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Post by Ashlin Thomas on Dec 6, 2010 18:42:08 GMT -8
Ashlin nodded at the message smiling. She tilted her head slightly when Michael lingered. Though she was curious she didn't say anything, just waiting patiently to see what Michael would do next. Her usual dreamy smile was on her face, though it was a bit brighter than usual. It had been an interesting visit that was quite certainly true, and even with the few bumps Ashlin was overall very pleased. She had been a bit nervous that her landlord would not be able to stand certain of her . . . eccentricities, but she had a feeling she wouldn't need to worry about that. It had certainly put her more at ease in this new place she was going to be calling home.
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Post by Mister Stewart on Dec 6, 2010 18:58:48 GMT -8
It was a long moment of awkward silence before Michael finally ventured to speak - slipping the ice pack out from beneath his sleeve and promptly hiding the offending wrist behind his back when he was finished. Holding it out to her with his good hand, his tone was cautious, soft. "...Thank you for this, and for the tea...you have been...rather kind to me." He smiled again - very slightly - but it faded a little as he gave another quick glance towards the door. Was he worried about Mister Stewart hearing something?
It certainly seemed that way, as he started to speak again, voice hushed.
"...I...only took a brief look, but...I'm...rather looking for a certain type of book. Something for...home remedies. Ways to treat...pain and maladies...?" He rather avoided her eyes as he said all this, suddenly very interested in appraising the paint job.
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Post by Ashlin Thomas on Dec 6, 2010 19:39:32 GMT -8
Silence was silence to Ashlin, she had never acquired the skill of learning to differentiate between awkward and companionable silence. This ironically tended to lead to more awkward silences. Taking the ice pack she didn't really notice when her fingers brushed against Michael's hand. "It wasn't any trouble." she assured him sincerely.
She paused when he mentioned home remedies. Ashlin knew she didn't have any books in the store about such things, but she did have her journals. It wouldn't be any trouble parting with one, she mused silently. After the few times she'd had her school things stolen, and the one time she set her notebook on fire Ashlin had gotten into the habit of making back ups of all her notes. It was a hassle sometimes but it had saved her butt enough times that she didn't even think about doing anything else anymore. Most would just suggest typing it up she knew, backing it up would be easy then, but Ashlin liked hand writing it. There was some special about having it all in hand written journals Ashlin thought. You lost something when it was all just a digital file that could be changed at will as if the past drafts had never even happened. "I, well I might have something like what you're looking for but its not . . ." Ashlin paused a light frown on her face. She wanted to give him the journal, but it made her feel rather shy for some reason. She had never shared her projects with anyone before, not like this. Her parents would come see the metal work she did but they always thought her home remedies were strange, they'd never understood why she just didn't go to the doctor or take regular medicine. They never understood how going anywhere near a hospital left her absolutely frozen in terror, and the thought of taking drugs made her feel sick. "I'll just get it and show you." she said after a moment's resolve. "Wait here a moment."
Rushing upstairs Ashlin went to her room and opened an ordinary looking box that had been set aside from the others. Inside were books of all sizes and colors (Ashlin's personal collection) and from the piles she pulled out a medium sized leather bound journal held closed by a tied cord. She flipped through it quickly to make it was the right one, revealing the loopy, slanted handwriting within. There were a few drawings mixed between (some relevant to the writing and some not) and even a few dried plants between the pages. Nodding in satisfaction Ashlin closed the book back up, making sure to retie the cord and made her way toward the door. She paused slightly when she reached it though. Glancing between the kitchen and the unseen shop bellow, she bit her lip as if considering something. Coming to a descion Ashlin went to one of the kitchen cabinets. Inside there were spice jars, and full of herbs and flowers. She grabbed one of the carefully labeled bags and made her way back downstairs.
Rocking back and forth on her heels as she stood before Michael she started shyly, looking at the ground. "I, well I don't really have anything in the shop like what you're looking for but . . . I don't like hospitals all that much" she explained now looking up at him. "So I started looking into other kinds of medicine when I was a teenager. And then I learned quite a bit while I was traveling and I, I kept everything down in journals. So I thought maybe" she faltered slightly and offered Michael the book awkwardly. "maybe it would have what you were looking for." She looked away now, cheeks stained red. This was, far more embarrassing than she thought it would be and left her feeling all together rather nervous though she could quite explain why.
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Post by Mister Stewart on Dec 6, 2010 19:58:58 GMT -8
Honestly, Michael wasn't completely sure what to think when she began speaking - he felt rather...vulnerable, asking even this much, and to see that vulnerability echoed back a bit puzzled him. Before he could say anything, she had dashed off to run up the stairs, leaving him alone in the room. Another glance to the doorway - no, Mister Stewart was waiting by the car now, he knew that - and then he instead turned his attention to his damaged wrist. He rotated it a little, cringing with the motions...probably sprained. He would have to wrap it.
Stealing another glance up to see if Ashlin had returned yet, he tugged his sleeve open, peering down it to better survey the damage done with weary eyes. He WAS getting worse. He knew that. But no one else really needed to know, did they? He was fine. Yes...just fine.
When she returned to the room, he started - he kept doing that today, didn't he? - shoving his hands back behind his back. His stormy eyes fell first upon Ashlin, listening to what she had to say...then turned his gaze to the book she offered. For a long moment, he didn't say anything, his expression suggesting that he was turning something over in his head. She hardly knew him, and here she was handing him one of her personal journals...he wasn't used to this kind of openness. He felt like he should somehow return the favor, but he wasn't certain how...until he came to a decision.
