| Title: Lessons in life Time: Saturday, March 20 and Sunday, March 21, 2004 The Thespians: Toby Darling and Pascal Curio Location: Boulder Bus Station - Bus Depot Notes: Done over two days. |
| +---[ Boulder Bus Station - Bus Depot
]--------------------------------------+ | | | Beside the doors leading back into the building is a stretch of concrete | | and pavement covered by an enormous ceiling to keep rain or snow off of | | waiting passenger's heads. Buses come and go, labeled in various ways; | | most seem to enter and exit in odd fashions, such as sudden disappearances | | and lifting off into the air. A large clock is positioned on one of the | | roof's poles that clearly projects the current time to those waiting. Here | | is where one would go to board a bus to get to where they want to go. | | | +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ |
| The raspy, chilling voice of Diophantus, Pascal Curio's 'godfather' is still ringing in the girl's head as she stiffly disembarks from the Scattergood bus, a small suitcase floating behind her. The black snake-like tail that belongs to her cat waves in the air as Samson quickly follows behind Pascal, and she glares rather rudely at several people who bump and jostle her as they make their own way around the bus depot. "Can't you watch your bloody way?" She actually says to a shocked middle aged man as she brushes by him, leaving him standing there gaping at her. Finding a bench, she sits down on it rigidly with a rather deep frown, petting Samson distractedly as the cat cuddles into her lap. She had counted so much on not going home, and having received that charmed letter that resembled a docile howler, her mood is definitely poorer than usual. |
| Ah, spring break. Time to go somewhere other than school. Toby Darling bounds down the stairs of the bus that just arrived from the school as giddy as a schoolboy... wait, he is a school boy! He pulls his trunk out from the luggage compartment under the bus and lugs it behind him, kicking it now and then with his heels, as he crosses the bus depot. He passes by a bench occupied by Pascal Curio and he does his best not to make eye contact with the girl who has gotten him into more than one sticky situation recently... just keep walking, Toby. Mind your own business. |
| It's funny how Murphy's Law works. The fact that Toby is even trying to avoid Pascal only means that she'll coincidentally turn her head towards him, which the girl does. Coincidentally or not would be another topic to discuss, she seems to have a knack to find people who are trying to hide from her. But she won't be nasty to him in public, oh no. In fact, she plasters a wide smile over her face, and sets Samson down on the ground carefully as she stands up, arms wide open. Oh dear. "Toby, Darling!" She calls, being facetious of course, but someone just watching her, not knowing her history with Toby wouldn't be able to realize. "You look awfully well today, where are you going in a hurry without saying hello to your dear friend?" Is she trying to embarrass him? But of course. |
| Darn. He can't avoid her now. He groans audibly at the wordplay that is painfully obvious in his name. Should he play along and be nice? Or should he act the fool and pretend he didn't hear her? Trying the latter sounds like a good idea. Toby continues on his way doing the best he can to ignore the girl who will likely only cause trouble for him. He doesn't get very far before he bumps into a grumpy old man who informs him that "when I was your age people actually LOOKED where they were going!" |
| This could get ugly fast, as Pascal doesn't mind making an idiot of herself in front of people who aren't even worth looking at. She stamps her foot with mock impatience, ready to play the part. "Toby!" She calls out in that disgusting sing-song voice an annoying aunt might use while trying to get your attention. "Toby Darling! Why are you ignoring me?" She's definitely attracting stares now, both directed towards the fleeing boy, and directed towards herself. She fights a chortle as she watches the boy bump into the old man, and bites on her lip expectantly to see if he puts up a fuss and causes a scene, since that would only make her even happier. Seeing that the old man's made Toby stop, she quickly strides her way closer towards him, eager to listen in. |
| "So, so sorry sir. But you see, there's this..." Toby hears his name called to him from the LAST person he wanted following him at the moment. Alas, there is no escape, which here means that Toby will not be able to avoid the unwanted encounter that was about to happen. A heavy sigh as he turns around and greets Pascal. "Hello, Pascal. What brings you here... to me... on a day like today?" Frustrated little guy, isn't he? |
