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 Posted: Fri Dec 11, 2009 9:58 pm
The mall turned out to be pretty crowded. It couldn't really be called surprising, considering how close the holidays were; nevertheless, Tate, who had very few people to give gifts to, had almost forgotten. It was only upon arrival that she saw the garlands. And the bows. And the piped-in nondenominational tunes sung by random pop stars whose voices she didn't recognize.
She had always preferred soundtrack music.
So it was that Tate was in a rather poor mood as she shopped for presents for her best friend's parents. It was a bad month, all of November had pretty much sucked, it had all sucked. Of course Giselle hadn't come home. She hated herself for having that dream so many times. This poor mood of hers led her to be walking around with her gaze firmly pointed towards the floor, shoulders hunched tightly together.
That was why she walked straight into someone. Looking up after the collision, her first impulse was Girl. Then: Girl with no chest. Finally, it hit her. This wasn't a girl, or even a girl without a figure like her. She had walked right into a bishounen. That was kind of rare, except in certain shoujo manga.
"I'm sorry, sir," she said. He looked a little older and she didn't want to get in trouble just yet. Maybe if he turned out to be a d**k, then she'd get going with being rough as sandpaper. For right now, he'd done nothing to her except get walked into.
His purchases had spilled. Face turning red--not just from embarrassment from walking into him, but also from the connotations of meeting a real-life bishounen--she bent down to pick up some of the bags.
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Posted: Fri Dec 11, 2009 11:15 pm
It was another one of those rare days where Howl had been able to break away from Franz for an afternoon on the town. Deciding to use his time wisely, he ventured to the local mall to take care of some gift purchases.
The atmosphere was absolutely pleasant, as it should have been this time of year. Certainly, he would occasionally witness a shopper having a fit over not getting whichever item they had been looking to purchase, but it was nowhere nearly as competitive as it would have been back in his hometown. It was disappointing to think of such a high class place being one of the pettiest ones in regards to holiday spirit.
He had been so careless as to close his eyes and chuckle at something so ironic, that he did not notice he walked into someone. Certainly, out of shock, he released his hold upon his gift bags. They spilled across the floor, filling in about a couple feet in radius from the collision point. As his teal eyes opened up again, he found a thin girl with brown hair looking over him and apologizing.
With the proper sex association! Perhaps she was just observant to notice his casual suit was not exactly that of a female. Stranger things had happened before.
She was a bit shorter than him and seemed quite flustered about the whole thing. He smiled kindly and attempted to reassure her.
"Oh no, Miss, it was entirely my fault." His voice had a light English accent to it as he spoke gently to the girl. In a less panicked fashion, Howl leaned down and began to do the same as the girl, picking up his purchases so that they wouldn't inconvenience any of the other shoppers as they attempted to stream past. When all bags had been picked up, he politely offered his hand to the girl to assist her in standing once again.
Still seeming to think the fault was his own, he apologized in the sincerest of fashions. "I should have been looking where I was going, Miss. Would you accept a cup of cocoa for an apology? I have heard that they serve a delightful cup of cocoa in the food court during this time of year."
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Posted: Fri Dec 11, 2009 11:46 pm
Tate did not live in a shoujo manga, as she had to remind herself as she handed the boy's bags up to him. This would hardly start off a magical adventure. Probably he'd just snap at her and move on. Sometimes the appearance of a bishounen meant that, too. She sighed and took his hand to pull herself up, then brushed off the knees of her leggings. The floors were dusty. Focus on the dusty. Agghh he even had such a perfect bishounen voice, too! It was too totally uncanny. Tate's suspicious mind did not appreciate all the cues going magical adventure time. She lived in the real world, goddamnit. she checked her messenger bag to make sure nothing was lost. It gave a pretty clear view of who she was: sensible, masculine wallet, old but functional cell phone, notebooks. A corner of a magazine declaring something to do with the CheerStar game franchise peeked out between the side of the leather bag and a plaid notebook. A few bags were in the back, one for a popular chain of tea stores and the other from GameStop. Her student ID was plainly visible in a clear plastic pocket in the front. It identified her as Tatiana Konstantin, a senior at Meadowview High School. "All right, but let me buy it," she said after a moment of staring at him like he was a unicorn or something equally so ridiculous. But after shaking her head, everything seemed cleared up; all traces of you're a ******** unicorn were gone, replaced by a somewhat bland, but not unfriendly expression. "It was my fault, anyway. Didn't bother to look away from my shoes, you know?" She smoothed the front of her sweater dress and checked to make sure her shoes were on before glancing back up at him, a little bit of curiosity back in her stare. "Really am sorry about it, sir," she said.
