[jobiehanna]

Rufus chuckled, sensing some kind of amusement on the other girl's face. "Oh, I gotcha," she said with a playful smile. It was kind of silly of her to get flustered like she had. And she understood where the other was coming from, she teased her guy friends about that kind of stuff all the time, but wasn't used to it when it was switched the other way around. Rufus was usually the girl in Kusu's position.

Rufus couldn't help but laugh at the man's reaction to the other girl speaking for him. It was amusing to see the way they reacted with each other. He seemed so quite and antisocial, while she was bubbly and social, or at least that's how Rufus viewed it. "It's alright," she said with a smile. "I'm Rufus, by the way," she added, more to the girl than to the man. The girl seemed like she'd accept conversation better. She cast a quick glance his way. Talking to Ellie, or whatever his name was, was almost like talking to a rock, it seemed.

{2.8}

[Atoli01]

There wasn't any really any need for me to reply to the girl's introduction. After all... she knew my name, I knew her's, so there really wasn't much to say about that. "I'm sorry again..." Kusu said with a sigh and bowed slightly before continuing. "But it's nice to meet you, Rufus! We don't usually get a chance to really talk with anyone in our audience. Particularly me." I could tell she meant us, and by that, because of me.

"Isn't Rufus a guy's name?" My eyes wandered slightly to her chest, though it was only to make my point. It wasn't in that perverted way some guys did it. "You sure don't look like one to me." I wish I could say that I was shocked, but let's face it - I wasn't - when that comment earned me another smack over the head by Kusu and another apology in place of my obvious lack of one. "See? He really isn't good with people..."

{{Sorries, I've been pretty busy lately. D; I dunno how much I'll be able to post next week (since I have a big school project), but I'll try. XP}}

[jobiehanna]

Rufus smiled warmly at the girl. "It's nice to meet you too," she said. "Your performances are spectacular," she added happily. "It was my first time to a circus, like, ever. I don't think I'll forget it," she continued with another smile, happiness dancing in her eyes at the memory.

Rufus was a little stunned at Ellie's reaction to her name. People usually weren't that obvious about their opinion of her name. "Well, yeah," she said with a small frown. "My parents were a little air headed when it came to naming me," she continued. "I've actually grown to like it," she added with a smile, trying to hide the little bit of hurt his words had actually caused her. She glanced at Kusu, "It's okay," she said. "I'm used to it," she said simply.

{2.9}

((Believe it or not, our pet bird is a female named Rufus. XD That's why I named this lucain Rufus. The people we got the bird from thought she was a male at first, but she started laying eggs. But we kept her name Rufus anyway. XD

And, it's alright. School and other real life things are more important than roleplays sometimes. :]))

[Atoli01]

"Well, as long as you like it, who can really say otherwise... right?" I threw both my hands up in the nonchalantly and leaned back into the bench. Again. Another glare from Kusu. I really didn't see what was so horrible about speaking what was on my mind. Was that illegal or something here? You would think it was. "C'mon, Kusu. I've got more important things to do than hang around talking to girls."

"Like what?" she quickly shot back at me, almost quicker than I could finish my sentence. From the way Kusu always defended the kid, you would think they were best friends or something! Must just be a girl thing. I would never understand girls. I would never understand society as a whole, but particularly not girls. "Things. What does it matter to you anyway?"

Again, another snappy comment. "Because I'd at least like to know where I'm going and what exactly I'm - as you would put it - ditching this girl for." She was quite irritable today. Or maybe it was just me. Or maybe it was just Rufus that she liked. Either way, it didn't matter. "Just... let's go." I thought that there would be more arguments on that matter, but I was obviously mistaken. "On one condition," she told me, grabbing Rufus' hand. I rolled my eyes; I knew what was coming next, and I really didn't like it. "Rufus is coming with us."

[jobiehanna]

Rufus nearly giggled at Ellie's next reaction. Poor guy was being outvoted by a couple of girls. As she watched the bantering back and forth, she was thinking about leaving them. After all, Ellie didn't seem like he wanted to be hanging around her. He seemed to barely be putting up with Kusu.

She was surprised when Kusu grabbed her arm, wondering why the other girl was so into having her come along with them. But by the way she acted, maybe she was just tired of having to deal with Ellie all the time. He did seem like a gloomy guy to be hanging around. Rufus stole a glance at Kusu, wondering what she was up to. Rufus could tell that the guy wasn't too happy about Kusu's statement, but it made Rufus want to join them all the more. She smiled, "I'd love to come with you guys, wherever it is you're going," she said happily.

