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Post by Lucca on Feb 11, 2010 10:51:40 GMT -5
The scared expression on the girl's face confused Colin. He'd never thought of himself as a very intimidating individual, and unless she was one of those who was afraid of any sort of social interaction at all...but then, why would she work somewhere like the Courts, where your ability to interact with other people meant everything? Or maybe it was something else. Maybe he was missing something obvious. A brief frown crossed his beak as he watched the Finch try to insist she was fine in a stuttering voice and disappear into a room.
By the time she reentered the hall, Colin too had composed himself, and his beak now held a smile. "Oh, well, I'm sorry to bother you, then," he said politely, trying to appear very nonthreatening. "If I can do anything to make it up to you..." Hey, he could hope this one would be a bit easier on him, right? Otherwise he may have to do some emotional comforting and digging, which he was a little unsure of his ability to cope with well at the moment, given his recent heartbreak.
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Post by Greenie on Feb 12, 2010 11:00:55 GMT -5
Ylsa had to resist the urge to rise her hackles at this stranger, but it wouldn't do to be visibly upset. She would never, never get a promotion if she was rude to people, or if people thought she was discontent. Upset people stayed where they were, everyone knew that. She had to be happy to get what she wanted in life.
"Oh, no, it's okay..." She insisted once again, clutching the broom under one wing, trying to figure out how she could get rid of him without offending him. "No, no, it's quite alright sir, I'm fine." Her eyes dropped from his as she struggled to figure out why he cared quite so much. He'd simply run into her in the hallway, hadn't he? It wasn't as if he had any reason to care for her welfare.
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Post by Lucca on Feb 12, 2010 11:42:35 GMT -5
And of course, no such luck. She wanted to hide her feelings from him, apparently, which would never do. He had seen them...Suits, could -still- see them, written all over her face. It was in her posture, in how tightly she clutched on to that broom, in the fact she couldn't hold his gaze for long. Colin was silent for a moment as his mind quickly raced to find a solution.
What he needed was a plan. An angle. She wasn't giving him much to work with, but, well, what did he have to lose? Not very much, he thought bitterly. So he decided to play a...dangerous card. She was young, she was upset...maybe she'd...fall for it.
His eyes softened until they nearly looked as distressed as hers had been moments before. "Oh I...I see..." He seemed to slump a bit, his feathers drooping, something inside of him twisting at the act. But he had to pull this off. "I had just hoped..." he trailed off with a slight sigh, looking at her with a sort of longing reverence.
Hopefully she'd take this bait. It was all he really had.
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Post by Greenie on Mar 21, 2010 23:00:30 GMT -5
She stared at him uncomprehendingly for a few moments, her eyes blinking rapidly as she tried to digest what he was doing. He hoped? He hoped what? To cure all of her ailments? To fix her boring, unsatisfying life? He didn't even know her! Still, her curiosity was piqued... and what the hell, she only had cleaning to look forward to anyways. It was cleaning now or cleaning later.. either way it was still cleaning.
"What?" She asked, exasperated. "You hoped for what? I don't understand what you want from me!" She was even more confused by his display of emotions - what did he have to be upset about? He was a 10, wasn't he? For all Ylsa knew, he could be here to apply for a Court position, and that simple assumption put him in a better place in life than he was. He had no right to question her life.
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Post by Lucca on Mar 22, 2010 11:18:18 GMT -5
Colin made a small noise, an unhappy chirp. He didn't have to fake this one; he really was uncomfortable opening up to this girl. He didn't even know her, and, truth be told, he didn't want to. It may have sounded harsh, but at the moment he was really not in the mood for any female company. Especially young, somewhat pretty female company. He shook his head, looking down at his feet.
"No it's...never mind it's really...nothing..." He forced a laugh, humorless and heavy, and started to glance up, -almost- meeting her eyes before dropping his gaze again. Please work. This -had- to work. He could hear the curiosity in her voice, and he just needed her to be a little more snared before he moved on...before he was honest.
"Of course, you don't even know me, so it's improper for me to...to ask anything of you..." he mumbled, still not looking quite at her.
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Post by Greenie on Mar 26, 2010 22:43:14 GMT -5
Ylsa stared at him uncomprehendingly. He interrupted her from her work to ask about her private business, and now he was practically sniveling, baiting her to talk to him? What was with people these days? Did no one mind their own business?
"Well, you're keeping me from my work, you know... If you need something, you need to just ask. I don't have all day." She huffed. The way her luck was going, someone was going to come tromping by and see her chatting away with some stranger, not cleaning rooms, and she'd find herself in a boatload of trouble. It would probably be Vessatha, too, and not just some idly passing by Jack. Ohhh, this day was not going well. She shifted her claws uncomfortably, wishing he'd stop avoiding eye contact like that.
Something was wrong with this guy, seriously.
