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 Posted: Thu Jul 23, 2015 6:40 am
The place putting report files that kept by the Death division was a small but not confined room. Not having other duties, she decided to spend her time to read the reports. Within her arms was a notebook, some stationery and headphone. Additionally, there was a small bag hung on one of her forearms, it looked stuffed from the outside. Shu opened the door, pulled out the chair facing the door and settled her belongings down on the desk. Then, she went to the shelves to find related reports of what she was interested to know more. Wobbling, she came back with a tower of file that she slumped onto the desk. Maybe they are too heavy, the petite Asian flexed her neck and swirled her shoulders after exhaling a breathe. "Properly a bit too lazy" she said to herself, thinking she'd carry them in several rounds instead of all together once. She put on the headphone, adjusted her glasses and opened one of the files. The unzipped bag revealed the items inside were different snacks, the girl read while swaying her dangling legs. While she enjoyed the time she spent with her friends, some relaxed individual moments was not a bad idea. Like a student in a self-study room inside the library, she began her task for making notes. The room was quiet, with only her humming after the melody from the headphone. However, it was just perfect for Shu that she seemed to forget she was not in her room but a public area.
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Posted: Thu Jul 23, 2015 9:52 am
Lawrence had quite a few reports due from various sources, and despite being punctual with upkeep of his own interests, his journal, his music compositions and so on, he simply did not have a great deal of interest in filling in reports on menial tasks. Still, they built up, and it was sheer coincidence that in seeking out a quiet place to work he came across the reports room where Shu was sitting. He had never met the young woman before, but immediately he smiled and made his way over to sit at the desk.
"Why hello there." he said brightly, seeking to catch her eye in case her music was too loud to make him out and setting his own folder down on the table.
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Posted: Thu Jul 23, 2015 11:36 am
Shu wasn't the type of person that turn the music loud unless she wanted to escape from reality. There was a smile bloomed on her face when she heard the greeting. Quickly put down her headphone and held the chocolate glazed donut with colorful sprinkles all over it that she was munching, her face flushed. "I haven't eat yet, so....." she tittered, the smile at first seemed to be just an instant reaction as she attempted to hide the small bag packed with snacks. "I-I'm Shu, intermediate trainee, nice to meet you. You're from Death too?" The petite Asian introduced herself as a start of conversation. She then peeked at his work out of curiosity. She wore a casual hoodie set with long tights and sandals, the sandals that were just dangling because of the swaying were attached with her foot again. She might feel too relaxed that she acted like she was in her room. The quick remedy won't be noticed, she hoped.
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Posted: Thu Jul 23, 2015 1:18 pm
Lawrence waved his only hand affectionately. "Oh don't worry about me, eat if you were going to, it is not a problem." He assumed that it was due to manners that the girl had set aside her food and already held her in slightly higher estimation for it.
"I assure you the pleasure is all mine lil miss." he replied to her greeting. "I am Jan and though many will insist I am named Lawrence, I much prefer Jan. And I was from Death" he said. "At present I am in Life division, Death was not quite suited to my talents, a little too volatile for my tastes." He was dressed curiously, his neck hung with many gold chains strung with various gems and other occult symbols over a loose purple shirt. On his lower half he wore a sarong over a pair of shorts with sandals of his own. The overall impression was that of an eccentric psychic, which was entirely the impression he intended to give.
He relaxed in the chair, his posture almost feline and possessive, completely at ease as he nimbly flicked through the folder in front of him, holding it open without second thought with the severed wrist of his opposite arm. "I admit though, I was never any good at mission reports, I've been putting these one's off for a while.." he sighed. "Are you doing reports right now? Do you think you could take a look over these?"
She got a bright and hopeful smile.
