+A Cup of Milk Tea+

shadoewhunter @ 2009-11-11T13:11:00

2009-11-11T21:14:38Z

Got a phone call and e-mail from a job recruiter to work on game translations and in-game editing for an online gaming company. I obviously can't do it but I figured someone off my f-list might be interested. The contact information is beneath this lj-cut and feel free to pass it on. Thanks!

My name is Janet Mok and I’m a Recruiter from TS2. I specialize in the video game space and have worked with companies such as Atari, Ubisoft, NCsoft, Konami, Atlus and many others.

I’m currently representing a Japan based online game company in Los Angeles to identify their Mandarin Bilingual Associate. This company is licensing a game from a Taiwanese developer and need a bilingual associate to do in game translations, customer support, and in-game monitoring.

This candidate must be able to read, write, speak Mandarin fluently. Interest or passion in online RPG is a plus.

Best,

Janet Mok
Recruiter

j.mok@ts2recruit.com
(310) 715-3380
(310) 965-9810
970 W. 190th St., Suite 305
Torrance, CA 90502
www.ts2recruit.com

shadoewhunter @ 2009-11-08T22:00:00

2009-11-09T06:09:30Z

Finally home after a long day and am now relaxing by watching Big Bang Theory. SO CUTE AND FUNNY! ecompk got me all of the first two seasons and now with my desktop set up in my room, it's like I'm living the college apartment life! (Again.) Yea, I'm a loser. I want to play L4D but I know I should go shower. Watching aimless television shows lets me lie to myself and pretend I can stop at anytime. Ah ha ha...ha.

Busy busy week. There's a Star Trek Exhibit in town! Can't wait to go and see it! Rest of this month already sounds crazily busy and terrible and I'm trying really hard not to think about it. I thought this week would be a good calm before the storm...but yea, things may not work out that way. I'll have to see. Did go to a Chinese beer pub at Diamond Plaza yesterday with my crazy ~~alcoholic~~ cousin. She had me sneak out the rest of the sake in my purse. At least she was sober enough to text that despite us getting home around midnight, my aunt still managed to beat all of us out by returning home after 1AM. All of us under 35 are put to shaaaaame.

Cousin-in-law gonna be living in LB next week so that'll be interesting. Then his parents are back from the motherland in December. Ahh...I'm already feeling the mental apprehension there...

shadoewhunter @ 2009-11-03T21:36:00

2009-11-04T05:47:22Z

Finally re-set up my desktop in my room with the new wireless card. Everything seems to be working well so I have the ability to watch stuff in my room without having to deal with the laptop screen again. Weather here is rather cold as of late; foggy mornings like a thick broth makes no one want to get out of bed. Had a terrible afternoon when I managed to hit one of the poles in my parking structure while coming back from the store. People? Don't drive when upset or distracted, lol. It's not worth the ugly dent in your car :(

Taking a break from cleaning to scour through that thing called Facebook. Looking through a lot of old friends' pictures brings up a lot of good memories. Also makes me miss a lot of people. It's strange how fast time flies and yet at the same time, this week may take forever to end. I'm sorry to anyone who reads this if I'm the one to blame for falling out of touch.

On the completely unrelated RL front- checked my bank account. I'm so bloody broke. Sob.

shadoewhunter @ 2009-10-25T22:42:00

2009-10-26T05:43:47Z

HOW DO I KEEP GETTING SICK? This is ridiculous. It's like an illness every two months!!

...sob. No one wants to hang out with the sick coughy, fever person. BUhhh. I blame that terrible recycled office air.

shadoewhunter @ 2009-10-08T20:08:00

2009-10-09T03:15:05Z

Ahhhh, need to stop watching Korean Dramas. They suck you in!! It's like there's a mental wavelength of narcotics going on! And then I get angry and start yelling at my computer!

...This can't be healthy for my relationship, lol. I need to stop imagining real life in these dramas. orz

Cooked Nong Shim ramen for dinner. My tummy is bloated from all the extra water I added for soup. I didn't have anything to throw in so I "borrowed without intent to replace" an egg from the grandparent-in-laws (MY COUSIN'S, NOT MINE). They've been coming home around 9 these days, thank god. Less to worry about. Found a frozen wonton soup that K bought me a while back. Hello tomorrow's lunch at work!

Work is alright lately. Been distracted with trying to find another place to live so I've been in a flighty state. Still getting my stuff done at least. (Hope I don't get fired, but then again, I'm always hoping that.)

On a loose-ended tangent, me and serious trust issues. Is it normal for people to get jealous so easily? Buh. I have a hard time figuring out how to let things go. That forgive and forget thing? Man, forgetting is so bloody hard!

shadoewhunter @ 2009-09-10T10:04:00

2009-09-10T17:13:56Z

Now I understand why Meredith finally broke down and told Derek, "Love me, choose me, pick me!"

Because people can really be retarded sometimes. What we want, we're afraid to ask for directly. We toe along the mental line, asking without really asking, using inferences and hints and suggestions to try and get across what we really want. And then when it doesn't go the way we want, we can only be miserable and wonder "what went wrong?" "what could we have done differently?"

