Beauty of the Heart

[Solomon the Prophet]

Zen: *English is pretty good, you learn how to write good* I mentally face palm, write good, wonderful, bad vocab.


Venir: "Don't worry, they don't shoot up shops or rob homes or anything like that, they're just a bunch of kids who have issues they're working through." Most of that was right, half of it was not. I only know my own gang, we only attack the other gang, and really its because they started a feud with us. The worst we get is leaving the radio on loud all night, and that's only on weekends. most of the time we're just talking and hanging out. It's almost like one of them support groups, but we don't call it that, it sounds lame, being a gang sounds much cooler, but it also attracted bad attention.

 

[Tinker Bell]

Rhys smiled. "I'm a decent writer." He signed. "Are you?" He asked. He didn't care that his vocabulary wasn't that good. He understood.


Devan relaxed a little bit. "O-Oh...o-okay." He said quietly. He felt less nervous now, but he was still nervous about the idea of it all.

 

[Solomon the Prophet]

Zen: *Decent enough, I know how to rhyme and how to H-I-K-U* I spell out haiku as best I can. Then realize I don't know how to spell haiku. Oh well.


Venir: "Want to get some coffee?" I ask.

 

[Tinker Bell]

Rhys smiled a bit more. "H-A-I-K-U." He corrected. "I find them weird. But maybe that's because I suck at writing them." He signed with another smile.


Devan had no idea what to say. He knew that turning him down was probably rude and a likely chance that he'd lose the one almost-friend that he had. "I, um, I don't like...I don't like coffee." He said finally. Not to mention most places didn't allow dogs inside.


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[Solomon the Prophet]

Zen: *I can write one, it isn't too hard to do, I wrote a h-a-i-k-u.* I grin, yup haiku.


Venir: "They've got hot chocolate, and outdoor seating, nice view of the park and everything," I say, pointing to the cafe.

 

[Tinker Bell]

Rhys smiled a bit. "That was beautiful." He said. He was really starting to like this guy, he was fun. However, Rhys looked down at his watch. "I should go. The class I'm teaching starts in, like, 5 minutes."


Devan felt like he couldn't back out now. "Okay." He was just a bit embarrassed, but he didn't know why. Maybe it was because he was so afraid of screwing this up.

 

[Solomon the Prophet]

Zen: *okay, can we hang out after?* I liked talking with him, then again he may not want to, anything could happen.


Venir: "You don't have to if you don't want to. I'm not trying to twist your arm or anything." I really did not want to screw this up, it would be nice to have one friend outside the gang.

 

[Tinker Bell]

Rhys smiled at the idea. "I'd love that. I have two classes today that are each an hour long. How long do you usually stay here?" He didn't know how long private classes went.


Devan started to feel bad about being nervous. "N-No, I, um, I want to." He said after a moment. He didn't want to make Venir feel bad and he really didn't have anything planned, so what was the harm?


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[Solomon the Prophet]

zen: *I tend to stay for few hours, longer if something cool is going on. I don't take very long.* I say, *Do you like tea or coffee better?*


Venir: "Okay," I straighten up, "I'll pay."

 

[Tinker Bell]

Rhys smiled a bit more. "Awesome." He was excited for this. "Tea." He signed. "Definitely tea."


Devan couldn't help it when he felt his face get warm again, although he tried to hide it. "O-Okay." He hadn't expected that bit.

 

[Solomon the Prophet]

Zen: *okay, I've got to get to class too," I say happily. *Can I meet you here after?*


Venir: "This way," I head to the cafe.

 

[Tinker Bell]

Rhys nodded a little bit. "Yeah, of course. See you then." Then he headed to the classroom he taught in and smiled when he saw everyone in the class already there.


Devan followed him, Brutus walking beside him. He was glad that the dog was well-behaved.


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[Solomon the Prophet]

Zen: I go to class, excited for once.


Venir: I walk into the cafe and get in line. A great big black Dane lay curled up in a giant dog bed in the corner near the door. Her name is Sally Louis, Nara Louis is the owner of the shop and companion of Little Sally. Zen often dogsitted when Nara leaves town. "Hi Sally," I wave to the Dane.

 

[Tinker Bell]

Rhys taught his two classes, not talking at all. This late in the game, he didn't. When it was over, he walked the halls looking for Zen.


Devan couldn't go inside. He didn't really trust Brutus in this town yet and he didn't want to be responsible for something going wrong. So he waited outside. Brutus seemed to notice the other dog and he had to get him at least away from the door so he didn't try to get inside.

