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Post by Cassandra Dane on Jun 15, 2013 22:06:47 GMT -8
The first thing Cassandra wanted to do when she got of that damn plane was to have a long shower. She had only ever been on a plane once before and she was a toddler so of course wouldn’t remember how horrible it was. She felt so jet lagged. It was midday but to her body it felt like 7 in the morning. She hadn’t got any sleep on the plane. The minute they hit just the tiny bit of turbulence the promise of sleep was instantly discarded!
Once washed and in new clothes she decided to head out to explore the town. She pinned her red hair up in a hair clip to keep it out of her deep sky blue eyes. She had pulled on a long light coral colour top which hugged her figure and came down to the middle of her hips. Black skinny jeans probably wasn’t the best choice considering they suck in the heat and make her legs feel hot, but not enough to be uncomfortable. She slipped on some shoes with a sigh. How much she would of loved to just collapse on the bed and fall into a comatose like sleep.
There was no point going to sleep. If she wanted to get over her Jet lag she would have to struggle on through today and go to sleep at a normal time. Plus 9 hours on a plane made her want to stretch her legs and enjoy the outside.
She pack a few things into her bag; purse, small art pad and pencil and phone. As she stepped out into the sun she slipped on a pair of sunglasses to protect her eyes. She always had issues with the sun. It gave her headaches but that was nothing that sunglasses couldn’t fix. She slung her bag over her shoulder so it rested against her hip and headed off.
She wasn’t going in any real direction. She just wanted to explore. She remembered to keep a mental track of where she was going so not to get lost.
After about half an hour walking around she decided it was time to find somewhere to sit down and chill. She was not use to the heat here. She knew this was no where as hot as some places in America but compared to the wetlands of England this was hot for her. She would have to adjust to that also during the day…
At last she found herself at a park and picked a spot over on a bench to have a seat. She glanced around. There wasn’t anyone near by. She hated people watching her draw. She was sure most the time they weren’t even looking but she felt like they where just waiting for her to look away before coming over and peeking over her shoulder.
She pulled out the pad and the pencil as she crossed her legs and glanced around. Once she was comfortable she put pencil to paper and started to draw what she saw in front of her. A mighty tree with flowers scattered around the base. Her scribbles soon become a rough, but very life like sketch. She had always been ever good at drawing.
But not people… She couldn’t draw people. Not that she didn’t have the skill. She felt it was wrong to capture someone’s emotions onto a piece of paper. This being said she didn’t hate portraits. Some of her favourite famous artwork was in fact of a person. Its just she didn’t feel she had the skill yet to be able to do people justice.
She let out a sigh again as she ran her thumb down the trunk of the tree to smudge in her shading and give the picture more depth. She hoped she hadn’t made a mistake coming here. She knew at some point she was going to have to go to the cemetery to find her Fathers grave. She shook her head as if to try and get the thought away. She didn’t even know if he was berried here in Mystic Falls. She only knew the tiny bits of information that she could get out of her mothers fragile mind…
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Ian Parker
Seldarine 
Linguistics Professor Mafioso
You can get much farther with a kind word and a gun than you can with a kind word alone[Mo0:25]
Posts: 24
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Post by Ian Parker on Jun 17, 2013 15:33:57 GMT -8
 
Ian was extra excited to get out today. The extra lure of working out for Ian was being able to feel which muscles he was working. Some people liked to use a mirror when they lifted weights, but for Ian, free weights weren’t usually his thing, it was his most hated cycle when he worked out. He enjoyed being outside as much as he could, so he divised alternatives with wrist and ankle weights.
After a month his ankles and wrists were getting used to the weights. He fastened on his sneakers, grabbed his ipod, sunglasses and headed out. Rushing down the steps of his house on his toes made Ian smile as he felt the muscles to be worked actually working. The park wasn’t that far from his place, which was a perk. The other perk was the strip of shops that were a mere eight blocks away, specifically the bookstore. "Nice” he mused to himself, jogging in place on the sidewalk as he put his earbuds in and headed towards the park.
It was a beautiful day, the sky was an endless blue and the stillness of the hour was tantalizing for his run. He had run this path so many times that at this point, his mind did not need to remain meticulously veered on where the path took a turn or what clearing it went through or how long it was. He was able to sink into the rhythm of the music playing through his ipod, and cue the pace of his run accordingly. His playlist flipped on and he grinned, closing his eyes for a moment, to take in a deep breath before he increased the rhythm of his jog. He liked being awake at this hour, for some reason he felt as if the world was lighter, the air cleaner, the silence more golden if one could get it.
He suspected as it was the tip of the day, right before one really sat back and took up the load one does to go from day to day; work or school, errands and all that. If an alcoholic's weakness was alcohol, Ian's addiction to books was facilitated by the proximity to the used bookstore. He was already smiling as he hit an even pace, wondering what finds he would fall on, on his way home after the mile run. He was hoping to find a few Derrida books as he was just getting into the thick of the Philosophy of Language.