Sometimes though, it just comes down to, 'what if I had said it exactly as I felt it'? But see, the problem there, is that we're afraid. Afraid to trust (anyone, again), afraid to love (deeper, harder, more), afraid of being the one that will be hurt (the one left behind). We're afraid of so many things in life that this fear soon drowns out all the other words and feelings in our head and hearts (simplicities) and that fear becomes more encompassing than the love or the truth or simply the words that we really mean to say.

Don't be afraid.

[CFUD Lyric Wheel |Nostalgia]

2009-09-04T03:49:57Z

Alien Ant Farm, "These Days".
Here's a download link: http://www.mediafire.com/?zmykzgzyw5m

Making all these waves and
I wonder where the days went.
I sit and think of you I
Hope the feeling's mutual
I'm seeing all you gave and
It somehow don't seem even
Close to what I'd do
To break in two seems natural.
These days are great, there's work to do
Would you like to work with me? I'd love to work you
These days are great and so are you
I think it's something positive, and negative too

"Susumu!" The ninja stopped, completely still as he turned his head to gaze at the interruption that had just burst into the open hallway.

"What?" Tetsunosuke grinned, teeth and happiness spread across his face, cheeks stained with a fresh glow from running.

"Let's go play!" Susumu's mildly condescending stare did not seem to have much sympathy for the younger boy's cause. Tetsu made a face.

"It's all musty here with books! You should learn to go out and play!"

"I'll pass."

Tetsu shook his head. "Nope! You're coming out! Just because you don't know how to have fun doesn't mean I can't teach you!" He added with a giant teasing grin, a smirk as he lunged forward and grabbed Susumu by his kimono sleeve and physically began dragging the ninja towards the door. Susumu resisted his immediate instinctual response to stab the hand that held him and debated twisting the boy by his hand and flipping him.

In the end though, he merely gave a soft sigh, slid the book he'd been reading into his shirt and let Tetsu guide him to this elusive art of "having fun".

Playing all these games and
I wonder who's to blame it
I sit and think it's you
I'm sure the feelings mutual
We're growing cold
Its getting old
We should have known it's over

These days are great, there's work to do
Would you like to work with me? I'd love to work you
These days are great and so are you
I think it's something positive, and negative too

"Naaaaah, Sou-chan!" Kio's lollipop stick bobbed and sifted like a tiny mast in the ocean of his over-talkative mouth. Soubi stared at the stick from behind his circular glasses. He wondered if sometimes when Kio ran out of his Chupa Chupa he didn't just stick a stick in his mouth as a comfort toy. Kio was a very mouth oriented sort of person.

Kio waved a hand holding a paintbrush in front of Soubi's face.

"Come on, you're zoning out again! Project is due soon and you still haven't gotten past your line drawings! Don't you think you need to get started painting?" Kio's own canvas was set up to the side, brilliant colours of greens and blues and yellows laced together by his steady hand.

"What are you going to turn in if you have nothing done?" Kio accused as he turned half back to his own painting to touch up the tip of a blue square.

"A blank canvas."

Kio gave an exclamation and swung his hand back to wave it disapprovingly at Soubi, ready to nag him about treating his class and projects with such disdain. To his horror though, his hand came around too widely and he slapped a thick swipe of blue right through his middle block of green.

"Nooooo!" As Kio hurriedly grasped around at his brushes and paints to try and save his painting, Soubi just sat there watching him.

He smiled, fingers brushing against his bandaged neck without noticing.

Ah ah ah ah ah
We'll be a real team
Ah ah ah ah ah
We'll be a real team

These days are great, there's work to do
Would you like to work with me? I'd love to work you
These days are great and so are you
I think it's something positive, and negative too

"Listen, thread spool! You better not be stickin' your stupid yarn in the Get Backers business if you know what's good for you-"

"I'll have you know that information is open market for anyone who happens to overhear, Midou Ban."

"That's called SPYING YOU GIRLY FRUIT!"

"B-ban-chan, Kazuki-chan is just playing with you..."

"I don't want to play with him- you can go shove your spools into another sewing machine-"

"Easy for a sea urchin to go around calling people names."

"You stay out of this monkey boy! Go scratch your red baboon butt with your other monkey friends!"

"Well, I guess I'll just be teaming up with Kazuki to see what is this juicy business he picked up on then."

"I'm gonna show you all what juicy business it is- with my fist in your face!"

"B-Baaaaaan-chaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan!!"

These days are great, there's work to do
Would you like to work with me? I'd love to work you
These days are great and so are you
I told you...

shadoewhunter @ 2009-08-12T10:14:00

2009-08-12T17:17:52Z

tsururu gave me this shark for my cubicle. It has a top jaw you can pull back and teeth that you can push into the jaw. You keep trying to push all the teeth down until randomly the shark's mouth will slam shut- in which case you better hope you have good reflexes and pull your hand back fast enough.

It's currently the amusement of my office. So far I've had one of the judges, two of the lawyers and handfuls of co-workers on the west wing play with it. One co-worker got "bitten" 3 times in a row. So funny to watch! I want to film it and put it on youtube, haha!

[AU Drabble]

2009-07-29T17:15:15Z

I couldn't help it. 8)

New Definition of Three-some

Soujirou's only inkling that something was wrong, horribly wrong was the blur of colours that came as he shut the door. Suddenly there was a large mass pushing him to the ground and though he was usually a calm man, a part of him panicked and he tried to throw up an illusion between them but the attacker was already on the ground, rolling with him as they fell, winding up straddling him on the carpeted floor of his dorm room.

