'ugh...how long has it been scince I last slept? ...Where am I, anyway..?'
Oliver opened his eyes, and found himself sitting on the side of a street. His large, white, birdlike wings were folded neatly behind him. He remembered why he was here. 'Ah, so this is La'marri...I seem to have dozed off...'
He swept his gaze over the passerbys. He appeared to be studying them. A little child, walking by, pointed and excitedly said, "Mommy! Look! An angel!" His mother shook her head, smiling, and guided the child away. As the little boy eyed him with bright, curious eyes, he thought about that. 'Angel...? I wonder what that is?'
He returned his focus on the people. His stare wasn't cold; but just rather unsettling. A long golden staff lay behind him, almost hidden.
Libby roamed around the town ones more, only to look if any of the commoners walking there had any appealing items. In her search for anything nice she couldn't help but spot Oliver's white wings, how she would love to have one of those.
She approached without second thought and ran up to him, sitting down beside him. "Hi, I'm Libby!" she said with a big smile, quickly shaking his hand while already losing attention to the stranger, all she had eye for were the wings which she studied curiously. It wasn't until she bent to see the back when she spotted an even more appealing object, a golden staff!
"Whoa..." was all she could say as she stared at it with her mouth opened.
Oliver looked up quickly, and said nothing as she ran up and said her name was Libby. He appeared confused as she shook his hand. Some kind of odd...human..practice? Then, he saw her staring at his wings. Then at the staff. As she gaped at it, he took it in his hands and laid it accross his lap. He realized that she wanted the staff. He didn't show it, but he thought that was very amusing, for the staff could never be stolen from him. It would allways find its way back to him. He studied her curiously, Not speaking a word.
She smiled at him again as he took the staff away from her sight onto his lap. Her big eyes stared at him as if she were a puppy begging for food. "Where did you get that?" she said obviously talking about the staff, her hand secretly sneaking behind his back for she still wanted those wings as well.
"The staff.." she said blinking her eyes. The excitement went through here whole body, as always when she was planning how to steal something. Her hand wrapped around the beginning of one of the wings, she pulled it softly only to find out it was rather stuck to the other's body.
He looked at the staff and a wave of sadness went accross his face, but it dissapeared as quickly as it had come. He said nothing about the staff. He felt the soft pull on his wing. 'She apparently thinks it's not attatched...'
Out of reflex, both the wings spred themselves slightly. He looked at her with slight amusement. He looked at the staff, then at her, and sighed.
She felt a little intimidated and surprised as the wings spread slightly, she backed away a little and stared at him. She saw Oliver looking back and forth between her and the staff, followed by a sigh.
"A-are you okay?" she blinked, glad that he wasn't angry at her for pulling his wing.
Oliver re-folded his wings quickly when she backed away, and shrugged when she asked if he was okay. He rolled up his sleeve and revealed a deep gash on his arm. He left that sleeve rolled up and reached into his pocket. He pulled out some gold dust in a small pouch, and handed it to her, looking away.
Libby stared at the wound in amazement, only to have him throw a small pouch at her. She greedily opened it, only to see glistering gold dust inside. "Thank you!" she said with a big smile, this would go perfect with her collection! But when she looked back at him she couldn't meet his eyes.
"Hello?" she said moving closer to the silent boy. "Pleaaaaah!!!" she said loudly, sticking out her face while making a weird face using her hands. Sure, it was a rather weird thing to do, especially when meeting someone for the first time, but she wasn't a 100% normal to be accurate.
As she made an odd face and yelled some kind of weird noise, Oliver looked surprised. He moved away when she went closer, out of habit. He almost lost his balance and flapped his wings slightly to help get back up. Suddenly, he had a very sad expression, and stared into her eyes, studying. 'She reminds me of brother when he was little..'
The sad expression on the other's face was more then clear to her, she could feel it pierce through her heart imprinting a worried expression on her own.
"Are you okay..?" she said frowning slightly and reached out to him with her hand. "You haven't even told me your name.."
