Lisbeth is not someone who celebrates Valentine's day. All the kids at school get really into it and she does not mainly because when all the cards are handed out she doesn't get any nor does she give any. The exception is of course Taiki. Like most things Taiki is the exception to the rule. Her mama's boss was getting rid of a whole bunch of old card stock and Valentine's that he had been saving since his dad ran the store. It's where Lisbeth found the card to put in Taiki's Valentine's box.
Taiki has received three(!!) Valentines this year! He's very excited. One from Lisbeth, one from his mother, and one from the little girl in his closet. Well... The one from the little girl in his closet is just a blank slip of paper, but it's the thought that counts.
Chiyako suggest Taiki take Lisbeth some cookies but the little boy gives his mother a dubious look -- he's pretty sure that's a girl thing to do. However Chiyako insists that he can just give them to her as a friend, especially since they went to all the trouble of making them.
And so he does. Taiki troops through the ultra-safe streets of Swepan to deliver Lisbeth's Valentine: sweets and a super glittery handcrafted card similar in design to his envelope.
Lisbeth doesn't have anything (or anyone) who lives in her closet but she has to imagine that having a little girl living in your closet has to be unsettling at times. It's very nice of her to send him a Valentine though. Even if it is creepy.
It is Saturday morning. Lisbeth's mama slept in and then got up to takes Camilla to the store to get . . . Something. Lisbeth doesn't care. She has the apartment all to herself so she is doing a little bit of cleaning, namely the dishes and making sure all the clothes are picked up and tossed in the laundry basket. The trash gets tossed away as well before taking a seat out on the front with an apple.
Taiki, Kishiko, and her little dog all have a great time! One of these days Taiki will make introductions all around -- he's told his closet-friend quite a lot about Lisbeth and she's very interested. Besides, creepy is relative...
He has never been to Lisbeth's before but somehow knows exactly where he's going. Shrugging his backpack into place, Taiki moves steadily down the sidewalk. Lisbeth is out front and he marches right up, on a mission.
"Hello. Thank you for the card." First thing is first: manners.
She's got a dog too? She has a dog and they all live in the closet? That has to get cramped in there, just saying. Creepy is relative, but there has to be a universal creepy and maybe it's that.
Looking up from her book she peers at Taiki and then nods her response. "You're welcome."
The dog's name is Ume because he was found around plum trees. He's small and happy and funny, just like his master. Taiki would be disappointed to know that Lisbeth thinks they're creepy.
"I have things for you." In one motion Taiki pulls his bag off and drops down to sit on his knees. He unzips the backpack and starts rummaging around -- out comes a super glittery heart card with a red ribbon hanger and a plastic container full of homemade chocolate and vanilla cookies. "Here. The card is for Valentine's Day but the cookies are just because. They're good, we made them last night." He offers them up, still seated on the ground right in front of Lisbeth.
She would have to know the whole story. Just hearing that he's got a little girl and dog in his closet, well the mind can jump to some pretty wild things. However if Taiki thinks that they are good people, er, spirits then Lisbeth will probably like them as well.
Taking the card she opens it and takes a look at it before looking at him and the container of cookies. He certainly did come prepared didn't he? She takes the container as well and puts the container on her lap. "Sit on the stairs," she pats the stairs next to her and opens the container to have a cookie and offers one to him as well.
"Reading," she tells him after she takes a bite of the cookie. The cookies are pretty good, well, really good, she's hungry and so the cookies will not last long. Long enough anyway.
Shifting she opens the comic book, it's a book, The Adventure of Tintin. Which is mostly pictures and some words cleanly translated into Swedish.
Taiki takes a sizable chunk out of the cookie himself. He ate lunch but now he's hungry again...
Peering over at the book, Taiki curiously looks at the pages. He can't read the text but the cartoons are interesting enough. If he had better comprehension he might even be able to puzzle together what was happening by movements and expressions; however that is something he'll always have trouble with.
"...What are they doing?" He licks his fingers to clean them before pointing to the orange haired boy and his white dog.
This is the story about Tintin in Tibet. Lisbeth isn't bothered by him looking over her shoulder and asking questions about what she's reading. If it was anyone else she might be annoyed but as it stands she rather likes showing and explaining what is going on in the comic.
"That is Tintin," she points to the boy and then points to the little white dog. "That is Snowy, his dog." She points and explains the other two characters as well, Captain Haddock and the Sherpa Tharkey. "They are in Tibet and they are in the Himalayas looking for Tintin's friend, Chang Chong-Chen who police believed died in a plane crash."
"...Did he?" Taiki looks from the book up to Lisbeth, intrigued. It's a mystery! He wonders if he can check these books out in Japanese from the wonderful Swepan Library...
Another Not-A-Valentine-Cookie is offered to Lisbeth.