"..Wow, guy on guy action! Can I take pictures to sell?"

Glasses half askew, breathing faster than usual, Souji's eyes darted to the girl side and then back to the blonde currently grinning down on him with a gleeful expression, looking not unlike a dog that's just discovered his tail and can't wait to share.

"-what is going on-"

"SOU-CHAN! I SOLVED YOUR PROBLEM!" Aidan grabbed the front of Souji's blazer lapels and almost shook him with his expressive movements.

"Meet my wife!" Soujirou would not have thought he could be in any more shock, but his cheek actually pulled back in a mix display of horror and confusion before he managed to hide it. What madness...?

"Congratulations-" Aidan cut him off again.

"We're a perfect match! Right darling?" He called to the tiny girl currently trying to figure out if the Swarkovski swan sitting on Souji's bookshelf was real and if she could find a way to aquire it as a wedding gift.

"Yup. Long as the cheques keep coming, you can go do the horizontal tango with whoever you want, hubby!"

"YOU BOUGHT HER OFF?" Soujirou's voice actually raised a tiny bit, something that amused to Aidan to no end, who in exchange, gave him a squeezing hug around the chest.

"Isn't it a great solution? Now our problems are solved!"

"How is this a great solution?" Soujirou tried to push and then pry Aidan off of his attempt to attach himself to his chest. "Miss-"

"Doctor." Aidan managed to get a DOCTOR involved in this?

"I'm afraid he's confused in the head-"

"BUT SHE'S OKAY WITH IT!" Aidan complained as he tried to worm his hand down to Souji's waist. Souji slapped it away with more force than necessary and decided the wounded look Aidan gave him in return just wasn't satisfactory enough. He was going to murder him, just as soon as this was all cleared up.

"Look kid, for the amount he's paying me? I'd be okay with him and heck, beastiality."

"...Souji-"

"NO!" Soujirou covered his face with his hands, still trying to beat off Aidan's advances with his elbows. What had he ever done to deserve Aidan?

shadoewhunter @ 2009-07-27T14:09:00

2009-07-27T21:14:09Z

Not hacking up a lung anymore but still easily exhausted by things like walking downstairs. Washing two bowls. Putting on my work clothes and make-up. Lol. It's never a good thing when you finish dressing for work and think "Whew! Time for a nap!"

...I have been evaluating my RP lately (Mentally mind you, my online life is pretty non-existent with this flu.) And it sucks. Majorly. The problem I have now is that I've been gone so much and out of touch, it's hard to jump back in. Relationships have moved on, new plottys have evolved and I struggle with my lack of GIANT CHUNKS OF TIME to devote to all of it. This makes me sad. And hopefully, it will be corrected soon. So guys? If I'm a fail at playing my casts, I'm sorry. I really do love all of them dearly, but alas, I have begun to learn that growing older just means you start losing on the amount of free time you have. :(

shadoewhunter @ 2009-07-22T08:29:00

2009-07-22T15:31:07Z

Man. Sometimes I wish I could move home. Just for a few months to save up money. Sigh.

Everything costs money nowadays. I think I caught the flu, yesterday I just felt a bit like gum on the bottom of someone's shoe in the middle of summer. Today, I am a bit better (i.e. fever went down) but I still am still ARGGGGH.

Let's see how long my bottle of tyleno lasts. I think I have one more serving of nyquil. It sucks to be sick, people, especially when you live paycheck to paycheck. SIGH.

[Drabble Mini Series Two-fer!]

2009-07-13T17:42:19Z

HAH. Now I'm really done with the series. Watch me go and do a Tea one now, lol. Let me know if there's prompt requests! I'm in the mood for emo and angst and TERRIBLE THINGS 8)

Coffee VIII: Doppio

It was a hot afternoon. Hot, sweaty, sticky, wet- the heat plastered shirts to backs, slacks to thighs. Tori's hand brushed back his bangs, hair slick against his face as he sighed, a fan in his hand. Not a bit of breeze passed through the room as he forlornly fanned the same hot air over himself.

"Do you want a coffee?" Soujirou asked from the door. Tori forced his head to turn and look at his cousin, standing in the doorway. His collar was unbuttoned, tie loose around his neck. As he watched, Soujirou lifted a plastic bag up with drinks.

"Starbucks double expressos. Kerr sent them." Soujirou still didn't have the tendency to refer to the blonde by his first name. Tori gave a grunt, refusing to comment in any way that would infer he had the same taste in coffee as him of all people. Soujirou slipped one of the cans out of the bag and tossed it over. The taller Nishimoto caught it, feeling the shock of the chilled can against his palm. He held the can up to his forehead with a sigh, his gaze falling unintentionally on Souji, leaning against the wall.

