Jasminum sambac (Open)

[Jasmine Nikitha]

Brushing her hair over her shoulder, Jasmine leaned close to look at the little piece under the glass case. It was exquisite, the detail was amazing. She smiled to herself, as she admired it for a moment longer, before moving on to the next artifact in the museum. Yes, she knew they were supposed to be staying in their homes because of the Titans escaping from prison or whatever, but the museum was high security and she had a driver who took her from the flat to the museum and who would drive her back. It wasn't like the chances of her getting hurt were particularly high. She wasn't that worried, and just in case she had pepper spray in her gold clutch.

She moved from one exhibit to the next fiddling with her bracelets, then adjusting the tie on her teal sundress, then brushing back her hair. She was incredibly bored. The things in the museum were pretty enough, but she would have much rather been shopping. Or she could have asked Raj to come out and find the Titans with her. Not that she or her friend would actually find any Titans. They would just tromp around the outskirts then come back in to town and hit a club somewhere. Or they would just have a sleep over with adventure movies, way too much popcorn for her diet, and talk about the Titans.

That seemed like a good plan. The movies part, maybe she would get some vegetables instead of popcorn. Vegetables would be better for her diet plan at any rate. She smiled to herself, as she continued to look through the artifacts. The more she thought about it, the better her plan of movies was sounding. She tugged her cell phone out of her clutch to text her best friend, but she wasn't quite as coordinated as she thought and the little gold clutch fell to the floor. The contents tumbled out and rolled away on the floor. "Dang it." She muttered to herself. Sticking her phone in to her bra as she knelt down to pick up the spilled clutch contents.

[Albert Aldein]

Al felt extremely uncomfortable at the moment. He tried to remember the reason why he was doing this again, and then he remembered: he had no choice. Working for the Wolfes in the Den meant that he had to follow their orders. Initially, everything had been rather easy, and he had no real reason to whine. After all, why would he? All he needed to do most of the time was deliver packages and pick up some deliveries. But now was different. Now he was asked to grab something from the museum. Apparently, it was supposed to be something of value. Naturally, otherwise, no one would have kept it in a museum. But it wasn't the stealing that was bother Al. Oh no, he would have done that even without directions from the Den. What bothered him was what it was that he was wearing.

The museum had a rather strict dress code policy, and for him to blend in, he needed to abide by it. He wouldn't be able to walk around freely if he looked like a rundown street rat, would he? So Dom and the guys gave him some second-hand clothes for him to use during his 'retrieval' session. Now, as he walked the hallways of the museum in a coat that was around two sizes larger than him, making him look like a clothes hanger as he walked around. It wasn't the worst part either. His sleek black pants were too short for him. It was rather tight around the ...well, let's just say that his pants were rather tight. So, even though he was in the correct attire, he probably even stood out more, causing tons of eyes glancing over at him from time to time.

He made another turn at the end of the corner, trying to remember the instructions that Lilah had given him. Okay, so right after the statue then... As he was trying to remember the simple instructions given to him, he found himself in a room where a beautiful woman was down on her knees. Al was unsure as to what she was doing, so he slowly made his way towards the girl, wondering if she fell down or something. Seeing as she had only dropped some of her things, Al bent down to help her, picking up the random objects rolling on the ground. Clutching the items, he made a motion to hand it over."Uh, miss, you dropped th-"

Al was quite shocked, almost dropping the things he was holding, when he saw the girl before him. It was her. It was unmistakable. It was the girl from the market place. Al didn't get to look at her for too long, but he was positive that it was her. He smiled a smile at her, pretty sure he was looking extremely foolish at the time. Realizing that he was probably staring, and drooling at the girl, Al snapped out of it and cleared his throat. "Everything okay?" he asked, making his voice sound scruffier than it actually was in an attempt to seem rather manly. Hopefully, it would work.

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[Jasmine Nikitha]

"Oh yeah, I'm fine. Just not as coordinated as I though." She didn't look at the man who stopped to help her at first. Taking the contents of her clutch back from the man, she stood with out looking up from her purse as she organized her things the way they were supposed to be. "Thank you, for your help." She brushed her hair back over her ear as she finally looked up at him. Their eyes met for a second, and that second was alright.

It was when she looked over the rest of him she had to bite back both a small giggle and the temptation to offer him the number of a tailor. He looked more like a child playing dress up in his parents clothes than a patron of the museum. It made him look both adorable and innocent in an incredibly obnoxious way. It wasn't that she judge people by what they looked like, or in any means thought she was better than him because she obviously knew how to fit clothes to her body better than he did, but people generally dressed the way they wanted to be treated. She dressed like a princess, because well… she didn't really want to be treated like a princes. Her theory had some holes, but that didn't make it wrong all the time.