{3.10}

[Atoli01]

"Alright! Well since Rufus over here is coming with us," Kusu not all that subtly looked over at her, "How about we go shopping?!" Even I could picture the look of dread on my face at feel the hate radiating from my body. "Why?" I asked her between clenched teeth. Another look that was shooting me daggers is what I got in response. And as if to further my irritation, Kusu stepped even closer to the girl.

"All girls love shopping, right Rufus?!" Her threatening gaze within seconds turned into one of the largest smiles I had ever seen. "And anyways, shopping is a good way to unwind! Look at the long day we've had already! And we're going to have a whole lot more of those coming up. So just... take a chill pill. A chill pill known as shopping!" I couldn't help but roll my eyes when she threw her hands up in the air, twirling around slightly. I really had no clue how shopping was supposed to calm you down. It was a good way to make you go broke, in my opinion.

"Fine, but only so you'll shut up. And let's make this clear: I'm not trying on or buying anything for you two." I sighed and turned around, already beginning to make my way to the clothing store. One of them, anyways. Either way, I'm sure Kusu would lead the way to whichever one she wanted to go to. "You realize how many strings you're pulling just to get me to come in the first place?"

[jobiehanna]

((I'm so so sorry for the incredibly late reply. D: It kind of slipped my mind, I'll be better from now on, I think. ))

"I'd love to go shopping," Rufus said with a smile. "It's so much more fun when you have someone to go with." She was thinking of her time spent before the circus moseying around the shops. It was okay, but going with Kusu would be much more fun. She wasn't sure about Ellie, but she hoped he wouldn't ruin the trip.

Rufus giggled, grabbing onto Kusu's arm. "Show the way," she said with a grin. The girl stole a glance Ellie's way, wondering just how this was going to go. She didn't expect the male to buy her anything, but if they could get him into some clothes, that would be some entertainment. Like maybe a prisoner's outfit to symbolize how he was being dragged into a shopping trip by Kusu. "I'm sure you'd pull an orange jump suit off well," she called after him with a giggle. "We'll get a ball and chain to match, since you're so unwillingly coming with us," she added with a wink, hoping the pair would catch her sarcasm.

{3.11}

[Atoli01]

{{Ah, don't worry about it~ Even I forgot about it lately. Thank god for my e-mail notifications. XD}}

Just as I had expected, I felt Kusu's small hand grip onto my jacket sleeve before tugging me in a different direction. "Don't you even know where you're going?! Sure, there's some shops down there... but it's more like human shops if you keep going! I would've thought you knew this city by now..." Both of us sighed at once, and just like a script, both looked at each other with a weird gaze because of it. She let go of my sleeve once she was certain that I was in fact walking in the right direction.

Now, as soon as I heard Rufus's comment, my face twisted into a complete grimace. Yes, I got the joke, and yes, I would be saying very rude things if she was, in fact, a guy. As a matter of fact, I don't even know what made me keep up my even minimally gentlemanly speech. Kusu, on the other hand, laughed at my expression. She knew me well. I had no doubt that she knew what I was thinking of right now. "Well how about we start off with shoes, Rufus~?"

[jobiehanna]

Rufus had to admit, the guy's response was a little comical. Considering his profession was that of a clown, he didn't seem all that cheerful of a guy. Rufus let his response roll off her shoulders, turning her attention to Kusu. She seemed like the more fun one anyway.

"Oh, yes," she said with a smile. "I love looking at shoes." Not that she ever bought the shoes she tried on, but she quite enjoyed the shopping for them.

{3.12}

[Atoli01]

After just several minutes -- and after several minutes of Kusu's pointless conversations -- I could tell that we had ended up in the high-class area of town. What was this girl thinking, honestly? Even a pair of shoes here would be way over our paycheck. "Well that's good anyways, because this is my favorite shoe store! I guess it really is too expensive to get anything from here... but they're all super cute to try on! Right, right Rufus~?" I would never, ever in my life understand girls. Trying things on that you weren't going to buy was a complete waste of time.

As soon as we got in the store, I took a seat on the nearest bench and slid my phone out of my pocket. A simple game of Solitare to keep me entertained. Though as I was flicking through my games, my eyes wandered around the store, and eventually made their way to none other than Rufus. Such a weird name for a girl with a cute face. Wait... wait... cute face? Kusu's voice just barely registered in the back of my mind as I mentally kicked myself. "Don't you just looooove these~? You do wear heels, right?" In her hands was a pair of light pink strapped heels. And again, my eyes eventually found themselves looking at Rufus, waiting for her reply. I quickly shook my head however, and directed my attention back towards my cell phone. I'm a guy. It's natural. Just a... slip of mentality. Yeah.