Soujirou opened his own can and took a long hard sip. A bead of sweat slipped down from past the frame of his glasses and trailing down just past his chin. Feeling it, Souji pulled off his glasses with one hand, brushing away the wetness with the back of his hand, can held loosely in his hand. Licking his lips to catch the last bit of coffee, he looked back at Tori, a slight flush to his cheeks from the heat. Tori suddenly realized how clear Soujirou's eyes were, almost tired but with a strong stare, built up from years of defensiveness. It was almost sexual, the bared openness of his face without their usual glasses. The facial structure was close to Shuuichiro's but the expression was all Soujirou, from the slight parting of lips to the faintest squint he had on as he stared at Tori in slight confusion.

"What?"

Tori shook his head, bringing him out of his revelry with mild horror of how close he'd been to thinking of Souji as more than his cousin and hurriedly downed the rest of the cold drink with a muttered 'nothing'. Damn Aidan. He tainted everything he touched, the bastard.

Coffee IX: Dose

The kiss was unexpected, rough, hardly romantic in any sense. Neither would know who had initiated- lips pressed hard against lips, a hand by someone's head reaching to entangle in hair, his head as he pushed against, away, towards the other man. It made no sense, but his mind wasn't thinking, his hands weren't listening as he touched arms, gripping at a shoulder that was broader, thicker than the one he knew.

Souji broke away gasping, saltiness burning at his eyes whether in anger or tears or desperation, he didn't know but he pushed away from the other man, pushing away from this, from something he didn't want to be reminded of, didn't want to face, didn't want and couldn't take. Tori looked shaken, his breath heavy, face stricken as if he did not comprehend what had just happened, who had done what. He pulled back, a flash of disgust? realization? self-loathing? across his face, Souji thought. Or was it pity? Too many emotions and feelings avalanched him at that moment, the kiss a needle at the top of an emotional haystack he'd spent years building and fencing and all of a sudden, he was sick to his stomach. This wasn't what he wanted. Who he wanted. He finally realized it now, Tori had made him face what he'd spent the past years escaping from. He pressed his hand against his mouth. Silence brewed in the dark room.

Tori got up, hand brushing through his own hair roughly, eyes avoidant. Before turning to leave though, he stopped, blinking a few times and glancing at Souji's feet rather than meeting his eyes.

"I'm sure even he would have said, alcohol and coffee doesn't mix." He picked up the bottle in his right hand and left, closing the door tightly behind him.

Soujirou's hand sat limply on the bed on top of a blue pillow, face turned to the side, eyes shut tightly behind his glasses. His hand, still covering his mouth, shook.

[Drabble Mini Series]

2009-07-13T16:35:57Z

Completes the ten parter Coffee series \o\. Bit out of order, lol.

Coffee VII: Daily Cup

Most doctors, especially surgeons had their own sense of daily rituals, little practices to ensure success. Whether it was a lucky set of scrubs, the right shoes, the perfect anesthegiologist, the time that surgery is called, they all have their little quirks and practices. Germaine always prayed before his surgeries, Flores insisted on having the Beatle's compilation CD playing by the time she walked in. Bartlett always referred to the patient by their first name, he says it made them seem more intimate. Morriss even went so far as to refuse surgeries on days that he comes across an accident on the way to work- bad juju he claims.

After moving to England and taking up his teaching position, the need for surgeries were by far fewer and fewer in between. Except for the occasional consultation or invite to one of the larger hospitals in Manchester or London, Aleksander Ivanov stayed mainly in his office. He wore his doctor's coat when he was in the hospital but he had no need to scrub up with no surgeries to participate in. Coronary bypasses were not altogether common on a campus where the average age was between 19 to 25.But this was fine because Ivanov's goals had changed. In the past, his daily rituals, the reviewing of medical journals, the practice of slicing his morning croissant with a surgical scapel, all this was to hone and perfect the skills of his hands, to better the art of seperating flesh and muscle, vessels and veins.

Now, Ivanov's days started with the review of business reports and activities from Moscow, sales and progress of their "interests". Though he still used a scapel to slice and butter his bread, his morning readings now included both the Economist as well as the New England Medical, the pages flipped without his touching them as he practiced now his ability to use wind over using his hands.

And every morning, as he stirred two servings of cream, no sugar, into his coffee, he would sit back for a minute of meditation on a picture of his family.

"To our rise." He would toast in complete sincerity as perfectly sliced pieces of bread quivered from the breeze on his fine china.

[Mini drabble series: Coffee X: Nose]

2009-07-13T04:57:33Z

See here for related drabbles 8 & 9 : Coffee VIII: Doppio and Coffee IX: Dose

(Aidan)/Tori/Souji Prompt III [Coffee X: Nose]

Tori should have known it was too good to be true. Staring at the gun pointed at his face (and his own gun lying just two feet out of reach) he didn't know which to feel first, embarrassment at being out-maneuvered or anger because negotiations should be in his hands not the other way around.

"Oops, Tori-mon! Looks like this is one little mistake on your end!" Aidan smiled and leaned forward with a rub of his chin.

"Now now, you shouldn't even be in this area! You know your family's activities are restricted to support team since we can't trust you to turn coat! And lookie, lookie! Pulling a gun on a Lezard of all peoples! Tsk tsk, what am I going to have to tell my cousin and uncle?" Aidan gave a look of serious consideration.

Tori's eyes narrowed at being toyed with. "I'm not one of your pets, Aidan. Do whatever you want."

Aidan smiled and he gave a tilt of his head.

"Now now, really. I'm curious. Everything is going so well for the Nishimotos! You still have your book, your family is protected, your sister is heir-"

"You ruined him." Tori's teeth clenched along with his fist, the reminder of his sister's unwanted position a slapping reminder of why he was here, why he'd tried the impossible of gaining the upper hand on Aidan Kerr Lezard.

Aidan's brown eyes shifted back, the ever present smile still on his face. His expression clearly said 'do continue' even if he gave no actual voice.

"If you hadn't pushed him, if you hadn't..." Tori didn't want to say the word of what he knew Aidan and Souji had done together, that he had even walked in on before. "Uncle would have been more understanding. He might have been able to keep Umeka safe here without having to run, all because of his relation with you. Do you realize they all consider him a traitor now? How is he suppose to survive out there? All while you stay safe with your Order!" Tori spat the word out, bitter towards the group their family had been cornered into joining, the lesser of two evils in his view.

"So do what you want. Go ahead and kill me too. Ruin our family some more. I'm sure you Lezards won't be happy until all of the world's books are under your thumb!" Tori turned his face away, ready to play the failed martyr.

Aidan looked at him with a tilt in his head. He smiled, the divided split of his lips widening and widening until he looked as if he was going to burst out laughing. With a loud chuckle, he pulled his gun down and cross his arms, shaking his head at Tori.

"Really, Tori-mon! Is that all? You want me to fix things? Stay away from your precious Souji?" Tori's head shot up in irritation.

"I know you've seen him before! Even after he left with her! Haven't you done enough, you bastard? You think that won't make his side think he's a traitor as well?" Aidan refrained to correct him, to let him know that ever since Souji had crossed that final line, neither had contacted the other. It was the only way.

"So what if I said I could fix it all, hm?" Aidan tilted his gun this way and that, admiring the shine of the black metal. "What if I said that I will leave Soujirou alone forever, not only that, but I can give him back everything he lost, including Umeka's safety? What would you be willing to give me in return, Tori Nishimoto?" Suddenly, in a snaking flash of speed Tori had never seen Aidan use, the taller blonde man was in front of him, pushing him into a wall, his back slamming out of shock more than force into the wall. Tori gasped unwillingly, shaken.

"What the hell-" The words ran through his mind again and he gaped at Aidan. "That's impossible! They'd never let him back, much less as heir!" Aidan tapped his own chin before tapping the side of Tori's nose with a smirk.

"Now, Tori-mon! You leave the details to me! All I want to know is what you're willing to give and sacrifice in return, how much do you care about your family?" Aidan's eyes had stopped blinking, staring into Tori's eyes like a serpent. Tori glared back at him, refusing to reveal how disturbed and uncomfortable this position was, how Aidan's leg was on the side of his, how his arm was resting on his bicep. Aidan's eyes didn't blink as he leaned in, the hot air from his breath blowing across Tori's face and finally he flinched, eyes closing in disgusted anticipation. Aidan's lips touched his, pressing down, warm, firm and Tori tried to think of anything but the fact that he was kissing him.

But where he anticipated Aidan to continue, to further, the other man stopped and pulled away, straightening and seemingly bored as he pulled a phone out of his pocket of all things, clicking on his screen as if this was entirely to be expected after he'd walled and molested another man. Tori wanted to spit at him. He'd been played and this was just another of Aidan's games.

"You're disgusting." He swung his fist at Aidan.

The man blocked, as quickly as he had earlier moved and Tori couldn't help but wonder if this was part of the magic and power that was the Gleipner. His hand gripped Tori's fist as he smiled, nonchalantly.

"Really, Tori-mon! I let you have one once before but only one freebie, I'm afraid!" Aidan clicked something on his phone and slipped it back into his pocket.

"Now remember! I'll be keeping my promise so you better keep yours!" Aidan patted his cheek and moved away quickly enough to avoid Tori's instinctual desire to punch him in the face. Curiosity got the better of him though and Tori couldn't help but blurt out, "what promise?"

Aidan looked back at him with a smile that didn't reach his eyes completely.

"To pass that kiss onto my Sou-chan! At the right moment of course," he added, rubbing his chin and then winking with a grin that hid his eyes. "You'll know the right moment, but remember, don't forget to pass on my kiss, Tori! Don't keep it for yourself!"

Tori had to resist just shooting him in the back as he walked away, but he wasn't quite sure if Aidan didn't know how to come back from the dead if he did.

Anyways, it was all just his being toyed with by Aidan's twisted games. Passing on a kiss for the chance of saving his cousin, indeed. You could never trust a Lezard, much less Aidan.

[Drabble Mini Series]

2009-07-10T16:11:11Z

Coffee VI: Cake Crumbs

"No, you're not following the recipe, nii-san!" Umeka stomped her foot while waving her hands at Soujirou. Covered in flour, small puffs of smoke rose up with every shake of her excited hands.

"You beat the eggs in the flour!" Soujirou paused to push up his glasses, leaving a tiny smudge just under the bridge.

"I will, I'm just trying to seperate the yolk more cleanly this way." He turned back to the mixing bowl on the table. He gave a quick glance up as he tilted the yolk in half its egg shell carefully.

"What are you doing, Kerr?" Aidan enthusiastically waved a bottle in the air.

