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 Posted: Thu Aug 05, 2010 4:35 pm
It was one of those rare moments where Pana was relaxing, although not entirely on her own will. It was a lazy summer evening, where the humidity seemed to weigh everyone down. Both she and Lizz could be found lying on a small hillside in the park; Lizz was fast asleep on her belly side and Pana lay next to her, watching the clouds above drift in lines. The sun had just begun setting, and the birds were crisscrossing to make their way back home. As she watched them a thought struck her - she wanted to fly. Only, how does one make wings?
Lizz had brought arts and crafts for Pana to play with while they were at the park. Pana had thought she had extinguished her interest in them, but perhaps the paper and glue could be good components for her wings. She glanced around, noticing people walking hurriedly to catch the last bit of sunlight to guide them home. On the other side of them was a patch of trees. It caught her eye; maybe sticks would be a solid, stable element. She got up and side-shuffled down the hill. She reached the bottom and began collecting as many thin sticks as she could find.
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Posted: Fri Aug 27, 2010 11:00 pm
The evening sun tinged the world in a gentle orange light as Nathaniel and Fitzdaniel closed up their stall. They were surrounded by the cheerful background chatter in the marketplace, growing softer now that the day was ending. Unlike their fellow salesmen, neither man nor boy spoke while they closed. Fitzdaniel and Nathaniel weren't much for unnecessary words, Nathaniel busy scheming about his future and his father occupied with brooding over the past. They had been thrown into each others' company out of necessity rather than any strong desire for one another, and the newness of their father-son relationship still choked comfortable banter.
As they finished packing up for the day, they began the journey home. Nathaniel was no grown-up, but he did more than his fair share of work. Despite himself, Fitzdaniel had been surprised, but it wasn't all that shocking. A boy willing to painstakingly research the lineage of an entire noble family and hunt them all down asking for a home, even including the estranged b*****d son wasn't the kind of person to shy away at doing work. It was in Nathaniel's eyes when you looked at him, and it was the difference between the two. Fitzdaniel allowed the rejections in his past to haunt him, but Nathaniel's troubled past drove him forward.
It did bother Fitzdaniel that his son (newly and somewhat questionably acquired though he was) acted so jaded though. He was more precocious than precious, more cynical than charming, and Fitzdaniel didn't think it was right for a young boy. It reminded Fitzdaniel of himself, and that was a childhood he wouldn't wish on anybody. He bit his lip and looked thoughtfully at Nathaniel as they walked. Anything close to a normal childhood would help, he was sure. Maybe more storybooks at bedtime, maybe...
"Another child." he said aloud. Nathaniel looked up at him, arching an eyebrow. Fitzdaniel pressed on, undaunted. "Up there, see? Why don't you go say hello?"
A long suffering sigh from Nathaniel, who pointed out, "We need to get our merchandise back home." He hefted his crates of oranges and Fitzdaniel grabbed them from Nathaniel, teetering under the weight.
"I managed it fine before you were in the picture, I can do it again. Go say hello, I'll be back soon enough."
There was no winning the argument. Nathaniel's plans involved Fitzdaniel being amicable with him, so he shrugged and made a show of walking over to the playing girl and her mother. Clearing his throat, he nodded his head and cordially stated, "Good evening."
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Posted: Mon Sep 20, 2010 6:52 pm
Pana looked up from her stick picking to a boy greeting her. She wasn’t sure if it was the abruptness of the situation or if she just didn’t hear him approaching, but for the first time she felt shy. For a second, the silliness of her idea dispersed into her mind. The sticks in her arms seem to weigh her down. And then it passed as quickly as it came. She smiled at the boy and placed the sticks on the ground.
“Good Evening!” she repeated, although maybe more excited than the original greeting. She extended her hand out in greetings, but then noticed that it was dirty from her gathering. She pulled it back again and wiped it down her side. She offered her hand again in salutations, this time a cleaner version.
“I’m Pana.” She declared animatedly, “And you are…?”
She studied him. He was smart, she decided; it was the glasses. People with glasses were always smart! Or, at least the ones on T.V. She actually hadn’t met anyone in real life with glasses but she gauged that he wouldn’t let her down.
“Maybe you can help me with my problem.” She tilted her head in curiosity as she waited for an answer to her proposal.
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Posted: Mon Sep 20, 2010 7:30 pm
Nathaniel raised an eyebrow as the dirty hand was thrust at him, but reluctantly reached out and grasped it, letting go soon as he possibly could. His hands were probably no cleaner, having been helping Fitzwilliam with work all day, but that was his dirt. He didn't like the feel of other peoples'. To make matters worse, something about this girl irritated him, like the smell of her triggered some long-forgotten frustration or rivalry. He couldn't quite place the smell, since he himself always smelled like Earl Grey, that faint whiff of bergamot oranges. But whatever perfume she was wearing, it snuck in and made his nose twitch.
Curious.
