1x1 with Mouse26

[M2627]

Venti e Caelo
"You remember your parents??" Caelo couldn't help not feeling a little jealous. Leizu probably remembered being loved by them. Spending time with them... And did Caelo have? Only stories told to her by her big sister. Any memories she had vanished with the wind... "Sorry to get all somber there. What is sea silk? I've never heard of it before." Or maybe I have and just don't remember... Caelo thought sadly. "Being named after an empress is pretty cool. It's a cool name to have."

Fiesta de la Primavera
Fia scowled at him. Something about his attitude now just bothered her. He seemed too... cheerful-and that meant a lot coming from her. "The zebra stripes and foliage you seem so taken with." She said simply. She was secretly impressed with the setup. It all looked so interesting. Fia wanted to look at them more, but she wasn't going to do anything that gave even the slightest hint she was imprssed or fascinated. "Stars are nice and all, but these stripes are better."

(sorry for the short replies.)

[Rondell]

Michael
As Fia scowled, Michael ignored her, scooping the both the foliage pattern and the stars up off the bar. Then, almost as an afterthought, he grabbed the zebra stripes as well. Instead of setting them off to the side however, as he had the other two gobos he was actually planning on using, he held the stripes up to the lights on the ceiling and squinted at them. "Really? The stripes? Don't you think they're a bit too... busy?" It really didn't surprise him that this woman would pick such a gaudy pattern - everything about her was gaudy - but he wasn't about to let it go. "I usually use that one for broken glass or chase scenes. You know, stuff with tension. Jagged lines tend to heighten anxiety and energy in a room. Or on a stage." Hoping to make his point, Michael pulled absently at a thin chain which hung around his neck. As he did so, a small push-button flashlight manufactured in the likeness of a theatrical lighting instrument slipped into view from beneath his shirt collar. "Just look." He took a hold of it and jammed his thumb down on the button, then he positioned the light above the gobo he was holding, moving it up and down a bit until he got the focus where he wanted it. "See? Tension. Or..." Michal tilted his head slightly to the side. "A safari... Maybe." He released the pressure on the flashlight button, and the beam went dead. "Which reminds me. Does this party have a theme or anything? Other than it being Joe's birthday. I'm sure the guys told you enough about him for you to know what you're doing in that respect."



Leizu
"Yes, a bit... I was still pretty little when they died though, so the memories are fuzzy. I get dreams sometimes. Michael - my brother - remembers them better than I do." Leizu allowed her voice to trail off, and for a moment there was no sound other then the waves crashing ashore. "Why? Don't you remember yours?" The idea of not being able to remember one's parents was a new one for her. While she'd heard of amnesia before, of course, she'd never really sat around and considered the finer implications of the condition. Before she could press the matter further, however, Caelo shifted the subject. With a smile, Leizu unshouldered her bag yet again and held it up so Caelo could see, running her fingers over the rough yellowish-orange fabric as she did so. "This is sea silk. It's a very fine, thin fabric, yet really strong at the same time. And it can take on all sorts of different textures depending on how you spin it. Simply put, it comes from mussels. Shellfish. They make these little fibers to anchor themselves to things, and I harvest those fibers, and I spin them into stuff like this bag. I keep my own pet mussels too! They live in baskets that hang off the end of my pier. Otherwise it would be hard to do this, because the best mussels for sea silk spinning are really rare." In response to Caelo's last comment, she couldn't help but giggle with shy embarrassment. "Is it? I've always though it was a bit pompous..."

((That's alright! Short =/= bad - I just type too much sometimes ;D ))

[M2627]

Venti e Caelo
"It's nothing important. It must be nice to remember more than just their names..." Caelo trailed off. At the mention of Leizu's brother, she was reminded of her sister. Caelo absently stared at the rolling waves. Was her family even out there? Wind Song said they were gone, but she didn't want to believe it. And what about her tribe? What was her life like before she lost her memory? Caelo shook her head and looked back at Leizu. "That's sea silk?" She gently ran her hand over it. It was interesting. "It's pretty. Big Sister would like this... Do you sell these to people?" It would make a nice present. "What else can you make out of sea silk?"

