08-13-2017, 10:45 PM
Feeling very much confused, Jade’s brows drew together, eyes flicking between the agitated fiddler and her owl friend as if trying to decide which could provide a better explanation. At last, she arrived at a decision, her gaze settling upon the former. And, well! Upon closer inspection, his legs appeared to be covered in these… tiny, brown, almost barb-like spurs, their ends hooked back towards the bend of his knees in a way that was reminiscent of the thorns off a rose bush. As he absent-mindedly began to rub one leg behind the other in a indication of his distress, Jade was even more thrown off by this peculiar part of his anatomy when a thin, wiry hmmnnzzmm began, barely noticeable over the cries of gulls and the near-constant fluph-whapping of the flags flying overhead.
As Jade looked at him, the fiddler continued to speak shrilly, his voice oscillating between quiet urging and outright panic. He reminded her uncannily of a cricket. She couldn’t help but stare, either— in fact, she practically goggled at him for a half-minute or so more than would be considered polite. This gave her the opportunity to notice that the sideburns curving along the edges of his jaw were very, very comparable to mandibles, the… mouthparts twitching about whenever he opened his mouth to speak to... Espera? That was what he had called her owl friend, right? She was learning so many new things all at once, it was getting to be a lot to take in!
While this was fascinating, cool, and all other words for absolutely stupendous that lay in between, Jade still felt a little bad. It was a real bummer that the guy seemed so stressed out! Maybe she could help?
She tuned back in to the (largely one-sided) conversation. The fiddler gestured frantically around him, the instrument in his arms slicing the air with every pointed word. "I can't even tell you how frustrated you make me feel sometimes, Espera! I give you a calendar. I give you a planner. I give you a printed schedule, not written like the last one, and what do you do? You throw it all to the wayside! What do I need to do in order to get you to a performance that isn't me coming to find you every single time? Smoke signals?!"
The last word was nearly a shriek, something which made Jade's enhanced canine hearing pretty unfortunate. Even the smell of the wooden planks was getting to her, the fresh polish and distinctive grain tickling at the back of her throat like a good whiff of cinnamon. Espera didn't seem as bothered as Jade, her large, dark eyes merely glittering in silent amusement despite what Jade knew about the typical owl's hearing. Perhaps she was used to it? Cringing against the assault on her senses, the young Witch of Space turned her attention to helping Rebecca to get out of the water and get dry.
As she began to towel off Rebecca's arms and legs with a complimentary fluffy white towel (warmed to the perfect temperature by the sun), Jade cocked one ear so she could continue listening to the insect gentleman's lament.
"And if that wasn't enough, well, I'd say that you've worried Mister Kelvin almost to death. He might be all muscled-up and play at being the tough one of our crowd, my dear Espera, but he's a man of deep emotion! You disappearing after scarcely an afternoon of shore leave... it was a cause for concern for us all! What if something had happened to you?"
Oh. Jade grimaced. Ouch. She didn't know who this Kelvin guy was, but he was one heck of a trump card when it came to a good guilt trip, apparently. Glancing over to check Espera's reaction, she observed that the owl woman had stood from her seated position on the pool's ledge to face her companion's ranting and raving head-on, talon-tipped fingers hanging loosely at her sides. She appeared to be at least a little bit sheepish now, her parasol ceasing in its aimless twirling.
"Who?" she said quietly, and it was more of a statement than a question, really.
The fiddler sighed, slumping with the weight of the pushover-itude settling upon his soul.
"Yes, really, and-- wait," he paused, finally seeming to notice that his friend was not exactly alone. His brown eyes narrowed in clear suspicion, first at Jade, then Rebecca. "Who are you?"
Putting on her best 'I'm a professional!' face, Jade stuck her hand out in greeting, staunchly ignoring the fact that she was clad in swimwear and dripping saltwater all over the place. After a moment where the man seemed torn between hesitation and outright refusal, he returned the gesture. After that was all over and done with, Jade smiled. "Hi! I'm Jade, and this is Rebecca. Sorry if we stole your friend, I honestly had no idea that she had anywhere to be and she wasn't opposed to coming with us or anything, sooooooo... itwasanunintentionalkidnappingimsorry?"
The man squinted a tad more, the mandibles attached to his cheekbones clicking in soundless contemplation. At last, he spoke. "Your apology is accepted. As for introductions... while ordinarily I go by Archibald, at the moment I am Extremely Late," Archibald looked to Espera, gesturing with an undue amount of impatience for her to follow. "Come on, then. The others are waiting. Your friends may join us, too, so long as we do start to move along."
With that, he turned and made to walk-- no, glide away, he was that goshdarn important-seeming, at least four persons left behind to stare dumbly at his back.
Turning to Jade with a look that was clearly askance, Espera widened her large eyes in a look that was blatantly meant to convince them to follow, her parasol and feathers fluttering from the winds blown off from the sea. Jade, for her part, thought that whatever this "performance" was couldn't be too bad on a boat as nice as this, and so she readily agreed.
And, hey, this turned out to be a great idea!
As nice as the dining area was with its fancy-shmancy tablecloths and wall-to-wall glass windows with the horizon stretching wide across them, Jade found the group playing on the small, curtained stage to be the coolest thing to take away from the experience. Well, that and the syrupy peach crumble she was served, bits of granola and mint leaves placed precisely atop the dessert's crowning swirl of cream. It was well worth trading in her wet clothes for a more formal attire, really!
