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 Posted: Fri May 21, 2010 9:39 pm
Who: Doucette, Phiel, Zurine
Where: The Aquarium
When: Just after lunch
Weather: Who cares? We're underwater!
There were many reasons people could call Doucette childish. There was the fact that she only used baby no-tear shampoo for her frizzy curls, the way she had a tendency to find her old teddy bear in the closet when a storm was coming (most especially since the most recent and terrifyingly eventful storm), and especially the way she acted around animals. Her heart took on a light, reckless abandonment of reason and social construct when she saw the newest pen, tank or cage of animals.
The aquarium was a place ranked high on her list of exceptionally awesome places to just let your thoughts go and relax. She could sit for hours and hours in the hall where the water literally enveloped the patrons and fish swam around you at almost every angle. The red head gasped appropriately when sharks came too close to the glass, oohed when manta rays slid their bellies over her head, and giggled at the playful acts of the fish who might not even realize they weren't in their home environment because of the luxuriousness of the Gambino Aquarium.
It was in this hall that anyone could find her, thankfully not pressing her face to the glass as she had done on her first visit, but sitting on one of the benches lining the middle of the walkway with a pamphlet in her lap and a pencil quickly circling the adventures she'd planned to spend the rest of her day doing. Currently there was a decision to be made. Would she rather watch the octopus feeding, or view the dolphin show? Sure, she had been to the dolphin show several times and not once to witness an octopus enjoying its meal, but the show had never failed to excite her and let's face it, an octopus eating couldn't be that amusing.
Doucette tapped her chin with the eraser as she lifted her head and looked around, smiling at the sight of the people lost in their own underwater wonderland.
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Posted: Sun May 23, 2010 5:30 pm
The trip to the aquarium had, of course, been Phiel's idea. It had had something to do with teaching Zurine that not all fish were small enough to fit in his aquariums, but there was something about being surrounded by the great tanks, all but immersed in the marine setting, that was a little bit awe-inspiring for even the bodyguard. He was oddly quiet as they moved through the aquarium, marveling as they went, with his grey eyes wide and a slight smile lingering on his stern features despite his best efforts to remain serious and to teach Zurine the proper way to behave in a public place like this. In fact, it was likely that his young charge was behaving better than he, because she floated a few paces back, her arms crossed and her fingers wrapped around her slender upper arms, her dark eyes glittering with contained curiosity.
They had been through the tropical tanks, and now, the cold-water ones were far better suited to the pale frei's temperament. The hall was cool, in comparison to both the warmer rooms and the slowly building heat outside, and given Zurine's curiously chill nature, she was enjoying this, and likely the fish were too. Some of the patrons, however, shied away from her as she radiated, and that seemed to be just fine with Zurine.
"Look, Zuri," Phiel pointed out, trying to keep the note of enthusiasm from his voice as he pointed one long, black-gloved finger at a great, dark shape passing above them. "That is a manta ray. They are far too large for us to keep, but very interesting..."
"Too big," said Zurine dismissively, shaking her head with a soft ruffle of feathers. "And flat." Freeing her hands, she made a 'squishing' motion, and then shook her head. "Fish are not flat. Did something squish it?"
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Posted: Sun May 23, 2010 8:19 pm
As the pair drifted closer Doucette's eyes grew wider and her lips grew smaller as they formed into a breathy, enchantd 'o'. It was love at first sight. Not that sort of love of course, but definitely a sort of infactuation that causes glossy eyes and rapid heartbeats. The blue frosty Raevan was magnificent. She was upon a level so different from the other Raevan's Doe'd met that all thoughts of dolphins and octopi had filtered out of her silly little mind rapid as birds flying the coop.
Pushing herself to her feet, mindful of the throb in her ankle that had been over-worked during the better part of the morning and had been enjoying its stole break, Doucette inched closer. A giggle was forced back at the woman's words and child-like hand motions; the red head didn't mean to be rude for she knew that the young Raevan's were more children than adult despite their visual growth.
"Some fish are flat actually," she piped up despite herself, "Like the flounder or the sole fish." Doucette wasn't sure there would be any of those types in this larger tank, but there were bound to be some somewhere within the aquarium's walls. "But they are not pretty like the manta ray. He is the handsome prince to his ugly step brothers."
The Irish woman felt just a bit bad about slandering the poor flat fish, but there was an honest truth in her opinion. A lover of all animals, Doe at least recognized some of them as less popular and less appealing than others.
