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Post by skyeknight on Apr 24, 2016 22:59:39 GMT
Namine had been running low on her art supplies and had decided to go down to the street market. Sure, sometimes they got caught selling bad things down there from time to time, but they also had some of the best deals on art supplies in bulk, which was what Namine was aiming for. She already had a bundle of pencils, both colored, charcoal and graphite. She was now looking for a sets of paints. She peered over the selection the vendor had. They had a multitude of colors. She had a list of colors that she needed, mostly darker colors, because of a new commission from one of her old professors - the history of art professor, not one of her professors who could actually paint for themselves.
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Post by neverlandlostgirl on May 1, 2016 21:31:48 GMT
Suddenly a large figure, even larger than everyone else in the street market, came up behind Namine in passing and accidentally bumped the small blonde woman.
"Hey, sorry."
Ralph had come down to the market to put up some flyers for his business while also buying some food for his apartment. The market usually had pretty good prices when it came to the food vendors and he was an expert at working a deal in his favor. The market was also a good place to scope out for an illegal activity that my be going on under the radar of the BPD.
However, the small streets already clogged with stalls and booths made it difficult for a Giant to navigate the space without running into objects and people. He had managed to avoid it so far but hadn't seen the smaller woman before he had bumped into her.
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Post by skyeknight on May 1, 2016 23:26:19 GMT
Namine recoiled a little more than necessary when someone bumped into her. By now it was a reflex she hadn't broken from when she used to live with her violent father. She nearly swallowed her tongue when she saw the extremely large man who had almost knocked her off her feet. A small noise that she wasn't sure if it would qualify as distressed or alarmed rumbled from her throat.
"I-I'm s-sorry!" she squeaked out.
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Post by neverlandlostgirl on May 2, 2016 5:13:30 GMT
Ralph normally would have moved on as soon as the person he had bumped into heard his apology, but the young woman's reaction caused him to stop and stare down at her in mild surprise.
She had drawn away from him as if he were about to hit her or scream at her, and in his line of work he had come to recognize the signs of when someone had been abused in the past. Heck, even before opening Wreck-It Investigations he had worked many cases that involved domestic abuse at the BPD and the woman's response was a textbook example of how someone who has been physically abused would react.
"Hey, no need to apologize, miss. I'm the oaf you ran into you."
Ralph's tone was friendly, calm. It was clear the blonde was extremely distressed and the last thing he wanted to do was cause her to have a flashback or something and run away like a jerk.
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Post by skyeknight on May 2, 2016 15:42:48 GMT
The look she was giving him was probably akin to something along the lines of a deer caught in the headlights, . She would have thought for sure he would have gotten angry with her. She supposed lately, she had been running into a lot of people that were the opposite of how they seemed.
"I should have b-been paying attention," she mumbled, accepting fault. "S-Sorry for bothering you."
She kept her eyes down and her head bowed. Her meek stance was something the other officers in her unit tried to discourage but she couldn't help it at times. She let out a shaky breath. Mustering her courage she smiled up at the larger man. In a way, things had been so much easier when no one noticed her, but it had also been very lonely too.
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Post by neverlandlostgirl on May 4, 2016 2:56:55 GMT
"Hey, no need to take any blame."
Ralph put up his hands as if pushing away her apology, feeling no need for the young woman to feel sorry for something she hadn't even done.
"It's really me. I need to just work on not being so clum......"
As he said this, he took a step back and accidentally bumped into a container holding a large selection of colored pencils. The container teetered for a moment before falling over, spilling its entire content over the path and cause Ralph to smack his forehead in annoyance at himself.
"Clumsy."
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Post by skyeknight on May 4, 2016 13:08:04 GMT
"L-Let me help," Namine offered.
Before he could tell her whether or not he wanted her help, she knelt down and set her basket aside. She began to pick up the rolling pencils, scooping them up and placing them gently back in the container they fell from. She wanted to do so before the stall owner got mad or worse, tried to accuse them of stealing things. This may not be the safest part of town, but it was the best place for her to get supplies on the cheap since her work only provided her with what was necessary enough for an accurate composite sketch - paper and pencil, but they were her equivalent of a badge and gun.
She smiled after she had gotten everything picked up before she turned her smile on the giant. It wasn't his fault that he had knocked it over. And she didn't think he was clumsy either. Things were just placed very closely together, more to accommodate people of a smaller stature. Humans often forgot that Others who were larger than they were with wings, tails or other appendages and needed a certain level of space, otherwise their ability to move would be hindered. She hefted the container back up and onto the stall table. She took a deep breath.
