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 Posted: Mon Feb 01, 2010 9:51 am
Who: Josh, Anita, mistletoe & soul bottle
What: Planned meeting
Where: Gambino Cafe, Slammin' Donuts
When: Around noon, Saturday
Weather: Winter chill, flurries but not sticking A public place.
A public place and she had brought the damn mistletoe.
This was the agreed upon spot, somewhere safe and easy, where if Anita got too worked up, she would be able to distract herself with the delicious aroma and taste of the wonderful holed rolls within.
She fidgeted, rocking back and forth on the back legs of her chair while waiting. Around her shoulder was a messenger bag that had the bottle and essence inside, surrounded by makeshift soft things to keep them safe. Her contents weren't as odd as the ones Zul had put in the box when sending them, just a couple of shirts tucked around to act as nesting, but she felt a bit silly all the same.
The bitter fragrance of coffee was thick in the air and she found herself breathing hard out of her nose, inhaling with her mouth to make sure it wasn't too strong. Coffee was never her cup of tea. Even a cup of tea wasn't her cup of tea.
Relax... He's going to be here soon. Once he gets here, everything will be fine. Everything will get explained. Anita sighed, resting the chair back on the tiled floor and stared down at her donut of choice, resting comfortably on a napkin. It returned her stare, delicious and wanting to be eaten in its chocolate glazed, whipped cream filled glory. Closing her eyes, she sighed and took the first bite. Immediately, she slouched back in the tall chair and sighed, chewing away.
This was a much better distraction from anything else, so long as no one but Josh came up to her. She had picked the furthest table from everyone for a reason.
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Posted: Tue Feb 02, 2010 8:42 am
A quaint musical tune chimed as the front door swung open. The boy may have recalled it from a classical piece if he was more focused. However, other things were on his mind right now. Ani's desperate phone call was one of them.
Josh sauntered into the cafe and paused to look around. Nervous eyes darted around in search of the girl. He gave a small gasp as his gaze trained onto a mop of brown hair. Sure enough, the wavy tresses ended in two signature braids. There she was! He saw her sitting in the corner, or rather.... huddling in the corner. The boy felt an odd weight settle in his stomach as he approached, as if today had more in store for him than he expected. He passed by person after person until the crowds dwindled to just them.
Josh and Ani.
The boy plopped down onto the seat in front of the girl with little warning. A charming smile spread over his face as he waited for her to notice him. In the back of his mind he could not suppress an idle thought: Ani had a different air about her today.
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Posted: Tue Feb 02, 2010 9:30 am
Josh's sudden arrival gave her a start, causing her to jump back slightly in the chair and drag its feet along the tiled floor with a sharp "pang". As she had been in mid bite of the donut, it squirted a bit of whipped cream outside of her mouth and now that she realized it was Josh, she set the donut down and licked the sugary white substance away. "Hi," it was fairly monotone until she had gotten all of the cream off of her lips, but after she did Anita cleared her throat and sat up straight in the chair, resting her hands together on the table.
At first, there was silence and she could only stare at him until the proper words came to mind.
"...As I said, I got something interesting in the mail... Do you know a Raevan named Zul?" she couldn't be sure how far the whole Lab connection went; all of the Raevans were from the Lab, that much she understood, but whether all of the Raevans and guardians knew one another was yet to be determined for her.
After cutting right to the chase, Anita eased up and realized how rude that probably was. She was so out of sorts. Shaking her head, she held up a hand and corrected, "Wait. I'm sorry. Thanks for meeting me here... I'm sorry I called on short notice and everything, but I do think you're the only one I know right now who can help me ou--"
The mistletoe in her bag had had enough of her stalling and, without warning, it pushed her forward across the table, lips locking with Josh's. She was too stunned to close her eyes, they only grew wide in horror. Of course, it was to be expected. Something was just so much worse about kissing someone you knew but didn't have those feelings for. Kissing a stranger, as she had been doing a lot recently, was still terrible but she would likely never see them again. Once the shock wore off, all she could say was "Dammit," before rifling through her bag. In a violent flurry of motion, she exhumed the vial of mistletoe and set it on the table, not letting go of it. Her other hand was used to cover her eyes, trying to hide any visible shame and embarrassment. How mortifying. Her only hope of being redeemed was that the vial would speak for itself.
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Posted: Tue Feb 02, 2010 1:43 pm
Josh flinched at the sudden explosion of noise that erupted from Ani's seat. His first instinct was to give a sideways glance to the customers around the cafe. The boy timidly waved off the few people who had looked up from their conversations or books. Perhaps, he should have been less sneaky. He made a mental note for the future. Josh spoke almost as dryly as Ani, "Hello." To be honest, he was not completely sure why he was here. The girl seemed frantic on his caller ID. Now she was sitting across from him inattentively munching on a donut. Why was he here?
