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Post by Valencia Donahue on Jan 25, 2007 5:13:05 GMT 1
[DIRECTOR]: “Take 4! And… ACTION!!”
Thank god they closed off this area for the shooting. In the first take, the streetcar nearly hit Valencia due to the car’s bad timing. In the second take, she was too slow and it passed her. In the third, she ran too fast and passed in front of it. This was the fourth take and as soon as Valencia heard the tell-tale clap, she began to run for her dear life down one of San Francisco’s renowned, steep streets that rested on one of the city’s renowned 43 hills. The blonde-brunette looked over her shoulder, as instructed, to see the car tumbling horizontally downhill towards the part-time stuntwoman, only to concentrate once more on the road ahead of her until she heard a collision from behind. As it turned out, the car smacked into another car and now two vehicles were tumbling after the Hircine senior, all for the sake of Hollywood as the cameras kept rolling.
Valencia forgot what the scheme of the movie was about, but one thing for sure, now wasn’t the time to think about that. So she ran and ran and ran, then heard another crash, signifying a bunch of aluminum trashcans joining the metallic stampede-slash-cascade. The Vietnamese lady then encountered the moment she kept messing up on… The intersection. Hurtling perpendicular to Valencia at a crazy speed, or at least that’s how it’s supposed to look onscreen, was one of San Francisco’s cable cars. Indiana Jones, eat your heart out… Valencia dived as the car was right in front of her so that she’d land inside the vehicle and narrowly escape the rolling cars, trashcans, and whatever else the director and stunt coordinator decided to cook up.
[DIRECTOR]: “And… CUT!!”
Valencia twitched a little inside of the trolley and the scene was done. She smiled weakly when she heard from a distance that the take was acceptable, then closed her eyes to catch her breath.
[ROSEMARY]: “Oh Valeeeennnnciaaaaaa~!!”
Valencia twitched again in the cable car when she heard her stunt coordinator approaching. A tiny groan and she began to adjust herself until she got into an upright sitting position. She sighed and sported a weird look on her face as her friend arrived. The weird look on her face was a cross between a smile and an expression of pain.
[ROSEMARY]: “You were AMAZING!! Hoo boy! I knew that you could do it, I mean you have me as your stunt coordinator! You’re a supergal, aren’t ya, huh? Sometimes I wonder why you’re not working full-time as a stuntwoman! Oh right… School. Gotcha.”
Valencia nodded quietly as her good, older friend praised her, all the while wanting to fall asleep right then and there after being tuckered out. Why don’t YOU try to run from tumbling cars four times in row, escape near death by taking a leap of faith into a passing cable car, and tell us what it’s like, eh?! As Rosemary went on and on, Valencia continued to nod, listening intently, mentally thanking her buddy since she was too exhausted to say anything herself. Rosemary then realized her friend’s silence and pulled out a towel to drape it about Valencia’s shoulders.
[ROSEMARY]: “Hey! As your personal stunt coordinator, I should be taking care of you at all costs! Your safety is not only my job, but my duty as a friend! And I’m a mother, why would I want one of my kids worked to the bone, huh? Break time for you, kiddo, and no excuses! Why don’t you take the day off while I make sure that the folks up on top of the hill don’t cheat on our earning, eh? Sheesh…”
She gave Valencia two pats on a shoulder, then ran off to do what her job was all about. Valencia looked on, then got up once her heart rate was calm.
I know that my partner knows my limits, but each time she pushes it, I think she’s trying to kill me… Gotta love your friends…
Valencia wandered into a nearby soda shop. She made a beeline to the bathrooms in order to clean herself up a little, then once that was done, swaggered over to the counter and flomped onto a barstool. She began to apply pressure to her eyes as a waitress on her way to serve a pair of smoothies to a couple gave Valencia a weird look. I’d probably give her a weird look too if I saw someone half-dead on the countertop. Muttering random words like…
“Cars… Hurt… Street… Intersection… Cans…”
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Post by pinefresh on Jan 26, 2007 1:03:46 GMT 1
"Malikai your off go home."
That god damn annoying voice cut the air for the last time today. For Malikai that is who had just finished a six hour shift as a bus boy. The resturant he worked at was only busy when Malikai was not there as he was hired for the rush hours only. This shift however had one major perk, the only time he had to hear his manager was when he got on shift and off shift as the prick was usually too busy to scold him for nothing.
