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Post by NELL DOE DALE on May 28, 2012 18:19:38 GMT -5
Nell put her hands on her legs as she bent down to look at the cat. ”Why hello, hello,” she cooed. ”Or I mean…meow, meow?” She cocked her head to the side. The feline’s white fur blended in with the snow, but his feet were a soft brown color. Was it a he? She lifted up the cat and it let out a mew as she checked. Yep, definitely a he. The brunette held out her new kitty friend at arm’s length. It was a Persian, long hair that must have been very nice insulation in the snow, but judging by the fact that he was very well groomed, she figured it had to belong to someone. However, upon closer inspection underneath the thick layers of fur, she couldn’t find a tag. It was obvious the cat was well-fed—about fifteen pounds well-fed, as a matter of fact, and Nell figured he hadn’t been out too long considering his fur hadn’t been too matted by the snow. It was a little wet, and she figured that he wasn’t all too happy about that. She’d avoided giving any cats baths ever since Josh told her that they weren’t fond of water.
The cat was very well-behaved, too, letting Nell hold her against her chest. The pretty little thing did not utter a sound, simply looked around with his big blue eyes. ”Looks like we’ll need to hunt down your owner…uhm…Snickers. We’ll call you Snickers for now." She made a sound of affirmation in her throat before starting off with determination down the street. It wasn’t too bad a day, especially for winter, even though there was still snow on the ground. It was such a pretty season, and it had gone exceptionally well for her. No relapses into depression, no hibernation. She had been completely okay going out and about, and she was thankful because this time of year has been very busy. Last year, she had been allowed to rest, even though she had work. This year, she needed be completely healthy.
Nell didn’t really know where to begin. She walked around at first, looking for signs on telephone poles, posters for a missing cat. There were none as far as she could tell. Then she knocked on the doors of some of the fancier mansions, but she was usually met with a cold reception, as if someone like her dare approach such a fine house. She’d expected that the area near her home would be the most likely place, considering Persians were usually the fancy snobbish cats. Snickers sure knows how to get lost, she thought, but she wasn’t about to give up. She zipped down her jacket, and pressed the kitty inside when she zipped it back up so they could share body heat. It must have looked rather odd, her walking down the street nonchalantly with a cat’s head sticking out of her chest. The kitty was rather silent, though, so Nell figured that he didn’t mind the position at all. After about a half hour of aimless walking, she figured that she might as well form a game plan. With a sigh, she plopped down on the steps of the library, moisture from the snow seeping into the pants of her jeans. She didn’t mind too much as she opened up her jacket a little bit and scratched the kitty on his head.
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Post by KNOX CAESAR KETILL on Jun 21, 2012 22:37:32 GMT -5
He was taking care of her cat. He wasn’t used to taking care of a cat. He wasn’t sure why he had even agreed to it, though it had probably been because they were such close friends. It was a bad idea, he knew, but it was only for a week, and it wasn’t supposed to be hard. Even if he didn’t know very much about cats. Of course, she had walked him through it before she left. She had showed him how to properly empty the litter box, a task he wasn’t particularly fond of but understood as necessary, and she had showed him how to pick up the cat so he wouldn’t hurt him (or himself) and make sure that the cat was both safe and comfortable. For the first days, it had been perfectly fine. It had even gone well. He’d been a fool to have hopes. The cat didn’t get in the way. It seemed to enjoy snuggling against a particular pillow he had in his room. It apparently preferred not being touched, at least by him. It wasn’t very high maintenance. He didn’t mind having the animal around. It wasn’t worrying.
Until it got out into the snow.
He almost had a panic attack when he didn’t see the cat waiting in his room when he returned from his jog. His heart thundered in his chest, loud in his ears and drowning out everything else for the moments as he browsed his empty room and quickly moved to dig through it. He felt like someone had wrapped his hands around each of his lungs and was squeezing. He couldn’t inhale properly. Breath just kept escaping him, but he couldn’t recall it again. He tried to stop and take a deep breath, but… it just didn’t work. He felt nauseas. She would never forgive him. Never. He would lose the friendship forever. How had the cat even gotten out? He hadn’t let the thing out. The window was shut. Had someone come to clean his room and forgotten about the cat? Had he escaped while Knox had been on his way out for the jog?
Similar thoughts plagued him as he hastily dressed into warmer clothes and left the house, asking neighbors between nervous breaths and through fearful stutters if they’d seen the Persian. He got a few amused glances, some apologetic head-shaking, and a handful of doors that didn’t even open. He kept walking, wondering just how far the cat could have gotten. How long had he been out? When had he escaped? Snow clung to his shoes, started to soak into his socks. He felt like a cat stuck in an unexpected rainstorm, and the mental comparison only tossed more anxiety his way. What if it started snowing? He’d never find the cat in a blizzard. Oh, god, she was going to hate him for forever. What if he never found the cat? She would never speak to him again, even if he got her a new cat. If he did that… He basically slapped himself in the face, hands rubbing against the skin as he tried to figure out what he should do.
And because his hands were in his face, he ran into her. Smack-dab, right into her shoulder. “I-I’m so…. So s-sorry, Miss-Miss,” he stuttered his apology nervously, backing away immediately and unable to meet her gaze. And his own gaze fell to the cat poking its head out of her jacket. His jaw dropped. Surprise eliminated his stutter as he breathed out his amazement: “You found him.”
[/color] Whoever the girl was, she had saved his friendship. He owed her immensely. That was definitely the cat he’d been looking for. Dear lord, how could he repay her for saving him? His mind blanked, and his anxiety returned as he offered his hand awkwardly, blushing at his lack of polite behavior, and added half-heartedly, “Ha-Hi.”[/justify][/size][/blockquote][/blockquote]
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Post by NELL DOE DALE on Jun 22, 2012 13:24:24 GMT -5
Nell wondered if she could freeze to death by just sitting here. She didn't feel too cold, but that may have been the numbness and the onset of pneumonia. Wouldn't that be pleasant? The kitty kept her chest warm, and it would have been an inopportune time to learn that she had an allergy to cats. It would have been rather strange, too, since she already had a houseful of them. It was rather disappointing to learn she had an allergy to food, her favorite thing in the world. She tried not to mourn over the loss of a certain type of food that made her almost die. Speaking of almost dying, she wriggled her toes to make sure that was not about to happen to her right now, reassured by the fact that she could still mostly feel them. They must have been pink by now, but she didn't want to take off her shoes to find out. Half-tempted to go inside, she remembered that she had a cat with her and they were probably not allowed inside, even though she didn't know the rules. Better safe than sorry, a mantra she should live by more often.