Josh stared back at Ani. His brows knitted together in confusion. As the seconds ticked by the furrow between them seemed to be growing deeper. He was about to break the silence when Ani cut his off with a question. Zul? Josh was taken back a bit. What did he have to do with this? The boy nodded and replied curtly, "I know him. Lu knows him better though." Said raevan was playing in the yard last time he saw her this morning. Right now the rabbit would probably be bugging Josh's mother for lunch. Josh gave a chuckle at the thought before his mind returned to more important matters. Just what was up with Ani?
Josh's fingers strummed nervously on the table as he listened to the girl. Every so often he found himself picking at a napkin that laying near his fingertips. He could not place his finger on it. Ani just seemed so... out of it. This was starting to sound like some sort of confession or something. Josh began to speak again, "I will be happy to hel--mnf!!!" He was cut off before his first sentence was finished.
The boy was unsure just what had happened. He made a move to talk but no words came out. Instead, he felt warmth on his lips and heat spreading to his cheeks. He tried to talk again but his words were swallowed up by Ani's mouth. Josh sputtered when he realized he was kissing a girl he barely knew. He shoved Ani away and shot up from his seat. The chair nearly flipped over onto the floor. If they hadn't made a scene yet that day they were about to. "I-I do not like you that way Ani!!!"
Josh rediscovered his torn napkin and brought it to his lips. He scrubbed at the skin until he felt some semblance of being clean. It was a few moments before he had worked up the courage to look in Ani's direction again. Auburn irises wavered as they fell across everything but Ani's face. He just couldn't bring himself to look her in the eye just yet. His eyebrows shot skyward when he took notice of a familiar vial. The Lab? More confusing was the item bottled within it. Josh sat back down.
"Christmas was a long time ago Ani."
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Posted: Tue Feb 02, 2010 5:25 pm
That was exactly the reaction she had expected, bracing for something excitable though she flinched when Josh pushed her away. Still, she sat there as still as she could with her hand over her face, lips turned to a scowl instead of a usual pleasant smile. The expression wasn't at Josh, but at the mistletoe.
It liked playing with her at every turn.
"I know. I don't like you that way, either," she asserted, voice firm and curt. Sighing hard, she tapped the glass bottom of the vial onto the table as Josh made note of it. Yes, ha ha, Christmas jokes. "I sold Zul some games earlier this year. About a week ago, he sent me this and a large bottle as thanks." Reaching back into the bag at her side, she removed the bottle and set it beside the vial. "The mistletoe made me kiss you. Hell, it's made me kiss just about everyone I come within a few feet of."
If she hadn't made the special request of not approaching the counter too closely while she ordered, she would have kissed the clerk, too. Some how, she managed to pass this off as OCD as they fulfilled the request without question.
"It was really confusing at first. Hell, I got it at work, so you can imagine... what happened," Anita shifted uncomfortably in her chair, not liking those thoughts.
After a few moments to collect herself, she continued,"I remembered what you said LuLu was at the pet store; Sentient Ink. That's what made me think this might be what she was--an essence." If ink that wrote and thought on its own was counted as an essence, she was certain that mistletoe that forced her to kiss people, however unwilling she was, counted as one, too. Through her entire monologue, Anita didn't look Josh in the eye. She didn't raise her head, remove her hand or change positions. Her face was still too red for that and she was far too embarrassed and annoyed at Zul's gift to even look at it or the other customers in the shop. Even her lovely donut was spurned until she felt more at ease. "Am I right? Zul didn't explain anything..."
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Posted: Fri Feb 05, 2010 9:33 am
Most people would have been confused or offended by Ani's actions. Kissing them and them saying they had no feelings for them. A three second fling perhaps? However, Josh had become a lot more understanding since he had joined the Lab. Now things like 'sentient ink' and 'assertive mistletoe' seemed like the norm. It was just one more unusual coincidence the Lab had caused. He probably would have been more worried if an essence vial wasn't involved.
The boy hid his expression behind his hand. His features where still lit up with some embarrassment much to his dismay. The boy listened to Ani's story thoughtfully. On the other hand, his gaze did not stray once from the bowl of artificial sweeteners on the table. When her explanation was finished, he whispered hesitantly, "Sounds like less of a gift and more of a nuisance." He set his hand down, the excess color in his face having finally drained away. He tore his eyes off the table and set them on Ani, "Welcome to the big, happy Lab family." He chuckled to brighten the mood... and to calm his own nerves. Looking at Ani was still a challenge. Their incident was not something he would just take in stride and brush off instantly. "I am sure that is an essence."