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Posted: Thu Jul 23, 2015 2:09 pm
The man seemed to be a nice guy, she didn't see any judging from his expression. She beamed like a happy girl for that. Jan....why does it sound familiar.....? She tilted her head unconsciously, thinking about where she heard or know that name. "Ahhh, you're from Life, sorry about that." The petite Asian looked slightly embarrassed for her incorrect guess but it only lasted for a few seconds. She clapped her hands in all delights, "Ah! You are the one that use a cat for the twitter icon!" As if a light bulb lit up, she was radiating energy vivaciously. "You love cats, right?" He was dressing like a funny guy, but Shu had a high acceptance level. She'd be distinguishing what the gems were or trying to see if she knew any of the symbols on the gold chains, he gave out a mysterious but strange aura all together. Her eyes observed him like constant interested friendly stares, it was a bad habit. Surprisingly, she shook her head. "Not filling up reports, just reading about things. I can take a look, though English isn't my mother language." She nodded willingly with a big smile this time. "So do you find the Life division fit you?" She loved the Death division and the leader, she guessed she didn't have the thought to change it. Thinking back, Mimsy and Robert were in Life too. Idea hopped in her mind, likes bunnies. Shu felt the gentleman isn't as sassy as on twitter and she recalled America claiming how awful he was and that he lied and hurt a poor cute minipet. She didn't know much about it though, she wasn't on twitter all the time. There were too many things running in her small brain that Z hissed about it like a loud howl for the traffic congestion.
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Posted: Thu Jul 23, 2015 5:43 pm
"No problem, like I said, I was in Death up until very recently, it is a very simple mistake to make." he waved off her embarrassment with that same jovial politeness, looking pleased as she remembered who he was. "Indeed I am." and for a moment he bowed his head as if she had recognised him from some prolific scientific journal. "The cat I chose reminded me of one of my favourite cats back home, Houdini. And yes, I do love cats." he affirmed. "I had eighteen of them, my home was a veritable cat palace, they had their own maid and everything." Tapping the table with a fingernail he went on enthusiastically. "Wonderful animal cats, I used to be able to practically understand them you know, I helped with behaviour and so on and so forth, I miss them a great deal. Do you like them?" He looked excited to meet someone who could potentially match his enthusiasm on the matter.
At the mention that English wasn't her mother language, he looked even more interested. "Really now lil miss? I know how that is, my mother wasn't a native speaker either, caused her a lot of problems too. I was raised half and half. Ibland jag saknar tala Svenska." he mused aloud, not courteously translating what he'd just said. "One gets used to English over time I imagine, though I have a lot of respect to someone who researches hard. Perhaps that is why I do enjoy Life quite a bit, it also fits some of my skills - I was a Vet once. Lots to learn regardless!"
The girl got a curious look as he held a pen at the ready. "How do you find Death division? It seems like a dangerous division for such a delicate seeming and pretty lil miss as yourself. It was rather dangerous while I was there, cost me a hand no less."
Meegane Sometimes I miss speaking Swedish was what he said smile
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Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2015 1:03 am
His age - he must be much older than Shu, she wondered who is older, her father or Jan. The trainee seldom have experiences to get along with seniors besides her father and uncle, but those two she didn't get on with. The man was very gentle and nice, unlike his sassy tone and attitude on twitter. That puzzled the petite Asian. "Eighteen!" Shu had her mouth opened widely, tried to imagine what it liked to live with so many cats. She'd seen on television variety show houses of cat ladies, but hearing someone with her ears was another thing. "Ma-Maid! Palace!....Cat princesses and princes...you must be rich, very rich if you can accommodate so many cats." Her honey colored eyes widely stared like a watchful cat. "I like cats, actually I love animals in general. Some can be as clingy as dogs, but mostly they act as they like. I enjoy spending time in making friend with a cat, watching its attitude changes from aloof, rejectful and watchful to friendly. It feels like you make a great achievement when they come to put a paw on your lap or snug against you with trust. You can say the process of winning the trust is so much fun." She explained, words like not having a full stop. "The best is, unlike dogs, cats don't give its trust easily, the pride that you have it is pleasing." Noticing she might talk too quick and too much, she paused to look at Jan. "My brother used to say I'm like a cat but my sisters said I'm more like a bunny. I don't mind being either, they're both cute. Jan, what species are your cats?" She was interested to know more about animals. "Ohhh now I