The shift manager was a fat, balding, loudmouthed, jackass who liked nothing more than to abuse his powers. It was probably his way at getting back at the world consider how physically unattractive the man was to anyone. Even the other straight male workers had trouble looking at him for more than a minute at a time. Malikai did not hate the man for the way he was considering the circumstances behind his actions. You cannot hate a man who hates the world because they judge him so highly on his looks. At the sametime Malikai respected him because of how good he was at his job.
Anyways, after changing Malikai left the resturant and began heading south toward home. His place was probably a 45minute walk from the place and usually it was a good walk. The weather was nice and everything was good until he felt his stomache rumble. ~Shit...not now...~ He thought to himself as he rubbed his angry belly. It wanted food and it would not leave him alone until he got some food.
He was still 25 minutes from home and was starting to feel the beginning of hunger pangs, at which point his body would start eating itself. The fact that the human body would break down muscle to sustain muscle was a truely nasty thought bordering that of cannibalism. How could he compare such an action to cannibalism you ask? The answer is simple, your body is technically digesting flesh much like a head hunter would except the head hunter is external and the attrifeed was internal.
Fishing through his pockets Malikai was able to find a 20 dollar bill which he could turn into food. Now all he had to do was find a place to eat. Continuing to walk down the street Malikai came across a soda shop and decided to stop into eat. The place had people inside enjoying their food and drinks pegging this place a good find. Walking to the counter he winked playfully at the waitress and sat down. His emerald contacts roving around the room, his ears picking up the sounds around him as he opened the menue.
“Cars… Hurt… Street… Intersection… Cans…” Malikai's head cocked slightly to the right upon hearing such random things being uttered. Not so much that they were being uttered but that the voice doing the uttering sounded familiar. Turning his head slowly toward the sound his emerald eyes fell on a blonde head of hair and a distinct Asiatic face. His eyes opened wide for a second in surprise barely believing what he saw. It was Valencia and she was sitting a couple stools down from where he was. She seemed really out of it.
"Bottles...trucks...lights...bones..." He said playfully and loud enough so she could hear his accented voice above the background noise. Should Valencia look up she would see Malikai smirking right back at her as he asked, "So how have you been lately, better than you seem I hope?"
(OOC: Pardon the spelling errors I do not have time to edit atm)
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Post by Valencia Donahue on Jan 26, 2007 9:04:28 GMT 1
If Valencia’s ears could perk up, they would as soon as she heard Malikai’s voice. But since they didn’t, the next best physical reaction would be the Vietnamese “blonde” stirring and turning her head, facing her friend a few stools down. The guy on the other stool beside Malikai began to feel nervous, looking at Valencia’s “deadened” eyes and began to help himself to the rest of his sandwich before heading on his way. Resting her head on her arms, Valencia smiled weakly until it faded away, returning the greeting in her own quiet way. A waitress from behind the counter sauntered up to her, asking if she wanted anything. The Asian responded audibly enough over the sound of the soda shop…
“I’d like a glass of water and a Shirley Temple. Both are for me…”
She was extremely thirsty at the moment, and the lady behind the counter could tell, so off the waitress went to Malikai’s side of the counter after she taped the order to a wall. Valencia was in a “snakey” mood right now, wanting to curl up and rest somewhere, so she casually responded to Malikai the best she could without seeming to be rude.
“I’ve seen a mix-up of days, especially lately, but other than that, I’m quite fine. Thank you for asking. As for yourself? What have you been up to?”
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Post by pinefresh on Jan 27, 2007 1:55:30 GMT 1
The waitress after seeing the life somewhat return to Valencia went over and took her order. Malikai looked at the menu and decided he would have to eat. The idea of food made his mouth water and his stomach ache. So much variety and so little money what a shame it was to be a student. The waitress came over to him and asked him what he wanted. "I'll have the large Belgium waffle with chocolate syrup and a medium fruit salad...oh and a tall glass of milk." He folded the menu and handed it back to the waitress who looked a little shocked at the size of the order.
