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 Posted: Mon Jan 01, 2007 11:12 am
Guinevere's pale hand stroked the spines of the books as she traveled down the shelf. She was looking for something, anything to read to pass the time while Kotatsu was grocery shopping. She had asked to be left here adn for once Kotatsu had overcome her fears of robbers, kidnappers, murderers, serial killers, and psychos to let her go in the library unattended. Her black hair fell into her face, as she had let it out of her ponytail today. However, her black dress remained on as always.
Guinevere couldn't understand herself. Just a little while ago she had been so into magic and witches but... When you thought about it, where was the proof? She still liked magic, and wanted to hard to believe in it, but ever since she had starting learning about science, doubt had knocked on the door of Guinevere's soul. Magic was following your star and dancing in the moonlight and... and hoping, whereas Science was structured. It was organized. It was what Guinevere had treasured so much in her topsy-turvy life and had tried so hard to hold on to when Aaron left. She was understanding more and more how science worked and it was happening every day. But when you thought about magic... All there was was belief. She wandered over to the nonfiction section and selected a slim volume from the shelf, settling down to read about cats and how they worked.
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Posted: Mon Jan 01, 2007 1:03 pm
"Let's see... Salem trials is over here... Ah! The Crucible- there it is." Having come up behind Guinevere, Jade plucked off a book from a shelf above the child's head. Her college class she'd been taking online at the library required her to read the book. however, the woman didn't much like the thought of reading the book about hangings. When she glanced down, seeing the oddly winged child, jade blinked in surpise. "Hello, who might you be? I didn't think this sort of thing would interest children- much less a Herald."
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Posted: Mon Jan 01, 2007 2:01 pm
Guinevere looked up at the woman, blue eyes showing slight alarm at being addressed so abruptly by a stranger. "I'm learning." she said. And since she was a little insulted that the lady didn't think she was old enough to read science, she added "I'm not supposed to talk to strangers." She wasn't quite brave enough to be rude to a lady she didn't know, but she didn't know enough children to know that the lady's statement was generally true. She went back to browsing, but eventually said "It's Kotatsu's cat. I want to know how he works." because now that she had been addressed, the silence of the library had become awkward.
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Posted: Mon Jan 01, 2007 3:45 pm
Realizing the greeting probably had been a bit forceful, the woman smiled sheepishly and adjusted her reading glasses. "You might want to look for Feline Anatomy." She offered good naturedly.
From around the corner, another small child darted over and tugged at Jade's skirt. Nikolai still had the white hair and tiny wings of a Mesenger Reborn, and it certainly made him stand out. Not speaking a word, when he saw Guinevere he seemed to gasp quietly and darted to hide behind Jade's skirt to peek out at the girl.
Laughing softly at the little boy's antics, Jade took his hand to reassure him, and looked to Guin. "Would you like me to hlp you find what you're looking for?"
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Posted: Mon Jan 01, 2007 3:58 pm
Guinevere held up the book she had removed from the shelf. "I found it already." she said. "I'm looking for other ones now." She looked at the boy who had darted behind Jade curiously. "Who's he?" she asked. He was a Herald, there was no mistaking it. "His wings are pretty." she said politely. She could feel the thought coming, like a bullet train on the tracks of her mind. She could have stopped it, only she happened to be metaphorically tied to the tracks. It came. I remember I was like that with Aaron. It made her a little jealous of him and this woman, who was probably his first guardian, and she felt guilty for that. "Does he like cats?" she said, opening the book in her hands to the cat picture she liked best.
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Posted: Mon Jan 01, 2007 4:09 pm
"C'mon now Nikki, don't be rude." Reaching down, Jade scooped up her adopted child into her arms and took the book he'd brought with him. "He seems to like the old stray that wanders around our house, hmm Nikolai?"
Clinging to the woman, Nikolai hid his face in her shoulder and peeked at Guin with one eye. He certainly was being shy today, though he had never spoken to anyone yet. Giving a feeble nod to Jade's question, he hid his face from Guin entirely.
"I think he just hasn't seen a little girl as cute as you before dear." She teased, and could feel the little Herald clinging tighter to hide his face at her words. Turning back to Guinevere, she smiled. "I'm sorry dear, my name's Jade. And this is my son, Nikolai."
