Me falta tiempo || private

Spring was supposed to be a time of happiness. The flowers were blooming, the trees were sprouting green with leaves, and the showers of rain were in light and carefree when compared to the depressing deluges of fall and winter. It was a time when the world was coming back to life from its slumber of winter, when everything and everyone was wide-eyed with wonder at the sights, sounds, and smells of the fresh air and greenery that came in the warm breeze. For Kistiñe Ibáñez, there were mixed feelings... She smiled and danced when the music was right, laughed and drank with her friends and guild mates almost every chance she could, and seemed to still hold the title of "Party Queen" among Black Rose. However, at every one of these instances there seemed to be something a bit off about her, something most would likely never notice. Her smiles seemed to be a bit milder, her laughter a bit out of tune for her normally musical voice--her drinking seemed to be more purposeful that a simple social habit and her dancing lacked some of the fire and flair that defined it.

Most would never notice the difference. Most would never see that a chink in her socialite armor had been made because she was so good at hiding it. Why? Quite frankly, she did not want to weigh her friends down with her own emotional baggage, especially when so few of them would understand the depth that it dug into her heart...

As of right now, the Latina was walking down a street in the port city Lavanitir, idly window browsing through the store fronts. Her jacket had the hood drawn up loosely to keep the light rain out of her hair--it frizzled and became a mess after being out in the rain--but it was other wise left unzipped, her hands stuffed in her jacket pockets as her eyes scanned through the window of a clothing store. There was nothing too interesting about the store, as she had passed it over several times before on separate occasions, but it was a distraction from being alone. Most everyone else was out doing jobs or otherwise unavailable that afternoon to go and spend the day with, so she was out on her own trying to kill time...

Spring! Allergy Season! Oh what fun! Fortunately, he did not develop the allergy, but there were quite the plentiful amount of others that have. The constant sneezing to be heard on the first floor of the guild hall made the top floor all the more tempting. But it would shatter the original purpose of him being on the ground floor, him trying to socialize... Sort of. To distract himself from this, he was performing on his Electric Violin some fast pieces to keep as much of the party going for as long as he could. Though it was not what one would consider a legitimate party, it was definitely more than just the average day. The Black Rose mages were hanging out, or at least, the ones who were here as opposed to the others who have been away for jobs... Like Elyx would normally by.

And so the piece would sadly end, a perfect moment for his mind to suddenly go blank. No music sheets would appear on his mind, which scared him. That meant that he'd have to step off of the crate that he was on and be on level with the others in the guild. The shield of his music that kept others away from him was nice, but once he lost it, he felt trapped since he was in a corner. Plan B. Evacuate the premise, effective immediately. So with a gentle step from the crate onto the ground, he would begin to make his way towards the exit of the Guild Hall, hoping that no one would realize his attempt to escape from socializing.

And surprisingly enough, he had not been ambushed for another song or a chat. Even better, not even another responsibility! He was finally out onto the streets of the city! Freedom! But... This freedom... what does he do with it? His life basically was to get up, get himself clean and prepared for the day, do a job, come home and accept tasks, sleep, repeat. It was not normal for him to have any free time. So sadly, all he could do was walk onto the streets and see if maybe there was some sort of shop along the way that would look like a worthy place to spend jewels. Anyone in his way, was a stranger, so it was expected that strangers ignored each other.

It was rare for Kistiñe to have any free time at this time of the day; between her semi-nocturnal sleep schedule, jobs, and the more than occasional night on the town, it was rare to see her with any time to herself around one or two o'clock in the afternoon. Today was an oddity in her schedule, one that she wasn't sure if she should be glad for or regretting. Her instincts as an extrovert and a social creature wanted someone to talk to--multiple someones, preferably--but her body and heart wanted to use the time to slow down and rest, take a moment to relax and enjoy the figurative smell of the roses. She was about to walk into the shop she stared into, if only to get out of the rain, but felt someone just barely bump into her from behind. She turned her head and caught a glimpse of who it was...was that Elyx? The two had never met personally, but the Latina had seen him buzz in and out of the guild hall for jobs and other errands; the only reason she knew who he was was, in part, due to a conversation or two with Iza.. Before he disappeared into the crowded and rained-upon sidewalk, she managed to get within a yard behsind him. "Elyx," she said, "¿Qué haces aquí?"

Translation: What are you doing here?

Upon hearing his name, he would turn around to meet a rather beautiful woman looking his way. What business did she have with him? Admittedly, he had not seen or heard of her before, then again, that could be said to many people in the guild because of the amount of time that he spent in the jobs needed to make his living. What made things hard was how she spoke spanish to him, and due to her skin-color, he assumed that she was Latino. Language was not his strong suit, in fact, it was his weakest. The Lerale mage hated learning foreign languages, he was never good at it nor did he have the patience for it. Thus, he liked to speak English at its best. With a smile on his face, though a little bit nervous, he would try to return the reply the best he could. Er, Yo no se Espanol. No comprendo. Well, it was the best he could do, hopefully she was willing to accept it.

