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 Posted: Sun Apr 11, 2010 9:35 pm
-Aurora set the timepiece delicately on the counter, fingers lingering over the intricate swirls of gold colored metal that decorated it, before finally sliding it over to the clockmaker. She'd had the old thing forever, since as long as she could remember, and despite the fact that this was the third time it'd broken. There was just something so much MORE with hands, and dials, gears, and swinging pendulums. Something that simple digital fixtures just couldn't touch.
Bidding the shop owner a silent goodbye, she made her way out of the shop and into the street once more, settling the now much lighter sachel higher up on her shoulder. This part of town was unfamiliar, further out then she usually went, full of small and strange shops. She lingered softly, making out store names as she passed them. Never knew when you'd have a need for something odd.-
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Posted: Sun Apr 11, 2010 9:45 pm
Azzo had been around the town so much that he hadn't realized he'd missed this one particular shop. As he walked out of the shop he'd wondered into he had a plastic bag that seemed to house something very interesting as there were sticks poking out of the bag.
Azzo didn't notice Aurora at first. His back was turned towards her as he looked around the shopping district. However, it was unmistakeably Azzo, that stood there with his back turned to her looking up and off to the side of the street.
"Hm..." He pondered before turning around almost to do an about face to meet Aurora walking towards him. He blinked, and canted his head when he noticed her. This didn't particularly seem like her part of town. He grinned, "Aurora!" He said with a grin, he was happy again. Very different from that other night when he snapped at both Polaris and Melody. He seemed... happy again.
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Posted: Mon Apr 12, 2010 5:26 am
-Hmmm... antique bookstore.. some shop proclaiming cultural delights from around the world.. what looked like some sort of a dojo.. some she couldn't even begin to guess what they were from the names alone. She peered curiously back and forth, pausing only when she spotted someone that jogged her mind.
He seemed familiar, the height, the hair. Her suspicions were confirmed as he whirled about, her hand lifting to politely cover the soft laugh that met the surprised look on his face.-
"Good afternoon Azzo" -He was smiling, his face so different then it had been a few nights before. Even the tone of his voice carried a different weight. She liked it much better, her own smile was wider as her hand drifted back downwards again.-
"Shopping?" -She asked, pointing lightly at the bag gripped in his hand. Kind of a silly question she supposed once it was out, but hopefully he wouldn't mind. If he was done in fact perhaps they could make the trip towards the residental districts and the Academy together.-
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Posted: Mon Apr 12, 2010 7:26 am
Azzo grinned softly, "Afternoon."
He said with a smile. Shame he couldn't apologize for the other night, he didn't even know who the senshi was that knew him before he knew her. He glanced down at the bag, "Actually yeah, I had to put in a few orders."
He wiggled the puppet out of the bag with the receipt. Sticking the receipt in his pocket. He held up a small Doberman looking puppet on strings. He showed her, "I ordered a Dragon and a few others." He said as he looked around.
"Are you heading back to Crystal?" He asked curiously letting the puppet float above the ground in a sitting position.
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Posted: Mon Apr 12, 2010 8:11 am
-She glanced curiously at his bag, not hiding her surprise when the contents made their appearance. Puppets? Certainly she NEVER could have guessed that's what he'd be out shopping for. Who even bought puppets? Parents.. and puppeteers, was he the later?
Her finger stretched to tap the small pup on the nose, testing to feel what it was made of, lips forming a soft o as she did.- "I didn't know you collected puppets. Are you a puppeteer then? Is it your job?"
-Her interest bubbled in the slew of questions, not stopping to breath between each. Only finally when she realized he'd asked her something did she quiet down, smiling sheepishly.- "Oh, yes I suppose so. I had to drop off a clock for repair." -She imagined that just maybe the reason it'd stopped keeping accurate time this time had something to do with being magically flung about for Kunzite.-
"I don't really have anywhere to go now other than home, so yes." -She shrugged her shoulders mildly, flipping back braids that had fallen forward in her inspection of the puppet.-
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Posted: Mon Apr 12, 2010 8:34 am
Azzo chuckled, "Puppeteer, yes. Job? Not quite yet." He said softly as he stood the dog up into a walking position. "Hopefully soon though. I've applied at a few places around town that have puppet shows. Took me forever to find them." He said watching the dog before making him walk around, well more of gliding around really with a walking motion.
He nodded softly, "If you'd like, I can walk you back to Crystal." He offered in a cheerful tone. His eyes had flitted over to the Dojo, someone was waving. Was that one of the other guys in his kickboxing class? They were obviously waving at him, though not for him to come over. He gave a wave back before turning back to Aurora.
