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 Posted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 6:49 pm
Who: Lucia, Ripley, and Rong Wei
When: Early evening (to start)
Where: Leaf Parlor and the local museum
Weather: Warm and clear She heard the soft tinkle of the bell as she pushed open the door to the parlor. When doing nails, she had always just painted them herself. But when floating by this parlor, the designs on the nails caught her attention. They seemed so cool. She wanted a design on her nails. And she had the best idea ever for them.
Floating in, the smell of chemicals overwhelmed her at first before she got used to scent. The place - the Leaf Palace - was nice and had an oriental theme to it. Her eyes scanned the entry way quickly and soon spotted the rows upon rows of polishes. Before anyone even said anything to her, the sigel was over at the polishes, looking for the perfect color. She knew exactly what she wanted from the moment she spied all of the designs.
They had to have the right color, she thought. The different colors and bottle shapes blended into each other as there was so much of everything. Grabbing a few colors, to compare shades, Lucia grinned as she held one up to the light. She had found the perfect purple. A bright, but fairly light one. Something that would go on pretty heavy and opaque, but that the design could really shine on. Spinning around she looked for -- whoever was working. "Hi!" she said seeing the small Asian woman. "Would I be able to get a-" she glanced to the price list "a polish change? With a bad a** design?" She smiled, picturing how AWESOME the design would look.
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Posted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 7:00 pm
Rong Wei was actually with another customer when the door opened and a creature she was sadly growing too familiar with came through the door, its visage very different from those she'd seen before. This one was larger, much like that Rivener thing and the Eiry one that Ripley still fumed about, but it was also female. A very dark change of pace in terms of colors, Rong Wei found herself at least liking the way this one looked. She'd liked Delia's darker shades too, not that she'd admitted it at the time, but Rong Wei was not that fond of bright things and therefore spent much of her time wearing darker colors in her own right.
"You're welcome to get whatever you'd like - Raevans are free at this parlor. Ripley would break my neck if I dared charge one of his own kind a cent for anything."
It had taken Rong Wei a moment or two to respond since she was finishing up with the young girl at her table, and the teenager squealed at the sight of Lucia before scampering off and out the door. Some people just couldn't take floating torsos, or so it seemed.
"Do you have the colors you want? If so, come over and I'll get you fixed up."
It was...odd. Why was Rong Wei being so open and friendly? It was very much unlike her to actually be so accepting of anyone, yet here she was chatting away as if she were meeting an old friend. Her sisters-in-law mumbled amongst themselves in Chinese about the predicament, but it didn't matter to Rong Wei so long as she knew the truth.
With another Raevan here, Ripley wouldn't try anything if he returned from his errand in a bad mood. With another Raevan here, Rong Wei was safe.
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Posted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 7:17 pm
Lucia's eyes open wide and lit up when the woman said she could get it for free. Seriously?! Crazy, but awesome! The female bent her body to the side at the waist, moving just her ribcage and head to the side. "Really?! Who's Ripley?" Obviously another raevan if she was 'one of his own kind.' She missed that her being charged would result in violence - too excited about getting something for nothing, simply because she was a raevan.
The Kitten's eyebrow raised at the girl's reaction to her. Stupid and jealous, she thought, deciding to ignore it. "I do!" She floated over and sat in the chair across from the woman. Her rune was skimming the surface of it while her bow was pressing into the arm rest. She had to sit a bit further up than even a human would, with how low her rune protruded.
Placing the purple on the table, the sigel grinned. "Can I get my nails that color, but I'd also like if you can do a design with silver and black so it looks like purple and silvery black zebra stripes?" She desperately hoped the answer was a yes, because that was what she had imagined and the look would be sweet.
She smiled, and her eyes were bright. If this woman looked, she would be able to see that the color polish she chose was very close to the color of her eyes.
"I'm Lucia by the way."
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Posted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 7:33 pm
"Ripley's a fr....Frei. He's a Raeven like yourself, only not quite as developed. He tells me that ones who are bigger than he is are called Sigels, or so he said something or someone named Eiry told him."
Rong Wei's face visibly soured as she had to speak about Ripley, her mood never joyous whenever he was mentioned. Her sister's-in-law rose from their chairs, since they'd only been sitting around without customers anyway, and they left the room once they heard the name Ripley. Neither of them spoke good English, something Rong Wei mocked them openly about (in said English), but Ripely's name translated poorly in either tongue. Any mention of him always sent them out, but that was okay - Rong Wei didn't like them hanging around.
"And yeah, no problem. I'm probably one of the better ones here who does patterns, so you've got nothing to worry about. Are you wanting to keep your real nails or do you want fake ones? Like I said it's all free, so splurge however you want."