Fiesta de la Primavera
Fia rolled her eyes. "This is a party. The whole point is excitement. Go big, or just get the hell out of here." She wasn't going to budge on this. So the guy was supposedly a pro at lighting. But what did he know about planning a party? "I wasn't given a theme. Just colours and the demand for the craziest and wildest party ever. And that's what I'm trying to do. He never said there would be... nuisances interfering with my work." She strolled off casually, not stopping to listen. "Of all the people I've had to work with...." Fia growled under breath. For once, she couldn't wait for this to be over. She usually loved planning parties. But this guy..?

[Rondell]

Michael
Michael raised an eyebrow and slipped his flashlight back beneath his shirt collar, allowing the striped gobo to slip from his fingers as he did so. It landed haphazardly on the bar, on top of several others that both he and Fia had rejected, and he let it lie there without comment. Was this lady going out of her way to annoy him? There was no way that someone could be this irritating by accident. "This is a party? Gosh, miss, I hadn't realized!" Michael feigned surprise, speaking loud enough for the retreating figure to hear. "I thought I was designing for a Broadway production of 'The taming of the Shrew'!" Then, without pausing long enough for Fia to have gotten a word in edgewise, he stood up and followed her, matching her stride with ease and picking the conversation back up in a much drier tone. Although he wasn't in time to hear her muttered comment. Which was probably just as well. "No theme is fine. It actually makes my job easier!" Or, as easy as it could get under the circumstances. Why had he let himself be talked into this again? "I also get your wanting excitement. But I don't get your wanting the guests to have motion sickness. Unless you find that sort of thing exciting? I only have so much space to work with - only so many places to mount instruments - which limits what I can put up. This place isn't built like your average theater! So. I can only use so many gobos in so many instruments, because I also need a couple without gobos in them, for sanity's sake. It's a matter of balance. If I had know that when I was packing, I probably wouldn't have brought so many gobos in the first place..." And we wouldn't be having this problem!

Michael stopped walking and let the distance between himself and Fia grow.

"Once I get things set up you'll see what I mean. Things will be plenty wild, I assure you!" With that, he turned around and tapped the nearest one of Fia's crew on the shoulder. The restaurant kept an extension ladder in the storage room, and he needed it for his work. He also couldn't drag it all the way in here by himself. So... he pressed the crewman into service. Fia's bunch would need to use it at some point anyway, so it wasn't like they wouldn't be benefiting from this.



Leizu
"I suppose..." Leizu sighed and absently began to dig her toes into the sand. She really didn't think of her parents that often these days - it had been so long since the accident and she had been so young... what did she really remember about them? She still had the old photographs, of course, and a bunch of their things. Like her mother's hair sticks. And her father's pipe. Yet sometimes it was hard to tell which of her memories were actually memories, and which were only images she'd conjured up while listening to Michael's stories. It could even be hard for her to even remember their voices. "Michael remembers much more about them than I do. Being older and all, it's not surprising. His parents were close friends of my parents, you see - business associates or something - and my parents used to sit for him while his were busy. He's told me all sorts of stories that they told him, and he remembers their house pretty well." She allowed a faint smile to creep onto her face, although it was gone before she started speaking again. "When they died... Michael's parents took me in. I didn't have anywhere else to go, and I guess they felt like they owed it to their friends. Or something. But they're very good parents, and I got a brother out of the deal, so all's well that ends well."

"Yup! It's usually this color, too, unless one gets clever with dyes." Leizu's voice began to take on it's usual tones again, for she always enjoyed talking about her work to people who were willing to listen. Thus the subject change was more than welcome. Morose things really made her uncomfortable! "I can make pretty much anything - bags, scarves, bracelets, gloves, headbands, ribbons, dresses, shirts, vests... you name it - and I definitely do sell stuff. Otherwise I'd be drowning in old projects!" She grinned widely, although the smile didn't quite reach her eyes for she was still feeling out of sorts. " I can either make to order, if you're willing to wait a bit and want something special, or you can poke through the stuff I have back up at the house. It's just up the beach a bit if you'd like to, and we can pick up the metal detector while we're there!"

