The Distortion of Normalcy[Icicle//Adelaid Belial]

Would you like to roleplay with one of us?

  • Icicle is pretty chill...

  • Belial is fair and swell...

  • No thanks, fare thee well!

  • I SHALL DEVOUR YOUR SOULS!!!

  • I like being indecicive........but friends are nice...


Results are only viewable after voting.
Status
Not open for further replies.
Niko was surprised at how excited Noelle looked. She almost seemed to be talking about a festival, although in the manner she described it, it was more of a year-round event. This intrigued Niko, so, after she re-worded her question to him, he quickly responded, "of course!" He wasn't quite sure about whether or not it was a good idea, but her passionate description slowly reworked itself through Niko's consciousness, gradually increasing his curiosity.

Niko then stood there for a seconds and debated whether or not to hold out his hand. His eyes narrowed as he looked down at her hand, and he thought, "I suppose it's the chivalrous thing to do," and then looked up at her and silently offered her his hand.
 
Noelle, was kind of confused when she saw Niko's hand. It's not like she thought he would do something bad.....she just didn't want him to kiss her hand again! That was embarrassing! Treating her like she was some sort of royalty. If Dee had been there-, no she didn't want to see the apocalypse that her friend would bring upon her. "Alright let's go!" She took his hand anyway, genuinely grasping his hand with both of her own, after throwing away her cup. She laughed, saying goodbye to the vendor as she softly pulled Niko through the crowd. She stuck to the more barren parts of the sidewalk, making it easier to weave around people.

When they made it back to the park, she led him through the fields until, sure enough, she could hear the sweetest, softest music playing. "Here we are! The Bryerwood Showcase!" It was like one of those japanese cultural festivals, but much brighter. There were kids running around with their parents, couples walking with food. Some people even brought their pets to see it. And there was so much art! "Do you like it, Niko?"
 
The initial look which Noelle gazed upon Niko's gloved hand with unsettled the boy, almost confirming his suspicions. However, he was happy to find that her confusion was only momentary - before he could retract his hand in an attempt to escape from the awkwardness, he felt her tug on his arm and, just like that, he was wincing and trying desperately to keep up with her once again. "Should I ask her to be more gentle?.......Nah..." At least this time she avoided people more frequently.

As the two passed through the park, Niko's eyes wandered from his guide, searching over the plants and people around them. The flowers arranged on either side of the wide, paved path through the park were arranged in a very aesthetically pleasing pattern, especially with the evenly-placed gaps and the steady curve of the pathway. The reds, purples and yellows were surprisingly resilient, even in the cold weather. It made Niko suspect that they were not actual flowers, but well-done fakes...

He didn't have time to dwell on the flowers for long. By the time he narrowly avoided his last random pedestrian, Noelle was slowing down and talking once again. The boy looked forwards to see a wide area covered in people, pets, and items with a noticeably different culture and language than that which he was accustomed to. He couldn't understand anything that was going in in front of him, besides eating food, but the music sounded at least adequate. "Yeah,...it looks...like fun.......It's pretty...different, though..."

He was breathing at an elevated rate due to his exertion, but was able to respond, at least. His mouth was still spewing steam as a result of the last remnants of heat from his cold drinks.
 
Noelle looked around excitedly. Bryerwood as a town was often bombarded with artists of all kinds, and after the burst of asian culture poured all over the U.S., Bryerwood decided to incorporate the asian influence into their celebrations. Thus, the Bryerwood Showcase. Noelle knew there weren't many things to actively do around here, but there was some art she wanted Niko to see. She squeezed his hand momentarily, then pushed onward looking around. "There were at least fourteen different booths, people buying art, hand-sewn or hand-knitten goods, homemade toys......

"What do you want to do first?" she still looked around, "I'm pretty sure they have everything here......" taking a moment to wait for his response, as well as take in a whiff of the air. Smells of Fried, baked, and even dry goods came from the east. Maybe she could at least convince him that the food was a great thing to try first.....
 
