Presto Manifesto

When Arlette explained how she knew his father, he couldn't help but to consider her age. Surely she wasn't much older than he was? Of course, it was hard to tell, as she was immensely knowledgeable and well-mannered. It was funny─it was almost as though she didn't know how spectacular she really was. He was quick to pick up on her nervous mannerisms and the way she looked to him when she spoke, almost as if she expected to be corrected, but the last thing he would ever do was just that. As a matter of fact, he was simply taken by the pretty, pale-eyed girl. "I guess so," he mused with a humble laugh. "I think...I think it's pretty cool that you know my dad, and my cousin. If you ask me, they're both pretty lucky to have known you. Or know you." Very rarely did Mirren trip up on his own words, and for the most part he was adept in conversation, but something about this girl made him feel a bit off-kilter. "Is that where you are going? I mean back to that home?" "It is." Right again. His golden eyes looked for hers. "Growing up, I felt like we never should have left that place. Ever since I can remember, I've always wanted to go back. Here I am, traipsing through this damn bogg looking for a place and I honestly don't even know where it is." Grinning through the pain he felt about Copper Rock Creek but would never show, his eyes shone a bit brighter as he continued. "In a way, we have that in common─roaming this place alone, looking for things we lost." He bumped his shoulder to hers as if to say see, I'm not so bad. As if her shining personality and angelic air weren't enough to whet his interest in her, or make him weak in the knees, the girl's eyes lit up as she let loose a laugh and proposed a 'game of truth.' If there was one thing he valued, one thing in the whole world that he prized nearly more than anything, it was truth. If she was willing to be truthful, well, he wouldn't really be surprised. She was damn near perfect, anyway. But one was or another, it had been so long since he'd had good company or someone to converse with that he realized he would be delighted to engage in any kind of game with her. And even if he hadn't wanted to, he would have done it for her. "Alright. But I've got to warn you─I'm a champion of games." The "warning" was purely for shits and giggles, but the toothy smile that followed was as genuine as they came. When she thanked him, he dipped his head respectfully. "You're welcome, Ms. Dieudonné Lyall...Ladie's first." He wasn't sure he was prepared for the questions she may or may not throw his way, but how hard is it to tell the truth, anyhow? As long as she was here, he'd make it count. Leading the way around a curve in the murky creek, Mirren's attention belonged only to the pilose wonder girl.

<3

A r l e t t e You're a hard soul to save with an ocean in the way. The new lightness of her chest seemed to carry her along their journey with the ease she'd been craving. There were lots of moments she was studying the ground below, and up ahead. The white lady always seemed to tilt her head, or flick her eyes as their conversation continued to his tawny and charcoal colored mask. The words lucky to know you Lettie was at loss for what to say. There was a silence long after he had spoken. She wouldn't see what was so lucky about that. She had been the lucky one to meet Ruiko, who helped guide her back home. For meeting Fenru and getting directions once more. There was something to the way he spoke, if there was more to it than what she was hearing. Shyly realizing she had missed her part to speak, her ears twisted back, and there was a wisp of a smile. "Then I'm lucky to know you." Remarkably, those did not stick to her tongue, but smoothly came, she would halt half a second to give the message by voice, by heart. All she may know about Mirren there was a lot more she did not. Whether again it was their closeness in age, his easy,kindly demeanor she was eager to hear more. It seemed much better coming from his mouth, if than she was allowed to know it. When she thought he might shy from a question he did not. With his steps he did not falter. Lettie, though she tried not to look in his eyes upon answer, easily found them again. Oh, she could relate. She had only the vaguest idea where she had been born. There was something in her that wanted to see it, as if that would help settle her past for her to claim her future. He did not seem sad at all by being uncertain. In fact it seemed quite honest they way he sprouted having no idea of its location. Was he hopeful because at least no matter what that's where he was headed? Her head was suddenly rattled when his firm shoulder touched hers. It was not a touch of violence,but friendship. Something she had to remind her brain, before a quiet laugh eased from her throat, and she nudged her head back into his neck. No, he was not so bad. Was he worried she didn't like him? He readily took up her offer, but his word of champion made her grin. Now he sounded a lot more like his age, but it did not scare her. "Alright, but in this one you can you call bs if you don't think its the truth, but if it is truth you lose. If its untrue, and you call bs you win," she explained. It was better to tell the truth, but it was fun to bluff. The maiden gave a sly look, wondering if he was still confident. She guessed he already had a good poker face and this would be hard. It was with a light chuckle, she decided she must force herself to stop smiling, and take a deep breath to ask, "Do you secretly like this muddy place?"

Arlette's clarification of the rules were just the kind of guidelines that he needed, and actually he liked the direction this game of hers was taking. She didn't know it, but not only was he a champion of games, but also a champion of bullshit. Or calling it, rather. With a pretty girl at his side, the sun trickling down from the tree tops, and the perfect challenge at hand, he couldn't help but to feel─a bit arrogantly and not without really jumping the gun─that the odds were truly in his favor. Avoiding a tortuous root that cut across their winding path, he was all ears. "Do you secretly like this muddy place?" His lips curled once again into a boyish grin, but when he became aware that his expression could be a hint to his competition he quickly made a straight face. The lack of tension in his body was apparent in his easy stride and the way his tail swayed with the smooth movement of his hips. As if to maintain that he were actually considering the notion that he could, in fact, like this ridiculous bog, his lively eyes cast about at the twisted tree trunks and the shadows that lingered in the folds of the forest. "Hmmmmm..." he hummed exaggeratedly, stretching his neck to look over into the murky depths of the brook. Well, he couldn't really lie and give her a chance to win just yet. "Not in a million years would I ever like this stuffy, horridly lackluster, awkwardly quiet muddy place..." Mirren resigned to look over the perfectly angled contours of her face, the charming grin of his emerging subtly. The shade of the forest darkened the mask of his face, making his amber eyes smolder that much more. They traced over her lips and his own parted to speak, only to press back together. Placing one paw in front of the other and with good company at his side, Mirren returned to Relic Lore on the right foot, even if that foot was trudging through mud. When their game would eventually come to an end, the boy wished the girl the best of luck, parting from his newfound friend with a smile before pressing westward and on into the night.

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(This post was last modified: Apr 01, 2014, 02:28 AM by Mirren.)