Rong Wei was wiping her hands down with a towel when the Sigel said something she took to be her name, and she figured it would be still polite to answer. This Sigel was her savior, right?
"Hu Rong Wei, but you can call me Rong Wei. My family owns this parlor, so I'm not just a part-timer here. I'm also Ripley's guardian as it were, and you should be able to meet him soon. He was on an errand for me."
Speaking of Ripley, the Frei was NOT PLEASED. He'd been sent out to get something he knew nothing about, not to mention he didn't know where he'd properly be able to get it. About halfway into the errand he assumed he'd been tricked and it would be in his best interests to return back the parlor, which he set about doing just as soon as he could figure out where he was.
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Posted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 7:56 pm
Lucia's eyes widened. Another frei. There was so many of them now. She had thought she knew so many of them - almost all at the seashell event the other month. But there must have been more, she realized. And this Ripley was one. "So he's met Eiry then?! Eiry is very cool." It had been a while since she had seen him, but her opinion wouldn't sway just from time. Heathcliff was a fun raevan. Their drive, while scary, had, in retrospect, been a lot of fun.
Lucia wondered if Rong Wei was upset while talking about Ripley, or if she always had that look on her face. She wasn't sure. But she was glad, then that she had gotten the woman and come here for her nails. "That's soooo awesome!" her excitement about the design was almost palpable. Little things like that could still elate her, even though she had grown. It was good.
Lucia looked at her own natural nails and touched them gently. Fake nails? Her own nails were strong - rarely breaking or splitting. And she would never chew on them. But fake nails sounded fun too. "Ummmmm....Which ever you think is best. If it's easier to do the design on longer fake nails, that's fine. Just not too long though." She had seen scary women at the mall and restaurants who had long finger nails. Natural ones began to curl under - scary! - and fake ones just looked ridiculous.
"Nice to meet you Rong Wei." Her eyes glanced to the front door at the mention of Ripley coming here soon. It was a natural reaction - as if just the mention of the frei could summon him. But he was not in the doorway yet.
Lucia placed her forearms against the padding and let her hands relax on the table in front of her.
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Posted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 8:19 pm
Rong Wei tapped the Sigel's nails a bit with her own - nails that were well manicured and featured a striking design with vibrant colors - before she decided that something natural would best suit something inhuman.
"You've got pretty enough nails as it is, and they're strong and healthy. It'd be a shame to have to file them done for acrylic and they look long enough to sport a good design. We'll just go with those, alright? Now if you'll hold still, we can get underway."
The process for the manicure started off smoothly, Rong Wei taking her time yet not dragging her feet. She didn't know all the personalities of these creatures, some of them could be mellow and others could want to rip her head off. Memories of Ripley and how he would be back any time now was what kept her at an even but slow pace, not wanting at all to rush this Sigel Lucia away.
It had maybe been about ten minutes since the start of the manicure, Rong Wei already on Lucia's other hand, when the door swung open to reveal a very unhappy looking Ripley on the other side. His face was set in a frown that would have peeled paint from the walls were he to look at it, and his eyes were sharp and threatening. In his arms he carried a bag - somehow he'd managed to find what Rong Wei wanted - but as soon as he came into the building and set his eyes on the woman he tossed it onto one of the couches at the entrance. Something glass shattered and the bottom of the paper sack instantly turned a darker brown with wetness, but Rong Wei didn't even try to look up from her post. She did, however, shake a bit.
"If you so much as every thing to send me on an errand like that again, they won't be able to -"
The Frei was coming closer to the Chinese woman and her company, Ripley unable to see much of her thanks to the chairs blocking the way, but he stopped mid sentence as she actually slid into his view. A Raevan. A sigel. . . . .a female. Ripley's cheeks colored slightly at how he'd come off behaving in front of a stranger - not that he would have cared would Lucia have been a human. It was because she was a Raevan that he kicked himself strongly, knowing he may have ruined his chances right out of the gate.
"Ripley, this is Lucia. Lucia...meet Ripley."
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Posted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 9:02 pm
Lucia watched the Chinese woman do her nails. So deliberate was every stroke of the brush. She was holding one almost finished hand in front of a small fan, and just staring at it. It was just as she imagined. The purple was like the white of the zebra stripe. And the black with silver over it was the stripe. It looked great, and Rong Wei was doing a beautiful job with the other hand as well.
She was watching her movement when the front door opened. Slowly, so her hands didn't move too, Lucia turned her head to the front. Was it another customer? Or was it the woman's Ripley?
Tan skin, braids, and a snake crown framed the face of the guy whose body was currently hidden from view. He was definitely a raevan. Before even seeing his half body, she knew the odd look was not a normal person. He, obviously didn't see her yet.
Throwing a bag of something onto the couch, she heard the shattering of glass. The Kitten wasn't sure that that was supposed to happen. They won't be able to what? Serve him? Give him any because they were sold out? His sentence was cut off when he saw her, and her violet orbs rested on him as he looked at her.
Her lips spread into a small smile when the woman introduced them. "Nice to meet you, Ripley."
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Posted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 9:18 pm
Ripley was mildly speechless, if he could actually form a thought strong enough to put it into words. His dark gray eyes never once left Lucia's frame as he floated over and behind Rong Wei, his jaw tilted slightly so it was as if he was looking down on the Sigel instead of actually looking at her. Rong Wei paused after finishing one of Lucia's nails and looked over her shoulder at the stunned Frei, a her own face holding a look of either pure amusement or extreme confusion. She'd never seen Ripely at a loss of words about anything, even when he was confronted with something new, so she did her best to save this memory as a time her Raevan had been made completely uncomfortable by someone merely saying his name. Of course his discomfort didn't look violent or like he was ill, his face not pale nor his cheeks red with a flush of embarrassment. It took him a few moments to gather himself in response, his jaw lowering and his eyes meeting the rich purple that belonged to the Sigel.
"Ripley's usually quite the chatterbox. He must be quite taken with you if he's this quiet."
Rong Wei dared to go out on a limb with her remark, a bit of a nasal jab in her tone. Her own eyes were set on Ripley's face now that he glared down at her over her statement, but he didn't move to try and touch her nor did he come back with an instant reply - instead he merely kept looking at Lucia. Was a female Sigel really this facinating, or had the novelty of these things long worn off on the Chinese woman? God she certainly hoped not, as she needed her wits still.
"Well Ripley? Cat got your tongue?"
"Hush."
The Egyptian Frei crossed his arms over his half-chest, still not moving as he watched the interaction between his guardian and this dark female. He shouldn't have been so surprised to see her, she was one of his kind after all, but there was just something about her that made him pause in his words and thoughts. Was it because of the ears on her head - the inhuman cat ears? Or was it her shapely torso and body that had his gaze? Ripley had never been interested in the form of another before this point, so why would he start now? He decided his unease and speechlessness had to lie with her ears - because he was so easily able to recognize her as a cat.
"Er, forgive my speech and staring, but I don't think I could help myself. It's a pleasure to meet you as well Lucia, I'm Ripley as she's already said. I hope you don't mind my gaze, it's just that I've never seen...well, it's hard to describe."
He didn't want to come off sounding creepy, but the way he was talking was likely doing him no favors as it was. Rong Wei seemed to understand what he was trying to say - they hadn't been living this long together for nothing - and she chuckled as she started to apply some of the pattern to Lucia's remaining nails.
"I think he's trying to pay you a compliment, only he's found himself at a loss for what to say. You're by far the prettiest Raevan I've seen - and I'm sure he's thinking the same thing."
Ripley glared and frowned again, though one sweep over of his eyes at Lucia knocked that expression clear off.
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Posted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 9:42 pm
Lucia smiled silently as Ripley stared. Her eyes would occasionally flick back to the amazing design on her nails before turning back on the frei. She giggled slightly as Rong Wei did her best to embarrass him. Had it been her guardian doing that, she would have been pissed. Ripley, however, leveled a small glare and then his eyes went back to her.
The stare was a little intimidating as it lasted so long. So she took the time to look at the beautiful design, and sidelong, examine Ripley. He was something Egyptian, she thought, not too familiar with the culture. His gray eyes, however, were pretty startling. It wasn't often that one saw eyes that were so colorless. Then again, she thought with a smile, violet eyes were rare too. So were wings. And half bodies. And creatures made rather than born.
When he spoke, Ripley only compounded her discomfort. She smiled and blushed slightly, even letting out giggles when Rong Wei tried to fill in the blanks. "Well you're fetching yourself, Ripley. And thank you, Rong Wei. There's tons of beautiful raevans. Like Pasha. And Vyn. And Anya." She could continue, but her point was fairly made. She liked her looks. But her beauty was not more than the others. Just different.
Trying to start up a conversation, she held out the hand with the finished pattern. "Careful. But isn't it hot?!" She grinned at the frei, hoping he'd be willing to talk. Even if he was staring while talking. And having him look at her nails took his eyes off her body and face and ears.
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Posted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 9:55 pm
"I know Vyn and Cordelia, but the others you've named are mysteries to me - these Pasha and Anya names. Also, your nails are hot? Did she use some kind of polish to make them warmer?"