As the girl squeezed Niko's hand, his reflex was to start speeding up slightly, assuming that she was trying to communicate that she wanted to move faster. The action paid off, as his action led to only minor pain as she sped forwards and spoke briefly. Niko, who was starting to feel as exhausted as he felt the day before, gasped out an indifferent, "Whatever....you think...is best." He nearly tripped as they climbed up a few stairs, and barely had the energy to focus on the places around him. All the same, he felt as if pulling away from the girl was not an option - as if, even if he tried, he would not be able to. Instead of breaking free, with another deep breath, he quickly gasped out, "could we....slow down?....Please?..."
 
Noelle skid to a stop. She turned to see Niko, he looked like he was struggling, if either from lack of breathe or something else, she wasn't sure. She did know, however, that she was not helping. "Oh my god, I'm sorry! You should have told me I was pushing you! I can slow down now, and you can....no, we can....Ah!" She pointed over to a bench. "You sit down over there, and I'll get you some water so that you can get back you're strength!" She was considerably shaken. 'I can't just treat Niko like he's Dee or Danny or Sara.....he's not any of them, I gotta try and be considerate!' She looked back over to Niko, wincing so as to not repeat any brash mistakes, "Do you want some water, Niko?"
 
Immediately after the girl stopped, Niko hastily followed, the effort straining his muscles even more. He immediately fell into a crouch, momentarily hurting his knee, but breathing heavily, gasping desperately for air. He was only able to hear Noelle talk, unable to discern her words over the sound of his heart beating, but he understood what she was trying to tell him when he looked up to see her pointing at a bench. Still holding her hand, he walked over to the bench and sat down, forcing himself to calm down as he listened to the next entry in her series of questions.

"I...I'm just....I need air...not water..." He felt sweat beading down from his brow, a sign that he had more than enough water, but he needed more than just air, and he knew it. "But should I remind her? What if she starts to panic again? No, I can't have that..." He then looked over at her and, after regaining his composure slightly commented, "I think I'm just hungry...Let's find something to eat."

After a few more seconds of rest, Niko rose back to his feet and started to slowly walk towards the stands, having never let go of the girl's hand. Niko had no idea why she wanted to grab a hold of his hand in the first place, as he determined that "the wrist or the ear are better for encouraging people to follow you," but he didn't want to make her feel awkward by trying to escape her grasp without feeling her grip loosen first.

The small stands and the larger stands were all equally beautiful and strange to Niko, but he found them all very interesting. The aroma of food was almost overwhelming. "Maybe I wasn't lying after all.." he thought, offering a quick, sly grin as he looked over at an exotic meat stand, then over to a fruit shop.
 
Noelle laughed, actually relieved that Niko said that he was okay. She almost hugged him, but remembered hr earlier warning. "Well, They have fried, baked, cold and warm goods.... I don't know what's good. Before, when I came, I only came for the art." She looked around the stands. Some had strong and savory smells, meats and spices cooking and popping. Flavor bursting around, but Noelle didn't know if the very smell of the food would be good. It was strong enough, since she smelled it from here.

She could smell softer smells, that were probably sweet, and sugary...but she didn't feel like Niko should be eating sweets right now. "What do you want to try Niko? I'm at a lost....." she tilted her head at him, wanting to see his facial expression as he answered. She didn't know why, she just felt it would make it easier for her to understand how he chooses.
 
Niko felt like he understood what Noelle meant when she spoke. "I could ask you the same quetion.......but won't.." He looked over at her, his face still covered in his ski-mask, then he commented, "I need something really filling......Like meat! Meat is good..." Niko then continued to look around at the surroundings, looking for shops which had meat in them. He knew that his answer was inadequate, so, this time, he was the one to pull on Noelle's hand, although he hardly had to drag her along as he walked towards a vendor. The vendor had an array of various meats rotating around in the back, some with fruits above them, some rotating in a vat of oil or juice, with a heating element placed above them as they rotated around.