[M2627]

Venti e Caelo
"You don't mind me coming over?" Caelo perked at the mention of the silk and metal detector. "I'm looking for special rocks, but maybe the metal detector could help me find even more than that!" Caelo had originally come here looking for stone artifacts left by her tribe, but a metal detector could find all kinds of other things. She wondered what she should pick out... She should probably look through stuff Leizu made already first, to save her any trouble. Caelo decided to get a pair of scarves with alternated colours. One for herself and one for her sister. "Do you have any blue and white scarves in the stuff you've made already?"

Fiesta de la Primavera
Fia whipped back around, her loose hair swinging with the momentum. She picked up plastic apple from a props table and almost threw it at him. She stopped herself, though. "Fine! FINE. You think you're so good, just do the whole thing by yourself." Fia pointed a finger at his face. "You are the most insufferable.... idiota I have ever had the misfortune of working with! I put my heart and soul into EVERY decision I make when I plan these!" She continued her rant in fast and fluent Spanish, not knowing she had. Fia either complained about his attitude, insulted him or call him incompetent. For good measure, she chucked the fake apple in her hand, but missed and it smashed a fair deal of wine glasses on a shelf behind the bar.

[Rondell]

Michael
Fia launched into her rant just as Michael had been about to follow her crewman out of the room to look for that ladder, so he had to take a couple of steps back into the space in order to face her properly. He was incapable of letting it go. "Trust me, Sunshine, the feeling's mutual! I've never seen such unprofessional behavior! All these outbursts of yours are ridiculous... why the guys decided to hire you, I'll never know." His voice trailed off here, and he was quiet for a moment as he gave Fia an appraising stare. "Then again, I can maybe guess..." A sly grin crept onto Michael's face as he began speaking again, and he crossed his arms defensively. This whole thing had been a farce from start to finish! "Don't you think I put MY heart and MY soul into every decision I make? That I give thorough thought to everything I do? I admit - I've never done lighting for a party before. Fine. But how hard could it be? The same principles still apply! The same color theory, the same technological considerations! Therefore, the only thing that's balking me... is you." Michael narrowed his eyes, his voice dangerously cold and all traces of humor now gone. "You've never worked with a lighting designer, have you? Otherwise you'd know how wrong you are. How out of your depth you are. And..." He threw up his hands, "there you go again with the Spanish!" It was at this point Fia let loose with the plastic apple, and Michael was forced to drop the rest of his thought in favor of ducking. The movement was reflexive and rapid but even so, the thing only just missed the top of his head, colliding instead with a few glasses behind the bar. "I'm not paying for that! And if the manager of this dung-heap kicks us out because of it...." He stopped short, clenching his teeth, barely able to restrain himself now. And in the silence, a third voice tentatively made itself known.

"Excuse me... ah... sir? Madame..? You're disturbing the patrons in the main dining hall. And... you've..." Michael whirled around to locate the source of the voice and locked eyes with a thin, very pale, very androgynous man who was wearing the restaurant's uniform and standing only a few feet behind him. Upon becoming the center of attention, for his sudden apprentice had also drawn the eyes of everyone else in the room, the man seemed to grow even paler, and Michael saw his eyes flick nervously to the pile of shattered glass on the counter. "You've... ah... made a mess of my workstation." He finished lamely.

Michael shot a quick look at Fia, very suddenly aware of how how stupid he was being, for the newcomer had temporarily broken the tension. Although he still had the ungentlemanly urge to punch the party designer's nose flat.