| "Why, to see /you/ of course!" Pascal smiles sweetly at Toby, obviously putting on a fake show for the old man, which will most likely fall away as soon as he's out of earshot. She turns towards the old man herself and offers him a sweet, apologetic smile. "He's always trying to get me to run after him, I really don't know why." She gives the old man a shrug, and starts to reach for Toby's arm, clearly intending to drag the boy back towards her bag and Samson, if he lets her. Her voice still has that outrageously friendly tone to it, and so it shall be until they're alone and out of public eye. The girl may be hex-happy, but she's not stupid enough to do so in public. "So, Toby, you /must/ tell me how your Spring Break has been. I've been so /awfully/ miserable without your company." Too bad Toby doesn't feel the same way. |
| "Gah!" Pascal's grip is a bit too firm for Toby's liking. She manages to drag him back toward her bench and away from the old man. "What do you want, Pascal?" He's on to her little game. She has some sort of alterrior motive going here and he's not going to fall for one of her tricks. |
| Since Toby isn't even two inches shorter than Pascal, she can barely look down at him, She's wearing her cowboy boots however, and that adds almost another two inches to her height, but still nothing to marvel at. She tries her best to look down at him as she drags him towards her belongings and pet, but merely succeeds in her typical stony glare, which quickly dissolves. Must not have anyone else see her be the way she really is, of course. "I don't know what you're talking about Toby. I just want to say hello, and see how my /dear/, /darling/ friend is doing." The wordplay on his name is actually quite addictive. She gives his arm a little shake, and another fake smile, though her eyes are slightly narrowed at him. |
| "You want to do something... bad. I know you do. I'm not going to fall for whatever you're up to." Toby sounds firm in his resolve, but he gets the feeling that he may have already fallen for it. He jerks his arm away from Pascal with a snap and returns her stony glare. |
| "Oh yes, Toby," Pascal lowers her voice and only has to duck slightly to look him square in the eyes, stony glare versus stony glare. She practically hisses at him, "We're going to rob a bank. Right now. I've got all my supplies in my bag. Samson is going to be our lookout, and you're going to help rob a bank." Her voice is dripping with disdain and sarcasm and she stands up, smirking at the boy. "I suppose I could always return you back to the company of that senile old man." A scoff. "I'm sure he would /love/ to tell you off about looking where your going. Then I'm sure he'd entertain you with stories about how when he was a young wizarding 'lad'," she makes quotes with her fingers, "And how he had to walk uphill both ways in the snow all year round just to get to school without shoes." She rolls her eyes and smiles at him sweetly, "If you walk away, you'll regret it." |
| "I'm not robbing a bank!" Toby shouts, probably a little louder than he'd like. A few passers by stop and stare for a few seconds before going about their business. He whispers to her "I'm not going to let you trick me /this/ time." |
| Pascal Curio rolls her eyes at Toby. "Way to yell it out, Einstein." She crosses her arms in front of her. "So it's not like you'd actually believe me if I said I /didn't/ want to trick you either." She scoffs and laughs slightly. "Not that I'm surprised. You'd have to be stupid to let me trick you again, and I don't associate myself with stupid people." Indirectly in its own way, Toby was actually complimented by Pascal! She breaks off her eye contact with him, and stares back at the passersby that stare at the pair. |
| "Then... what are you really up to?" Toby is a bit skeptical that Pascal isn't out to get him this time. "Wait... did you just say that I'm not stupid? Thanks... I think." He looks a bit confused. Did she just compliment him or did she just insult him? There seems to be quite a fine line with Pascal sometimes. "No, really. What do you want with me? Just out to make me miserable /again?/" |
| A noise of exasperation, sounding slightly like either 'gah' or 'argh' erupts from Pascal's mouth and she flops back down on the bench. Her motion is so abrupt that Samson actually jumps off of the bench with a rather indignant hiss. He gives Pascal a rather reproachful look, and then glares at Toby. Pascal looks at Toby with her eyes narrowed. What she really wanted was company, any company, to help distract her from the impending doom of Diophantus' arrival, but she's not going to tell him that. "How about you go fetch me a cup of coffee, and a donut, since you're standing here not doing anything?" She says to him, starting to rummage in her pockets for some spare change. "Oh, and I suppose if you're really inclined, you can go get yourself something too." Now, whether or not she's actually being serious is another story. |
| Against most of his better judgment Toby has a seat on the bench next to Pascal. He gets the feeling that maybe, just maybe, she's not trying to trick him. It's not stopping her from being mean, though... suggesting that Toby run off and be her little assistant. Not today. Toby might not be the quickest brains on the block, but he's learned that if he stands up for himself around Pascal, their encounters seem to go a bit more smoothly. "I think I'll just have as seat, thank you." |