The entire stall was overwhelmingly new and strange to Niko, but he recognized the smell of well-cooked meat very well. After looking around at the meats behind the vendor for a few seconds, Niko pulled out a large bill from his pocket and handed it to the vendor. "Can I have some of that and some of that?" Niko asked, pointing to a few of the more appetizing and juicy meats as they spun around on their displays. The vendor had some pitch to say about his meats as he prepared a few separate bags for his well-paying customer, then thanked the boy as he placed four bags on the counter, eagerly placing the bill into his tin. Niko let go of her hand, picked up two of the bags in each hand, then looked at Noelle and said, "Let's look for a place to eat..."

The boy then started to walk away from the vendor, having no idea where he was going, hoping to find an eating area on the way...
 
Noelle was actually surprised. She hadn't thought that Niko would have come out to the park, or outside even to buy something. It was, in all a welcome development. She quickly caught up with him, "There are some eating areas near the Art wall!" She smiled, remembering her initial purpose for dragging Niko here. She motioned for him to come. Walking slower than she usual did to allow Niko time to catch up if needed. She constantly had to ignore her thoughts on the people staring at them, or their odd murmurings. She didn't want those stupid thoughts to ruin her chance at a new friend.

The Art wall had a few more people than even the food stalls had. There were thousands of drawings, painting, 3d models, et cetera. She found what she was looking for immediately. It was a spot on the fields of the park, there were large heated blankets on the ground, with people sitting on them spaced about. "We can sit over there." There was even some musicians, who played the beautiful music that was heard throughout the Showcase.
 
Niko turned around and walked towards Noelle as she spoke, immediately discerning that he was headed the wrong way. Once he caught up to her, he paced himself so that he was beside and slightly behind her, allowing her to lead the way with the illusion that he was still beside her.

Once they had arrived at the wall full of artwork of an oddly symbolic nature, Niko looked around more thoroughly, in search of a place to sit. Once Noelle pointed out the blankets a good distance away, he started to walk over to the blankets, finding himself subconsciously stepping to the beat of the music which was playing. The realization of this caused him to briefly stop every now and then, but he reached one of the blankets which was empty before he had the chance to feel too awkward.

Niko sat down on the blanket and took his face mask off, instantly feeling relief. "....this blanket feels....really nice..." he commented, looking down at the fabric as he placed the bags of meat beside himself, ".....I'm going to start eating." Niko smiled, moderately content, but more curious than anything, and opened one of the four bags to be greeted by the smell of pinapple-roasted lamb meat, thinly sliced into easily chewable and perfectly-cooked pieces. Niko decided not to comment on how it tasted, as he was certain that his expression was more than good enough.

After a few seconds, he looked up to observe the art and the music once again, figuring that it was pretty important. He lazily folded the lamb-meat bag over and separated it from the other bags of meat, then opened another one, still looking over at the art wall. He continued to eat meat for the next minute, enjoying himself thoroughly, even blushing a little from surprise.
 
Noelle's eyes hardly led the art wall. She would look back from time to time at Niko, see if he was enjoying himself. But other than that, her gaze was locked on the wall of art. "It's all really cool, yeah?" She smiled, looking at the musicians, and children dancing around them on heated blankets. "Over there, that wall painting? You remember Deedee, right? She made that. That wall of clouds right over there. Beautiful right? You wouldn't think it was hers....." Noelle smiled, she looked over to Niko again, "Almost all the students at Bryerwood have put their art on display here."

"You think you could make something to put here too, Niko? I"m still working on mine, but......It should be finished soon." She looked to her hands for a minute, looking over to Niko again. She held a part of the warm blanket between her fingers.
 