Kiba
It was still barely past noon - several hours before he technically had to be in - but he needed to get through inventory before his shift so he'd decided to pop in a bit early. He usually did. If he didn't, he always seemed to end up opening late, and that never went over well. With the boss OR the patrons! As Kiba passed out of the break room and into the kitchen he wrapped his apron around his waist and began tying its strings into a bow behind his back. By the time he'd reached the swinging doors that led into the main dining hall he'd also straightened the collar of his work shirt and started in on the cuffs. But he didn't get any further. Before he could take another step, one of his coworkers laid a hand on his shoulder, making him jump, and whispered something in his ear about a situation in the party room. He didn't get to ask any questions though, because before he could, he was alone. The other man had vanished back into chaos that was the kitchen. Why him? He'd technically not even come on shift yet! With a sigh, Kiba smoothed his glassy hair back from his forehead and pushed his way through the doors, making a B-line for the party room instead of starting for his usual station behind the bar near the restrooms.

As he drew closer to the doors, he began to hear raised voices. There was no doubt as to what the problem was now. Heads across the dining room were beginning to turn, and a subdued muttering was beginning to circulate. There were plenty of raised eyebrows too. Great. Now everyone knew he was the one going in to fix the disruption - no, no one else was walking the same direction he was, not even a stray waiter - so if he screwed up... Kiba jammed his hands in his pockets to hide the fact they were shaking. Why had they picked him to deal with this? Weren't any of the bouncers free? From the volume of the voices, this definitely sounded like a bouncer-type situation. Kiba pulled one hand free of his pocket and put it flat against the door, but stopped short at the sound of breaking glass. A nightmarish sound if there ever was one! If he didn't need this job... When the voices within began again without further incident, he forced himself to take a deep breath and enter the room.

He was confronted with the clutter that usually came with party setup, yet it was easy to pick out the source of the disturbance. A man. A woman. Standing more or less in the middle of the room. Both of them looked - and sounded - absolutely furious. He had no clue what was going on, but he knew he had to stop it before more damage was done, and before patrons began to walk out on them. The boss would probably take it out of his paycheck!

When the shouting match broke for a moment, he spoke up. "Excuse me... ah... sir? Madame..? You're disturbing the patrons in the main dining hall. And... you've..." The man, who had had his back to Kiba, whirled around to face him. As did everyone else. Apparently he'd just supplanted the ongoing argument as the center of attention. Kiba allowed himself a quick glance toward the bar on the far side of the room - the bar he himself was to man during the party tomorrow evening - which served to confirm his fears. They'd managed to break a few glasses! Probably by throwing something. When he locked eyes with Michael again, everyone was still staring at him.

Kiba swallowed nervously, then finished lamely: "You've... ah... made a mess of my workstation." He didn't know what else to say.




Leizu
Leizu shook her head. "No, not at all! As long as you don't mind my clutter!" Then, with a wink, she shouldered her bag once more and gestured casually in the direction she'd come earlier that morning. "I live that way; it's only a couple of minute's walk back around the bend, so we can make it there and back in no time flat. I really hope the metal detector does help you find something interesting!" This time when she smiled, her eyes lit up - the cloud which had settled over her had dissipated entirely. Unlike some beachcombers, she wasn't at all defensive of her 'territory'. In fact, she was usually very happy when she found someone of a similar bent working in her neck of the woods, even if it did mean that she missed out on neat finds sometimes. She preferred the people to the objects, anyway.

"Mmmm..." Leizu had to consider for a moment, and she paused to mentally sort through the box in which she kept her back-stock. "Are you looking for a pair of blue and white striped scarves? Or a solid blue one and a solid white one?" She was fairly sure she had understood Caelo's request, she just wanted to make sure before she said she had something that she actually didn't. "Because I have a couple of solid blue ones, in various shades, and a couple of naturally colored ones. It wouldn't be too difficult to bleach one or both of the natural scarves white, then put some stripes in them. Wouldn't take too long, either."

[M2627]

Venti e Caelo
"Not at all... My room is kind of a mess too. It's full of stuff I've found. Wind Song told me to clean it all up, but I refused to throw it away, so she asked me if I'd at least organize them, but I haven't gotten around to that..." Caelo thought of all the treasures she had found. Most were just pieces of flint weaponry and painted stones. She also had the rare piece of jewelry, that her sister confirmed to be from her tribe. "Hmm... I was thinking more of a simple border. Like the main colour is white, with a blue border, and the other is an alternate of that one?" She stared at the sand. Caelo wondered if she had been here before... Something about it was familar.... "I hear this beach was once the winter camp of a tribe that venerates the wind and nature... They're said to be extinct, but I don't believe it."

