|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2011 8:35 pm
Gemma cracked up, "You sound like an old man, or something!" She smiled, showcasing her big, white teeth. She found that having good dental care promoted her students to have a good hygiene, too. Besides, she wasn't one of those hyprocrites who said one thing and then did the total opposite. With Matthew, on the other hand, she simply... omitted some things. Like, how she was going out for a walk and not that she'd end up walking all the way at the Tattoo Parlor. Which, in fact, wasn't very far. 10 minutes or so, tops. Whatever, he'd probably think she went down to the Beach or something. It's not like she had such a great body as to attract too much unwanted attention. She wasn't that impressive. Though there were some who popped to mind; like Clover, and that other pink haired woman, the blond and Matt's boss. Now that last one certainly had an mysterious allure about her, even with just her posture! It was safe to say that Gemma was absolutely jealous of how it came so easy to all of them. Just so damned easy...
She eyed over the small stack of papers Nanami had handed to her, just to have a moment to stall and fangirl in her head that Nanami, someone who probably worked with all kinds of different people, thought she had pretty skin! She had one particular scar that stood out above all others, but that would have to wait for the next time she headed to the Beach. "But I agree, this way I'll speak only good things of your workplace and get you more customers by simple word of mouth. That's what authors, and barbers, do, too," She explained, knowing well about the first, rather than the latter. She dated a young writer for a very brief romance, before she broke it off. Tired of the Wangsting. Tortured artists were a dime a dozen, and she learned that quickly and decisively. "Of course, I'll just omit that part about the payment," Gemma whispered like it was some intimate secret, "Don't want the masses to think you have some kind of preference now, do we?" She smiled again, holding the small stack of papers to her chest like some kind of schoolgirl. She was careful with her other arm, not wanting to cause some kind of botch already.
"Will that be all, then?" Gemma inquired, having looked around the room a moment earlier. There was a small chance she wanted Nanami to say no, but she was absolutely ecstatic to tell Matthew she met somebody today. Of course, there was no need to tell him that this somebody happened to be a woman or that he knew her personally. No, that could wait for another date. First, she had to figure out some way to hide her tattoo for one more day. She wasn't going to allow her to come down from her mini-high, not so soon, anyway.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Mar 25, 2011 9:10 am
Nanami returned Gemma's grin as well as she could, but she was in no way as good of a smiler that she was~ Her mother had always taught her that showing her teeth was crude, and even though she had tried to rebel against her parents' teachings as much as she could when she was a teen, some habits never went away. She wasn't even conscious of most of these, like subtly restraining herself or covering her mouth when she had to grin as wide as Gemma was. "Advertisement is always welcome," she laughed. (She slipped her hand up to rest on her chin, as part of her 'hide your teeth!' reflex.) "I don't know anything about authors or barbers, but I'll take your word for it," she added with a small wink. She couldn't help but feel a tad guilty; she had known Carly for a good while, and she hadn't ever really asked her much about her job. What a bad friend!
Giving Gemma another thankful smile, Nanami shifted her weight slightly and nodded at the woman's last question. "That should be it for now. But don't hesitate to come back if you think something's wrong," she explained sternly, in a somewhat motherly way. "...Or if you'd just like to chat again. I'd like that even more," she added, failing at teasing yet again. Oh, why did she even try? Sure, she could have offered to let Gemma stay and have a drink (she had quite a collection gathering in her pantry) but she didn't want to seem like the type who'd drink hard liquor this early in the day. Besides, Gemma seemed to be a busy woman, she didn't want to keep her up any longer than she should. Afterall, she still didn't know her that well, she could have been the type of person who would politely accept and sit there all day, even if she had other things to do.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Apr 01, 2011 5:42 pm
Gemma's fingers twiddled with the edges of the small stack of papers Nanami had handed her earlier, an unconscious movement. Was Nanami holding back her smile? Not that Gemma blamed her, most people did. Gemma had grown the tendency early on into her career; children loved smiley, happy people. And she did it so much that it just spilled into her personalities make-up. If she were not such a happy and peppy person, she'd scowl all the time, probably. But Gemma was glad that Nanami wasn't that knowledgeable about barbers or authors, it would be soo embarassing if she had been wrong! And she really didn't want to embarass herself, not around Nanami! Nothing kills a first (personal) impression about one's self than being wrong, but thinking it was right. It's only human, but that was still not something to brag about.
