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Princess_Feylin Vice Captain
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 Posted: Wed Feb 24, 2010 8:41 pm
Ara stretched as she walked, staring up into the sunshine and allowing herself to be temporarily blinded. She smiled the entire time. The day was beautiful, she had the afternoon free, and she had plans to surprise Kender by visiting him while he was working. He could take a break and they could eat the lunch she'd prepared and it would be just lovely, lovely. She'd even managed to slip a small bottle of wine from her mother's stores. It would be a really pleasant surprise for him, and a happy memory for her.
She was so absorbed in her daydreams about the rest of the afternoon and also slightly sunblinded when she walked more or less directly into Isandra. She knew the older girl, of course. Ghenza being the insular community that it was, it was more difficult to meet a stranger than Impress a dragon. At least until recently. She still couldn't believe there were outsiders in Ghenza. She'd not yet gotten 'round to meeting any of them.
"Please forgive me," she said. Even though Isandra wasn't exactly a stranger, she also wasn't a close friend, and so Ara found herself slipping into almost stiff politeness at once. "I'm afraid I didn't see you. I hope you're not injured?"
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Posted: Wed Feb 24, 2010 8:57 pm
Injured? Isandra was halfway to making a scathing remark about idiot girls not able to watch where they were going when the younger female inquired if she was injured. The Harper could not rein in the startled snort as her eyebrows shot up into her hairline, her eyes widening a bit at the suggestion a simple run in might have hurt her. "Excuse me?" she finally managed to bite out, her look still one of complete disbelief. "Injured? I might be small, Ara," the look Isandra shot her was nothing but venomous, "but I'm not fragile. Honestly." Didn't she know what Harpers were made of? (Tough things! Everyone ought to know that!)
Hands on her hips, the older female wrinkled her nose and scowled before her mind caught up with her and she took a deep breath. She did not know Ara personally. In fact, she knew nothing other than her name and her craft. Given, it was a Harper's job to know just about everything about everyone, but sometimes she just couldn't be bothered with the little things. This was one of those things (in case the body language wasn't making it clear, and Isandra could never really be sure these days; the world had gone all upside down. Ghenza, accepting outsiders!?).
"Head in the clouds, Ara? You should really watch where you are headed, you know. One day, you'll run into someone who isn't as forgiving as I." Isandra paused to sniff, lifting her chin a bit in an attempt to stare the younger girl into submission. "What's got you so distracted anyways, hmm? Found a boy among those strangers?" Ah, wouldn't that be quite the story to tell! One of their own, fond of the outsiders! Of course, she had no proof, Ara could really be dense and Isandra had no idea, but, if it were... "Or maybe you've just found a boy in your craft?"
Much more acceptable. But a love story was a love story, and people ate those things up. All the more for a Harper to share, right?
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Princess_Feylin Vice Captain
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Posted: Thu Feb 25, 2010 9:44 am
"I didn't mean to say that being petite would make you more likely to be hurt." She was holding herself very straight, her perfect posture a sign for those who knew what they were looking at that she was uncomfortable. Privately, she felt Isandra was overreacting, but she would never say that.
She didn't remember if she'd forgotten or simply hadn't known that Isandra was so sensitive about her height, but she knew now. Her cheeks flushed under the harper's sharp words, but she didn't look down or away. She had been in the wrong, not looking where she was going, and so she did deserve some sort of chastisement, she supposed. And besides, she wasn't about to interrupt to point out that Isandra's size hadn't even occurred to her when she apologized.
"I'm sorry," Ara said, genuinely distressed. "I should be more careful, you're right. It's just I was on my way to lunch with Kender. He works with the masons?" It didn't occur to her that Isandra might be looking for a story.
"I'm not making you late for anything, am I?" she asked.