Fiesta de la Primavera
"Keep talking like that and I'll do more than just throw apples at you!" Fia was ready to strangle this guy. Or at least slap him hard. If she couldn't get away with murder, aggravated assualt would have to do. She swiftly and viciously slapped Michael. Judging by how hard her palm hit his cheek, it would usually sting. But she was used to this, and so she felt nothing. Fia jumped slightly when she heard a voice that wasn't one she recognized interrupted. She glared at the man for a few seconds, but her expression became neutral, though she still faced him. Fia shrugged and strode off. "I'll make up for it with dinner. Just you and me. You can pick the place." She looked back at the bartender and winked at him. This guy looked like the nervous type. They always had the funniest and cutest reactions when she acted this way around them.

[Rondell]

Michael
"What zoo did you escape from?!" For the first time in this conflict, Michael found himself yelling. Not speaking in a slightly raised voice, not being cold, not not simply being terse. No, he was honestly and truly yelling now, for all he was worth, and he was every bit as terrifying as Fia had been. He'd also balled both of his hands up into fists. It was the slap that had done it, coming out of the blue as it had, although her randomly deciding to flirt with the pale guy definitely didn't help matters. He'd been distracted for a moment, just for a moment, so he hadn't even seen her move - last thing he'd known she was at least three yards away. And then... wham! His cheek was still stinging from that one, and by the feel of it, he was going to end up with a bruise. Or at least a lingering red mark. That was it. He'd had it. Party or no, obligation or no, this lady was nuts and he wasn't going to deal with her attitude any more. "Look you..." Michael raised a fist and managed to take a couple of steps forward, but stopped short when he felt a cold hand brush his arm. He pried his eyes away from Fia long enough to find that it was the pale guy again, and now he looked to be on the verge of bolting. Or crying. Or both.

"Please, sir... I... you... umm... It's not worth..."

He felt a brief flash of pity for the stranger, recognizing as he did the other's reluctance to be here, doing this - it mirrored his own - but he continued to glare unflinchingly. There was no way on earth he was going to let the matter drop that easily! Not after what he'd been through. "I've been putting up with her," he spat the word out as if it tasted bad, "all morning. You've no idea how fun it's been."

The apron-clad stranger took his hand away and glanced between Michael and Fia, steepleing his fingers nervously as he did so. "No sir, I don't. But you wouldn't really... hit... a... lady...?"

Michael let out a harsh bark of laughter that drowned out anything else the man had been going to say. He couldn't help it! Over the course of his life he'd met many members of the female sex who were worthy of being called 'ladies' - they were nice, smart, strong, clever, thoughtful, interesting, dynamic... and none of them resembled Fia in more than a passing manner. The thought of applying such a term to HER was like calling a moldy maggot sandwich a gourmet dish. "Lady?! Where have you been for the last few moments?" Then he turned his glare back on Fia, smiling sardonically now. "You aren't a lady, are you? Tell the poor lad. You seem to have him all confused." Somehow he managed to make his voice sound innocent, although his words anything but. He fully expected it to send her into a fury again. He even hoped for it. And this time he was ready.

But then the pale guy was there, standing between them and waving his arms around. "Could you two stop? For just a minute? Please? This is getting... silly! I'd like to help, but I don't even know what's going on."

Michael hadn't thought he'd had it in him.




Kiba
If it were possible for him to melt into the floor, he would have done it. Things were going from bad to worse, and he had no clue what he could do to slow things down now short of jumping between the two combatants and holding them off bodily - which he really didn't want to do! He wasn't even sure if he could. His ears still rung with the sharp sound of palm on cheek, proving that the slim woman was no weakling, and the man in front of him, far from being a powerless twig himself, looked as if he were about to explode. Kiba could hardly blame him though. That had looked really painful... if it had landed on his own cheek instead of the other's... he shuddered slightly and fought the urge to put his hand to his cheek in sympathy. He'd have more than a lingering pain.

