Maki
Immigrant
.............. You are?
Posts: 29
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Post by Maki on Apr 5, 2012 18:46:55 GMT -5
Maki was walking around Evnae, disliking a lot of the steam that was in the air. She had her bag around her shoulder still as she went on in the early afternoon and eventually spotted a little cafe. She walked over to it and entered, glad to finally be indoors again.
She looked around the little cafe, noticing a few people sitting here and there with hot drinks and baked goods. She then went over to a seat near the corner and sat down.
She pulled her pen and notepad out of her bag and set them neatly on the table then pulled out a book about rare potions and set it down before setting her bag next to her.
She glanced around the room once more, not seeing any waiter coming towards her yet, then turned towards her book and opened it to begin reading. While she read, she swiftly made messy notes in her special short hand, becoming again completely oblivious to the world around her.
[Tag Zephel]
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Post by Zephel on Apr 9, 2012 0:54:16 GMT -5
Zephel stepped out of the kitchen with a sigh, this is getting pretty tedious for him. Every morning, he would be the first to arrive in the cafe, making pastries since the break of dawn, and the only time he could take a break is during the afternoon. It must be around 12 at the moment, and each of the staff knew when Zeph takes a break, he would strut his way to the seat at the corner near the window and takes his daily cup of coffee with a random slice of cake.
Today however, he saw a customer had already occupied his favorite spot, so he moved to sit on the table in front of it. At least it's still close with the window. So Zephel, complete with his apron, settled himself on the seat of the other table, directly facing the customer.
He leans back on his chair with a tired grunt, eyes gazing outside the window at first before picking up his mug of freshly brewed coffee to sip. His eyes slowly shifted from the view of the window to the customer occupying his favorite spot.
The silver-haired chef simply stared at the woman a few ways away in front of him for a short while, wondering how familiar she looked. He was busy sipping his coffee very slowly, until his memory sparked. Spewing out his drink in shock, Zeph then continuously hits his fist against his chest to clear his airways from the shock.
"Maki!" He called out to her with a cough, now remembering she's the girl who was in his class years ago back in the school. Though, after he called out to her, he wondered for a brief moment if she even remembered him. With how she normally is, Zeph is pretty sure his existence might have slipped her memory.
Quickly picking up his cake and mug, he moved lithely from his table to Maki's, taking a seat across from her. "We were in the same class, remember? We met several times outside of class too, but I'm not sure you remember, with your personality and all, so allow me to introduce myself." He was quick with his words, probably because it has certainly been a while for him to see Maki, and he's probably a bit caught up with the memory from years ago.
"My name is Zephel. It's nice to meet you again, Maki. How are you?" He felt surprisingly energetic, not sure if it's because of the coffee or having seen a face he haven't bumped into for a while. Or both.
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Maki
Immigrant
.............. You are?
Posts: 29
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Post by Maki on Apr 9, 2012 16:48:08 GMT -5
Being engrossed in her studying, Maki was unaware of a person who spewed his liquid, making a bit of noise. It wasn't until she heard her name that her attention was drawn away. She slowly lifted her head to look in the direction she heard her name being called from only to see a boy moving from one table away to sit at her table.
She stared blankly at him, wondering who he was, why he knew her and why he decided to sit with her. Thankfully, he went on to answer the first two of those questions immediately. She watching him and blinked a few times as he explained how they knew each other, unable to remember such occasions. She figured he must be telling the truth since he commented that she doesn't usually remember.
As soon as his name escaped his lips, Maki's eyes widened a bit. Zephel. That was the name she had seen written across some of her notes. Being the only name aside from hers she ever saw in her notes, she figured the person the shell was talking about would be him. 'Is this who I must remember?' She thought a moment after his name was uttered to her.
"Zephel..." She repeated quetly, her brows slightly furrowed in thought but her face otherwise appearing blank still. She looked down a moment then back up at him again to answer his question. "I am fine." She replied in a blank sort of tone, staring at him with her blank face.
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Post by Zephel on Apr 13, 2012 9:57:05 GMT -5
For starters, Zephel was quite pleased that he was at least not turned down from barging into her table here. He studied her reaction...or rather, lack of it, for even the tiniest bit of change in her expression.