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Posted: Fri Feb 05, 2010 9:51 am
Relief, sweet relief.
Everything she had attempted to figure out about the mistletoe until now was accurate. Anita felt a wry smile tug at one side of her mouth as she pulled the Fel Essence back, staring at it while turning it in her hands and then placing it back into the bag at her side. "A big, Lab family?" she repeated, musing at the idea. It seemed to assure that all Raevans knew each other, as well as their guardians.
Now, there was one other thing to attend to before the real questions began. She adjusted herself, no longer covering her face but keeping her eyes locked onto the bottle in front of her, both hands holding it in place. "And what about this thing?" this time, she presented no theories about the object, finding her train of thought to be quite ludicrous and she was extremely unsure of how accurate it would be. "I mean... it has to have a purpose too, right?" she chuckled slightly, remembering how she had first assumed it was an abnormally large lightbulb due to Zul shipping them in a lamp box.
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Posted: Fri Feb 05, 2010 2:01 pm
Josh was a bit relieved when he saw the vial placed back in her bag. It was as though Ani was shoving away a bad memory. Of course, he knew the essence's effects could still reach them, but.... out of sight out of mind, right?
"You got that right," Josh smiled. In his mind all of the owners he had met were kind. Not one had disproved that notion... well... maybe one or two. Nevertheless, the boy felt as though he could count on any one of them to help him like a real family would.
Josh slid back a bit more comfortably in his seat with a delighted sigh. He relished this moment. He could relax for once. These past few weeks had been hectic and for a moment it seemed that they were going to get worse. Luckily, all out chaos was narrowly avoided. Auburn eyes flicked over the menu displayed over the front counter. The boy toyed with the idea of getting a coffee or a latte.
He did not notice when Ani pulled out the soul bottle.
When Josh turned back, he jumped a bit. It had been a while since he had last seen one. It made a few bad memories of his soul capture resurface. He quickly shuffled them back away into the back of his mind before a frown formed on his face. Josh answered quickly, "Well, I do not know the specifics about everything really. But, I do know that is a soul bottle. You use it to capture a soul for your raevan to be," the boy paused. He hoped this was sinking in. He remembered the way he had asked around before he was an owner. He always received a answer, some good and some bad. Josh was sure Ani's would have just as many inquiries for him now. He continued, "You see... Dr. Kyou combines the soul and essence into a raevan. I do not really know how he does it though. Oh! For capturing a soul you need to put the bottle by what you want captured for a bit. Lu's soul took about thirty minutes to be captured. You'll know when its in there because the bottle glows." He set down his hands. The boy did not even realized he had been using them during the explanation. He looked back up at Ani and waited patiently for any other explanations he could give.
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Posted: Fri Feb 05, 2010 2:51 pm
Anita watched him speak with his hands, green eyes dodging between his eyes and his mouth, hanging onto every word Josh spoke in regards to the bottle.
It seemed to take him a minute to gather his thoughts, as if something about the subject matter was bothering him, but Anita couldn't place it and so she didn't ask. She leaned back against the seat, straightening her posture so she wasn't leaning over the table and kept her hands on the side of the bottle, a stray finger occasionally reaching up and stroking the cloth or the metal encasing it.
All she understood about the process of making a Raevan was that it required magic and science, a frightening combination.
"Why does Dr. Kyou make Raevans?" it seemed like such a simple question, but the infinite number of possible responses was worrying. Probably the same reason advances in technology were made; not necessarily out of necessity, but mere questioning, tampering. Without knowing much about the Fel Essences themselves, Anita was at an even deeper loss but she couldn't deny that she had been absolutely fascinated since the first Raevan she had ever seen.
More questions were forming now, but she allowed Josh time to answer each previous one before asking another; "When you capture a soul, does that kill what you take it from?" and "What are some souls Raevans have?" came soon, followed by "And what the hell kind of soul could possibly go with mistletoe that... does that." She sneered at the question, though her general demeanor seemed to have improved since having her thoughts confirmed about the mistletoe.
A final thought occurred to her, when all else had been answered: "How did you get LuLu's soul?"
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Posted: Fri Feb 19, 2010 8:57 am
Josh was taken aback by Anita's next question. It was not because the inquiry was unusual or offending; rather, Josh had neither asked nor heard that question before. He did not know the answer and it left him hungry for a resolution. Just why where the raevans here? The boy spoke up, "I... do not know. I am a bit curious as well," he shrugged off the subject, "I am glad he made LuLu though. She is one of the best things that has happened to me." Josh hated to be so cheesy, but he couldn't help it. The boy felt like a father boasting about his only daughter, his little princess.