"I know I ran into trouble during the day, a few weeks ago. I don't know how often those attacks have been happening but might be better to have someone else walk with you in case it happens again." Azzo fully expected it not to happen again, perhaps one of those accidental we're going to ruin people's day type deals.
He tossed the plastic bag in a near by bin before switching hands the puppet was in. He offered to let her lead. "I've seen the Hillworth Campus but I don't think I've ever seen the Crystal Campus yet." He said in almost a curious tone as to what it'd look like.
He shook his head and smiled clearing away any bad thoughts, "So, do you like puppets?" He asked curiously, having avoided the fact his room looked like a meat locker because of all the puppets.
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Posted: Mon Apr 12, 2010 8:55 am
"I imagine so. You don't really see them other then at parties... or schools.. occassionally theaters." -She wondered softly how he'd gotten into something so obscure. The puppet began to move, little legs shifting in a way that seemed almost natural. Far better then the silly hop hops she recalled from puppet shows in school as a child. She seemed almost entranced in how real the little thing looked, glancing up only when his offer sounded.-
"That'd be nice, always better safe than sorry" -She crooned genuinely, letting her wavering thoughts on the poor boy from the other night fade to the side for now. This was the Azzo she first remembered, polite, caring. She didn't ask about his 'trouble' already knowing quite well what he likely meant. It might have seemed strange to him. Or then.. perhaps that's what she'd been so upset about when they first met?-
"Melody hasn't shown you?" -She was slightly surprised.- "I'd be happy to though, better to have you hanging around Crystal than Hillsworth." -She teased softly, the extent of her 'funniness'.
Attention turned back to the little pup, she cocked her head lightly, thoughtfully. Did she like them? She supposed so. What was there not to like about them?- "I haven't seen many since grade school. So this is a treat. This one is far cuter then the ones you stick your hand into"
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Posted: Mon Apr 12, 2010 9:11 am
Azzo pondered about, "Yeah most of the time. I tend to use them to amuse kids when I'm in the parks or whatever. I think the parents appreciate it."
He walked along, beside her giving a nod, "Yes, always better safe than sorry." He said giving a nod as he walked thinking, the little dog beside them walking around.
He paused looking at Aurora when she asked if Melody hadn't shown him. "No, not yet." He paused looking at Aurora, "Oh, She did visit me the other day... come to think of it I don't remember giving her my address. But oh well."
He chuckled, "Eh I just swung by there to see if Marlo was out. Ended up running into a different guy instead though." He shrugged. "The Campus didn't look like I had expected though." He thought it looked actually a bit cleaner than Meadowview's campus.
He seemed to be thinking about something. "I want to extend the same offer to you actually. Since there's a rapist or whatever supposedly there, or you know it starts feeling unsafe. There's always my place. We have an extra room and I can always crash on the couch all else fails and both of you end up wanting to crash." He said. The offer wasn't because he was hitting on anyone, more like he felt he should offer some sort of protection for the two girls. They were closer to him than any of the other crystal girls he met.
"Then again Mel said she'd just smack them with a cello case." He chuckled amusingly.
He tilted his head, "Ah, I suppose it is a dying talent." He said softly musing over the puppets. He paused and chuckled, "I have some of those to, Punch and Judy are normally hilarious though. They should've never given him that stick." He paused, "But no, I think it depends on where you get them. I don't get any that look utterly crappy, I tend to spend time going through catalogs looking for good puppets." He used Catalogs, not the internet, then again he didn't really have the internet or a computer.
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Posted: Mon Apr 12, 2010 10:03 am
-Thoughtful. A good skill for a father. These thoughts were filed away in her brain, in the subconcious 'lists of things in which others excel'. Aurora was an organizer, most people she knew had atleast a vague list of what she knew they were good for or at, and what they weren't so great for. Like Mili and homework help.- "I'm sure they appreciate it, and I'll bet the kids enjoy them too"
"Can you do the thing, and make it talk without moving your lips much? Or do you prefer the behind the curtain sort of thing?"
-When his offer sounded, she couldn't help but narrow her eyes in momentary suspicion, lips puckering in a soft 'oh really'. Boys and their indecent offers. It was quick lived however, for his eyes appeared innocent enough and in truth her heart had pattered at the offer. She shrugged a little, laughed as she waved her hand to try and wave that thought away from him. When the rumor had come out she hadn't believed it for a moment. Perhaps she was naive, perhaps it was the thought that she had insider knowledge.- "I'm fairly certain there is no such brute running around the Academy. The security is ridiculous, baring very rare cases noone can even get into the buildings without our special keycards. So either people are getting roughed up elsewhere... and don't want to get in trouble for dealings with the terrorists. Or..."
