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 Posted: Fri Dec 11, 2009 3:22 pm
 Rufina was late, as always, and lost, as always. She never did have a sense of time or direction, which got her in trouble tons of times when meeting up with friends, but she made up for her lateness with her vibrant personality or her wonderful gift giving skills. Luckily, this time she wasn’t meeting up with anyone in particular and was on her own, which was an adventure in itself. So many times she’s stumbled upon alley shops and corner cafes no one really paid attention to, and inside there would be countless wonders. Rufina was a collector, a collector of beautiful things. Maybe it was the crow in her blood, but anything sparkly and shiny instantly caught her eye while anything old and valuable made her mouth water, which complimented the owl in her. She wasn’t particularly rich, far from it, but she did have a comfortable income working at the Gabbiani as a food runner. There was always someone who would ask her just how she landed such a job, and she would simply smile and say “Having friends can be beneficial!” It was true, a simple phone call from a high paying regular, who oh so happened to be a friend of a best friend, gave her that little extra leeway to work at the Gabbiani. The tips from that place were amazing, and coupled with her income, it supported her hobby of being such a collector.
She had plans to work herself up from a food runner to actually being the boss of the kitchen, so her hobby could be fed full force! Why was she so adamant? Because half of the goodies in her house were little gifts not necessarily given to her… okay, MOST. Meaning that, some time ago, she used to be a master thief. Oh yeah, the whole sha-bang of wire hangers, high tech glasses, the pocket knife that contained everything a self-respected thief couldn’t go without, that side-kick in the ear piece, everything. In her old lifestyle, she learned that though jewels were highly valuable, it was the old things, like scrolls and books and weaponry, which were the hardest to obtain. In her house (yes, HOUSE, she sold some of the trinkets that she could go without that gave her the highest value), the décor had a homely feel to it with its sage greens, whites, and blacks. In every corner though, there would be something high priced (or imitation, to protect the things she didn’t want stolen) or something unremarkable (which would, 9 times out of 10, fetch a heart-stopping coin). Her library was large, if put together it would take up the whole of her living room by itself. But to save space, she divided it up, bookshelves in the living room, dining room, her bedroom, (copies) in the guest rooms, the rest in her study room. By looking at Rufina, most wouldn’t think she had such antique tastes because her appearance was simple and half (two-thirds) of her closet came from thrift stores. What looked most expensive on her would be the headphones on her head and maybe the shoulder bag which strap was settled in the middle of her chest (which made men stare at her longer than they intended to). With a skip in her step, she making her way to a place she’s heard about but ALWAYS seemed to miss!
The WISH Contemporary Arts gallery.
And today was Friday, which MEANT, today was one of those Nu-Vogue Art-N-Ect (or something like that, she wrote it down) events! Which meant she could fill her house with more trinkets from well-meaning and undiscovered artists! WHEEEE!
Stepping inside of the gallery… she almost got ran over by a crowd. She had flatten herself against the doors as they sped past her, chatter and happy quipping as they passed by unnoticed Rufina. She sighed in relief that she was able to dodge that death crowd, because her delicate build would’ve been crushed and easily by those ruffians. “Okay, where to go, where to go..?” Rufina said to herself as she looked around with a bright smile and eyes twinkling. Oh, it was so MUCH better than she could’ve EVER imagined! Everyone was moving, everything was alive, ART was EVERYWHERE! Literally, everywhere! On the walls, on the ceiling, and if she looked down—YES! There was art under her feet! Behind reinforced glass! Oh ho ho ho, yeeeeessss…. ‘This is heaven, isn’t it?’ She thought as she floated through the gallery on cloud nine, on a mental high that could out-do any mind altering drug. ‘Can I die here? If I were to be murdered, let it be here so I can haunt this WONDERFUL place forever!’ She couldn’t keep her eyes focused on one spot! She was going to get whiplash like hell, but it would SO worth it! Ah, but she had to concentrate… yes… She had a theme she was trying out in her house and she needed a little more…
Every season, she would rotate the items in her house to reflect whatever theme she had in mind. Last season, it was “Victorian Age” theme and this season she wanted an “Asian” theme to her home. She was shocked at how little Asian-esque things she had in her hideaway inventory! Shame, shame! And here she was, a wanted international thief! HA! The thief they were looking for had black hair (thank you Salon Durem!)… Rufina was naturally a red-head but Vanessa was SO good at re-color that her hair may as well had been ebony colored! After a few days of washing, rewashing, Head and Shoulders, Suave, Optimum Premium, rinsing, and repeating, now Rufina was back to her original hair color. Body condoms made it so she never left behind a strand of DNA, so unless Bugsy (her then partner in crime) wanted to start blabbing his mouth, no one would know who or where she was. Though she had to admit… in this gallery, her fingertips were starting to burn up for that need to touch things without permission… But she beat it back with a stick. She had money in her pocket, she was here to BUY!