Turning the corner, his phone began to ring. he decided to just let it go to voicemail. If it was important, they would call back. That's when he felt the vibration that usually accompanied a text message. Who was it and what could they possibly want? He decided he'd better find out. he slowed his pace to a walk and saw a bench up ahead. He could sit there and sort this issue out. Unfortunately, the bench was already occupied by someone who looked rather busy. He approached the bench quietly, so as to not startle the girl, and took his phone out. "Do you mind if I sit down?"
 tag Cassandra/Open
word count [/b] 533 notes[/b] your notes here lyrics What have you done by Within Temptation credit Rae of Sunshine! of Caution 2.0 made this temp! [/left] |
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Post by Cassandra Dane on Jun 18, 2013 14:16:41 GMT -8
Caz rubbed the back of her neck as she glanced up at the tree, then her eyes returned to the page only to repeat the gesture only a few seconds later. She wasn’t trying too hard to get it perfect. This was more a cool down from her long travels. She covered her mouth as she yawned slightly. She hadn’t been to sleep in over 20 hours and it was starting to show its effects.
Her eyes where slightly red and just generally had a very plank tired expression on her face. She didn’t know how her mother could of dealt with it. Caz knew that before she was born her mother would have to jump back and forth a lot between America and England to visit family.
The mere thought of her mother made Caz’s mind drift onto the subject of her Father. Maybe someone around here would recognise his name? It would have to someone old. Surely if he was born here and later died here there should be at least those basic records of him. But even then… they would just be birth and death certificates. She wouldn’t even be able to get to know him as a person without possibly finding someone who knew him. He went to school here so surely there must be someone who still lives here who might even slightly know of him?
She let out long exasperated sigh and let her mind drift back to her sketch.Just as Caz was touching up the leaves of the tree she noticed someone wondering over towards her. She instinctively turned her pad over so the drawing was facing down. She wasn’t shy of her artwork, she just didn’t like people looking at her sketches or anything unfinished. She felt it didn’t portray her best work.
For a second she thought he was coming over to see her for some reason, but the moment he spoke she realized he instead wanted to have a seat. Of course, why would someone randomly come up to her? She's not even from the same country! "Hmm? Oh sure. Help yourself." She smiled. She felt slightly self conscious of how much her British accent stood out.
She moved her bag down from the seat next to her to the ground by her feet just to be polite. "Taking a break?" of course she meant from jogging but pointed at his weights on his arms just to clarify. This was the first person she had had contact with outside the airports. She was kind of amazed at how much she suddenly craved to have a conversation with someone.
That being said she also felt awkward and way out her depth. She thought it probably best to keep it sweet and to the point right now. Nothing worse then some strange person just jabbering to you. After all he might want to continue on his jog once he has finished whatever he came to sit down to do.
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Ian Parker
Seldarine
Linguistics Professor Mafioso
You can get much farther with a kind word and a gun than you can with a kind word alone[Mo0:25]
Posts: 24
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Post by Ian Parker on Jun 18, 2013 15:35:34 GMT -8
The sun shone down, baking the earth in rays of heat and light and a light breeze blew soothingly. The blast of cool air was welcome, cooling his sun heated senses. The trees were like giant, round paintbrushes and they contrasted with the sky. It was the perfect weather to be outdoors.
"Thank you," he flashed her a quick grin, taking a seat on the bench and checking his messages. It was his sister, Olivia. Despite the fact that they were twins, they were nothing alike. she wanted to inform him of some family event that he had no intention of participating in. He didn't want to tell her that outright, so he simply responded that he'd try to go and hoped she'd take a hint. Regardless of the fact that he'd taken over the family business, he had his other job to deal with and didn't feel the need to be at their beck and call whenever his mother felt like having a cocktail party.
His attention was diverted when the girl next to him spoke. From her distinctly European accent, he could tell that she wasn't a local. That was fascinating. They didn't get many foreigners around here. "What? Oh, no... Just taking care of some family thing. It's quite dull, actually." He carefully put his phone away and focused his attention on the strange woman. "I take it you're not from around here. What brings you to Mystic Falls?" Having grown up in this town, he was pretty familiar with the residents and would've remembered someone like her.
He could trace his family back to when this town was just a settlement, he lost track of them before that. It was almost as though the records vanished from the face of the earth. Odd, but he'd never bothered to question it. Some people were just careless with documents. Not his mother, though. she was as meticulously organized as a person could possibly get. A pity that the same couldn't be said for her son. He took after his father in that respect.
He took note of the pad in the woman's hands. He figured she was one of those creative types, an architect or artist, possibly even an aspiring author, though they didn't tend to use writing pads that were quite that large. This town could use a bit of culture, it was sorely lacking in that department. He decided not to ask about it. It wasn't his place to pry. It was turning out to be a far more interesting day than he'd anticipated.
tag Cassandra/Open
word count [/b] 444 notes[/b] Shorter than I hoped... lyrics What have you done by Within Temptation credit Rae of Sunshine! of Caution 2.0 made this temp! [/left] |
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Post by Cassandra Dane on Jun 18, 2013 16:26:32 GMT -8
When he said it was a family issue Caz suddenly felt as if she was being nosey. She knows for a fact when she uses the words ‘Family Thing’ it is something, in her case, to do with her family that she doesn’t want to deal with or talk about. She hoped that wasn’t the case, and if it was that she hadn’t pried too much. That would be just rude.
She glanced away slightly when he mentioned her not being from around here. She shifted a bit in her seat as if the subject made her uncomfortable. In a way it did. She pretty much came from this town. She was born here and lived her for the first few years of her life. Yet she felt she had no right to call the place her birth home. She didn’t feel like she could ever class this was her home, even though there was no home back in England anymore.
“Well… technically I was born here. I moved to England when I was very young with my mother. My fathers side of the family apparently lived in this town for years.” She paused for a second. She was trying to think of a way to sum up why she was here.