-Her voice dropped a touch lower, as if what she was about to say was too much for her to speak normally.- "The less than decent students are trying to create excuses for why they're being caught with boys or worse." -How risque, how indecent even.-
"I'm pretty sure there is nothing to worry about." -It was the same line she'd fed her father over the phone when he'd received a letter in regards to the rumor. She looked convinced, who knew if he would be though.-
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Posted: Mon Apr 12, 2010 10:21 am
Azzo nodded, "They seem to. It keeps 'em quite for a while at least." He admitted as he walked and the dog walked along mouthing what could've been a bark.
"Actually I haven't even tried, ventriloquism.... Hypnotism is hard enough to learn on your own when the only person you respected enough to teach it to you passed on." He admitted occasionally he tried to dabble. Though his heart wasn't in it.
When she had a weird suspicious look on her face he tilted his head and looked confused at her. He shrugged after a moment, "Besides Grams would probably be trying to get you to eat cookies the whole time. Or whatever else she bakes." His stomach made a slight protest at the mention of food. He tried to brush it off like that hadn't happened, he was hungry, but it was after all his fault for not knowing how to cook or investing in frozen dinners.
"But at least the security is good. I wasn't sure how tight lipped they actually where." He added in a soft tone the little dog softly nudged into Aurora's leg. Azzo hadn't been watching where he was having the thing walk, "Oh... sorry!" He said with a start, his cheeks turned red in a bit of an embarrassed moment that he'd let it do that, when he realized what happened. "They tend to swing a little sometimes..."
He paused, "Heh, the terrorists are pretty awesome if you ask me. I can't believe what they have to go through though, and the cops are just jerks if they don't realize they're trying to help." He was honest that was one thing about it.
He paused when she lowered her voice and lofted his brow. "Good thing they don't know Grams. She'd probably take a hickory to them no matter how old they were for doing something so stupid."
He nodded, "Still though, the offer's open if ever there be a need for it." He said, Azzo was actually vaguely surprised that both girls seemed unworried about it. Maybe it was just some small thing being blown out of proportion if that was the case. He had the puppet walking on it's hind legs now Which was an interesting action for a four legged puppet.
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Posted: Tue Apr 13, 2010 7:07 am
"There are plenty of girls at the school who have no interest in being a lady. So that's where the problem arises. If parents would listen more to their children then maybe.. there would be a little less rebellion. But they always assume they know the best I suppose." -She shrugged, she really was one to talk. How many times had she scolded and harrassed her younger brothers while playing faux mother? But anyway..
Ahhh ventriloquism! That was the word, it'd been on a tip of her tongue, something she hadn't heard in so long. But it didn't matter for long, too shocked by the other thing he'd mentioned.- "Hyponotism? Really? I always thought that was a parlor trick?"
"You'd better not try to hypnotize me without my permission Azzo" -It was a tone she was accustom to, the nagging mother tone, but her smile was bright as she said it, and the wag of her finger exaggerated. She was joking again.-
"Goodness you have so many, so unique talents!" -She gushed, genuinely impressed by the sheer novelty of it all.- "All I can do is dance a little and cook. Very normal, very boring." -Not that she didn't love it, she most certainly did.
Aurora turned as they reached a crossway, leading him down the sidewalk that ran alongside one of the large shops. It was at the turn that the pup hit her, and she made a softly surprised sound, before falling into a soft laugh. No harm done, silly puppy. His position on hind legs reminded her of a something, and she dug in her sachel until she had a pen, holding it over the puppy the same way one would tease a dog before fetch, her lips even formed to the make the soft kissing noises she used to make to grab the dogs attention at home.
She could only smile as he spoke about the terrorist, trying to keep from eye contact for the moment in fear of giving away too much.- "They seem pretty okay to me too."
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Posted: Tue Apr 13, 2010 7:53 am
Azzo chuckled, "Yeah kinda like my parents do." He said with a slight facial twitch as he said it, "Grams was always the one to be more like a mother to me anyways."
He blinked when she changed tones and looked at her, "Ohh, mine is. Gramps was more of the master." He said honestly, "I think it rarely works if it's against someone's will anyways. You kind of have to be open to suggestions." He said with a shrug, "I haven't actually worked on hypnotism since my grams died. Besides the occasional. 'Hi I'm Azzo, and I can make a human quack like a duck.'" He said in the most stand up and professional way he could manage. Which sounded more like an AA meeting.