She'd gotten up to work the feeling back into her body, holding the cat still zipped up in her jacket, when she was pushed back and stumbled slightly. Her main concern was the cat which she gripped tighter in her jacket, before looking to see who it was who had bumped into her. "Sorry," she apologized out of reflex even though it hadn't been her fault. He then stuttered out his own apology, looking at anything but her eyes, and she studied him. He was taller than her, but that went without saying, and by his posture he didn't seem to be the extroverted, social type. "It's all right," she said softly, shifting on her feet. That had definitely gotten the feeling back into her legs. Her entire body, as a matter of fact. She was lucky she hadn't fallen into a snowdrift. That would have just been marvelous. She couldn't say that hadn't happened before, and that had ended up with a small child jumping on her back like she was a trampoline.
At his words, she furrowed her eyebrows before looking down at the cat snuggled up in her jacket. "You mean him?" she asked, looking down and obviously indicating the furry little creature. She looked back up with inquiring brown eyes. "Is he yours?" It was a relief to finally find the owner of the cat. She knew that she would have taken him in if she couldn't find the owner, and she was sure Josh would have no problem with it, considering all the cats they already had in the house. And if it meant saving the furry little thing from the cold outdoors, she'd be glad to do it. Looked like that wouldn't have to happen though. She wore a crooked little smile when he greeted her, a pleasantry so out of place it was comical. "Hey," she chirped, standing up on her toes for a moment. "I'm Nell. I just found this little guy roaming around, didn't want to leave him in the snow." She hoped he knew that she wasn't going to steal the poor cat or anything like that. She wasn't a catnapper.
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Post by KNOX CAESAR KETILL on Jun 23, 2012 2:23:35 GMT -5
He felt terrible when she returned the apology, mostly because it was his fault. He was the one who had run into her, after all, because he hadn’t been watching where he was going. She had done nothing wrong. She’d done everything right. It was incredibly sweet of her that she had picked up the cat in the first place, and she seemed to have been looking for the owner, neither of which most people would have done in this cold. Most people would not have noticed the cat, too hurried to reach some manner of warmth to look down or about. That she had was wonderful. Of course, it was completely coincidence that she had found the cat, and even more that the had found her after she had found the cat. It was almost a miracle, but it made him incredibly happy. She had saved his friendship. He needed to find some way to thank her.
Of course, that would make him a bit uncomfortable simply because he needed to open his mouth. He reached up to pull his scarf down a little more so his speech wouldn’t be even more garbled than his stutter usually caused. The icy air reached cold fingers down his neck, making him shiver a bit. Maybe he shouldn’t have touched the scarf? To make up for it, he reached up again, pulling it a bit tighter to a point that was bordering on uncomfortable but kept the cold out all the same. Better. And he could still talk, as he had to. He needed to answer her question. Questions deserved answers. It was a little rude to leave asked questions unanswered, especially if you left them unacknowledged. He cleared his throat, trying to even out his voice so it wouldn’t squeak or something because he was nervous. It had nothing to do with age. He’d gone through puberty on time just like everybody else, which was when his little secret had come into existence.
A secret he’d keep hidden from not only strangers, like this girl who’d saved his friendship, but also the friends he made so far, as much as he could. He was afraid of those friendships growing awkward as a result, seeing as several of his friends were male.
“Ah, uhm, ye-yeah,” he managed finally, feeling heat in hsi cheeks that had nothing to do with the atmosphere, considering how cold it was. Nor could he attribute it to his clothing. “Well-well, no, n-not really. It’s, uhm, a friend’s… I-I’m taking care of it f-for-for her.”
[/color] Why was it so hard for him to put words together? There was nothing wrong with his voice. He just… couldn’t talk. He didn’t know why it was so hard for him either. Had he always stuttered? Maybe. Maybe not. But he did nowadays and had a for a while. He had no intention of starting speech therapy. He didn’t want to waste someone’s time with a hopeless cause. And he could normally talk just fine with his friend or his parents. It was ridiculous either way. He retracted his hand, clearing his throat again, though this time was more out nervousness than anything else. She made him nervous. There was technically nothing about her that should make him nervous, but she still managed it. She was shorter and smaller than he—there was nothing physically intimidating. And she hadn’t exploded in his face, so it was unlikely she was one of the elements that the alliances would want him to confront. He cleared his throat again, something seemed to lodge in it, and he ended up coughing quickly into his fist to dislodge it. When he was finished, he looked shyly at her again, smiling weakly. “I’m… uhm, I’m Knox. Th-thanks. For-for finding him, I mean… She, uh, she would have b-been very… upset…”[/color] His voice trailed off at the end. He didn’t really have to explain himself, did he? “I’d, uhm, re-really like to th-thank you… and, uhm…”[/color] He stopped, not sure what else to say. Despite the pause, his mind worked quickly, and he continued, his voice weak and unnerved, almost as if he expected a rejection, “Would you—would you maybe like some-some coffee or so-something? You, uhm… you just…”[/color] He looked down at his feet, embarrassed by what he was trying to say, not tring to imply that he was flirting or staring at her or anything like that. “Look cold,”[/color] he finished finally, lamely. He really hoped she wouldn’t take it the wrong way or something. Especially considering the wrong way didn’t apply to him, but for her to know that, she’d have to know his secret, and she was pretty damn sure that it was impossible for him to know unless a friend had blabbed or she could read minds or something. God, he was horrible at conversation.[/justify][/size][/blockquote][/blockquote]
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Post by NELL DOE DALE on Jun 23, 2012 21:25:45 GMT -5
Nell watched curiously as the guy fussed with his scarf, still rather numb from sitting around in the snow. She didn't voice this aloud, simply kept moving her toes in the boots she was wearing. When he opening his mouth, a smile fluttered to her lips but she immediately worked on veiling it. Doing such a thing was impolite, but it reminded her of Poppy, the stutter with which he spoke. It was adorably endearing. She knew it may frustrate other people, but she was completely content with any speech impediments those around her might have. She herself was a social butterfly, she liked talking to people. No, didn't just like, she practically lived for it. She enjoyed people's company so much she feared for a day when she might be completely alone. That's why when she was left alone she had to call somebody up. No one knew how dependent she was because she never actually said she needed people.
