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Post by skyeknight on Feb 17, 2023 5:29:31 GMT
Namine hadn't been back to the bookshop since it had been attacked. She had been too afraid to go back. But she desperately needed some new sketchpads. The store had previously had a gorgeous stock of sketchpads she hadn't gotten to purchase last time. The ghosts of the damage were still there but things looked like they were back to normal or thereabout.
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Post by angelofmusic1992 on May 15, 2023 2:06:25 GMT
"Come on Utena!" Bella called as she hurried down the street. "They're having a sale today! Half off on select books!"
"Okay, okay, hold your horses," Utena replied as she ran to catch up with her sister. Open Books was having a sale, so of course, Bella had to go. And Utena had been dragged along as usual. She just hoped that maybe some comic books were part of the sale. She'd been meaning to check some out since she'd talked to Ruby.
The bookstore looked the same as usual, like nothing had happened since the last monster attack. Utena figured a lot of the buildings in the city had good insurance. Bella immediately started combing the shelves for discount books. Utena idly flipped through a few of them, but they didn't look interesting. She went to the next aisle over and realized she'd wandered into the art supplies section. It wasn't as big as something in a craft store, but there were still a good amount of sketch pads, pencils, and markers. And she saw someone taking a look at them. "Oh, hi there," she greeted.
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Post by skyeknight on May 18, 2023 3:15:27 GMT
Namine held two sketch pads in her hands. One with a hard spine and one with a spiral spine. Both had pros and cons. Which to get... The paper weight in the spiral book had more weight to it, but she could turn pages faster, like if she needed to do it on the fly. But the hardcover had such a pretty look to it. And it would be durable.
"Hm? Oh... Hello," Namine said softly. "You're... in one of my classes, aren't you?"
She hadn't gotten around to meeting other students. Instead, she hid behind Zelda for most socializing she had to do. Not that Zelda seemed to mind, but Namine hadn't gotten over her shyness yet.
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Post by angelofmusic1992 on May 20, 2023 2:45:29 GMT
That rang a bell in Utena's mind. She'd probably seen the girl around school. Now what was her name? "Uh, yeah. Probably," she replied.
"Utena!" Bella came bounding down the aisle, several books in hand. "Look! Classic English literature, all half off!" There was quite an extensive stack in her hands, ranging from Jane Austen books to Shakespeare plays to Emily Dickinson poems. She peeked around her books though and saw that Utena was chatting with someone she knew. "Namine, hey!" she greeted happily.
"Oh, a friend of yours?" Utena asked.
"Yeah, we met on the beach a while back," Bella replied.
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Post by skyeknight on Jun 9, 2023 3:43:12 GMT
"Oh, hello," Namine said.
She liked being surprised. It had taken a great deal of effort not to draw out her day, but she needed her notebook to continue the hero course. It was a requirement for her to do her work. Plus, she still enjoyed the hobby, even if it did ruin any surprises in her days.
"It's been a while."
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Post by angelofmusic1992 on Jun 10, 2023 20:06:19 GMT
"Yeah, it has," Bella replied. "How have you been doing?" Namine had been quiet when Bella had first met her, but hadn't looked nearly as nervous or klutzy as Bella was. She remembered her sister was standing right next to her though and figured she should introduce her. "Oh, this is my sister, Utena."
"Hey," Utena greeted with a friendly smile. It felt like Bella was making quite a few friends on her own, without her help. Utena was kind of impressed.
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Post by skyeknight on Jun 23, 2023 1:26:33 GMT
Namine thought about everything she had been through since joining school. She met her roommate. She had shopped for new clothes and left behind her white dress. She had been attacked at the exact same bookstore they were standing in.
"It's been a bit chaotic!" she confessed. "But it's nice to see you again! And to meet you, Utena. How have you two been settling into school?"
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Post by angelofmusic1992 on Jun 26, 2023 22:54:38 GMT
"I think so," Bella replied. This was the most she'd ever felt at ease at school before. Last year, she'd mostly just hung out with Utena. It had taken her a while to come out of her shell.
"You bet, getting into the groove of things and ready to kick some villain butt," Utena said with a grin. She couldn't wait to go on a sidekick mission. She'd been training hard for a long time now, she wanted to put her skills to the test.
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Post by skyeknight on Aug 25, 2023 2:47:07 GMT
Namine gave a small smile. She was doing her best to get along in classes as well, but past experiences with her powers made it hard to fully open up about herself. But if there's one thing, she knew about herself, it was that she was not a fighter. Her grades were absolutely abysmal in hand-to-hand combat. She wasn't a fighter, even with her powers. It wasn't like she could draw on the fly and see the fighter's moves. It was hard enough drawing when she and Claude had been attacked in the bookstore.
"I'm not the best at fighting bad guys..."
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Post by angelofmusic1992 on Aug 29, 2023 1:05:02 GMT
"Well, you've got all the time to learn," Utena said, trying to sound encouraging. Bella was shy a lot like Namine, but she'd come a long way from when she'd first started school. If Bella could get more confident in her abilities, than anyone could. Of course, there was always other superhero work to get into as well besides fighting. Heroes were always looking for people to make costumes or provide counseling. There were a lot of different areas you could get into.
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Post by skyeknight on Aug 30, 2023 2:15:39 GMT
"We'll have to wait and see," Namine said.
She had already resigned herself to being a support hero. She certainly didn't want to put herself in any spotlight after what happened last time someone knew what she was capable of. And the idea of going around punching people didn't appeal to her. She had a low tolerance to pain as it was.
"So what brings you two here today?" she asked.
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Post by angelofmusic1992 on Aug 31, 2023 23:58:14 GMT
"Oh, we're here for the sale," Bella replied. "Can't resist books that are half off."
"Despite the fact that your shelf is overflowing," Utena teased. "You should see the shelf she has at home. It's even worse."
"Hey, there's nothing wrong with collecting books," Bella argued.
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Post by skyeknight on Sept 1, 2023 2:49:53 GMT
"Are there any series you recommend?" Namine asked.
She hadn't been allowed to do things like read when she was under her uncle's thumb. He hadn't wanted her to get 'ideas' about how things should be. She was only allowed to draw or study art. To make her drawings better. To make her visions better. The idae of being able to read a book for fun was novel to her.
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Post by angelofmusic1992 on Sept 3, 2023 15:37:49 GMT
"Oh, anything by Robin Mckinley is wonderful," Bella said happily. "She rewrites classic fairytales and puts her own spin on them. They're so good."
"I don't know," Utena said doubtfully. "The lady was weird enough to write two versions of Beauty and the Beast. Doesn't that seem a little odd?"
"Oh come on, it just means she really liked it," Bella argued. "And I like it too, it's one of my favorite fairytales."
"Well, if you ever want a break from the fantasy stuff Namine, I recommend something a little more action oriented," Utena said with a grin. "The Hunger Games? Totally perfect, I've probably read that series dozens of times."
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Post by skyeknight on Sept 7, 2023 3:03:26 GMT
"I can grab the first book of each then," Namine said with a soft smile.
She had a feeling her shopping bag was about to become quite full of selections by these two. They certainly seemed to have a difference of opinions in literature. Not that Namine had much ground to stand on for herself. She would try them both.
"And here I thought I'd only be getting new sketch pads," she laughed.
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