remember, there was a time some people got turned into kittens, were you around at that time?" In response to the foreign language in his reply, she made a startled face. Shortly, she recollected herself to identity which country was that language. French was out of consideration, the intonation didn't consist of the drawling feel of it. Russian? German? Italian? Neither one of their impressions matched. Her mind spun quickly to analyze and made a guess that it might be Norwegian, Spanish or something else as not one language she knew roughly fitted. She understood that, so she didn't ask about it. The first time she woke up and saw Jerry and Robert, she yelled "bear" in Chinese, it was natural because it was the language you used to speak since you are born. Nodding in agreement, Shu smiled. "Language is interesting. I guess it's the interest in one thing that makes you spend effort and support you to keep going. Like how I learn Japanese." Anime, game and songs were what she loved and practice makes perfect, she could speak, read and write Japanese smoothly. She nodded again, "Hmm, I think if I'm not in Death, I will be in Life. I'm a curious girl that has many many questions." There was admiration sparkles from her eyes when he mentioned he was a vet. "You must have saved many animals' lives, that's amazing! Learning is fun, especially when you can make good uses of what you've learned." Z, is he really that guy that cut America's treat hand off? Z? < I'm taking my nap. Don't you think you trust people too easily? That's your problem.> But he's a vet and animal lover! < Don't be silly, one saves lives can take away lives too.> The beast sneered and said he's resuming his nap. There were too much thinking happened that she had to temporarily stuff them into a small storage room. To be honest, Shu had no idea why she was in Death division. Maybe she is attracted by it, maybe it is the leader that she had her eyes on the first time she saw him, there can be reasons left unknown. "Like I said I'd be in Life but my mind and science knowledge were not enough for the division. I'd be in Sun because I would fit in the cheerful environment, but I'm not good at fighting. I love learning and knowing things, so Death division which is about collecting information would be the best place for me. Additionally, if I can get a better picture of current events, I can be useful to my friends and comrades." However, she lost track of what she was going to say when she heard about the hand. "Sorry to hear that, it must hurt so much......I know our leader stresses the importance of usefulness aka information you have as well as discipline......would you mind me asking the reason?" Shu tensed up, feeling it's a sensitive topic but she somehow wanted to know why. She liked the higher rank crew besides Mark, not that she didn't like Mark but he's a weird guy. Also, she liked other death hunters as well. That was one thing, one she trusted or liked something or someone, it would be hard to shift the huntress's mind. Even she looked soft and sweet, she was very protective of her friends. Even one might be evil or bad, she would not change her feeling easily, like the case of Caelius. People said he killed many many people and extremely dangerous, she could sense the peril but she still admired that man.
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Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2015 12:31 pm
Lawrence found himself rather at ease in the company of the petite huntress, patiently and politely listening to what she had to say, all interest and smiles before adding his own opinions. "It was wonderful, I have to say. And oh I don't know if I would class myself as rich back then, I was aiming to be rich, but the amount I was living on was modest." It was modest in comparison to the salary of a CEO, and he had tried to keep that in perspective. "I agree with you though, cats are wonderful creatures, and earning their trust is a feat. It is difficult to lie to a cat, earning that trust and care is a careful process of conceding to the cat's space and interests. I helped owners understand that, and many of them left their cats to me when old age came for them - they were often very old you understand."
Shu was given a thoughtful look. "Hmm, I would perhaps need to know you better to comment on wether you are more like a cat than a rabbit. Rabbits trust in a fearful, wide eyed way, they live in the world always aware that at any moment anything could swoop in and end their life. Cats exist in the opposite state, they have nothing to fear, they are the top predator. In a place like Deus I imagine the rabbit might thrive where the cat would not, there are a great number of times where we are the hunted rather than the hunter, a cat does not do well under stress. Do you enjoy being hunted, does it feel proper to you?" he raised a brow at her, checking himself. "Sorry, that is likely too invasive a question, I would say it comes down to your own estimation if you are one or the other." Hurriedly glad to change the subject he added. "Oh they were many breeds. Houdini was a Turkish Angora, as the cat in my avatar is. He was my favourite. I had all kinds of exotic breeds, a sphinx, an oriental longhair, a toyger, and of course many many beautiful mongrels."