“Pretty much just digging into my family tree.” She said with a slight shrug. As she brushed some loose hair back out her face she glanced around. She had to admit this was a lovely town. It was completely different from the European town in which she had grown up in but she could still appreciate the town for what it was.
She turned her blue gaze on him again and her lips quirked into a small sideways smile. “Am I that out of place? I mean clearly my accent is a give away, but otherwise?” She felt awkward talking to a stranger but how else was she to meet anyone in this town? Friends would have to branch from strangers.
Caz was never that good at the friends thing. She was lucky enough not to fall into the trap when she was younger that most teens have to deal with called ‘bullying’. That said she was in no was popular. She just fell into that… invisible category. Because of this she found it hard to gain friends.
But we all have to start somewhere, and Caz believed as long as she was true to herself then she would find friends easily.
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Ian Parker
Seldarine
Linguistics Professor Mafioso
You can get much farther with a kind word and a gun than you can with a kind word alone[Mo0:25]
Posts: 24
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Post by Ian Parker on Jun 18, 2013 17:55:03 GMT -8
Ian listened intently as she explained what she was doing in town. He would never have suspected that she would've had family here. If they were from Mystic falls, then he would've heard of them, or perhaps his mother had. His mother was, for lack of a better word, a nosey parker. she had to know everything about everyone at all times. She treated it like it was her job to know people's business. He couldn't really fault her for that, it came in handy in a business such as theirs.
Ian had attended college in the UK, the University of St. Andrew's to be precise, so he was familiar with the area. He hadn't been back there in years, so meeting someone from there was something he hadn't expected. "Have you tried the Founder's Hall? They have records on every family from the area. It might help you fill in some of the blanks." It was surprising that one building could hold so much information, though by now Ian had taken that for granted. He hadn't been in there since their last event on Founder's day, and that was nearly a year ago.
He pondered her question for a moment. Going on his first impression, she was certainly classier than most members of the town. She was probably highly educated, given his earlier thoughts about her creativity. It was a bit unusual for this town, but the town was full of strange and wonderful things so it wouldn't be out of place for someone of that caliber to be here. Stranger things had happened. He returned her smile with one of his own. "No, not really. I mean, the town certainly has its share of the ignorant, but it is known for it's pageantry. You might stand out a little in that respect, but not so much that you'd notice right away."
The town thrived on it's pageants, parties, and events. It seemed as though there was some big to do every month or so. especially in the fall and spring. It also had more than it's fair share of attractive people and she would certainly fit in in that regard. It was a strange town, but he loved it for that. It's the only thing that prevented him from moving away to a big city. He wasn't fond of the lack of privacy that came when you lived in a small town, but he could never call it boring.
He made friends easily enough. For some reason people always seemed friendlier to people with money so he'd never had trouble with being picked on in school. Picked on by his siblings was another matter entirely, but that's part of what family is for. They kept you grounded and held your ego in check. "How long are you planning to stay?"
tag Cassandra/Open
word count [/b] 491 notes[/b] lyrics What have you done by Within Temptation credit Rae of Sunshine! of Caution 2.0 made this temp! [/left] |
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Post by Cassandra Dane on Jun 19, 2013 9:45:25 GMT -8
If the Founder's Hall had records then that would seem the best place to start. Even if it only had his name on a piece of paper it would at least let her know she’s on the right track. As much as she wanted to dive right into researching her father she knew that it would be best also to think about getting a job first. She had no clue if she intended to stay here or not after she got her information but she couldn’t wait until then to try and get a job is she stayed. It made much more sense to start the process now rather then later when her cash has run low.
She nodded a little. “Yeah that sounds like a good place to start. Thanks for the advise.” She smiled softly. She was glad when he said she wouldn’t stand out too much. She thought with a town like this it would be more the fact that its an unknown face than because its a British one. She realized now that out of anyone it was probably herself who was making it a big deal. She thought for some reason she would be a complete outcast. Which she wouldn’t of worried about too much. It just it might get to the point where she needs to ask people questions rather then scan paper work.
She glanced absentmindedly off towards the tree she had been drawing before. She let out a light sigh. Her self set mission seemed a hopeless one. She had to remind herself to stop being so negative towards her hopes.
She glanced back at him when he asked how long she planned on staying. She opened her mouth to answer but stopped before grinning a bit. “You know… stupidly enough I hadn’t thought about that. I kind of just jumped on a plane without a plan. Smart huh?” She had no idea what she would do. She always thought she would find something and then that would make her choose either to stay or leave.
She took this moment to actually look at the guy she was talking to. She realized she didn’t even know this guy. He could be anyone. And he knows she’s not from around here he could take advantage of her in some way. She could hear her Aunts warning in her head. She was continuously saying something was dangerous about this town but would never pinpoint what or who. So Caz assumed she meant men. Caz never had much luck with them. Nowadays she just wasn’t interested.
“I’m sorry. I haven’t even asked you your name.” She paused for a second before continuing, “I’m Cassandra, although everyone calls me Caz.” She could see herself in the future getting lost or something. She a proud person so would have to be very lost before she would- but it would be nice to have at least one person on speaking terms with to possibly give a ring to.