She moved to unzip the cat, holding him in the crook of her arm. Breath left her mouth in a cloud. "Oh, wow, lucky I found him, huh," she said. Nell believed it was one of the greatest coincidences to ever happen, him happening upon her with the cat he'd apparently been watching for a friend. She held the critter out to him, his legs dangling and him looking rather grouchy. Though that how all Persians looked, so it wasn't saying much. "How'd he get out?" she questioned. Guess your name's not Snickers. She wondered what his real name was, then, but didn't know whether or not it was the polite thing to ask. Besides, he seemed incredibly shy as is and she didn't know how well he even responded to questions.
His name was an interesting one, it was the first thing to come to mind when he spoke with that stutter again, making her stomach flutter pleasantly. Cute people turned her into a goopy, messy puddle, she just couldn't help it. The smile was permanently transfixed to her face at this point. "I should think so, Knox," she told him when he said that his friend would have been mad at him had he lost the poor thing forever in Maple Hollow. He wouldn't have to worry about the cat, however, because he'd be living it up in the Dale mansion. "But now she won't ever have to know, huh?" She was an honest person, but one thing she was big on was lying to protect other people. That's why a lot of her friends still didn't know she had been a fugitive or that she'd killed her mother. It was not something she should tell people.
The pause barely gave her enough room to go on a ramble about how it was no problem, and she'd just picked him up when she probably shouldn't have. Cute people also made her ramble, a known fact. Usually the cute ones were people younger than her, but she did not know how old Knox was. She'd never seen him before, so did not assume he was an elemental or anything that may know who she was. The Hollow was full of regular old citizens just living their lives, unaware that the Academy in the mountains was for people who were gifted with talents other than in the arts. No, it was much bigger and much more mysterious than that. The Earth graduate felt pride in being part of that kind of community.
If she was any other girl, she may have taken this as flirting, even though there was a ring on her finger that labeled her as taken. But this was Nell, oblivious to even the most casual sexual advances. She usually believed that flirting was just people being friendly. It was amazing that she hadn't been taken advantage of in that way before. "Yeah, freezing, been out here a while," she said, her voice breathy. But she didn't sound annoyed or frustrated, was still smiling as a matter of fact. "I'd love some coffee! Should get that little guy home first, though." She turned her smile on the feline. He was lucky with all that fur he had, insulation against the terrible Canadian weather. She figured that New York must have been experiencing the same thing, as cold as it got there. Sometimes she missed that place for some odd reason. She couldn't place her finger on why.
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Post by KNOX CAESAR KETILL on Jun 24, 2012 23:33:47 GMT -5
When people talked a lot, Knox found himself feeling one of two ways. First, he felt like he should speak just as much as they did, or try to match the number of words they chose to share with him. It was a difficult task and usually had him even more nervous, his stuttering doubling in degree if he did attempt it. Once the desire passed, however, he was relieved to think that it was okay with the talkative person if he was quiet, because it let both stick to their nature and their preferences. It was easier for him, too. Relaxing, almost, he supposed, because he enjoyed listening to other people talk. It didn’t require as many words from his, words his tongue and teeth mangled with his stutter and sometimes made impossible to understand. He was a poor judge on that, however, and usually relief on complaints from people with whom he did talk to tell him if they could understand him or not.
She seemed to be able to understand him well enough to give a good response, which was good for him, too, because he wouldn’t need to repeat himself. She was right, too, that he was lucky. The cat was lucky, too, that she had found him. The cat would have frozen to death in the winter chill otherwise, and that was even worse than simply losing him. Of course, the loss would have prevented him from being sure whether the cat was dead or not, but he’d probably lean towards that, and it was… unnerving. He didn’t dare imagine how he would tell her. He didn’t want to imagine her reaction. It would be bad. That was enough to have him wishing it hadn’t happened.
He also wished he had some sort of explanation for the cat’s escape. He accepted the cat from her a bit gingerly, unsure how he should keep the animal warm. Maybe imitate what she had done? Zip the cat into his jacket? He glanced down at the critter, meeting its gaze and the noticing the expression on its face was the same one it always was. At least he didn’t seem particularly upset with Knox. He hadn’t tried to scratch or bite his human captor yet, so he was obviously not extremely uncomfortable or in pain. That much was good. Good. And it was good that the had the cat back. He stroked its head with the hand less likely to drop the cat and it pressed against his palm, purring softly. No, it definitely wasn’t upset. Who knew? Maybe the feline had enjoyed its little adventure, even though it looked ready to be on its way home now.
“I… I d-don’t actually know-know.”
