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Post by nikki on Nov 11, 2007 16:07:05 GMT -5
The marketplace was bustling with activity. People were running around and purchasing things, teenagers talked and laughed, families traveled in groups, the toddlers clutching their mothers' hands and the babies snugly asleep as they were carried. Elona skulked through the streets, feeling out of place. She hated this area of town.
After leaving the cemetery, she had rushed home to change out of her form-fitting dress. Elona had slipped into a black shirt with bell sleeves and black jeans with a chain for a belt. She had also clipped her hair into an updo. Whatever the reason or the occasion, Elona liked to be somewhat different from the crowd.
On her way out of the house, her foster mom had called, Elona, pick up some groceries for me if you're going out, would you? and thrust a shopping list into her unwilling hands. Much as Elona groaned, yelled, rolled her eyes, or protested in any other way, Judy refused to listen and rushed her out the door with stern, chagrined eyes.
So here she was... in the marketplace. Elona slunk into one of the food stores like a cat that had been forced into one of those revolting kitty sweaters with pom-poms on it. She cursed every single person in the building just for the sake of doing so and grudgingly consulted her list.
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Post by Envy on Nov 11, 2007 16:32:34 GMT -5
Thinking about what was low back at the warehouse, Duivel scanned the aisle. This one held barely anything of importance, and he learned, to his distaste, that there was also baby food on one of the shelves. One thing he had never gotten used to was younger children.
Hurrying to another part of the store to escape such a nightmare as that, he found himself stopping short. Blinking, he rubbed at his eyes once to make sure that they weren't playing tricks on him. When he looked again, though, there was no doubt that that he was seeing correctly.
Elona was there.
He started toward her, not sure exactly what he was going to say, but knowing that he had to set things right. It seemed he had offended her back in the cemetery when he had told her that the name Elona was pretty. To him, it was, but he had already decided to keep that thought to himself this time.
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Post by nikki on Nov 11, 2007 17:23:28 GMT -5
May I help you? asked the chirpy voice of a cashier. She was smiling benevolently and looked to be about fourteen. It made Elona feel awkward to see something that young having a job, considering she'd never had one in her life. She'd put it off for years, though Judy had attempted to force it on her. Elona surveyed the girl's happy-looking face and envied her for having nothing in the world to worry about. How nice it would be to have a family, to have friends, to be excited about the future... to actually enjoy a job at the grocery store, of all places. Elona wanted to work in a tattoo parlor.
No, tha - she began, but stopped abruptly, her eyes catching a familiar sight, though a famliar face would be a better term. The cashier tilted her head, looking confused, but Elona hardly paid her any heed. She let out a strange noise that was a cross between a whisper and a hiss of oh, shit before she froze in movement.
Elona forced her joints to work and casually meandered over to one of the aisles, walking down it. Maybe if she pretended he wasn't there, he'd disappear.
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Post by Envy on Nov 11, 2007 18:31:25 GMT -5
When he started walking, he frowned. Damn, I really did hit a nerve. He jogged down the aisle where he had seen her disappear, trying to catch up. "Elona," he called when he saw her again. "Wait!"
What had he meant to say again? His mind was going back to when he had met her in the cemetery, too her eyes, her looks... he shook his head, trying to clear it. What was he thinking? Well, he was certainly pulling this trigger wrong. And he really needed to have some composure if he wanted this to go smoothly.
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Post by nikki on Nov 11, 2007 18:37:45 GMT -5
Elona stopped in her tracks and leaned against one of the aisles, closing her eyes and arching her back, gazing up to the ceiling. She tried to think of something comprehensible to say, but the only things she could think of were curse words to hurl around the store and generally make a scene of herself. I am going to regret this so fucking much...
With a slow breath, Elona opened her eyes and fixed them on Duivel. What? she inquired aggresively, folding her arms as she so often did. What did he want, anyway? She thought she had gotten rid of him at the cemetery.