The person beside him left allowing Malikai to slide into the seat right next to Valencia who he swore had smiled at him. He had never seen her smile, only had he seen her laugh once and that was only for a second. It's funny how such rare things stick in ones head far better than those he knew as routine. It fell into something to do with human love for rare things he had learned about in intro to sociology. The explanation was very vague but it had to do with something about rare items and human greed.
"Working quite a bit. I just got off a six hour shift during the rush and it sucked as usual. My manager is as ugly as he is mean. Nobody plays nice with me at school. Despite all that I feel pretty good, you know why?" He asked Rhetorically quickly answering his own question while taking a swig of his milk that was just placed infront of him. "Because I finally got to see your pretty smile."
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Post by Valencia Donahue on Jan 27, 2007 21:01:44 GMT 1
Valencia heard a couple of footsteps advancing her way and felt the vibrations of two glasses being set down on the counter space she wasn’t taking up. She safely assumed that the two glasses were the drinks she ordered and by the length of the strides, the waitress who took her order. Valencia sat up and began to drink up the water before switching to the sweeter beverage as Malikai spoke, finishing her gulp in time to give him a cool reply.
“Then consider it an occasion of chance. Just because I don’t smile often enough for people to witness it… Means that I’m devoid of that capability.”
That probably came out weird.
The senior swirled the cherries around in her Shirley Temple, then downed a good portion of her glass of water. The only time she bothered with her hair was when it got in the way of her drinking. Otherwise, she allowed the loose strands to dangle across her face. Valencia didn’t change out of her costume just yet, but it was as plain as you can get from a shoot. She was wearing close-fitting black pants and wore a tan coat with rips along the bottom, supposedly from “gunfights”. Her boots were comfy, durable, and new despite its used appearance. Gotta hand it to the costume designer. She still had her towel draped over her shoulders and simply enough, her long hair was all over the place, mostly because she flomped down on the counter instead of the scene she just performed.
“As for pretty, maybe there’s not enough smiles in this world…”
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Post by pinefresh on Jan 28, 2007 4:26:45 GMT 1
“Then consider it an occasion of chance. Just because I don’t smile often enough for people to witness it… Means that I’m devoid of that capability.”
That did not sound good at all. Based on the tone and words chosen, it seemed Valencia took what he said the wrong way. By wrong he meant as an attack instead of a compliment as he meant it. Malikai took a second to reflect on what he had said before he replied. To the best of his knowledge he said nothing that would prompt such a response. ~everything left to interpretation...~ He thought to himself before trying to do some damage control.
"I didn't mean it like that, its just...The first time I talked to you...you were slightly...I cannot think of the English word to describe it." Malikai had to stop talking for a second and collect his thoughts while taking a small sip of his milk. "It was just nice to see something besides indifference. Ah, that’s the word I was looking for, indifference."
He guessed that was the word for her initial manner, indifferent. She had treated him like she would an object without any real feeling just acknowledging it was there. He was used to anger and pity and sadness but indifference was something new. It was something he truly did not like very much. It was something even he was unable to show people. Sure he could be indifferent to a situation but toward people he had to show something, it was just natural to do so. It had something to do with the social make up of the human race, we needed to communicate beyond just talking.
Cops learn in their communication training that only 10-20% of your initial contact with people is what you say, 80-90% is how you act. The same holds true for regular people, what you say is only a small part of your message. The bulk of your interaction is on your attitude and movement. An indifferent person shows no real interest in what’s going on from any aspect, it’s like talking to a damn wall.
"Heh...There are too many smiles in the world the hard part is finding one that has no hidden agenda. For every one natural one you find I could point out at least 30 of which are for some greater reason." Malikai accepted the plate of waffle that was put in front of him with a small nod and picked up his fork and took a piece that was covered in chocolate. "Mmmm, not bad at all." Chewing and swallowing Malikai decided the change the conversation if it was not too late to do so. "Nice outfit by the way, where'd you get it?"
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Post by Valencia Donahue on Jan 28, 2007 18:29:28 GMT 1
Aaiiiyup. I came out weird.
If Valencia’s syntax wasn’t bad enough, this li’l exchange alone revealed another problem with her means of verbal communication. Her mannerisms get in the way whenever they can. She understood the importance of expression and fluxations in tone, and heck, she was one who valued the concept of body language, but when it came right down to it… Valencia was one unusual person to read, leading to messed up signals and uncomfortable situations. This was why she was fascinated in understanding people as much as possible. Not just to understand how to communicate in a way that transcends language… But to understand the world around her, as well as herself.