He smiled slightly when she responded of her health and nodded. "You haven't change," he commented, a small smile still tugging at his lips, "I'm glad." Less possibility she even remembered him if that's the case. He wondered for a brief moment if this is what his siblings felt when he doesn't seem to remember them...
There was a pause from him as he thought of the memories he had lost and if there's even a possibility to remember all of them, but then he shook his head to focus on the person in front of him. "So, how's your...socializing mission going?" He frowned a bit at the memory of her reason for even being outside.
Now noticing she haven't gotten at least a drink with her, Zephel turned and raised a hand to attract one of the waiters running around. He caught one of the new waitresses' eyes at him and called her out, "Rika..!" Once she approached close enough to the table, he gestured towards Maki in front of him, "My friend here haven't ordered yet. Would you please..?"
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Rika
Settler
I try not to let little things bring me down!
Posts: 58
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Post by Rika on Apr 27, 2012 12:16:45 GMT -5
Rika's head peaked over the counter at Zephel's voice calling her and she smiled brightly. She carried the cake she had just pulled out to a table on the way with a smile then headed over quickly to Zephel's table. "Hi!" She said cheerfully to Zephel and, more specifically, the girl.
"You're a friend of Zephel's?" She asked the girl with a smile then smiled over at Zephel briefly before looking back at the girl. "My name is Rika. Is there anything I can get for you?"
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Maki
Immigrant
.............. You are?
Posts: 29
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Post by Maki on Apr 28, 2012 1:29:49 GMT -5
Maki's eyes seemed very slightly wider as he made mention of her not changing and him being glad. 'If he knows I don't remember, why is he glad?' She thought to herself in slight confusion without a change in her facial expression. His name repeated in the back of her mind also as she tried to recall anything about this person in front of her but couldn't. All of her memories of him had been wiped out of her mind and this was probably the first time she ever felt frustration inside over forgetting someone she had met. If not for his name in her notes and the confusing messages she heard from the shell, she would not even know that there was a person who had impacted her before she forgot him.
Maki's thoughts were disrupted again by his next question and her eyes widened again slightly then relaxed as she looked down. She slowly took in a deep breath then exhaled. "I don't particularly think of my parents' wish for me." After another moment, she looked back up at Zephel to continue. "A teacher recommended I continue potion studies at the Bone Healers and that is why I am here."
Maki looked back down at her book again, memorizing the page number and closed it slowly. "These books come from the library there. They contain instructions on more rare potions." She slowly turned her head back up to him again and watched him, not usually being one to be so open about what she is doing, but seeing as he knew certain things about her she figured she must have trusted this person in the past.
Maki watched Zephel as he turned his head and called out to someone then turned to look at the girl who neared their table and introduced herself. She watched her for a moment then glanced at the small standing menu nearby. "Herbal mix tea and grain berry loaf." She said after a moment of looking at it then looked back over at the waitress again until she left to get her order.
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Post by Zephel on May 7, 2012 15:20:09 GMT -5
Zeph's eyebrows arched a bit to hear her sudden assertion of her ignorance in her parents' wishes, but he didn't say a word about it. He wouldn't dare. It's not his place to ask more of this from her. So, he chose to respond to her next statement, "I see. Bone Healers... That's in Ianne, right?"
He always wondered where exactly does Maki fit in these potion business; healing, buffing or strengthening? He wanted to ask that, but when he tried to phrase out the question in his head, it sounded so confusing, he decided not to speak out about it.
Zephel had to chuckle a bit when he noticed Maki glancing down at her book before closing it, "Still memorizing page numbers? Heh, you never do change. You and your books." He ended it with a shake of his head and an amused sigh.
Once Rika came to take Maki's order, Zephel relaxes on his chair. He only had just noticed then that he hadn't been leaning on his chair the entire time as he spoke to Maki, which is odd since he's always so relaxed.
Perhaps it's because Maki had impacted him in a way.
It's because of her that Zephel realizes he has a tendency to butt in other people's problems, even when they don't need him to. He learns from that, to constrain himself from being so overly worried about problems he didn't need to bother about. To remind himself that he can only offer some help if they want him to help and not forcing to help them.
...Still, his overly worried personality mainly branched out because of a certain teacher that completely verifies why it's so right to be absolutely worried every damn time.