What was most amusing to Rebecca was the waiter who kept coming back to check up on them; he was dressed in a slick black suit with a white front like a bobbing penguin, something the little girl couldn't seem to get enough of. The greyish pallor to her skin was beginning to reveal a more natural skin tone, a bit of pink and brown reaching her cheeks whenever they were flushed from delight; And, while there was still something decidedly... off about her biology, Jade quietly treasured the thought that she might be recovering emotionally. So long as Rebecca was content, so, too, was Jade.
As Jade looked at him, the fiddler continued to speak shrilly, his voice oscillating between quiet urging and outright panic. He reminded her uncannily of a cricket. She couldn’t help but stare, either— in fact, she practically goggled at him for a half-minute or so more than would be considered polite. This gave her the opportunity to notice that the sideburns curving along the edges of his jaw were very, very comparable to mandibles, the… mouthparts twitching about whenever he opened his mouth to speak to... Espera? That was what he had called her owl friend, right? She was learning so many new things all at once, it was getting to be a lot to take in!
While this was fascinating, cool, and all other words for absolutely stupendous that lay in between, Jade still felt a little bad. It was a real bummer that the guy seemed so stressed out! Maybe she could help?
She tuned back in to the (largely one-sided) conversation. The fiddler gestured frantically around him, the instrument in his arms slicing the air with every pointed word. "I can't even tell you how frustrated you make me feel sometimes, Espera! I give you a calendar. I give you a planner. I give you a printed schedule, not written like the last one, and what do you do? You throw it all to the wayside! What do I need to do in order to get you to a performance that isn't me coming to find you every single time? Smoke signals?!"
The last word was nearly a shriek, something which made Jade's enhanced canine hearing pretty unfortunate. Even the smell of the wooden planks was getting to her, the fresh polish and distinctive grain tickling at the back of her throat like a good whiff of cinnamon. Espera didn't seem as bothered as Jade, her large, dark eyes merely glittering in silent amusement despite what Jade knew about the typical owl's hearing. Perhaps she was used to it? Cringing against the assault on her senses, the young Witch of Space turned her attention to helping Rebecca to get out of the water and get dry.
As she began to towel off Rebecca's arms and legs with a complimentary fluffy white towel (warmed to the perfect temperature by the sun), Jade cocked one ear so she could continue listening to the insect gentleman's lament.
"And if that wasn't enough, well, I'd say that you've worried Mister Kelvin almost to death. He might be all muscled-up and play at being the tough one of our crowd, my dear Espera, but he's a man of deep emotion! You disappearing after scarcely an afternoon of shore leave... it was a cause for concern for us all! What if something had happened to you?"
Oh. Jade grimaced. Ouch. She didn't know who this Kelvin guy was, but he was one heck of a trump card when it came to a good guilt trip, apparently. Glancing over to check Espera's reaction, she observed that the owl woman had stood from her seated position on the pool's ledge to face her companion's ranting and raving head-on, talon-tipped fingers hanging loosely at her sides. She appeared to be at least a little bit sheepish now, her parasol ceasing in its aimless twirling.
"Who?" she said quietly, and it was more of a statement than a question, really.
The fiddler sighed, slumping with the weight of the pushover-itude settling upon his soul.
"Yes, really, and-- wait," he paused, finally seeming to notice that his friend was not exactly alone. His brown eyes narrowed in clear suspicion, first at Jade, then Rebecca. "Who are you?"
Putting on her best 'I'm a professional!' face, Jade stuck her hand out in greeting, staunchly ignoring the fact that she was clad in swimwear and dripping saltwater all over the place. After a moment where the man seemed torn between hesitation and outright refusal, he returned the gesture. After that was all over and done with, Jade smiled. "Hi! I'm Jade, and this is Rebecca. Sorry if we stole your friend, I honestly had no idea that she had anywhere to be and she wasn't opposed to coming with us or anything, sooooooo... itwasanunintentionalkidnappingimsorry?"
The man squinted a tad more, the mandibles attached to his cheekbones clicking in soundless contemplation. At last, he spoke. "Your apology is accepted. As for introductions... while ordinarily I go by Archibald, at the moment I am Extremely Late," Archibald looked to Espera, gesturing with an undue amount of impatience for her to follow. "Come on, then. The others are waiting. Your friends may join us, too, so long as we do start to move along."
With that, he turned and made to walk-- no, glide away, he was that goshdarn important-seeming, at least four persons left behind to stare dumbly at his back.
Turning to Jade with a look that was clearly askance, Espera widened her large eyes in a look that was blatantly meant to convince them to follow, her parasol and feathers fluttering from the winds blown off from the sea. Jade, for her part, thought that whatever this "performance" was couldn't be too bad on a boat as nice as this, and so she readily agreed.
And, hey, this turned out to be a great idea!
As nice as the dining area was with its fancy-shmancy tablecloths and wall-to-wall glass windows with the horizon stretching wide across them, Jade found the group playing on the small, curtained stage to be the coolest thing to take away from the experience. Well, that and the syrupy peach crumble she was served, bits of granola and mint leaves placed precisely atop the dessert's crowning swirl of cream. It was well worth trading in her wet clothes for a more formal attire, really!
What was most amusing to Rebecca was the waiter who kept coming back to check up on them; he was dressed in a slick black suit with a white front like a bobbing penguin, something the little girl couldn't seem to get enough of. The greyish pallor to her skin was beginning to reveal a more natural skin tone, a bit of pink and brown reaching her cheeks whenever they were flushed from delight; And, while there was still something decidedly... off about her biology, Jade quietly treasured the thought that she might be recovering emotionally. So long as Rebecca was content, so, too, was Jade.
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Gamzee Makara Wrote:S’aight. After all, dogs have a tendency to motherfuckin’ bite.