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Posted: Sat Dec 12, 2009 12:05 am
As this girl insisted upon taking the blame, he could not help but smile in amusement. When she finished speaking, he chuckled gently. "Alas, I think we will continue disagreeing with each other until we get to the food court. How about we go to the food court, buy our own cups of cocoa, and then enjoy each other's company in apology?" It was a strange little idea, but Howl had said it so sincerely, it almost came across as if he was asking the girl for a date.
It was only when the girl had called him sir once again that he remembered something so bare basic that he forgot to do. Once again, he chuckled out before rectifying this dilemma. "Oh! I was so caught up on apologizing, that I nearly forgot my manners. My name is Howl Wickham."
For a moment, he glanced to his arms, which were stacked up with bags. It would be very difficult to give this young lady the proper greeting. Perhaps on departure he could give her the kiss upon her hand she deserved.
Returning his attention to the girl, he added "It is a pleasure to meet you, Miss." In comparison to many of the holiday shoppers, his pace was quite leisurely, where as most other shoppers seemed to zip by, making Howl seem as if he was going in slow motion.
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Posted: Sat Dec 12, 2009 12:55 am
Oh my god he was a unicorn. Or some kind of sparkly beautiful mythical beast of that kind. "Sounds like a plan," she said after a moment of staring at him with that same dumbfounded look. Like, seriously! Boys weren't supposed to be polite. They were supposed to be douchebags. Lucas (a*****e!) was proof enough of that.
Of course, girls sucked a lot, too. Giselle...
Was he laughing at her? Tate shot a sort-of-half-glare at the boy, who introduced himself as Howl Wickham. Then her expression softened, and she pursed her lips. "Nice to meet you. I'm Tatiana Konstantin, but call me Tate." Couldn't hurt to be giving a unicorn (dear lord he even had a unicorn-rare name. Howl. HOWL. A la Howl's Moving Castle. Too weird! Abort! Abort!)
"Tatiana's a stupid, frilly name anyway," she mumbled, setting off towards the food court. She had to slow down to stay near Howl, though, and while normally that was a good thing, the escaping from uncomfortable social situations...
Well, it wasn't every day you saw a unicorn wandering around the mall.
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Posted: Sat Dec 12, 2009 9:36 am
To make sure he pronounced this young lady's name correctly, he repeated it back to her. "Tatiana Konstantin? It is an absolutely elegant name, Miss Konstantin." If anything irked him, it was the nickname rather than the full name. However, none of this showed upon his features, which remained calm and gentle.
Now, it had had been at more liberty, he might have asked about which school she went to. However, then the question would be returned to him, and then he'd have to point out he was from Hillworth of all schools. And if anything, Howl did not look the part of a disadvantaged student.
So instead, he simply drew the question towards the purpose of being at the mall: shopping. "Might I ask if you are also doing some holiday shopping, Miss Konstantin? I know that not everyone is shopping for presents during this time of year. I hope I am not disrupting any sort of errand you might have been running." It was about this time they began passing some of the tables set up in the food court. Howl had to pause in step though to take a look at the various facilities. He was not exactly familiar with this mall yet, so he did not know which of the food court stands had the hot cocoa. Would it be at the Apollo's Coffee stand, or maybe the Dippin' Donuts?
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Posted: Sat Dec 12, 2009 3:54 pm
Well, that was new. Normally people jumped on the excuse to call her Tate. She just didn't look like a Tatiana. She looked like, well, she looked like a Tate. Miss Konstantin indeed, she looked about as much like a Miss as she looked like a fairytale princess.
"It's nice to meet you, Mr. Wickham," she repeated as she grabbed his arm to direct him towards Apollo's Coffee. She had a look of aggrieved amusement, the kind directed more at oneself than at the people around them. Unfortunately, Tate had one of those faces that made every single nuance of emotion rather plain. It sucked when playing poker, but worked for her most of the time. Why talk when you could just frown and people would know? "You're not from around here, are you?"