Ripley didn't know slang, and that was basically that. Rong Wei had never bothered to teach him since she seldom used it herself and he couldn't learn slang just from reading books all day long. Learning it from television was not an option unless School House Rock suddenly decided that it wanted to add slang into its vocabulary, seeing as he didn't want to watch anything else except the occasional nature show or history documentary. He'd been really into the ones about Egypt lately, and that's when it suddenly hit Rong Wei why he'd been staring. Feeling something like pity for a wounded puppy based on how she could tell Lucia's was reacting to Ripley's lack of charm, she tried to help a bit more.
"Ah, I thought so. Lucia, you're a cat right? Ripley's soul is a Sphinx - it's likely he's so drawn to you because he's Egyptian. We were watching a special the other day about how the ancients used to worship cats so he probably doesn't know what to think about you. We don't have pets in this building so you're the closest thing he's seen to an actual one. And as for 'hot', she means 'looking good'."
That really was the reason, or so it seemed, for as soon as Rong Wei said it Ripley's who body appeared to relax. Either he'd been trying to hard to figure it out on his own or was just too nervous to say it aloud no one would ever know, as the liquid charm he tried to exude was now seeping itself back into his veins and hopefully taking away those moments of awkward. His mind quickly raced to think of a proper response to the compliment she gave him, but he couldn't think of anything but the thin smile he enjoyed wearing. Perhaps a massive change of subject was in order, just as Lucia was suggesting.
"Ah, then yes - your nails look good. Rong Wei's got talent for them - she does her own nails and she does mine as well whenever she can get her hands on me. I've managed to elude her grasp lately, but it'll only be a matter of time before she catches me and my nails are repainted. I've only just managed to get the dark maroon off them. I've tried to tell her it doesn't suit me, but she says dark colors go well with my skin."
There, he was slowly coming back into his own. Rong Wei could feel the hairs on the back of her neck slowly rise as he collected himself into being more in control, and she swallowed as she hoped his mood would stay level. She was done with the patterns on both of Lucia's hands, only the top coat remained, but once that was over then what would happen? Could she somehow send Ripley away?
"Lucia, I've only got one more coat to do and you're ready to go. Was there anything else you wanted?"
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Posted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 10:16 pm
Lucia smiled at the misunderstanding. He must be younger than she thought, not knowing common slang. It was silly, but a little cute.
Rong Wei's question, however, caught her a little off guard. "Yeah, my soul was a cat." When she continued, Lucia's eyes examined Ripley. An Egyptian Sphinx. Worshipping cats. A smile spread on her face as she nodded with understanding. It was amazing how souls and essences could affect behavior like that. How powers could cause such strange things to happen.
Lucia giggled as he replied, a little late, to her question. "I think your natural nails are great. And hot is a bit more than good. It's like reaallllly good. Zebra print is in style right now, and I like how it looks with the black and purple instead of regular white. Hot is that, but it can also mean sexy - I guess that's like really good looking." It was weird explaining the meaning of words she used so readily.
Holding out both her hands under the table's light when Rong Wei prompted her for the final coat, Lucia grinned. "Nope! Just the polish and design. Can I tip you at least?" she asked. "They just look amazing. Just like I hoped."
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Posted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 10:40 pm
Rong Wei's eyebrow raised every so slightly as Lucia mentioned a tip. This...this was perfect, and was her chance to be rid of Ripley for the rest of the day and not have to worry about him striking out at her as soon as Lucia was gone. True he'd been so mellow, having actually calmed down even more since the storm that had passed over. Rong Wei didn't want to think on that right now, how terrifying he'd been during the moments when the storm raged overhead, his whole body - no. She wouldn't think on it, not when there was a chance for her to be safe and a chance to see her folks tonight. With Ripley out of the house, even for a bit, it would work.
"Instead of a tip, how about a date with Ripley?"
"What? How dare you-"
Ripley's wings flared out behind his back at the woman's comment, his arms quickly uncrossing from where they'd been resting across his half-chest. His dark grey eyes seemed to snap and for a moment all the lights in the room - and even the street post out front - all flickered and popped out before surging back on. The pop had been very audible and it still rung in Rong Wei's ears, Ripley's distress and very clear upset over her words evident. One of the light bulbs nearest to Rong Wei stayed burnt out, but she figured it was because the bulb was old anyway and she'd replace it once he left.
"I don't mean anything romantic, trust me, but there's a place he's been wanting to go and I don't have the time or the patience to take him. He needs to spend more time with a fellow Raevan as well, one who'll teach him the ropes. He's not world wise, in case you couldn't tell."