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Post by Envy on Nov 12, 2007 15:48:57 GMT -5
Duivel stopped where it was, a good distance from her. Her stance gave him the impression that she wasn't very thrilled to see him again. Though, if he had been insulted like he had done to her, even though he hadn't meant to, he wouldn't be very enthusiastic about seeing him either. After the whole scene in the cemetery, he couldn't exactly blame her, either.
"I..." Faltering, he scrambled to think of what to say. His golden orbs were locked on the azure of hers, a hue he'd seen so often and yet this time it was just different somehow. "I wanted to apologize for offending you back in the cemetery. I didn't know your name meant 'alone' and that you had lost your parents..."
He couldn't get himself to continue explaining. After saying that he was already waiting for some twist of pain to appear on her face and for her to scream something at him. Whatever it is, I probably deserve it anyway, he thought, abash of how he couldn't get his mouth to say shut.
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Post by nikki on Nov 12, 2007 15:59:18 GMT -5
Elona listened to his explanation, and as she did, her heart softened (yes, she has one!) just a little bit. That was all she needed to allow her arms to drop to her sides and take on a more relaxed expression. She was glad her hair was up.
In a flash, Elona realized that she was being much too lax about this. She hardly knew Duivel; she wasn't sure what his plans were. What if he was trying to get her to trust him? What if he was only acting sorry?
Taking these ideas into account, Elona said, Most people who say things like you did to me just let it drop after I walk away. You didn't; you pursued it. Why?
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Post by Envy on Nov 12, 2007 16:13:11 GMT -5
He blinked at her question. To have just walked away... yes, that had been an option. But he hadn't even been sure he would have seen her again to let her know that he didn't mean to hurt her with what he said. He supposed that would work for his answer. He hoped it would.
"I didn't even know you were going to be here," he admitted. "I live out in a place that was constructed in Skellhac woods, and I normally come here and pick up some things to take back as well as find a bit of work to earn money. I thought since I was out here I'd go on and get a few things, but when I saw you, I guess I sort of forgot about it.
"The way you acted back in the graveyard made me think I might have offended you by what I said, and I was actually worried about the fact I wouldn't see you again, that you might see me sometime and think, 'There's that bastard that insulted me a while back. I hope he chokes.' That and... well, I just feel like I should apologize for running my mouth without knowing anything first."
He took a deep breath after his story, if you could call it that. It hadn't occurred to him that people might actually avoid Elona. If they did, he could only partly see why. But was it really just that she was always on guard, that she wasn't very trusting of the world now that she was without both parents? He wasn't sure, but it didn't change the fact he was still standing there.
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Post by nikki on Nov 12, 2007 20:36:05 GMT -5
Thoughtfully, Elona nodded, and she even let a small, bashful smile slip onto her lips as she glanced up at him, but when she looked into his eyes, she quickly turned her head away and forced a neutral expression onto her face. Well... thanks, she said gingerly, unwillingly. That's... very considerate of you.
Elona couldn't believe that she was actually being humane and somewhat polite. If her foster parents had been there, they wouldn't have believed what they were hearing. Elona acted her rudest around them on purpose, and they'd probably have disowned her by now if... why? Elona actually wasn't sure why they kept her. She refused to entertain the notion that they actually loved her. Why should they? She had given them no reason to. They didn't care.
So... um... Elona cleared her throat awkwardly, noticing that she didn't really know what to say. She could walk somewhere with him. Maybe then something to talk about would come up. But then she recalled her list. Uh... my foster mom - how she loathed that phrase - told me to get some shopping done... so...
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Post by Envy on Nov 12, 2007 21:02:41 GMT -5
"Do you want me to help you get what you were forced to come out here to buy?" he inquired, not so intimidated now that she wasn't acting defensive. It was just a guess that she didn't want to be here -- and, if she had known he had been there, he knew she might have turned around and left if he hadn't just gotten that out of his mind.
A little less than confident, he stepped closer to her. If he was lucky, she wouldn;t jump back and return to the way she had been before he had been "considerate," as she put it. In a nervous fashion, he tried to make it so that his bangs would stay out of his face, almost like a distraction to keep him from staring. It worked, for a short few seconds, until his eyes wandered back to her.