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Post by Lucca on Mar 28, 2010 8:29:46 GMT -5
Ack, that was not...quite the reaction Colin had been hoping for. Inwardly, he winced, though he kept his expression at slightly sad. He had about a half second to decide if he wanted to continue in his current vein or dramatically shift tactics -- after all, he wasn't sure he wanted this unpleasant woman really knowing anything about him. And what he really needed was to help her, but what sort of answer was that? Unless...she already thought he was odd, and what were the chances he'd ever honestly see her again? Maybe if she was cleaning his suit (if, he added miserably, he even -got- this job in the end) he might chance to happen upon her...but otherwise, this might be their only encounter. So maybe he could get away with being a bit...strange.
He finally looked back up at her, blue eyes wide and worried, though he couldn't keep himself from sounding slightly miffed at her attitude when he spoke. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to keep you from your work, but I...I know this might sound a bit strange, but I just need to -help- someone and I was hoping you'd, uh, appreciate it." He blinked and then rushed to explain...forcing the lies past his beak as best as he could, though it made his feathers itch oddly. "You see I recently had a...a major fight with someone..." Sort of true. Heh. "And I...can't really make it up to her, so I need to make it up to someone..."
Heh, he really sounded crazy now. And selfish. But maybe she'd buy this one, since the whole 'pity me, for I have a broken heart' didn't seem like it would really work. Guilt, though, seemed a very probable card to play...no pun intended of course...
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Post by Greenie on Jul 25, 2010 19:45:58 GMT -5
The bird blinked and stared some more, one eyebrow raising at his words. A compulsion to help people to help his own heartbreak? Please. No one felt like helping someone else after that, you just wanted to throw things and break vases. She should know, after all of the miserable failure relationships she had. What was with men these days? Either they were crazy, asking for crazy favors, or they were jerks. Humph. It was days like today that made her seriously consider women.
So you're saying if I let you do me a favor, you'll go away and I can pretend I never met you?" Ylsa asked flatly, not about to skirt around the issue at this point. "If that's all it takes to make you leave me alone, you can take this broom and go sweep out this room, and then you can leave." She shifted the broom so the handle was facing him, an expectant expression on her face.
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Post by Lucca on Jul 25, 2010 20:57:13 GMT -5
Though the continued harsh tone was very grating, the words the other Card was speaking made Colin's heart soar...or it would have, it it wasn't too broken right now to do any such thing. He let just a hint of his emotions show on his face, a brief smile turning the edges of his beak up before he carefully shifted his expression into serious sincerity (even though he was lying through his lack-of-teeth right now...he took a moment to thank the Suits he wasn't born a Diamond and wasn't in -their- Court).
"Yes, yes that's what I'm saying. Thank you...thank you, this will help me on the road to...to healing from the terrible weight of guilt." A little over-dramatic but actually...true. After all, the reason he was trying to get into the Courts was...no. No, he wasn't going to allow himself to get lost in self pity not when he was so close to passing this first test of nobility!
Colin took the broom in his wings, a bit awkwardly, and bowed slightly to the maid. Without another word, he walked to the room, switching his grip on the broom at least three times, but trying to be subtle about it. After all, he didn't need her deciding it was actually more worth her while to sweep the room herself and take her offer back! Or, worse, be so upset about his poor performance sweeping the room that she ended up having a -worse- day and not a better one!
The Cardinal concentrated harder on sweeping than he had in anything short of his piano playing in many years. His blue eyes were narrowed and his tail feathers were held straight out. His natural clumsiness meant he almost tripped a few times, but he managed to, thankfully, avoid it. When the task was done, he neatly swept the dust into the waste basket and then presented the broom to the maid again.
"Did I do an adequate job, Miss?" He managed to sound hopeful, but casual, keeping the burning need to have accomplished this task internalized. After all, his Jackhood was on the line...and therefore his entire life after this moment...because if he failed in this, and had to leave the Spades Court in shame...well. He just had no idea what he'd do, then.
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Post by Greenie on Jul 28, 2010 19:09:35 GMT -5
Ylsa was relieved beyond belief when he stammered something about being incredibly grateful, or something along those lines, and took the broom. She watched him go into the room warily, but didn't follow him - as far as she was concerned, as long as he got out of her way she didn't care how well it was actually swept. Spot-sweeping would be much easier than sweeping the entire room, regardless.
She did glance in when five minutes had passed, and quickly stuck her nose out of the doorway when she saw he was using the dustpan. The bird cleaned her face into the best nonchalant, polite expression she could manage, and accepted the broom back with a tiny smile. "It's fine, thank you. You can consider your.. err.. task, complete. Okay?" The last word was said with a thin thread of exasperation running through it, and she was already beginning to edge through the doorway with her other cleaning supplies.
If nothing else, she would be able to mark this day as extremely out of the ordinary, which was a good thing, as it was beginning to take on the air of monotone that was so depressing.
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