At the mention of everyone being turned into cats he had to laugh. "Yes. Yes I was around when that incident occurred, in fact I used my phone to check what shape I was when I found it on the floor." he fished out his phone from the recesses of a pocket, flipping aside the white leather case to look through his photos until he got to one of a rather irritated looking and oriental faced slender white cat with huge pale blue eyes looking down on the front camera. "Needless to say I was not pleased."
"Language is facinating!" he said with enthusiasm. "It permits a glimpse into how people's minds work too, cultural differences are written into the language which each culture favours and possesses, there is so much to learn alongside even the words themselves. I have learned quite a few different languages, English has simply proven most useful to me in the various places I have found myself. And despite all of that, there is always and will always be more to learn." Flattered, he looked away. "Oh I have saved some animals I am sure, but much of the time the best way to save an animal is to educate its owner. That is more difficult to do than surgery, people are resistant to manipulation, even if it is for the good of something or someone they love. I did my best though, and I am proud of what resulted."
"I understand the difficulty in finding a division which truly fits, it took me some time to settle one where I should ultimately be. Death is certainly a useful division if one manages to keep a low profile and out of sight of the more dangerous members. You are non-threatening and pleasant enough that I think you could well manage it. I cannot see Cael attacking someone as pleasant and submissive as you are." Evidently it was meant as a compliment rather than a dismissal. "Though I imagine Life would be lucky to have you, you seem very quick witted and intelligent indeed."
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Posted: Mon Jul 27, 2015 2:17 pm
Shu would be a good person to talk things with because she was almost interested in everything, if you don't find her annoying or whiny. She liked when her companion listened to her and paid attention, she felt being treated seriously. "I would say that's rich if you have a cat palace." Shu mused, had no idea how to define rich either. Jan had reminded her that the word rich itself was too vague. "Cats require your respect, and one betrays its trust, it's hard to get it back. Cats have a much more complicated mind than dogs, you have to study it, observe it to understand. With cats, you need to learn to sacrifice, like how you make concessions for the one you love." The petite Asian blinked and blinked as Jan gave his opinion. 'Wow, Jan, you really know animals well. I don't think my sister view me as rabbit because of this perspective, it's more like the bounce and the cute appearance. I like the points you made though! As for my brother, it's probably the fact that I love to play tricks on him and my capricious attitude that made him think of cats?" The eyes looked up to the left. "Hm." Shu mused, "I'm afraid I don't get what you mean quite well, what do you mean by 'being hunted'?" The two fingers on each side raised up and wriggled to make a pair of quotation marks in the space. She could be dense and too straight forward in some occasions. The honey colored eyes stayed at Jan, then it began to shift left and right as he talked about the cat species. She waited until he finished, then raised a hand. "Please gimme a few minutes." She fiddled out her phone to search on the Intranet. "Those cats are all pretty, I think I like Toyger most because mini tiger hehe. I always cringe thinking of Sphinx, without the abundant furs, they look vulnerable and fragile, prone to dangers Jan, those cats are special and exotic indeed." Shu leaned forward and giggled at the cat picture on the phone screen. "How clever you are! Sorry for the laugh but you look so angry and cute. That's a pretty cat but I think your eyes are more beautiful, especially the blue." She stared into his eyes. "Oh sorry......s-so - tell me more about the adventure? I don't know much about it even though I'm so interested. I bet I would be quite adorable as a kitten." She pouted. Her head slowly nodded, ".....I didn't think that deeply....No wonder there's a subject called Linguistics, one language gives clues to the culture it's from. Funnily, all language began from drawings and symbols, then they subdivided into different branch systems. Some Chinese are come from drawings, I learned that when we read an article about Chinese writings." She paused, finger moved on the desk. "Let's see if you can guess what does it mean, clever Jan." She gave the hunter a breezy but sly side