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Ian Parker
Seldarine
Linguistics Professor Mafioso
You can get much farther with a kind word and a gun than you can with a kind word alone[Mo0:25]
Posts: 24
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Post by Ian Parker on Jun 19, 2013 12:08:34 GMT -8
"Glad I could help. You could try the library as well. They have newspapers dating back years. There may be a mention in one of them." It must be very difficult to not know your family history. He'd never been in that position so he couldn't really sympathize, but from an outsider's point of view he couldn't imagine anything worse. If Ian had been in her position he would've wanted someone to help him. That's why, despite the fact that he wasn't the type to go around helping people, he was making an exception here. This had been a very strange week for him.
He thought back to his own family and tried to imagine what life would be without them. While some of it was pleasant, most of it was depressing. Though he might complain about them being somewhat invasive, he wouldn't trade them for anything in the world. They were part of what made him who he was, though considering the man that wasn't saying much.
He looked a bit surprised when she said she'd come here without a real agenda. "You're braver than I am. I don't think I could manage that. I'm careless enough as it is." He gave a slightly embarrassed smile at that. It wasn't the impression he wanted to project to the world, but he couldn't change his nature. "If you haven't found a place to stay yet, Mrs Flowers has a bed and breakfast on the outskirts of town, or there's always the boarding house, though I can't recall anyone actually staying there in a while." He found that a bit odd. He had no idea how they stayed in business. He would've closed up shop by now, but to each their own.
He'd always heard that it was easier to hold a conversation with a stranger because it was likely you'd never see them again. Apparently it was true. He didn't really know anything about her and here he was chattering away. Since he didn't know her he felt no need to try and impress her and that lead to lighter and easier conversation as he didn't have to spend time carefully choosing his words. He'd never taken advantage of a woman in his life. He dated casually, mostly women who reminded him of himself which could possibly be the height of egotism. He had no need to ravish strange women, though judging by his appearance it's possible he could come across that way.
"Oh, I'm sorry. That was rude of me. I'm Ian, Ian Parker. It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss... Cassandra. That's a lovely name." Caz was certainly a better nickname than some of the ones he'd heard up at the University. Some of them were not fit to repeat, and the strange thing was, people actually seemed to get a kick out of being called them. "So, what part of Britain do you hail from?" Since they had moved on to introductions, he thought it a natural question to ask. If he was overstepping his bounds, he could quickly turn the conversation back to inocuous rambling. He was very good at that.
tag Cassandra/Open
word count [/b] 565 notes[/b] lyrics What have you done by Within Temptation credit Rae of Sunshine! of Caution 2.0 made this temp! [/left] |
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Post by Cassandra Dane on Jun 19, 2013 15:42:39 GMT -8
He called it brave, Caz called it idiotic. “I doubt I would have had the courage or the euphoria to do it if I hadn’t had inheritance after my mothers death.” It had not been long since Lucy had died. Caz felt heartless for having no emotion towards her mothers death but she wasn’t much of a mother to her. She realized that by her tone she probably did come of very heartless. It was said very ‘matter-of-factly’ and no remorse. “I didn’t get along with my mother.” She added quickly as if to give a reason to her coldness to the woman.
'Didn’t get along’ was a complete understatement. Caz and Lucy saw each other once a month through bullet proof glass. As Caz had got older the visits became less and less. Caz was sad she had died but it was more sad at the loss of life in general then because it was her mother. She had been sick ever since Caz’s father had died. If anything the visits seemed to spiral Lucy into more hysterical tantrums and fits.
Either way the money had allowed Caz to be a bit more reckless. She knew if she hadn’t of taken the chance the money would of ebbed away over time and she wouldn’t be able to take the chance again.
He mentioned places to stay and she nodded her head a little. She had found a small motel and just dumped her things there for now. “Thank you. I do need to find a more semi-permanent home. I will have to check those places out.” She moved to lean back a little in her seat. She had been kind of tense before. She didn’t want to be impolite to anyone. She didn’t want something she said to come out wrong. It was a complete different culture. Some words here meant completely different back in England. And not to mention all the other slag words that both cultures have. “I just got a room at the Motel. I plan to try find some kind of part time job first to stabilize myself before renting anything too expensive.”
She felt her cheeks redden a little at the complement. She wasn’t use to them. “Thank you… it’s a pleasure to meet you too Ian.” She moved her hand to run it through hair that had come loose from the clip. “Oxfordshire. It over left from London.” She didn’t mind the questions. Plus these where harmless questions. If it got too personal she could just swap the conversation if she wanted to. “Its weird… Even the style of buildings here is different from back in England. Its not something I realized until I saw it in person.” She said with a small smile. “I assume you’ve lived here a long time?”
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Ian Parker
Seldarine
Linguistics Professor Mafioso
You can get much farther with a kind word and a gun than you can with a kind word alone[Mo0:25]
Posts: 24
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Post by Ian Parker on Jun 19, 2013 17:17:05 GMT -8
"I understand that feeling well. My father and I had our differences and when he died he left me to run a business I wasn't ready to run. I had to learn responsibility quickly." His father had tried to mold him into the ideal son. The line of work he was in demanded that there be no mistakes and his irresponsible son needed to be taught a lesson in reality. It was like trying to turn Fredo into Michael.
It was a bad combination all around, but he had no other heirs that would be capable and he didn't want the empire he'd built so carefully to fall under someone else's control. He let Ian have his frivolous college degree, the kind that was only good for well off families that would either marry well or never use them. Ian had done neither and acquired his teaching position, which didn't fit into the family plans. However, since his father's death, he has managed to find a balance in his life that allowed him to do his duty and pursue his passion.