 

[Solomon the Prophet]

Zen: Finished his class and stood in the hall outside the room they met in. He half expected to be ditched, but he saw Rhys and waved.


Venir: I look back at Devan, "Little Sally's a nice dog, you can bring him in."

 

[Tinker Bell]

Rhys waved back and walked up to Zen. "Hey, so what do you want to do?" He asked with a smile.


Devan bit his lip when Venir said he could bring Brutus inside. "It, um, it's not her I'm worried about." He said finally. He didn't want Brutus to do anything.


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[Solomon the Prophet]

Zen: *Let's get tea, I know the perfect place, more types of tea than any shop in town.*


Venir: "Okay, if you're sure, do you want whipped cream on yours?"

 

[Tinker Bell]

Rhys smiled a bit. "Sounds good to me." He signed with a smile. "Lead the way." He added.


Devan thought about it. "I'm sure." Brutus tended to get over excited sometimes. "Um, no thanks." He didn't like whipped cream No in hot chocolate anyway.

 

[Solomon the Prophet]

Zen: *Okay* I lead the way to the shop, my father's shop. The place best known for it's tea, but only in the right circles. It's only a few blocks away from the school, twice as many blocks from the hearing school.


Venir: "Okay," i get the two drinks and take them outside to one of the iron and glass table. Pretty tables, some of them don't have glass, that happened during the last big earth quake.

 

[Tinker Bell]

Rhys followed him and looked around the shop when they made it. He made sure Zen could see him before signing. "I've never heard of this place before." It wasn't that big. "How do you know about it?"


Devan waited for Venir. He followed him to a table and got Brutus to sit down too. "Thank you." He said quietly. Venir was likely the nicest person he'd met in awhile. Although he didn't really talk to many people to have that mean much to others.


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[Solomon the Prophet]

Zen: *My father's shop, people only hear about it in the right circles, and unfortunately some of the wrong circles. Different sub-communities know about it, mostly wiccan and witch communities. As far as I know, the 'witches' aren't magical, they just believe they are. Even so, some just stumble upon his shop sometimes and end up coming back.* I shrug ad hold the door open for him.


Venir: "You're welcome," I sip my tea looking out on the park. Tea wasn't the best breakfast make, but it is better than nothing, which I usually have for breakfast. I like mornings, but I hate waking up for them.

 

[Tinker Bell]

Rhys slowly walked inside and looked around. "This place is cool." He signed with a smile. "My mom used to be absolutely obsessed with wiccan things, but she toned it down when I was born. Apparently dad thought kids would make fun of me for it. Then add the fact that I'm deaf, she figured it best."


Devan waited for the drink to cool down before he took a sip. Brutus had laid down under the table at his feet. Devan felt like he had to say something. Only nothing was coming to mind. He bit his lip as he struggled. He had no idea what to say. He hated feeling awkward, it only made things worse for him.

 

[Solomon the Prophet]

Zen: *I grew up in this shop, these people are my friends,* I motion to the wiccan ladies sitting in the tea half of the shop and those browsing the candles and crystals and stuff. Technically they were his dad's friends, but he didn't really know the right signs for that. *I know them well.* Sort of. I know some of them decently, but each on had their own different eccentricity, it's interesting. Some almost catch their homes on fire with the amount of candles they light, others end up under an avalanche of crystals only to claim their magic saved them from serious harm, others only have one crystal as tall as they are. I don' know how they get the money to buy such things.


Venir: Completely unaware of Devan predicament) I watch the cars role by as they head to work or home or shopping, at least half would be going to the mall, what else would worriless teens do over the summer but waste all the money they earned during school?

 

[Tinker Bell]

Rhys smiled. "That's really cool." He signed. "I basically grew up at the local college. Both of my parents are professors there." He added. He looked around the shop more. "Do you have any siblings or is it just you and your dad?" He asked after a moment.


Devan slowly sipped at his drink, but he continued to feel awkward about the whole thing. He just wished it wasn't so hard to figure out what to say to him.

 

[Solomon the Prophet]

Zen: *I have a twin brother, but we don't act anything alike.* I go over to the counter where father is. "Father, I'd like you to meet my friend Rhis." I say and sign.


"I think it's pronounced Rhys, Zen." Father asks. "Long I, how do I say nice to meet you?" I show him the signs and he copies as best he can.


Venir: "Ever wonder how a tree grow from a tiny little seed? Or why flowers blood on cherry trees that will never bare fruit?"