Text Cut: Repliiies

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cassiopia Malfoy

Haha, Ruby is a funny character

Me: Well.. No?

It's a spin-off of the Twilight movies/books

^__^

Phil...ippine: I think it's a boy name. O__o

*doesn't like Twilight too much*
I LOVE Jacob, though.

The world needs anger.
[It] often continues to allow evil
because it isn't
a n g r y enough.


The 'small teddy bear' had been no ordinary teddy bear [not that you could convince Ariel that anything she or anyone else had could be ordinary] but a present from the father she only had memories of now; a stiff but cute, roundish mass of glass.

I say 'had been' because, the moment it hit the floor, it did not - like the other contents - lay there, staaaaring up at everyone in the compartment, or turn over with a soft thump, but crack into scores of brilliantly shining pink shards that skidded along the floor, flew into the air [the kitten in the basket gave a kitty!shriek and launched itself on the man in the door, digging its claws into the man's shoulder] and even flopped right out of the slightly open door.

Ariel's eyes might have been still-as-death blue saucers. For a moment, all was quiet, and then she looked up, from under thick eyelashes, and said in a choked, disbelief-ish tone:

"Mr. Banana Split."

The young man, as he attempted to shoo the kitten off himself [the kitten dug its claws deeper into his shoulder. Stop trying to put me down, you oaf of a man, it thought, there's GLASS on the floor. It'll hurt my little paws. You smeeeell intelligent, so can't you tell? *DIG*] looked thoroughly, thoroughly decomposed.

Firstly, he had never intended to be here; he had had other things to do, but events had looked serious, so he had dropped the other businesses and joined the MLE personnel on the train. Secondly, now that he had come, the last thing he had expected was to have to face a mental kitten that refused to let go of him [sure, I'm handsome, but a kitten? Have mercy on me, people.] Thirdly, the redhead had been right, and her handbag contained no disturbing item. Fourthly - and this unsettled him the most - he had some part [okay, a lot of part] in breaking the girl's... toy?

[Who carries a toy in their handbag at this age? Merlin, Hades, Thor and cheese, is this girl for real?]

He cleared his throat, quite unsure how to react - and though none of the girls in the compartment knew, this was a most uncharacteristic reaction for the man standing in the doorway. He was never unsure. Never - before giving a broad-shouldered shrug that seemed to suggest that the teddy was a noble sacrifice in the path to the greater good. "Right," he said briskly. "It seems -"

Ariel's lip wobbled.

He changed track as fast as lightning. "I'm extremely sorry, madam," he said, the brisk tones, the business-like shrug, the calm gaze all gone in a puff of nothingness. [What is with women and crying? He thought furiously, fully aware how much he hated to see a lady, any lady, cry. It could make any sane person feel guilty - especially if he already knew he had reason to feel guilty - make any sane person feel like he'd committed a horrible act, like stolen one of the Giant Squid's tentacles, or put itching powder in one's best friend's PJs by accident and then blamed it on someone else.]

Ariel's lip continued to wobble.

He plowed on. "I'm extremely sorry, madam. Your actions were bound to have made Law Enforcement suspicious and -" And goodness woman, stop giving me that teary-eyed look! It was only a toy. "- I apologize." His tones had managed to acquire their usual cool calm by now, but that did not mean he felt at his ease here. "I'm almost certain that toy can be fixed. Reparo!"

Nothing happened. Each and every spell has a limit, a space or place that it can be effective in or against. The shattered glass toy had broken into a looot of pieces, and many of them had been flung right outside the spell's field of effectiveness. Those that still remained inside it moved and stuck to each other, but the result did not even remotely resemble the actual glass teddy bear: in fact, the headless, armless product made Ariel snap.

“Stop it! You're disfiguring Mr. Banana Split. You are a mean, big blue man.”

“I apologize –”

“Mean. You're meaaan."

"Cut it out, Riel." Ruby had gently crossed her arms against her chest, in an attempt to look all mature and prominent and helpful. "I'm certain he didn't mean it, did he, Philippine?" She looked over at Philippine, as if to ask for help, and Philippine gave an uncertain, little nod that couldn't have convinced a gnome. "Law enforcement employees are trained to suspect. It's for our benefit." She had a don't-I-sound-professional touch to her tones, and she sidled up to the young man as she spoke. He took a cold step away from her but, thankfully for Ruby, she did not notice this as she turned back to look at her redheaded friend. "Let's cool it, okay?"

Ariel seemed to ponder over this. She decided that Ruby didn't mean anything she had just said, not one letter, and glaaaared at her. “Tell him to fix my teddy. It's important to me." Her eyes didn't say much else now, not much else expect that she needed that glass toy fixed right here, right now. They didn't say it was like a crystallized memory, or a moment in time, something she couldn't just give up on.

"You know that's not possible -" Ruby began, now annoyed that her chance to look amazingly persuasive might be flying right out of the compartment window.

"Madam." The young man took a step forward. "The most I can do is to make a new toy of that sort available to y -"

"I don't want a new toy." Ariel glared daggers at him. [Philippine left the compartment at this point, plucking the kitten still happily digging its claws into the man's shoulder off him, and muttering something about "all of these people are stubborn idiots, honestly. Come on, kitty, let's go. You and I, I think we need a snack" but nobody noticed]. "I think you're mean and big and blue, and I know you need to fix my toy."

"I can't -"

"Should," Ariel tossed back.

[Ruby looked in the young man's direction.]

"Madam, I can't possibly -"

"But you broke it," came the unhappy, large-eyed response.

[Ruby took a step towaaaards him.]

"Miss -"

"You're mean."

[Ruby reached him. Woohoo! She thought. WOOHOO!]

"Excuse me, but -"

"Big, blue and meaaaan." Ariel sounded unhappy and troubled now, as if she had never truly considered the possibility that the toy might not get fixed.

[Ruby touched his shoulder, all comfortingly.]

"Lady." He sounded riled, hiiighly riled as he brushed Ruby's hand firmly off, and the sudden change in tone surprised Ariel so much, she could not make a comeback. It was the man's turn to cross his arms against his chest, now. The redhead constantly calling him names and - more than that - the other girl's tendency to stick a little too close to him, had finally gotten to him.

"Excuse me lady, but I am not here to be insulted. I've had enough of you and your attitude." He sounded snappish for the first time since he had stepped on the train, and he knew himself how the main cause of it wasn't just the girl he had just snapped at, but the other, Ruby; but he was too irritated to be reasonable. "If you're that hurt over the loss of your toy, stop biting my head off and talk to Simone Black. Let me tell you in advance, however, that you're likely to be sent right back to your compartment. It is our duty to protect your lives, and if a few toys end up broken in the process of making sure all is right, MLE does not and cannot consider it a misfortune."

His voice was cold, very cold, and Ariel huddled in her corner, shocked and sad and upset and almost angry, and the young man turned round and, dark robes flapping behind him, shut the door so briskly [though not intentionally briskly ] that it ratted on its hinges, as he left.



Reference:

[] "The world needs anger -" Bede Jarrett.