Shaking the thought of that disgusting man out of his memory, Zephel picked up his mug to sip his much-needed coffee. 'Coffee, coffee, burn the memories of that idiot from my mind..' He even frowned as he sipped his mug, downing the coffee with a larger gulp as he tries to forget the things he believes he should.
When that didn't work, he focuses his vision to Maki. She doesn't seem to change at all, in the aspect of her appearance. Studying her further as she ordered her chosen meal, the silver-haired had to wonder if he had conversed with someone else as often as he talked to Maki before. Without her notice, he's becoming a better person because of her.
Zeph had pretty much grown to be more tactful thanks to Maki, ultimately. So in a way, he owes her.
"Oh yeah.." Seeming to have remembered something, Zeph shifted a bit in his seat to reach for something from inside his pocket. When he pulled it out, he sets it on the table, in between him and Maki. There stood a small potion bottle, a modified one at least with a squeezable container.
"I fixed the bottle a bit, but the potion inside it is still yours." He said with a slight smile, not sure if she remembers this, but goes on with it anyway. "I don't have a remarkable endurance, so your potion had greatly helped me get through my days without fainting. Every day, for years now."
His hand movied inside his apron, trying to reach something inside his jacket there, then finally pulled out a piece of folded paper. Zeph then unfolds the paper carefully and laid it out next to potion bottle, and there scribbled in Maki's handwriting is the recipe she had given him so he could make the potion by himself.
"My life is becoming much more easier to cope up with thanks to you. I'm seriously grateful, Maki."
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Maki
Immigrant
.............. You are?
Posts: 29
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Post by Maki on May 27, 2012 22:56:13 GMT -5
Maki gave a small nod as Zephel questioned about Bone Healers being in Ianne. "Yes it is." She added. "It is surrounded by a number of trees and although there are sometimes a lot of people due to it's clinical area, most of the time I only come across other students wishing to further their studies."
When he made the comment about her and books, her eyes opened a bit wide again and she looked down for a moment. She thought about his name and it being in her notes again. Her brows furrowed as she knew it must be him whose name was there. She looked back up at him, her eyes lifting first and then her face following.
Maki looked down at the potion bottle Zephel pulled out and opened her eyes a bit wider again as he said that the potion was still hers. She stared at the little bottle as he spoke, recalling his name again from her notes. Her eyes moved to look across the note she wrote for him to make it himself and she instantly recognized that note and remembered now when she wrote it more carefully than her normal notes and packed it away, but still didn't recall him specifically or when she gave it to him.
She may have seemed to slump slightly but not very noticeably as she began to feel somewhat depressed about her lack of memories of this person. It's not everyday that she's willing to put in the effort to look for, make and write careful instructions for someone else and definitely not for just any person. His name from her notes and the messages from the shell ran through her head again as her brows furrowed slightly.
"I'm glad..." She finally said, "that my potion was able to help you..." She looked back up at him again. "Don't misunderstand that statement. I still don't remember you specifically... but I know I knew you." She watched him as she tried to choose her words carefully.
"I was wondering," she began again as she looked down again, "just who 'Zephel' was..." She looked back up at him as she continued. "While going over my notes, I was often perplexed by seeing the name of someone I could not remember written on some of the pages. There is also... a certain object..." She looked down again, a little embarrassed about the messages she heard from the shell and trying to figure out how to talk about it without revealing those messages.
"I don't know how I came to own this... shell..." She looked back at him again then quickly slightly to the side. "But it tells me things... and repeats a question constantly due to your name in my notes..." She looked down again and stared at the bottle and note again. "It asks me in my own voice... 'Why did you forget him?'"
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Post by Zephel on May 29, 2012 16:31:47 GMT -5
Zephel had his eyes down the moment Maki declared that she doesn't remember him. The smallest of smirks fixated itself on his lips, whispering to no one but himself, "Heh.... I guess..this is what they must have felt.." This...depressing feeling. His siblings have certainly felt this, though much stronger he believes. "Don't worry.." he spoke a bit louder so she could hear him, "I know EXACTLY how you feel.."