Josh's face loss some of its vibrancy at Anita's next question. With a grimmer tone he spoke.
"Yes"
It had been an entire year. A YEAR! The boy did not know why he was still hung up on killing a mere rabbit for LuLu's soul. Albeit, it was a talking rabbit that had yelled and moaned to him until its last breath. It sent shivers down Josh's spine recalling those noises. It almost felt like he had killed an actual person. Josh rushed to answer another question before he rested too long on this subject, "Well, LuLu's is a rabbit.... actually a talking rabbit. Namini has a raevan with a star soul. Riv has a scorpion soul." The boy turned over his mind for a few more examples but could not recall any other souls.
He had to get out more.
Josh's smile returned, "I do not know really. I can give a few suggestions but it is ultimately up to you to decide. You will know what to choose though. Trust me, it will feel right," the boy paused, "Why not a shark?" His hands went up to his face and formed a mock jaw. His fingers bent at the knuckles to make crooked teeth. The boy suddenly snapped his palms together and snickered, "Imagine kissing that."
His good humor died fast. He thought he was out of the woods, but then guilt came like a hooded monster to drag him back in. Josh's fingers went up to rake through his hair nervously before he spoke, "I got her soul near Isi's house. He and Eiry helped me get it. I kinda just... trapped it and waited..."
Yup, sure enough, there was the guilt.
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Posted: Fri Feb 19, 2010 10:26 am
Josh's response to Anita's first question was a little disheartening, especially coming from one who had a Raevan under his care, but his followup made her smile. Getting her questions answered, for the most part, was making her feel a lot better, but the grey cloud of doubt still hung over her head: Would she really be able to take care of one?
"Namini..." she mumbled the name under her breath as he described the few Raevan's whose souls he knew. Her eyes went wide when she remembered the name fully; Namini Nao. David Nao. "David has a Raevan?" Anita sunk back in her seat a bit, in disbelief. She had barely been acquainted with Namini, more so with her brother, but it must have been the same situation with Josh the last time she had spoken with David, of his sister's star Raevan having just been an Essence. Either that or he never brought it up. "And a star? Wow... So not just animals can be used?"
The Raevan named "Riv" was a mystery to her, but she listened to the rest of his answers intently until his suggestion. Her mouth twisted into a pout as her eyes locked onto Josh's hands mimicking a shark's dagger filled mouth. "Oh God," and she couldn't help but giggle, putting a hand over her mouth to try and stifle it. The name Isi and Eiry, as well, were not familiar but it was clear that Josh wasn't quite happy with what he had done to get LuLu's soul, whether he was happy with her or not.
Taking a pause after he had finished, Anita bit her lip, trying to think of a proper reply. She was always bad at pulling people out of slumps and usually resorted to cracking jokes or making light of the situation. "...Mm. I don't think I could bring myself to intentionally... get an animal soul," she didn't want to use the world "kill" for fear of making Josh worse and herself apprehensive, "I'll have to think on alternatives... But if a star has a soul, hey, pretty much anything's possible, right?" she forced a laugh.
"Thanks a lot... For coming here and helping me out. I don't know anyone else--well... except for David, now--that was within reach who could tell me these things. I guess what I really need to think over now, is if I can take care of one..." her eyes returned to the soul bottle in front of her, swiveling gently in her hands. Sighing, she returned it to her bag and sat up straight, a proper smile on her face, "Want a donut? I'm buyin'."
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Posted: Fri Feb 19, 2010 11:02 am
Josh nodded, "Yeah, I was surprised too at first." It never would have struck him either that a star could give up a soul. Then again, the boy had also seen firsthand the sacrifices Namini had made while getting that soul. It had definitely been a difficult soul to pursue on her part. Josh frowned, "Yes... I suppose David has a raevan... in a way." It did not feel right saying that. It was not just Josh's hatred for David playing up the feeling but the fact that David's sister had been hurt while capturing the star's soul. NOT David. The man did not deserve to be called Prajna's owner as far as Josh was concerned.
Josh smiled at Anita's reaction to his joke. His toned returned to a pleasant tenor, "It was difficult to get over the guilt." Part of Josh wished to say that it was still hard to get over it.
The boy watched as she put her soul bottle away. Josh eyes lit up at her unexpected offer, "Why not." This would be the perfect conclusion to their meeting. Like the icing on the cake. Or in this case... the glaze on the donut.
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