As he pondered this, Kiba noticed that the woman was talking in much more rational tones now, and he tuned his ears in to catch the words, hoping she had decided to apologize to the man, thus bringing an end to the commotion and allowing him to leave, job well done. No such luck though. Instead, and in no uncertain terms, she had asked him out. With a wink. Kiba suddenly found his hands shaking again and clasped them together in an effort to still them at the same time as he fought to keep the rising panic from his eyes. He would have stood there dithering for quite a while longer, but the man had his fist up now, was shouting again. He had to try something... even if his boss hadn't commanded him to take care of this (indirectly), his conscience wouldn't have let him simply stand by and watch. Things were definitely getting out of hand.

As quietly as he could, Kiba stepped forward and laid his hand on the Man's arm. "Please, sir... I... you... umm... It's not worth..." Yet his voice faltered when the other turned his eyes around and once more set them to boring holes into Kiba's skull. He shifted uncomfortably. This was not going to be easy. Whatever he'd walked in on, it was one big mess!

"I've been putting up with her," The man spat the word as if it tasted bad, and there was no question in Kiba's mind that he meant it to refer to the Woman, "all morning. You've no idea how fun it's been."

Reluctantly, slowly, Kiba took his hand away, feeling himself beginning to wilt under the force of this guy's anger. All he could do was look from the man to the woman and back again in confusion, steepleing his fingers nervously as he did so, and hope things wouldn't blow up again. "No sir, I don't. But you wouldn't really... hit... a... lady...?" Before he could try anything more, he was cut off by the man's hollow laugh.

"Lady?! Where have you been for the last few moments?" Then the man turned his glare back on the woman, smiling sardonically now. "You aren't a lady, are you? Tell the poor lad. You seem to have him all confused."

Not good, Not good! Kiba flailed mentally. He really did feel like diving behind the counter and waiting things out, because there was no way the woman was going to let that one go without a fight. He knew this instinctively rather than rationally; the idea was a cold lump of conviction in his gut. And, for some suicidal reason, Kiba decided then and there to head her off at the pass. After all, it was his comment that had caused the man to say what he had. So this last flare-up was HIS fault. He didn't like that. Besides, if an honest to god fight broke out in here, he didn't want to be around for the fallout anyway. So, gritting his teeth and jutting his chin out in what he hoped was an authoritative manner, he took a few steps forward and placed himself between the man and the woman. It was a last-ditch effort to prevent chaos.

His hands raised in the classic 'time out!' gesture, Kiba spoke again: "Could you two stop? For just a minute? Please? This is getting... silly! I'd like to help, but I don't even know what's going on."




Leizu
Leizu laughed as began walking in the direction of her home, motioning to Caelo to follow her. "Sounds like your place is a lot like mine! I have all sorts of thing laying around too. Display cases and shoe boxes are your friends, when it comes to organization!" As she walked, she kept to the shore line, and the waves rose periodically around her feet. The sand had begun to warm under the midday sun, yet the water was as cold as ever, so between the two she wasn't uncomfortable. "You'll see when we get there." Most of the things she kept around were simply pretty. Beach-combing finds, trinkets from the shops in town, excreta. While others held sentimental value. Gifts from family and friends, souvenirs form trips she'd taken with Michael, things she'd made herself, and things she'd inherited. It made for an interesting setup! "Hmm... I don't think I have anything quite like that. Like I said though, I have spare scarves, and a quick dye-job shouldn't be too complicated. I can bleach out a couple of the natural scarves and fix them up for you. Are you going to be in town long? I can play with them this afternoon and get them to you tomorrow, easy, as long as you're OK with letting them hang around your house for a while. The dye'll need to set. Or I could mail them to you?"

Caelo's next comment caught her off-guard. "Really? That's neat! I've never heard that before. I've only lived in this neck of the woods for a couple of years, though, so I wouldn't know personally. But nobody in town's ever brought it up. Maybe they have something about it in the Library? Or the museum? How long ago was it?" Leizu's curiosity was thoroughly aroused now.