| Pascal Curio stares at Toby for a moment, and actually cracks a slight smile as he doesn't move to get her something. Meanwhile, she's dug up some spare change, and she stands up while she counts it. "Well, I'm going to get myself something drink and eat then. Do you :want something?" Yes, she's actually offering, and though the tone of her voice isn't exactly the most friendly, it seems as if she's trying. Either that or she's working her way under his skin again. "I promise you I won't poison it," she adds sarcastically, so, so much for that. |
| Toby Darling watches, open mouthed, as Pascal digs in her pockets and offers to get him something. He's left speechless for a moment or two and finally is able to squeeze out the phrase: "I'll go with you." It seems like the polite thing to do, eh? Toby stands, ready to go for a walk. |
| "Sure," Pascal shrugs, not really caring whether or not Toby decides to come along, as she takes off rather quickly towards a nearby concession stand. "What did you want again? Hurry up!" She asks, obviously not giving the boy any time to decide on what he wants before she's already bothering him about being too slow in deciding. She glances back towards Samson and her things before she looks back at Toby. The look in her eye is rather thoughtful though, and she's clearly thinking about something as she just stares at Toby intently enough to maybe make him a little nervous. Or not, if he has nerves of steel. |
| "Uh, I'll have a hot chocolate!" Toby has to jog a few steps to catch up with the taller, freckled girl and to break her stare. He catches up to her and has to continue walking a bit briskly to keep up. He digs in his pocket for some money and comes up with only about 7 knuts. "Uh... I've only got a little bit, but here." He holds out his hand to Pascal, the knuts jingling a bit as they walk. |
| Pascal Curio completely ignores the younger boy as he tries to hand her some change. "Why do you do that? If someone's going to offer to pay for something, why do you offer to pay them back?" She seems slightly disgusted and just shakes her head as she places the order, handing the register boy the money and stuffing the change back into her robes. She stares at him, again trying to look at him down the bridge of her nose but failing. Kids these days grow up too quickly. "Like, they're paying, and if they want you to pay them back, they'll just /ask/ you for it." She rolls her eyes as if everyone does this, but clearly she's the only one who does. |
| "I'm ... sorry." Toby squinches up his face apologetically in that sort of half frown, half smile that he uses so commonly with Lien when she's in one of her depressing moods. |
| Part Two Sunday, March 21, 2004 |
| Toby's apology doesn't seem to make the situation much better. If his drink wasn't so hot Pascal would throw it at him, but as it is, she merely thrusts it into his possession rather quickly, and then takes her own, quickly walking back towards the bench, again not watching to see whether or not the boy follows her. "Do you /have/ to apologize for everything?" Sarcastically, of course. |
| Toby Darling receives his hot beverage not only with his hands but with his whole body, very similar to a football player catching the ball. Lucky for him the cup is enchanted so that spilling is a bit more difficult. By the time he gains control of his hot chocolate and takes a sip he has to jog again to catch up with Pascal. "Pascal! Wait up!" Finally he catches up to her. "Quit walking away, already." |
| "I wouldn't be walking away if you weren't lagging behind," Pascal says curtly, turning to look at him over her shoulder, and she's still walking rather briskly back towards her bag. She might as well be an old woman saying 'don't dilly dally' the way she's going. The finally reaches the bench, and turns back around, a sip of her coffee taken before she asks again, "You didn't answer my question." Eyes narrowed slightly. "Do you /have/ to apologize for everything?" |
| -sigh- "Yes, I do." Toby says rather matter-of-factly. "See, I'm a nice guy and that's what nice guys do. We apologize when we mess up. You might try it sometime." Toby has a seat on the bench, not waiting for Pascal. He sips away on his hot chocolate as though what he just said isn't going to sting at all. Does it? We'll see. At least they're out in public where he's not likely to be hexed to kingdom come. |
| If what Toby just said affects Pascal, she doesn't seem to show it, but she does raise her cup to partially hide her face after he speaks. She takes a rather long sip, sits down and sets her cup in her lap as she sprawls in a rather unclassy fashion on the bench. "I apologize when I need to, and most of the time I don't." A pause. "You people," she waves her free hand vaguely, "get offended way too easily. Really, why should I bother myself with that?" Samson's made his way back into her lap, beside her drink. |
| "Us people?" is all Toby can manage. |
