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 Posted: Fri May 29, 2009 6:47 am
“Ah that name seems right,” He seemed to mull it over in his mind, "Yep, that’s got to be it.” This time her rubbed his hand over his watch and kept twirling it, a bit of a nervous habit and probably the reason why the darn thing is so worn.
The small charcoal spotted girl glanced at the star and then back at Kaiden before allowing the star to rest against her side. Kaiden was very true to his word, he kept watch over their stars well. Finally turning her attention to the man Vydia spoke up, “Well that’s me then.” She was tempted to say something nasty about him forgetting or him being late but she figured it would be in her best interest to be on good terms with him.
“Well then young miss, seems I’ll be your caretaker from now on. It’s a pleasure meetin’ you.” He glanced at the other gathered around the small pick nick. His gaze once again found the other woman sitting on the blanket, “You got room for one more?” Honestly he was starving and hadn’t eaten anything yet but he also felt it would be best not to just whisk the girl away from the other children.
Vydia rolled her eyes and turning toward Nozomi said, “Well it isn’t like either of you have an infectious disease or something, so I don’t think it is a big deal.” To illustrate her point she reached for a cup intending to take a small sip of the oddly colored liquid.
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Posted: Tue Jun 02, 2009 8:09 am
Kaiden considered for a moment, thinking back to when Nozomi had brought him the drink. "I think you only brought one cup over to the tree Nozomi, so whichever cup you picked up after sitting down must be yours. But Vydia's right, we only took a little sip... I'm sure it doesn't really matter." He offered a little smile before following the Dark girl's example, grabbing a cup and reaching for one of the sandwiches that had intrigued her so much earlier. Kaiden settled into his little space of the blanket, making sure he was taking up as little room as possible and tried to enjoy his food: without making it too obvious that he was still scanning all the paths trying to see his guardian.
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Posted: Wed Jun 03, 2009 5:34 am
Nozomi watched as the cups were taken away, then poured another cup for herself. She hoped she hadn't backwashed into whichever cup she drank from. As Kaiden compressed himself, the lavender girl instinctively did the same - if he felt he needed to do that, then she must have been crowding him.
She gently laid a hand on his arm as she noticed his eyes darting about. "I'm sure your guardian will be here soon... maybe they got held up making breakfast?"
"There's plenty of space," said Llia, patting the ground between her and Vydia. "Help yourself."
She sized up Vydia and Cliff as she sipped from the small flask, which was filled with hot tea. They made a good pair, the laidback man and his "Little Miss" of a partner. It might be strange for Vydia to grow up with no female company, though. The kimono-clad girl made a note to set up a playdate before they parted ways.
"Oh, and I guess we'd better clear this up... Vydia, would you like to tell Cliff how you scraped that knee?"
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Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2009 7:11 am
The coal-haired girl stopped mid-sip of the orange colored liquid she had recently stolen. She scowled and placed the cup to the right of her, resting it on the bench. Actually, she’d rather not tell him. Her guardian nodded at Llia and sat crossed legged in between herself and the women, who until this moment had been pretty nice. He reached for a sandwich saying something about how they must be good because they seemed to be disappearing. She glanced and Llia and let out a sigh before deciding just to get it over with. “I just fell, that’s all.” She thought about it for a moment and then added, “while I was doing this awesome move and trying to steal the….a….rock from Nozomi. I did get the ball away, kind off.”
“So it’s a battle wound then?” He grinned and finished off the small sandwich, “I’ll take a better look at it once we get home.” After glancing around the small circle he asked, “So we are just waiting on one more to show up then?” That was odd, someone was actually later then he was.
Vydia smiled then, it wasn’t just some dumb scrape, no, it was a battle wound! She glanced down at her knee, all pink and nasty. She wasn’t sure how to respond to Cliff’s question and felt bad that Kaiden’s guardian hadn’t showed up. She felt like she needed to say something but wasn’t sure what to say.
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Posted: Fri Jun 05, 2009 5:28 am
Realizing both girls were gviing him the... gentle-but-not-quite-pity look, Kaiden flushed and contracted into himself further. He was fast finding that he did NOT like being the center of attention. Wrapping his arms around his knees, he stretched his chin to rest on top of them and muttered "I'm sure they'll be here soon." He wasn't trying to be rude, he just... they had their guardians, they should be getting to know their guardians a little before they were separated from each other and didn't know anybody!
Really, you guys don't need to worry about me!" Kaiden looked back and forth between the girls, offering a kind of weak smile. He was getting antsy again from sitting still, so reached out for his cup, only to find it empty! Replacing the cup on the blanket, and glaring at it slightly, he took another rice ball instead. He didn't really want to reach around Nozomi for the container holding more of the juice.
Aithne rolled her eyes and seriously debated jumping down just to see the look on the guy's face! Later than him?! HA! She'd been here before Stella dropped the star children off! Sulking a bit, she crossed her arms, even more determined to not deal with the other guardians at all.