Conversing while at the brink of exhaustion… Not my thing…
“No harm was meant or taken…”
…And it was meant both ways, in reference to Malikai and Valencia herself, depending on how you looked at it. Valencia finished up her glass of water, pushing it away from her a few inches before she took a sip out of her Shirley Temple. It was a sweet beverage and by no means an alcoholic one. If she remembered correctly, the best description for its taste would be that it’s like a cherry ICEE without all the frozen stuff. This was when Malikai commented about her outfit. She began to stir her glass as she focused her senses to the entrance of the soda shop.
“My part-time job as an... Extra. It’s a costume.”
Familiar footsteps…
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Post by pinefresh on Feb 7, 2007 3:14:40 GMT 1
“My part-time job as an... Extra. It’s a costume.”
"What type of extra are you?" Malikai asked casually as he took a forkful of the fruit salad and examined it. It looked good the question at hand was did it taste as good as it looked? When he put it in his mouth he was left with the sickly sweet taste that could only be syrup. ~guess not~ He thought to himself as he chewed and swallowed. It seemed the Halo effect could even be applied to food.
Who knew you could apply a concept created for classifying a thought pattern could be applied to food. The idea behind the halo effect is such that if a person is attractive they must be smart, funny, intelligent, and kind all those things we associate with a good person. It's the reason many attractive people get lower sentences for crimes or pay less in fines. Stupid people if they only knew that in fact for the most part they were letting the worst people get off with a slap on the wrist. God bless human stupidity, it is truely a great thing. Back on topic however the salad looked good and smelled good but tasted like sugar and therefore crap. Malikai went back to eating his waffle.
He wondered what she meant by no harm meant or taken. Did he say something slightly wrong again or was Valencia trying to appologize for something? Malikai decided not to ask, somethings were just better left unknown. He took the spoon he was not going to use and put it in the fruit salad and pushed it slightly toward Valencia. "You should eat something to keep your strength up. Its not that I would really mind having to carry you out of here should you pass out but I'm lazy so...yeah." He said jokingling before shoving a piece of waffle into his mouth again.
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Post by Valencia Donahue on Feb 8, 2007 15:48:19 GMT 1
Okay Valencia, that’s enough beating around the bush for now. Don’t wanna rile up those environmentalists out there, eh? Plants have feelings too!
“Sometimes I can be seen in the background, but I’m usually the extra who gets hurt for other people. Especially for those who can’t get hurt… And survive.”
Fine, she didn’t outright say that she was a part-time stuntwoman, but she said enough for Malikai to figure it out. Valencia had this odd tendency to throw something out into the open for people to try to puzzle it out, just for her to observe how they utilized their mental processes. Most of the time it wasn’t intentional, especially since her communication skills were a bit questionable, but nonetheless she always got something out of talking with other people. Valencia took a sip out of her Shirley Temple, not letting her focus slip for a second on the person gradually approaching the two. Malikai pushed his fruit salad over to Valencia and although she appreciated the thought, she didn’t feel like eating. At least, not now. Before she could do anything—
[ROSEMARY]: “Valenciaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa~~~”
Valencia’s stunt coordinator Rosemary flomped onto her. Flomp may not be a word, but the way it sounded describes perfectly what the older woman was doing to her friend. Rosemary was a young woman of average height with short, reddish-brown hair and a personality that matched that hair-color. Her eyes were brown and often had an active fire within them, which softens into gentle embers whenever she feels motherly enough, particularly whenever she’s with her two children. Since her two kids are ages 10 and under, Rosemary considered Valencia to be one of her children as well due to their good relationship… As shown here.
[ROSEMARY]: “There you are, Valencia! Ha ha ha ha… Guess what? We got paid and I was right, this shoot would land us a LOT. Not enough part-time folks agree to getting chasing by tumbling cars, y’know! And not a lot of them have people like ME knowing when such opportunities arise! Oh! And lookee here, we have a friend, right?”
“Malikai, meet my partner in crime, Rosemary. ‘Mom’, meet Malikai, a friend of mine.”