[/color] He was still staring at the cat, not meeting her eyes for fear her smile would disappear and she would berate him. He didn’t like being yelled at, whether the person doing the yelling was someone he knew or a stranger. He was also mortified than he had to admit his little problem. He needed to double-check his room to make sure the cat didn’t get out, maybe talk to his parents’ paid… help, to see if they knew anything, and if not, to warn them to be careful if someone went in his room again. “I g-guess she does-doesn’t, but…”[/color] If she asked, he’d tell her. He’d apologize and explain and understand if she got mad, but he wouldn’t be able to lie about it. Nor did he know how to finish the sentence. So he kept his mouth shut. It was the easy thing to do anyway. He adjusted the cat so he was holding it in one arm and unwrapped his scarf. It was wide enough that he could wrap it around the animal without thinking it would be excessively uncomfortable, then did so while maintaining a careful hold on the feline. The chill around his neck was worth keeping the animal safe. He didn’t want it to get sick. Then she’d get even madder at him. He cradled the cat in both hands again, keeping it close to his chest so they could be careful of sharing the warmth. Knox looked back up when she answered his question, and immediately felt bad that the cat had gotten out, though this time for her sake. He hadn’t wanted anyone to freeze his or her butt off just trying to help out with the feline. That she was sweet of her. That she hadn’t thought something was wrong with his asking her for coffee. He nodded quickly, agreeing with her They probably had better coffee at his house than some coffee place anyway, and he wouldn’t have to get her cold again he generally avoided driving when he could, and it seemed pointless to order a cab just to go to the coffee place. “Ye-yeah… g-good idea. M-my house is th-this way-way.”[/color] He pointed in the right direction, intending for her to come with him, and because it was behind him, he waited for her to move before he started walking alongside her, not sure what else to say to her. [/justify][/size][/blockquote][/blockquote]
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Post by NELL DOE DALE on Jun 26, 2012 22:02:21 GMT -5
Knox took the cat from her as if he didn't know what kind of animal it was or what he should be doing with it. Maybe she should have offered to hold onto him, but it wouldn't feel right since it actually didn't belong to either of them, but had been entrusted to the boy. She would feel like a catnapper and keeping the little cutie in her jacket, no matter how warm it had been keeping her. Now she'd have to deal with the winter air filtering in through the gap created by the cat's absence. He just petted him, and she continued to smile, not out of politeness, but because she usually smiled. It was just what she did and it was her favorite.
She canted her head, stray hairs from her up-do ghosting along her shoulders as she did so. Animated as she was, even her hair had a personality of its own. "Oh, mystery," she noted. How does someone lose a cat without knowing how it happened? It never happened with hers, though she would be very worried should that ever happen. There was no real reason to let her cats outside (even though admittedly, she did take them out back with her from time to time) because they had a huge mansion to roam around in. She was certain they were content with that. "Honesty is the best policy?" she asked, lifting an eyebrow and wondering if that's what his belief in this situation was. She liked honesty, even though she did not have the beset track record in that department.
In situations like this, she wondered what people were thinking. If she were more paranoid, she would be thinking that the reason he behaved so nervously was because he knew he was speaking to a murderer and not because of a social anxiety. Nell decided to give people the benefit of the doubt and assume they did not know her history. Still, it frightened her always. There was nothing she could do to take back all that had gotten out, no matter how much she wished there was some way to do that. She tried not focus on it, but her mind went there when meeting new people. What would they think if she came right out and told them, "Hey, I'm a murderer, still wanna talk to me?" Like that would ever happen.
She giggled when he wrapped the scarf around the cat, finding it the cutest thing she'd ever seen. It made her giddy with happiness, almost distractedly so. She loved cute things, cats included, and she found a lot of things cute. Things that shouldn't be considered cute, as well, like spiders. She had quite a soft spot for them. Nell followed the direction of his finger and nodded before beginning to walk. "Are you still in school?" she asked him. For one, to talk to him, and for another, she wanted to put a finger on his age. She couldn't figure it out just by looking at him or talking to him, so it was a mystery to her as of right now. She didn't even know if he would answer, but most people complied with small talk. Except Josh when she'd first met him. That boy just had not talked.
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Post by KNOX CAESAR KETILL on Jul 9, 2012 6:58:27 GMT -5
He agreed with what she said, and nodded to let her know. He wasn’t sure what more he could say on the subject. He wouldn’t know how to broach it unless she asked, but when she did, he could do little but tell her the truth. She would need to hear it. “If… if she a-asked… I… I-I would t-tell her,”
[/color] he added hesitantly, nodding, though this was more to himself than to the girl in front of him. How likely was it they would see each other again? How likely was it that his friend would ask him to baby sit the cat again? Considering what had happened, he doubted she would ever trust him to care for the animal again. He was mortified at the thought that he had broken her trust, even if she didn’t know yet. She’d probably find out, and then… then he’d have to explain, and admit that he wasn’t able to. Knox was insanely embarrassed that he didn’t even know how the cat had escaped. He felt terrible. He’d never been one for mysteries, either, so he wasn’t sure how to go about cat-proofing his room so the little critter wouldn’t escape again, and maybe not come back again for good. She’d slaughter him if that happened. Well, she would necessarily do that, but it would put their friendship in jeopardy. He glanced at the other girl, wondering how she would have reacted if her best friend had told her the cat was simply gone from his house. He shuddered to think how any person who loved their cat would react. He’d probably end up sticking the critter into its carrier while he searched his room for a hole in the wall he hadn’t noticed ever before, and then went about filling in said hole. Ridiculous, but possibly necessary. Maybe this girl could help him? She’d had enough time to go looking for the cat’s owner, and she seemed to know a thing or two about cats—more than he did anyway, which wasn’t a lot to be honest—so maybe she could help him out a little. How to ask though? He didn’t feel too wonderful about approaching her about it, especially since she was basically a complete stranger. Strangers were not his favorite people solely because they made him nervous. He didn’t know how they would treat him or how he should treat them, except that he was polite and civil as he was to anyone. He