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Posted: Fri Jun 05, 2009 5:53 am
Llia gave a wry smile, pretty much convinced that Vydia and her guardian would get along well. She gave a passing glance at Kaiden and noted breakfast was soon to be finished.
"No matter how caught up in breakfast they are, if this person volunteered to be your guardian, they're bound not to forget a child," she told Kaiden. Her next words were to everyone around.
"By the way, I don't know of any other children from Celesi, and I imagine you lot will get lonely when isolated from each other. Barton's a small town with just one row of shops - come find me and Nozomi if you're up for a playdate. I make my living as a seamstress and own the only kimono shop there."
Nozomi reached out and added more orange juice to Kaiden's cup, sorry that she'd made him so embarrassed. As she heard Llia's words, she perked up.
"So... does that mean I get to learn how to make some?" She asked, excited. If a kimono was what Llia was wearing, it sure was pretty... and while Nozomi didn't exactly like clothes right now, she'd love to make some for others. Maybe as an apology-gift to Vydia. She definitely hadn't meant to give her friend a "battle wound".
Llia frowned a little.
"Well yes, of course... but you only have to make them when you want to. I didn't adopt a little girl for child labour, you know," she stated, loud and clear. Didn't want anyone making assumptions now, oh no.
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Posted: Sun Jun 07, 2009 8:03 am
Vydia grinned, Llia was pretty awesome and she would love to see her shop. It would be nice to see Nozomi too. Vydia did kinda like her, she was nice and she did agree to play the rock game with her. “Where do you work Cliff?” she asked only because she was immensely curious, and maybe because she felt he needed to be awesome too.
Cliff nodded, swallowed his food and spoke, “Sounds good. I think I know the shop but if not it shouldn’t be too hard to find.” He figured it would be a good idea to keep the kids together also.He shoved the rest of the sandwich into his mouth and mid-bite swallowed hard and stared at Vydia. “Ah well, I work at a bar……” He rubbed his hands together and explained further when he saw her blank expression, “A place where adults hang out and ahhh….dance. But it doesn’t matter because you aren’t going there.”
She whined, “what!? I won't…?” He didn’t look like he was going to give in so she stuck out her lip in a pout and turned toward Nozomi. Well at least it did sound like an interesting place. She didn’t really plan on saying anything she just wanted out of Cliff’s gaze but then felt like she should. “I hope we get to play again, maybe with something better than a rock?” She smiled, “And Kaiden will get to play.” She wasn’t going to let him sit on the sidelines next time, guarding stars or not.
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Posted: Thu Jun 11, 2009 5:51 am
"A bar, huh... " Nozomi blinked at Cliff, not really sure why only adults could dance there. Kids could dance better than adults sometimes, after all. She smiled at Vydia, really glad that they'd be seeing each other plenty and often. "Y'know, maybe when we're adults, we can hang out at this bar more!"
Llia burst out in tinkling laughter. The girls had no idea what they were missing... and still wanted it anyway. She'd had a few wild nights out herself, even though she didn't look like it. The kimono shop hadn't always done well, and Llia used to head out for a drink after a bad day.
Not that she could do that anymore with a kid around.
There was a lull in the chatter, and she looked around to find that most of breakfast was finished. Llia pulled back her sleeves and started packing up.
"Well, it's going to be afternoon soon... I think we'd best take our girls back, before the heat gets to them."
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Posted: Thu Jun 11, 2009 8:31 am
Vydia grinned, "Ha! That would be so much fun!" She hadn't even thought about that! Vydia glanced at Cliff, hoping he'd convince Llia to stay longer but he only offered to help clean.
"Oh, let me help you with that." He offered but instead of waiting for a reply he went straight to work. She was right, there wasn't much left over. He hated to pull the kids away from eachother but he hadn't slept yet and it was probably best to get them home.
"Well......." Vydia wasn't sure what to say. "I guess I'll see you later Nozomi. Maybe we can play together soon and you can tell me about the shop and your home!" She smiled and grabbed her star, finally standing up since her fall.
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Posted: Thu Jun 11, 2009 9:44 am
Kaiden slid silently off the blanket as Llia and Cliff began packing up the remains of the food. He didn't really want the girls... or their guardians to leave; but he figured that they probably wanted to get Nozomi and Vydia settled into their new homes. He wondered where he'd be going, if he'd be able to go play with Nozomi and Vydia sometimes too.
Standing, he lay his star on the bench and clasped his hands behind his back, fidgeting slightly, shifting his weight from side to side. He had the strangest feeling now that he was been watched and he couldn't go explore that feeling until the others had left, so maybe it was better that they were going soon.
Grinning, Aithne stood silently and stretched. They were finally done chattering! She had heard where the others would be and would be sure Kaiden got to go see his friends... after all, they lived just outside of Barton and it was a quick trip into town. But now, it was almost time to meet her new charge face to face!