When Maki spoke again, his eyes darted up towards her, though his head still faces downwards. His head tilts up though of the new information that his name practically exists in her notes. Zephel had already opened his mouth to ask why in the world would she write his name in her notes, but his voice stops mid-way when Maki mentioned about the 'certain object'.
Immediately, Zeph's mind directs him to the moment at the beach, where she had saved him a number of times. That was also the time he had given Maki something, as a token of his thanks. Something that he treasured too, since he still remembers that feeling of unwillingness he had at the time for giving such a precious item to someone so easily like that.
Zeph is trying so hard to remember what that thing is, until Maki spoke the word 'shell', and at that he immediately snapped his fingers, "Oh, that's right...! The shell.. Now I remember. The shell that whispers your heart's true desires--" He mumbled, but then stopped abruptly, now processing the rest of Maki's speech in his head.
His red eyes darted itself towards Maki's, though unable to meet her eyes since they're focused onto the bottle and note on the table. "Wait." He spoke, trying to figure out what does she mean by the shell's resonating words to her. His eyes are still fixed towards Maki, and slowly, Zephel asks, "...Don't tell me.....you..regret...that you've forgotten me?"
He always sees her as cold and unfeeling, and most of the time, she acts the part too. Though he can't say that for sure considering she made him that potion, and how she remembers only him back at the school, and how her face looked when she's so fascinated by the first sight of Orphion back in his dorms. Sometimes, he forgets that Maki is a woman, and he knows for a fact that every woman has feelings.
Now feeling rather guilty of leaving the school without any notice, Zephel slumped down on his chair, his shoulders falling as his eyes are casted downwards towards his mug of coffee and his unfinished slice of cake. "..I'm sorry...." he whispered, barely audible. "I didn't.. I thought that....it would be best if you would forget about me, like how easily you forget about others."
Zeph shuffled in his seat a bit, his eyes escaping any contact with Maki. "Because I thought...." He stopped. Because why? Staring down at his half-finished dark coffee, right at his reflection, he asks himself why. Because he was being nosy in her life. Because he was underestimating Maki that she couldn't protect herself. Because he thought that he's in her way of her aim, or actually her parents' aim, to find a mate. Because he didn't want to burden her since he's such an awkward fellow to talk to. ...Because he didn't want to get too concerned for her that he forgets himself.
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Maki
Immigrant
.............. You are?
Posts: 29
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Post by Maki on May 31, 2012 0:52:24 GMT -5
Maki's eyes widened again as Zephel snapped his fingers and she looked right at him again. Her eyes remained wide as he said that the shell told the listener what their heart's true desires were. A very slight flush of peach came across her face, almost unnoticeable if not for her ever pale skin. 'True... desires...?' She thought in response as the shell's messages repeated again in her mind, her eyes staring at Zephel as if she were extremely taken aback with shock.
As soon as his eyes lifted to try to meet hers, an embarrassed feeling took over her and she looked back down at the bottle and note to avoid making eye contact, a strange act to her that she immediately questioned herself about inside. As Zephel spoke and asked if she regretted forgetting him, the shocked look on her face slowly faded away again to her normal blank look.
She took a slow, deep breath then look back up at him again. "I don't outwardly feel a sense of regret... but there have been times here and there, mainly due to your name and the shell... that have caused a sort of... almost nagging feeling... that I don't quite understand..." She looked away a couple times as she spoke, trying to choose her words carefully to explain herself.
Maki looked back at Zephel again as he told her he thought it would be best if she forgot him like she forgets everyone else. After a moment of him not continuing his thought and her staring at him, she spoke up again with a slight crease in her brow.
"Zephel... What happened between us? ... Why... did I remember you before? ... And... Why did I forget you?"
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Post by Zephel on Jun 5, 2012 23:49:52 GMT -5
While his eyes stays fixed on Maki, Zephel caught the slight hint of blush on her cheeks, and only thanks to that did he attempted to look away. 'Attempted' is the keyword since he found himself trying to sneak a glance of her as much as he tries to look away. He almost made eye-contact with Maki due to that, but she's very quick in averting her gaze away and facing downwards instead.
It was such a strange act for her to do so that Zephel's eyebrows creased inwards automatically at this of both disturbance and confusion. This whole situation is weird, and awkward, and confusing. He never knew such a simple meet-up with a fellow colleague could cause this jumble of all things graceless and unwieldy.