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Posted: Mon Jan 01, 2007 4:25 pm
Guinevere blushed. "That's nice of him." she said. Of course she thought she was cute sometimes, and Kotatsu said she was cute, but when People (Meaning everybody except Kotatsu, who was Family, but only very technically and Guinevere would never admit it in public.) said she was cute it was more flattering. She got over it quickly though, and turned her attention back to the main subject of pets. "You have a cat living near you?" said Guinevere. "Kotatsu have a Pucci. He's weird." She held out the page with the picture and pointed to it. "This cat looks like Pucci a little, only cuter and friendlier. It's my favourite." Then she was introduced, which meant that the woman and Herald weren't strangers anymore and she could tell them her name. She nodded to Jade and Nikolai. "I'm Guinevere. It's nice to meet you."
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Posted: Mon Jan 01, 2007 4:46 pm
Unable to help but give a giggle at the little girl's blush, Jade shifted the books she held into the arm she held Nikolai with, and offered a hand to Guinevere. "It's nice to meet such a polite little girl."
When Jade moved closer, the little Herald's even littler wings quivered nervously. Standing on end, the feathers looked much like a fluffy cat that had gone through a dryer's spin cycle.
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Posted: Mon Jan 01, 2007 4:54 pm
Guinevere shook the hand formally. "Thank you." she said, as duly instructed by Kotatsu. "It's nice to meet someone so helpful about books." She looked at Nikolai and waved to him. His wings looked like Pucci when the cat had had an ant crawl on him once, all sticking up.
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Posted: Mon Jan 01, 2007 5:16 pm
Upon releasing Guinevere's hand, Jade pat Nikolai on the back to try and calm him down. "It's not our cat. It's just a one-eyed stray that wanders around. We leave milk out for him, but he runs off if he sees us." Offering a smile, Jade tried to pull Nikolai back so she could look him in the eyes- much to no avail however. "We do have a horse though."
The little herald kept close to Jade, but took the book he'd wanted to show Jade and offered it to her once more. The book was called "Where the Wild Things Are", and the little Herald certainly liked the picture on the cover.
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Posted: Tue Jan 02, 2007 4:47 pm
Guinevere nodded. "I've seen a picture of a horse." she said in the tones of a girl trying to sound knowledgable. "Do you ride yours?" she asked curiously. "Why does it let you?" Guinevre glanced at Nikolai and he was reaching for a book. She peered at the cover. "Oh! I read that one. I liked Max's pyjamas." she said. "But I like "The Velveteen Rabbit" better." she explained. "It's got magic."
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Posted: Tue Jan 02, 2007 7:57 pm
"Horses don't play like cats and dogs, and riding themis how an owner 'plays' with them. But Charlie's got a large blue plastic barrel he likes to kick around his field when it's warm out." She pretended to shiver. "It's far too cold for him to go out in this." Looking to Nikolai's book, Jade smiled and nodded. "All right, we'll get that one for you. And Peter Rabbit too- those are nice stories."
Smiling at that, Nikolai looked to have opened up a little bit more in front of the girl- until Jade kissed his cheek. His white hair couldn't hide the glowing red cheeks of the child, and he burried his head in her shoulder again.
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Posted: Thu Jan 04, 2007 5:32 pm
Guinevere clapped her hands. "Ohhh, Peter Rabbit! I read that one, too." she said. "I liked Peter." She looked aroundsuspiciously, and then whispered to Jade and Nikolai, as if confiding in them a trememndous secret. "I still read books like that sometimes, even though Kotatsu lets me read all these sciencey ones now." She hefted up the cat book. "They're nice. The pictures are a lot better than the ones in all the new books I read." Guinevere looked at Jade kissing Nikolai and vaguely wondered if Aaron had ever acted like Jade did around her. Jade, like Kemuri, nagged at her memory, especially when she was holding Nikolai. Guinevere smiled. "I think you embarrassed him." she said.
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Posted: Thu Jan 04, 2007 10:20 pm
Giggling childishly, Jade smiled and hugged Nikolai to her. "That's the idea dearie. But I should get these checked out and get Nikki his lunch. Would you like to join us?" She offered with a smile. "The story-time is going to begin shortly, and there'll be something to eat." There had been little plastic tables set up in the small children's section around a large rug that had been used for stories ready since earlier that afternoon.
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Posted: Fri Jan 05, 2007 12:19 pm
Guinevere bit her lip. She should stay right here and wait for Kotatsu. But then again, Kotatsu did say that she should always try to make new friends. Faced with a problem, Guinevere deicded it would be boring to wait for Kotatsu to come just to ask if she could, especially when Kotatsu had TOLD her to make new friends anyway. "Sure!" she said. "I'd love to."
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