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Posted: Fri Jun 12, 2009 4:44 am
Unable to help very much with her small hands, Nozomi picked up her star and looked at Kaiden and Vydia.
"See you guys soon... hopefully next time I won't ruin someone's knees again!"
She was really excited about seeing her new home, and having Kaiden and Vydia over would be fun. The lavender girl felt bad about leaving the boy behind, but she didn't want to give him that look again... he'd been embarrassed enough the first time.
"I should hope not," added Llia as she neatly put the plates, cups, bottle and flask back in with the man's help, wrapping the whole thing over with the picnic cloth. "Thanks, Cliff!"
"Kaiden..." She gently reached out her free hand and placed it on the boy's shoulder. "If it starts to get late and your guardian doesn't show, you can either try to go back to Stella or come find me at Barton, alright? Head to Barton only if you're tired and can't walk all the way back to the adoption agency. Stella would be in a better position to trace your guardian than me."
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Posted: Fri Jun 12, 2009 6:21 am
Cliff was hesitant to leave the boy behind, but Llia seemed to have it covered. “My pleasure,” he replied to her thanks as he stood up and glanced at the dark girl.
Vydia was surprised at Nozomi’s words, “Oh it wasn’t your fault. The ground tripped me.” She said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Cliff turned and tried not to laugh. “Right, then we’ll take our leave. You can expect us to wander down to your shop at some point.” He nodded at Llia and glancing at Vydia asked,”You ready to go?”
Vydia nodded and then waved a small hand toward Nozomi. She was excited to see her new home and content to leave knowing that she would get to see her friends agian. Then she offered Kaiden a smile, “By Kiaden. I bet your guardian will be really cool!” Vydia took Cliff’s offered hand and dragging the star with the other, the two headed through the trees and away from the small group.
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Posted: Fri Jun 12, 2009 10:41 am
Looking up at Llia, Kaiden gave a solomn nod... and then offered a shy smile. "I am sure my guardian will be here really soon... but I can get back to Stella if I need to. Thank you again for the food, it was great!" Hearing Vydia's goodbye, Kaiden turned and his smile morphed into a quick grin. "I don't know, it sounds like this 'bar' thing is hard to beat... but I hope so! And... it was nice to meet you Cliff, uh, sir." Looking between the two girls Kaiden felt he should still reassure them somehow... "don't worry guys, I'll see you soon... and I'll beat both of you next time when we play!" Sauntering into a turn, Kaiden hopped up onto the bench and raised his hand in a half-wave as Vydia and Cliff turned to go.
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Posted: Sat Jun 13, 2009 1:26 am
The ground... Nozomi couldn't help but giggle at Vydia's casual explanation of how that scrape wasn't her fault. She accepted Llia's offered free hand with her own.
"Alright, I'll think of a game you'd be good at. Bye, Kaiden!"
With that, she headed off with her guardian to her new home.
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Posted: Mon Jun 22, 2009 9:21 am
Kaiden watched Nozomi and Llia disappear around a bend and immediately hopped off the bench. He knew someone was watching him! He'd noticed it while everyone had been cleaning up the picnic but now he could finally look around... but all he saw was the same boring scene he'd seen while keeping watch earlier. He was walking around the base of the tree again, muttering about where anyone could be hiding, when there was a woosh and a blur of color in front of him. Letting out a startled sound, Kaiden stumbled backwards and tripped over a root, falling back on his rear.
Watching Kaiden circle the tree she was hiding in, Aithne grinned waiting... waiting... now! Jumping down, she landed lightly, going into a crouch in front of her startled charge and slowly straightened, giggling as he tumbled backwards and looking up at her stunned. "Ah, but Kaiden, you never thought to look up!" Offering a hand to the boy Aithne winked, "Hi, I'm your guardian, Aithne!"
Looking up at the tree and then back at the hand Aithne offered, Kaiden blinked and took her hand, allowing her to pull him back to his feet. She was a short, slight girl who didn't look much older than a child herself. Bright, curly, red hair was bound back in a high ponytail with numerous curls escaping to frame her pixy face. Amethyst eyes sparkled at him and even through his silence, her grin never faded. Still disoriented, all Kaiden found talking a suddenly difficult task. "Hi... Aithne..."
Taking pity on the kid, Aithne reached out and ruffled his hair. "C'mon kiddo, let's head out, yeah? We've got a bit of a hike through Barton to get home. We live just outside town. So no worries, we'll still get in to see your friends!" She leaned over the back of the bench and scooped up Kaiden's star, hoisting it easily and again offering an easy grin. "Ready?"
Slowly, a matching grin found its way to Kaiden's face... Aithne just radiated fun. He couldn't wait to see where they were going or find out what his guardian did! Looking around one last time, he moved to his guardian and took the free hand she offered. He looked up at her 'ready' and smiled wider seeing that it was mischief sparkling in the back of her eyes, "Yeah, let's go!"
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