He blinked slowly at her, and looked into the distace. He held up the staff, which had his name carved in script on it.
Oliver Quick.
His expression hadn't changed, and he sighed deeply. Without much notice, he took her hand, examined it, holding it so delicatly as if it were a fine piece of china. He set her hand down next to him, and looked at her again. Now, there was a hint of regret there, as if he shared his sad feelings more that he intended to.
The staff caught her attention ones more as Oliver looked into the distance, she could read a name on it. He then took her hand and treated it delicately. "Why.. don't you talk..?" she said frowning, slightly touched by the way he treated her hand and looked at her. "You look so sad... Is that your name, Oliver quick?" she said suddenly subject hopping from something serious like deep emotion, onto something insignificant like a name.
He nodded at the question about the name, then looked at her, then away again. He shifted, then seemed like he was about to say something. Then, he reached for her hand. He hesitated, and looked at her as if for permission to touch her hand again.
She blinked in surprise and blushed a bit at the other's uncertainty. She sat in front of him on her knees and reached offered him her other hands as well. "Why don't you talk.. Oliver?" she asked confused, never before had she met such an interesting mysterious figure.
He looked rather contented when she offered her hands, and held them once again ever so delicatly. His other sad expression returned, and he looked down. In a very soft, rather deep voice, he said so quietly it was barely a whisper, "..my brother....he...d-.." He looked into her eyes with the unmistakable sadness of someone who has lost someone very close to them.
Tears filled her eyes as she could feel his unbearable pain, dropping one over her right cheek as she started to shake slightly.
Libby wasn't used to sad feelings at all, for life had always been one big party for her. She didn't even realize how important her parents were to her, so having this intensive compassion for this boy was rather upsetting for her emotions.
He, when she began to cry, looked stunned that someone would actually cry about his problems. He quickly leaned over and hugged her gently, saying in his soft voice, not louder that last time, "no...don't cry for me...i'm not worth it...my emotions mean nothing."
A thrill of warmth waved over her body at the hug and goosebumps popped up all over her body at his voice, feeling her body weaken in his arms. She however managed to dry her eyes with her fists and swallow before she answered. "I.. I don't understand.."
Oliver, still hugging her, closed his eyes and said, "you don't understand what...?"
He inhaled deeply, trying to make himself not show his emotion any longer. However, he failed, and his sadness was still evident on his face. He pulled away from her and returned to holding her hands.
Libby's cheeks were flushed, giving color to her face as she stared at him. "I.. I!" she said, trying to figure out what it was exactly that she was trying to say.
The truth was she never really had any friends, people usually didn't like her because she was different, not to mention the friends she lost because she couldn't help stealing their fascinating items.
She never really cared though, she was too naive and easily satisfied to be burdened by emotional distress, yet with this boy it seemed different. "Do you want to do something fun!" she said spontaneously. It was all she could really think of as she couldn't bare seeing the sadness anymore.
Oliver looked surprised. "..fun..?" He tiled his head and looked at her. The sadness had been replaced by a now neutral expression with a hint of curiosity. He had talked to very few humans. He thought she was interesting. "..I've got an idea...if you're not afraid of heights." He stood up, his winds folded and still.
When Oliver stood up Libby stood up as well, she wasn't the smartest one around, but heights + winged boy seemed obvious to her as she immediately concluded he was going to take her on a flight.
She smiled widely "Sure! As long as I don't fall down I'm not afraid at all!"
Oliver picked her up, carrying her in his strong arms. His wings spread wide, and he leaped into the air, carrying them into the air. He took them higher and higher into the sky, then dropped suddenly, straight down. At the last moment, he went back up again to avoid the ground. He flew around with her a while, then landed somewhere on the outskirts of the village. He looked contented, as his sadness had been swept away for the time being.
Libby giggled as they suddenly flew, she had always dreamed of flying and it was indeed a great feeling. However, anxiousness came upon her as he wasn't just flying her above the ground, no, he was flying her higher and higher into the sky.
