Welcome to the CIC

[Otulissa]

Leena stumbled into Kitto's Lounge and Bar. She looked around, and smoothed her pink skirt. She looked like the symbol of what it means to be girly. She was dressed from head to toe in pink, and her red hair was curled and had a flower tied to a low side pony. The flower had a naturally sweet scent.

"Ugh..." Leena sighed. She was lost. She didn't even know where the heck she was. Where am I?! I'm sure my brother lives somewhere near here...but I can't seem to find him! Whenever I ask for directions, I'm blatantly ignored!

Leena took a seat, but tripped as she sat down, on who-knows-what. Her face flushed red; this was her embarrassing moment of the day. She struggled to sit down hastily.  

[SpunkyOtaku]

((I hope that just means your character really does get lost easily, and not that you can't think of another reason for her to be there. xD))

And as naturally as the force of gravity would keep all people and objects from floating, people looked at any type of commotion, even a girl tripping on her way to a seat. Though as it was only momentary, people went back to their original conversations. There was not even a moment of quieting down, for it was so fleeting.

The brunette sitting so close to the all around bright red girl raised an eyebrow, but kept his tone polite and inquiring.

"You alright?"  

[Otulissa]

((She's a ditzy character who gets lost A LOT. XD That's why I want to practice using her; I am usually not that good at portraying ditzy (kind of dim) characters...))

"Umm..." Leena began, smoothing her skirt. "I'm alright!" She managed to sheepishly smile. She was a fifteen year old girl, lost and wandering in the world. She hated this notion. However, she was generally alright, minus the fact that she embarrassed herself right then and there, and she was now beet red and could not erase the color that tinted her skin. She should have been used to situations like this now, and yet, she was not. Every time a crisis like this occurred, it would seem to whack her in the face, figuratively speaking.  

[SpunkyOtaku]

((Haha, fair enough. Ditzy characters are fun.))

The young man pressed his lips together, keeping in his laughter as Mariana looked over at the slowly forming conversation. Then she blinked. This girl, while not trying to be offensive, did not look like she could hold any liquor. What was she doing in here? She must have been trying to meet somebody.
"You want a drink to calm down?" the brunette continued. "He may not look it, but Kaoru makes a nice Shirley Temple."
Mariana politely looked back to her own drink. So she was not the only one who thought so.

Kaoru, turning at the sound of his name, spotted Mariana and scowled. "Don't you have somewhere to be?"

Mariana stood without a word and headed to the back side door.  

[Otulissa]

"Um..." Leena had never tried any alcohol before. She had always wondered what it would taste like though... She debated with herself for a few moments, and then came to the conclusion that she was old enough to try some; after all, she was going on sixteen, and she bet her brother had trued liquor before. "Sure!" Leena finally said. "I'll have some." Leena silently reminded herself that she would just take a tiny sip or two, just a little bit to see what it was like. Leena definitely did not want to be drunk; she was afraid of further embarrassment that may come out of it.  

[SpunkyOtaku]

The brunette tried not to laugh at the girl's obvious change in expressions. It was so easy to read this girl. She looked so worried. He wondered if her should tell the truth of the zero amount of alcohol to her now, or wait for a few minutes and tease her for her surprise... Well, he did not know her that well yet, so maybe that would not be very fair. He could not help it, she was almost like a little sister or cousin. Not that he had one, but still.

"You don't have to worry. It's-" He blinked at Kaoru putting down the glass of mostly clear liquid with a hint of reddened coloring. "Quick."  

[Otulissa]

Leena looked down at her feet and shifted in her seat awkwardly. Then she looked up again when the guy told her not to worry. "Hm...?" she asked. "Wait, what?" Then she shifted in her seat again, and took the glass. She gazed into the glass silently for a minute, then giggled softly to herself before taking a cautious little sip, then another, and another.  

[SpunkyOtaku]

He watched as the young girl took her first cautious sips of the mystery concoction and refrained from saying anything. After all, she should be able to tell now there was no alcohol.

"Hello everyone."

Many others in the lounge turned at the sound of a voice from stage, though the young man simply continued sipping from his own drink as rings of "Hey Mary," echoed through the fairly small building.

"Now, I was told I should keep it nice an' mellow tonight." The plump girl continued. "But I feel like movin' around right now." she give a vibrant and eager smile. "How 'bout a dancing song?"

