A City Story, Day 4

[Cytherea]

"Well..." Shawlin said.

"Shawlin, would you like anything in your hot chocolate?" Mandi called.

"Oh, no thank you, Mandi." Shawlin called back. He turned back to Mrs. Jras.

"I have plans for my future. I plan to marry, but I have to wait for the right girl." He smiled. "She's harder to find than you would imagine."

Shawlin clasped his hands together.

"Who I wish to be with? Well..." he looked up and smiled at Mrs. Jras. "That remains to be determined- hopefully soon."

[Zinna]

Mrs. Jras just pursed her lips and left just as Mandi came in with two steaming cups of hot chocolate.

"Here you go, Shawlin," Mandi said as she gently set his cup of chocolate on the table. "So where were we?" She pick an old book from one of the shelves. "Have you ever read the story of Cinderella?"

[Cytherea]

"Have you ever read the story of Cinderella?" Mandi asked as she pulled an old book from one of the shelves.

"Thank you." he took a sip of the hot, hot chocolate. "And yes,; lots of times. It might sound strange for a boy, but it may be one of my favorite fairy tales."

[Lithium]

Cheiko came back from outside and smiled. "She's fine and I checked some movie showtimes. Personally, I'd rather skip the chick flicks. How does an action movie sound? They have a new Spy Crew out. I liked the first and fifth one... Oh! How about we go see that re-re-re-premier of The Hobbit? I really liked it the first time I saw it, although it wasn't in the theatres. Martin Freeman did a good job. Anyways, they have a showing of that in about an hour."

[Cytherea]

"Great!" Jason said with a smile. "That sounds like fun. We can hang out at my house until it's time for the movie to start."

"Wait a minute! Are you guys going to watch a movie?" Josh asked.

"Without us?" Eli exclaimed.

"Preferably." Jason groaned. "And besides, you still have homework to finish.

"We can do that later." Eli scoffed. "We're soooo good at procrastinating."

"Except that you have to write down "I will not be rude" 300 times."

"Hehe, I think you forgot what you said for us to write down earlier. The other one was way longer."

"Okay. Write it 500 times." Jason said.

"Ugh. Why did he have to be the oldest." Josh complained.

Josh and Eli turned to Cheiko.

"Miss Cheiko, we must leave to finish our... educational studies right now."

"Our home-school." Eli broke in.

"Shush!" Josh whispered urgently. He cleared his throat. "Good-bye, Miss Cheiko."

"Yeah, so long baby." Eli said with a grin. He and Josh ran back up the stairs.

Jason flopped onto a nearby couch. He put his hand to his temples.

"Oy. Those boys are a handful sometimes."

[Anwen]

Aria laughed. "That is-- pretty blunt. I don't mind you asking though." She spread one wing out and preened a little with her fingers. "I have wings because I was bred in Ambia to have an eagle's sight." her fingers stopped moving through her feathers long enough to look at him a moment and then, with a wry smile, she continued.

"Obviously, it didn't work out quite the way they had planned. I got the sight they wanted, but I ended up with wings also. I was part of a 'litter' of two. My older brother was perfect the way they wanted. He went to the fighters' ring and I went into dancing." Why am I telling him all his? "One thing led to another and I ended up here."

__________________________________________________

Will took Endosi's hand and was instantly filled with joy. She's beautiful! I love her! She's sweet! I love her! She's wonderful! I love her!

As he was thinking these things, he unconsciously pulled her a little closer. They went through the fence into Royalia and down a few streets until they were on Aspen. Will gazed at her and asked her, "Which house is yours? I'm afraid I'll need to let you lead here."

[Cytherea]

Alex

"I see." Alex said, considerately. He stroked his violin, his eyebrows furrowing as he thought. His blue hair looked dark against his sickly pale face. It was obvious he didn't get enough sunlight. "My mother was bred, as you would say. Part dolphin. I inherited some of the characteristics, but not all of them." He cocked his head to the side, just slightly. "You've come a long way, I'd guess. What made you fly to my window?

Endosi

"Oh, I live in that blue house. See? Right over there." She got on her toes and pointed towards a smallish, pale blue house. "It's not the biggest home in Royalia, but it works wonderfully for my family." She smiled happily, contagious energy almost radiating from her. "I know my family will love you! I can't wait for you to meet them!"

[Lithium]

Cheiko blushed and nodded. "I've never had brothers, except for Takeo's siblings. But little sisters are much more of a handful, I can tell you. They're often much more petty and cry very easily." She ran her fingers through her hair to get out a tangle. "So, when should we leave? I don't want it to be too crowded."

[Cytherea]

"We can leave right now, if you want to." Jason said with a smile. "We can buy some popcorn and get a good seat." He winked at her. "We'd better leave now before the boys come back down."

He stood up and smoothed down his jacket.

"Okay, you ready?" he said. He gently took her hand in his.

[Zinna]

Mandi

"It might sound strange for a boy, but it may be one of my favorite fairy tales."

"No, its not strange at all. I think that everyone should read a variety of literature. So you wanted some help on what exactly? You mentioned writing," Mandi took a slow sip of her hot chocolate.

[Cytherea]

"So you wanted some help on what exactly? You mentioned writing," She took a slow sip of her hot chocolate. Shawlin quickly took a drink before replying.

"Well, all of my books have been written by me solely. And as a guy would write a book, the romances I create in my stories don't seem to flow." He smiled at her. "I thought that maybe you could help me with this next book I'm writing. You know; add a needed feminine touch." He said with a shrug.

[Lithium]

Cheiko smiled, gently squeezed Jason's hand and smiled. "Yeah. I'm ready."

She grabbed her coat and purse, threw them on. Running out the door, she hailed a taxi.

Matthew never did any of this with me. Forget him. She held Jason's hand again. I've found someone ten times better.

