08-30-2017, 01:53 PM
The clouds outside were gathering and dark before the dinner crowd finally dispersed, tableware and dimmed candlelight glistening faintly in the sudden absence of smoky, leather-smelling cigars, the clinking of glasses, and pleasant table discussion. Only the waiters and waitresses were left, the subdued hues of their clothing causing the room to appear bereft of the pulse and flow of life.
Jade sat before the empty stage, her hands resting on her lap and her legs tucked under her chair. The musicians were sequestered away behind a curtain that she didn’t feel would be all right for her to investigate, so she was dreamily content to sit a make light chatter with Rebecca, the grey-skinned girl’s easy cheer and upbeat smile having returned, so different from the sad sack Jade had been only a couple of hours ago.
But, now… now, Jade could hardly stop her cheeks from smiling! There was something so, so magical about being cast off into a new situation, a new place that excited her to no visible end. It had been almost impossible to keep herself from staring at all of the diverse, many-faceted people milling around her in Costa del Sol, and now, in such close quarters inside the bowels of a cruise-liner, she really couldn’t keep herself from staring. She drank in the sights, the clothes, the fancy hairdos and the smell of product in the nearest person’s hair, even the infinitesimal twitches and expressions people made, sometimes the scarcest, shrewd tremble of a bottom lip spelling the cavernous difference between joy and sorrow.
Sure, she had been to Minas Tirith for the Colosseum— that had been a wonderful experience in and of itself!— and she had made all sorts of new friends along the way, but it never ceased to amaze her how so many people could gather in one place, talk to each other, crack jokes, argue, live, breathe, and just do all of the insignificant yet earth-shattering things that made a society… Well, a society! It was incredible. It was terrifying. It was something she had never before in her life borne witness to.
Until now.
She almost wished she could ask some conductor to put on the brakes and tell everything and everyone to slow the hell down, because, hey, she could hardly catch her breath over here! Honestly, she could see why some people became overwhelmed by it all and chose to live in isolation, but... Jade just couldn’t tire of it. It was a dizzying sensation, as if she'd been inhaling nitrous oxide. She was sure she would one day make herself ill from it all, like a dehydrated person might after supping water down too quick, but she couldn’t bring herself to care.
Listening to Rebecca talk, Jade leaned heavily into one of her palms from where her elbow was propped up on the table, a faraway smile on her face. She really had spent so much time alone. Didn’t she deserve something as simple as this?
A thick thummflp like the heavy fall of fabric made one of Jade’s ears flick, the white-furred shell cocking to the side. Turning her head, she watched as Espera and the other two players emerged from behind the velvet curtain, the owlish woman holding a flute in one hand and a small white cleaning rag in the other.
“Who?” she asked, glancing pointedly between Rebecca, Jade, and then the lounging form of Bec laying at their feet.
Cricket-like spurs on the backs of his legs rubbing together, the fiddler looked somewhat annoyed when he translated: “So. Would the three of you like to go for a break with us?”
Jade had no idea how so much information could be crammed into the single, unassuming syllable of ”who?” She ultimately found that she didn't care.
“Sure!” Jade said, bouncing up onto her feet. "Where to?"
Jade sat before the empty stage, her hands resting on her lap and her legs tucked under her chair. The musicians were sequestered away behind a curtain that she didn’t feel would be all right for her to investigate, so she was dreamily content to sit a make light chatter with Rebecca, the grey-skinned girl’s easy cheer and upbeat smile having returned, so different from the sad sack Jade had been only a couple of hours ago.
But, now… now, Jade could hardly stop her cheeks from smiling! There was something so, so magical about being cast off into a new situation, a new place that excited her to no visible end. It had been almost impossible to keep herself from staring at all of the diverse, many-faceted people milling around her in Costa del Sol, and now, in such close quarters inside the bowels of a cruise-liner, she really couldn’t keep herself from staring. She drank in the sights, the clothes, the fancy hairdos and the smell of product in the nearest person’s hair, even the infinitesimal twitches and expressions people made, sometimes the scarcest, shrewd tremble of a bottom lip spelling the cavernous difference between joy and sorrow.
Sure, she had been to Minas Tirith for the Colosseum— that had been a wonderful experience in and of itself!— and she had made all sorts of new friends along the way, but it never ceased to amaze her how so many people could gather in one place, talk to each other, crack jokes, argue, live, breathe, and just do all of the insignificant yet earth-shattering things that made a society… Well, a society! It was incredible. It was terrifying. It was something she had never before in her life borne witness to.
Until now.
She almost wished she could ask some conductor to put on the brakes and tell everything and everyone to slow the hell down, because, hey, she could hardly catch her breath over here! Honestly, she could see why some people became overwhelmed by it all and chose to live in isolation, but... Jade just couldn’t tire of it. It was a dizzying sensation, as if she'd been inhaling nitrous oxide. She was sure she would one day make herself ill from it all, like a dehydrated person might after supping water down too quick, but she couldn’t bring herself to care.
Listening to Rebecca talk, Jade leaned heavily into one of her palms from where her elbow was propped up on the table, a faraway smile on her face. She really had spent so much time alone. Didn’t she deserve something as simple as this?
A thick thummflp like the heavy fall of fabric made one of Jade’s ears flick, the white-furred shell cocking to the side. Turning her head, she watched as Espera and the other two players emerged from behind the velvet curtain, the owlish woman holding a flute in one hand and a small white cleaning rag in the other.
“Who?” she asked, glancing pointedly between Rebecca, Jade, and then the lounging form of Bec laying at their feet.
Cricket-like spurs on the backs of his legs rubbing together, the fiddler looked somewhat annoyed when he translated: “So. Would the three of you like to go for a break with us?”
Jade had no idea how so much information could be crammed into the single, unassuming syllable of ”who?” She ultimately found that she didn't care.
“Sure!” Jade said, bouncing up onto her feet. "Where to?"
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Gamzee Makara Wrote:S’aight. After all, dogs have a tendency to motherfuckin’ bite.