[jobiehanna]

This store was most definitely  out of her price range, but they had the cutest shoes! Rufus found herself looking at all of them, searching for a pair she would love to try on first. As she was searching for her pair, Kusu's voice interrupted her. She spun to look at her, noticing the pair of shoes in her hands. "Yes, of course," she said with a giggle. "They're adorable," she nearly squealed. She knew such excitement was over board, but she couldn't stop herself. She couldn't remember the last time she went shopping just for the fun of it.

Rufus quickly pulled a pair of flashy pink wedges off the shelf. She held them out to Kusu, a smile on her face. "You try these and I'll try those?" She offered to swap the shoes, already feeling happy to be on this shopping trip. She stole a glance Ellie's way, noticing him fully engrossed in his phone. It was odd to have a guy along for a window shopping expedition, particularly this one.

{3.13}

[Atoli01]

"Ah, definitely! Those are really cute, too!" Kusu grabbed the shoes out of her hand with a giggle and replaced them with the pair she was holding just moments ago. She got the shoes on quicker than I could even think possible. "Ah, you have such good taste! I really wish I cold buy them now..." Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed her shoot me a glance.

"No! Why do girls even need heels anyway?!" I grumbled before returning to my phone. The only thing heels were good for was sleeping around. I don't see why so many guys -- and girls, I'm sure because of it -- made such a big deal of a girl wearing heels. Sure, it looked good on some people, but for one... well, how did they walk in those things? And two... a lot of the good brands were expensive. According to Kusu, anyway.

[jobiehanna]

Rufus smiled, taking the pair from Kusu. She removed her sneakers, replacing them with the light pink strapped heals. They felt surprisingly good on her feet. She took a few steps, wobbling a bit at first. Her feet weren't used to the heal, but she managed to keep her balance. "They're great," she said happily as she took a few more steps around.

She shot another glance Ellie's way at his question. Rufus knew the question was rhetorical, but it made her roll her eyes. "Guys just don't understand," she said. "Heels make you feel special," she added thoughtfully. Although Rufus rarely bought heels, the feeling of being a few inches taller when you wore them was unique. It just wasn't something you could describe to someone who had never worn them.

{3.14}

[Atoli01]

"I guess I don't understand. And I never wi--" I was cut off only by the ringing of Kusu's cell phone. She quickly pulled the phone out of the pocket, and I suddenly became suspicious of her expression. Flushed cheeks while looking down at the contact? "Oh... um, hello!" she beamed into the phone. She looked so... so... happy. It was weird. She had stared at her phone like it had meant the world to her. Or was it the person on the other end that actually meant everything to her? A slight pang of jealousy that I couldn't quite explain made it's way through me.

"Yeah? Oh... there? Okay! Wait just a few minutes!" she laughed one last time before dismissing the person and pressing the 'end call' button on the screen. "Rufus, I'm so, so, so sorry! But I've gotta go for now! Make sure you give Ellie your number before you leave tonight!" Kusu had tried to make a quick exit out of the store, although it was in vain. The bench was close enough to the door that I grabbed her wrist without even having to get out of my seat. In one swift movement, I pulled her to me until she was only inches away.

"Who was that?" I asked her, my irritation pouring out of my voice. For several seconds, all she did was look away from me with that same stupid blush spread across her face, "My... my... boyfriend," she said finally with a defeated sigh. I shook my head slightly before letting her go. She only shot a sympathetic glance at Rufus -- completely ignoring me -- before she ran out the door of the store. Great. Now what was I supposed to do? "So I guess it's just us two... Anything you want to do?" I ran my fingers through my hair, waiting for her reply. There was never a time that I was good at socializing, but this especially awkward to me.

[jobiehanna]

Rufus was caught off guard by the ringing of Kusu's cell phone. As she watched the other girl's face she couldn't help but smile. The person on the other end must have been pretty special to her. It must be nice, to have someone else make you that happy. "Oh, it's alright," she told Kusu with a smile. "I understand," she added with a wink.

Rufus watched the exchange between Kusu and Ellie. He seemed very irritated with Kusu. Was it because she was leaving him with her? Was she really that bad to be stuck with? She tried not to let the worry cross her face. But as Kusu shot her that look and then walked away, Rufus couldn't help the slight uncomfortable feelings growing inside her. She offered Ellie a smile, removing the shoes she had tried on and putting her sneakers back on. "Well, I'm not sure," she said as she busied herself with putting the shoes back. "I'm guess I am kinda hungry," Rufus confessed. "Know of any good places to eat around here?"

{4.15}