So she waltzed into what she assumed to be the “Asian” part of this extravaganza, and again her fingertips went ablaze. ‘So… many… Asian things! Must… resist… thieving tende—OOH! What’s that?’ Like a butterfly, she went from one table or stand to another, ‘ooh’ing at the cute things and ‘wooo’ing at the beautiful things. The surface was beautiful, so she could only IMAGINE what beauties lied in the back in the corners of the walls! So that’s where she went (bypassing a lot of things that almost made her cry from how her fingers felt like they were being dipped in molten lava) and one particular little stand made her pause. It was right in the corner, as if it weren’t meant to be seen, which only made Rufina drift to it like a moth to a blaze torch. It was relatively small and orbital, bamboo stalks made of (actual bamboo?) what she assumed to be really realistic material encompassing most of the centerpiece. The floor was made of green colored mulched up paper, but it looked like grass, plastic rocks placed in specific places here and there. But it was what was in the middle that made Rufina stare curiously. In the middle was a naked, ball-jointed doll, in the fetal position, little finely crafted fingers covering the eyes, as if it were crying… Simple theme, but what an AMAZING impact it had on Rufina! She read the tag underneath the art piece, which said ‘Beauty is Ugly’ with no name of the artist. ‘Is… is this for sale..?’ She thought, wanting more than ever to buy this creation. Imagine her guests surprise when they peaked into this art piece, and seeing this little doll in such a vulnerable position would make their hearts stop!
And was it her imagination (she knew it wasn’t, but she was going to amuse herself) or did this little doll have a very faint glow about it? It was so wonderfully crafted… it had to be hand-made, just had to! Someone somewhere put their heart into crafting something like this and put their blood into the wood, because even though it was unmoving, it seemed so alive!
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Posted: Fri Dec 11, 2009 4:46 pm
” Excuse me, excuse me… I-I’m sorry…excuse me!”
A loud feminine voice coming from the crowd. It was very hard to hear it because of all the noise in there but some how it was going closer and closer to Rufina.
”Woo!” The voice said. It belonged to a young woman with long and curly blond hair and deep blue eyes, she wore a big pair of glasses. The woman stumbled and almost felt in the ‘sculpture’ of the doll. She was near Rufina, adjusting her glasses and giving one more look to the doll she said:
” I would never imagine! These days people call everything art! I just forgot it for a while and then suddenly it’s up for exposition!”
She began to stare at the doll… and her eyes were the ones of someone plotting…
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Posted: Fri Dec 11, 2009 5:28 pm
Rufina’s fine ear picked up on the voice approaching behind her and she looked over her shoulder, seeing a ditzy blond come her way. Now, she had nothing against blonds… too much. Hell, Bugsy was a blond (a mighty FINE blond at that, num~♥) but she received so much hell from blond cops and other thieves and her beaus wives… But she seemed nice enough. It was when she began to speak of the centerpiece that Rufina took one of the maid girl’s hands into her own giving it a vigorous shake. “Oh my Bugsy!” Rufina said excitedly, “You’re the artist of this, aren’t you? Amazing, simply AMAZING!” She pointed at the art piece. “HOW did you ever come up with a scheme such as that? WONDERFUL! Having a simple, naked doll surrounded by what can be assumed as breath-taking foliage and then naming it something SO mind tickling!” She giggled, waving her arm above it. “I must have it, I must simply HAVE IT! I’m a collector of beautiful things you see, and this has to be the most DIVINE thing I’ve seen today! Simple, plain, BRILLIANT!”
She looked at the maid with puppy dog eyes shining. “How much does it cost? I wants it sooo bad!”
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Posted: Sat Dec 12, 2009 8:35 am
At first mei was surprised but then she giggled after receiving so much compliments, who couldn’t be happy hearing such things? Even if you weren’t the person responsible at all for it, but still, she always helped during the making process… at least a bit?
”I…” Mei didn’t want to tell her that it was not an art piece, at least not in the stage it was now. She unfolded her apron and blushed while choosing carefully her words.
”I-I’m not the person who did this…” Mei bowed to the red-haired girl. ” Bu-but I know who did! And I can assure you that it can become even more beautiful~!” she smiled hapilly.