The woman looked up from flomping Valencia, whom was trying her best not to spill her Shirley Temple, and leaned close to Malikai. She squinted her eyes at the fellow.
[ROSEMARY]: “Are you from around here, hun?”
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Post by pinefresh on Feb 11, 2007 18:52:42 GMT 1
~And yet another indirect answer to a simple question~
Malikai thought to himself as he mentally sighed. This girl looked like she could pass out at any second and she was still somehow able to play games with Malikai. Had he been an average person he might have said something about it. He felt nothing for it but perhaps a slight amount of agitation for having to think. Perhaps he could have a little fun and chide her for it later, but that would be later, right now he was eating.
Taking another bite of his waffle and swallowing he decided to reply. Not to the fact she was a stunt woman but as something else. 'Oh so your that extra that you see in star trek who always gets offed? Mr. Red I guess they call him." Anyone who had ever seen an episode of star trek, the original one, knew who Malikai was talking about. He kept his face as straight as possible but his eyes were laughing at his own little joke that was bound to get some sort of reaction out of Valencia.
“Valenciaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa~~~”
The voice was high and lively, it caught Malikai so off guard that he almost fell off his stool. He luckily managed to grab the side of the counter and pull himself back to a full sitting position. His mind was throwing off ~OH MY GOD WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!!! BATTLE STATIONS!!!! DIVE DIVE DIVE!!!!~ He almost fell off his chair again when he saw Valencia get jumped by some woman with reddish/brown hair.
He was so lost by what was going on he like the rest of the soda shop just sat there watching. What else do you do when you watch such acts of affection between two woman. Malikai was almost slightly turned on. In fact, had he not been in shock he might have been aroused. He sure as hell was not prepared to have the woman basically thrust her face into his.
Malikai moved his head back slightly under Rosemary's gaze. Thats about the point it hit him that Valencia had called her mom. Now he was really lost. He smiled nervously and focused his gaze back to Rosemary and sat back up.
"I...I have been living here for only a year. Spent my life in Europe and Asia. So I am from around here and at the same time I am not...It is a pleasure to meet you though Rosemary you have a very...interesting daughter. Feel free to have some of the fruit salad it's pretty good." Malikai's accent was really thick considering his total confusion, he did however remember to extend his in the usual hand shaking gesture.
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Post by Valencia Donahue on Feb 11, 2007 21:08:31 GMT 1
[ROSEMARY]: “Is that so…”
Rosemary released Valencia and stood up straight to rest a hand on her hip while the other was on her chin, a typical pose of thought. Valencia continued to drink her Shirley Temple calmly, unembarrassed at what just happened. She just felt peaceful knowing that the directors, producers, and other folks did follow through with the agreement. The entertainment industry was getting a bit flaky nowadays, what with the low-quality films and shows being released as of late. As more and more fellas began to make the switch to CG, more and more stunt people were getting unemployed. It didn’t help that people often changed their minds midshoot.
Sporadic incomes do not pay bills… This shoot ought to last me a month or two… I wonder what the next stunt will be…
[ROSEMARY]: “Okay, I think I’ll be able to contact you if I want someone to get run over by a flaming truck.”
Valencia smiled to herself when she heard Rosemary say such a thing so offhandedly, without so much as a care about the awkward stares she was receiving. To someone in the back, he could’ve sworn it was a threat even. Rosemary shook Malikai’s hand firmly as soon as it was offered and grinned, only to falter slightly when he mentioned that Valencia was her daughter. True, she always considered Valencia to be one of her own, but… Valencia stopped drinking her Shirley Temple when she heard it as well, then continued to drink, a sign that she wasn’t going to tell Malikai anytime soon that her real mother was dead. Rosemary coughed into a free hand, then wiped it against her jeans before continuing.
[ROSEMARY]: “Ahh… Thanks! Valencia sure is one of a kind! Haha… Fruit salad eh? Don’t mind if I do! Valencia—”
“I had a glass of water already… I’ll eat something later…”
[ROSEMARY]: “Dear, if you’re not going to eat, at least take a nap and eat afterwards. In a bit, I have to supervise some more stunts, so I can’t drive you home ‘til much later.”