took a deep breath, biting his lip, walking with her as his mind jumbled through the possible things he could say but probably end up not actually spitting out. It wasn’t a pleasant thought to lose the cat, but was it comparable to the anxiety the mere thought of asking for help happened to be causing? The former was worse by a tenfold, but the latter… he’d feel guilty for asking because she probably had her own life to live, and he already needed to pay her back for finding the cat in the first place. She deserved thanks, not more requests from his end. That was like saying your parents should do your homework for you. It just wasn’t done. A lot of things were just like that. They were generally not even considered. Most people didn’t consider committing crimes, though some did those things anyway. Why did people commit crimes? Was it worth it? He didn’t think so. It was an extreme risk. Very few people were able to not leave evidence behind. This meant that it was likely for them to get caught and sent to prison or jail, depending on the severity for their offense. Maybe they’d be sent to community service or be put on parole, or whatever it was called. Either way, wouldn’t it be more a waste of time than not committing the crime in the first place? That was a bit ridiculous. You could find a job and earn the money that you could get from the crime in less time than you’d be locked up, if money was the goal. If your goal was something else, and the crime just as grotesque, it was generally a better idea to see someone professional for help. Of course, some people wouldn’t be too happy about attending therapy sessions, or even be willing to look for help in the first place. Although he was incredibly shy about it, he could ask for help. And he’d managed to talk himself into asking for a simple task like this by comparing it to murder and rape in his head. Maybe he was the one who needed help. He shook his head to himself, then glance up at her question. “Ye-yeah… C-College… you?”[/color] he wasn’t sure if he should mention to her about the academy or not, considering he wasn’t sure if she was an elemental or not. He wasn’t sure if she should have admitted the fact that he was from college solely because there wasn’t a university particularly close to the town, so the fact that he was going to one here meant that either he was part of the really secretive school that most mortals didn’t know about or was taking online classes. Would she question him more? Maybe not. Maybe she would. What would he say if she was? He took a deep breath. “Or… or d-do you w-work?”[/justify][/size][/blockquote][/blockquote]
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Post by NELL DOE DALE on Jul 13, 2012 3:45:15 GMT -5
Quite the opposite of Knox, Nell was comfortable and eager in every social situation. She just loved people, interacting with them, hearing about things in their lives. It didn't matter whether or not they were strangers or friends or whoever, she wanted to know more. And maybe that kind of eagerness might have been frightening to certain people like Knox, but she couldn't help it. After so long living as a hermit with her mother, she had the world at her fingertips. Even with everything going bad around her, she appreciated every day that she had. Her life was amazing to her sometimes, because she had a fiance and a mansion and a job and how had she come so far in two years? For everything that was wrong, so many things had gone right. She truly had a family, not the relatives who hated her but people who would stick around with her, who loved her. Because of that, she felt as if she could handle anything. Her aunt and her brother and her father—those people did not matter in the face of such a thing.
She turned her ever-present smile to Knox when he answered her question, and found out that he was college aged, as well. So he was pretty close to her in age, she supposed, which she found pretty interesting. ”I'm in college and work,” she said, still finding it adorable that he had what she believed was a social phobia. Or a tic. Or something, really, she had never really questioned it with Poppy. The girl was pretty much shy. She wanted to introduce these two, they could have awkwardly adorable conversations. ”I go to the Academy in the mountains.” It was just a 'gifted' school to people who heard of it, but elementals knew what it really was. ”And I work at the concert hall in town. A supervisor of sorts.” That she wasn't as enthusiastic about, simply because of Jane. The girl wouldn't mind it half as much if it weren't for the woman's presence, her making life hell. Especially since she and Josh found that man in her trunk, that had been quite the distressing experience. Now she would always be paranoid about Jane's next move, what she would be planning to do, just how far she would go.
As time passed and they drew closer, she asked casually, ”Which house is it?” She had once lived in the area, after moving on up from her crappy apartment when working at Blackjack. Now she had moved to the tippy top, with a mansion that she had finally come to consider as home. It was where Josh lived, and she had decided long ago that Josh would be home. That's all she needed, it just took time for the discomfort of such a new place to settle. She remembered how she had freaked her fiance out when she told him that she hadn't had good memories of living in someone else's home, and regretted her reluctance to move in with him at first. It didn't matter now that she was living with him.
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Post by KNOX CAESAR KETILL on Jul 19, 2012 20:19:22 GMT -5
It was sometimes amazing to him how very few words could say so much about a person. It was amazing how they could be so precisely chosen and how the choice itself could reveal so much. It amazed him, and by no means in a bad manner. It was why he loved language, studying it, working with it, understanding it. Part of him wanted to learn more languages, just so he could have more words to use. Some languages had words that had no meaning in other languages, because language was built around culture. If an idea didn’t exist in a culture, that culture had no word for it. English, he felt, was lucky as such, because it stole from so many other languages that it had words for almost everything, even if that meant using the native one. America could be quite useful in that sense, because it was such a melting pot of everything there was in the world. Well, the US was, at least. He wasn’t sure where Canada stood on the totem pole.
But he was sure exactly of what she spoke when she mentioned attending the academy. Of course, she could still be a normal person, wanting to know about the secrets of the school and trying to trick him into revealing them. He had to be careful. He wasn’t exactly paranoid, but he understood that it would be dangerous if normal people found out what was going on out there in the mountains. If they found out how different the people were, there would surely be persecution. There was always persecution when a group was different and discovered as such. He didn’t want himself or his friends or his family to be persecuted for their powers, especially because that was the only way they were different from other people. They were simply able to do a little more than the normal human population. It was like saying Stephen Hawking should be persecuted for being a physics genius. It just wasn’t right. “What’s your gift?”