| Pascal Curio's eyes narrow into lazy little slits and she looks at Toby, obviously trying to keep that 'what are you, stupid?' expression on her face. She's not very successful, but at least it looks like the watered down verion of it. "I'll explain this in very simple english so you won't have /any/ problem understanding me." Another sip of her coffee. "How many times have you gotten angry while talking to me?" Now she smirks, just thinking about it. "How many times have you felt like you wanted to hex me stupid?" Pascal pauses and just waits for a response from the boy. |
| "Er... more than once?" why does Toby say it like a question? "I probably would have tried to hex you by now if you weren't better with a wand than I am." He sips from his hot chocolate. Mmmm... good. "I shouldn't think about doing stuff like that though. I'm sor-" He stops himself mid word. Maybe she won't notice. |
| Pascal Curio /does/ notice, and merely darts a glare at Toby. She doesn't say anything because well, he tried to stop, and plus she kind of enjoyed the comment about him trying to hex her. "And the funny thing is, Toby, while you were making yourself angry and generally, useless, because you were so frustrated, I was getting the better end of the deal." She leans closer to him and taps the side of her head with a slightly comical smirk. "Do you know /why/ I was getting the better end of the deal?" |
| "Uh... nope." Toby looks a little puzzled as he sips again on his hot chocolate. He pulls his feet up onto the bench and sits Indian style, facing Pascal. |
| Patience was never something that Pascal Curio had, and it's rather evident of this as she closes her eyes and massages her temples with her free hand. A minute elapses, and then another before she finally opens her eyes and looks back at Toby. "Because you were wasting all your energy being mad at me, and I was off, not caring. I wasn't even thinking about you, and what you were doing." Now that she's said that, she smirks at him. "Being angry is kind of a waste of your time, isn't it? Especially if you don't do anything about it." |
| "..." (Toby Darling) |
| It's almost like talking to a wall. Pascal just glowers at Toby now, and smacks her lips together thoughtfully. "Okay. How about this. I'm going to /tell/ you what to say now, because clearly you can't even form words at this point." She tilts her head to the side. "What's the matter? Burnt your tongue on your hot chocolate and now you can't speak?" Something that resembles a 'gah' escapes from her mouth and she continues to glare. "You need to learn to stand up for yourself." |
| Stand up for himself? Did Toby not pull his wand on her -and- Elijah when he felt threatened? Did he not deck Pascal when she scared the beejeesus out of him in the potions lab? Did he not call her a bitch at breakfast? "What do you /mean/ I have to stand up for myself? What do I need to do, hex you?!" Pascal has struck a nerve. Toby thought he was doing a mighty fine job sticking up for himself around her lately. |
| "Please. You always resort to violence?" Pascal finishes off her coffee, and contrary to the view of her person, she doesn't just throw the empty cup onto the floor. She rests it between her legs and leans back on the bench. "You know, there are other ways to stand up for yourself then to resort to, oh, hexing someone." Pascal has a rather selective memory, it seems. "Don't tell me that you're always thinking nice thoughts about people in your mind," she says, somewhat asking it as a question. Maybe a test. |
| "No, of course not." Of /course/ Toby doesn't only have nice things to say about people. He's just (when he's not hexed by beached whales, that is) pretty good at not saying the stuff. He's thought about telling Lien that she's depressing, he's thought of telling Navilee that she's crazy, and has thought about telling Pascal that she'd be so much cooler if she were nice, but he's never done any of it. "So, what are you saying I should do? Say what I think and offend people? I don't think so." |
| "Christ, boy. It's not just black or white you know." Pascal raises her hand, and then drops it slowly onto her cat's back, petting it carefully. "I need another coffee," she mutters, and then focuses her attention back on the topic at hand. "Would you rather swallow your pride and let people /walk/ all over you then?" She pauses, "because you're already doing a pretty good job of that." And the jabs keep coming. It's almost like she's /trying/ to provoke him. |
| "Well, then I guess I'll never understand." Toby stands and grabs a handle on his trunk. "Hey, there are my parents. Have a good break." His parting words are only semi-friendly and he doesn't even bother to make eye contact while giving them. Dragging his trunk across the bus depot he walks over to a middle-aged couple and hugs them both. The man bears a striking resemblance to Toby. |
| Pascal Curio knows better than to say anything when there are parents in earshot. Instead, she gives a half-hearted wave to the boy as he departs, and continues to sit in her slouched position on the bench, her eyes almost jealous as she watches the boy reunite happily with his parents. If one were to look back, they'd see her face redden slightly, while she scoops her cat up in her arms and gives him a fierce and protective hug. Now she has to wait for her own reunion. |
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