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Posted: Thu Feb 25, 2010 1:58 pm
Isandra didn't take her gaze off the younger crafter, her fingers tapping against her hips as Ara apologized. Her scowl began to soften to more the girl atoned for her blunder. Ego slowly on its way to being placated, the teenager reached up and began to wrap a black strand of hair around a finger. "Kender, hmm?" Her brows scrunched as she pursed her lips. "No, I can't say I recall. Refresh my memory, would you?"
The dirty look was gone all at once, as though evaporated into the very halls. Drawing her hand away from her hair to fold her arms over her chest, she looked pensive for a moment and shook her head. "Nope. But please, do enlighten me, Ara, and we'll call ourselves even, yes?" She smiled then, eyes warm as her lips curled upward. She was careful not to show her teeth, something that could be perceived as threatening, and shifted her weight as she waited for the younger teenager to reply, barely registering Ara's final question.
"Hmm? Late? Oh, no." She shrugged, shaking her head to one side. "I'll get there when I get there. Harpers aren't like the rest of you, you know." But of course she knew. Everyone knew that. "But we were talking about your Kender, weren't we? The mason, he's your sweetheart...?"
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Princess_Feylin Vice Captain
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Posted: Thu Feb 25, 2010 2:24 pm
Ara had no idea what to make of Isandra's assertion that harpers weren't like other people. As far as Ara could tell, no one was exactly like anyone else, and the people from the outside were even less like everyone else than harpers. Even their dragons were different, she'd heard. Smaller, and less intelligent, but very proud and quick-tempered. Irreverently she thought that maybe they were a bit like Isandra.
"I'm glad I haven't been that much of an inconvenience to you," she said, hoping that her grin at the comparison between Isandra and the High Reaches dragons wouldn't betray her thoughts.
"I'd be happy to tell you about Kender, if you're sure you want to hear." A smile turned the corners of Ara's mouth upwards. It was a small, pleased smile, like someone who'd just witnessed or committed an anonymous act of kindness might wear. A private smile, not really meant for a viewer's appreciation, but rather an unbidden expression of delight.
"Oh, well. He's not particularly tall. I mean, he's taller than I am, but not by much. He's very sturdily built from hauling rocks about all day. His muscles are very nice." Here her smile turned just a little lascivious. She was gullible and a pushover, but she wasn't one of those innocents who couldn't appreciate a good-looking man. She happened to think that Kender was very good looking.
"He's got grey eyes and brown hair that kind of falls into his face while he's working, and when he smiles you can almost see that he's got a chipped tooth in the front from an accident at work last turn. But that doesn't really tell you much about him, does it? Sorry!"
She took a moment to gather her thoughts before continuing.
"He's really very pleasant, but he likes to tease people. I think if he were less pleasant he'd probably spend most of his life being beaten. He sings like an ovine being slaughtered." She paused again, realizing that she was rambling. "I apologize. I don't mean to bore you."
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Posted: Thu Feb 25, 2010 2:43 pm
Excessively pleased Ara was willing to talk about her friend, the Harper lapsed into silence, nodding as the younger girl described the mason. Isandra added the occasional non-committal noise, lest she seem uninterested. It was all very interesting really, not just what Ara was willing to divulge, but how she said it. It wasn't only the words Isandra was interested in (though, to be fair, words were something the young woman was always interested in), but the younger girl's body language, posture, expressions. She clearly liked Kender, though just how much, the Harper wasn't entirely sure.
She hadn't denied calling him her sweetheart, however.
"Bore me?" Isandra flapped a hand and shook her head. "Oh, no, no. Believe me, Ara, if you were boring me, I'd let you know. I never suffer needlessly." She smiled, something sharp in her eyes and shook her head. "Please, do continue! I enjoy listening to people talk. Much better than awkward silences. Besides, you clearly feel passionate about the subject," here Isandra paused, eyebrows lifting a little as her eyes danced, "so who am I to tell you to stop talking, hm? Communication is the lifeblood of the human race. Nothing would get done if we never spoke."
And no one would ever learn a lesson if no stories were told! But that was neither here nor there, and Isandra kept that thought kept tucked away until it became more appropriate.