And then, that was it! Her mouth fell open the slightest bit, her mind screaming happily. Did she just get invited back for a 'chat'? People were usually turned off by chatting with her, but she was making an effort to not be so weird in public now. Just look at how well she's done! Two new friends, two! Nanami and Crimson, who were both interesting looking people and total opposites in the physical spectrum. But, they were both just so easy to talk to. Crimson, especially. She didn't have to try to impress him, so she could be more open with him than with Nanami. They were both pleasantly easygoing, if just everyone were like that, the world would be perfect! Ah, but that was an utopia that would never come... How sad.
"Of course!" Gemma replied a little too quickly, "Maybe you could show me around town a little. Matthew's been so busy with--" Banging that brunette to care, "Work that he barely has any time for me. Not that I expect him to, but, yea, y'know?" Gemma shrugged, closing her eyes with a 'what can you do?' expression. After a moment, she looked out through the glass and decided that it was time to leave. "But, yeah, we should totally do that." She nodded, a smile on her face again. It wasn't as nice as before, though. As she walked over to the door, she paused, "I'll be seeing you, then." She smiled softly one more time, before she walked out of the door and disappeared into the horizon... or more like, went back to her house and squealed like a schoolgirl into her pillow. Oh, Gemma, how youthful you are at heart!
[Exit Gemma~]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Apr 29, 2011 10:11 pm
- New day, and new year! =0 - 
It was another quiet day at Seven Seas, but unlike the others, there was only one person in the sun room -- and it wasn't Nanami. Haruka wasn't usually the type to spend much time in the tattoo parlor, because there was always a chance she'd run into a customer and have to entertain them until her mother came in, but today, it was necessary. Why? Because she had toenails to paint! And nothing had a chair-to-table ratio like the receptionist desk. And so the young woman sat in Raiden's chair, her feet placed firmly against the corner of the table top. A tube of light pink nail polish was in one hand, while the other focused on gently moving the brush over her neatly trimmed nails. This was her designated activity of the day, and she had been at it since morning.
Haruka paused for a moment to lean forward and blow the coat dry, though not without shifting in the chair uncomfortably. She was wearing a pair of jogging shorts, and her thighs were covered in goosebumps. It was probably still too cold to wear shorts, but she didn't want to risk getting nail polish on a skirt or pants. So shorts it was!
After a moment, she set about working on a second coat. Oh, it was making her back start to ache... Dear lord, she was getting old...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Apr 29, 2011 10:20 pm
Raiden couldn't resist himself. The window made it easy for him to perfectly see that Haruka was sitting in his chair. He cleverly pushed the door slowly as not to alarm the ding-er and slipped on in. He had a devilish grin on his face as he crept up next to the desk, he then saw that she was holding nail polish. This was going to be great. He stepped closer and closer until he knew one more inch would give him away. "Booooooo!" He screamed as loud as he could muster and jumped towards her, his lanky fingers touching her side and lower back. He retreated them to grip his own side as he bellowed over in laughter. Haruka was just too fun to mess with!
He smirked towards her and moseyed around the table so he could get a look at what damage had been done and what expression was plastered to her face. "Good morning, Haruka." His voice literally chimed as he greeted her. He loved adding little d**k moves to his tricks. He could be so cruel to people sometimes. But, his theory was that she asked for it. If you weren't so shy and jumpy, no one would want to mess with you. Same with Zell. These young little shy things were all the same.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Apr 29, 2011 10:54 pm
Haruka didn't really think of herself as a jumpy person. Usually she managed to be pretty composed, and it took a lot to really startle her. But she had been concentrating so hard on making the coats neat and even, she really hadn't been expecting someone to interrupt her. ...Or, you know, scream loudly and grab her. Like Raiden did.
