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Post by glitters on Feb 20, 2009 11:18:55 GMT -5
Hala smiled at Kevin, taking the book across to the counter and opening it back up again. "And you know they're always available whenever you come over," she then looked over her shoulder to Andy, "he's been such a good friend to the family. I don't think Jasmine's ever cared for him too much, but she and I have different tastes when it comes to people we accept for company--she's a bit like her father was, in that sense."
She set to work cooking up dinner before speaking again, "Kevin, you were staying? You and this Mr. Jammer seem like you have some serious business to do. Feel free to ask me for anything to help you."
Hala was a very courteous hostess, but you had to be if you willingly let most people into your home for treatments of illnesses and injuries. She peered back outside the window to see that at least Jasmine wasn't moping, she and Kara seemed to be involved in quite the conversation.
Hala secretly hoped that this conversation was at least about cute boys. Girls their age shouldn't be worrying about saving the world or taking part in a war, they should be worrying about finding a good and handsome husband someday. Or at least that's what she thought.
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Post by Andy Jammer on Feb 20, 2009 13:56:54 GMT -5
Kevin nodded, "Thank you very kindly ma'am."
Andy frowned though, he wanted to be with Kara and Jasmine rather than this man he hardly knew. He was fine but he felt more comfortable with his two friends.
Wait, friends? Do...I call them my friends? he thought.
The answer was yes.
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Post by glitters on Feb 21, 2009 16:57:37 GMT -5
There was a soft knock at the door and Jasmine poked her head in, almost with an uncertain look on her face.
"Mind if we join you all again?" she asked quietly. Hala responded with, "You come in and get those vegetables from the closet." Jasmine smiled and did exactly as she was told, every now and then stealing a glance at Andy.
When she was finished, she walked over to him and tilted her head to the side and asked him, "Is everything okay? You look so sad..."
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Post by Andy Jammer on Feb 21, 2009 21:34:49 GMT -5
Andy blinked at Jasmine's question before putting on a grin, "Who? Me? I'm just fine, why do you ask?"
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Post by glitters on Feb 22, 2009 2:50:04 GMT -5
Jasmine was, in fact, completely thrown off by Andy's sudden grin. Nevertheless, she smiled as she said, "I'm just checking, I guess, you seemed almost a little disappointed..."
She walked up closer to him where she took a long moment to study his face, her smile widening as she did so. "It's a good thing you aren't, though...you...have a really nice smile."
She stalked off, picking up a bunch of the vegetables that she was sent to gather and started helping her mother chop them up to throw in the pot.
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Post by Andy Jammer on Feb 22, 2009 8:10:39 GMT -5
Andy blinked several times as Jasmine left, he tilted his head as his voice failed to form words.
"Um...I... what?"
Meanwhile Kevin was silently observing this scene from the table. A warrior and his Sage... this could cause complications for them, hope they can make it.
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Post by glitters on Feb 22, 2009 19:09:29 GMT -5
Jasmine lowered her head enough so that her hair covered most of her face as she worked. She silently giggled at Andy's response, he was so confused.
Then again, so was she. She spoke the truth, and as simple as a truth it was, she had had such a hard time trying to tell him it. It was like the moment she looked at him in the eye, her brain was either starting to forget words or she suddenly found a simple compliment something that was embarrassing to say.
It was weird, but it was something that made her very happy to do, oddly enough.
Hala looked over at Jasmine curiously and Jasmine just looked up at her with her usual smile, nothing out of the ordinary. Jasmine said nothing more to Andy for the time being, but Hala started telling stories about people who had shown up at their home for various reasons in the past. As Hala finished cooking and started setting up the table, she began telling what was, quite obviously, her favourite one...
"...and then I woke up one morning and found a man passed out on my porch. I took him in, gave him the rest he needed to recover and everything, and since then he kept showing up and giving me all sorts of odd things--everything from little decorations and jewellery to spices and fruit from all over the planet," she paused, setting everything down for everyone to start helping themselves, though she went ahead and filled up a huge plate of food for Andy and shoved it in front of him, "that man travelled the globe! He'd disappear for months at a time and show up with something exotic. We did this for a few years before, believe it or not, we got married."