{ Sorry it's not very long. ^^; }
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Post by nikki on Nov 12, 2007 21:20:07 GMT -5
(( Forget about it. <333 ))
Sure, Elona accepted gratefully. She held out the list and scowled at it. It's annoying that I got saddled with this, but whatever. It's not like my opinion counts for very much back there. She closed her mouth and glanced away shyly, not wanting Duivel to think she rambled too much. It was amazing that Elona was pretty quiet and irritated before you knew her, but she opened up if she decided she didn't hate you to the point that she rarely shut up.
She tried hard not to jump out of nervous habit when he stepped a bit closer. Elona wasn't really used to people being kind to her, except Judy, who was definitely nice, but Elona found her revolting and had a grudge against her that would never vanish - almost like she blamed her foster mother for her birth father's death.
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Post by Envy on Nov 13, 2007 22:34:15 GMT -5
{ I say time for a shocker. xD }
"Shopping must not be a sport you participate in willing." Duivel stepped close enough to take the list. His bangs decided to fall back in his face as he looked down at the paper. "Perhaps I should buy hair gel while I'm here," he commented, pushing his hair out of his face and lifting the list to an angle that the ebony wouldn't blind his vision.
His gaze had slipped back to her for a mere instant when he could feel something pop from his shoulder. Shit. Surely enough, a streak of lightning bounced down his arm and sunk into the palm of his hand. A red tint formed deeply over the crests of his cheeks, especially as a few smaller sparks jumped on the back of his hand. Swallowing heavily, he slowly looked up at her to see how much time he'd have until she backed away and ran for it.
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Post by nikki on Nov 14, 2007 20:36:17 GMT -5
It's not, Elona grumbled, handing the list to Duivel. I hate shopping. There are only a few exceptions to that little rule. It was funny how unwilling she had been to talk just a while ago, but she didn't really mind it so much anymore. Elona saw that Duivel didn't intend to hurt her in any way, so there wasn't really a point of keeping that constant guard up. It could become tiring after a while. All that hurt, when added up, ripped her soul into pieces.
She actually laughed a bit at his words, then marveled at herself. Elona couldn't remember the last time she had expressed mirth at something that was just an innocent joke and not sarcastic or sardonic or even sadistic. Maybe.
Elona was about to say something more, but was interrupted by a small bolt of lightning criss-crossing down Duivel's arm. Oh my God, she gasped, sounding more like a regular teenaged mall-dwelling girl than she usually did, her blue eyes wider than they had ever been (that she could recall, anyway). Oh my God. Oh my God. What was that?! Quickly, she took a step away, eyeing Duivel with fear and a touch of her old hostility.
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Post by Envy on Nov 17, 2007 17:07:27 GMT -5
I'm doomed. Duivel glared at his hand, the sparks dimming until they vanished. Then, completely embarrassed, he tried to collect what he would say. He had just slipped with his powers, and that wasn't good. Not when she wasn't expecting it.
Taking in a breath, he looked at her while a warmth spread over his pallid cheeks. "Um, well, I..." He found it much harder than it should have been to just spit out two words. Trying to make it less difficult, he placed a hand on his cheek and rubbed it, trying to get rid of his blush. What was he doing blushing anyway?
"I'm a little different," he managed. "You see, I have the ability to conjure lightning from my body because I'm an Elementalist of lightning. Don't be afraid, though. It just acts up... when..." He didn't finish his sentence. "When my heart is racing a few million kilometers a minute," didn't sound like the smarted thing to say to her.
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Post by nikki on Nov 17, 2007 18:53:46 GMT -5
An Elementalist, she repeated, feeling faint. If she passed out right now... well, the room was spinning and her heart was beating too fast and her ears were strangely hot - which always happened when she went into shock for some inexplicable reason - so it was possible. Elona fought off a loss of consciousness and squeezed her eyes shut tightly for a moment.
A few seconds later she felt more stable and thought it safe to look around again. Opening her mouth, she continued to speak. It acts up when? And is there anything else you're hiding from me? Her voice rose a little and some of the shoppers glanced at her peevishly. Elona ignored them.
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