Without even pausing to apologize for her interruption she coasted right into her new conversation, blue eyes dancing with excitement as she looked at Zurine, "What are you made of?" she breathed, unable to contain the smallest hint of jealousy that her own combination could not possibly hold a candle to this stunning frei. "Something cold...something regal."
Doe grinned at Phiel apologetically. She'd have asked him directly, eager to learn of his soul-capture story and all the excitement and waiting he'd born; but she'd learned early that the Raevan's were a race unto their own, and they didn't appreciate the way questions about them were not directed to them. Later, she would ask the man all about his adventures.
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Posted: Mon Aug 16, 2010 11:38 pm
"What is... prince?" Zurine answered, almost without turning to face Doucette, until the very last moment. "Do not know what that means. Handsome is good, yes..." The slender, pale frei floated forward a few feet, to peer directly at the woman with those unnerving, long-lashed dark eyes, her head tilted and a few strands of pale blue hair clinging to one pale cheek.
But with that question, Zurine lit up with pleasure. This woman was talking to her; Doucette clearly understood that she was intelligent, and that Phiel was not required to respond in her stead all the time. She puffed slightly, ruffling her icy feathers gently to appear more beautiful, more impressive, with a soft low tinkle of frost. "Phiel says I am an owl. And a rose." Pausing a moment, she tilted her head, pondering, trying to puzzle out the word she meant to say, then glanced to Phiel for help.
"A snowy owl," Phiel supplied with a small chuckle. "And a rose made of ice, or so they told me when I received her. I assume you are familiar with their kind, then...?" His voice was quiet, warm, dignified, and deeply intelligent.
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Posted: Wed Aug 25, 2010 12:35 am
Doucette nibbled upon her lower lip for a moment, thinking hard about how to describe a prince. Of course, one could simply say a prince was the son of a king, but that was not entirely the way she'd meant it when she spoke of the manta ray, and there was no reason to be misleading to the poor girl after all. "Well, a prince is a king's son," she started, completely ignoring the exasperated sigh coming from her own mind. Hadn't she decided not to lead with that? "But the manta ray is not a prince like that. He is a prince because he is...well...above the others in his class. In a way, it means he is better, definitely more handsome," the redhead grinned with a nod at Zurine's comment.
That track of conversation was quickly halted though, as they moved on to speak about Raevans, a topic Doe found herself quite unable to avoid most of the time. "A snowy owl and an ice rose?" she breathed, her fingers pressing upon her cheeks and her eyes and lips curved into happy expressions of awe, noting the way the woman preened at the attention and grinning all the same. Were all Raevans so delightfully vain?
"Ah, slightly familiar, yes," Doucette said, her ears turning pink under her frizzy curls. "I was recently, err, chosen as a guardian. Liquid Aurora Borealis was the essence, and I managed to capture, ah, moonstones." She cleared her throat awkwardly, hoping that the last bit might simply be ignored, or possibly not even heard. It was a bit awkward explaining how one 'caught' moonstones, let alone how they could qualify as a soul. Doucette wasn't exactly sure of the answers herself.
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Posted: Wed Sep 01, 2010 9:40 am
Well! Zurine certainly understood being better, and more handsome than others. She was quiet for a few long moments, blinking. What was it she wanted to say? She certainly had something in mind, but...
"Oooh," Phiel said with a nod, his interest sharpening. He had never seen Zurine's soul, or her essence, as he supposed most owners did. It was a different thing entirely to have taken in Zurine as she had been when he got her, yes? It was amusing to see how utterly taken with his dear charge this woman was, those cheeks pinking and eyes round with delight. It made her... cute, a word Phiel wasn't entirely comfortable with, but it suited her best. He cleared his throat softly. "I've never seen an essence, really. Or the souls. Zurine was already created when I was chosen for her."
Perking, Zurine waved one delicate, pale hand. "If the... manta ray... is better and prettier... does that make Zurine a prince?" It was a mouthful for the taciturn frei, and a fairly complex sentence. She looked rather proud of herself, preening once more as she surveyed Doucette with those liquid black eyes and a smile.
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Posted: Sat Sep 18, 2010 10:03 pm
Looking over at Phiel, Doe gave him a slightest little pout. To be frank, just a tiny bit of her was envious of his luck to simply pick-up Zurine without all the trouble of the soul bottle. And what trouble that had been! But at the same time, it was like adopting a child instead of having a baby...you missed that step and there's no way to get it back. Ah, the pros and cons of life were certainly something, that's for sure.
