Description: After a run in with a bully the day before, Kaida and Vince get together at the Pao Pao Cafe during their school lunch hours to talk. (Winner: Stormfront)
Have to love seasonal shifts. When the cold season begins turning warm, that's when things are remarkably comfortable outside. People wear light jackets, if jackets at all, and breezy winds are far more pleasant. Sure, it may draw in allergies and ailments, but this is a minor price to pay!
And today is... well, it's subjective. The sky is extremely heavy with gray clouds, visible wisp trails hurrying across the sky. The weather is unusually warm, the sun is nowhere in sight, the wind is absolutely raging, and the scent of water permeates the air. It's indicative of a tropical storm, tornado, or at the very least, a massive rainfall. So for someone like Vince, it's spectacular weather. For most everyone else? They prefer to scurry indoors and hide.
Vince, however, was certain to come to the mall over lunch. Even if the downpour burst forth right over his head, he'd be here. The young LaRose is old-fashioned in many ways, and marrying one's honor to their word is one such example. So he stands outside the entrance to the cafe, awaiting his guest and savoring the satin whip of wind against his skin. He appears rather unfocused in its midst, but utterly at peace - bliss, perhaps. Though the unending wind tugs at his feather and billows his cape, the teen stands casually with a hand resting atop the pommel of his sheathed rapier as he overlooks the mall grounds.
Perched atop the cafe is that familiar falcon. True to its previous appearance, the avian is a solid gray, but almost silvery in the wind, with black eyes. It seems complacent for the time being, content to regard the world around it in silence. Unlike before, however, the avian bears no trace of aura.
Augh. This wind is terrible. Had Kaida realized it was going to get this bad today she would have brought some kind of jacket as a windbreaker. But as it is there's no helping it now, the temperature feeling quite a bit colder than it actually is for that. And worst of all? Her hair has turned into an absolute mess walking over here. Maybe she needed an umbrella too? To her this isn't some sort of serene landscape due to the weather, but a certain form of hell.
But eventually she makes it to the mall, obviously fighting with the wind as she approaches the café. It's somewhat odd, seeing Vince standing there in such a calm manner with wind like this. Clearly it doesn't bother him like it does her, even if it threatens to take his hat and run away with it any moment now. She walks up to him and gives a small smile, having not noticed the falcon at all, being too busy focusing on other things. "I hope I didn't keep you long... shall we go inside?" Yes, inside, where the walls and ceiling will protect her from the elements. Lets only hope he can keep from laughing at the mess of her hair.
It really -is- nothing short of a miracle that the weather is not +1 cavalier hat today. Chalk that up to good fortune.. or the wind somehow favors him.
Once his icy blues find the green-haired girl, a smile touches to Vince's face. Her state of hair is scarcely noticed - it's windy, naturally it will be all over the place.
On her approach, however, the falcon develops an aura. The bird's keen black eyes focus on her, tracking her movement closely.
"Kaida," Vince greets, voice risen only enough to be heard over the howling winds.
The falcon is suddenly consumed by the aura flaring, traces of wispy vapor becoming one with the wind.
Vince would appear to've not noticed it. Or simply not cared. Either way, he turns his body aside and gestures with a hand, inviting her in. "Not too long," he muses gently. "You've arrived in good time. Isn't the weather nice?"
Once more, the falcon is not noticed in weather like this, Kaida's eyes nowhere near the roof, but rather trained on both Vince and the door that leads to freedom from the wind. "Good," Pause, "And no, I think it's terrible. It's so loud that I can hardly think to myself, and there's no telling when the rain is going to start." As he turns aside for her she does what is likely expected and walks straight for the door, opening it up and stepping inside.
And once inside she breathes a sigh of relief, ushering Vince inside with a wave of her hand, a tiny bit wary of everyone giving the door the evil eye. "It doesn't look like it's very busy here. I doubt too many people come for lunch." That'll make the service fast- always a perk.
"Oh." It's a slightly disheartened sound he makes, but Vince follows her inside regardless. And once within, he begins toward a booth. But he doesn't immediately take a seat, he simply gestures towards it and gives her an inquisitive look.
"Will this do? And I'm sure people come around more towards the afternoon..."
Kaida follows him to the booth and nods, "Sure, this is fine." She slides into one side ob the booth and waits for him to do the same before talking more, lifting a hand to fix her hair up a little now that she's inside and it might actually prove some use. A quick look is then given down to the menu, since she does intend to eat lunch here, and then she returns her gaze to the young nobleman. "It's good to see you again, Vince. I wasn't expecting to run into you again so soon, but I'm glad I did." A moments pause and she adds, "You had something you wanted to talk about, I think?"