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Post by Andy Jammer on Feb 22, 2009 19:34:18 GMT -5
"Oh really?" Andy asked, taking of a few bites of the food in front of him. He was feeling a little famished. "What was your husband, Jasmine's father, like?"
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Post by glitters on Feb 23, 2009 2:50:49 GMT -5
"What was he like? Well..." Hala looked at Jasmine, "Jasmine wouldn't know, she was only three when he...well, anyway. Vincent was quite the 'eccentric' man, I'd say. He was very charming, very charismatic...chose his associates very carefully, though. Most people would have said he was a very 'laid back' kind of fellow, someone anyone could get along with, but to give an example...in a crowd of hundreds, he'd choose only a few people, if that, to trust with information that was as basic as where he grew up."
She bit her lip and then noticed that Jasmine hadn't touched anything on her plate. She gave her a pat on the back to encourage her to start and then she continued, "I don't know how far his connections go as he travelled the world, but to my knowledge he truly trusted only two people with his very life--me, and Yeligar Maelstrom."
With that, Hala was silent for a good, long moment before she looked around at everyone with a big smile and asked, "So, how is dinner going?"
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Post by Andy Jammer on Feb 23, 2009 7:20:46 GMT -5
Yeligar Maelstrom... did you really kill Jasmine's father? Andy thought, even though his face bore a smile.
"Dinner's great, it's the first real dinner I had in awhile," he answered honestly.
Kevin agreed as well, although he seemed to be interested by the story of Jasmine's father. Or he really liked tonight's dinner, it was hard to tell with Kevin Uruhane.
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Post by glitters on Feb 23, 2009 12:48:43 GMT -5
"Vincent...Loque..." Jasmine muttered as she picked at her plate. This news was incredible to her, she had never known a thing about her father besides that he was, obviously, not with them. And where she wasn't going to call her mother a liar, something inside of her was sure that the Yeligar Maelstrom she met outside at the lake awhile ago was a truthful man, and that there had to be something more to her father's death.
Hala simply smiled at the compliments she got from supper, and as she looked around at them, a thought came to her head. She strolled out of the room and down the hall, reaching up at a shelf up high for a box. She brought it back into the kitchen area, opening it up and pulled out a magnificent dagger with a pure gold handle covered in glittering jewels. She walked up and gently set it in the middle of the table.
"He brought me this, once. He was a Commander of sorts at sea, and said he encountered pirates many a time, telling me that this came from one of their ships," she said quietly.
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Post by Andy Jammer on Feb 23, 2009 14:42:55 GMT -5
"Wow, it sounds like he had some amazing adventures," Andy agreed staring at the knife in her hand. Kevin was only mildly interested in the knife, he seemed to be observing something else.
"Not particularly hungry?" Kevin asked Jasmine, whom he noticed barely touched her food.
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Post by Kara Samsra on Feb 23, 2009 15:10:47 GMT -5
Kara stood silently in the doorway listening to Hala and the others talk. She didn't want to part with the brisk, cool air outside. Neither was she all tht hungry surprisingly.
The story of Jasmine's father sturred up a few fond memories of her own departed family as she stared out blankly at the sun setting. One lone tear escaped the side of her left eye and no more. Kara wouldn't allow herself to cry over them any longer, they'd want her to move on and be of use to the new world.
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Post by glitters on Feb 23, 2009 15:29:05 GMT -5
"Oh, Mr. Jammer, you have no idea. He'd come home with plenty of stories to tell," Hala smiled down at the knife, but then frowned sadly as she remembered the moment she was told that he had died, "...so many stories..."
Jasmine was too busy trying to take in all of this new information that she hadn't realized Kevin was talking to her. When she saw him looking at her, she jumped to attention, sputtering, "W-what? Did I miss something? I was just...um..." she looked down at the dagger herself, biting her lip, but then noticed that Kara was still standing outside. She tried to escape Kevin's question by calling out to Kara, "K-kara, you really should come try this!"
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Post by Kara Samsra on Feb 23, 2009 21:15:30 GMT -5
She rubbed at her sore eyes and then turned with a smile to Jasmine. "Oh! Sure." Kara looked down at the dagger with slight intrigue. "Why is it so dull? That would be of no use at all in combat..." She sighed resignatedly. "But the making looks to be that of Santo-Luce. They favor gems and sparkles instead of real craftsmanship in the actual blade."
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