He was staring at her awkwardly. She was pretty much use to it at this point. All men did it. If he was straight it was her body, if he was gay it was her shoes. It was frustrating. She didn't go around staring at men's pants. She turned back to the piece she'd been looking at, and didn't say anything for another few moments."I'm Jasmine." She said, finally. "You don't visit the museum often do you." She wasn't trying to be mean, but the only way he could have made it anymore obvious was if he'd warn a neon sign.

[Albert Aldein]

Ahhh, she spoke! The angel of Albert's dreams spoke with a certain sweetness in her tone that the bot was left dumb-founded. He didn't respond at once. Instead, he took a deep breath, as though doing so would help preserve the memory of that exact moment. "You're uh...of course, er... don't mention it!" Al stammered. He had never been quite as nervous as he was talking to women as he was at that exact moment. Normally, he'd just brush things off and play it cool, but there was just something about her that tugged at his sense of composure. Seeing as she had collected all her things, Al stood up with her, wiping the dust off of his unflatteringly tight slacks. Suddenly, their eyes met, and somehow, Al felt like time had stopped, allowing him to savor the moment that they had. His awe-stricken nature was snapped back to reality, however, when she began to giggle. He raised his eyebrows questioningly, wondering what she was laughing at.

Al flushed red in the face, a bit embarrassed. "What's so funny?" he asked, speaking again in his normal voice, and realizing so, cleared his throat again. As he continued another attempt to be more manly, he continued, trying his best to sound a bit more sophisticated than he was. "I mean, I don't see anything amusing." It was then when he realized what it was that he was staring at. Of course, it was him that looked funny. Heck, if he saw himself too, he would probably burst out laughing and start pointing. He slumped down, extremely embarrassed, wanting to just dissolve into the floor and pretend he wasn't there. He looked like a badly-kept toy while she looked... just absolutely stunning. Of all the times that he could have run into her, he had to look like this.

She spoke once more and Al swore he would have exploded. She was talking to him. A million thoughts raced his mind, wondering what or how he should respond. Taking in a solid breath, he crossed his arms over at his chest, and began to lean backwards, trying to act all cool. Not realizing he was leaning on a small pedestal with an antique jar on it, he stumbled backwards, the jar tipping over as well. He quickly regained his balance, immediately catching the jar and placing it safely back in it's rightful place. He breathed a sigh of relief, wiping the sweat on his face. Yep, just act all calm about it. Al flashed her a grin, arms still crossed, but no longer attemting to lean on anything else. "The name's Al," he began, an air of feigned confidence surrounding him, but it soon disappeared when she called him out. "What gave me away?" he asked, laughing, as though he couldn't already guess.

In an attempt to have a topic of conversation, he blurted out, "So what brings you to the museum today?"

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[Jasmine Nikitha]

She giggled a little more. He was doing something strange with his voice. Though she was sure the voice change was meant to impress her, she couldn't figure out what made him think it would work. His "manly'" voice sounded ridiculous. It was a little flattering, she supposed that he was trying so very hard to impress her. So she supposed she had to give him a couple points for that. And a couple points of pity for his terrible dress. She gasped as he knocked over the jar, but he gained a few more points for catching the jar, almost enough for the ones he lost knocking it over in the first place.

"Hello Al. Is it short for something or just Al." She asked. Her first guess would have been Albert, but she supposed it could have been for something more exotic. She was a terrible guesser. Apparently so was he, she noticed as he asked what gave him away. Well, they had something in common she supposed. "Do you really have to ask?" Jasmine raised one eyebrow slightly. "You're clothes gave you away. You tried way to hard to look good." Not that Jasmine hadn't tried to look good too. She didn't just break out her gold strappy heals for anything. Oh. Wait thats exactly what she did. "Well I mean It comes naturally to some people. And others… well you would have looked less conspicuous dressed normally."

Jasmine couldn't help but smirk as he why she was here. "My father doesn't want me to be. You know how parents are. Four little criminals break out of jail and suddenly I'm under house arrest. I don't think so." She took a few steps away from him, to admire the next artifact, but continued speaking to him. "I just needed to be out for a bit. Biding time till Raj and I do whatever it is we're doing tonight, and its not like I came by myself, I have a driver." Though she doubted he would really be much of a threat against the titans. "And even if I did, I can take care of myself you know. I'm very… spunky."