"I can tell you that Mrs. Flowers is very kind, albeit a little crazy, but we all go mad sometimes. She's not Norman Bates crazy by any means, just a little eccentric. There are rumors that she's a witch, but you know how children are." He smiled amusedly at that. The woman thought she was some sort of psychic and although he knew there was more in this world than met the eye, he wasn't sure whether or not to believe her. He'd never seen her do anything particularly amazing. "What sort of job are you looking for?" He tried to think of what businesses in town might be hiring. He could potentially employ her himself, but it would have to be at the school as he didn't want her involved in his other life.
"The pleasure is mine." He meant it. She was one of the most interesting people he'd met in a long time. "Oh, I've been through there. I spent an afternoon studying in the Bodleian Library when I was at St. Andrews. It's a lovely county and the architecture is brilliant." Though he hadn't had reason or desire to return, he could appreciate it for what it was. "I have to agree with you there. Here all the homes are mismatched and the cities look like they were designed by a blind man. There, things are quaint and uniform like something out of a picture book." He smiled warmly at the memory.
"I was born here. I've been here most of my life. For being a rather small place, it has its share of intrigue. there's never a dull moment. I can't imagine living somewhere else." For whatever reason, this place seemed to attract more than its share of the strange and macabre. That made it easier to fit in. Being a council member he heard all the legends about what really lurked in the woods. He turned the conversation back to her. "Do you travel often or is this your first time out of the UK?"
tag Cassandra/Open
word count [/b] 552 notes[/b] Shorter than I hoped... lyrics What have you done by Within Temptation credit Rae of Sunshine! of Caution 2.0 made this temp! [/left] |
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Post by Cassandra Dane on Jun 19, 2013 17:55:43 GMT -8
“That must be frustrating… I suppose at least my mother never expected anything of me.” She shrugged softly. The subject was something she often swept under the rug. Now what she thought about it, it was kind of awkward to be talking to freely about her family issues with him. Even though it was only the surface she felt that she had be oddly open about it. She was glad when the subject changed.
“Witch huh?” She smiled a bit. She of course put it off as children being children. She had no reason to believe in such things. “ I’ll have to watch my step then and take a peace offering.” She joked. When she was little she remembered stories her aunt told her of witches, along with lots of other fairy tales. One stuck out in her mind of stories about approaching a witch without some form of offering was highly dangerous.
“What kind? Oh well…” She fell silent for a second. Again something she stupidly hadn’t thought about. She was cursing herself in her head for being so flaky with her plans. “I don’t mind really. I’m not afraid to work hard. I’d be okay with flipping burgers at McDonalds if it meant getting food on my table.” She wasn’t picky really. She knew the dream jobs she would want she wouldn’t be able to get now. They needed a lot of education and Caz had no more then the normal schooling. She had never even gone to collage. “If I had the chance I’d do something to do with Art or History. Those are my passions.” She has a grin on her lips and a slight sparkling in her eyes when she mentioned it.
She clearly had a deep love for the two subjects. “I wanted to be come a historian when I was young you know? But I was never born a live of choice” She shrugged again and the smile and sparkle vanished from her as quickly as they appeared. She had given in to the fact she would never complete her dream, but that didn’t stop her day dreaming about it on the odd occasions.
“Seriously?? The Bodleian Library? I use to go there a lot when I was little. It took me 2 bus rides to get there but it was worth it.” Caz was also a proud book worm. She would spend days stuck to books. Sometimes even going to the length of forgetting to eat her dinner in front of her while she read.
She nodded a little to what he said about not being able to imagine living anywhere else. She understood the feeling but she herself had always wanted to get away from the place she was growing up. When he asked about travels she rubbed the back of her neck somewhat. “Oh, no this is the first time I left home… Quite the jump huh?” She laughed somewhat nervously. She knew she was coming off as flaky more and more as the talked. First she just moves here with no place to live, next no job and to top it off shes never even traveled out of south of England before now. “I tend to leap before looking.” She added quietly. “It’s more fun that way.”
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Ian Parker
Seldarine
Linguistics Professor Mafioso
You can get much farther with a kind word and a gun than you can with a kind word alone[Mo0:25]
Posts: 24
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Post by Ian Parker on Jun 19, 2013 19:28:44 GMT -8
"I don't know what's worse, having too many expectations or no expectations. On the upside, with no expectations people would be surprised by everything someone accomplished. That could lead to them developing expectations to strive for." He was usually such a private person and now he was rabbiting on about his family and sharing opinions he usually kept to himself. He needed to remedy that before he ended up sharing too much. If someone knew too much about you, they could use it as a weapon, though he doubted she would sink to that level.
"Yeah, gingerbread and all." He found Theophilia quite the character when she bothered to venture out of her little B&B. "As long as it isn't a bucket of water. If she melts you're out of luck." He'd seen the Wizard of Oz many times as a child and once visited the Dorothy Gale museum in Kansas. It was a strange place, but fun as well. He was impressed that someone had taken the time and care to preserve so many artifacts from that film. He'd even got to see their copy of the ruby slippers before they had been stolen. That was a real shame.