[/color] he murmured, wishing she’d understand (if she really was a student) that he was asking for her element. He really hoped she wasn’t a fire or a thunder. She seemed too nice to be one, at least. And if she was a fire or a thunder… he wouldn’t lie if she asked about his element, but he knew the alliances would probably demand they not get along if she was on the other side. The wind elementals had it easy in that case, he supposed. They weren’t nearly as influenced by the alliance as the other four elements. If a water and a fire were friends, they were labeled traitors. If a wing and a fire were friends, there was nothing wrong with the relationship. It was a bit unfair, but he also understood it on some odd level. The earth elementals and the waters (though the latter group seemed to enjoy pranking in sometimes cruel ways) were generally much nicer than the fires and the thunders. Those had terrible tempers, from what he’d experienced, and he’d met rare cases in which the opposing sides of the alliances actually got along. Had he met any? He kept too himself too much to make this likely, and he wasn’t sure people would be open about it anyway. They had wandered into the area of the town where the large houses, to provide an understatement, were. The ones with pools rarely used in summer except for tanning wives thirty years younger than their husbands (his own mother was an exception in more ways than one) and expensive cars that were hidden in garages or on the driveways more often than not. The houses with appointed staff who worked there so the family itself didn’t have to clean or garden. Part of him felt bashful for showing her where he lived, because he knew he had more than most did, considering his parents were in that top percent that had so much more money than the other 99. But at the same time, maybe he could offer her something really high-quality to which she wasn’t accustomed. Or maybe she’d be just as embarrassed in the home he refused to call a mansion simply because it sounded pretentious. Well, no. “Manor” sounded pretentious and wasn’t accurate anyway. He was just a little embarrassed to say mansion when he was talking about his home. “That one,” he murmured after a moment, pointing to a white building with a huge though neat front lawn. The building itself made it pretty obvious why he didn’t have to have a job. He could get one, of course, but he didn’t need to yet and he was a little relieved for that. It meant fewer people with whom he needed to interact.[/justify][/size][/blockquote][/blockquote] OOC ;; Knox and Josh are neighbors
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Post by NELL DOE DALE on Jul 21, 2012 12:01:19 GMT -5
Nell blinked at the question, but then grinned. So he was one of them. That sounded kind of creepy, though, like the Academy was a front for a cult. Maybe people thought that way for how secretive they were about what made a student "gifted". She wondered if they ever got letters from parents, bribes from them, wishing that they could send their children to the exclusive school whose acceptance process was as obscure as the name. The girl could imagine herself talking to a parent about her "gifted" child, and having them say that they'd been trying to get them into the gifted school for years. It was an odd thought to have since Nell wasn't planning on having children, but it was one of those hypothetical conjectures that she entertained in her head for a little while.
She brushed a hair away from her face as it dipped into her mouth. "Earth," she told him, her tone a little quieter even though they were relatively alone. There was no one close enough to take interest in their conversation. "I'm a sophomore." She wondered what grade he was in, wondered a lot of things about Mr. Knox. What was his favorite color? Did he like badminton? Had he ever tried to ice skate, because she was still working on that and it would be nice to have some help on that front. It would be really nice, as a matter of fact, considering she already knew how to roller skate. It took long enough, but now she had the possibility to learn it she took it. And she also wondered about Knox's past, but she knew she shouldn't with how she was about hers.
The area was very familiar to her, so she was a little shocked when he pointed to a nicely cut lawn and a white house and all the fancy-pancy trimmings that came with a mansion. Even though she'd been living her for close to a year now, she still couldn't get over how amazing these houses were. The area was a constant cause of wonder for her, as well. She was used to downtown, more than that she was used to the projects and the graffiti and the fences and row houses where she had grown up. This had never been an option for her as a child. She was born into poverty, and like many she thought she'd stay in poverty. It was a realization that only occurred to her as she grew up and became aware of her poor conditions (that could not be blamed on her mother).
She giggled as if his house was funny, but it was the location that had the reaction. Nell pointed her finger down a little further and said, "Really, because mine is down there. Howdy, neighbor." Small world, she guessed. Usually the way she experienced it made her dislike how small the world was, but this was a welcome coincidence. "It's funny I haven't met you before, I like to get to know the neighbors. Though it's kind of hard here, with the houses all being so far apart." Her aunt and her father lived in the area, and she was glad that they were far away from her. But she kind of missed having neighbors on all sides of her, above and below. She did not miss the sounds of raucous love-making or intense fighting.
Nell began walking up to the door, taking in everything, completely confident and sure even though on the inside she would never believe that she was worthy of such a place. She was just a humble girl in an old coat and old jeans and she'd never had much to her name at all. "Are your parents home?" she questioned, figuring he lived with his parents. If not, she wanted to know how he came into possession of this place because then he would have to be Richy Rich, and she'd be in even more admiration. It didn't take much to have her slack-jawed, but it was still a compliment for him.
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Post by KNOX CAESAR KETILL on Jul 29, 2012 23:37:21 GMT -5
While the Academy was an incredibly private institution that did not allow any but the most “privileged” into its walls, it was by no means a cult, for which Knxo was glad. He hoped never to attend a school in which some religious belief dominated everything. He was fine with the bit of choice that provoked the Academy to so carefully choose its students. He didn’t think it would have been a good idea for humans to be allowed in, even if they proved trustworthy. He imagined humans as being the sort who would immediately be picked on by the elementals, and they had far less chance at fighting back to any respectable degree. Deaths and injuries would rise drastically. It was just a bad idea. Besides, how did a human go home and explain his or her injuries properly without explaining what went on within the walls themselves? They would end up explaining the existence of elementals, and that would be the end. The Salem Witch Trials would be repeated on a massive scale, and just the idea was frightening. Persecution on any scale would suck. Discovery and persecution would probably lead to war, and war killed too many innocents anyway.
Generally, he kept it to himself that he attended to the Academy. He didn’t boast about it to the humans he met, the ones his parents introduced him to, in part because he didn’t really boast about anything. He kept almost everything to himself, simply because he knew when his opinions and thoughts were somebody else’s business and when they weren’t. He knew when it was okay to insert them into conversation, though he rarely had to wonder much about restraint because he just didn’t share as a rule. The determined could get an amazing amount of information out even the smallest details. Of course, the paranoia grew from a general mistrust of people. He had already shared more with her than he generally shared with any stranger he met, even when those strangers were students at the Academy.
Which she attended. For real. How else would she have known that he was asking for an element and actually provide it? He was even gladder to hear that she was not only of the same element he was in, but also relatively close to him in age. They couldn’t be that far apart if she was only a year ahead of him, right? It made him smile a little, which he hid out of shyness by titling his head down to do so at the cat, stroking its head where it poked free from the restraining scarf he’d wrapped around it. “M-Me, too… b-but a fresh-freshman.”
