(Untitled)

[shipshape_jimbo]

Who: Jim + Open to any
What: Taking the day off
Where: Agrabah Marketplace
When: Saturday, around noon.
Warnings: None

Comments

i just want to say, i <3 JGL lol

[m_liliiflora]

The Marketplace was just as lively as always. It was full of people and chatter, booths with food and trinkets and scam artists and bootlegs were around every corner. Though that was never a surprise.

She threw the paper carton from her shrimp yakibon snack into the trash. She patted her shoulder bag to make sure all her belongings were there and secured before she started to walk out and head back to Chinatown.

"Hm?" she turned her head slightly, becoming distracted by the sword booth. She slowly walked up to it, looking up at one of the blades that sat on the tables under the glass. It was a strange looking piece of weaponry, being dented and curved like it was damaged. At the same time, it was very possible that it was purposely crafted like that, which was strange in itself. Why would someone do that?

It was definitely the genuine deal. At least it looked genuine as she was pretty good at picking out the fakes.

^_^

[shipshape_jimbo]

Having moved past the booths he had paused at, Jim made his way around the end of the row to move down the next line of stalls, eyes getting pulled in the direction of the swords.

Head tilting the slightest bit, Jim's gaze flickered to a garbage can momentarily as he tossed away the remains of his meal, slowly strolling over. He watched a young woman peer at the swords inside the glass display case and as he got closer, his own gaze ran over the sword in question, eyebrows knitting a bit as he looked at the odd shaped weapon.

"Kind of pointless..." He murmured, not really realizing he had said it out loud as he paused to the right of the girl, eying the sword. "Though I guess it could do some damage, curved like it is and all." It was then that Jim realized what he had said could be heard by the girl and he snapped his mouth shut, shoving his hands deep into his pockets.

Smooth.

[m_liliiflora]

Mulan thought she had seen it before. Either in a book. Either that, this really was a copy. She wasn't sure. She began to raise her hand slowly toward the sword, wanting so much to break it out of its cage and hold it.

She stopped though, her her hand barely getting anywhere past the table as she was broken out of her trance by the boy who suddenly spoke. She blinked at him. Was he speaking to her? Or was he speaking to himself?

"I guess," she shrugged, "It definitely would hurt more, but it doesn't look like it would cut or slice well. At least not so easily."

[shipshape_jimbo]

Great. He had started a conversation without meaning too...or had he meant too? Whatever the case, she was talking to him; there was no just walking away now.

"...I guess it would depend on the force behind it." Jim murmured, absently pushing his hands forward, further into his pockets. His eyes darted from the sword to the girl before he adverted his gaze again, head tilting as he studied the sword, or at least pretended too.

Swords had really never been his cup of tea after all.

"Think it's real?"

[m_liliiflora]

He eyed him momentarily, noticing his movements. So maybe he was just talking to himself moments ago. He didn't seem like he wanted to make friendly after all.

She continued the conversation anyway.

"I'm actually don't know with this one. It's a really weird," she lean down a little and eyed the sword more carefully, "I think its a fake now that I have a closer look." She looked at him, "Do you have a opinion?"

[shipshape_jimbo]

Blinking, he glanced at the girl again before taking an almost hesitant step forward, hand sliding from his pocket as his arm rested on the display case. He leaned over a bit to get a better look, eyes roaming over the length of the blade and the hilt, narrowing some.

"..It is weird...It would probably be easier to tell if you were holding it. My first impression was that it was fake but..." Leaning back, Jim glanced around for any sign of the vendor. "..I wonder if they'd let us take it out."

[m_liliiflora]

"That's the better way to tell," she nodded. That way you could feel the blade and how it was crafted. You would be able to get a better view on how it was made, eye at every single grain instead of looking at it when it was under some glass shield.

"Probably not," she replied. She knew for sure that they weren't going to show it to some 'kids' who clearly didn't have a lot of money.

She narrowed her black eyes at him.

Was he going to...?

[shipshape_jimbo]

Never the one for manners, and considering where he now lived, Jim's other hand came free from his pocket. The vendor was busy with another customer on the other side of the stall so..well...open invitation right?

Reaching over, the dark haired teen slid the glass case open and fished the sword out, carefully pulling it from its stand and working it out of the case.

"Huh..." He murmured, adjusting it in his grip, eying the crooked blade. "I figured it would feel lighter than it does..." Glancing at the girl beside him, he turned, offering the blade to her.