When he let both of them drop she held on tightly and screamed loudly, feeling scared for her life. When they, to her surprise, landed safely she was shaking all over, her tensed muscles not yet relaxing and her heart pounding fast.
Oliver looked at her, and looked slightly amused. He rested a hand on her shoulder, and said, "...are you okay?" His eyes glittered. The wing on the side Libby was on wrapped around her. He handed her a chocolate egg; it was white chocolate on the outside, milk chocolate on the inside, and caramel in the center.
She looked at him with shocked eyes, suddenly breathing again for she had forgot to do that for a little while now. Though somehow she started to relax more at his question and glittering eyes, feeling protected by the large beautiful wing she so desperately wished to add with her collection.
Suddenly he presented her with a chocolate egg. A gift? for her? She managed to forget about the shock she went through during the flight and gladly accepted the egg. "Thank you!" she said with a big smile. "Where did you get it?"
He appeared contented at her relaxation and her acceptance of the egg. He had not talked to anyone scince the death of his brother; it felt wonderful to be able to have someone to speak to. He, for the first time in a long time, felt happiness. He shrugged, then gave her a small smile. There was a scincerity to it.
The smell of fresh chocolate arose from the egg, already melting slightly in her warm hands. Without further hesitation she took a bite and enjoyed its rich creamy taste. "It's delicious! You should have a bite too!" she said offering him the bitten egg.
Chocolate was a delicacy and usually too expensive for commoners to buy, sure they could afford it, but commoners rather had two big loafs of bread or a new dress then a small piece of chocolate for their money.
He leaned over slowly, and took a small bite of it. He licked his lips happily afterwards. His eyes were like a child's after getting a new toy. His smile widened slightly, and his hand that had been resting on her shoulder moved, and twirled a strand of her hair. He closed his eyes and thought, 'ah, what an interesting person..'
She shared what was left of the egg with Oliver and ate it together.
Libby was quite flattered by the attention she was getting and looked at his staff. "You're really friendly, you gave me some really cool stuff so... Can I have that?" she said pointing at the staff with a sweet smile. She had no shame about the rude question, nor would she be satisfied until she had what was his.
After finishing the egg, he licked his lips. Then, at the staff question, he arched an eyebrow and stared at her. His hand swept away from her and went back to his side. His face went back to its neutral state. He looked away from her, into the distance. He sighed. He began to walk away without looking back at her.
The girl blinked in surprise and felt only slightly hurt. "W-wait! Where are you going?" she said rushing after him, if he wasn't going to give her the staff, she would have to stay around it so that she could some day take it. "Oliver!" she said loudly and took his hand. "Don't just leave me! We just met!"
He stood still for a moment, then looked at her. As she took his hand, he sighed and continued along the path. On the outskirts of the village, he released her hand and sat facing away from her, staring into the trees in deep thought. His staff lay accross his lap, and a stightly sad expression crossed his face. Happiness was such a short feeling for him, it allways seemed to dissapear as quickly as it had come. He truly wished that everything would stop reminding him that his brother was dead; it seemed everything related to him, somehow. He figured it was because he was with him so often.
Libby stared confused and followed him even after he released, sitting down beside him. She noticed he was sad again, maybe asking about the staff made him sad? she wondered...
But she still couldn't help but wanting the staff! "Hey! I got it! Why don't you come live with me?" she said with a big smile and hugged one of his wings softly. "Then I can keep your wings and staff with me without having to steal them!" she said with a big smile. There was no shame where she came from, but honesty had no boundaries either. Libby would never tell a lie, unless she'd be able to get a nice item by doing so.
He looked at her. His gaze was distant, as though he were staring through her. He mumbled something, but it was almost inaudiable. Then, he said quietly, "Why would anyone want me around....?" He got up again, and walked away. He felt she couldn't understand him if she tried; and there was a great few who could. He stopped, wondering if she would follow again. He looked back at her. His eyes were once again peircing, studying, analyzing.
