Notes from Above (open)

[Deleted]

The coffee shop was closed for the night, but Ben didn’t want to go home. He’d cleaned up everything and fixed himself some iced tea and was sitting at one of the outside tables wrapped in a decently thick coat, sipping and thinking. Thanksgiving was this week. He had nowhere to go and no one to spend it with. The thought crossed his mind to invite Adam, though what they could do, he didn’t know. Eve was a mystery to him. He sighed and sipped again. The drink was cold, as was the evening air. He should go to his barrack and call it a night. He had training in the morning. He still hadn’t heard back from Ronan about his sentence, even though the praetor had said a week.

He swilled the tea, making the ice clink together in the plastic cup. He set it on the table. The streets were fairly empty, since it was getting late. So he was here alone. Seemed his lot in life. Heaven, how he wanted to be back in France. Colmar was his home, not this place. Sure, he had friends here, but… it was a boot camp, not a home.

Something fluttered from the sky on the breeze. He thought it was just a newspaper clipping, so he watched it detachedly. Then he noticed it was not from the newspaper at all, but contained writing. In French. He reached up and grabbed the paper before it could get away and sat back down, straightening it on the table. The loops and curls of the writing were beautiful, almost familiar. And it said, translated to English, two simple words: stay strong. He smiled. That’s why it was familiar. He’d heard it before. “Thanks, mom.”

TAG: @open
WORDS: 292
NOTES:

[Deleted]

It was late. Nora probably should've been headed to bed, especially with all the training and practicing she was doing. Her little body needed rest! Or at least that's what the medics in the infirmary said. She was still growing, so she guessed it made sense that she'd need to sleep more. She spent a lot of energy on training, a lot of it on growing, and still more of it trying to get better at growing things out of the ground. No wonder she was almost always sleepy. Still though, she liked walking around at night: so peaceful and quiet. The crisp air beckoned autumn forward. Everything was starting to die around her, but that meant new life in the spring! Circle of life, just as her parents had taught her in the flower shop. For everything, there existed a season. The Legion just happened to be in the "everything start dying" season. Well, some things. Other things grew. Like pumpkins! Ooh, maybe she could help her siblings grow those! And then they could have great decorations for Thanksgiving! And then they could grow winter plants! It'd be a lot of fun, just like last year! She was sure helping around in the gardens was what had gotten her through it. The sadness of being separated from her parents for a holiday.

No matter though, this was her second year and she wasn't as sad anymore. Nora had gotten used to not having her parents tuck her in or having her mom's cooking. She woke up for training, ate in the Mess Hall, and became rough while still trying to stay kind. She wondered how other people around here did it. She knew some of them became a bit mean and bitter. She really hoped that didn't happen to her. What a sad life to live for ten years or more! No, no... I am not going to stay here more than ten years! I'm going back to my mom and dad! I'm going back home. Only nine more years. She walked past a coffee shop. She walked past it often, but had never gone inside. Coffee just didn't do it for her. Her parents certainly never let her have any at home. But the person who ran it seemed to be a nice person, not a grumpy one like in the forge. There he sat, outside his shop, bundled up. Nora couldn't help but giggle. People always looked like such fluffy marshmallows when they bundled up! But no matter, she'd be bundled up soon too. She raised her hand to wave, when she noticed him lift up his hand to catch something.

Curious, Nora titled her head and watched him. He seemed to take a paper out of the sky! How cool! Vibrating with coldness, curiosity, and some excitement, Nora pranced over to the older Legionary. "Do you have a secret admirer?" she asked curiously. She had seen notes falling from the sky during one movie. They were all love notes or something like that to spread positivity. She didn't know it happened at the Legion too; how nice of them!

IC: 522

[Deleted]

Ben sat back in his seat, thinking about life in general. It was all very confusing. First of all, there was his first Christmas in a totally pagan place. He had managed to move into the apartment Terry used to be in, having gotten it from his former employer for a good deal. So he had a home now. And his sentence had been lessened to five years instead of ten. Tomorrow he was going to use his off day so ask permission to out into the city and find a good fake Christmas tree since there wasn’t good supply of them here, so best to get one that lasted. He could get all sorts of decorations while he was at it. Should be fun to lug hem back here. No one delivered to a Roman military camp. Oh well, put his training to use in lifting boxes.

Second topic of confusion was Evelyn McCloud. Sure, he liked her, but he wasn’t sure at all what she thought of him. And there was the glaring roadblock of their past. Her almost killing him. Her dumping him. Then, as if life was just too much fun as it was, Rose dumped him too. The only place he really belonged was the coffee shop, and it seems his past was starting to haunt him there too, in the form of an awkward visit from Evelyn. He wondered whatever happened to that one woman who came in once, speaking fluent and perfectly Parisian-accented French. That was when Terry was still here. He’d been so beside himself talking to someone like that. Not having to hide the fact that not all his English was understandable to the native-speakers here. Sure, he knew English, as it was a trade language. Well, more like the trade language. And his father got a lot of tourist visitors in the shop, so he taught his son enough English to be able to talk to them and, when fortune favored him, their kids. Yes, there had been a few times the tourists had kids around his age and usually Ben and they would tie up the parents just because they wanted to know what life was like growing up in each other’s towns and schools and the such. It had all been quite pleasant really.