The sound made Haruka lurch forward, and his hands grabbing her sides made her jump back up straight. "...Hnnn...!" She let out a series of indistinguishable cries as her heart leapt into her throat and her brain turned off temporarily. For a split second, she honestly thought she was going to die there. Dammit, she didn't want to die a virgin. A virgin with sloppy nails, at that! But after that second was gone, she realized that it was Raiden. And that's when she sank back in the chair, searching for that certain face so she could shoot daggers at it.
"Raiden!" she exclaimed, placing the side of her hand up against her forehead. She could feel a blush start to creep in, and that was her lame attempt to hide it. "What the hell was that for?"
Haruka shifted in her seat, and that's when she noticed... the mess. While she was busy levitating out of her seat, the bottle of nail polish had been scared right out of her hand, emptying its contents on her lap. So when she looked down and saw that the skin ranging from her knees to her lower thighs were coated a light pink, she stared at the mess for a while. Well, at least the shorts were a good idea. Didn't make it any better to have nail polish all over her legs, but... at least she had been prepared.
"Goddammit, Raiden, why'd you have to do that?" she asked pathetically, as if all of the energy in her body had been zapped, instantly. But not so much that she couldn't lean forward to whack him lightly on the arm.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Apr 30, 2011 9:41 pm
Raiden's smirk widened as Haruka screeched his name. Ah, the sweet sound of an angry girl screaming his name-- wait. That sounded bad. Either way, he was so entirely thrilled by the fact that he had actually scared her. It would have been a waste of time and energy if she wouldn't have been phased by it. He couldn't contain the laughter and started giggling like a little retard when she inquired. "I just love to mess with you." He placed his hands in his pockets and studied her, his eyes then followed hers down to her lap. "Holy ********> He didn't really know what else to say! Sure, he felt completely awful about the nail polish covering her, but it was honestly worth it.
He laughed at her with the smack to his arm. "Is that all you got?" He smiled at her and then looked back down to the mess. "Wait here. I'll get you a damp paper towel." He walked to the bathroom and grabbed that which he said he would, putting a tad bit of water on it and squeezing it before his return back. He walked back around and squatted down beside her and began rubbing the napkin on her covered thighs. He was too worried about trying to fix the problem that he caused that he completely overlooked how entirely awkward it was to be wiping her thighs clean for her.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Apr 30, 2011 10:16 pm
Really, this wouldn't be so bad if he didn't look so pleased. Haruka could handle some playful teasing, even a bit of cruelty every once in a while. But when she saw Raiden's reaction, it made her want to slap that smirk off of his face. But she would never hit him, and so all she could do was sit in embarrassment and loathing. "Yeah, yeah," she mumbled as he giggled. What an idiot. She didn't understand why she spent so much time with him. Well, she kind of did. But that was a secret.
But before Haruka could scold him for being reckless and immature, he ran off to get a paper towel. "Wait, you don't have to--" Ahh, too late, he was inside. Haruka turned back around in her seat and crossed her arms. She hated it when he was immature and teased her, but she also hated it when he was nice and took responsibility for his actions. It made it hard for her to hate him. Yes, it was incredibly complicated being Haruka.
Moments later, the man returned, paper towels in hand. Haruka reached out to take the damp towel, but he beelined for her legs and she never had a chance to take it before he started touching her. She stiffened instantly, staring down at her legs in shock. And then her face began to erupt in dozens of shades of red. Yes, she was usually a composed person, and she was mature for her age, but that didn't change the fact that a man was touching her legs. And not like her ankles or anything. Above the knee. Considering her last boyfriend was when she was thirteen, this was a level of intimacy she really didn't know how to handle.
