`quiet time[OPEN]

[Jaquelyn Denoir]

Every now and then a girl needed this. Heck, every now and then anyone who's human needs this- just some time to sit and think. And Jay sat by the pond in the garden of the Order, her knees bent up to her chest and her arms wrapped around her knees as she sat upon a large and somewhat flat boulder. She was not wearing a dress for once, her attire consisting of extremely baggy sweatpants and a tank top, with one of the throw blankets from her bedroom wrapped around her shoulders as a sort of makeshift shawl. She was thinking about ... just things that had occurred recently in her life. She had gone on a mission, and had battled the ghost on the fifth floor with the help of her friends. She had been a part of the trio to break down her neighbor's door- and dare she say started off on the wrong foot with that guy. And she had not even been here for that long.

It was all so different, so chaotic, so fun really. But now Jay was confused as to who she wanted to be. Who she actually was. She wanted to be like the others, a person who just went with the flow with a tantrum here and there. That's who she had been dying to be- who she was inside. But her mother's voice inside her head prevented this. Why couldn't she just ignore it? It was simply a memory returning is all. She just needed to move on. Move on ... did that mean she needed closure? With Mum and Dad? Biting her lower lip, the albino realized that maybe that could be her answer. If she returned to tell them what she was doing, why she left, and everything she had thought about them as a child- maybe she could move on. And maybe that voice inside her head would melt away. But she didn't want to do it alone. Blinking her crimson eyes, she looked at the garden, empty right now. She was not sure she had a friend close enough to ask to come with her yet.

[Katarine Weiss]

From the other end of the pond came a splash that successfully broke the silence that had descended upon the vicinity.

Katarine Weiss was currently sitting in knee-high waters, looking unaffected as ever despite the fact that her black exorcists’ uniform was drenched in liquid that was decidedly not too clean. That was not what concerned her at the moment. Wet brown locks plastered themselves to the fabric of her clothes as the young female turned her head to scan the pond’s depths. Unfortunately, it seemed that the object of her attention had swum off while she had been distracted by her unexpected plunge into the water. How disappointing, especially since it had taken her so long to find the specimen in the first place.

She sighed. Well, there was always next time.

Distractedly, the exorcist began gathering and wringing her hair of all its unnecessary water. She would have to change her clothes once she got back, and maybe take a shower while she was at it. Pond water was not among the most pleasant-smelling things in the world... Out of the corner of her eye, Katarine noticed something that stood out starkly against the lush green shrubbery. A young girl, and one with a full head of white hair, no less. How interesting.

The brunette stood before turning her curious gaze towards the young girl. For several moments, Katarine did nothing but regard the other. Most of what she did, it seemed, revolved around observing.

“You’re new here,” the brunette noted at last, inclining her head slightly towards albino girl as pond water continued to drip off her uniform in a steady trickle.

And then she sneezed.

[Jaquelyn Denoir]

Jay looked up to see a rather soaked, brunette girl blinking at her. "Yes, I am actually new here. The name's Jaquelyn-Marie Denoir, but you can just call me Jay." She introduced herself, smiling warmly. SHe uncurled herself, standing up at her short height of merely five feet, and stretching her legs. The sweatpants were maybe two sizes two big for her, and the tank top fit just right, though it didn't match her pants by any means. Jay's hair was a mess, its straight locks sticking out in all directions. The grin on her face doused the dreariness of her appearance, instead giving her the look of someone who just couldn't keep it together- but loved it all anyway. Her crimson eyes sparkled as she sauntered over to the girl. "Nice to meet you ... Erm ..." Jay trailed off, realizing she had no clue what this girl's name was. "Well either I haven't met you or my memory's bad." She admitted, a pink rosy blush springing to her paper-white cheeks.

[Katarine Weiss]

A new one. So she'd been right on the mark after all.

The brunette nodded accordingly as the female proceeded to introduce herself, already mentally categorizing the young albino as probably one of those perpetually cheerful types. She certainly looked the part. She was also, Katarine noted, not particularly tall. And that suited her just fine. Standing at a full height of five feet and two inches and with a baby face to match, Katarine herself wasn't much of an intimidating sight either, much to her own chagrin.

Her expression was, as ever, decidedly neutral when she responded, preoccupied with the process of wringing out her uniform's jacket. Fireproof as it was, it still managed to have quite an impressive capacity for storing water.

"Katarine Weiss. You're an exorcist too, I assume?" she queried, a slight German accent tinging her words.

[Jaquelyn Denoir]

"That I am. Nice to meet you Katarine." She smiled, turning around and going back to her rock. She brought her knees up to her chest once more, wrapping her arms around them and looking over at the exorcist with her crimson eyes. "What brings you out here on a day like this? Its not particularly nice weather, I'm afraid." Jay glanced up at the sky- white clouds covering all the blue. No rain now, but no sun either. A damp chill was in the air- and it was not warm to begin with. This explains the makeshift shawl used by Jay. Idly, she noticed that the wind had died down, or was never there at all. Jeez, sometimes thinking can consume so much of the senses, one can easily forget what is around them. Felling somewhat philisophical now, Jay grinned inwardly. Psht, philisophical.