On cue, when she said cook his stomach growled for a second time. He gave a slight glare towards his stomach. He'd have to go get some cereal or something later. He wasn't about to try to cook anything again unless it was a frozen dinner. He followed Aurora around the corner. "Dancing and Cooking is good though. Speically cooking."
He said in an honest tone. He watched as she held the pen over the dogs nose, giving a soft tug upwards as if the doggy was jumping to get get the pen. Before letting it slightly nudge into her leg to give, the best he could with a puppet, an affectionate rub.
He nodded, "Yeah, just wish I could do more to help them." He said in a quite undertone. "Most of them just think I get in the way when tra.... watching one of those things that I'd happened to run into." He said almost said something about following them but that'd probably be a bad idea. If she had a mothering tone, she'd certainly have one after he admitted that, yes he was crazy and did track youma. It was probably the worst thing he could do was let someone else know he was crazy that wasn't a senshi or melody. Melody seemed to understand. Being a powerless human without a way to help was one of those things that didn't set well with him.
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Posted: Tue Apr 13, 2010 11:49 am
"It's probably best to let them do their job" -She nodded, her voice mildly indifferent. It was hard to talk about the subject without saying too much. It was bad enough she'd slipped by calling Azzo by his name that other night.
The hypnotism stuff was interesting, different, and she listened eagerly, pondering over the things he said. It really made her want to see a magic show again, and she began to giggle as he said his little scphel. She wondered how people would react if she said such a thing? But then, he looked dark and mysterious, so perhaps it was a little less surprising then if it'd come from her.-
"You hungry?" -She piped up out of habit as she heard the ever soft grumble of his stomach. Aurora was particularly oblivious, not having connected the pieces alltogether yet. She wiggled the pen a bit more as he 'jumped' for it, before tapping the little pup's nose. By now some people had began to glance their way from time to time debating whether the puppy was real or not before going back about their business.-
"We could stop at a cafe on the way, my treat"
-She glanced lightly at her wrist, shaking it until the delicate timepiece faced the right way, lips puckering thoughtfully.- "Or if you don't mind waiting I can offer a bit of dinner. I still haven't quite gotten down only making enough for two."
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Posted: Tue Apr 13, 2010 12:50 pm
Azzo nodded, "Probably." He muttered, wondering. "Just if they don't know where they are, and they're headed for a large crowd. That's the biggest thing I worry about." He said softly, he let it drop after that though.
He nodded when the question sounded, "Very actually... Gram's is out of town for the week. Left me here so I could tend classes and the appointments with the counselor." He shifted, "Most I've been eating is cereal, toast, salads and easy to nuke stuff." It wasn't his normal routine. "Mel did get me the instructions on how to make an omelet from her dad. I think I might've cooked them a bit too long though while trying to make sure they were done." He didn't cook. It just wasn't something he could do.
He blinked at both offers looking at her curiously as Azzo let the puppy walk back on all fours when the pen was tapped on it's nose. "Its up to you..." He said softly, "You don't have to buy me food, I have money, I don't mind paying for it." He said looking at her. He was always brought up with a more old fashion mindset of the male always pays when it comes to food or movies or what have you.
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Posted: Tue Apr 13, 2010 1:26 pm
-She grimaced momentarily at the admission that he hadn't been eating much, before sweeping the expression away. It was a pity look, that much was certain. Poor boy! Atleast the things he had been eating were slightly healthy, not like.. eating poptarts and french fries nonstop.
Well that decided it then! The likelihood of them finding something as filling, nutritious, hearty as he needed at a cafe was little to none. Nonetheless, she didn't really plan too cook for another couple hours.. so perhaps something to tide them over.
She wasn't too oblivious to notice the fact that she seemed to upset him by offering to pay. It was rude of her to assume that he didn't have money just because he went to Meadowview... Hmm.. she'd have to keep that in mind in the future. Aurora had no problem throwing her money around for others.. but perhaps others didn't necessarily want it all the time.-
"I haven't had icecream in a while" -She replied, thinking out loud.- "Maybe we could get one for the walk? We're still a good 15 minutes or so from the school" -It seemed like a good middle ground, she'd even let him pay if he liked.-
"Are there any vegetables you are particularly unfond of? Beef or duck?" -Her supplies were a little limited considering she was only able to cook about three times a week. But hopefully she'd have something he wouldn't mind.-
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