[/color] There was no harm in sharing, was there? That much, at least. She seemed perfectly nice, after all, and she had provided the same information. It eased his nerves even more when she pointed out they were neighbors, though it also confused him. He knew the family who lived in that house. They weren’t earth elementals. They were on the other side of the alliances, in fact—unless they’d moved out and he just hadn’t noticed the change of residents. He wasn’t so immensely observant that he didn’t believe that to be a possibility. He nodded to her, acknowledging her comments about the space between the houses. Unlike her, he wasn’t one for going around to meet the neighbors. The distances had made that easier than it would have been in an apartment building where you could hear half the conversations from the next unit over. This way, everyone had their privacy, and Knox was one of those people who most certainly appreciated his privacy. He was just wondering what would happen the day he moved out of his parents’ home. He didn’t want to end up in one of the aforementioned apartment buildings. He would never be comfortable in that kind of space, though he’d be fine having small living quarters. He didn’t use the majority of the house anyway. He wasn’t sure why his parents had bought it. He didn’t share the several bedrooms with any siblings. They didn’t use the second living room except when they threw the occasional party—or “business dinner” as everyone else called it. To him, they were just parties. Because he didn’t like parties and therefore avoided attending them, he spent even less time with his parents. They were almost always busy at work, so as he let her into the building, grateful or the rush of warmth, he shook his head in response to her question. “They… rarely are. M-Mostly th-they... just wo-work.” He didn’t mind it so much. He liked being around them, but he didn’t crave attention or anything like that. One of the good things about being shy, he supposed. He slid the cat into one arm, and offered his hand. “Sh-shall I t-take your-your c-coat?”[/color] he asked, blushing again and feeling like the butler his dad liked to have around. It wasn’t bad necessarily, so he didn’t know why he was blushing, but he also felt a bit awkward holding the cat the way he did. It wasn’t the house that was embarrassing, except perhaps in size, as it was always completely clean. There was never anyone around to make a mess.[/justify][/size][/blockquote][/blockquote] OOC ;; It was randomly decided in the cbox after I posted >>;;
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Post by NELL DOE DALE on Aug 2, 2012 3:08:53 GMT -5
Nell's eyes glittered when he shared that he attended the Academy, too. It was like a secret between them, how superheroes must feel when they see each other without the masks, little kids on the playground whispering in each other's ears. Or maybe wizards when they're around muggles. A whole new world was open between them, and she felt that flutter of belonging in this world. It wasn't something she often acknowledged, even to herself, but she yearned to belong. She was basically an animal who grew up in a zoo, only seeing the world from behind bars. But now she had been released into the wild, and she tried to fit in with others of her species. The human race. And she wasn't very good at it, and she didn't do everything right, but she felt good when she could talk to other elementals.
Her smile was small, however, as if it was a secret expression too. "Small world," she murmured, though Maple Hollow had originally been an exclusively elemental settlement. "It's always weird to see someone who goes to the Academy. Like we're secret agents or something." Maybe it was just her weird way of thinking. She often deemed to okay to speak of the Academy to others, because everyone simply assumed that she went there because she was exceptional in some area. If asked what she excelled at, she had to stop and think because she really did not excel at anything. But she would tell them it was English, because that's the best she could give. The written word, literature, any form of communication.
Nell stepped into the great home and looked around, appreciating the vastness of space. Preferring the outdoors because of the open space (and when she could find it, nature) she liked not feeling suffocated by the walls. She untied the sash around her jacket when she asked, "What do your parents do?" She no longer felt fear of prying questions, because she now understood through interaction that it was a common question to ask. And if he returned the question, she could respond easily enough with her father's job, maybe even add with a note of pride that he was quite famous thanks to something with bone cancer. She had the news article, but couldn't remember exactly what about it he'd done.
She turned to him and smiled brightly. "Oh thanks." Shrugging off her jacket she held it out to him, something she had grown accustomed to, now that she could walk among the wealthy. But she wasn't used to privilege. When her aunt had compared her to Nell, she noted that the major difference was class. Nell didn't have it. Her knowledge was limited to crossing her legs when wearing a dress and which forks she should eat salad with. She knew nothing about how women like Jane behaved, and sometimes it made her wonder if that made her a liability to Josh. Maybe he should be marrying someone who grew up in country clubs instead of someone who arrived with too much baggage. She titled her head and said, "Let me take him..." Nell lifted up the cat and set him down on the floor.
She took off her shoes as well, a habit she got from living in her own house, and held them in her hands. "It's even prettier on the inside." Every house was different, and she didn't choose favorites, but she really liked her father's mansion. It was full of gold and he had his lion statues, which she liked to tease him about. Jane's was nice, too, but Nell knew that the woman missed her estate in the Upper East Side, a four story mansion with Greek architecture. "Have you lived her long?" Most of the wealthy people in the area have lived in the Hollow for a long while. They also tended to be the strongest elemental clans. It was astounding that she had her own family come from Spain and Italy, digging their roots into American soil.
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Post by KNOX CAESAR KETILL on Aug 13, 2012 3:39:25 GMT -5
Everything in the universe was relative. “Small” was just as relative a term as “big” or “painful.” Pain was relative. While there was a certain amount of points assigned to pain and one person might be experiencing more of those points than another, both people could be experiencing the same amount of pain because they had different tolerances for it. The world was technically only a single size. Whether it was “big” or “small” seemed to depend entirely on the people on it and their current circumstances when the descriptive word was applied. When you were trying to give the Earth’s circumference in inches, the world certainly sounded very big. But when you considered that two strangers could meet on a random street in a town that wasn’t necessarily small or large when compared to others, it apparently meant you lived in a small world. The difference baffled Knox, though likely because he was so interested in language and how it was used. He wanted to learn about language because language was a beautiful thing. He loved it, the tiny little secrets and caches and crevices, the endless words, which could mean the same thing or sound similar even though they varied so widely in spelling and pronunciation and meaning. Language was a part of human interaction. Without some form of language—body language certainly counted—it was like being completely isolated. There was no way to communicate with anyone else without language.
Even if he butchered it when he used it vocally. She hadn’t yet said anything about it, which was a relief. Maybe he could make up a code or something that would consist only of stuttering. Of course, he’d probably end up screwing up the stuttering when he actually tried to do it, but there was also the option that in some weird way, actually thinking about stuttering would hep him to stop stuttering. Was that possible? He could only hope so. But then, he had no particular interest in actually writing a code. He shrugged it off quickly, accepting her coat and putting it on one of the hangers in the coat closet that branched off right next to the front door. The little actions made him feel as though she would be around for a little while, to which he had no objection—especially since she lived right next door. If she had lived downtown somewhere, he would have wanted to see her off before it got dark, simply because going long distances in the dark was begging for getting in some sort of trouble (even if one was taking a cab to one’s front stoop, as he would have insisted she do). Though the houses were a fair distance apart, he had no qualms about walking her over to her house when she wished to go back over there. It was incredibly convenient.