Vince follows quietly into the opposite padded rectangle, facing her. Once seated, the teen... -removes his hat-. Somehow, his hair has not fallen victim to the hat. Oh, the Medieval tailors and craftsmen were so much better headdressers than today.
Regardless, the hat is set aside from the two, and Vince whisks a hand through his right-half bangs. "It's good to see you, as well," he replies firstly. "And it was more just... a mention, I suppose." His gaze turns aside in a moment of uncertainty, then back to her. "Why did you intervene last night?"
Kaida takes a tiny moment to see what his hair looks like under that hat after it comes off before focusing on the rest of him again. His words to her get, in order, a nod, a curious look, and a bit of an eye widening, indicative of surprise. "Why? He was being a complete jerk and making a fool out of himself. And to make things worse he had the gall to threaten you. It was clear the only thing he wanted was a fight." She gives a bit of a smirk, "And when I saw who it was I'm not too surprised. He seems to have a lot of ego and no brain to back it up."
A small shrug is made and she smiles, "And remember what I said: No one should be able to get away with bullying like that. Especially not in a city where such a large part of the population can bully you back."
"Ah..."
Vince considers for a few moments, studying the girl across from him.
Suddenly, a waitress appears asking for their orders. Vince looks shiftily towards the menu, then back to her. "Une sal-.." Pause. "A ceasar salad. And just water."
The lady writes this down, then turns expectantly to Kaida.
Kaida awaits his response for a moment, only to have the waitress come and get their orders. Salad and water? Not for her. "Could I have a bowl of brown rice and a slice of pepperoni pizza, and some green tea please?" A mix of the good for you and the good tasting!
Her hand taps on the table for a moment as the waitress writes it down, and she speaks up again before Vince can get a chance to talk. "Think about it, Vince. Would you really want to stain your blade with the blood of someone like him?" She shakes her head a little, "Not worth it."
Which, of course, gets a wide-eyed look from the waitress before she scurries away. o mai!
Vince's attention snaps back to Kaida, and he submits a half-shrug, featuring the use of one shoulder. "I suppose that's true. If I don't cut him down, -someone- will eventually." His elbows prop atop the table, and he expells a puffy breath of air upwards, ruffling his bangs. "Though to allow insults to even be said..."
Mutter.
"Regardless... I wanted to let you know that I appreciated your support. It was..." Vince hesitates a moment in consideration. "...It was good of you. Honorable."
Bah, it's Southtown! She must be new here if she isn't used to that by now.
Kaida gives a little nod, "True. He really shouldn't get away with it, but I'm not sure there were any options besides letting him off the hook and having into him right then and there. The thing is? He was looking for a fight. All he wanted was to get you mad enough to fight him, so even if you had torn him to pieces with your sword he still would have gotten what he was after. I'd think the last thing you'd want to do to someone who insults you like that is give them exactly what they want."
The last comment draws a smile, "Thank you. I'm glad you appreciate it. And I like being thought of as honorable."
"Unless I ended him there...," Vince comments darkly.
But he pretends he didn't even say it, plastering on a pleasant smile. "You're welcome. May I ask you something?" Without really giving her enough time to protest or give her allowance, Vince retrieves one of the rosettes from his belt. In two hands, he holds it out to her horizontally. The deep blood red 'blossom' pommel of the rosette rests in his right hand, with the deep veridian green triple-sided blade resting over the other, the petal handguard hovering between the two. "What do you think of this?"
Kaida laughs at the dark comment, "You're right, I guess that's true. I could have just drawn his attention and you could have cut his throat from behind; that would have worked. Too bad we didn't think of it then!"
She tilts her head and gives a, "Hm?" when he asks the question, and examines the rosette as she holds it out towards her. "Lets see... It looks like it could be rather vicious, especially if you drew it and attacked before someone realized what you intended. I haven't seen a blade quite like that before. I'm not sure if it's balanced well, but I bet you could throw them with good result... but I doubt it'd hold up to repeated weapon strikes very well." She sits back in her seat and looks to him.
"You would be surprised on a few things, but surprisingly well-read on some others. This is what I call a 'rosette'," Vince explains. He sets it on the table before her. "I unique stiletto dagger, which was used much in the way you've described. They were the assassin's tool, due to its shape and light weight. One of these could be drawn and plunged into a target long before anyone knew what was happening, and then hidden again without difficulty. They are balanced rather well actually - especially these rosettes." His hand gestures towards the blossom. "The bloom is designed to compensate for the length of the blade, giving it an even tilt."