Rong Wei may have kept talking, but that didn't mean she could ignore the hairs that were slowly rising on the back of her head. Ripley's cold stare stayed on her for several seconds longer before he shook his head and turned his frown into something akin to a disappointed smirk, though it wasn't unpleasant. He didn't want to entirely turn away this new possible pawn, at least not right away.
"Are you talking about the museum?"
"The one and the same - with that exhibit you've been wanting to see. If you'd be so kind as just to accompany him Lucia I'll even foot the fee to get you there - and we'll call it all even. Sound fair?"
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Posted: Mon Sep 06, 2010 12:09 pm
Lucia's eyebrows raised and her ears turned outward as Rong Wei asked her to go on a date with Ripley. "We-" She was cut off by what amounted to a temper tantrum. His wings flared. His arms spread out -- gotta take up more space. And there was a deafening pop that flattened the sigel's ears down sideways. The lights flickered and turned off. Then -almost- all of them came back.
Rong Wei's quick clarification put even the Kitten more at ease: nothing romantic. Just take him some place, teach him, and spend time with him. So....wasn't that babysitting?
Her eyes flicked to Ripley as he identified the place he wanted to go, but she didn't have time for. Well a museum wasn't bad. There could be a lot of interesting stuff there. And there was an exhibit he was interested in? The Art of Angst? Bratty children of the World? Temper Tantrums and Their Effect on People who Might Have Thought He Could Be Cool But Now Consider Him to Be a Bratty Kid?
Or maybe it was something else. But she loved her nails. And this was the woman's request instead of money. Maybe, she reasoned, it would mean more than money. And if he was a brat she knew what to do: grab his ear and drag him home.
"I'll go, if he's okay with it. I don't know if I've ever been to a museum before." Her eyes rested on Ripley and she floated upwards. "Is it cool if I come?"
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Posted: Mon Sep 06, 2010 3:53 pm
It was a little too late for Ripley to tell her no now, what with his embarrassing little tantrum. His mind told him that if he hoped to impress this Sigel he would need to carefully watch every word and action from this point onward. She already seemed set in her mind about how he must be based on the light show and he knew that severly crippled his options. She, this Lucia, would indeed need to acompany him so he could learn more about her as well as actually go to the museum. He could have very well gone alone and still enjoyed himself, but perhaps company was best.
"If you're willing to go with me then your company is welcome. You might like the exhibit as well, if you're fond of history."
She didn't look like the type who would be but it was a policy of Ripley's to not judge. At least so loudly anyway, and not on the first go. Of course not everyone was the same in that regard, as the weird look he was getting from the female Raevan implied. Rong Wei snorted to hide a scoff as she rose to her feet, her hands idly moving about her hips as though she were looking for something. When she found what it was, her pack of cigarettes, she pulled a stick out and stuck it in her mouth as she turned to look at Ripley. There was an unnecessary smirk on her lips as she passed him, a sort of smug victory smile because she knew he would make no steps to hurt her while Lucia was around; his desire for a strong reputation outweighed his hate of her. For now anyway.
"Have fun while you're out, bring me back a souvenir."
Her sarcasim was hard to miss and Ripley bristled mildly though he kept it inwardly contained. He would show her a thing or two when he returned depending on how the evening went. Things were already pretty sour between him and Lucia so it would be best for Rong Wei to be prepared. When money finally met his hands the Frei kept his opinions to himself as he gave his liquid charm smile, all ready to go.
"Shall we then? I don't know when it closes, but if it is when we get there perhaps we can find another thing to do."
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Posted: Wed Sep 08, 2010 8:04 pm
Lucia examined her nails and weighed her options. She didn't really have many. And since he was willing to go, she figured maybe he would be less bratty doing something he was interested in. Smiling warmly, Lucia looked at Ripley. "I know a bit about history, but depending on the exhibit, I might not know much. If I'm clueless you'll have to teach me." The Kitten smiled. She knew more about history than she was letting on, but it was best not to brag or believe herself knowledgeable and find out she's actually not sure of it.
She would have been fairly annoyed to know he was thinking she was being judgmental when he just had a temper tantrum and blew a light bulb. It was lucky that he kept the thought silent. Floating out of the chair, the sigel nodded at Ripley. Best bet was to head out and take care of it. Like ripping off a band aid. Get it over with.
Lucia smiled at his guardian, "Thank you again, they look great!" She floated to the door and being careful not to bump her still fairly soft nails, she pushed open the front door. "Let's go!" Holding the door open for him, Lucia was unsure if this was such a good idea. For the nails. It was for the nails. And the nails were bad a**.
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