[M2627]

Venti e Caelo
Caelo followed after Leizu. The sand felt so nice under her bare feet. It felt a little familar and reassuring. "Alright then. I don't mind waiting. I'll just keep digging around here in the meantime." She thought back to all the stories Wind Song had told her. The summer camp was at a beach, and it was most likely this one... "What's a library? And a museum? I've never heard of those." Leizu's question made her think. "I'm about... twenty, I think? So maybe at least ten or fifteen years ago? I know they were around when a huge storm hit this area." Windy spoke of it. It was apparently the storm that made her lose her memory. "There's a word for that kind of storm... Hurri-something?"

Fiesta de la Primavera
That was it. She was going to absolutely murder him. Fia grabbed a banana and threw it, again missing her target and destroying more glasses. She followed up with an orange, this time hitting Michael square in the face. She moved to try strangle him when the bartender intervened. "Please do move, darling. I need to teach this incompetent idiot a lesson." Fia was constantly scowling, and her face only regained a neutral expression when she looked at Kiba. On the stage, her crew were watching the scene great interest, some laughing at the verbal and physical jabs the two took at each other. Fia ignored them.

[Rondell]

Michael
When the banana went whizzing past his head, missing by a mile, Michael couldn't resist sticking his tongue out at Fia. He paid no attention to the glass shattering behind him. Now that a representative of the restaurant was here to witness the chaos, he actually felt much better - there could be no doubt as to who had been responsible for the destruction, so there could be no doubt as to who would be picking up the tab. Regardless of how much Fia whined! It was a massive weight off his shoulders. Having something like that on one's record could result in trouble down the road, he knew, and it wasn't the sort of thing he wanted a prospective employer to see. As for Fia... well, he didn't care if she ever got hired again, and he already planned on having a word with the guys when he got back to the theatre. Then the orange hit him in the face. And whatever good humor he'd been nurturing curled up and died silently in a back corner of his mind. His cheek was still sore from the slap of several minutes ago, and now his nose was throbbing while his glasses hung crooked on his face.

For the second time that day, Michael found momentarily himself speechless.

He pulled his glasses off and held them up to the light, checking the lenses. Then, satisfied that everything was still intact, he put them back on and closed the distance between himself and Kiba. The pale man had been oddly still during this last exchange, but as both Fia and Michael closed in on him from either side, Michael saw that his eyes had begun to dart rapidly back and forth. Almost as if he were looking for an escape route. Again, he felt that flash of pity. Yet this time, the man had gotten himself into this situation, and would have to get himself out. "Yes, please move darling; I have a few things of my own to share with this witch."

"See, as much as I'd love to go someplace else... anyplace else..." the man swallowed and put his arms out to either side in an attempt to ward off the closing combatants. Michael and Fia were close enough now for for one hand to settle on Michael's chest, and the other to fall on Fia's shoulder. "I can't. Because... because..." He took a breath and tried to steady his voice. "Can you imagine what the people out there must be thinking? All this noise! The breaking glass... For all I know, one of the kitchen staff - or a patron - has gotten worried enough about all this to call the cops. If they have, wouldn't it be nice to have things sorted out before they show up? And if no one has called the cops..." The pale man paused for a second and looked at the floor. Michael rather thought that he looked as if he were going to fall over into a dead faint at any moment. "Wouldn't it be nice to calm down a bit before someone DOES call them? Besides." Now the pale man's voice lowered slightly, so that he was speaking in an almost conspiratorial tone. "While you're doing this, nothing's getting done, and your employees seem to be getting a big kick out of it. They even seem to be taking bets on who'll win..."