"I-I-I can do it!" she stammered, her voice unusually high from embarrassment, as she reached to yank the paper towel from Raiden's hands. She was red ear to ear, and even though she tried to shield her face, there was no way one of her skinny arms could hide it. It was a futile effort but Haruka was a stubborn girl, and she would fight until the very end.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu May 05, 2011 5:05 pm
Raiden continued rubbing the paper towel against Haruka's thighs. He was about to ask her about her day and all that chummy good stuff when he heard her. He stopped, his hand placed conveniently against the edge of her shorts, and looked up at her. Sure, his hand was dangerously far up her thigh. But, it was his fault that this mess happened, so he should be the one to fix it. Isn't that how it worked? It was official, girls made no sense 90% of the time. He pulled the paper towel out of her reach as she grabbed for it. Then, he just kind of stared up at her for a few short moments before folding the paper towel over and rubbing again. His smirk grew as the thoughts finally formed something in the dense skull of his. Haruka was embarrassed! That was a wonderful added bonus to this entire thing!
He tried to keep himself from chuckling, "It's gonna be okay." There was a small pause, "Harry." His eyes lit up as he said that and he glanced from her mostly clean thigh back up to her, "that really rolls off the tongue. Do you like it?" His face was just so eager, he had never come up with a nickname before! "But, really. I'm sorry about that. It is my fault. So, I'm just taking responsibility and fixing it for you. Isn't that what I'm supposed to do?" He finished her other leg off and stood back at full height.
Raiden took a cheap shot to throw the messy paper towel into the trashcan. "All better. Well, except for that stain on your shorts. But, I'm sure it'll come out. Hopefully. The main point is that your legs are back to their pasty, non-polish-y selves." He smiled at her then realized how that sounded. "Erm, wait. Not that you're pasty. Like in a bad uhh... cracker kind of way. No, you just have gorgeous pale legs. Like porcelain. It's a good thing. Wait. Umm, not that I've been checking out your legs. I just happened to notice. I mean when your rubbing something thoroughly you tend to notice how it looks. Wait, uh... I... I don't rub things often. Not that I don't like to rub things, I'm just not promiscuous with the things I rub. Not that you know, rubbing would make you promiscuous. There are all sorts of things that you could rub and it not be bad at all. I'm just really not one of those people. I tend to try to steer away from all of that rubbing. Not good for the complexion I hear. Umm. You have nice legs, Harry." He finally shut up. His left hand was clenched tightly into a fist and his right was digging into his neck. His face was gradually becoming more and more red with every word he stumbled out. He hoped that maybe the hair would distract from his red cheeks, but it only amplified it, causing his face to look like one giant, plump tangelo.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu May 05, 2011 5:54 pm
...Horrified. That was the only word that could properly describe Haruka's current state of emotion. If her life had gone the way she had wanted, she would have taken that paper towel from Raiden's hand, he would have stopped touching her legs, and the two of them could have carried on to talk about more pleasant things, like the new year, or her upcoming birthday. But her life very rarely went the way she truly wanted it to go, and so she didn't succeed in taking the paper towel away. It wasn't her own sheer clumsiness either, it was Raiden, as if he wanted to keep going. That was enough to push Haruka to a new level of embarrassment.
Oh, but it did not end there. He sensed her embarrassment, that troll, and was teasing her now. "'H-Harry'?" she questioned with raised eyebrows. What the hell kind of nickname was that? That wasn't cute at all! Damn it, if there was one person she wanted to be cute and feminine in front of all the time, it would be... No. No. Nope. She was not allowing that sentence to be completed. But even though every part of her brain screamed at Raiden to not call her that, she couldn't say a word. She was too shellshocked by this whole thing, overwhelmed by the roller coaster of emotions she was currently riding.