"You don't want to work in a place like that. it's a place where your dreams go to die. They're filled with stoners, dropouts and wanna be rappers. It's not the place for you." He had no idea why he seemed to have so much concern for someone getting lost in the void that was minimum wage hell. However, his protective instinct couldn't let that happen. "Well, I can't offer you something as fancy as a teaching position or museum job, but I do have a job opening as a secretary in the Linguistics Department of Whitmore College. There's a chance of advancing and you could end up in the Art or history department. You'd be first to know of any job openings. Of course, you could always try the library, they're looking for someone in the children's section." He smiled back at her. Her passion was art. Well, that explained the tablet from earlier. "Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time. It's a great thing to aspire to."
He was impressed by her love of history. It was an unusual passion to be sure, but wonderful. "I like ancient history myself. The Colossus of Rhodes, the temple at Ephesus, things that have been lost to time. I was disappointed when they found out that the Hanging Gardens were almost impossible to have existed. It would have been an amazing site if it were real." He nodded when she mentioned the library. He had only gone the one time, but he was shocked by how much information one building could contain. he'd never seen so many books in his entire life. "Really?" His voice had taken on an excited tone. "Yeah, it would definitely be worth the trip. I loved that place. If I'd had a chance, I would've liked to pour over the rare book section. I wonder what they had in there?"
He was taken aback when she said this was her first impulsive trip outside her country. that would be terrifying to him. Impulsively moving somewhere you'd never even seen could go wrong in so many ways. "That's hard to believe. You seem so sure of your plan. I would've thought you were a seasoned traveler." Though he'd seen part of the world, he wasn't quite that impulsive. He over-thought things. his plans had plans. That way he would be prepared for anything. Still, he could just imagine the thrill of the unknown. he'd have to try that some day. "I imagine it would be. You get to meet new people, have all sorts of experiences, and have the benefit of being instantly interesting to everyone because of being new to the area. I imagine it would be thrilling." He grinned at her. She was certainly one of a kind.
tag Cassandra/Open
word count [/b] 696 notes[/b] your notes here lyrics What have you done by Within Temptation credit Rae of Sunshine! of Caution 2.0 made this temp! [/left] |
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Post by Cassandra Dane on Jun 20, 2013 9:53:00 GMT -8
“Dreams go to die?” She laughed. “A bit dramatic don’t you think?” She couldn’t help feel a bit uplifted from what he said. He basically said she was better then that. She had to admit that those job aren’t the best ever but beggars cant be choosers. Then all out of the blue he was offering her a job! She was, for lack of a better words, gob smacked! This guy had only just met her yet wanted to give her a job? And not only that a job that might progress into one of her favourite things. “A-Are you serious?” She had to remember to close her mouth and not leave it gapping like a goldfish.
“That-.. That would be amazing.” She was smiling ear to ear, but then it faded. “But you don’t even know me… Why would you give me a job?” She had been expecting to fight real hard for a job, considering she’s from another country and she didn’t have very much experience. Both the secretary and the librarian jobs sounded promising. She never worked with kids and always felt a bit awkward around them. She didn’t think she had the qualifications, whatever they be, to be a secretary. The secretary job would probably be better in the long run. She couldn’t see herself sat in a library all day making sure kids don’t rip the books apart or something. Where as the Secretary, yes some times she would be sat there with not much to do but most the time she was sure she would be busy with files and…stuff. “I don’t have any qualifications.” She added after a while. She said it softly as if afraid this would turn him right off and the offer would be taken back.
She was surprised by his interest in history also. She nodded slightly to each his examples, she knew of them all. When he mentioned the Hanging Gardens she smiled a bit. “Ah yes, The Hanging Gardens of Babylon. It would have been a sight that’s for sure. Although there’s a theory that the Hanging Gardens where in fact part of the palace at the city of Nineveh and was built by the Assyrian king. There is evidence of over fifty miles of aqueducts, water-raising screws and of the like to carry huge amounts of water to Nineveh. Some people believe for the huge gardens there must have been and that later on the sites got confused.” She shrugged a bit and went quite. She had been moving her hands as she talked, it all flowed with such passion from her.
What a great way to bore some poor person to death. “Sorry… Get kind of carried away sometimes. Middle ages is my favourite. The Lighthouse of Alexandria would have been my first stop. It was said to be almost over 500ft high.” She paused again realising she was dipping back into blabbering.
“Yeah probably the minute I hid the bed I’ll realise what an idiot I’ve been and cry myself to sleep.” She joked. It was terrifying, but she hadn’t let it get to her yet. When everything stopped and it was the quiet of the night, then things might start to wriggle themselves out from under the rug and Caz would realise how alone and aliened she had made herself. She laughed at little when he suggested her being interesting to people. “Trust me I’m anything but interesting. But the experience is exciting while I’m still doing stuff. The minute I stop I suspect it all to come crashing into the back of me.”
She put a hand to her stomach when it suddenly gurgled out very loudly out of hunger. She blushed a bit. “E-Excuse me-… I haven’t had anything since the rather…’delicious’ plane food.” She said with a hint of sarcasm. She would have to find somewhere to eat later.
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Ian Parker
Seldarine
Linguistics Professor Mafioso
You can get much farther with a kind word and a gun than you can with a kind word alone[Mo0:25]
Posts: 24
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Post by Ian Parker on Jun 20, 2013 14:10:17 GMT -8
"Not unless you secretly dream of being a rapper." He'd seen far too people get trapped in minimum wage hell over the years to think of those jobs as anything but a trap. As soon as you started to get ahead in that field they'd give you a pay cut or fire you in order to keep expenses down. You'd be forced to find another thankless job with next to no money. They were perfect jobs for students and dropouts, but not for someone who actually wanted to get anywhere in life.
