Mivuli

Ink On Your Soul

@Musoka

“Sorry…this must be a lot to take in…” said Solenne. Well, perhaps it was. Mia had had limited interaction with other species - had come across an elf once, in a chance encounter - and could not call herself an enthusiast when it came to learning the differences between kinds. But she found that she would be willing to learn all that there was to vampires, and this one in particular.

Solenne rubbed the back of his neck, a hallmark trait of endearing awkwardness and humming nerves. “But what of you? We’ve only been discussing me…and that’s not really fair. I’d like to know about you.” Here, Mia felt heat flush her cheeks with colour, and she tucked her chin in, laughing nervously. Her eyes flitted about the cafe, which seemed to be growing more packed by the minute.

"Trust me, there's very little to learn," she said, with one last chuckle. "I have twenty years to your - what? - couple thousand?" Nonetheless, she reclined in her chair and began to muse. "Well, I was born in Singapore two score years ago, I went to school, and lived a very regular life." Boring, more like, a voice murmured somewhere. But it was quickly shushed to nothing by Mia, who continued, "And now I'm here, as a barista in this cafe." She gesticulated at the clinking sounds of ceramic cups against tabletops, the soothing soundtrack of her life now that she spent many an hour and day immersed in it. Her hand folded itself into her lap again. "My parents didn't like my choices very much. Then again, they used to tell me not to get involved with boys until I was 30." The memory of trying to whittle the tally down with her parents - half in jest, half in terror that they would actually carry through with the policy - brought a laugh to Mia's lips, and she looked at Solenne with lips parted in breathless chortle.

"My life is rather monotonous, really," Mia admitted, apologetic for her averageness. "But you're not as boring." Reaching across the table, she gently grazed the fringe of his coat sleeve, feeling its smooth surface slipping by her finger, pressureless in its touch. Solenne wore formal attire, dressed to the nines, looking as though he had stepped right out from a professional photoshoot. But it was curious apparel in this day and age. "What do you work as? And what do you enjoy?" She was a firm believer the second question was just as - if not more - important than the first.

Ivy Wood Academy

@ViolentViolet I thought I was prepared for this.
Turns out I woefully wasn't.

Ivy Wood Academy

@ViolentViolet Haha, you can certainly try coaching me! But be warned: my friend tried to teach me piano theory today and grew exasperated pretty quickly. XD

The build-up to the chase would be pretty hilarious. Though, are the cats she keeps in her dorm likely to go slipping out the door?

Ink On Your Soul

@Musoka Noooooooo!
I'll type out a response soon then. But no pressure to post again if your schedule's too tight tomorrow!

Ivy Wood Academy

@ViolentViolet Impairment of the social and physical spheres? Good gosh, sign me up
This is a random thought with purely no basis in anything, but what if they met while Isabella was chasing after a runaway cat?

Ink On Your Soul

@Musoka

"I was a general in Caesar's army. I attended concerts by Mozart...I knew the Queen's mother." Perplexed, Mia furrowed her brow at Solenne. Her mind raced in a clumsy way, thrown off track by his young features, his crown of brown hair. A skeleton did not sit before her. And just as her mind was stretching itself between these two far-reaching conclusions, she heard Solenne say, "Mia...your soulmate is a vampire."

At once, the furrow was gone. Mia sat back into her chair, studying Solenne carefully. A vampire. That did do away with the perplexing, contradictory relationship between his appearances and his apparent age. "That raises a lot of questions," Mia hedged. She locked gazes with his scarlet eyes, narrowing her own dark ones in newfound confusion. "For one, what was a vampire doing in the army? All that bloodshed; did you ever lose your restraint?" She gave a small shake of the head, her short hair trembling belatedly in the aftershocks, and offered an apologetic smile to Solenne for her ignorance. "I'll admit, I'm not very familiar with vampires. Never met one before. You'll have to teach me everything there is to know."

She leaned forward, staring closely at Solenne's eyes. "I should have guessed," she muttered, almost disappointed with herself that she hadn't, when the hints had been staring at her right in the eye. Quite literally. "Although, I never thought a vampire would enjoy coffee." Solenne dated very far back. He had seen so much of the world, lived through history itself; Mia didn't even know the beginnings of his species, beyond sketchy myths and legends that were about as good as the word of Salem townsmen in one of their rabid fits. And then a curious question struck her. "How old are you?"

Ivy Wood Academy

@ViolentViolet Haha, no need to apologise. You've got impressively extensive experience in music, is all.
That would depend. (: What would be abnormal?

Ivy Wood Academy

@ViolentViolet Oh lord. Now I feel mildly inadequate. XD

Ink On Your Soul

@Musoka

"You'd be right," Mia said, feeling herself come to ease opposite this man Solenne. But anonymity still girded them both, a cloak Mia was prepared to wrench away. "I came from Singapore, somewhere in Southeast Asia. Haven't lived in these parts for very long." She gestured around the cafe, as though to encompass the entire city, the entire world left unexplored, in an easy wave of the hand.

Solenne massaged the nape of his neck, to ask, “How do you feel about another species being your soulmate?” Mia blinked, and her eyes came to settle on Solenne's irises - startling crimson rubies.

Well, that is something to chew on, Mia thought, as Delilah came up to deliver Solenne's coffee. It sat steaming between them. “Take your time to answer..." said Solenne, "I'm in no rush.”

That was an invitation. Mia might have stalled and bought time as if it were going out of style. She might have mulled over each of her words carefully, considering and weighing every syllable in the palm of her hand, until the answer that sounded the most right translated from thought to spoken word. She might have, and she absolutely did not, for reasons that evaded her well.

Resting her chin on the heel of her palm, Mia looked distantly out the window, where men and women were bustling up and down the street, so enthralled by their worlds of office matters and business affairs, that none of them paused to glance once at one another. "I could say it doesn't matter," she said, considering on the spot, musing over what left her mouth as it did. "I could probably say that it matters even less than what my horoscope is." Her eyes flicked back to Solenne's, glinting with humour. "Aquarius, by the way." Mia's expression one of contemplative solemnity, she narrowed her gaze, as though all the better to study Solenne. "But that wouldn't be entirely true.

"You belonging to another species matters - even though it's not the most important. That would be knowing how you like your coffee - " she nodded to the beverage mug, " - what you like to do on a lazy day, your interests, your pastimes. What makes you smile. I think your species matters, only because it's something about you that I would like very much to know about." Leaning forward in her chair, the corners of Mia's lips quirked upwards fondly. "So will you tell me?"

Ivy Wood Academy

@ViolentViolet Haha, sounds like you've tried your hand at quite a few instruments.

And I see! I'll just be waiting patiently for it all to begin then. (: