[OPEN LOG]

[nukeoleptic]

Who: Jade + literally anyone
What: Jade bribing people into her restaurant with free things.
When: Day 355.
Where: The Highwind, in Heimdall's district.
Rating: PG-13 for language at most!

EDITED TO ADD: Also, totally feel free to threadjack and use this as a mingle log IF YOU WOULD LIKE ♥

[ It had worked once before, back in the heat of late summer in Asgard, so Jade was trying it again. She had dragged the sign out to the front of the store, right in the middle of the sidewalk, and written in huge letters:

free hot chocolate! :D
just come inside ♥

The temperature hadn't broken the sixty degree mark today - it was getting chilly fast. Both Orihime and Annabeth were gone, and the store was oddly quiet. Jade will be found keeping herself busy throughout the day with odd little chores when it's completely empty of customers - sweeping, dusting, and occasionally dozing in a booth near the door when the boredom becomes too much to bear. ]

Comments

[wasthemaster]

Yeah, I do. [Stupid fond grin? On his face? Never. But at her question he nods, holding onto the leash tighter as the dog tries to stand up.]

You may as well before he ends up dragging me to you instead. I think we've taken him out enough that he knows half of the city by now.

[lethechained]

[Never, maybe, but apparently never is enough times for her to smile a funny little smile of her own. Guess who really, really likes to see people having enjoyable relationships, especially when they're friends of her own.]

Well, we can't have that.

[Not that she needs any further excuse, because she's quick to stand. She wastes absolutely no time in walking over and stooping to give the dog some well-deserved (or, you know, further spoiling) attention.]

I bet you do, don't you? [To Osiris, as warmly as if she were saying it to a creature that could talk back. To the one who actually can talk back,] Good thing, too. I think a lot of us could use a friend like him.

[wasthemaster]

[Osiris, predictably, is eating up the attention. Meanwhile Draco's just standing back and watching the pair of them closely.] I didn't know you even liked dogs. ["Or knew what dogs were. Your world's a bit bizarre."]

[lethechained]

[She is perfectly content to keep feeding that gluttony, because she is silly and dogs are silly and it's basically just nice all round.]

I didn't, either.

[She smiles slightly when she looks up, one hand still working on the ear-scratching.]

I'd only met one, before I came to the city. [Yep, definitely a weird world. ... Series of worlds.] But I've gotten to know a few here, [like this one right here,] and they've made me realize that I do like them. [Hee.] How could I not?

[Come on, Draco, look at that cute doggy face.] They're so friendly.

[wasthemaster]

[If she keeps petting him long enough eventually Osiris will probably just knock her over and sit on her to demand the ear-scritches continue. Draco at least can acknowledge that his dog's a little derpy.]

Dogs are fairly common where I'm from but I haven't met many either. [Werewolves, on the other hand...but not going there. Instead he snorts a little at the last sentence.]

Then you obviously haven't met Bec.

[lethechained]

[That is probably a much less unpleasant thing that it could be, in her case. She can appreciate being appreciated.]

[Her head tilts slightly.] Why didn't you? [How could someone not want to go meet all the dogs, all of them--]

Hee...! No, I think I have. [She just gets along with Jade's dogs really well, okay--] I meant-- usually. [A greater percentage of the ones she actually has met, anyway.] There are always exceptions to the rules. [Or, you know,] Generalizations?

[wasthemaster]

[Then be prepared for lots of slobber, Namine. Lots, and lots, of slobber.]

Dogs weren't exactly allowed at Hogwarts save for the groundskeeper. And my father had dogs but they were his.

[Give him a moment to think.] Do you think generalizations are bad?

[lethechained]

[She is, in fact, only semi-prepared. She is also, however, quite amused and a little flattered. (Everyone has their own ways of expressing affection, and she'll take this one in stride somewhere through all the laughing at him.)]

I see. [Not that she knows too much about Hogwarts, but she gets the picture. 'It's a place he stayed' is about all she needs to know, there.] That's a shame.

[That question, though - she blinks up at him, growing thoughtful, herself.] ... It depends. I think... you shouldn't really assume much of anything about someone until you get to know them, and you have proof for why you think that of them. People have a way of surprising you. [She can definitely speak to that.] But at the same time, there are... some things that are frequently true. Like-- how so many of our worlds have so much in common. It's pretty amazing.

[A beat.] In my own worlds, there's one sort of creature that would nearly always steal your heart away, if it had the chance - so in their case, knowing that they're almost always a threat, no matter what, could save your life. [She's a little more conflicted about that than she should be if she were going to leave it at that, though, so perhaps the addendum is not so surprising.] But - there are some exceptions, even if they are very, very rare. So I think-- it sort of makes a difference what the generalization is based on and what it's about, and that even if it applies in a lot of cases, you should always be careful not to let it blind you from what the truth really is.

[wasthemaster]

[...it's. Startling, really, to hear something that truthful and that honest and something that can be applied to his life at the moment and at home. Exceptions and generalizations and prejudices and changes. They all tied together, didn't they? The fact that he's openly staring at her says volumes about what he thinks on it, how he knows she's correct and how he's impressed by how it was worded.]

So I suppose the next question is how do you separate the generalizations from the exceptions?

[lethechained]

[It doesn't swell her pride (there isn't really much to swell in the first place) but she offers a small smile all the same, half for his sake and half in gratitude, that he should actually listen to the answer. She doesn't think her own two cents worth much more than the name would imply for any reason other than what she hopes is truthfulness, is the opportunity to help someone understand a little more about the world and possibly themselves.]

Experience, I'd say. Keeping your mind and your eyes open. [... Well,] Ears, too. You can't be too hasty, but you also have to be brave enough to accept the answer you get, whether you like it or not. A lot of things are like that, I think. Other than that - I suppose some people would call it intuition. Your heart may know things that your mind hasn't found out yet. [....] Not that I would suggest making all of your decisions based on your feelings, but... sometimes it helps to listen to your gut. That's how they put it, isn't it?

[wasthemaster]

I suppose that's how they put it, yes. [There's a hesitant grin back as his mind continues to quietly explode in his skull. It made complete and total sense even if he didn't want to really apply it to his life.] I'd rather base all of my decisions solely on logic and facts than feelings. [But his tone suggests that he knows he can't and that he doesn't.] But excellent answer.

When did you get to be so smart anyway?

[lethechained]

[The smile she offers back is not hesitant, but it's also patient, somehow, like she's waiting for everything to sink in. Nodding,] It'd be nice if you could. [It's not aggressive, just sympathetic. Sometimes facts are hard to come by.] Thank you.

[Gosh, a compliment. It makes her laugh once, almost shyly -- she gets a lick right on the cheek from the dog, jumps, and turns to him a moment, hurries up with the ear scratches,] I'm sorry, I've been neglecting you. [Or you know, not being as focused on him as before. Looking back up at Draco,]

It's just... something I've had to learn, that's all. [Like a lot of things are.] ... I know a thing or two about exceptions.

[wasthemaster]

I never said I couldn't. [But he acknowledges he can't and so he lets the subject drop in favor of grinning at her and his dog. Osiris makes him happy by himself, but he also likes Namine enough that he's willing to move on.]

That doesn't surprise me in the slightest. Dare I ask?

[lethechained]

[She's willing enough to let the subject drop if he is, and even more so when she'd rather just smile because of his grinning. It's nice, really, whenever she can see someone happy, even help them be and even more so when it's probably someone who could stand to smile every now and again.]

Well--

[She tilts her head slightly one way, then the other. ... Since it's him,]

I guess the easiest way to put it is... that some of the things that are true of almost anyone else in most of the worlds out there aren't true of me, or of some of the other people I've known. [Way to be vague, Naminé.] But-- after all, this place is full of exceptional people, isn't it? [By each other's standards, at least.]

[wasthemaster]

I suppose that depends on what you consider to be exceptional. I know my standards as a wizard vary from a Muggle's. I thought there wasn't much that could surprise me anymore and then I arrived here.

[lethechained]

Of course. [Here, have another little smile.] I sort of felt the same way. Or I would have, I suppose, if I'd really thought about it. I... spent a lot of time being surprised, myself. I don't think much of it seems strange to me anymore, exactly, but there's always something I at least haven't heard of.