[Katarine Weiss]

"A pleasure, Jay."

At the young exorcist's next comment, Katarine glanced upwards. A flicker of surprise registered in her cobalt oculars, as if she had finally taken note of the weather for the first time. There was something vaguely familiar about the situation, as if it wasn't the first time she'd found herself sopping wet and completely exposed to the cold.

She was six at the time and she'd caught a cold because of it. It had been a miserable experience, but what the brunette remembered most clearly was that she'd been scolded afterwards by her grandmother. And not in the worrying parental kind of way, but in a way that dictated "I'm going to disown you if you keep doing any more stupid stuff like that."

At that memory, Katarine couldn't seem to scramble out of the water fast enough. Kicking off her waterlogged shoes, the female began shaking herself off in a way that almost resembled a drowned dog. She paused only to ponder Jay's question for a bit.

"I was trying to catch one of those koi in there, but they all got scared off when I fell in," she explained.

[Jaquelyn Denoir]

Catching koi? That sounded like fun. Jay smiled, staring at the pond. "The key is not to let your shadow fall over the water. Some fisherman from the bakery back home told me." She explained, watching the girl's reaction. It looked a lot like Jay's. In fact, she wondered if the girl faced a similar mental issue. Was she constantly critized inwardly too? "But catching them sounds like fun. Do you mind if I try?" She asked, standing up and strolling to the pond, peering in. She shifted, making sure her shadow was not facing the pond, but parallel to its edge. The fish in there flitted by, swimming fast. Almost too fast, like the hummingbirds of the water, sort of. Jay's hand shot out, and she grasped a fish between her fingers. She was about to grin in triumph when it wiggled and plopped back into the water. A dumbfounded Jay was stuck staring at her empty hand. She brushed the water off on her pants. "Now I see why it's so hard." Jay said, looking back at the girl who was drying off in a hasty manner.

[Katarine Weiss]

Katarine shook her head before noting, "I don't think that it was the shadow that scared them off." If anything, it was the commotion she'd made when she had accidentally dropped butt-first into the frigid waters, but that was probably a given. She did, however, take mental note of that little piece of advice, just in case she should attempt fishing barehanded again one day. Today's little adventure was more than enough for now, though.

And besides, the koi would probably taste better in the late summer months, once they were fully grown.

The brunette paused her drying to watch the helpless fish easily being plucked into the air and, just as easily, flailing out of its captor's grasp. The corners of her lips quirked upwards a bit. "Maybe we should just settle for using fishing poles instead. I'm not all too fond of using live bait though." The thought of hooking wriggling worms to a hook was enough to make even Katarine grimace a little, although she dismissed it rather quickly. Tossing her dark uniform up on a nearby tree branch to dry a little, the brunette settled back into the grass wearing little more than a skirt and a tank top, both of which were thoroughly soaked.

A slight shiver ran down her spine. To take her mind off of the fact that she was more than just a little cold, Katarine focused her attention on the other female. "What were you doing here anyway?" This was, after all, not a common spot for young exorcists to be hanging around in their free time.

[Jaquelyn Denoir]

"Yes, I would suppose that'd be better." Jay agreed with a laugh. Blinking, she tilted her head and gazed at Katarine for a moment. Should she ... lie? Nah, she shouldn't lie. Lying was bad, Jean had told her this time and time again. Even white lies can snowball into something just plain nasty. And besides, this girl seemed nice. "Me? Just thinking about things." She began, shrugging. "And I have come to a conclusion." She finished. Alright, so she didn't lie, she just didn't give away all the details. No one could blame her for that- and this girl was someone she had just met. Better to not dump problems long passed on just an aquantaince. Smiling, she fiddled with the ring on her index finger, spinning it around the digit and staring off into space. Wuold her idea even work? Should she ... go home to visit? Dare she?

[Katarine Weiss]

(( Sorry for the late response; finals and lack of sleep have been bogging me down recently. x__X ))

She paused to tie up her hair before glancing over. "...A lover?" Katarine guessed haphazardly, tilting her head to get a better look at the piece of jewelry. Given the other girl's spacey expression and her clear fondness for the ring on her finger, it was the most obvious conclusion to reach. But since Katarine was one with a tendency to inadvertently distance herself from people, human hearts were often beyond her ability to comprehend. She was almost robotic in that sense, a trait that Katarine rarely made any effort to correct.

Well, being a recluse suited her just fine; it just meant fewer distractions for her. …Or so she kept telling herself. Her time at the Order had been challenging that belief as of lately though, and she wasn’t quite sure what to make of that fact.