[Cytherea]

Jason opened the door for Cheiko and then slid in himself. He and Cheiko reached the theater in what seemed like a few seconds.

"Thanks, sir." Jason said to their cab driver. He handed him some money and then helped Cheiko out. He smiled at her. "We'd better go buy that popcorn and get some seats so we don't miss the previews." he whistled. "The best part of it all."

[Anwen]

"I flew to the window 'cause I heard the music. Why else would I come to the window of a Royal home?" Because I heard the sound of an icy heart woven into the notes. She realized. She smirked at herself in her head. I must be partial to ice.

It began to rain. Aria sheltered herself and Alex with her wings. "I should probably go home to my tree." She said. "Go on into your house and stay dry. That is, unless you like the rain."

[Cytherea]

Alex looked grimly at the clouds. The rain pelted down, steadily getting worse. A small rumble of thunder rolled across the sky. Alex slowly put one of his hands out from under her wings, and let the rain fall on it.

"It's been so long..." his eyes had a faraway look in them, before he yanked his arm out and put it to his chest. His eyes were filled with sadness. He clutched his violin tightly, and then walked to the door of his house. He opened it, stepped inside, but before he shut the door completely, he smiled.

And then he was gone.

[Lithium]

Cheiko laughed. "Very funny. Now, was I buying the popcorn and you were buying the tickets? Or was it the other way around?"

She brushed some lint off of her shirt.

(can we wrap the day up shortly?)

[Cytherea]

(Yeah, we should try to. I'll try and make this post cover a lot.)

"I can buy both." Jason said with a shrug. "Let's go."

Taking her hand in his, they walked inside the theater. Thankfully, the line was shorter than usual, and the machines that spat your ticket out at you weren't malfunctioning. They bought some popcorn, and then got settled in room 26, which would be playing "The Hobbit" next. The previews started playing a few minutes later.

Jason smiled, and then leaned in close to Cheiko.

"We should come out again when they play Iron Man 5. Doesn't it look exciting?" He whispered.

[Lithium]

Cheiko grinned. "I'm game. What about Avengers 7?"

She shook her head. "It's almost incredible that these movies have been making money for their makers for years. But it's a shame they don't really make any new ones."

[Cytherea]

"Yeah. Maybe the producers are just losing their creativity." He let his breath out slowly. "I'd never have the patience to make a show. Eli and Josh might assist me if I ever make an album. Eli loves the drums; and Josh is great on the guitar. We preformed a song once, but not in front of anybody. Maybe someday later we could preform it for you." He shrugged, and moved away from her slightly. "I- if you're interested, anyway."

[Lithium]

Cheiko nodded and smiled. "Of course! That would be–– I mean... that sounds nice. I'd like that."

The previews finished playing and the lights dimmed. Cheiko leaned towards Jason and glanced at him out of the corner of her eye before devoting more attention to the movie.

[Cytherea]

Jason felt a small shiver run through him as she leaned close to him. Hesitantly, he put his arm on the top of her chair, and then slowly around her shoulders. He hoped she wouldn't mind. As the show began, he tried to focus.

I wonder if she likes me... well, she did kiss me. But... was that just in thanks? Was it... real? Did I just imagine it? Gah... why are my feelings so mixed up?

[Zinna]

Mandi

"I thought that maybe you could help me with this next book I'm writing. You know; add a needed feminine touch."

"Sure. I'd love to help. Oh, do you have the time? I need to do something at 11AM." Mandi glanced at the door then out the window. She stared intently at a slow moving object in the yard.

[Cytherea]

"Oh, I do have things to do today." Shawlin said as he finished his hot chocolate. "I should study some grades. I'm a teacher, so every little bit of studying time is useful."

He stood up, putting his cup on a nearby table as he did so.

"Maybe I can set up a time when we can meet and work on my story. It was a pleasure." Gently, he took her hand and kissed it. "Until then."

He turned and quietly exited the Jras home.

[Lithium]

Cheiko

Cheiko's cheeks warmed and she was glad it was already dark in the theater, otherwise Jason might see her blushing like a school girl as he draped his arm, first across the top of her chair, then onto her shoulders. She smiled and lowered her body a bit further until she was resting her head in the crook of his neck.

She smiled and could hardly pay attention for the rest of the movie.

Missy

Missy hauled herself off the couch as the credits for Season One of Doctor Who rolled across the screen.

Wiping away some left-over tears with the sleeve of her bathrobe, Missy pulled out her Portable to check the time.

10 o'clock?!? she asked herself. Wow. Cheiko's been out for a while.

An alert flashed up on her screen with a loud electronic ping.

You've got one new message, Missy.

She swiped her fingers across the screen and accessed the message.

From: [BLOCKED IDENTIFICATION
To: Me
Subject: No Subject
Message: Do not worry. Your brother is still safe, but please find a way to contact me faster. Sitting on your behind watching Doctor Who all day isn't going to help anybody, least of all, your brother. Yes. They're watching you. Right now. Be careful what you do.

Missy burned with shame-tinged rage. Why that... that... She silenced herself, took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. He... or she... is right. I need to figure out a way to––

The screen lit up with another notification.

You have one photo message from [BLOCKED IDENTIFICATION].

She accepted the photo and her face lit up in surprise.

It was a picture of Matthew. Working on some weapons, with little of his face showing, but it was still Matthew. She smiled, turned off her Portable, wandered into her bedroom, flopped onto the bed and fell into a deep, calming sleep.

[Cytherea]

The movie ended and the lights automatically lit the room up. Jason turned towards Cheiko, who had, he noticed, when the movie started, let her head rest on his neck. He had been seriously trying not to hyperventilate from shock and excitement. He was all smiles now, and squeezed her gently.

"Did you enjoy the movie, Cheiko?" he asked.