"Wouldn't neon green coffee cakes be fabu-"

"No." Soujirou's face gave off a look of warning.

"Neon orange?"

"No."

Aidan paused, watching as Soujirou turned his attention back to his eggs. Oh well, too late for that. And really, neon orange would look fantastic on a brown ceramic plate!

As the cakes came out of the oven, Umeka busied herself cutting them into little heart shapes (like the cafes do it in Shibuya, nii-san!) and Soujirou was sent to go brew up a pot of coffee to serve (whoever heard of eating coffee cake without coffee, tsk tsk Souji!). Bringing the steaming mugs, sugar and milk laced to taste in each one, he set them down on the counter.

"Oh, I'm going to get a bag to put Tori and Akiko's in and Richie gets four because he says he's going to frame the first one-" Umeka chattered on, both proud and pleased at her results, pulling baggies out and rummaging for ribbons. She was ready to run off to grab ribbons but stopped for a split second to shove one heart cake into both her minions' (her brother and Aidan were the best minions a girl could have) hands.

"Try them and tell me what you think!" She dashed off to find some ribbons to tie the presents with. Soujirou cupped his cake carefully, inspecting its bright orange colour and giving a small sigh (you could never win against Aidan's insanity) and took a small bite before sipping his coffee. He gave an approving sound.

Aidan lifted the cake up to look over, turning it this way and that to note the thickness and crumbly exterior. As he brought it down to take a bite, he noticed the crumbs that had fallen off his cake onto Souji's neck and shoulders below him. A playful smile ghosting his lips, he bent over and in a quick motion, brushed his open mouth over the back of Souji's neck, licking up the spare crumbs sitting on the bare skin above his collar. Soujirou jumped at the sudden contact but Aidan already had his other hand up on his shoulder to keep him in place, brushing the rest of the crumbs off ever so helpfully. Soujirou had a look of flustered annoyance and he opened his mouth to hiss something.

"So? How was it?" They both turned to see Umeka, breathless from her dashing, hair flipped around her cheek so a strand was in her mouth. She spat it out and then looked from one to the other, clueless to what had just occured between the two older boys, eyes wide in barely contained anticipation for their verdict.

"They were good." Soujiou managed to say, forcing himself back under control and taking another sip of his coffee to hide his momentary fluster.

Aidan smiled at Umeka with a slight bow of his head, waving the cake with a wink.

"Positively delicious!" She turned back to her ribbon tying, not even noticing that Aidan's cake had no bite marks in it.

[Drabble Mini Series]

2009-07-07T20:55:36Z

Coffee V: Price of Coffee

Bastien fumbled with the lid of his two to go cup as he tried to secure it before spilling coffee over his mittened fingers, the annoyance clearly shown in the deep creases between his eyes as he tried to tighten the push down top. White steam whifted up from his cup as well as his mouth in the cold air. He shrugged his messanger bag up higher on his shoulder, struggling to keep his bag on while still failing to tighten the lid on his second cup, the first seeming to finally cooperate. He continued down the snow peppered path back to the dormitories, the drinks held in both hands, wondering why no one had yet invented an easier way to carry these hot liquids when familiar voices made him slow his step to glance around with wary and alert eyes.

"...you." Two figures were treking over the snow covered ground, ignoring the paths that other students and staff had already broken in. A taller form had his head bent forward, blue patterened beanie pulled down low over ears as his hands swung and waved expressively, adding in to whatever the conversation was, the cold air filtering most of it from Bastien. It was the shorter person next to him that had his focus, slips of hair and bangs showing under the fur trimmed hood that fell forward, covering all but the tiny bits of cheek and lashes and nose peeking out when the dusky light hit the skin.

She was smiling, not a laughing full-out smile, but a smile nonetheless, the cold burning a pink across her cheeks where he could see them. He said something and then waved his arms, bringing them up to his head almost like some confused land mammal and swinging them around started making some sound. The sight made her start and then start laughing, mittened hand held up to her mouth as she tried not to lose her hood while walking.

He watched, unconcsciously stepping to the side of some trees that bordered the path, ignoring the random pedestrian here and there, watching as the two disappeared into the campus coffee shop he'd just exited some minutes earlier, watched the tinted windows and imagining in his head the boy buying her a drink, holding her hand to lead her up to the counter, brushing the loose strand of hair out of her face. He stood there until his cups of coffee had gone from steaming hot to lukewarm.

"Excuse me sir? Can I help you?" A goodwilled student with a splatter of freckles mismatched with dark black hair tied in pigtails pulled on his sleeves. He looked down without seeing and then blinked, pulling back to where he was, standing covered in windblown snow, two cups still in his hand.

Without a word of thanks or acknowledgement, he turned and returned down the path he'd been walking down. The cups of coffee for himself and Capri he flung with the last bit of controlled anger he had into the first trashcan he came by. One cup made it in, the other bouncing off the edge, cold brown coffee splattering all over the metal canister, styrafoam cup bouncing lightly to drop to a sad resting place at the side of the trashcan. He didn't even spare it a glance as he passed by, hands clenched tightly in his pockets.

[Drabble Mini Series]

2009-07-07T17:21:07Z

Coffee IV: Steamed Milk

"What are you drinking, love?"

"Secret."

"I want to trade!"