glance. Then, she turned her head down to the desk where she drew a circle and made a dot in the middle of it. "The first one. Second one is this." She drew something like the "*" of the text symbol but much thinner. The third one looked close to the first one, two inverted C joined together, with a dot inside. "Last one!" A wavy line drew vertically, and two dots on each side of it. "Do you think you can guess what they mean?" After the word puzzle, they returned to the conversation. "I totally agree. The owners are the one need to be educated. If they're conscious and aware of those animals are lives instead of toys, there won't be so many poor animals got abandoned merely because their owners got bored of them. People need to learn it's a life in their hands and that's a responsibility. Many are just too selfish." Shu seemed to be vexed. "It's no use they take lives lightly while you save. You should be proud, your job is meaningful." She smiled at the compliment brightly, "Thank you, I try my best to follow orders. However, I don't think I'm smart. I can't think as deeply as you do, my mind works simply. There are many things people said but I don't have a clue." < Especially about sex.> Aren't you napping? <......> The petite huntress frowned and pressed her lips together. "Sometimes it's the cultural difference, sometimes it's too difficult to imagine."
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Posted: Mon Jul 27, 2015 4:34 pm
"Hahaha a cat palace. That is quite an accurate term for my home. They had their own little tunnels and walkways, places to adventure, I even had a large greenhouse filled with cat friendly plants." He did not mention that same greenhouse had been a place where he set free ill fated songbirds and other creatures to entertain his cats and himself. He was always satisfied when he was brought some grisly trophy, and if it made a mess it wasn't his problem but his maid's. "Indeed though, they are complex, more complex than most people realise."
Chastising himself a little he reminded himself that of course her family members had used those terms innocently, based on aesthetic and behavioural traits than anything more complex and sinister. "By being hunted, I suppose I mean pursued by something." Her relative obliviousness caught his interest the way one of the songbirds might well have caught his cat's. "Like a monster."
Patience of course was his strong suit and he waited amicably as she checked up on the different cat breeds he had mentioned. "I was rather fond of the Toyger myself, he was a fiesty little thing, thought he was much bigger than he was." He did laugh again as he added. "And you'd be surprised how sturdy and vicious that little sphinx was, she was the very opposite of fragile, ruled the roost with a mighty naked paw."
There was a little indignity and embarrassment regarding the photo of himself as a cat, but he was glad that Shu seemed to like it, flattered more than a little by her admiration of his eyes. He was vain at the best of times and simply could not help it. "It was very strange, one minute I was as you see now, the next I was struggling out of a pile of clothing and forced to navigate a world where I was close to the ground and not entirely equipped to open doors. I was forced to wear my totem like a collar. One certainly has to appreciate the difficulties smaller creatures face."
He could not hide his interest as she explained more about the pictographic origins of some Chinese, he had never dared venture too far into Eastern culture and languages, simply out of the daunting complexity and difference from what he was personally used to, but it made it no less fascinating.
He paid rapt attention to each image she drew and tried to infer the meaning from each, a task rendered surprisingly difficult for Lawrence by his rather literal nature. He often found it difficult to come to seemingly straightforward conclusions from a given puzzle and in this case it was no different. Still, he hazarded a guess as best he could. "I would say that perhaps the first is a sun. It seems very reminiscent of the simplest examples of the same in a great deal of art, though interestingly it is also almost exactly the symbol used to represent the sun in astrology." He tapped his chin and eyed the next, narrowing his eyes in concentration as he tried to make the logical leap to something which was less abstract than the text. "It looks..plant-like. That is all I can speculate however." The next he smiled. "Now this appears closer to the traditional symbol for the moon, though it could be a bow perhaps." The last he raised a brow. "This one reminds me of a lizard, but I am likely inaccurate. I am not very good at this hahah." Still, he seemed to be having fun.