She paused turning away from the display for a moment, to catch his eyes again."What about you? No, let me guess. You come here to pick up pretty girls? Bars are really better for that."

[Albert Aldein]

Was he hearing things right? Yes, she was talking to him. Engaging in conversation! Acknowledging his existence. Deep inside, Al was squealing like a teenage girl, but of course, he still did his best to play it off as cool-ly as he could have. Though he was sure that color was rising in his cheeks and that the sheepish grin plastered on his face would be stuck there for quite some time.

"Hah, yeah. It's short for Albert. But I don't really like people calling me that. It just sounds so...unlike me." He let out a shrug as he explained himself. It was true. He was never a fan of 'Albert', mostly because it sounded like such a formal name, like something that a prince would be named. And as sure as the empty wallet in his pocket, he was no prince. "Jasmine's a pretty name. Were you named after a relative or something?" Al managed to ask, surprised he managed to get out more words out of his mouth. She then told him that he was practically sticking out like a sore thumb. Al was well aware of that fact, and he was sure that everyone else at the Hood did too. He was willing to bet that Lilah had deliberately asked someone to hand him that just so he looked extra stupid. But him in his normal clothes, well, it would have been more suspicious than what he was wearing now anyways. So he figured it wasn't a total set up. Turning to the girl, he replied, "Depends on how you define 'conspicuous' and 'normal', I guess. I know I wouldn't have passed off as subtle."

She then began talking about her father and how he was afraid for her about the whole news of the criminals. Her dad did have a point. It was dangerous outdoors nowadays. Things have been happening, people being killed, buildings being destroyed, it was rather scary. "Your dad may have a point, you know. It's dangerous out here. I mean, all those criminals...They're rather unpredictable. The news is all about them recently..." Al took a step forward, moving closer to the girl, but then she too moved forward, examining an artifact of some sort. Al didn't get why people would pay so much for something like that. It was just unnatural. He'd never understand the mind of the rich. His thoughts were cut instantly when she mentioned that she was waiting for someone.

His eyes widened a bit, before curling his lip. "Boyfriend?", he asked, hearing the name 'Raj', his voice cracking a bit at the exclamation. Of course she would have a boyfriend. Why wouldn't she? She was gorgeous, and smart, and unbelievable. Al let out a sigh, as he continued to listen to the girl. He then raised his eyebrows questioningly at the next thing that she had said. "Oh?" he let out a laugh. Sure, the girl before him didn't look at all helpless. In fact, she did look like she could definitely put one over on him. It was just funny picturing her to be such.

Al slowly strode away form the girl, not wanting to seem entirely interested in her. He took a couple of steps next to one of the sculptures displayed and began looking at it, feigning interest. Subtly though, he was glancing over at the girl, wondering if he was looking over at him too.

Her next question made him laugh even louder, causing some of the other visitors to look at him oddly. "Pick up girls? Not likely. Just came here to, er, observe art. You know. I'm into these kind of things. I just love art. I mean, what a fine piece of art that is!" he told her, wanting to sound sophisticated. Just by their short conversation, Al already knew that the girl was rich and of high upbringing, so he knew he had to step himself up if he wanted to make a good impression on her. Hopefully, he was.

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[Jasmine Nikitha]

She couldn't believe she was giving fashion advise to a stranger in the museum. "Well next time. Try just a pair of slacks that actually fit. I understand guys want to show off down there, but really… And ditch the too big jacket. The only reason you need that much extra room is if you're stealing something. A nice button down dress shirt would be good. I think you would look really good in purple. And shoes. Nice shoes, They don't have to be expensive. But shiny. I like shiny shoes." She shrugged. and turned back to the art for a second. "I'm named after my grandmother." She decided to answer his previous question, before walking a few more steps to another piece of art. Though they continued to move away from and closer to each other, their conversation didn't stop. It was almost like a strange dance, or maybe a race. Either way, Jasmine was sure she was winning.

"I can take care of myself." she repeated. Why did every man in her life feel it was his job to protect her all the time? Her Father, her drivers, random strangely dressed men in museums. She wasn't afraid of the Titans. Not the idea of them anyway. It might be different if one were there threatening her now, but in her mind she could handle them, and as long as they never physically crossed paths, she would be fine. "More people get hit by cars crossing the street in any given day than will run in to these guys before the police catch them. If I worried about everything bad that might happen I would have had a panic room built for myself and would never, ever leave it." Worrying was no way to live.