Libby was way too determined on owning that staff and those wings to let him walk away like that, and followed him once more. She couldn't see the kind eyes she saw before anymore, leaving her to no other option but to frown childishly and hug him. "because I like you" she said with a sweet smile ad stared up at him with puppy eyes, definitely not behaving like her age. "Please..?"
He muttered something rather darkly and pushed her away, but not in a mean way. He looked at her seriously. "I know the only reason you want me around is because I have things that you want..." He looked at her darkly and said, "You just don't get it, do you..?"
Her head tilted to the right a little, she had yet to learn what it was like to care and love someone, or what it was like to lose them. She had left her parents for two years now and hadn't seen or even missed them since, she was just unaware of the importance of these relationships as she lifted her shoulders. "No.. not really? But I like it when you give me things and touch me, it's nice" she honestly admitted in pure innocence.
His gaze softened, and it was as if the barriers he put up to hide himself dissolved.
'She's so innocent...so much like I was then...'
His hand went up and stroked the side of her face gently. His hand was cool, and as the rest of him minus the gash on his arm, had no marks.
It was when he stroked her face again that she realized how much she had been smiling this day, her cheeks slightly hurting from the muscles used with smiling. His silence wasn't an uncommon thing but his eyes spoke all the necessary words. "So.. does that mean you'll stay with me?" she said happily accepting this face of his rather then the dark glare he gave before.
Oliver held his soft gaze, caring. He did not retract his hand this time, he let it linger. The slightest hints of a smile crossed his face. "I just may."
"Aaaallrighty then!" she said enthusiastic and grabbed his hand, only to start heading back home already. "It's really small, and filled with lots of valuables mind you, so don't even think about stealing" she said with a wink and started skipping, her dress that stopped at her knees fluttering because of the motion.
Oliver followed her without much hesitation. He looked completly confused on how she was moving...'humans are so odd...' he thought. Following still, he shook his head. 'Ah, lets just pretend I know what she's doing.'
At last they arrived at her humble little shack, a small house with only one room. Every corner and edge was filled with all kind of souvenirs she had found or stolen, varying from interesting to valuable, though the only value it had for her was the fact it was pretty.
In between the mess that was her collection lay her bed and a small stove and table, not even a chair. "Welcome inside" she opened the door and showed him inside, closing the door immediately and sat down on her bed. "Do you like it?"
Oliver nodded. He then said in his quiet voice, "I've never been in a house before...interesting." He began to pick up and examine various items in her house, looking curious.
She kept a close eye on him as he picked up her items. They were her belongings after all, and she didn't want others stealing it. She was so focused on protecting her 'property' that she forgot to pay attention to what he was saying until she remembered later on.
"Not in a house before? How come?" she said surprised. She couldn't imagine a life living in any other place then a house.
He looked up when she talked. "ah..well, I live in the forest, you see. I've never lived, nor been in, a house, or a village for that matter." He put down the item he was examining, and looked around a bit more.
"Well this isn't an ordinary house! My house is unique, none of the other houses are like it!" she spoke proudly of her house and lay on the bed to stretch, followed by her stomach grumbling. "That time of noon again..." she spoke hungry as it was already five PM. "Let's go out, we have to get our stomachs filled."
He looked curious about the house comment. "special.,.?" When she said they were going out to eat, he just followed her. He knew little, and apparently, she knew something.
She guided him to a small café in town that served meals, still having some stolen money on her she was perfectly able to afford dinner for both of them.
"let's sit inside, in the corner" she said wanting to keep their presence silent as she guided him to a table for two in the corner of the café. There was a menu on the table. "I'll have a soup today, pick anything you like, it's on me." she said friendly, money had no meaning to her for she easily stole some more.
The truth was she had always been lucky, never before did anyone suspect her or catch her in the act.
He shook his head when she asked what he wanted. "I'm...not hungry..but thank you for asking." He gazed around the cafe.
She raised her eyebrows. "How can you not be hungry? You've eaten just as much as I have and I'm starving!"
He sighed when she said that. "Eh...I don't eat much, really..."