“Th-they’re law-law-lawyers.” The word finally forced its way past his lips. Truthfully, the money didn’t all come from them. It was old money, family money, that had started with or perhaps even before his grandfather’s generation. He had never asked his grandfather. The man made him nervous and he was glad that he generally wasn’t around. Even when his parents threw some sort of party, his grandfather remained absent, and it was not a source of complaint for the boy. He wasn’t even sure what so unnerved him about his grandfather, only that there was stern stiffness about him that made him unapproachable in the best of times and endlessly failed to endear him to his one and only grandchild. He was pretty sure it was mostly at his grandfather’s insistence that his parents had found someone suitable to marry, but, nonetheless, the secret relating to that was one he would keep even from them. He was scared of ever telling them. He wasn’t sure how accepting they would be of it, if they would try to change him or understand him or insist he marry her despite the lack of romantic love. Where was his mind going anyway? It was completely off-topic. He cleared his throat. “Wh-what about yo-your parents?”
[/color] He glanced at her, not daring to meet her eyes. It was an innocent question—as far as he knew. He let her take the cat because he wasn’t sure what else to do about it, hoping only that all the doors and windows were close as he watched the furry body hit the floor and prowl about, staying in sight for the most part until it ducked behind the kitchen island. He bit his lip. Take care of the guest or chase the cat? Take care of the guest. The cat wouldn’t get out again. Hopefully. Besides, it was too cold outside to tempt the animal, right? He could only hope logic applied to the animal kingdom. His gaze flickered to her as she bent to pick up her shoes, and he blinked in mild confusion. He glanced down at his own shoes. They were probably wet from the snow outside, and he knew his mother and the maid wouldn’t appreciate clearing out the tracks. He pulled his shoes off, then placed them against the wall next to the hall closet and held out his hands for her shoes as well. “Here,” he offered; when she handed him the shoes, he intended to place them beside his own and stand. A smile tipped his lips upward at the compliment. He knew his mother would have loved to hear that, but she wasn’t around at the moment, and he’d just have to tell her that later. Even the memory would make her happy, whether it was stuttered by her son or shared by a maid who was surely hiding out sight but eavesdropping all the same. He gestured for her to follow him and headed towards he kitchen, deliberating for a moment in the few steps it took to get there about where the coffee maker was. He glanced through a few cupboards before finding it, and pulled it out, only then realizing that she was probably left without much to say behind him. He spun around, another blush coloring his cheeks red. “Ho-hot chocolate o-or t-t-tea or c-coffee?” he asked, leaning against the counter and gripping the edges nervously. He was trying. He hadn’t had a guest for himself in too long a time—at least, not one who wasn’t comfortable enough in his home to make herself some coffee or tea or hot chocolate, whichever it was she preferred. Dear, he was bad at this.[/justify][/size][/blockquote][/blockquote]
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Post by NELL DOE DALE on Aug 14, 2012 21:12:45 GMT -5
As if to prevent herself from reaching out and touching anything, she held her hands behind her back. Sometimes she did feel like the proverbial bull in the china shop. She wasn't particularly klutzy, but with her luck, it would happen that she picked something up and drop it soon after. The only luck she had was in the cards. Even knowing this, she chose to be optimistic about everything, always looking on the bright side. She never wanted to think that anything could go wrong, no matter how many times it did. She was better suited keeping a positive mind-set instead of constantly weighing herself down. She didn't know how people could actually live like that. They must have had plenty of ulcers. She worried a lot (about other people, that is) but she wasn't in constant fret-mode. It would be exhausting.
Knox told her that his parents were lawyers, and she made a soft sound of acknowledgement in her voice as she turned on her heel and looked at him. She wiggled her shoulders. ”Lawyers? That's impressive. They must be pretty successful. A lot of people don't know that there are starving lawyers out there, you know.” It depended on how successful the firm was, unless you worked for the government as an attorney. That brought to mind her grandfather, the distrcit attorney at her trial. ”Do you have any interest in law?” It was something that grabbed at her attention nowadays, but she had yet to get an actual grip of the concept. If she had a better grip, she wouldn't get arrested as much as she actually did.
He went and asked a question that made her stomach twist, but only for a moment. Years ago, she might have just said that she didn't have parents, and hoped that the questions would stop there. It was a sign of how much she was getting better that she could smile at the earth graduate and say, ”My father is a biochemist. He lives in the neighborhood actually. I don't know if you pay much attention to the science community, but he recently found a way to manipulate osteocytes that could assist in research for bone cancer, and that got him on the radar. Leon Fuentes is his name.” Somehow she said it amazingly calm. She felt proud of herself, that she could speak of it without clenching up or changing the subject quickly. Though she still felt bitter considering her and her father weren't on the best terms right now, even though she was trying her best to take care of him. How was she supposed to feel about him when he cheated on her mother and had the devil incarnate with some other woman?
Nell handed him her shoes, a good thing she didn't have terrible foot sweat or odor or anything like that. While she didn't wear socks with her heels—and who did?—she had good hygiene with her entire body. After he put them down, she followed Knox into the kitchen, bumping into a table on the way and holding her hands up as she watched a vase rock back and forth, praying it wouldn't end up like some stupid cartoon cliché. It held, and she continued on her way, trying to squeeze herself into even smaller stature so she could avoid touching anything.
His nervousness was really concerning, however. She looked at him with kind brown eyes, still wondering if he was going to pass out any second from the effort it seemed to take in speaking. ”Whatever you like the most, I'm not picky at all.” she said, pulling out a chair at the kitchen island, continuing her looking around of the place, still the curious deer she was upon entering. A smile spread across her face. ”So when is your friend supposed to get her cat?” she asked, curious about the little furry friend she'd made.
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