The mother then gave Valencia a look that said “EAT”, but she was too busy drinking the last of her Shirley Temple to see it. It didn’t stop the fact that she felt her partner’s eyes drilling holes into her, though.
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Post by pinefresh on Feb 13, 2007 2:34:27 GMT 1
Hesitation. Rosemary's hesitation after his comment about Valencia being her daughter led Malikai believe he read too much into the comment. Valencia had probably meant it sarcastically but due to her seeming inability to show emotion it came off as literal. ~...This is killing me...~ He thought to himself as Rosemary shook his hand and accepted his hospitality openly. At least one of them did.
~She acts like her mother~ He thought again as he watched Rosemary chide Valencia for not eating. He could see her as a guardian or something. Perhaps Valencia was adopted or this was her aunt or something. All explanations seemed plausible at this point and he would be sure to one day (if the day ever came) to ask her about it. As it stood asking her anything until she decided to open up would be like squeezing water from a stone. Baby steps were the key with this girl. Malikai just wished they did not have to be such small ones. He thanked God everyday that when it came to satisfying his curiosity his patience was limitless, unlike in other situations. That and the fact he could really careless how she acted, it would change sooner or later.
Rosemary decided she was going to leave and said her goodbyes. Malikai put on a hurt face, he was slightly enjoying her company. "Must you go?" He asked still holding the slightly hurt face. "We were having such a good time...*sigh*...but if you must go, then until we meet again." Malikai smiled and gave her a playful wink before going back to his food, tackling the rest of his waffle.
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Post by Valencia Donahue on Feb 14, 2007 3:48:25 GMT 1
[ROSEMARY]: “See ya ‘round, cannon fodder!”
Valencia winced when she heard Rosemary uttering that with a wave and an exit. Sure, Rosemary might be saying that more to Malikai than Valencia, but the last time she heard that… Valencia got blown up and the pyrotechnician in charge was responsible for paying them a li’l extra due to the accident. The good news was that she got paid extra. The bad news was that she could’ve lost a leg if she wasn’t careful. Blimey pyros… Explosions may look cool onscreen, but not when you’re running for dear life or MEANT to be blown to smithereens. Valencia finished her Shirley Temple and found that her appetite wasn’t satiated just yet. She raised a hand to a passing waiter and ordered.
“I’d like to order another Shirley Temple and a Belgian Waffle… Fruit toppings and some whipped cream… No chocolate please…”
As soon as the waiter went off to carry out her order, Valencia flomped (there’s that word again!) onto the counter and buried her head in her arms, catching a few winks until she got her food. She said a couple things, but her arms muffled them out.
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Post by pinefresh on Feb 27, 2007 3:48:20 GMT 1
~Cannon fodder?~ Now Malikai became slightly anxious as he wondered what she meant by that. He had been called many things but cannon fodder was not one of them. As he turned to look at Valencia he saw her wince. He decided that somehow he had offended her. That or Rosemary had a fetish for cannons and people being shot out of them. Malikai remembered seeing that on television one time it was quite humorous.
Deciding to go back to his food Malikai took a forkful of the fruit salad and was happily chewing it when Valencia finally placed her order. It was almost as impressive as his own. The only difference was she had no chocolate on hers and she had fruit and whipped cream on top instead of a separate salad. ~GENIUS! WHY DIDN'T THINK OF THAT?!!!~ He thought to himself as he heard Valencia flomp on the table.
A small look of what could have been concern, but was most likely curiosity, crossed his face. Her mumbling led him to think perhaps something was wrong. Malikai put his hand on her shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze as he spoke. "Are you alright Valencia?" he asked softly not wanting to draw too much attention.
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Post by Valencia Donahue on Mar 2, 2007 6:47:38 GMT 1
As soon as Valencia felt her eyelids rejuvenating their insides, she felt someone place a hand on her shoulder. She quivered a touch and was soon reassured that it was Malikai. Sure, she knew that the only person around at the moment who was most likely to touch her was the companion right by her side… But she was tired and even felt a bit defenseless in the wake of her exhaustion. Strange how much a small touch can do. She turned her face towards Malikai and opened an eye at him while the other half of her face remained buried in her arms. She still wasn’t looking at him eye-to-eye, but at least she looked like she was looking.