Jasmine couldn't help but laugh at the suggestion that Raj was her boyfriend. "No. Just a friend, best friend, since we were like babies." She had never considered the possibility of Raj being anything more than a best friend, for obvious reasons. When she mentioned it to her best friend, they would be sure to have a good laugh about it. Of course it didn't shock her that he assumed she was dating someone. Everyone and their brother assumed that just because she was good looking she had to have a boyfriend. And if she didn't have a boyfriend she was gay. It was a ridiculous assumption. There was no reason she couldn't be this attractive and single boy choice. Men.

She wasn't glancing at him nearly as much as he wanted her to be. But she was intrigued a bit. He glanced over at her too much and was clearly interested in her. Part of her wanted to say something about it, but she refrained, deciding to stay more interested in the art than the boy. She glanced at the piece that he had chosen to talk about. "That's a Degas piece. It's not an original, but it is a bronze cast of the original, which has been lost. It was the only sculpture that Degas ever showed. Everyone critized it, so he never put out any of his other sculptures, most of which were only discovered after his death. This piece was impressive for its time because he not only used wax, but put actual clothes on the ballerina. It was a very unique decision for the time. I wrote a paper on that sculpture when I was younger" She shrugged walking past it. "Degas is one of my favorites. I really like all of the impressionists, though surrealism is fascinating as well."

[Albert Aldein]

Al froze as Jasmine spoke, giving him advice on what to wear. It wasn't as though he didn't need the fashion advice. Gods, he knew he did. The boy let out a generous laugh when she threw in a comment about his pants. He didn't wear it to show off, not that he had nothing to show for, but still. He contemplated on answering back, but decided not to when she continued to speak. There was also the fact that she seemed to have a hint of what he was in the museum for. The only reason you need that much extra room is if you're stealing something. Right. Like he would steal anything. He chuckled at the thought. His eyes fell down to his shoes, seeing the rather chalky look it had, and quickly rubbed the leather on the back of his pants, hoping to try and remove a bit of the grime in it. Well, that did the trick, even though it wasn't as shiny as the girl may have wanted it to be. Giving up on making him look better than he could possibly be, he turned to the girl again before answering. "I'll remember that," he told her, and true enough, he would be sure to remember to keep his shoes shiny the next time they were to meet.

"Well, it's a pretty name. It fits you," he complimented, meaning every word of it. Though somehow, he had a feeling that she would think it was just his way of buttering her up. It was funny how they were moving. Both seemed to walk towards each other, only to pull back again. He, however, had no idea if the girl was doing it deliberately to tease him. If she was, then it was working.

Al was taken aback with the hint of defensiveness in the girl's tone. Surely, it was obvious that she could take care of herself. Heck, Al never judged someone and assumed that they needed any kind of protection. He was, after all, one of those seemingly-inadequate people when it comes to taking care of themselves, and he proved everyone wrong. He was, after all, still alive. Though maybe he should have expected a certain apprehension from the girl when it came to topics like these. She did seem like she was a girl who was well-watched and cared for. "I'm sure you can take care of yourself fine," he told her reassuringly. The last thing he wanted was for Jasmine to think that he thought she needed watching. However, he wasn't all too confident when she mentioned the cops. Like the cops could ever really do anything. If they could, then the Titan Four wouldn't have escaped. "Still, it is best to be careful. Even for tough ones like yourself. The cops here in Faraway aren't too good. Trust me, I know. But there's a good point you have there. There was no use hiding out anywhere. Even with all these shit happening, life goes on, and so should we, right?" He admired the way the girl thought. It was just very uncommon seeing someone like her saying something like that. He smiled genuinely at her.

A best friend. Al breathed a sigh of relief. Judging by the look on her face though, it seemed like it was a question she heard often. Though could she really blame him, or every other guy who had asked, for wondering? "Best friend. Of course. Sorry, I didn't mean anything by it." Al scratched the back of his neck, letting out a sort of uneasy laugh. He cast a subtle glance in her direction, hoping to catch her looking at him, just to gauge whether or not she was interested, but to no avail. She was focused on the piece of art before him. As she stepped closer to it, the boy wanted to scoot over closer to her too. But, not knowing how she might have taken it, he decided not to.

She then began talking about the art, and the boy suddenly knew that he was screwed. The only thing he knew about art was that people found them valuably expensive. He had no idea what a Degas piece was, or why it mattered that he didn't just use wax, or what the hell surrealism was all about. So as the girl spoke, a lost and confused expression began to form in Al's face. Though he wanted to hope that it wasn't apparent, somehow, he felt that it was. His heart was racing, and his head tried to scour his thoughts for anything that that will help him not look like a total ass. Taking a deep breath, he took a step, following Jasmine's lead.