Once Maki had taken control of herself, at which Zephel is glad that at least one of them is able to, he sat with his back straight and focused his attention towards her. He surprised himself that he felt a tiny sting when Maki stated that she didn't felt a sense of regret of forgetting him, but then his eyes widened once she confessed the existence of a nagging feeling, as she said.
He felt a lump in his throat after the moment of peace and silence was broken by Maki's clear question. A big fat lump is stuck in his throat and he can't swallow it down. "Uhh...." Clearly uncomfortable for whatever reason he himself is unsure of, Zephel began crossing his arms and looked down at his coffee. The cross of his arms was quick to break though as he rubbed the side of his head for a while, then messaging his temple.
Finally, he drops whatever he's fiddling at the time and heaved out a long deep sigh. Sitting up straight again, Zephel places both his elbows on the table and focuses his gaze directly towards Maki. "I can only answer half of your question. I'm not sure myself how exactly you're able to remember me out of the million of others you encountered in your life, but I guess it was because...."
He paused to find the right word for it, to describe the numerous times he butts in in her life, and how she helped him every time he was stuck, "...I was...intruding, in your life. Many times. Mostly because of a certain idiot who kept threatening to rape you, and that annoys me to high hell."
His voice has gotten deeper and darker with a hint of malice near the end, but then he closed his eyes and took a deep inhale to calm himself. "I'm...not sure what happened, and how you've...forgotten me." Either it was the temperature of the uncomfortable atmosphere that made beads of sweat to appear on Zephel's face or the mere memory of Anthony is unconsciously manipulating the fire and anger within him, so he removed the head strap he had on his hair, loosening the wild strands of silver on his forehead, and uses the head strap to swab his forehead and temples.
"...I suppose it was when I realized that I might be prying too much in your life that I decided to let you be. I kept watching you from afar for a while though, and keeping my distance from you made that idiot of a teacher less closer to your general direction." True, he kept watching Maki all the while when he's still staying in the school, he also managed to distract Anthony away too from walking right into Maki's direction, so all is well from the distance.
At least, until he felt that he kind of missed talking with Maki that when he finally had the chance to approach her without Anthony trailing, she walked right pass him without even a glance of acknowledgement to him. The closest he had gotten to make her talk to him is when she looked at him blankly as if he's a stranger and said, ".............. You are?"[/b] Zephel smiled bitterly at the memory, "...I thought it was better that way. ...Or maybe, I eventually settled to that sort of mindset because everything's going well for you."
He paused for a long while, staring at his unfinished cake and after another round of exhale, Zeph finally said, "Like I said, I can't answer all your questions. You better ask yourself that.." He glanced to her as he said so, taking hold of the forgotten fork on his plate of cake and uses it to slice a small bit of the cake. "...Or maybe you should ask the shell that?" His darting red eyes are almost hinting something for that split-second as he took a glimpse at her before returning his attention to the cake.
He had said everything he had known of what happened between them, now the rest of the answers lies within Maki. Wanting to know the answers as well, Zephel asks with a slightly playful tone, "Do you want to remember me? Or do you want to forget me?" And then he popped in that small bit of cake inside his mouth.
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Rika
Settler
I try not to let little things bring me down!
Posts: 58
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Post by Rika on Jun 11, 2012 3:50:00 GMT -5
Rika happily trotted back over to Zephel and Maki's tabled with a big smile and placed the items Maki ordered down on the table in front of you. "Here you go!" She said cheerfully, with a bright smile. "If there's anything else either of you two need, just give me a call or a wave and I'll be right over!"
She smiled at them again before being called to another table and moved towards her other customers to help them out.
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Maki
Immigrant
.............. You are?
Posts: 29
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Post by Maki on Jun 12, 2012 9:40:19 GMT -5
Maki watched Zephel patiently with a cold, blank stare as he fidgeted while trying to think of how to answer her question. She was confused when he finally began saying he could only answer half of her question but listened intently to what he had to say.
Her eyebrows creased inward slightly as he talked about butting into her life to protect her from a rapist. 'I remembered him because of that?' She questioned herself. She supposed, though, that such insistent actions are not necessarily common and reasoned that a person very intent on helping no matter what may have been able to caus a stir in her mind.