"Of course I'm serious. I need a secretary, you need a job, it's kismet." University work was pretty thankless as far as jobs went, but at least the pay was decent. He didn't think he could personally survive on it but he'd grown accustomed to a certain way of living. Administration got hit the worst. They had to deal with money and confusion and failing students wanting to drop classes or complaining about how they were sure their parents had paid for better grades than that. In comparison, he had an easy job. Lecture for three hours a day, grade papers, and occasionally have a one-on-one conversation with students. "You'll learn as you go. I'm sure one of the other secretaries can help you along if you get confused." There were secretaries assigned to every department to ensure that things ran smoothly.
He listened with interest to her explanations of where the Hanging Gardens might be. "I hadn't heard that. It makes a lot of sense though. The Assyrians sacked Babylon in the 13th century BC so Nineveh would have effectively become New Babylon." He was amazed by how much she knew. Knowledge like hers should never go to waste. His intellect came mostly by chance of birth. If he'd been born human he might just be another slacker who worked at the mall. He'd never know the answer to that.
"It would almost have to be, wouldn't it? They used candles and oil back then. It would be a bit difficult to see something about the size of an Olympic cauldron while crossing the Aegean without it being that high." He snickered when she joked about crying herself to sleep. Somehow he couldn't picture her doing that. Then again, she could be a complete hysteric who cried at the drop of a hat. He had no idea and wasn't about to try and find out. "I've found you interesting so far. There are bound to be others who feel the same way." When he'd traveled to other countries he'd noticed people coming up to him when they'd heard his accent and wanting to ask a bunch of questions. He usually told them he was a Canadian. People seemed to dismiss them. At any rate it was easier than being instantly disliked for being American. Old prejudices died hard and people, especially in Europe, were less than enthusiastic about being visited by yanks.
"There's a restaurant not far from here, The Mystic Grill. It's pretty popular with the locals and it seems to have become quite the hangout. The food isn't bad for the price. About what you'd expect from a small-town diner." He'd had enough experience with airline food to last a lifetime. Once, he swore that the cheese cube they'd given him bounced. It certainly had the taste and consistency of rubber at any rate. "I can show you where it is if you want."
tag Cassandra/Open
word count [/b] 636 notes[/b] your notes here lyrics What have you done by Within Temptation credit Rae of Sunshine! of Caution 2.0 made this temp! [/left] |
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Post by Cassandra Dane on Jun 20, 2013 15:05:14 GMT -8
Caz couldn’t believe her luck. This guy was serious about giving her a job, one that Caz assumed had at least descent pay. He was right she would learn on the job and it wasn’t like she was alone there. She would have at least someone to turn to ask advise from. She hoped she would never have to bother Ian with her mess ups. But in the end what is the worse that could happen?? She fails horribly and gets fired. There will always be that McDonald's job waiting for her if she did fail, which she had no intention of doing. “Okay… I fold.” She grinned a little. “When would I be able to start?”
“Its just so awe-inspiring. I mean they build things now that are about 5 times its height but we have technology to do it. I just find myself amazed how they could build such wonders without it.” She shook her head a little. She was really being a nerd now. But it seemed Ian had interest in history also so she wasn’t too worried about boring him to death. “Sometime I wish I was alive back then to watch things like that be created… But then I remember the luxury of toilet roll and change my mind.” She joked. She couldn’t imagine the hygiene back in those days.
When he said she was interesting to him she just shook her head a little. She was interesting because she was a new face, not because of herself. But she didn’t say anything. It was rude to just dismiss someone’s complement, even if you didn’t agree with it. “Thanks. I’ll be sure to try and practice my American accent so I wont be so interesting next time.” Caz was terrible at accents. Even if she dear tried it on someone they would be sure to keel over and die from laughter.
She listened as he spoke about the restaurant but when he offered to take her there she instantly shook her head. “Oh, no you don’t have to. I’ve taken you away from your jog as it is. I’m sure I’ll be okay finding it if its as popular as you say.” She didn’t want to make him feel like he had to lead her places. “Thank you for offering though.” She added quickly. She knew he probably offered out of politeness but she had already taken up so much of his time.
Not to mention he offered her a job and she didn’t want to keep taking from him. Plus she knew the thought was somewhat childish but she liked this thought of him in the park. It was somewhat fairy-tale-ish. Not in the romantic sense of course but more in the sense that two people from completely different worlds met and talked and got along okay. It was very surreal for Caz. Constantly a ‘Wow… I really am here aren’t I?’ moments.
Also the possibility of after having something to eat and falling into a food coma is not something she wishes for him to see. Not on there first meeting anyway.
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Ian Parker
Seldarine
Linguistics Professor Mafioso
You can get much farther with a kind word and a gun than you can with a kind word alone[Mo0:25]
Posts: 24
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Post by Ian Parker on Jun 29, 2013 15:20:57 GMT -8
"You could start first thing Monday if you'd like to." She had no way of realizing it now, but by solving her problem he was solving his own. This way he wouldn't have to wade through seas of applications and cold calls in hopes of finding someone who would be the right person for the job. The application process was a necessary evil, but he found it to be extremely boring and tedious. It wasn't something he enjoyed pouring vast amounts of energy into. It always, ultimately, caused his work to end up suffering for it. She would make out on her end as well as their secretaries union was one of the best in the area and was constantly pushing for more pay and benefits. They'd see to it she was treated right.