“I’m fine…”
…That might not be completely true. Valencia smiled weakly, or at least halfway enough to be seen before she closed her eye again. She curled up even tighter to herself and moved around in her seat to get into a more comfortable position. As strange as this may be, to any onlooker, she looked like she was trying to conserve energy or something from the way she moved so slowly and so carefully. Almost every bit of motion had purpose, from brushing her hair onto her back from the front of her face to uncrossing her legs and not bumping against anything of any sort while doing so.
“Wake me up when my order comes around…”
And with that, Valencia fell into a deep slumber. She trusted Malikai enough. Had she’ve been with someone else, odds were that she would’ve kept pretending… She would’ve kept pretending that she was unbeatable and immune to fatigue. Here, the walls were down. This wasn’t saying that she let them down all the way, but they were lowered at the very least.
((OOC: Pardon the tardiness…))
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Post by pinefresh on Mar 2, 2007 23:35:37 GMT 1
Pine removed his hand quickly as Valencia shuttered. It seemed she did not like to be touched. More accurately put, touched by men. She did not shutter when Rosemary jumped on her affectionately, then again Rosemary did give her warning. Next time Malikai would be sure to talk first then touch at least that way he would know if it was because of him or if it was because she was caught off guard. “I’m fine…”Malikai had not even noticed her turn to look at him, or just in his general direction. ~Sure you're fine and I'm Mickey Mouse~ He thought to himself as she smiled weakly at him. He could have sat there and argued the point until he was blue in the face but that would accomplish nothing. He would simply have to accept the fact she was not being honest. She might eventually start talking openly to him but he would have to wait for that. Until then he was quite content to at least have someone to talk to... “Wake me up when my order comes around…”...or not. Valencia had decided to have him keep guard as she slept. It took a bit of effort to keep from saying something but Malikai managed to hold his tongue. There were two reasons for that the first being that he had no idea what would come flying out of his mouth, the second was that she was already fast asleep and his words would be wasted. ~...guard duty...I hope she doesn't try and roll over and end up falling off the chair~ he thought to himself before going back to his food. Five or so minutes later... Malikai put down his fork and put the bowl on top of the empty plate to signify he had finished eating. Now he felt content to take a nap to help with digestion. Sadly he couldn't, Valencia's food had not arrived yet and leaving a girl unattended in a diner was most likely not a good idea. Sure you couldn't fill her with drugs as easily as you could her drink but you could do stuff. Malikai would rather keep those thoughts to himself as he was left to listen to Valencia's slow and rhythmic breathing. ~At least one of us is at some sort of peace~ He thought to himself as he turned to look at her. She was just sleeping there and he could not figure out how she could do that. Malikai could not even think of doing such a thing, it was unsafe to say the least. "So I guess that means you trust me..." He whispered to himself as he watched her. "...now if only I knew..." His second sentence was cut off by the waitress coming over with Valencia's food. The waitress looked at Valencia then over to Malikai and motioned to him as if asking what was wrong. "Long day I suppose." He said to the waitress and motioned her to put the plate down beside him. ~To eat or not to eat that is the question~The prospect of another waffle was promising but would cause Malikai a stomach ache. Not only that but how would he explain to her that he was not eating her waffle should she awaken. "Valencia your food is here." He said and gave her a gentle shake to wake her up.
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Post by Valencia Donahue on Mar 4, 2007 4:10:21 GMT 1
Valencia quivered and stirred under Malikai’s touch, but didn’t react like she did the first time. People just took some getting used to was all. Thus far, she’ve only been around with him twice and that was enough for her to judge his character and judge it well. Her eyelids were a bit droopy as she drowsily woke up from her slumber and she squinted about to remind herself where she was. At the soda shop diner with Malikai, right after a shooting some time ago. They say that you can tell how well a person’s nap was by a few things. Either they drooled in their sleep or they take a while waking up because lose track of time in general, believing that they’ve slept for hours and only slept a few minutes. Valencia didn’t have an extremely good nap, but she considered the rest good enough to her standards. Her eyes closed as she nodded to Malikai.