She smiled then, in an apologetic fashion. "I don't mean to sound harsh. Um... Yeah, getting stuff for my... my ex-best-friend's parents." Tate shook her head, ostensibly to get her hair out of her face. "You're not disrupting anything, I'm not looking forward to driving home anyway."
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Posted: Sat Dec 12, 2009 5:23 pm
He allow himself to get tugged along slightly before resuming his own casual pace. Once the two were standing side-by-side in the line, he turned to face the girl. She was either very observant, or just a good guesser. With his arms hanging by his sides (thanks to his gift bags), he nodded his head.
"You can read me like a book it would seem, my dear. I only moved out here a few months ago and this would be my first trip to this particular shopping mall." As the girl reassured him that he was not an interruption, he sighed lightly. "That is quite a relief to hear. It would have been quite embarrassing to have stolen you away from your friends or your duties to society."
As they edged closer to the front of the line, he reached for his back pocket and fished out his wallet, which was a standard black leather wallet. Even such a simple movement seemed elegant if you watched the effeminate lad carefully. Glancing down to his current companion, he smiled wistfully and asked gently "Are you certain that I cannot change your mind about paying for that cocoa? It would not be a bother at all."
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Posted: Sat Dec 12, 2009 6:12 pm
It was a combination of observance, skill at guessing, and self-confidence. If there had been a bishounen in Destiny City who tended to shop here, Tate was pretty damn sure she would have seen him before now.
Fft. Friends. Duties to society. Tate didn't particularly have either. She'd been friends with Giselle, and that had turned out as well as a date with a guillotine. About as good as a visit to the All-Gods Village in Fatal Frame would've turned out. It was the older twin who always got it in the end, leaving the younger to try and cope without him or her. It sucked a**. Of course it did.
"You could," said Tate, "but then I'd be the bothered one, and I'm no fun when I'm in a bad mood. So I'll buy my own, okay?" She softened the somewhat rude words with a polite smile. Really, for a Meadowview student, she had good manners. It came from having a mother whose only use for you was a medal on her chest. 'Look, I'm such a good mother I bring my antisocial, nerdy failure of a child to parties with me!' It came in good use when she didn't want to look like a b***h, though...
(Agghhh. Unicorns.)
She flipped her ponytail over her shoulder and said, feigning dispassion, "Don't get the hot chocolate or coffee from Dippin' Donuts unless you want to get sick. Like, really sick." That might have just been her own lack of luck. "You can trust Nathan's and Apollo, though..."
They were at the front of the line; she flashed a meaningless smile at the clerk and ordered her peppermint hot chocolate, paid, and moved over to the waiting area. Holiday shopping meant crowds, so she didn't go very far away. Even unicorns could run out of... whatever it was that made Howl Wickham want to talk to her.
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Posted: Sat Dec 12, 2009 6:41 pm
With a harmless chuckle, he couldn't help but hold up a hand to take heed of her warning. "Then I shall not tempt fate with an ill-tempered Miss Konstantin." Meaning no harm, he added in a rather quaint compliment (at least, quaint in comparison to some of his usual ones): "I would be doing the world an injustice if I made such a cute girl upset." Where as many lads could not pull this sort of comment without sounding like they were blatantly trying to take the girl home with them, Howl was able to make it sound as if this was an absolute fact.
When the girl offered him advice in regards to various fast food chains, he listened carefully and nodded his head when he suspected she was done. It might have seemed like he was truly contemplating her words. It simply made sense to him that a place that specialized in greasy dough (Donuts were not Howl's best friend) was not a place to be trusted with coffee. Though, now this also prompted another question in his mind. It would have to wait for a moment or two, seeing as they were now in the front.
The brunette was able to slip through the line quite quickly, no problems to be had. Yet the same could not be said for Howl. The clerk had apparently mistaken him for a lady, so when Howl made his order, the clerk made a small fuss over the whole situation. Howl's voice was anything but that of a lady's. In his usual fashion, he calmly dealt with the situation, making no fuss in return. Apologies were made and forgiveness was easily offered in return.
Once the minor bit of confusion had passed, Howl joined his companion on the sidelines to wait for his order as well. Not wanting to draw attention to the common mistake frequently made of his gender, he calmly asked "Miss Konstantin, would you happen to know of any facilities that sell high quality tea?"
