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Post by Jaymie Elderton on Feb 14, 2010 18:54:43 GMT -5
Jaymie jogged out into the courtyard, hair shining strange colors from the bright pink-and-white sky that had hovered- coincidentally or not, no one had quite figured out yet- over the castle and surrounding forest all day.
In his hand, he held a small white box wrapped with a ribbon. Only one girl this year (something in the back of his mind grumbled about keeping it that way), but that was at least better than the year before last, when there hadn't been any for the first time since fourth grade. He'd gotten Aura chocolate anyway, and himself a box of caramels and walnut fudge.
He looked around for Hitomi; supposedly she was out here, with friends.
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Post by Hitomi Gilespi on Feb 14, 2010 20:06:39 GMT -5
Hitomi lounged in the sparse, leafless shade of the large maple tree, her skirt and hair fanned out around her in the light dusting of snow. Between the branches, white sky swirled with pale pink clouds. Hitomi wouldn't have been surprised if it stared raining candy hearts.
She closed her eyes, breathing in the sweet, crisp winter air. A feeling, soft and sweet and slightly familiar, pricked at the edges of her senses. She peeked out one eye, catching sight of the blond. She smiled, sitting up in place and waving at him. "Jaymie!" she called. "Hey!"
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Post by Jaymie Elderton on Feb 14, 2010 20:45:40 GMT -5
Jaymie perked up and looked for the sound. "Hey!" he waved back.
He cut from the path and dashed down the mild slope of the yard towards her, slowing to a stop about ten feet away to catch his breath before speaking- he regretted not having grabbed his coat that morning.
"Hey. Ah, whatcha doing?" He grinned at her, holding the box nonchalantly behind his back.
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Post by Hitomi Gilespi on Feb 15, 2010 0:37:42 GMT -5
Hitomi hugged her knees to her chest. "Nothing, really," she said. She grinned mischievously. "Waiting for my Valentine."
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Post by Jaymie Elderton on Feb 15, 2010 0:42:55 GMT -5
"Oh, are you?" He walked forward and sat down beside the tree, keeping his body between her and the hand holding the present. "I guess we'll just have to sit and wait together for some shining prince to come shower us with chocolates and roses, hmm?"
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Post by Hitomi Gilespi on Feb 15, 2010 1:38:47 GMT -5
"Is that so?" she asked. She batted her eyelashes. "I wasn't aware you were waiting for a prince as well. Is he anyone I know? I'm betting you're a fan of the tall, dark, handsome sort, hm?"
She smiled, pulling a heart-shaped tin tied with a red ribbon out of her bag and sitting it gently on her lap. "You know, in Japanese custom, the girl is supposed to hand-make candy on Valentine's Day and give it to the man she likes." She smirked. "Then a month later, on White Day, the men are supposed to give presents back to the girls who gave them candy. Interesting, isn't it?"
She grinned at Jaymie. "So, I had my brother help me make chocolate truffles, and I'm going to give them to the first person to give me a Valentine. And if I don't get one, I'll just eat them myself." She slipped one of the chocolate truffles out of the tin and held it out to Jaymie. "Here, try one. I wanna know what you think."
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Post by Jaymie Elderton on Feb 15, 2010 2:06:21 GMT -5
"Oh, absolutely- gentlemen and rakes, all the way." He inclined his head in feigned shyness. It stopped being feigned when Hitomi brought out the chocolates. "Ah- oh. Ah..." he trailed off for a moment and licked his lips before finding his train of thought. "Damn. You're good at this. You're..."
He took the truffle and popped it into his mouth.
"...Mmm." Jaymie swallowed. "These are really good." He looked up at her and smirked back, forcing himself to regain his composure. It was obvious to himself that he was falling hard and quickly- and it kind of freaked him out, not knowing whether this was actually Hitomi or some sort of magical side effect. He brushed his hair out of his face and slipped the little box out to hand to her.
"I don't know anything about Japanese culture or cooking," he laughed under his breath, "but I've figured out how to get my mail forwarded here, so ah, I guess that's something?"
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Post by Hitomi Gilespi on Feb 16, 2010 17:47:18 GMT -5
Hitomi grinned, scooting closer to Jaymie and taking the box. It was a rather typical box of store-bought Valentine's chocolates, shiny and red and trimmed with lace. Taped to the inside of the lid was a small rectangular Valentine's card with penguins on the front, the sort kids exchanged in elementary school. She carefully peeled it off of the lid and flipped it over, reading the note on the back.