Maki watched him with her blank stare as he explained that he thought her forgetting him was due to him finally distancing himself from her like that. She looked down at the table again for a moment to think about this and thought that perhaps merely that would have possibly been enough. Despite this, a slight nagging feeling bothered her at that kind of explanation. 'Was it really just that?' She questioned herself as she stared at the bottle and note again.
Maki let out a quiet sigh as he repeated that he couldn't answer all her questions and she ought to ask herself. She slowly looked up at him again as she noticed him preparing to take a bite of his cake again. As his red eyes caught her own seemingly empty eyes, with the mention of the shell again, her eyes widened a bit and the faintest hint of pink crept back onto her cheeks.
Maki remained staring at Zephel as he continued to ask her if she would rather remember or forget him. She didn't quite catch onto the playful tone, but something about those last three remarks made her feel a little bit awkward.
As she stared at Zephel in thought over his questions, her attention was surprisingly not broken by the chirpy voice of the young waitress who had delivered her food to the table. Maki paid no attention to the girl, not even realizing right away that her order was now on the table before her.
After staring a bit longer, Maki slowly looked down towards the bottle and note before she finally noticed that her tea and loaf were there already. Her eyes widened slightly at that and she finally picked up her fork to break off a small piece of loaf and lifted it to her lips. She paused at that moment as her eyes looked at the bottle and note again, gaining a flash of some kind of memory from an ocean.
She lowered her fork again and looked back up at Zephel, her eyebrows slightly creased inward as she looked at him. "Did we ever meet at an ocean?" She asked, rather unsure of that flash of image in her mind. She wasn't even sure if he was in that image, but for some reason, the nagging feeling seemed to urge her into questioning that.
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Post by Zephel on Jun 24, 2012 1:25:06 GMT -5
"Thank you, Rika." Zephel managed to piped in before the waitress excused herself and returned his attention back to Maki. He had a smirk on his face as he began to mentally count how many seconds she took to notice that her order is already served, it's somewhat amusing to see how slow Maki would acknowledge some things when it's quite visible in her range of view.
"12 seconds," he whispered to himself with a singular chuckle before breaking into a small short laugh. His eyes are closed as he laughed softly, almost inaudibly, and then regained back his usual straight face, althought now more amused, when he opened his eyes.
Her sudden question surprised him, and his eyes quickly darted back towards Maki in slight shock. This is probably his first time hearing that this girl recalls something, and his red eyes stayed fixed towards her for a few moments before his lips parted to speak.
"Y...yes." A small but quick nod followed his answer. "We..did. I...gave you the shell there, and you saved me from drowning that time as well.." Flashes of memories from the beach entered his mind, and Zephel's eyebrows creased inwards at how embarrassing he was acting before.
He feels so humiliated, he grabbed his mug and quickly sips his coffee from it, to make the heat of the drink calm down his nerves. Hopefully, he isn't blushing at the moment. Soon after he had regained his composure, Zephel placed back his mug down and stares back at Maki.
"You...remembered..?"
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Maki
Immigrant
.............. You are?
Posts: 29
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Post by Maki on Jul 2, 2012 17:14:44 GMT -5
After asking if they met at an ocean, Maki watched Zephel closely. She just had this feeling, nothing more, and she figured that if she could go by her feelings, then perhaps she could slowly try to remember the person in front of her. The person with the same name that is written in some of her notes. The person who gave her the shell that tells her things that seem foreign to her conscious mind.
When Zephel finally said yes, Maki's eyes widened a bit more again. Her quick flash of a feeling was right. The tiniest hint of pink crossed her cheeks again as he mentioned the shell and she looked down again, but then right back at him as he said that she saved him from drowning. She was rather surprised at that, only because she does not recall any time when she has ever helped someone else on purpose. Or was it on purpose that she saved him then, she wondered.
"Did I... turn into a dolphin or something?" She asked, knowing full well that her delicate human form could never survive in an ocean nevertheless actually save someone else from there.
When he looked back up at her, asking if she remembered, Maki lowered her head again with her blank face and her eyes partway closed. "No... I don't remember... It was... just a feeling..."
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