Kiba
Breaking glass was the worst sound in the world, and as the woman lobbed a plastic banana in the general direction of the man's head... he heard the sound yet again. It sent shivers down Kiba's spine, and he couldn't make himself look in the direction of the bar. He didn't want to see. He didn't want to think.... If anything, this latest crash had been bigger than the first one, so in all likelihood the woman had done more damage with the banana then she had with whatever she'd thrown last time. It made him feel slightly dizzy, and he couldn't move. Vaguely, from the corner of his eye, he registered that the woman had an orange in her hand now. He had the barest moment in which to wonder why there was so much fake fruit laying around anyway, and then she'd lobbed the thing for all she was worth. He didn't have the energy to move. Thankfully though, the orange went sailing on, right past his head, and this time her aim was true. There was no more breaking glass. Instead, a dull thud filled the room as the orange hit the man's face full-on. Kiba could have cheered. Yes, he felt sorry for the man, but really - with that last comment of his, he'd brought it upon himself. Plus the remaining glasses behind the bar would survive for a while longer. If she hadn't hit him, who knows what else she might have broken! She could've hit the mirror... The shiver went through Kiba's entire body this time, and with it the power of movement came flooding back into his limbs. Which was just as well. Both the man and the woman were closing on him!

"Please do move, darling. I need to teach this incompetent idiot a lesson." This was the woman, her expression oddly neutral as she gazed at him. Apparently she was only really peeved with the man.

"Yes, please move darling; I have a few things of my own to share with this witch." This was the man, not even looking at Kiba as he spoke. He had eyes only for the woman.

"See, as much as I'd love to go someplace else... anyplace else..." Kiba swallowed and put his arms out to either side in an attempt to ward off the closing combatants. They were close enough to him now that he was able to rest one hand on the man's chest, and the other on the woman's shoulder. Yet he was careful to keep his grip loose. If either of them decided to make a go of it, he wanted to be able to move quickly. "I can't. Because... because..." He took a breath and tried to steady his voice. This was probably going to be his last chance to slow things down, and he wanted to sound as if he knew what he was doing. People always listened to someone who knew what they were doing... didn't they?

"Can you imagine what the people out there must be thinking? All this noise! The breaking glass... For all I know, one of the kitchen staff - or a patron - has gotten worried enough about all this to call the cops. If they have, wouldn't it be nice to have things sorted out before they show up? And if no one has called the cops..." He paused for a second and looked at the floor, waiting for his point to sink in. "Wouldn't it be nice to calm down a bit before someone DOES call them? Besides." Now he lowered his voice, trying to keep his words away from their leering audience. "While you're doing this, nothing's getting done, and your employees seem to be getting a big kick out of it. They even seem to be taking bets on who'll win..." Kiba let his voice trail off again, trusting the apparently large egos of both the man and the woman to take over. With any luck, neither of them would appreciate their staff acting in such a way, and they would lay aside their quarrel - at least temporarily - to vent some of their rage on the uppity crew.


Leizu
By this point they had rounded the bend, and the dune on which Leizu's little house stood was within sight, although it was still some ways up the beach. "Alright! When we get to the house you can pick out a couple of the natural scarves for me to start with - I have several different lengths, see, and some may be too long for your tastes while some may be too short." She was quite pleased with the day so far - not only had she apparently made a friend, but she'd also made a sale! It always helped to have a bit of extra change knocking about in your pocket. When Caelo next spoke however, Leizu couldn't help but frown slightly in confusion. How had she never heard of a library before? Or a museum? They were everywhere! Even the small town nearby, a town which barely boated a population of a couple thousand, had a library and three museums! "A library is a public place where they keep lots of books to read. And sometimes historical records and stuff from the town. They also have computers people can use. A museum is a place dedicated to history. They have lots of historical stuff on display, like knives and pots and clothing and papers, all of it really old and important. You can go there to look at..." Leizu faltered, having never had to describe something she herself had always taken for granted, "old things? And to learn." It was like trying to tell someone what their own face looked like. Strange and uncomfortable and theoretically unnecessary. To top it all off, Caelo didn't even seem to know how old she was!

"A Hurricane?" Now Leizu raised an eyebrow, her mind going several directions at once. Her new friend certainly wasn't stupid. She really seemed to be quite bright. So what would... then, suddenly, it came to her. A possible explanation. Although for once she wasn't sure if she should ask the question - coming right out and asking if someone had amnesia or not seemed to be rather a rude thing to do.