"Only if you promise to be good for the rest of the day."

"Mm, okay~"

Cayden always ordered the same thing everytime he went to Starbucks. It was ironic really, considering the drink he got from the coffeeshop was never actually coffee, but more of a sweetened frothy mixture of half and half, milk and honey. Ridiculously sweet and light, he never took more than a few sips from it and considered it a frothy form of creamer more than an actual drink. But he'd realized long ago that if he ordered coffee at Starbucks, Ravel would automatically insist on trading. Love's was always better, he said, love's was always more tasty- despite the fact that he knew Ravel hated the aftertaste that came with coffee. And so, instead of having Ravel awake all night on a caffeinated drink he didn't actually enjoy, he'd settled for just ordering what he knew his brother actually liked. And the habit remained over the years, so that whenever he went into a Starbucks whether alone, with Ravel or with friends, he always ordered the same type of steamed milk special. When asked why he didn't drink coffee and what was it he had in that cup instead, he would just smile.

"Secret." After all, if Ravel didn't know, he didn't see why anyone else should either.

[Drabble Mini Series]

2009-07-06T23:43:27Z

Coffee III: Stains

Of all the people in the world Kazuki ever considered taking to meet his parents, Lev Ivanov was about as high on the list as having him bring home a stripper. To be honest, he'd never wanted anyone to meet his parents, it was not the type of a thing a grown man, foresworn bachelor and pactmate that lived with an indecently nude spirit would ever even think about doing. But one cold autumn day, when his parents' transportation and lodging plans fell through, Kazuki was forced to greet them with a stretched grimaced attempt at a smile, the Ivanov an ever oily annoyance (he pictured Lev as a greasy slicked up fly at times like these), buzzing around. He wished he had a fly swatter.

He was so busy trying to keep Lev from digging out any more childhood stories from his polite father who was both way too surprised and pleased at Lev's grasp of the Japanese language he thought, that he didn't notice his mother, like all Asian mothers tend to do, wander into his bedroom and began picking up after him.

"Kazu-chan...what's this?" His mother's eyes were confused, her small hands, the skin thin like an underkimono that'd been washed one too many times, shaking just a little as she held up the blood stained laundry he'd tossed into the corner after their last escapade just a few days ago. Morpheus was gone on his own mission with the Order and Kazuki just hadn't gotten around to washing his clothes yet.

Lev watched Kazuki's eyes move down then up, flicking to the left. Bad liar, he thought to himself.

"Coffee stains." He moved forward qucikly, pulling the shirt out of his mother's grasp and balling it up, throwing them back into the bedroom. He took his mother's hands and led her back out to the tiny living room he shared with Lev. He told his father to take mother outside and wait in the car, he was just going to get his phone and they'd be right down. Lev smiled but declined the invitation to join, watching instead as he lit up a cigarette with the practiced actions of a chain smoker living with other chain smokers, as Kazuki snatched back up the shirt covered with the blood of the blonde boy they'd been forced to shoot. He watched with a curious exhale of his smokey breath as Kazuki immediately went to the kitchen.

"What are you doing? If you are burning the shirt, it is a bit late now." Lev smirked, switching back to English. "You are a terrible liar by the way. I could lie better than you with my hand still in the ah, cookie jar as you say." Kazuki gave him a expression of aspiraty and snatching up the half pot of coffee still sitting on the brewer, poured its contents out over the browned blood stains, further destroying the shirt.

"I'm not you."

Lev took another inhale and then walked over, snubbing his cigarette out on the wet stained shirt.

"No. I do not white wash my lies. I just tell them as it is." He walked away from the sink, leaving Kazuki with his fist clenched tightly around his ruined shirt, coffee dripping down onto the tiled floor.

[Drabble Mini Series]

2009-07-06T19:52:41Z

Coffee II: Perfect Sip

Aidan refrained from rubbing his eyes, massaging the bridge of his nose instead, head pressed back into his chair, shoulders tense from the hours of consecutive computer usage. He sat there for a while, one part of him trying to work out the tension and weariness from his eyes and the other parts sifting through numbers of spirits and suspected spirits, how the latest report from Eastern Europe and the US had risen in missing members, guerrilla attacks, the background information on their newest assistant secretary for his uncle that he'd gleaned while visiting Kaplinsky Jr. (who really should just be known as Kaplinksy now, with that terrible unfortunate accident.) He thought about the last report of deaths, desertion, assassinations, about the lies that he would have to say and the truths people would treat as lies because it came from him. They would have to move the London headquarters again now that it seemed the location and information had been leaked, have to contact Richie to make sure he knew not to do anything stupid, to keep safe in the hospital. The sheer to-do list that still needed to be finished (there always seemed to be more things to do these days, more people to kill, more sacrifices to be made.) made him smile, a twisted smile that quirked up at one lip. Chaos and order, war and peace. Butchers and shepherds.

Aidan got up from his leather chair, mind mentally noting that the padding was wearing thin again and he should order a replacement when he got the chance, maybe sometime in the next five years, haha. Searching his once barren, now cluttered with files and CDs, pictures and notes written in shorthand and cipher, he found a mug hidden behind a box of lockboxes. Pausing, he then turned and dug into the bottom of his pantry, looking for and pulling out the single serving French press stored in there. He washed off the look of disuse, hearing the little metal pole squeak with mild protest. He lowered his lids and let his memory guide him, hands moving with practice, the odd start and stop not unlike the hesitance of a person remembering how to ride a bicycle again after many years, the actions oddly soothing as he poured in the water, measured out the exact scoop of grounds stored in a small airtight metal canister.