Vince then sits back in his seat. "I make these, myself, and they can handle a solid amount of force. They sufficiently replace a main gauche, and they are indeed excellent projectiles."
"It looks rather good for the job it's intended to have, then. And fairly stylish for that. I imagine they serve you well." Kaida listens to the explanation and then responds with that, resting against her seat as well. "Such a light weapon would have a lot of advantages as a secondary," A smile, "Though I prefer a second full sized blade, as you can tell." No Wakizashi or Tanto for her!
"Clearly. Such an approach would be unwieldy for the manipulations of a rapier, however, and would degrade the style from cutting and thrusting to slashing about. Not well-suited for the narrow blade, I'm afraid."
Vince glances to the rosette, then to her, then back to the dagger before he recollects it. "What is your favorite flower, Kaida?"
"Hm, I suppose that's true. Repeatedly stabbing could be a lot harder than twisting a blade around to slash a second time. I hadn't thought of that." Mainly because she hasn't used stabbing swords, so it wouldn't occur to her! The question gets a small look from Kaida and she looks away for a moment as she thinks. "Sakura blossoms, I guess? I haven't ever really thought about that before. Pansies are nice..?"
"Sakura blossoms? Pansies?," Vince inquires. "Curious. I would have thought you more for lilies or orchids." His icy gaze settles on her face for a moment, then moves up to her hair. "..Hrm. What is your favorite color? Perhaps that would help guide the answer." His eyes seek hers again with a warm smile.
Kaida gives a little shrug when her choice in flowers is somewhat disputed. "Favorite color?" She looks upwards a little, a finger resting on her chin for just a short moment, before she looks back to Vince and shakes her head. "I'm not sure. I don't think I really have a favorite." She returns his smile, however.
"Curious."
Vince's eyes narrow just a -touch- on her, then the smiles spreads and he inclines his head. "So... pansies? I'm honestly not entirely familiar with them. Are they the tiny little flowers?"
The waitress lady returns and sets the salad before Vince, along with water. Then the tea, pizza, and rice in fornt of Kaida. She curtsies, then scurries away.
Kaida shakes her head, "Not tiny, no. They're about this big-" She holds up her index fingers a few inches apart. "They come in all different colors, and usually have two different colors on them, on the outside and in the center." That's about the closest explanation of them she's going to give, it seems. Deciding it's not such a bad idea, she returns the question, "Do you have a favorite flower
And would you look at that- just as she asks the food comes, giving her time to eat. Excellent. She takes a bottle of soy sauce and puts some over her rice and then lightly lifts her tea cup and takes a sip from it after blowing on it, not bothering to add any sweetener.
Vince regards her fingers, then her eyes again. Finally, he nods. "Bien."
Suddenly, the gun's turned on him. He doesn't pay the food too much attention just yet - instead, he's laughing softly at the question. Not a taunting laugh, but rather just light and polite. "Oh, come now!" He lifts the rosette, veritcal with time with the blossom up as though it were an actual rose. "My name is LaRose. I craft daggers into rose-shapes." He inclines his head again, giving her a dubious grin.
"Tulips, then?" Kaida states matter-of-factly, though she gives a humored smile afterwards. "I didn't know you crafted them yourself, though. Hmm." She sets her cup of tea down, and manages to keep herself from digging into her lunch for the moment. "Hm, I'd almost think you'd intentionally like another flower, just so it wouldn't quite be all 'Roses' like that."
Vince gives her a quirky grin at the fake assumption, then laughs softly again. "No-no-no," he says, each time with a shake of his head. "J'adore ma famille." He exhales a small sigh and turns his gaze to the salad. "I'm very proud of my family, my heritage. How we earned the name 'LaRose' through acts of nobility and chivalry. How the very name captures our style of swordplay - Rose Dansant. Beautiful, elegant, yet sharp."
Vince looks across to Kaida again with a soft, sincere smile. "I love roses." He looks back down to the salad, and he sets his rosette back into its slot on his belt in favor of picking up a fork.
Kaida nods a little, "Yes, you fully embrace your family and it's heritage. You've made that very clear." She won't doubt that for a second, not after she's heard what he's had to say, and the way he's said it. "Roses it is, then."
Time to eat! Kaida's manners aren't rude, but they aren't picture perfect either. Rather she just eats naturally without putting to much worry on making herself look bad and ends up looking like a regular teenager for it as a result. Her first target is a bite or two of the rice, followed by some pizza.
Vince is, more or less, completely different. His eating pace is slow, polite, and if one didn't know any better, possibly well-rehearsed. He's clearly not one with a lax childhood. He falls into silence, even, allowing no more noise to fill the air than the work of utensils and the sounds of her regular, and his polite, 'omnomnom's.