"Ah me, I'm so sorry to say but I recently gave my soul bottle and vial back to the Lab....I would have been quite happy to show you though." The redhead felt quite bad about this, knowing as she did the sort of fawning people had done before over her companionable bottles. Not that there was much to see in her soul bottle after it had been filled (not a glorious gold like Vivi's, but a rather bland gray in truth), but her essence had not failed to excite and interest everyone who saw it. Perhaps she could get it back just to show Phiel?
Zurine's words cut into her pondering suddenly, and she couldn't help but to laugh in delight at them. "Yes! A prince! I think that is exactly what you are Zurine!" Doucette beamed at the little ice girl. She was breath-taking without trying, but it was hard to call her a princess. Princesses bring to mind a certain style of feminine prowess that Zurine simply did not elude. Not that she was a tomboy by any means, but she had a certain grace and ferocity hidden in those eyes to make her more warrior than cupcake.
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Posted: Thu Nov 25, 2010 1:21 am
Though Phiel was of a mind to treat Zurine like a princess, privately the dainty little frei already liked the idea of being a prince in her own right. Princesses, at least the ones in the stories that Phiel told her haltingly from the big book, seemed like fluffy little frosting-filled flutter-brains. And while Zurine was a creature with feathers, she was certainly no delicate songbird to be coddled. This idea suited her quite nicely -- and it was decided, cemented firmly in her mind.
"Good," said Zurine, self-satisfied. Slender shoulders drew up proudly, and she exhaled a soft, cool gust of frosty air from deep within, lifting her chin. Pride was something she had in abundance. And she liked this woman more for recognizing her potential.
"It's all right," said Phiel with a chuckle, watching the interaction. It was good to see Zurine interacting with females -- he had been somewhat irrationally concerned about the lack of female interaction, but it seemed that Zurine was adjusting just fine. Even if he himself tended to lack much of a feminine touch, she was getting it elsewhere. Supervised. Though he never could quite tell what was going on behind those glassy dark eyes and that delicate, chilly face... "Perhaps when your young charge makes himself or herself known, you will think of Zurine and I." He smiled, brief and slight. "She could do with getting out more, and I am often busy with my work."
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Posted: Thu Jan 06, 2011 5:48 pm
Doucette was only the slightest shade of green envy. Female princes were the stuff of glorious and stunning legends, much as Zurine herself was. The Irish woman was hardly even princess material, and so far from princely material that it was downright mockable. Perhaps Doe could have managed as the joker in the throne room at best -- though she wasn't what people would call humorous. So then maybe she was only the farmer's daughter. A small sigh escaped her lips, but she smiled all the same at the icey Frei, easily her favorite of all the raevan's she'd met to date.
"I would very much like to meet up with you and Zurine again when my charge is born. If he or she is half as beautiful as your girl here then I could certainly count myself lucky." Doucette grinned widely between Zurine and Phiel with no false flattery upon her tongue. Though all the raevan's were a sight to behold, there was something so downright magical about the dark eyed prince that could have captivated the red head for hours. Easily.
It took a moment to realize though that the three of them were clogging traffic. Not exactly stopping it, but certainly causing a little bit of a fuss in terms of people who liked straight paths instead of round abouts. "Oh! I think perhaps we should think of splitting up..." Doe's cheeks gained an embarrassed tint of pink around her freckles. "Unless you two wouldn't mind me joining you for a short time?" she ventured hesitantly.
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Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2011 7:54 pm
Phiel watched Doucette for a moment, still, and that broad honest smile made him nod, faint and approving. But he couldn't deny that they were indeed impeding the flow of traffic through the area, and he chuckled a little bit. He could feel the death-glares aimed at his back like a warm place between his shoulder blades, and he half-bowed, offering the crook of one shoulder as if to escort a fine lady. "If you would like to join us for a few moments, we would be honored," Phiel said softly and gravely, looking at Zurine. The dainty frei nodded, caught up in a chilly, regal swan-daughter act of princehood.
"Will come with us?" she asked quietly, as she floated a touch closer. The sight of that warm pink blush against freckles was a curious one for her, and Zurine's eyes narrowed to inspect. "Your face... pink?"