Bringing the coffee back to his desk, he sat and leaned back in his chair, letting the hot mug warm his fingers. He lifted the mug up and inhaled the strong aroma of coffee. He didn't think about the familiarity of the smell, about how many of the people he knew, worked with, once knew, had seen die or turn away or betray them had drank this basic staple, about the way the smell had a way of clinging to the breath and lips, the smell seeping into the collar of shirts and jackets. He didn't think about the stains in the mug that refused to be washed out, had long since eaten its stubborn way into the ceramics. He didn't let his mind wander to long gone mornings of waking up early to bring hot coffee to someone who was no longer here.

He just held the hot cup of coffee, sipping every so slowly, searching to find the sweetness promised in his bittersweet cup, for that ever allusive perfect sip.

[Drabble Mini Series]

2009-07-06T18:38:37Z

Coffee I: Bittersweet

"What is it with you and drinking this all the time, Souji? You're going to wind up with yellow teeth from all that coffee. And it's so bitter!" Aidan fake-chided in a chirpy whine, spinning his wheelie chair around and around in a circle, a hand waving in the air as he spoke. Souji paused in the middle of his concentrated ministrations to his steeping French press. He twisted the metal knob and ever so slowly, a graceful poise in his left hand as his right held the fragile glass, pushing the grounds down in the press.

"No more than you will from your tea." He replied without much real reproach, returning his eyes from the ridiculously surreal spinning form of the blonde man back to his Columbian dark roast. His eyes, hidden by the angle of a glare on his lens, watched the dark waters rise upwards. After a few long seconds in which Aidan had thought he'd just be ignoring him, Souji replied in that ever soft voice, level but thoughtful.

"When you get the right brew, the right beans, the bitter turns almost sweet. That perfect sip makes the bitterness just a fond reminder after that." Aidan's eyebrow went up at the almost poetic honesty Souji had shared. His wheeling stopped and he leaned back as far as he could in the chair, looking at the other with his face upside down.

"Why, Sou-chan! You sound almost like some tragic hero!" He laughed and leaned back more. "Emo emo emo!" He teased. Souji turned his full attention back to the coffee, puling the top part of the press back up now, the miniscule flattening of his lips an obvious sign of his annoyance.

"If you keep leaning back like that you're going to-" The sound of a crash, the bang of a chair spinning out of control into his desk and the thump of what was probably an oversized body tumbling and hitting the ground confirmed Souji's prediction. "Fall."

"Souuuu-chaaaaaan, I hit my heaaaaaad!"

"Congratulations."

"I'm going to be retarded now!"

"Kami-sama help us." Souji said with all the dryness of a desert in drought.

[Pre-day]

2009-07-01T14:18:07Z

Work from 6:30 to 12:30 before heading home to pack and put things in counttosheep's car. Hopefully she picks up tsururu first, lol.

Stuff that needs to be done after work:

(MAIL MY RENT lolol)
Sew Cravat for Doumeki
Get red from Ten and sew belt
pack make-up
pack everything else
touch up paint on Clow and Yuuko
alter kimono for Tsu once she arrives
~~SLEEP~~
buy bread for hotel and cookies?

So sleepy...

shadoewhunter @ 2009-06-30T19:02:00

2009-07-01T02:03:44Z

I'M NOT AVOIDING WORKING ON COSPLAY. I'M NOT REALLY. I'M NOT WORRIED AT ALL ABOUT AX COMING UP AND HAVING TO DO ALL THAT STUFF AND FINALLY PUT THE COSTUMES TOGETHER AND AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

shadoewhunter @ 2009-06-19T18:39:00

2009-06-20T01:40:36Z

...I laughed. This is dorky cute. Oh man, T-Swizzle and T-Pain.

[Operation Drabble time!]

2009-06-19T19:11:37Z

Prompt me with a quote, phrase, character(s)/pairing from my cast and I'll drabble!

CFUD:
Tohma Seguchi
Soubi Agatsuma
Ban Midou
Susumu Yamazaki

CS:
Aidan Kerr Lezard
Kazuki Yoshida Lyon
Ravel Hawksley
Kane Nastra
Davi Zaran
Blaine Aren Windsor
Bastien Tres
Minkah Tehuti
Simon Diego Duero
James Waels Reeves
Aleksander Ivanov

shadoewhunter @ 2009-06-18T09:55:00

2009-06-18T17:02:52Z

I have a money issue. AKA, I'm not good with not impulse or splurge buying, ESPECIALLY when it comes to Cosplay. :(

Anyone have any clue what pattern to follow to sew these pants? It looks like hakama style tie at the top, but it's not pleated, poofy at the knees and fitted at the hips and crotch. I can't figure out how to cut the fabric ;_;

Yamazaki Susumu from Peacemaker Kurogane

I'm having a hard time finding a reference picture to link but if anyone can google the name and help me out with a pattern, it'd be appreciated. Dearly. :(