"Oh I think you seem clever enough, sometimes the cleverest people have the most direct minds, the things you do not understand might not really matter in the long run and your clever mind is simply filtering them out to save you the trouble." She got a broad smile. "I know the feeling though, I find myself lost more often than not, if you ever have any questions you think I could help answer I'd be more than happy to, and perhaps you could do me the same favour, I feel you have more to teach than you realise."
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Posted: Tue Jul 28, 2015 11:56 am
That sounded like an amusement park for cats. "I wish to be your cat - nononononooo - I mean it's so nice to be your cat." She first waved her hands in a jittery way, then tilted her head with the second attempt, somehow it still didn't sound right to her. She thus sighed lightly, like a cat had its ears drooped and bent backward. Sometimes words are too hard to deliver a correct message. Like one time she asked someone to sleep with her, but it didn't contain any sexual meaning at all, she just wanted a companion. Shu was glad Jan didn't mind and kindly talked about something else. "Yup, they're like always putting you on tests, a lot of confirmations and evaluations. You will find it pretty hard to distinguish whether one thing it does is deliberate because it acts as it wishes." She mused seriously after he gave his explanation to her question. "Enjoy.....you mean......the excitement - thrills and spills involved?" She asked, still musing. "I-I don't think I enjoy that." She made her conclusion with a head shake. "It feels scary." The puzzled face lit up and she giggled hearing about the cats. "A mini tiger indeed! An energetic kid that needs abundant attention." Her eyes blinked in amusement. "Oh a queen. Did you name her Cleopatra?" She snickered at her own small joke, there were periods where Egyptians had their heads clean shaven until they learned to take care of hairs under the hot weather. That impression matched well with the hairless feline and the iconic Egyptian figure. Her mind pictured a sphinx cat wearing like the female pharaoh, adorned with luxurious jewels and golden accessories, that was a pretty scene. "That's embarrassing though funny and adorable. Hmm... I imagine everyone got turned into kittens had a bad timing carrying their weapon totems with them regarding their sizes. It's inspiring to see small animals work their lives out. The spirit and energy you feel, let's say, the birth is so touching." Seemed to think of something, she cleared her throat. "If you don't mind me asking.......are you naked when you change back to yourself?" The petite face might be flushed in pink as she stuttered with words. < You're really interested in details like that> the beast sneered. As for the little game, Shu gave Jan a big round of applause, echoed in the medium-sized room with just two of them. "Out of 4, you get 2.5! That's really impressive." Her eyes twinkled with admiration. "Yes, the first one is 日, meaning the sun, the stroke in the middle indicates its illuminating property. The second one is 木, meaning a tree, upper part symbolizes the branches while the lower for the roots. You're close enough though." She explained them one by one, and elaborated. "The third one, you have good observation Jan. It's indeed the moon, 月. The stroke tells you how the people in the past thought the moon can illuminate. The word for sun and moon can be put together to form a new word, 明, meaning the lights from moon or sun light an area." She paused, drawling with words, "As for the last one, it actually has nothing to do with lizard. It means water, 水. The wavy line in the middle is surprisingly a precipice while the four dots or strokes the form of water splashing down. You can see the words evolved from graphics are mainly related to the nature or what you can see in daily life." Her eyes shone with delectation. "Fascinating, isn't it? Like you say, you can take a look of what they were thinking at that period, like the wrong concepts they used to have. I really love studying a language and the stories behind it, Jan." The excitement in her voice however subdued with the compliment, "That's very flattering. I guess we've a different definition of the word clever." Shu played with the pen she grabbed. < It's a lie. Such a liar.> "Thanks for the offering, I'm more than willing to help you if I can!" It seemed she had made a new friend already, the petite Asian couldn't be happier for it. "Talking to you helps to broaden my horizon and thoughts."
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