Niko continued to eat pieces of meat and blush as Noelle was talking, however, after eating a third chunk, he realized something about the taste. Before taking another bite, he looked at the package and found a warning about the intense spiciness of the food. "Spicy..." he commented, looking down at the meat, his face almost entirely red, "so that's why..." He then ate the last bite and looked up at Noelle, having heard enough of what she said to respond, "I don't want the attention. I'd rather someone else have the space my art would take up..."

Niko looked over midway through his answer, then his expression gradually started to change. He was confused about what she was doing with the blanket. He didn't know whether it was appropriate to ask or not, so he switched his attention to the bags of meat. He separated the bag of spicy meat as he did with the pineapple lamb, then opened another bag and started to eat it as well. This meat was much more chewy and had plenty of spices. He almost forgot about the art and the music as he stared at the piece of meat, transfixed with curiosity about how it was cooked.

After swallowing his first bite, he looked over at Noelle and asked, "Are you going to eat any?" Immediately after, he popped the remaining portion of his bit of meat into his mouth and continued to chew, the tips of his fingers lightly sprinkled with spices and meat juice.
 
"I thought that.....I mean, I can-" At a loss for words, she stared at the succulent pieces of meat. Mentally berating herself for trying to make the simplest of gestures into something possibly romantic. "Of course, thank you. That would be nice." She looked at the separate bags, weighing the option for each one of them. She went for the bag that Niko had put aside, it was so spicy she immediately waved a hand in front of her face to try and stave off the heat. "I guess something like this is great in the winter, huh?" Noelle looked over to the bag once more. She ended up taking another piece anyway, regardless of heat.

"It's too bad, I've seen some of the art you did in class. It'd be cool to see it to on the wall or something."
 
Niko licked and cleaned his fingers quickly, then wiped off the filthy residue on his sweater and reached for the final bag, wondering if it would be even better than the rest. After Noelle's comment, Niko cleared his throat and retorted, "why?...Does art look better on a wall?..." he focused on Noelle's face as she continued eating the super-spicy meat, then he took a small bite of the next kind of meat - a perfect cube of beef which appeared to be toasted and encrusted with another meat. The meat had an addicting crunch as he bit into it, and it was cooked well enough that the juices contained within bled out of the wound, coating his tongue with whatever incredible flavor the meat had.

"No wonder people don't eat meat like this very often....it'd cost a fortune, and it'd make all other foods gag-worthy..." All the same, Niko continued biting away at the nugget of brilliance, hoping that the other seven pieces would taste just as good later on. He looked back at the wall of art, as if to answer the question he previously asked, and continued biting into the strange, but incredible piece of meat.

The music was progressively getting louder as the band got more energetic, and Niko's heart rate was increasing as well. The whole experience was surreal, as if he had died without realizing it and was now being treated to an undeserved fortune of pleasure. As he looked around at the other people, he found a few of them looking over at him and Noelle with smug or knowing expressions, then hastily looking away at the realization of being watched by the subject. Niko barely thought anything of it, as the music and the taste of the meat was more than enough to distract him from his normal caution of others.

While looking back at the art wall, feeling as if it had been hours since she made her comment about his art despite the actual half-minute increment, Niko discovered a thought which he had not made before. "What about this situation is strange?.......Sitting on a warm blanket with a girl, eating meat, listening to music, looking at art, talking, injured,.....it's familiar...." Niko could not figure out what his subconsciousness was getting at, so he continued slowly eating the inch-thick cube of meat until it was gone, staring at the wall of art, deep in thought.
 
"Well if everyone can see it, that means that you're art is good enough to be there." She was drifting off into a sense of peace, eating more spicy meat, and it really made her eyes water. 'Gah...why do I keep eating this? It burns....' She laughed, "It's what most all artists want. To be seen." She patted the cover again, then folded it again as well. The music was changing to a much faster pace. She never really liked fast music, as it was so much easier to fall asleep to softer music, even if the lyrics were sad. She looked around. "I wonder if we could, maybe get a change of music.....something softer....." she muttered quietly, not really hoping for a response.