Then he was snapped out of his thoughts by a bouncy young girl coming over and vibrantly asking – in the way only sweet little girls could – if he had a secret admirer. He had to smile. He reminded her of some of those kids who would come to his father’s shop just before his father’s murder. Two little siblings, he specially decorated their cupcakes and hand-gave them to them and taught them how to say a whole sentence in French, which they were delighted with. Yes, this girl reminded him of them. So, needless to say, she was instantly special. “No, I’m afraid I do not.” He offered her to look at the paper. “It’s a message from my mother. Encouraging me to stay strong no matter what. I think we all need to hear that sometime, don’t you think?” He completely forgot the paper’s message was in French and the girl probably wouldn’t understand. “I’m Benjamin. You look cold. Do you want to come inside the shop? I can teach you how to make my signature muffins and you can be my official taste-tester.”

TAG: @norareyes
WORDS: 571
NOTES: GAH, SHE'S SO CUTE. I declare them besties.

[Deleted]

Nora had been raised Jewish. One God. So being here had sparked a bit of confusion. Now there were gods (small g and more than one) and they actually came to visit but not enough? She knew a lot of people liked them and a lot of people didn't like them. But they were family! How could they not like them? It was a bit baffling to the young girl; maybe it was one of those things she'd understand when she was older. Thinking of that, she pouted her lip a little bit. She was older now! She was almost twelve! Surely that could count for something... but she still didn't understand, and it was frustrating to her. Classes helped sometimes, but it didn't really explain all the reasons really well. Maybe people were just angrier here because they didn't have friends. She could be their friend! And then they wouldn't be so angry all the time, right? That was log-ic-al, right? She was told she'd have to start thinking about that because of fighting strategy and because she was getting older. Things had to make sense or else it wasn't real. Was that the reason they wanted her to be ra-tion-al? She was doing her best in fighting. They said her technique was getting better but her strategy needed work. That was the way you outsmarted your opponent! But they were all training with the same people... wouldn't they just get used to each other? Oh well! Maybe she just had to think harder.

Her hear was light still: her training wasn't as hard as some of the other people her age. Sure, it was hard on her, but the Legion only gave her what she could handle plus a little challenge. She was okay that she was in the middle cohort; relieved, actually, when she heard all the other stories of the higher cohorts. She always looked at the other people in awe when they said they were in second or first. Wow! They must be so good... but she had heard that Charlie-Mack Jolly and Chris Ashby drilled their soldiers hard. Sometimes for two days! August Mitchell was probably the same way. Maybe one day she could help train the others, once she got really good. She also hadn't been here for any of the traumatic things that had happened. Her grandmother had kept her promise: it was always calm around here. No wars, no captured people, no death. Maybe all of that made people grumpy. It must have been really scary... but they were still alive and had cohort and family support, right? So didn't that make it better? Maybe... Although from the times she had peaked into the infirmary and heard people talking, it didn't sound so simple. Actually, it sounded like a lot of hard, adult words that were difficult to pronounce.

He smiled at her! That meant he was happy to see her! Other people frowned and usually looked away if they didn't want to be bothered (*cough*edyouhorriblepersonyouscaredanelevenyearold). "Aw..." she craned her neck to look at the piece of paper. Those two words looked familiar, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. "Ohhh. Yeah! People should be reminded of that by people they love. It's nice to hear, especially if you're having a bad day and they aren't around all the time..." She still wrote to her parents every day. They told her of all the things that had been going on in the shops; sent her little snippets of news that reminded them of her. It made her feel special and with them, even if she really wasn't. "I'm Nora!" She perked up at the word 'muffin'. "Really?" she asked happily, bouncing slightly in excitement.

OOC: Nora is A okay with that : D
IC: 625

[Deleted]

Ben was already completely in love with this little girl. She was like the little sister he had never realized he needed. He folded the paper and offered it to her. “Here, you can have it. To remind you more. I just read my Bible when I need the reminder. Nothing like an empty tomb to remind everything is going to be just fine.” He watched her with a smile until he noticed what she was wearing and that it was far too light for this weather. First things first, he introduced himself. Then the offer of the muffins. The bundle of fun before him announced herself as Nora. He chuckled. “Nora, I am honored to meet you. What a vibrant young lady you are.”

She seemed thrilled at the idea of making muffins, so he stood and reached into his pocket to get his key. “Right this way, Miss Nora.” He unlocked the front door and stepped in. “Let me get some lights on. They’re behind the counter, so you wait right here so you don’t get hurt on accident in the dark, okay? Let me get the bruises for you.” He chuckled and winked at her jokingly, then set off between the tables to the counter and flipped the switches. He turned everything but the open sign on so that she could enjoy all the colors in the room. “So are you really creative, Nora? That’s a requirement in the kitchen, you know,” he said as he came back over to her to lead the way to the kitchen in back. “The other one, more a recommendation than a requirement… is hot chocolate with extra mini marshmallows. How do you feel about that one?”

Yes, he wanted to spoil her. He’d never had the chance to be a big brother and he was already enjoying it. She was adorable and he looked forward to spending time with her. There was something about the innocent youth that made you feel loved and important. Because they had not yet been trampled by the society of this place, so they still believed in love and fun. It was refreshing. So perhaps he could learn something from little Nora too.

Once they were in the kitchen, he got his spare apron out of the closet and held it out for her. “You’ll need this. Come here and I can help you put it on.” Mentally, he was planning ahead. There was an apple crate in the dock to be recycled. He could use that as a stepping stool for her so she could stir easier. Yes, that would do nicely. “So what type of muffins should we make. Usually I make blueberry, but if there’s another you prefer, you feel free to let me know, okay?”

TAG: @norareyes
WORDS: 464
NOTES: ADORABLE <3 <3 <3