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Posted: Sun Aug 07, 2011 5:26 pm
Those rosy cheeks grew yet a shade darker at the offered arm and she shook those orange-red curls with hands upraised in mild defense. Doucette was not a fine lady by any means so she hadn't the faintest idea how to accept the gesture without spontaneously combusting. Something which she was beginning to feel like was a growing probability with the way her skin continued to warm into degrees ever higher with every passing moment. Even the innocent inquiry by the icy frei had the audacious shade creeping across the back of her neck and into her ears.
Doucette rubbed at her nose for a moment with one hand before raising both hands to her cheeks and attempting to scrub away the blush. As usual, when embarrassed, her eyes took on a sort of glossy look, the pre-tear effect every male feared. There was something about her smile though that showed it wasn't anything of the sort, just another unnatural and unhappy occurrence. The girl didn't have the nickname Doe just because her given name was so suggestive towards it. "Yes, I'm terribly sorry. I blush a lot. Freckles, pale skin, and blushing. Truly awful combination," the woman said with a shrug and a small laugh so as not to interrupt those trying to inch around the threesome.
The thought of the crowd reminded her of why she'd begun blushing in the first place and she took a slightly shuffled step in the direction the pressing mass so desired, not turning her back to Phiel and Zurine for fear of making the wrong assumption either in direction or readiness.
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Posted: Mon Oct 17, 2011 6:17 pm
Laughing a little, Phiel nodded and withdrew his arm, gesturing forward down the water-tunnel. "Let us go forth, then," he said. Even he wasn't entirely immune to those bright doe eyes, and he shifted uncomfortably. He certainly didn't want Zurine learning that look. That could easily be terrible for all of mankind, he thought dryly. "Do not worry, I shall not be attempting to make you blush more. That's hardly my place."
Zurine was satisfied with this response to her question, though, and flitted lightly ahead, eager to see more of the tunnel and the other fish beyond. "Hurry hurry," she called softly after herself, drifting slowly forth. "Am going to leave you."
Snorting softly, Phiel shook his head. "I'm coming, Zurine. Don't get too far ahead..."
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Posted: Mon Nov 21, 2011 5:31 pm
Doucette only used her powers for good, of course, and when the embarrassing moment had passed her eyes looked considerably less watery and the blush slowly ebbed from her cheeks. Thankfully the slightly lower temperature in the aquarium helped to aid in the return of her pale tone. It seemed that Zurine hadn't absorbed the effect and thus Phiel probably didn't need to worry about his charge picking up any adverse traits. At least for another few years, that is.
"Nooo, don't leave us!" the red head said with a laugh, picking up her pace a bit and surging forward to keep up with the floating femme, waving for Phiel to keep up with the both of them. "What do you want to see Zurine? The sharks? The turtles? The penguins?"
Doe's eyes darted from sign to sign as they passed listing all the directional options they could take. It was all very exciting!
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Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2012 1:22 pm
Unable to help himself, Phiel found himself laughing a little as he lengthened his stride to keep up with the two ladies that were ahead of him. It was nice not to be alone, and he was smiling.
Turning around, Zurine tilted her head, watching Doucette and giving a tinkling little sound of laughter, shrugging elegantly. "What is... penguin?" She furrowed her brows, turning back and floating back toward Doucette.
"It's a sort of bird," Phiel answered for her, amused. "Little flappy, nubby wings. It can't fly."
"Birds... that cannot fly?" Looking a bit puzzled, Zurine huffed softly, crossing her slender pale arms and flicking her own wings. "Why can they not fly?"
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Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2012 4:38 pm
A little smile crooked onto Doucette's lips at Zurine's curiosity. It was so hard to remember how young the Frei truly were when they were so much more collected than real "children". The added curiosity of penguins in specific had the red head turning towards the hall to the icy home so the girl could see a penguin in person. Easier to show the waddling things than try and explain them in full.
"Because they're so fat!" Doe said with a laugh in her voice and a pat on her stomach while checking to make sure the two were still with her in the direction she'd turned off for. "Actually though, that's not quite right. Penguins can't fly up in the sky, but they can fly in the water. It's beautiful...like they are dancing. If you see it, wouldn't care that they can't fly."
With a little wave of her hand Doe ushered the frei and Phiel into the penguin room, shivering a little despite herself. And could you blame her? The room was cozy but opened with a massive window showing an icy winter wonderland, casting a cold image over the small chairs littering the viewing area. Though there was space for all of them to stand at the glass and watch the penguins waddle about in the distance or swim in the closer, lower half of the view, Doucette took one of the seats to rest her ankle for a short moment, watching Zurine with a curious and excited eye. Surely the icy frei would be enchanted on sight?
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