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Posted: Sat Dec 12, 2009 7:39 pm
Injustice. Fft. Cute girl, even more fft. Talking to this guy was like walking right into a shoujo manga. (The half-smothered princessy part of Tate wanted to know if this was really so bad. She kind of liked feeling like she was in a manga. It was refreshing.)
She watched, a little bit amused, as the clerk freaked out over Howl being a guy. What, they couldn't see it? Sure, it took a bit of a work and knocking your eyes a little bit out of focus to make him manly manly, but he wasn't that girly. Not to her, anyway, which might not mean very much. She watched and read a lot of anime and manga.
"Oh, yes. Teavana does. They also have samples, if you don't know exactly what you're looking for." While waiting, she took to braiding the small chunk of longer hair that constituted her ponytail. Really, she supposed Howl must like looking so girly. Otherwise, he would've cut his hair long ago. (Would he look so girly with short hair? It bore contemplation.) "I like their matevana blend. The earl grey is okay, but I don't drink it much anymore."
She took her hot chocolate from the helpful worker and gave the unicorn a sympathetic look. The hardships of being a bishounen, if she had to hazard a guess, were very hard. "D'you have any particular favorite blends of tea," she asked to be polite as she popped off the lid to make sure they'd remembered her whipped cream.
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Posted: Sat Dec 12, 2009 8:06 pm
His rather beautiful features seemed to lighten up at the mention of a familiar facility. Seeming genuinely enthused, he nearly gushed out his undying love for Teavana.
"Oh! I was not aware there was a Teavana in this shopping mall! They do a splendid job of supplying excellent tea! I may have to inquire later as to which side of the mall it is located!"
He could have easily continued, but his hot cocoa had arrived from a smirking employee. The strange looks were easily dismissed as he began to blow into the tiny hole of his cup's lid. Certainly, he could have removed the lid and blown over a larger surface area of the cocoa, but then there was always that risk of spilling when removing or replacing that pesky lid. They were never easy to fasten properly.
His turquoise eyes glanced up from his cup and vaguely noted the partially braided section of hair. He was quite familiar with simple behaviors that were associated with nervousness or boredom, in which hair play was included. He was not immune to such a behavior, but he tried to avoid doing so in company of others. Taking to holding his warm paper cup in his right hand, he signaled with his left hand for the girl to follow him. He began to walk while answering her question.
"I tend to find that the Silver Needle White Tea goes quite well with nearly any tea, but that is my personal preference. Might I return the question back to you?"
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Posted: Sat Dec 12, 2009 9:34 pm
Tate's smile lit up the entirety of her thin face, responding to the obvious enthusiasm in Howl's voice. She had a soft spot for the store as well, but her attachment wasn't so much to the excellent tea as the fact that she loved to look at the pots and imagine bludgeoning people to death with them. A little violence never hurt anyone, after all. With the dexterity of someone who once worked in a coffee-shop, she popped the lid of her drink back on and took a sip. She sighed contentedly; even if this all took a sudden down-turn and ended badly, Tate had gotten her reminder to grab some peppermint cocoa.
(Note to self: Stop thinking of him as a unicorn. It'd be embarrassing to slip up and call him "Mr. Unicorn" when she meant "Mr. Wickham". And with her luck, she'd do it, too.)
"It's on the second level," she said, "between Zara and Hollystar." She supposed they were trying to draw in the teeny-boppers going to Hollystar and the twentysomethings who would frequent Zara, but really she thought they might do better up near BCBG and Cache. The intellectual, tea-buying types generally hung around near there anyway. Personally, she wished Teavana was closer to the arcade, simply because that was usually where Tate went first. Except, of course, for today. She was shopping today.
Pausing to think over the question, she fiddled with the cardboard circles they gave out with cups to keep you from burning your hands. The answer was obvious, really. She adored rooibos chai. But there was also the other tea... no. Giselle was not here, she was not coming back, and Tate needed to stop acting like her best friend would come back. And stop having those dreams, too!
"Rooibos teas, rooibos chai to be more specific," she said after her long hesitation. "It's good if you put cream and sugar in it... Um... Mariska, my mother always buys me Weight-to-Go! black tea, though..." Here she forced a laugh. "Like I'm not skinny enough already." It was true, Tatiana could rival rails for thinness. She didn't look like she was fishing for compliments; she looked rather like she wished she could disappear into her coat, like she was trying to interrogate the plastic lid on her hot chocolate before she took another sip.