It was true. Another effect of his greif was to not eat as much; but it didn't bother him much. He wasn't used to eating with others, and he knew that his table manners were probabaly horrid.
"Well you're going to eat now, if you like it or not!" she said and whistled for the waiter to come. "Two soup menu's please" Libby kindly smiled to the waiter and watched him walk off to the kitchen. "So how did you get the wings?"
Well, apparently he was eating. He also watched the waiter and guessed that they brought food to them. He looked around once more. He looked at her when she asked about his wings. Should she tell her that he was a shapeshifter? Ah, probabaly not. "...'get them..?' They aren't something you can exactly...'get.' It's like me asking to you, 'How did you get your hands?'"
"Oooooooooooh, so you were born with them! Why didn't you say so in the first place?" she said feeling a little silly. It wasn't long until the waiter arrived with their soups, serving them along with spoons. "THaaank you!" Libby immediately started eating, it was lovely to eat soup again.
Oliver didn't know what to say. When she started eating the soup, he just stared at it. What was this...food? 'Soup'? "huh?" He picked up the spoon. "Is this what i eat with?" he said, talking to himself.
Libby was quite the quiet one when eating, she was too focused on enjoying the taste of the food and eating it all too be bothered talking. She was quite the eater as she had already finished half her bowl.
Oliver continued staring at the soup. He wondered what it tasted like, but at the same time, he didn't want to offend anyone with his table manners, or lack thereof.
He examined the spoon. He did not touch the soup.
After finishing her bowl she noticed Oliver hadn't even touched his own. "Well go on! eat!" she said with a high voice. "it's rather rude if you don't eat it!"
Oliver looked at it, then at her, and said in a confused voice, "What is this food?" He held up the spoon. "And what is this?" He felt very foolish, for he knew probabaly every human knew what they were. Exept, he was stupid.
"It's soup, duh" she said with wide opened eyes raising one eyebrow. "Just stick the spoon in your mouth and chew on the food, swallow the liquid. I can't believe you never had soup before!"
Oliver looked at the food, then picked the bowl up slowly. He slurped a little of it, then dumped the ENTIRE bowl of soup into his mouth, and swallowed. Such a feat was not possible for a normal human; he looked around to see if anyone was watching.
Libby stared with open eyes "whoaa!" she said softly as she stared in amazement, Oliver looking around anxiously before spotting her expression. A smile appeared on her face "That was awesome! How did you do that!" she said rather loud and excited.
He felt releived that his eating habits were not considered bad. "Well....I can do things that most people can't, really. I'll show you something more, if you want..." He smiled a little. Maybe he could trust her with his secret. Or, maybe not.
"Well, Yeah!!! That would be great!" she said enthusiastic and jumped up from her chair. "let me go pay" she said and hurried to the butler to pay for the meal, only to rush back and take Oliver outside by the hand. "Alright, show me!" she smiled once they were outside, her cheeks hurting from all the smiling she did.
As oliver was dragged outside, he wondered what he should do. He thought for a moment, then he ran inhumanly fast down the path, then back to where he was. Then, he said, "How about that?" Then, he leaped into the air, and started flying and doing tricks high in the air, twirling, looping. He landed infront of her and said, "How was it"
Libby stared in amazement at oliver, her eyes twinkling at the great performance. "That was- whoa! Can you teach me??? Oh please?" she said enthusiastic and started bouncing with energy.
He looked at her in an amused way. He thought that was rather normal....bu the guessed not now. "I can't teach you...sorry...i'm...uh, different." He didn't know how else to put it.
"Ohh..? You don't look different! Well... except for the wings.." she said with half a smile.
The sun was going down already, making room for an orange sky with only little faded away clouds. "So... you want to spend the night at my place?"
A hint of a smile crossed his lips as she said he didn't look different. Sure, he didn't look it, but, he definatly was. When she asked if he wanted to spend the night, he shrugged. "Well...ok."
"Good" he yawned, stretching her arms a bit. "Let's go hunt treasure in the forests! Bandits sometimes drop gorgeous things in their hurry to escape! You know, the types that rob carriages and traveling merchants without a shame!" she said rather adventurous, yet curious to see if his skills at searching valuables was as rich as his ability of flight.