And this is how it will continue, until either she breaks the silence or until they've finished.
For her part, Kaida is actually rather interested in her food, and once she observes that Vince isn't going to continue the conversation himself, she's going to just keep eating until she's done. At one point she takes a fork and cuts a square of pizza off her slice, and then puts some soy saucy rice on top of it, and the scoops it up and eats it. The look on her face suggests that this experiment has resulted in failure, and she takes a drink of tea.
And don't think Vince hadn't noticed! It was bizarre enough to warrant him pausing stabbing a beet to openly stare at her anxiously for a reaction.
And the face is priceless. He cracks a grin... and quickly busies himself with the food again. Omnom...
But it's soon finished, with little to no more interruption. Vince sips from the water glass, then glances across to Kaida politely. "How was it?"
"Good. Very good, actually. This place has good pizza, and it's pretty hard to mess up rice." Kaida replies, looking rather contented and happy. "And your salad, was it good as well?"
"Naturally," replies Vince. He cracks a grin again. "I.. thought I saw something that looked a bit like an experiment. Are you prone to that sort of thing? Experimenting with stuff?"
"Good, I'm glad you enjoyed it." Kaida gives a smile and nods, "It was. And sometimes I do. I was wondering what it'd taste like, so I just decided to try it." After a pause she adds, "Not very good."
Vince shakes his head with a deep, sagely frown. "I wager it wasn't."
He then settles back into his seat. "Have you any plans for Valentine's Day?" Abrupt question, but he seems fairly innocent in tone - nothing planned or dubious reasoning for asking.
Though her food is gone her tea is not and thus, Kaida takes a sip. The teacup set down a moment later she looks across the table to him and tilts her head, "No, I don't think so. I plan to practice some, and I'm sure I'll have homework, but not other than that." Shrug.
"Oh."
Vince's gaze wanders over to his own glass. A quick glance is shot to her, then to the glass before he lifts it and takes a prolonged swig of the water. The glass is set back down, and he looks back to her. "I must head back to Strolheim tomorrow. In Germany."
"Tomorrow?" Kaida looks thoughtful for a moment. "Japan to Germany must be a rather long flight. I'd try to get to sleep early, if I were you." Not that she knows much about them, having never been out of the country up to this point. "That must make it rather hard to pass your classes, having to be out of the country so often."
"It's rarely come up, to be honest," Vince replies. "And I continue class by correspondance. It's not as good as instruction, but the school tends to overlook that in favor of representation in the tournament. To my knowledge, since someone else has been eliminated, I'm the only representative of Pacific High there." A smile alights on his face - proud. "And I intend to win it. For the school, for my family, and for myself."
"Hm. Then I wish you luck. Do your best, Vince." So skipping school to go fight in professional matches isn't a big deal, huh? Lesson learned. That's useful information! Kaida considers for a moment, "You know, I haven't even checked to see much of anything about that tournament. I suppose that's because it began before my parents decided it was all right for me to enter tournaments and the like. How is it; what's it like?"
"Harsh. Violent." Vince considers for a moment, then dips his head. "Demanding. I've been paired with some of the worst people I believe I possibly could have been, but despite it all, we've been winning. So it's faster and harder than you might think." His left hand lifts, tapping his index finger over her lips. "..Except between rounds. Those tend to move slowly."
"Interesting. That must be rather hard on you. Hopefully you'll be able to get over your differences as you continue to fight. I suppose there's not much that can be done about it, other than to suffer through it as best as you can." Kaida gives a little nod, and then laughs a little at the final part, "That sounds like it could be a problem. Do you think it's to allow people enough tome to heal?"
"I considered getting them Christmas gifts over the holidays, but...," Vince trails, brow knit. "Some are just entirely ill-tempered. The only thing I could figure to get him would be valium." It's likely intended as a joke, but either Vicne botched up the punchline or he's totally serious. "..And I suppose that would be the explanation for it. I've... needed it.. a couple times."
He clears his throat quietly.
"Huh." Kaida considers for a few moments. "Some people are just that way. Normally I just try to avoid them, but I guess there's not much you can do when you're stuck with them in a tournament." After a moment she adds, "You don't have to live with them while you're there, do you? That would be rather awful."
Vince shakes his head. "No, and it's a nice thing, too. I would hate to explain the captive I have confined in my room for questioning." This is all said without a second thought. In fact, he elaborates. "Some girl assaulted me with glass. I defeated her and she's now chained in my room. It's nothing.. -deviant- or any such thing. But she must be properly questioned."