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Princess_Feylin Vice Captain
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Posted: Fri Feb 26, 2010 6:16 am
As long as Isandra was encouraging her, Ara was willing to speak. She knew that she should probably stop, and that no one could really bet that interested in the personal life of a near-complete stranger, but then she reminded herself what Isandra had said about harpers being different from other folk. Perhaps Isandra's curiosity stemmed from that ineffable difference. If Ara had realized how much she was being analyzed, she probably would have been embarrassed to be subjected to such close scrutiny. Fortunately, she didn't notice.
"If you're certain," Ara answered dubiously. She did get the feeling that Isandra really didn't tend to suffer needlessly, though, and wouldn't have said anything if she was not truly interested in hearing. Which made Ara wonder briefly why she would be, but she dismissed it just as quickly. Maybe she was just a nice, concerned individual.
"I think you must be right about communication being so important," she said with a quick smile. "But I feel so rude, monopolizing the conversation. Do you have anyone special?"
She guessed the answer would be no, but she felt obligated to ask. If Isandra didn't, and was still interested in hearing about Kender, Ara would be happy to oblige her. At least for a while. At some point she would have to extricate herself from the situation and go have lunch with the object of discussion. Maybe she should invite Isandra to come to lunch with her? She didn't really want the harper there, because it would put a damper on her enjoyment, but maybe it wouldn't. Harpers were supposed to be good company, right? The fact that she still felt uncomfortable was probably her own fault.
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Posted: Sun Feb 28, 2010 9:11 am
It occurred to Isandra, only very briefly, that perhaps she was being had. Ara could be leading her on, especially if she wanted to glean some sort of information from the Harper herself, but the young woman quickly dismissed the thought with a quiet snort and the shake of her head. She was a Harper, after all, and there was no one who could pull a fast one on her, of all people. Not even her father, and he was incredibly clever, even if he was aging a bit.
Realizing she'd been drawn off into a memory, the older female cleared her throat and flapped a hand at Ara, warding off her question with a firm shake of her head. "Oh, goodness, no. Me? Someone special?" Isandra had to fight back the urge to snort, instead covering her wicked smile with her palm. "No, no, I simply can't be tied down, Ara," she explained, fingers finding their way back to her loose strand of wavy black hair. "Besides, I doubt there's anyone here I could put up with long enough to actually consider 'special'." She snorted softly, and shook her head. Perhaps blunt, but there was no way around it. Isandra didn't have time, nor did she want time, for romance.
"Now, where did we leave off? Don't worry about me, Ara. If I have something to say, you'll know." Her eyes twinkled a little and this time, the youth didn't bother to hide the curl of lips behind her delicate fingers. "I believe you were telling me what Kender was like? How did you meet him, anyways? Family friend?"
They weren't of the same craft, and that was interesting in and of itself, really.
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Princess_Feylin Vice Captain
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Posted: Sun Feb 28, 2010 12:58 pm
"I'm sorry," Ara said, meaning that she was sorry Isandra had no one special in her life.
Even if Isandra didn't want anyone like that, Ara still thought it was sad. It was nice to have a guy around who would tell you how nice you looked and get a little jealous if you spent too much time with other guys and tease you for being so apologetic and polite all the time. Which reminded her..."I'm sorry. I don't mean to keep apologizing all the time. It's...something of a habit. I know it's annoying."
A portion of her mind was already going through her mental list of everyone she knew at Ghenza, wondering if any of them would measure up to Isandra's expectations. She doubted it, or else Isandra probably would have found them already. It wasn't as though Ghenza was enormous or anything. If you hadn't found someone to suit you by the time you were Isandra's age, you probably wouldn't unless you decided to settle. Ara guessed that wasn't so bad, settling, but she didn't wish it on Isandra.
"What about the outsiders? Maybe one of them would be interesting enough? Oh, sorry. It's none of my business, of course. You probably have big plans, and that's why you don't want to be tied down."