There were claps and cheers of encouragement from the rowdy bunch.

"Alrighty then. I'm feeling generous tonight, so Jodi, how about leading us?"  

[Otulissa]

Leena wondered if this was what alcohol really tasted like. Being the gullible and slow-witted girl she was, Leena decided to believe that alcohol was not all that bad. She smiled, and took bigger gulps of the drink.

Suddenly, people started greeting, "Hey Mary!" Leena looked up, slightly startled by the change in mood around her. The people were still rowdy, but it was like an odd organized rowdiness.

A plump, but pretty, girl was talking from the stage set up in the lounge, and she had a cheerful, clear voice. She seemed like a born entertainer to Leena. Leena smiled when the girl suggested a dancing song; she loved upbeat music that she could dance to!  

[SpunkyOtaku]

The man with dark hair and goatee sitting at the piano turned away from the keyboard and picked up the small fiddle near his seat. He nestled the instrument into the crook of his neck, and took a few experimental strikes with the bow. He twisted one of the couple keys at the end of the neck. He rested the strings against each other, then struck them against each other. The tune started up, and some people went back to their conversations, while others tapped their feet or thumbs to the tune.

The lighter-haired man turned to the red-head sitting next to him, having heard this song a million times and already having it internalized.
"Like your drink?" he asked. "Name's Waloen, by the way."  

[Otulissa]

Leena listened intently as the music started. It was a great uobeat tune, something that Leena personally liked.

She nodded in reply to Waloen's question. Then, she decided that it was only right to introduce herself, since Waloen had introduced himself to her.

"Um..." she started. "My name is Leena."  

[SpunkyOtaku]

"Nice to meet you Leena." Waloen acknowledged. "What brings you here?"

"Mary" Hitentsuru's voice was not one that made people stare and wonder if she was an angel. Nor was it one that made people gawk and wonder what on earth she was doing here in a little old lounge.

But it was strong, and clear, and made people listen to the notes her voice carried. As it rode and wove with the melody Mary smiled as several couples rose from their seats onto the dance floor. The whole room was not enraptured, but many listened as a few joined in the miniature festivity.  

[Otulissa]

"Nice to meet you too," Leena replied. "Um..." She thought for a moment, and a perplexed look of confusion passed over her face. "I'm not even sure what brought me here...um... um... I'm kind of....uh..." Leena blushed, embarrassed.

"I'm kind of lost," she finally said after a moment of silent hesitation. "Actually, I think I am very lost..."

Mary's singing was quite nice, and Leena liked it.  

[SpunkyOtaku]

Walloen blinked and sweatdropped at Leena's embarrassed admittance. She looked lost. She was lucky she came to him instead of a shady, sleazy guy.

"Well..." he scratched his stubble covered chin, trying to think of how to word this. "Surely there must have been somewhere you were trying to go, right?"  

[Talon StarDrifter]

||Good to see another member around! Welcome, Otu! :] Sorry for the prolonged absence, Otaku. My aunt has a new rule in my house, and I'm not really allowed on the Internet, so I have to wait until she's asleep. D: Sorry if my posts become a little infrequent. :[ ||

Laughing embarrassedly, Rietha smiled ruefully.

"I'm terribly sorry! I completely forgot my manners!" She didn't seem to think she was already being polite to Miren, or the action was so natural she just didn't notice. "I'm Rietha, one of the three Elders of the village Yumenest. Our frae tribe doesn't often meet many strangers, especially not human strangers, so forgive my forgetfulness." Rietha smiled broadly at Miren, her teeth gleaming white in the dappled daylight beneath the trees.

The other fraes looked at each other uncomfortably and looked away from their leader, resuming their search for food. It was uncommon for a village Elder to introduce herself so readily by herself to a complete stranger. Despite the fact that the human girl, Miren, was completely naked, there was no telling if the girl was trustworthy or not. Yes, Refinne had taken a liking to her, but although frae instincts were more often than not correct, a child could be duped.

One of the frae women slipped away from the group and headed out and around Rietha's path toward the village. Her goal was to forewarn the others that a human stranger was heading toward the village, accompanied by Rietha. Humans were not completely strange to the small village of Yumenest, but only the same humans ever came by or were welcome. Fraes were never particularly sociable creatures and as such, not many tourists visited. Only humans on business or personal errands ever visited frae colonies.