"Do you really want to know?" She can give away the ending this is not the first time she read this book so she knows the ending. Still, some people really want to know the ending and other people don't.
Reaching over she takes the second cookie offered and takes a bite.
Taiki thinks seriously on this for several moments. He wants to know but on the other hand he wants to know how it happens. Unfortunately he doesn't understand Swedish. This is a real dilemma!
"How do you read this?" He points to some of the words, finally making up his mind. If you don't know something, and you want to know something, then you should probably learn.
He almost asks if Lisbeth likes the cookies but decides that she would not eat them if she thought they were bad. Taiki wiggles his toes in his white canvas shoes and puts the container next to her.
How does she read this? It's an odd sort of question that she has to think about for a moment. "From left to right," she finally begins and then points to the words. "Each letter, each clump of letters makes specific sounds. I can read it to you out loud and might notice patterns." It's all well and good to know how to read and what words mean but it's completely different to teach someone else how to read.
Still, she thinks all of her teachers are morons.
"The pictures help, you can tell what is going on in the story because of the pictures. You can see Tintin is going up in the mountains with his crew. That it's snowing and that it is very cold."
He concentrates on what she says, following along. Japanese is much easier. His comprehension is good for a six (and a half) year old -though not as well as he thinks it is. Taiki looks from Tintin and the snowy scene, to Lisbeth, and then to her aura, thinking hard for a while before finally speaking up.
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Chiyako suggest Taiki take Lisbeth some cookies but the little boy gives his mother a dubious look -- he's pretty sure that's a girl thing to do. However Chiyako insists that he can just give them to her as a friend, especially since they went to all the trouble of making them.
And so he does. Taiki troops through the ultra-safe streets of Swepan to deliver Lisbeth's Valentine: sweets and a super glittery handcrafted card similar in design to his envelope.
Reply
It is Saturday morning. Lisbeth's mama slept in and then got up to takes Camilla to the store to get . . . Something. Lisbeth doesn't care. She has the apartment all to herself so she is doing a little bit of cleaning, namely the dishes and making sure all the clothes are picked up and tossed in the laundry basket. The trash gets tossed away as well before taking a seat out on the front with an apple.
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He has never been to Lisbeth's before but somehow knows exactly where he's going. Shrugging his backpack into place, Taiki moves steadily down the sidewalk. Lisbeth is out front and he marches right up, on a mission.
"Hello. Thank you for the card." First thing is first: manners.
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Looking up from her book she peers at Taiki and then nods her response. "You're welcome."
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"I have things for you." In one motion Taiki pulls his bag off and drops down to sit on his knees. He unzips the backpack and starts rummaging around -- out comes a super glittery heart card with a red ribbon hanger and a plastic container full of homemade chocolate and vanilla cookies. "Here. The card is for Valentine's Day but the cookies are just because. They're good, we made them last night." He offers them up, still seated on the ground right in front of Lisbeth.
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Taking the card she opens it and takes a look at it before looking at him and the container of cookies. He certainly did come prepared didn't he? She takes the container as well and puts the container on her lap. "Sit on the stairs," she pats the stairs next to her and opens the container to have a cookie and offers one to him as well.
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He obeys and shifts to the stairs, taking the cookie and thanking her -- he was comfortable enough on the ground but Lisbeth told him to relocate.
"What are you doing?"
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Shifting she opens the comic book, it's a book, The Adventure of Tintin. Which is mostly pictures and some words cleanly translated into Swedish.
Reply
Peering over at the book, Taiki curiously looks at the pages. He can't read the text but the cartoons are interesting enough. If he had better comprehension he might even be able to puzzle together what was happening by movements and expressions; however that is something he'll always have trouble with.
"...What are they doing?" He licks his fingers to clean them before pointing to the orange haired boy and his white dog.
Reply
"That is Tintin," she points to the boy and then points to the little white dog. "That is Snowy, his dog." She points and explains the other two characters as well, Captain Haddock and the Sherpa Tharkey. "They are in Tibet and they are in the Himalayas looking for Tintin's friend, Chang Chong-Chen who police believed died in a plane crash."
Reply
Another Not-A-Valentine-Cookie is offered to Lisbeth.
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Reaching over she takes the second cookie offered and takes a bite.
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"How do you read this?" He points to some of the words, finally making up his mind. If you don't know something, and you want to know something, then you should probably learn.
He almost asks if Lisbeth likes the cookies but decides that she would not eat them if she thought they were bad. Taiki wiggles his toes in his white canvas shoes and puts the container next to her.
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Still, she thinks all of her teachers are morons.
"The pictures help, you can tell what is going on in the story because of the pictures. You can see Tintin is going up in the mountains with his crew. That it's snowing and that it is very cold."
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"What does Lisbeth want to do?"
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