She was silent for several seconds, trying to recall what it was Isandra had asked her about Kender. How they met. Right.
"It was an accident, really. He and his master came to move a stone that was in one of the fields my father was plowing and I wasn't working so I brought the work crew lunch. We met, and I guess that was that. It was kind of a mutual attraction."
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Posted: Mon Mar 01, 2010 5:42 am
...well. That wasn't exciting at all.
Isandra's brows furrowed a little as she digested the information, finally yielding a simple shrug. Perhaps she had exhausted the topic, after all. "Accident? I see," she replied, careful to make sure the other woman was sure she was still listening. "What a pleasant accident, I suppose," the Harper carried on, ignoring implications about her big plans. (And they were very big, for the record, but that was neither here not there, and, as Ara correctly surmised, absolutely none of her business.)
However...
Isandra's brow twitched a little, having finally realized that, while Ara was in fact trying to keep her nose out of the Harper's personal life (a silly effort, one should know everything they could possibly know about others), she had also implied that she might go for one of the outsiders. The outsiders. Honestly. The nerve of some people.
With a mighty snort, Isandra's hands fled back to her hips and the Harper shifted her gaze, the glint in her eye much like the predator moving in for the kill. "Those people do not belong in our home," she snapped, "never mind settling with out folk. They do not work hard, and they have nothing to show for it. And to think, they're just going to frolic around here like it's some sort of inn, of all things!" The Harper threw her hands up in disgust and shook her head. "Honestly, Ara, think before you speak."
Inhaling deeply, the young woman withdrew a little. "You know, I really think I must be going. It was a pleasure, Ara."
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Princess_Feylin Vice Captain
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Posted: Mon Mar 01, 2010 6:30 am
Actually, Ara herself tended to shrug when she thought about how she and Kender met. It was really so random, there wasn't much else to do. It was what her parents did, while not so subtly encouraging her to look at the young men who worked in farmcraft. As if she wasn't already acquainted with every one of them. The only ones she didn't know were the outsiders, and she wasn't sure she wanted to get to know them. She'd heard that they were very proud and standoffish.
"Yes. I think so, anyway." She clasped her hands in front of her, letting the basket she carried hang from her wrists. Its handle was beginning to cut into the flesh on her arms, and she couldn't help thinking that she should really be going soon. She knew Kender's master would allow him a long lunch if she showed up during his lunch break, but if she missed it completely she'd be stuck eating lunch by herself, watching Kender work.
She didn't expect Isandra's vehement reaction to her suggestion that maybe an outsider would interest her. After all, hadn't the harper suggested the same thing about Ara herself? That was an odd double standard to hold a person to. Of course, Ara didn't quite see the outsiders with such a harsh view, but mostly because she got to see many of them working in the fields - albeit at a distance - and could observe that they were at least making an effort to contribute, even if they were aloof and their dragons small and haughty.
"I meant no insult," Ara said, retreating back into good manners. How could she be so bad with people? "I am sorry that you have taken it as such. I hope yours is a pleasant day."
She stepped backward, making room for Isandra to stride past her, should she choose to take that outlet, and waited for the harper to depart. From here she would probably have to run to catch Kender before his lunch period ended.
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Posted: Tue Mar 02, 2010 4:32 am
Straightening out her dress, Isandra glanced over at Ara, barely registering the apologies and well wishes. Jerking her chin, her wavy hair bounced and she flapped her hand again, shaking her head. "Mhhm, harmless mistake, I am sure," the Harper replied, the biting edge off her anger, "just be careful you don't make it again. I am not the only one who feels so strongly about these newcomers, you know. Best be careful with those sorts of statements."
Isandra raised her eyebrows and began to walk, moving briskly for one so small. She raised her hand, an acknowledgment of the other girl (she managed to earn herself that, at the very least), and inclined her head only briefly as she offered her 'good days', only the result of being trained to have very good manners. The Harper was around the hall, and she was gone. Ah, she had things to do, and people to see!
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