” But the bad new is that I have no idea who did this whole bamboo setting, the Haltia should be an art by itself. “ She smiled and bowed her head trying really hard to don’t break the expectations of the young lady. Weird things used to happen when such dolls were left all around, but an art exhibition? This was new to her…
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Posted: Sun Dec 13, 2009 3:28 pm
At first, Rufina’s eyes looked hurt when Mei said she wasn’t the artist but then they lit up again when she said this doll could become even more beautiful. MORE beautiful!? She just spoke the magic words. “Pleeeease take me to him!” She said, very gently plucking the doll out of its confines and cradling it as if it were a newborn. It was strange how she could be bustling with energy and then be so gentle with something at the same time. Meh, came from her previous lifestyle maybe. “We can leave this bamboo setting behind if that’s what it takes! I must meet the creator of such a fine and –oh! – so WONDEFULLY carved doll!”
Where was her manners? Her excitement must have made them null! “My name is Rufina, pleased to be meeting you! May I know your name AND the name of said great artist?”
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Posted: Sun Dec 13, 2009 4:40 pm
“Oh, oh~ My name is Mei and I am the vivid servant of Alain, the man who did this doll.” She smiled and bowed gently. For a moment she thought about asking the girl to calm down a bit, but why? It made time since someone were so happy about one of the haltias and she was a young girl, let the young live free and energetically before it’s to late, not everybody lives forever, that’s what Mei thought.
” I see that you already have the doll at your hand’s, I will go talk to the exhibition manager so you can’t take it home since it didn’t even supposed to be here” She giggled. ” Shall we go outside? I will make sure to give you all information needed for your meeting with my great master.” She smiled and gently pointed to the door.
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Posted: Sun Dec 13, 2009 4:55 pm
Mei, committed to memory. “Mei the Maid”, why the maid? Well.. She looked like one! Rufina always associated names with whatever gimmick a person was wearing, or how they talked, or how they acted, or whatever abnormalities on their physical person. Alain~ That sounded German in origin, or was it something else? Alain… that meant “Alone” or something, she read his name in a dictionary once, an old dictionary. Was it Swedish? Hmm… Wait, back to reality! Rufina nodded her head at Mei’s words. This doll wasn’t supposed to be here..? Was is stolen? GOOD HEAVENS! Awesome~ That meant it had some much more value than Rufina had thought♥!
“Outside it is, Mei! Lead the way, and I shall follow!” “Great master”, huh? Mei must work for Alain then. Who was this Alain? She was starting to get more and more interested as the day unfolded!
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Posted: Sun Dec 13, 2009 5:31 pm
“ Please, go ahead with out me, I will meet you in a moment” Mei bowed gently and headed to the upper floor of the building where the manager room was supposed to be after a minutes she met Rufina outside. She saw her and smiled, mei was carrying the doll and when approaching, she handed it to the red-haired girl . ” Here, it’s yours now. “ She added smiling and bowing.
” I guess that you will understand when I say that art mimics life, but sometimes art may have a life of it’s own.” She said trying to don’t sound so weird. Artistic people where already very weird but talking about art being alive was a whole new level. ” My master is hardly able to talk, so is it ok if I’m the one to introduce you to our little universe? “
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Posted: Sun Dec 13, 2009 5:58 pm
Rufina nodded, sticking to the wall as she made her way outside. She was a little sad to have the doll plucked from her arms, but she was gonna get it back! Mei seemed trustworthy enough! She stepped outside and waited on the steps, tapping her foot along with the beat to her headphones. Mei was a strange one… Then again, this was Gaia, who wasn’t strange? And hearing Mei’s voice made her turn around and grinned like a maniac when she was given the doll again.
“That I can understand.” Rufina said to Mei’s first statement. “Art always outlives the artist, and sooner or later, they seem to develop their own sense of existence!” She wasn’t talking literally… but something about Mei’s voice made her think otherwise. Rufina nodded her head, her full attention on Mei now (because earlier it was divided between her and her music). “Please go on.” Her interest made her voice much softer.
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Posted: Sun Dec 13, 2009 8:25 pm
When Mei got Rufina’s full attention she smiled, It was always great to find people so respective to what other’s have to say because usually people just talk and when they silent it’s because they are thinking on what to say next.
” First of all, don’t take this situation as just a moment to obtain a rarest piece of art.” She said this gently but after finishing she bowed anyway as an apologize. ” This little doll is a piece of being just like any of us. It just haven’t find it’s way in the very body you are holding, if you are able to follow my instructions you must be able to bring the soul to this body and help it achieve it’s big wish.” She made an small pause. ” Again, this isn’t just a game, we are dealing with things that are alive here… even if it doesn’t look so.” Mei finished with a smile.