Haruka was too embarrassed, too uncomfortable, too horrified, and she covered her face with her hands. She just... didn't have the brain power to see that smirk. That's when Raiden began to ramble. Haruka first peeked through her fingers, shooting him a look overflowing with confusion and horror as he called her legs pasty. Oh god, kill her now! She was just about to open her mouth and let out an equally flustered stream of nonsense about how she always got pale during the winter, and that it was just because her legs hadn't seen sun in a season, but thankfully for her pride (sort of), he continued. Now she fully lowered her hands, folding them neatly in her lap as she stared up at him with wide eyes. He was rambling about rubbing and promiscuity and her legs, and she had no idea what was happening. All she knew was by the end of it, he had complimented her legs, called her by that gawdawful nickname again, and was just about as red as she was. They probably made for an entertaining sight, the two of them, bright red and silently dying of embarrassment. And that's when she spoke.
"...Uhm... thank... you...?" Haruka said finally, looking up at the man helplessly. She had no idea what was going on or if she should really thank him, but she figured that it would be polite... No, either way, it was weird. Really weird. For both of them. Argh, she was an idiot. She softly cleared her throat and stood up, finally setting down the significantly emptier bottle of nail polish on the desk, then removing it again when she remembered where she was. "Yeah... rubbing... it's tricky..." Okay, now she really wasn't paying attention to what she was saying. She stepped to the side, giving him full access to his desk. "Uh, you can have your seat back. Sorry for sitting in it. The seat-to-desk ratio, you see..." She let out a nervous laugh, though it came out unnaturally high pitched. "Happy new year, Raiden." She was trying to change the subject now, though it was anything but graceful. She reached up to tuck her hair behind her ear, and when her hand brushed up against her check, she died a little bit inside. She was still bright red, but maybe he wouldn't notice.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun May 08, 2011 3:11 pm
Raiden kept an entirely awkward expression on his face as the silence continued. He didn't even really notice that she hated the nickname he had bestowed upon her. He watched her cover her face and could not resist how adorable it was. That, in turn, just made him blush that much harder and made his face that much redder. She thanked him? That seemed extremely odd since everything he had rambled came purely off the top of his head. He smiled, that kind of made him feel better. So, his face began to gain its paleness back.
He was about to open his mouth and ask her about stupid things like if she was still in school and all sorts of other dumb things, but she commented back about the rubbing which made it awkward all over again. He simply kept the smile and nodded, he didn't know what else there could be said about rubbing. He felt he had already said too much. He shook his head at her, "Oh, no no no. I don't mind standing. You can sit here if you want, it's not like I need to be sitting there for this, y'know?" He looked around the place to make sure there weren't any customers that he had overlooked in his search to tease Haruka. He then stopped to look at her with a slight what the ********> when she laughed high enough to shatter glass. Then came the generic saying. "Yeah, happy new year to you too, Harry. Did you have a good one?" He smiled happily and looked at his desk to make sure there weren't any papers Nanami may have left him to mess with.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun May 08, 2011 4:14 pm
Raiden's face was already returning to its usual tone, but Haruka's blush lingered. It was the awkwardness of it all. Really, what did she have to do to shake off that awful trait of hers? She would do anything to be cool, calm, and charismatic, even just for one day. Maybe it would be worth a visit to a fairy or two. She didn't really believe in them per se, but it was never too late to change one's beliefs, right? But even if she ran to the fairies or the Harvest Goddess and begged for some magical fix to her social clumsiness, it didn't change the fact that she was stumbling in this moment. She considered Raiden a friend, but that didn't mean that she was comfortable enough to take a step back and laugh at the situation.
