wasn't here. And they weren't in Gaia letters. I don't read those too good," he answered. "If I ever find it again, I'll take you!" he said happily. Actually, he wasn't even sure that was possible. Coming home was kind of a huge blur. Oh well, he'd at least try.
Word games, huh? He'd probably stink at those. But hide and seek..."Yeah, sure. We could play anytime!" He looked over at his mother to make sure she didn't look like she was leaving. "Even now!"
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Posted: Fri Dec 30, 2005 9:13 am
"Living in the country would be nice...I live in a pretty secluded area of Gambino, but I still get a good deal of traffic around there. It seems like people are constantly coming and going. I can't even imagine what it'll be like in ten years." She stopped, checking out what Rhea and Sylvester were doing. They still seemed to be having a good time, so she turned back to Smerdle, glad that this new meeting was going well. The last playdate they'd had had been a bit...rough.
"I'm glad to see they're getting along. We met Jiro and his guardian last time we were here, and they had a time of it!"
When Elysia heard that Smerdle was an actress, her eyes lit up. She was always curious about the profession. "What soap were you on?" she asked, not really knowing any of them well enough to pick her out. "Commercials sound like they'd be good money. Seems like a good profession to me."
Shaking her head, she continued..."I work in publishing actually. I run my own music magazine, but now that I've got so many kids to look after, I've outsourced some of the work so that I'm not crazy busy. I also run a shop of my own, out of my house. I kind of stumbled onto it. I picked a gem up off of the beach one day, and a couple of days later, it had hatched into a creature that I call a Fury. Now, I find suitable guardians for the Furies. It defintely keeps me busy."
"It wasn't here?" Rhea asked, not quite understanding what Sylvester meant. "How did you find it?" Excited at the prospect of seeing this fantastic place, Rhea nodded furiously. "Please! If you ever find it again, make sure you tell me. I'd love to go."
Looking around, she saw that her mother was busy talking. Surely they had time to play a little game. "Can we really play now? We should! What are the rules?"
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