She laughed lightly, then wrapped one arm around Jaymie. "Thanks, Jaymie. Happy Valentine's Day." Hitomi handed Jaymie the little heart-shaped tin.
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Post by Jaymie Elderton on Feb 16, 2010 20:31:41 GMT -5
He grinned and took the tin. "Happy Valentine's Day. Guess I'll have to bug your brother to help me make candy in a few weeks, huh? He and I are gonna be best friends."
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Post by Hitomi Gilespi on Feb 17, 2010 0:49:40 GMT -5
"I'm sure." She smirked. "A word of advice, if you want something from Hitoshi, try going through his boyfriend first. He'll be a lot more agreeable that way."
She plucked one of the chocolates from the box and popped into her mouth. Caramel. "Did you have any other plans for tonight?"
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Post by Jaymie Elderton on Feb 17, 2010 1:02:18 GMT -5
"Ahh. Who's his boyfriend?" Jaymie took out a truffle, danced it between his fingers like a coin, and tossed it into his mouth. He began to grab another one and noticed he'd gotten little chocolate smears on his hand; he gave his hand an annoyed look and licked the chocolate off.
"Not really. I think Aura's actually got a girlfriend I haven't met yet, my roommate is studying, and I don't have anything useful to do. You?"
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Post by Hitomi Gilespi on Feb 17, 2010 2:14:07 GMT -5
"Alex Meriweather. He's a freshmen. Short, with pale skin and white hair. You'll know him when you see him." She paused. "Let me amend that. He's short and pale with dreadlocks. I wouldn't want you to get him mixed up with Professor Dion." Hitomi snickered.
"I don't have anything in specific planned." Hitomi leaned against Jaymie. "We could go harass Rhythan into making us something nice for dinner."
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Post by Jaymie Elderton on Feb 17, 2010 2:16:04 GMT -5
Jaymie laughed.
"The cook?" He looked pensive. "This is probably a stupid question, but what is that guy? He makes damn good food..."
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Post by Hitomi Gilespi on Feb 17, 2010 22:10:41 GMT -5
Hitomi laughed. "I don't think anyone actually knows. I think he came with the castle -- and Fable and the janitor too." She shook her head. "I know everything here is kind of weird, but you'll get used to it."
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Post by Jaymie Elderton on Feb 17, 2010 22:44:15 GMT -5
"Came with the castle? Wow." He glanced away from Hitomi. "This place... it's weird, but it's kind of... uplifting, almost, that there's so much stuff in the world. Y'know? Just a little? I mean, not all of it's good, but..."
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Post by Hitomi Gilespi on Feb 17, 2010 22:54:23 GMT -5
She smiled. "Yeah, I think I know what you mean. I think that if I had grown up without know this was all real, hearing fairy tales.... It would be really exciting finding all this. I guess most of the novelty has worn away for me, since I haven't really known anything else."
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Post by Jaymie Elderton on Feb 17, 2010 23:02:14 GMT -5
He looked back at Hitomi's face for a moment, trying to read her expression.
"Does it annoy you when I say that or something?" he said softly.
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Post by Hitomi Gilespi on Feb 17, 2010 23:46:36 GMT -5
She looked back up at Jaymie. "Of course not," she insisted. "It's just..." She bit her lip. "Sometimes I just wish I knew what it was like to live without all this craziness and magic." She sighed. "You probably think that sounds ridiculous, though. You probably wouldn't trade your powers for anything."
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Post by Jaymie Elderton on Feb 17, 2010 23:50:10 GMT -5
He shook his head with concern. "There's a lot I'd trade this stuff for; and even if I wouldn't, that doesn't make what you want ridiculous. Do people tell you it does? Because- no offense- sometimes you sound like you got some serious ugly duckling thing going on."
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Post by Hitomi Gilespi on Feb 21, 2010 21:46:54 GMT -5
Hitomi pursed her lips, looking away. "It's not..." She sighed, plucking a few blades of grass from the ground. "Look, let's just drop it for now. It's not important."
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Post by Jaymie Elderton on Feb 21, 2010 22:08:55 GMT -5
Jaymie grimaced. "Sorry. I didn't mean to-"
Something whacked him on the knee, and he jumped. "The hell-"
Tiny candy hearts bearing messages began raining from the sky.
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