{I’m about to give you the Versek so please make sure to achieve all requirements necessary for it. }
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Posted: Mon Dec 14, 2009 1:28 pm
Rufina stared at Mei, then at the doll she cradled. ‘Bodies, huh..?’ She thought with a quirk of a soft red eyebrow. Mei basically just said that Rufina is going to be responsible for more than just some animated doll. A living thing… this doll could turn into a living thing… which meant Rufina was gonna have to look after it, like a… a… mother. How did she get herself into this? She didn’t want chicks until she was at least twenty-five! But… but… As she gazed at the empty shell, she couldn’t bring herself to let it go. This empty shell called out to her! How could she ignore that? What kind of monster would that make her to ignore the call of something that obviously needed her help? She smiled cheerfully at Mei again. “Okay! Got it! That thought is outta my mind! No longer will I view this doll as a fine piece of art! I will see it as a cocoon! A cocoon waiting to burst forth with beautiful fly like that of a butterfly!” There was that flamboyancy again.
“And I promise, as I stand before you, no harm shall come to this lovely cocoon!” Siiigh, again, how did she fall into this again? Bugsy was gonna have a cow next time she spoke to him…
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Posted: Mon Dec 14, 2009 5:49 pm
“ Oh, good!” Mei smiled seeing the girl so receptive. “ Just don’t worry, this is not like a baby or a little kid. It’s not like you will have to babysitter it around. A Haltia has it own will and desires, it probably will take care of itself alone but it will need your help to achieve it’s biggest wish, so think about it like a friend, not a little pet okay? She said smiling.
“ I’m so happy that you have such will! In order to go on I must give you… this!” Mei said searching in her bag and taking from it a bamboo-straw ball. It was actually a container since it was divided in two parts and had a locket in the middle.
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Posted: Wed Dec 16, 2009 10:10 am
"Ah, so these Haltia's -is that German?- are like mini side kicks?" Rufina asked before she could stop herself. HUH! This was very interesing indeed! Little independent pocket-sized, well, shoulder buddies she could carry around..? Sounds like fun! Though this whole "wish" thing did confuse her a lot. Was it her duty to help little said Haltia obtain their dream? How big or serious was this dream? And no matter how Mei tried to spin it, it still sounded like parenting to Rufina. Hey, parents are supposed to help their child achieve their biggest aspirations and wishes (some, not all), not so much friends. If anything, friends are the stepping stones, God's apology for family!
But, meh, if Mei says Rufina is only to provide the bare minimum (including companionship) and help with a so-called "wish" (she was still a little dodgey on what that was), so be it!
But what was this? Mei was giving her gifts now? But they only just met! Then again, this could be for the "Haltia", couldn't it? Rufina's slender fingers carefully plucked it from Mei's hand, her fingertips feeling the texture of it. It looked like an Easter egg! But a dried bamboo Easter egg? Chinese had Easter? They celebrated Easter? Well anyway... It couldn't have been that because her old sense were telling her something really precious was on the inside of it! The lock was a dead giveaway (must... resist... lock picking impulse!). So it was a mini locket, huh..? "What's inside Mei?" She said turning it over in her hand, marveling at the craft of such an instrument. Rufina was also wondering how come Miss Mei didn't hand her a key as well...
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Posted: Wed Dec 16, 2009 10:47 am
“ Mini side kicks? “ Mei said laughing “ That’s a good comparation. But yes, I guess you could call them so.” She said straitening her apron. “ Please, have in mind that, this is no way an obligation on any way. The whole Haltia things should be done purely because you want to do, not because someone else told you so. But if you decline my quest I’m afraid I will have to take these beautiful pieces of art from you and give to someone else.” Mei said friendly but put special intonation in the words ‘beautiful’, ‘art’ and ‘someone’.
“ Ah, and it’s okay, you can poke the locket, it won’t open anyway, not before the certain time. “ She giggled. “ What’s inside? A soul, of course~”
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Posted: Sat Dec 19, 2009 4:32 pm
"Of course I want to! What gave the idea that I don't?" Unless the lady can read minds? GASP! BLASPHEMER! Unless she couldn't help it, like some of her other friends that could see thought floating over the person's head. Po' thangs... But back to the matter at hand... Mei just threatened to take the doll away from her (however subtle), and Rufina couldn't help but hold the doll closer with a pout. "Okay, okay! I understand... Don't change your mind on me, Mei!" Like hell she was gonna pass up having something so unique and one of a kind such as a mini side kick art piece that could walk and talk (did it eat? meh, she'd find out). A companion in her large house! She'd have a reason not to leave her house so often!
But its what Mei said next that made Rufina's eyes widen a little. "A.. soul?" Was that her mouth that was so juicy? Hmmm... Gulp! Yep, that was her mouth. "How do we get the poor thing out then?" Trapped soul items... She tended to avoid those. Well, ever since she accidently clipped a piece of jewelry that had the spirit of Giglamesh (that ******** perverted a** soul rapist!), she did. But obviously, this vessel had something to do with the Haltia in her arms. Wait a minute... did the soul go into the doll..? WAS the doll a container and did the soul animate it..?
Ugh... Her head hurt..
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