"It's your desk. You should sit," Haruka argued back, despite the change in subject. She stepped forward and placed her hands on his shoulders, pausing for a moment to think about what she was doing. He was skinny, wasn't he? After a brief second of contemplating Raiden's build, she then pushed him towards the chair, but soon her embarrassment got the best of her, and she had to abandon ship before she could weakly push into sitting. Even though she stopped moving her arms, she still held on, and stood like that for a moment before realizing what she was doing and quickly pulled her arms back, folding her hands behind her back. "Ahh, yeah, it was fine. Kind of boring. Mom went out drinking at the Grindhouse, so I just stayed here." ...Dammit, she should have said that she went drinking, too. That would have been the cool thing to say, right? She was old enough now. Now she sounded like a kid who stayed home on New Year's. "I mean, I didn't stay because I had to. I wanted to! I could have gone too if I wanted to. I'm an adult now." Ahhh, she just made it worse! "I mean! ...What about you, Raiden? What did you do?" How stupid.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon May 09, 2011 9:08 pm
Raiden rolled his eyes at Haruka in a playful manner as she tried to be forceful back at him. She was just not going to let him be a gentleman at all today! Why had he even been trying? He was about to retort and tell her how it really didn't matter and that he could stand all day, but he was soon distracted by the hands on his shoulders. He thought she was giving him some sort of weird massage, but he wasn't so lucky. He was awkwardly pushed forward and down forcing him to start falling forward. He reached out his arms to grab for the desk, but slipped when doing so and had to grab for the chair and then fell into said chair. His eyes were wide once he landed on something solid. "I'm not normally this clumsy. Or red." He spun the chair around to face her, even though he knew he would regret it. His face was already pink again. It was one of those things in life that was terribly awkward, but you had to acknowledge it.
But, he was quickly back on topic and chuckling at her. It made it a little better to know that he wasn't the only one being extremely awkward in the room. He wasn't ever like this, could it be that she drew out the awkwardness in him? If so, he'd need to stay the heck away from her. This wasn't fun at all. "The Grindhouse is a pretty fun place, I've gone every year now." He smiled, trying to act as though he wasn't still embarrassed. "Is there any reason you stayed at home? Too cool? Busy? Surely you didn't just want to be alone?" He put his hands behind his head on the seat and looked up at her awaiting her glorious answer. It was kind of funny, he was questioning her about wanting to be alone when all he ever wanted was to be alone.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon May 09, 2011 9:49 pm
Haruka had been hoping that if Raiden sat down, some of this awkwardness would go away. But even though she had "won", he was now sitting in his proper seat, it really didn't help at all. He was just so clumsy, he didn't sit... he kind of fell into the chair. It startled her, and for a moment, she felt guilty. Should she apologize? She opened her mouth to say something, when he spoke instead. It surprised her as well, his words. He admitted to blushing, and when she saw his face, she was suddenly hit by the urge to laugh. She held it back. She couldn't laugh in his face like that. So she focused on his words instead.
So he regularly went to the Grindhouse? "...Maybe I should go this year..." she thought aloud. Not that she minded staying home. But maybe once, it wouldn't hurt to go out, especially if she knew people who were going to be there. When he questioned her reasons, she paused. Why did she stay home every year? Even she probably wasn't sure of the reasons for it. "I don't know," she replied after a moment of thought. "Maybe it's because Mom's always here. Sometimes it's nice to have the house to myself..." Yes, that sounded good! She would go with that for the time being. He'd probably understand, right? She wouldn't be marked as immature or antisocial?
Now Haruka looked at Raiden straight on, as she had been focusing elsewhere thoughtfully. He just looked so comfortable, so relaxed in the chair, but she could still see a small trace of his earlier embarrassment. All of a sudden, she remembered his flustered, red face from when she had pushed him into the chair, and she couldn't hold back anymore. "Pfft," she clapped her hand over her mouth as she started to laugh. At first, she looked mortified that she had actually laughed. But then it came back, and she couldn't stop. She covered her mouth with both hands as she sank down into a crouch, her giggling shaking her shoulders. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, but... Your face..." She could barely say it through her laughter.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jun 16, 2011 2:21 am
Raiden was still holding his clothes tight in his hand. He knew he couldn't go home with how drunk he was, so where did he go? The worst place possible. To work. It wasn't too late in the evening, so he knew it should still be open. He checked the handle and sure enough, he was right. He stepped into the door and fell to the ground in front of it. He held his head back against the glass of the door and held his hands in front of his face. His pile of clothing were placed on the floor next to him. He just felt like he didn't even have the energy for that. He then fully realized where he was and couldn't understand why he ran here instead of home. Maybe the realization that he had been a homosexual all along made him not okay with seeing Zelynity.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