He pushed up his glasses and wiped his own hands on his handkerchief, announcing, "Nathaniel Hargreaves. A pleasure, I'm sure." Putting whatever irritated him about the girl aside for now, he discreetly sized her up. Her hair was a sight to see, coiffed and curled, strangely intricate for a girl her age. She was direct, already requesting something of him without having known him for more than a few minutes. That suggested confidence, not a bad trait to have, he supposed, but it was also rather brash. He preferred a more roundabout approach.
"That," he replied to her curtly, "Depends on the problem." And on the possible benefit to him.
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Posted: Mon Sep 20, 2010 8:06 pm
Depends. Well, at least that wasn’t a straight no. There was something about the boy that seemed like he was merely dealing with her rather than being generally interested in knowing her; it reminded her of the boy in the library who disliked her castle building. She was now thoroughly convinced that all boys had some sort of a problem. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t warm him up to her. Maybe a little charm could convince him to at least enjoy her company.
“Well, I’ve decided that I want to fly. Like those birds…” she pointed up to the sky, but the birds had been replaced by bats. Their flight pattern was more sporadic than of her original inspiration. Even if they weren’t as graceful, she still wanted to join them in the sky.
“But I’m not sure how they do it. I want to build wings; do you think you can help me figure it out?” she asked. “You look like the intelligent, engineering type” she piped in quickly afterwards.
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Posted: Tue Sep 28, 2010 7:04 pm
Nathaniel frowned. "Difficult," he declared. "But not impossible. Those are bats, though. Bats are terribly common, I wouldn't be caught dead flying with a bat."
Pushing up his glasses, he said, "I assume that you tell me I'm an engineering type because of my appearance. A somewhat crude way of judging a man, but I suppose you're correct enough. I am an engineering type, though what I engineer probably isn't what you're thinking of to help you fly." Nathaniel was engineering the downfall of a majority of one of the richest noble families in Cyrus City- more devious than a catapult and farfetched as flying, though perhaps less suited to the mind of a child. "Anyway, I can help convince the kind of architect you do have in mind to build you those wings. Anyone can be convinced of anything with time and careful persuasion. The only matter would be my, ah, fee."
He offered her a dry smile. "I do hate to jump to conclusions based on appearance, myself, but I doubt you could give me what I'm looking for."
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Posted: Sat Oct 02, 2010 10:47 am
Pana nodded, understanding that it was probably true that she couldn’t help the boy. However, because he at least heard her out and offered a solution she could at least do the same for him. Even if she couldn’t provide a payment up front, Pana couldn’t resist a challenge. If it was in her power to help, she would.
“What is it exactly that you are looking for?” she asked, becoming more serious now that her goal was obtainable. “Even if I don’t have it on me now, I’m sure I could help you get it.”
She was good at sneaking around and hiding, she envisioned herself; and it was probably mostly true too (besides her noticeable, white foamy hair) even though she hadn’t had much practice at it. Anyways, the will was there and she was going to help! Yes yes yes. She was determined now.
Daydreams of being a spy may or may not have run through her mind.
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Posted: Sat Oct 02, 2010 11:42 am
Nathaniel glanced at her. "Enough legally obtained money to start a trading conglomerate and migrate to another continent," he told her flatly. "Your enthusiasm is admirable, but I seriously doubt that you'd be able to help me with my plan."
Unable to resist bragging, the tea boy shrugged, saying, "I've already figured our how it's going to work, anyway. All I really need to do is get my father to play along with it and actually execute it, but I assure you that I've planned it quite carefully. I'd be surprised if it failed." Pausing, he added, "However, if there was any way to make the plan go more quickly, I wouldn't turn it down, of course. As it is, there's quite a delay between conception and execution, which is a bit of a nuisance, even if it is necessary. Can you be of use to me?" He shot her an appraising look, but the corners of his mouth seemed to say 'I doubt it'. Maybe it was just that scent, but Nathaniel still felt slightly like he was at odds with Pana, like they shouldn't be getting along at all. He had never known that he could be naturally predisposed to dislike someone, as ornery as he could be, there was usually a reason.
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Posted: Sat Oct 02, 2010 5:57 pm
Hmm, well, the boy seems to have bigger plans that what Pana had originally imagined he would. She figured he’d want a cookie jar out of reach or a fancy courtier’s hat. She too, doubted her abilities to help him. However, that didn’t mean she still couldn’t hear his master plan.
“Well, what exactly is your plan? How do figure on making it go faster?” Pana asked.
She couldn’t provide the boy with a straight answer, as to she didn’t know the details. She wasn’t a fortune teller either… But wait! She could ask her cards! In truth, she hadn’t provided a reading on anyone before and she wasn’t really sure how accurate they would be. And, if wrong or given an answer the boy didn’t like, she could sense that he would be terribly displeased and probably wouldn’t help her. She frowned; he didn’t seem like the type to trust his future in something not planned directly by him. But, it seemed like it was the only thing she could offer.
“I can ask my cards...” she trailed off, still unsure about whether it was wise to inform him about them, “But you would have to provide me more details.”
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