"There are theories as to how they managed to pull it off. The Chaldeans even mass-produced mathematical equations for building to allow projects to go off in different parts of the empire simultaneously. As far as the Egyptians, evidence now shows that there was no way that their empire was built on the backs of slaves. They've uncovered numerous builder's villages that show those people were treated very well." In their home world, some of Ian's relatives were slave traders so the issue with him was a deep one. He hoped his people had managed to evolve beyond that primitive way of thinking, especially with their intellectual capacity. ''Personally, I'm happy with my modern conveniences. I'd visit for a day but I would never want to live there."
"I don't think you could be less interesting if you wanted to be. Yes, novelty is great, but it wears off quickly. What you have is a sort of intellectual charisma that keeps people interested once you've drawn them in." He wouldn't want to see her change to fit the ideals and attitudes of this town. For the most part they sucked, and he liked her just as she was. Though if he ever heard her try to pull off an American Accent, he'd likely be the first one to keel over in stitches. Not that he was much better at it. It was the principle of the thing.
"It would be no trouble at all, but if you insist I'll leave you to it. far be it from me to intrude on the will of an independent woman." He'd grown up with enough of them to learn the dark side of that. Once you got on a woman's bad side, no matter how forgiving she was, it was hard to get back into a good light again. "It is, and doubtless you'll meet some of our more interesting characters." The people who frequented the grill were certainly a special bunch. They tended to stay to their group but were surprisingly right in the center of whatever trouble began.
He'd brought this up to the Council before. They'd have to wait to catch them in the act before they could call it anything other than kids being kids. "Anytime," he offered her a quick smile at that. He felt no obligation whatsoever but he could certainly understand her position. Better to be the one owed a favor than the one who owed a favor. It was a pleasant change of pace, being able to enjoy a conversation with someone without there being some undercurrent of emotion or personal agenda attached to jade the whole thing. One simple, perfect moment in time that nobody could touch.
tag Cassandra/Open
word count [/b] 610 notes[/b] your notes here lyrics What have you done by Within Temptation credit Rae of Sunshine! of Caution 2.0 made this temp! [/left] |
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Post by Cassandra Dane on Jul 2, 2013 14:18:52 GMT -8
It was so nice to be able to talk to someone who held the same interests in history like her. She had sadly not been able to find anyone at home to share such things with. And if she was to work with him this meant at least she would get some social interactions, and not just with him but the others that would work there also. “I’d love to.” She said with a grin. She couldn’t believe her luck. Although the little inner Caz in her head was telling her that it was all too good to be true. She was worried she would hate her job, but to be honest if it paid well she didn’t really care. If she was willing to work flipping burgers she was sure she would be willing enough to work as a secretary.
“Yeah I prefer living now… I like modern hygiene.” She joked. She couldn’t imagine having to deal with squatting down over a hole, just ew. And what about toilet roll? The thought was just appalling but that’s how life was back then. They didn’t understand about hygiene and stuff. Take Tudor England for example. They would throw there rubbish and bodily waste into the very same river they would get water from for washing clothes and sometime considering if they where too poor to own a well, their drinking water.
Charisma? Caz scoffed silently in her head. She felt like she had the ‘intellectual charisma’ of a nat. But she decided to just take the complement and smiled her thanks. She didn’t get complements like that often. She much preferred complements on her personality then the way she looked.
She couldn’t help but smile a bit wider when he said the words ‘Independent Woman’. She had never heard anyone ever say those words toward herself, but now thinking about it she realised she fell into that category rather snugly. After all she moved to another country damn-it! Cant get more ‘Independent’ then that huh? “I just don’t want to take up my future boss’s time. Plus with how hungry I am it wouldn’t be classed as eating food, it’d be inhaling it.” She said with a slight eye roll at herself. “You ever seen a Human vacuum before? You don’t wanna” She gestured her hands in a small dramatic manner as if the mere thought of it was terrifying! Of course she was just joking. “It isn’t pretty.”
She was silent for a second before smiling and standing up slowly from her seat. “I should let you go,” She said as bending down to pick up her things. She didn’t want to keep him from his day. Caz herself couldn’t explain what happened next or how. She had put her bag on her shoulder and was just picking up her pad when a breeze came down from between the trees and papers scattered from her pad. The wind was so strong it had even snatched the pad out her hand and landed with a dull thud to the floor once it realised the pad itself was too heavy.
As for the loose sheets of paper they danced there way with the wind. “Bugger!” Caz cursed as she moved to pick up her pad before darting off. “S-Sorry!” She called as she jumped to grab a piece of art that danced down the road at a high that Caz’s arms couldn’t quiet reach.
There must have been about 10 to 20 pieces of paper scattering themselves like leaves around them. Some had simple doodles on where as others looked so lifelike you felt like you could feel as if it was real. They had such a likeness of life to them that they felt like they could pop out of the page. Caz felt rude about just darting off but this stuff was important to her! She didn’t want to loose them or anything.
She caught another page when it got low to the ground and to stepped on it before letting out a groan and picking it up. It was a drawing of her mother, now with a muddy footprint right in the middle of it. She was glad when the wind that had so suddenly came had equally suddenly disappeared. The paper was still spread out but at least not dancing like a gigolo down the gravel path.
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