[m_liliiflora]

Her eyes immediately widened at the other boy. "What are you doing?" she asked in a worried tone, but at the same time, she managed to keep her voice low so the merchant wouldn't notice what he was doing.

But he already took it out and she couldn't help but eyed it curiously. She glanced at him and then back at the sword again. Almost magnetically, her hands reached out to what he was offering her.

Her fingers clasped over the handle, while the the blade laid heavy on her other hand and the metal feeling cool to her skin.

Mulan eyed it carefully at the metal and craftmanship. Before she could analyze it further, an immediate shock caused her to suddenly gasp, feeling as if her mind was hit hard. She took a step back and fumbling on her grasped on the sword before she finally dropped it.

Clang!

Shoot.

[shipshape_jimbo]

Wincing as soon as the sword was dropped, Jim didn't even think as he grabbed a hold of the girl's arm and tugged her away from the booth, trying to look casual as the stall's vendor whirled around. The man was obviously not happy that his merchandise had been tampered with, scooping the sword up and waving it around as he look about for those responsible.

Jim glanced back, snorting faintly before his eyes dropped to the girl beside him. He felt the urge to frown, a bit annoyed that she had dropped it like she had but..it had looked like something had happened to her.

"You okay?" He murmured, eyebrow lifting as he finally let go of her arm.

[m_liliiflora]

"Crap," she muttered, breathing heavily. She massaged her temple slowly, trying to recover from the shock.

"Sorry about that. I don't know what happened back there." She couldn't explain it at least. At the time, she held the sword, a weird feeling or energy came to her slowly and smacked her all at once, nearly knocking her off her balance. It was...overwhelming. "Doesn't help that I'm clumsy either."

At the same time, she had an overwhelming of deja vu...like she held that sword before. Maybe it was a fake then.

"I should be fine though," she assured him as she slowly recovered, "Uh thanks, um, what's your name?"

[shipshape_jimbo]

"No problem." Um, what's your name? "Jim. Hawkins that is. You?" He murmured in response, unconciously looking around again as if worried that someone had spotted them or was following. Once sure that they were safe, dark eyes focused on the girl once more as both his hands returned to the safety of his pockets.

"You looked like something was hurting your head back there." It was just an observation really, Jim having gotten pretty good at catching the fleeting expressions on sailors faces and what have you. Even now, she seemed almost..off in a sense. "Didn't cut yourself when you dropped the sword or anything right?"

Worried? Maybe. He was good at hiding any real emotions he had though; casual appearances were easy to put up on whim.

[m_liliiflora]

His voice was too low, but she barely managed to catch it. She only nodded, before she realized he asked for hers as well.

"It's Mulan," she replied, before adding, "Hua."

Her black eyes then looked around to see any signs of an angry merchant with a sword. She sighed in relief when there was none in sight. She could only imagine what would happen if she got caught. She scrunched her nose thinking about it. Her father and mother would have her head.

"Cuts?" She looked down at her hands to see a faint line to the right and south of her thumb. "I'm all right. Nothing in need of a band aid." And thank God.

[shipshape_jimbo]

For some reason Mulan screamed scatterbrained to him..but maybe that was him just jumping to conclusions.

"Good." Wonderful. Now he was out of things to say. Wasn't this a delightfully awkward situation? Glancing down at the girl beside him momentarily, he quickly adverted his gaze again absently playing with the coins resting inside his pockets. Come on Jim, think of something to say before she thinks you're weird or something. Wasn't the point of this day to try and be more..social or something? "So..what made you drop the sword? Deja vu?" He said in almost a teasing manner.

Deja vu...heh. It was just a word. Didn't really happen as far as Jim was concerned. Jerk.

[m_liliiflora]

"Something like that," she said in a light tone in a joking matter, giving a light chuckle soon afterwards. At the same she was serious, but she wasn't going to show it to him. He didn't know exactly how true his words were.

"I don't really know. It was..weird," she said honestly, not really comfortable in going into the details. He probably would think she was a nut or something.

She shook her head and gave a sigh, "It's gone now, at least."

[shipshape_jimbo]

He nodded in response, absently looking around again before once more his eyes fell on Mulan. Just can't stop looking can he? Jim had always been bad at social situations, so bad in fact that he usually just walked away from them and the urge now was stronger than ever. But the dark haired teen kept paced beside the girl, head tilting slightly.

"What do you mean by weird? Good weird or bad weird?" He stopped himself from saying anything more just yet, not wanting to seem like he was prying or babbling. Shrugging, he looked away and busied himself with watching a man who was entertaining a crowd with his painting. "Just curious and all..."