He reached out and took the book - leading with his injured wrist. The sleeve was still hiked up a bit from where he had been inspecting it...displaying for her to see the deep, old scars from a burn, beginning a couple of inches above where his sleeve usually ended. The healthy skin had shifted in color because of the ice pack...but the scars were still there, sickly tones of red and purple snaking up and disappearing under his sleeve.
"...I appreciate your help," he said softly, not lifting his eyes from the book. "I do not like hospitals, myself."
He did not elaborate, tugging his sleeve down and already feeling rather like he had said too much. His back was too-straight, face faintly reddened as if he were in disgrace...but he didn't look angry. Just...perhaps...a little sad.
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Post by Ashlin Thomas on Dec 6, 2010 21:20:31 GMT -8
Ash blinked, noticing the scars on his wrist. To her credit she did not stare at it, but her eyes softened a bit at the sight. She thought she was beginning to understand a bit why he would prefer home remedies, and she resolved to do whatever she could to help. Michael was one of the first people Ashlin felt like she might be able to actually become friends with, and she wasn't going to let him suffer if their was something she could do to help. With that Ashlin added another project onto her list of things to work on in her spare time.
She was still blushing a bit, but she was feeling a little braver than before thanks to Michael's own admission. "You might want this as well." she told him holding out the little bag of labeled herbs. "Its, well its pretty common in a lot of the pain relievers, and I thought it might be helpful to have as well." She tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear, nervously smiling at Michael. It was a tentative start, but it was a start.
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Post by Mister Stewart on Dec 7, 2010 1:01:54 GMT -8
Michael was so, so sure that she would stare, even be disgusted - but when finally he ventured to glance up, she actually seemed...rather sympathetic. He seemed to relax, just ever so slightly...and if not quite relaxing, he was at least easing up a little bit. She didn't say anything about it. That was nice. Rather kind of her, he thought to himself.
Then she was offering up the little bag, and his eyes darted to it, then back to her again. Blinking, he took the packet, turning it over in his hand before looking to her again with another of his very faint, sad smiles. "...This is very kind of you...perhaps, sometime, I could return the favor, too." Tucking the bag of herbs away in his pocket, he held the book under his arm - this wouldn't surprise Mister Stewart. He read so much, it wasn't unusual for him to have a new book in his hands every other day. Hopefully, he wouldn't even ask.
Another moment of silence - he regarded her nervous smile and slight blush with that sad little smile of his own, stepping back to give a deep bow.
"Mister Stewart is waiting for me. We must talk again soon, over a proper tea?" For the first time in the conversation, his tone of voice reflected back a little bit of Ashlin's hopefulness. She didn't seem to think he was weird at all. Clearly she enjoyed books, which he enjoyed so much...perhaps...perhaps she wouldn't write him off like so many had? His voice lowered slightly, his smile turning a little embarrassed.
"...Please...don't tell anyone about my arm," he mumbled, a far cry from his customary too-clear speech. "...I...don't like to be a cause for alarm."
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Post by Ashlin Thomas on Dec 7, 2010 1:18:09 GMT -8
Looking down at her clasped together hands Ash said shyly. "Well, I've always heard that, that's what friends do for each other, right? And I hoped, well I hoped we could be friends." Peaking up at him she smiled, a tiny, painfully hopefully thing. There, she had said it. She had thought she had implied it clearly enough in her other words in actions but then again subtly in social matters had never in social matters had never been her forte. Michael seemed to want to be her friend as well, she thought, but she still felt slightly nervous just saying it like that.
The hint of hopefulness in his own question raised Ashlin's confidence a bit. And unless she was very much mistaken he seemed to be feeling as shy and nervous about all this as she was. It was a comfort, actually. "I'd like that very much." she told him happily. Yes, this was turning out to be a very good day.
Pretending to lock her mouth with an invisible key Ashlin reassured him "Your secret is safe with me, I promise I won't ever, ever tell." But that wouldn't mean she would try to help in what ever way she could.
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Post by Mister Stewart on Dec 7, 2010 3:25:11 GMT -8
...Friends? With me?
As a rule, Michael was a solitary fellow. He spent a great deal of time around Mister Stewart, but otherwise, his own interactions with people were...shallow at best. Hello, how are you, you seem well today. Perhaps an exchange about some off-handed happening around town. Nothing more. He had people who he spoke to, yes, but...never really in-depth. For someone to say, so plainly and to his face, that she wanted to be his friend? It...it surprised him. There was something in the way it was said - a certain hesitance - that he...felt he understood.
His smile warmed, just ever so slightly. "...Yes, I suppose, that is what they do...and...I would rather like to be friends, too." This dispensed with - and his secret seemingly in safe hands - he gave her another bow, carefully turning on his heel to head out. Mister Stewart was waiting, after all, and he would need to get his wrist wrapped before he could get on with his day...but for a second, just a SECOND...Michael almost seemed his age.
Then, placing the book in the passenger's seat, he opened up the limo doors for Mister Stewart, helping the man inside as if nothing had changed.
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Post by Ashlin Thomas on Dec 9, 2010 14:29:44 GMT -8
She felt warm, Ash decided. The moment Michael had said he wanted to be friends too, a wave of different feelings had bubbled up. It was an interesting mixture of joy, trepidation, and hope with a few butterflies flapping around in her stomach for good measure. Mostly though she just felt pleasantly warm all over, like the way one felt after just coming in from outside on a cold day. Waving (a little sillie) as Michael turned to leave.
Ash stood there for a moment watching the car pull away through the window before going back to work. And if there was an extra bounce in her step and she was humming just a little more loudly than normal, well then there was no one around to see it.
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