She could hardly stop eating the meat, it was actually pretty good. She was hoping that maybe they would be able to eat some of the other things that the Showcase offered. "I'm glad the blankets are heated... even in a harsh winter, they're thinking of the betterment of the showcase and all those who attend." That statement was directed at Niko that time, and she nonchalantly found herself looking in his direction.
 
Niko thought about Noelle's answer for a few seconds, then looked over at her and, with a somewhat serious expression, still hiding a bit of the joy he felt from the taste in his mouth, he responded, "But I already know I am good enough to be there. You said so yourself." He then casually ate the rest of the chunk of meat and cleaned off his hand once again. He certainly did not feel hungry any more, seeing as he was practically eating his own money, but he definitely felt that the music needed a change. It was gradually slowing back down again, as if the music players were arriving at the end of their song.

Sure enough, as Noelle wsa starting to talk again, the band finished their song with a strange chord, and a single musician started to play a more relaxing, oddly atmospheric tune on his harp as two other musicians got wind instruments ready. Niko turned his attention back to Noelle as she finished making her comment, having felt the force of her gaze on his shoulder, then, with a bemused expression, he asked, "so this is a harsh winter here?" Once again, he did not think about the event so much as what was happening. He was confused about the event as a whole, so he did not bother trying to wrap his mind around it. After giving her time to respond, Niko asked another question, without really thinking about what she [may or may not have] said, "and.....what is so important about this event, that it goes on year round? Is it a celebration of artists? Or a cultural center?..."
 
Noelle looked over at Niko when he told her that she had said he was good enough. She did know that, she liked the way his art looked, and she agreed that he was an awesome artist. "I suppose you're right. But I did say most artists...." She took a few more pieces of meat, nodding her head as the music got much more soft and melodious. It was very sweet to her ears. "Well rather harsh here, I'm not sure if you knew...but the lowest it got around here was twenty.....Then again, you're from New York. And I'm from Kansas, this is probably normal." When Niko asked what exactly the Bryerwood Showcase was, Noelle had to think about it for a minute.

"Well, I think most everyone in the city says it's a more of a Celebration of Bryerwood's talent. We just took the cultural style from Asian festivals because it popped so much more." Noelle shrugged, scratching the pack of her head. "It's year long because Art always changes with time. Bryerwood wanted to be up to date, I think." She popped another piece of meat in her mouth as she turned back to the musicians on stage.

She looked around, "Do you want to see something else? There are some great rides downtown." She looked back and forth between Niko and the ground, not wanting to see his response.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Niko barely listened as Noelle spoke, deciding to continue eating. He went back to the first bag to eat the rest of the delicious lamb meat, determining that his hunger was still partially present. He was only half-done with the bag by the time Noelle asked him if he wanted to leave again. After quickly swallowing the food, he commented, "...I don't know what you mean by rides, but that sounds interesting. Lets walk a bit slower this time, though."

He then cleaned his hand, eating the last bits of food on his fingers, and closed the four bags, shoving them into his pockets soon after his hands were clean. He ensured that his hand was grease-free, then offered to help Noelle up off of the floor by extending his hand to her whilst she sat. After they rose, he continued holding her hand and followed her to their next desination, his curiosity growing as he tried to imagine what she meant by a "ride."
 
Noelle's definition of a ride was the beautiful kiddie carnival games. Like the bumper cars, go cart races, the carousel, ferris wheel, teacups, the drop tower, and all those other good things. The Showcase allowed for everyone to get a little bit of that "fair" fun. She led Niko, gently this time, towards a large set up of rides. She was quite confused that Niko didn't know what she meant by rides, but she figured that she just hadn't explained it well enough. She smiled, "These are the rides that I was talking about. It isn't a part of the Showcase per say, but this is the Bryerwood Winter Carnival. How do you like it?"

She pointed out the tea cups and bumper cars specifically. "Those are great starter rides. Which do you want to try first?"
 
Status
Not open for further replies.