Oliver frowned slightly at the mention of bandits and stealing. He looked at her and said, "...you should know something about me. The only things I own are this staff and the clothes I wear. These are the only things that I have ever owned, and the only things i ever plan on owning, unless something is given to me. I...have a power that would probabaly allow me to steal or find near anything without much trouble. But, I dont use it in that way." He hadn't talked that much for a long time. He sighed.
Even a blind man could see Libby's disappointment clearly, as her face seemed saddened yet lifeless. The silence in their conversation that followed didn't help either, the two just walking a random direction automatically towards home. Suddenly Libby frowned a bit and crossed her arms. "Alright, so what do you propose we should do.
Oliver wished he could share his powers of shapeshifting, however, that was obviously impossible. He sighed. He realized that they had automatically been walking the direction of her house. Eh, it was already habit. When she asked what they should do, he sighed again. "What do YOU think we should do?"
Libby frowned and stepped in front of him, facing him and stopped walking. "Why would I effort on thinking of an idea if you're just going to refuse it anyway! YOU think of something!" she said agitated. The truth was she wasn't used to being around someone anymore and was addicted to spotting things and getting them, the fact she spotted his wings and staff all the time annoyed her since she would most likely be unable to steal from him.
He raised an eyebrow at her annoyance. Well, this was going nowhere. He looked thoughtful for a moment, then said, "Well, If we go inside, I can let you in on a little secret. How about that?"
Her eyes spread open in amazement, her whole body seemed to relax and her shoulders hung limb. Was he for real? A secret? her mood suddenly changed and a small smile appeared on her face. "Sure!"
Libby took him by the hand and guided him inside her home, both seating themselves on her bed. "Okay! Tell me!"
Oliver was happy there was something he said that could make her happy, but how did he explain that he was a shapeshifter? He looked thoughtful, then said, "Alright. But, I'll have to show you rather than tell you." He got off the bed and found a somewhat-clear space, then turned into a white wolf. He then turned into a fox, then a human again. He said, "Well, that's it."
She blinked a bit in amazement, she thought she had seen it all when she saw Oliver's tricks before, but this? This was even more out of her league. "How did you" she said with wide open blinking eyes, pointing at him "just? the wolf? fox? huh?" she was obviously confused and put her free hand on her forehead.
Oliver smiled a bit at her confusion. It was interesting, for once he wasn't the one being confused. "I can be anything. I am a shapeshifter." He looked concerned for a moment, then said, "Just, don't tell anyone."
Libby couldn't believe what she was hearing "So, you can turn yourself into a teapot? if you want to?" she said in disbelief and curiosity.
Oliver nodded. "Yes, a teapot. A chair. An elephant, anything really." He smiled. "You think it's cool?"
Her eyes spread open in disbelief, followed by a naive squeak with a big grin "Really!! That's so cool!" she said suddenly grabbing his hands and jumping up and down.
Oliver was amused at her reaction. He never thought he was really special or anything. He watched her jump up and down, and chuckled. He said, "What should I turn into now?"
"A dog!! A dog!! I love dogs!" She said happily and watched him turn into a big golden retriever. She grinned ever so widely and hugged him tight, letting her body lean against him as she petted his fur "Yay!"
(OOC: It's getting boring, can you make the thread open so someone could join in?)
Oliver turned back into a person, eyes gleaming. He never thought it was special that he could shapeshift. Being someone interesting was nice. He yawned. He sat down. "...I'm going to sleep." He layed down and closed his eyes.
Libby stared at the shape shifter, he had made himself pretty much at home in her bed. She looked around and sighed, trying out various places to sleep herself but she just couldn't get comfortable. For a moment she hesitated, would it be safe to leave 'her' belongings behind with Oliver without him stealing it? For she wasn't sleepy at all and wanted to take a walk.
She stood at the door opening for a while, not trusting him she locked him in and went outside for a walk.