“Thank you…”
…She spoke softly, then got to gulping down some more Shirley Temple. A few spectators began to stare at Valencia as she began to eat her food with her eyes closed and without any difficulty. The other customers thought that she was simply looking down while she was eating and was distracted by something else. Look at how fast she was scarfing things down. It wasn’t a blur, but it sure wasn’t normal looking. As soon as she was finishing chewing up her food and swallowing, she was already taking up another forkful of waffle and downing it with her beverage. Healthy appetite, anyone? Half-way through, Valencia stopped and opened her eyes. A few blinks, then she got back to eating away with a voracious hunger, not really caring what others thought about her table manners at the moment. She wasn’t very talkative whenever she ate… But then again, there wasn’t very much to say when she was starving.
Hmm…
And Valencia finished her meal, clocking only a couple of minutes to complete it. Whoa. Then she remembered who she was with. Since Malikai was in the environment for quite a while, she almost forgot that he was there because she grew accustomed to his presence.
“If there isn’t anything else you’d like to order, I guess we ought to be paying up now.”
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Post by pinefresh on Mar 7, 2007 0:43:45 GMT 1
“If there isn’t anything else you’d like to order, I guess we ought to be paying up now.”
Malikai just sat there staring at Valencia for a second after that comment. He was in awe of the fact she downed the damn waffle in half the time he could have at full speed. Giving his head a slight shake he looked back at Valencia and smirked. "I'm good but are you sure it isn't you that doesn't want anything else?"
Malikai then looked over at the waitress and motioned to her to bring the bill as he had seen customers do hundreds of times where he worked. All you had to do was basically trace out a rectangle with both hands in the air. Sure it was not the best way to do it but it was by far the quickest. Except she did not bring the bill to him but motioned to him to make his way over to the cash register on the far side of the counter. Malikai nodded to her and got up from his seat.
The bill came out to ten dollars even which was fortunate as Malikai hated to carry small change. He passed the waitress the twenty and asked for eight dollars back in change. In other words he tipped her two dollars for the service. Considering most wait staff made their money off tips he never tipped below 15% unless the bill was large (over 50.00) in which case he could get away with tipping closer to 10%. Malikai stood not to far from the register as he could safely assume Valencia would be paying for her stuff as well.
"So what do you plan on doing now?" He would ask casually after she had paid. Malikai was confident that she would say home to bed, then again, he could be wrong and she may want to do something else. It never hurt to keep the options open, especially when pretty women were involved.
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Post by Valencia Donahue on Mar 10, 2007 0:42:32 GMT 1
“Nn-nn.”
Valencia responded when Malikai asked if she wanted anything else. She satisfied her appetite, so there was little need to feed it any more than it could take… And more than she can pay for. So with that, she rose from her seat and meandered after Malikai, digging into her pockets until she found her wallet. She fished out a couple dollars, totaling twenty-something-or-other, and began to sift through the change she got back. Valencia’s eyes flickered with interest, then dulled into the usual gray as she sorted the coins and placed most of them into a compartment in the wallet and a select few in another compartment. Collector. She probably found something nifty. Valencia paused when her friend asked her what she was planning on doing next and walked a few steps to the side to not be anyone’s way.
“I believe I’m going to head home. It’s going to be long walk, but I think I can manage.”
When I get home, I’m going to take a hot shower, then sleep away…
“As for yourself? What do you plan on doing, Malikai?”
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Post by pinefresh on Mar 12, 2007 22:28:28 GMT 1
Malikai just shrugged his shoulders almost indifferently at the question. "I have no goddamn clue. I suppose whatever presents itself as something to do." He answered and turned toward the door and to make his way out.
He had no clue what to do, in truth he was counting on Valencia for an idea. Malikai began to think of things he could do and kill his extra time. The park would have been the ideal place to go, trees to sleep under and climb, swings to swing on, and open grass to run on. The problem with the park at this time was that it was infested with Hiricinians and it was not an exaggeration to say that many of them would find him unwelcome.
Malikai wished he had not sided with the Varronites and just stayed as one of the quiet Hircinians. His life would be much easier if he had not made friends with Alkaiser. Sure he would still detest most other Hircinian's but most of them would not hate him.
Perhaps a walk around the city would do him some good. If not, it would at very least kill much of his free time. "You know..." He said as he moved to and held open the door for Valencia. "Or I suppose I should say, If you wouldn't mind, I could walk with you a while. At least with company your long walk won't seem so long."
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