It was quite easy to see the puzzled look on the Ace's face as soon as he had turned around and replied. Quite honestly, she would probably never get used to starting a conversation with someone in English--she could speak it quite well at this point, but Spanish was her mother tongue--and thus, confusion would usually be the result of such a greeting or inquiry if the other person didn't know her language; at the very least, the young man seemed to be able to let her know, in Spanish, that he was unable to decipher what she was saying. With a roll of her eyes, the Latina was about to say something, but was cut off as she noticed the rain was starting to pick up into a steady shower. As much as she may been enjoying her walk in the drizzle, she didn't like the thought of walking around and getting soaked...by chance, they happened to be stopped in front of a diner. "That's alright," she said in a noticeable accent, before looking towards the door beside them, "You hungry? I don't like chatting in the rain."

The rain was sudden, but maybe it should have been expected. It had been this sort of weather for the past few days, it was his fault for not noticing though. Accepting the offer given to him in a casual latin accent sort of way, he'd reply in his own language. Admittedly, he had been shamed for not learning a different language, but he was glad that this woman had not done it. All she wanted to do was hang around him, which was cool for right now, he had nothing else to do. Why not do nothing someone else? Sure, lets eat somewhere. He'd answer, manipulating the remaining amount of air to form a small little wall above their heads so that they would not get wet, it was sort of like an umbrella. But before we continue, I must ask for your name at least. What may your name be? And while they do that, they should probably get away, he'd prefer not to focus part of his energy on handling the falling drops of water. So he would begin and lead them around the town.

"Kistiñe," she replied, before pulling her hood a bit tighter. As the rain picked up, the Latina stepped under the awning of the diner rather than follow the guild ace--after all, the restaurant was right there--and instead watched for a moment as he started to walk off, before giving a sharp whistle with her fingers to signal for him to pay attention and turn around. "There's a diner right here," she called, before ducking inside the door to get out of the rain as she waited for him to walk back. In all honesty, the only reason she wanted to hang out for a while wasn't necessarily because Elyx was a guild ace; quite simply, she just wanted to talk with someone she didn't know, and it just so happened that the two hadn't met personally prior to now--an impromptu get-to-know-you session as it were.

The Wind Slayer would walk behind the girl who introduced herself with an accent he could not quite follow up. He would probably call her by "Kistine" instead of the accented N version of it. It was sort of sad, but he honestly could not speak spanish if it were to save his life. Once he entered the diner, he would shake his head a little bit to shake the water droplets off of his brown spiky hair. He had plenty of jewels, he could pay for their meal. Hey Kistine, what would like to have? Elyx would ask her with a smile on his face before adding a little comment at the end of his offer. I will be paying for it, so the whole menu is yours. And with that, he would place his hands in his pockets and wait for her to make her selection.

Although it may have sounded like a calling from her native Castilian tongue, her first name was actually from the language of the Basque country. The sad thing was that the last syllable of her name was pronounced almost exactly like the word "lasagna", with the last "a" replaced with an "e," thus no knowledge of the language was required to try to pronounce it. However, as the Latina playfully rolled her eyes a bit when the guild ace mispronounced her name, any comments were cut short by his assertion that he would pay for the meal in its entirety. "Chico," she said, "I am more than happy to pay for my own meal."

Putting her hood down, she took a seat at one of the booths and inspected the menu while she waited for Elyx to follow suit; she had never eaten in this part of town, but, frankly, the menu was disappointing, as evidenced by the small frown on her face. Eggs, bacon, steak, pork chops, collared greens, and a myriad of other "southern comfort foods" that weren't entirely pleasing to a palette accustomed to a variety of colorful spices and flavors. Not only that, but she wasn't one for heavy, greasy foods either--it was hard to keep a body like hers and eat those kinds of foods--so really all that was left was coffee, sweet tea, or water. After a moment or two, a sigh left her before she asked, "Do you see anything you like?"

She snapped at him with a statement that claimed that she would pay for her own meal. Mentally, he was placing his hands up in the air, open-palmed and everything. Sorry for offering, I'll make sure not to offend you by doing it again. The Wind Slayer though, but keeping his mouth shut. This was a good strategy used to keep himself alive, silence. It was mainly used whenever there just seemed like no point in arguing. Why would he fight to pay for something? That was suicide to a wallet. The most that he was able to get on the menu that he actually appreciated were a few balls of rice and marble soda. Nothing fancy, nothing traditional to his home in Shadelle. Fortunately, he worked way too hard and did not need to watch himself, he used to dine on chocolate religiously and still kept his slender shape. No one knows where it all goes, to this day it still remains a mystery. Eh... I guess I could see better. Food is food I guess. As for you, is there anything you know of that might be better tasting than Rice Balls?

Snappish was not an adjective that was normally used to describe Kistiñe. It was true that she did have a temper, and could be somewhat of a bitch when it was that time of the month, but neither of those were applicable in the situation at hand. Her frown became a little bit more pronounced as she continued reading through the menu, mentally taking note to avoid this kind of restaurant in the future. She looked up with her eyes briefly when Elyx asked if she found anything more appetizing. "Not really," she said. It was about then that the waitress came by and stood at the end of the table. Dressed in a gaudy pastel pink with a white apron, she had a pen to her notepad as she asked, "What can I get y'all today?"