"Oh, right. I forgot about that." Pause, "You haven't called the police, yet? I'd imagine they'd want to know about an attempt on your life." Kaida thinks for a moment, "Well, I'm sure you know better than I do, since it was you who was attacked and not me. Do you think one of your opponents tried to have you killed to even the odds?"
"I'm certain they would, yes," Vince agrees. "But they wouldn't share much information with me afterwards. So it's best that I find what I can before I turn her over." His head tilts to the side, opposite bangs wafting over. "As for speculation... I can't begin to assume. Political assassination, possibly. The issue is that I met her before... so were that the case, they would have to have been relying on subterfuge to accomplish their ends."
A puffy sigh is exhaled again.
"All I know for certain is that the girl is completely mad.
Suddenly, the room is shaken tremendously with rolling thunder. Indeed, the rooftop has come alive with the sound of torrential rainfall.
"Really? If you think she's mad then what do you need to interrogate her for? Clearly the reason she wants to attack you is that she's out of her mind. In that case I'd hand her right over to the police and let them deal with her. Perhaps they'd just throw her in an asylum and call it good."
Thunder. Pounding rain. "...crap." She lets out a sigh and looks upward at the roof, clearly not pleased with this turn of events. "Looks like I won't be making it back to class on time."
Vince glances towards the door, then back to her. "A bit of rain won't kill you," he chides gently. "..And I'd like to know if she's working for anyone.. or with them. That could reveal future threats. Or if there will be problems for those I care about, I could stop it." Vince slides out from the booth and plucks out his rather modern wallet to take care of the bill. The wallet is then replaced, and he looks to Kaida. "Didn't bring an umbrella, eh..?"
"Hm. Maybe you didn't mean as crazy as I thought you did. No babbling then, or ranting? People like that don't usually make plans or alliances, do they?"
And as for the weather? Kaida sets herself solidly in her seat and shakes her head, "There's no way I'm going out there in weather like this. With that kind of wind I'd be soaked, even if I had an umbrella." There's literally no quarrel taken when he pays the bill. Free food? Awesome.
The thunder roars in victory, shaking the establishment.
"She was saying sentences," Vince replies awkwardly. "Not that they made much sense, but.. it's worth trying." He studies her there in the seat, then the door, then her again. "..You really don't care for the wind and rain, do you?"
Sentances. Hard to understand sentences, but sentences. "Are you sure she's isn't crazy but just... really strange?" After a moment she wonders aloud, "Maybe Shika could understand her..." Giving a light shake of her head she looks back to Vince and stares at him. "No, I don't. If I had a heavy raincoat and jeans maybe I wouldn't mind. I'm wearing a dress, Vince."
Vince eyes her for a moment, then tips his head. "So you are." With that, Vince fidgets with his garments. In a flash, his cape is removed, bundled, and offered to her over an arm. "Will this suffice?," he asks with a bright smile, albeit with cheeks tinged just the faintest of rosy hues.
Kaida watches this quick movement as it happens and considers. After a moment she stands up and accepts it from him, unfolding it as quickly as it was folded and pulling it around herself. "It will, I think. Luckily the wind will be at my back most of the way. Thank you."
Vince smiles brightly at her and dips his head once. "Of course. Just take good care of it until I return, will you?"
Another boom of thunder, and the lights begin flickering. This draws a generally discontented murmur from the staff of the cafe, and it would in fact appear that the teens are the only ones left.
"I will. I'll make sure to return it to you." Kaida looks upwards as the lights flicker and lets out a little laugh, "If the power goes out there might not be a reason to go back to Taiyo anyway. Except for homework, I guess. I left all my books there." Walking slowly for the door she looks over to Vince, "Oh, right. How do you launder this thing?"
"Oh! I'll take care of that, if you like! But if you insist, just regular is fine," he calls back to her awkwardly. His right hand lifts, scratching the back of his head. "Hey, I-"
BOOM. More thunder. The lights go down for a few seconds, then kick back up with a crescendo hum of electricity.
Vince glances around himself briefly, then back to her. "..Keep yourself safe, all right?"
"Sure. And you too. From the sound of it you'll be needing to more than I will, since you've got horrible teammates and assassins after you." Seriously, that's sort of a lot of trouble, right there! Kaida stands next to the door. "Hopefully I'll see you again sometime soon, Vince. Until then, goodbye!" A quick wave and she wraps the cape around herself more, and then pushes the door open and bolts away, quite literally running as fast as she can. If she's got to get stuck in the rain? She's going to make sure she's not stuck in it /long/.
Log created on 17:49:09 02/13/2009 by Kaida, and last modified on 23:00:09 02/13/2009.