She surreptitiously wiped her eyes and sniffed. "Sorry. Didn't think it'd be so hot." Tate tossed her ponytail over her shoulder again, then continued, "So, are you looking forward to winter break? I mean, at least finals will be over... Are you going to Senior Halftime?"
It seemed she thought he was a Meadowview student.
"I might," she sighed, "Haven't got anything better to do." Nothing that couldn't work, anyway."
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Posted: Sat Dec 12, 2009 10:22 pm
As the approached the seating area for the food court, he began to scout the area as best as he could for a free table. To make certain he got the directions correct, he repeated them carefully for the brunette.
"The second floor, between Zara and Hollystar." He nodded his head, causing his long dangling earrings to sway slightly. Howl had managed to catch her preference in tea, but he could not help but feel a slight stab of betrayal to the flavor of tea with the possible addition of cream and sugar. Any true tea connoisseur knew that cream and sugar just masked the true flavors of the beverage. Even icing the tea had the same effect, since the ice would melt and make the flavor a bit more watery. Despite the slight disappointment, his features didn't waver in the slightest. Everyone was entitled to their own opinion with tea, and Tatiana Konstantin was no exception to the rule.
He made no mention to the "Weight-to-Go!" tea, but only vaguely acknowledge the fact that he had heard her with a vague nod of the head and a very soul-connecting gaze to her eyes. It was no simple glance, but more of a respectful look into the colors of her eyes. Half of being polite and respectful in a conversation was eye contact.
The two neared an empty table about the time the girl mentioned winter break and Senior Halftime. He pulled out one chair and smiled to the girl, his eyes once again making contact with Miss Konstantin's dark ones. His head tilted slightly to the chair to signal it would be her seat (both of his hands were occupied at the moment, right with the cup, and left with the chair).
Without acknowledging anything dealing with school, he responded "I suspect my winter break shall be quite dull." He would have enjoyed going home to his parents, but his current restraining order prevented him from even going back to his hometown. He followed up the comment with "I suspect I will not be going to the Senior Halftime. I take it this means you are a senior, Miss Konstantin?"
Only once the girl sat herself down did he gently tuck the chair in under the table. He was ever so careful to not squish the girl, but to keep her close enough to the table that others could pass by without a problem. If there was ever a lad with manners, it was Howl Wickham.
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Posted: Sat Dec 12, 2009 10:56 pm
Tate sighed. The problem with unic--Howl--seemed to be that he was far too polite. She sighed again and glanced around.
This time of year, every blonde with an updo looked like Giselle.
It didn't matter. She smiled at Howl again and sat down. Setting the cup on the table, she said, "Thank you," and started to fiddle with the cardboard wrapper again. "That's kind of depressing. And yeah, I'm a senior, not much of one but I am." She was kind of disappointed that he wasn't going to Senior Halftime; it would have been amusing to watch him play the stupid halftime games that precipitated every winter break.
Pause. Tate sometimes had a bit of a time putting her thoughts together, that much was clear as she stared at the lid of her coffee cup. Hmmm... He looked like he was her age, but he wasn't going to Halftime, and he hadn't said anything at all about school. Even if he had never shared a class with her, after hearing she was from Meadowview he probably would have said something irritatingly polite about one of the teachers. That considering look again, like she was putting things together in her head. She'd never seen Howl at Meadowview, and she would've noticed him if he were a junior or senior. They wouldn't have even been in the same building for most of their classes...
So either he was a sophomore and just looked old for his age, or he went to Hillworth. Either way, it probably wasn't worth mentioning. Some people were touchy about what school they went to, like...
"What, you've got no plans?" It seemed like a lot of thought just to put together that question, posited so innocently in a teasing tone. "Nice guy like you?" She idly (and tentatively) classified him as a Shy Bishounen; he didn't fit the actual title of the group, but most of the traits he had in spades. Polite, well-spoken, apparently refined if his love of tea and his immaculate clothes were any clue.
"You're not my age, are you," she asked. "I'm seventeen." Going on eighteen, actually. Her birthday was in eleven days.
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