"My name is Namine," she murmured, "I-If you wanted to know..." So much for being bold.
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Post by neverlandlostgirl on May 7, 2016 2:39:05 GMT
Ralph didn't even have a chance to start kneeling down to pick up the pencils before the young woman had ducked down and scooped up the pencils with a deft skill that could only come from someone who works with artistic utensils frequently. He had to admit he was grateful. His record with delicate objects wasn't the best and if he had tried to copy the woman, he most likely would have snapped every one of the pencils in half.
However, it looked as if his clumsy act had brought about one positive thing and that was the young woman warming up enough to smile. That was a good sign as far as he cared. She then introduced herself as Namine. That was even better.
"Ralph Lacour. Nice to meet you."
He extended his large hand down to her, a smile on his face to try and reassure her.
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Post by skyeknight on May 7, 2016 3:05:23 GMT
Namine looked up at him, mildly surprised he was offering her his hand. And after a moment of hesitation she shook his hand. Her hands were much smaller than his. He seemed nice enough. She decided, it wouldn't hurt if she got to know him a little. She had thought the worst of Omar, but it turned out he was a nice guy, despite the whole distaste for the police.
"N-Nice to meet you too, Mr. Lacour." she said politely. "W-What brings you to the market today?"
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Post by neverlandlostgirl on May 10, 2016 2:13:30 GMT
For a moment Ralph wondered if the young woman, Namine, was going to accept his hand or merely turn and walk away in shyness. However, he was pleased to see a moment later that enough of her timidity had passed for her to place her small hand in his large one and give it a small shake.
Once that was finished, she asked her own question of him.
"Was planning on getting some food for my apartment. Fridge is starting to look pretty bare right about now and I figured the street market isn't a bad place to find some less pricy food. Also, it gave me a chance to kill two birds with one stone and put up some flyers for my work."
He reached into one of his large pockets and pulled out a slightly crumpled flyer bearing a rather basic and simple drawing of his face over the name of his business in bright red lettering; Wreck-it Investigations.
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Post by skyeknight on May 10, 2016 2:23:23 GMT
Namine looked over the tattered flyer. A light smile made itself known on her lips. Yes the drawing was rather crude, but it got it's point across. Straight, simple and to the point. She figured it said a lot about the large man too. She could see the semblance between the drawing and Ralph. She thought it was rather commendable that he had made his own flyers to advertise his business.
"I-I was just getting some new supplies." she said, readjusting her hold on her basket, "I'm... a sketch artist..."
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Post by neverlandlostgirl on May 10, 2016 2:42:45 GMT
"A sketch artist, huh?"
Ralph folded his flyer in half and tucked it back into his pocket as a small laugh emanated from his chest.
"Guess I shouldn't have shown you my awful attempt at artwork then. Bet you could draw a picture of me that actually looks like, well, me."
He gave another laugh, not minding one bit that he was poking fun at himself. He knew his artistic skills were very small but was glad to have found a topic that seemed to be leading to a conversation and not just more awkward silences.
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Post by skyeknight on May 10, 2016 12:33:22 GMT
"W-What? No!" Namine gasped.
The look in her eyes clearly showed she thought that she had insulted the man somehow and was frantically waving her hands as if to wave away the mix up. Yes, she probably could have drawn it better. But it didn't mean Namind thought is work was bad, just his style. The timid blonde looked a little nervous.
"I didn't - your drawing is fine! I-I'm sorry!" She couldn't seem to talk slow enough to put her thoughts in order.
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Post by neverlandlostgirl on May 14, 2016 3:59:29 GMT
"It's called a joke, miss."
Ralph immediately regretted his approach as the young woman seemed to think that he had taken insult from her far superior art skills. He had just tried to lighten the mood with a little fun poked at himself, but clearly Namine was the kind of individual who was always afraid they had insulted someone.
"It's also the truth. Art was never really my focus or interest so it's really no surprise that my drawings aren't good. Besides, I still have talents of my own that just fall outside of sketch books, paints and pencils."
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Post by skyeknight on May 14, 2016 4:14:07 GMT
Namine looked up at him in surprise. She hadn't realized it was a joke. She had been so scared when he had put himself down like that. She thought she had done something wrong. She bowed her head slightly.
"W-What do you do outside of that?" Namine asked him.
Clearly his own investigative services based on the flyer, but there was probably more to it than that. What would have made the man want to hold his own detective agency when the police were in town? Did he work with them? Why hadn't the officers informed her about his practices? She could have helped him design a better flyer if she had just known. Or at least one that looked professional. She just wanted to help. The officers kept people safe. And apparently this private investigator did the same.
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