"I know what you mean. Degas was really an inspiring artist, especially during his time. He, er, paved way for some of the more recent artists too, inspiring them in, uh, the pieces that they're doing now. Surrealism is fascinating, indeed, but um, I'm more of the abstract kind of guy..." There. That didn't sound like he was extremely dumb. Only moderately. He slipped his hands in his pocket, feeling a piece of crumpled paper inside it. And suddenly, he remembered why exactly he was in the museum. He was there for a retrieval. He threw a look towards the girl, wondering if she was buying the whole thing, before he turned his head around, looking at his surroundings.

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[Jasmine Nikitha]

"Is it best to be careful?" She asked, drumming her fingers on her gold clutch. "If I were being careful I would have stayed home today instead of coming out and meeting you." And he was clearly speaking to her because he was interested in her for more than a casual conversation. She could tell by the way he continued to play her game. The more she moved away the more he followed, but still pretended to be uninterested. As if he could have been uninterested in her. No straight man was.

She knew he had meant something with his questions about Raj, Al wanted to know if she had a boyfriend. "Yes. Just a friend. I'm single. And there isn't anything wrong with that. Regardless of what Daddy thinks is best for me." She had never understood everyone's rush to fall in love. She had no expectations of meeting a man one day and preparing to marry him the next. If falling in love was so special, she had every intention of drawing it out as long as possible. She supposed someday she would know the right guy, but if it was say… Al, it wouldn't be today she knew. or tomorrow, or even next week, and the chances for this month were pretty slim as well.

There were certain things people did when they had no clue what they were talking about. For Al it was the vacant confused expression followed by a hurried switch to what was an expression of so much understanding it had to be forced. He preferred abstract. She smiled a little, and speaking directly to him asked "So are you a fan of Baeder then? He was interesting. She knew he was trying hard to impress her, but that was always annoying. Why didn't guys ever try to be themselves. It wasn't like she dressed like anyone she wasn't. She tried to always be exactly who she was. There was no reason not to. She shook her head a little taking a few steps backwards, as if to look at a different piece of art, but her eyes never left Al. Interesting to say the least.

((Meh... short post sorry))

[Albert Aldein]

Al was amazed by the girl and her nonchalant attitude about the Titans. He was pretty sure that anyone else would have been sort of scared, male or female. But she was different. Oddly enough, though the girl was clearly more sophisticated than he was, they had the same logic in mind. It was true. Why bother leaving the house if you wanted to be careful. Though he wanted to expound more on her statement, something she said made Al double take, pausing to wonder whether he had heard the right thing. That was what she said, right?

I would have stayed home today instead of coming out and meeting you.

Surely, she meant nothing by it, but on the highly off chance that she did, it somehow made Al's insides flutter uncontrollably. He had no idea why. It just did. Clearing his throat as he slowly snaked over to her side, grinning sheepishly as he asked her, "Meeting me? I thought this was just a chance encounter. Or have you been following me around?" There was a playfulness in his voice, just like when he joked around with everyone, but then he realized how stupid and childish he must'ave sounded.

She then began to talk about her being single. Clearly, there wasn't anything wrong with that, and he wasn't one to argue. After all, wasn't he single as well? He nodded over at her, agreeing with what she said, as though his confirmation would deem it true. "Oh, for sure, there's nothing wrong with it. And, yeah. No one should tell you what to do other than yourself." Though he had no idea what she was talking about exactly, he could sense some bitterness to what it was that she was saying. He could only imagine how it is for her if she's being forced to do things she doesn't want to.

The moment he finished talking about the 'art' in front of him, he turned over to Jasmine, trying to gauge how she was reacting. Well, it seemed like she bought whatever it was that he had said and he was now home free. Clearly, he was wrong. He hadn't expected that a topic like that could earn a follow up question. Now, scratching his head once more, he tried to gather any information he might have in order to find out what the hell a 'Baeder' was.

"Well, uh, Baeder...is..." he trailed off, spotting the little crystal egg that he was supposed to retrieve for the boss. Now, he had more than one problem. He had to find a way to grab the egg and get out of the place without being caught. The other, he had to be able to impress the girl before him without looking like a complete idiot. Clearly, the latter was much more difficult. Al carefully took steps closer to the pedestal containing the egg, making sure that he was subtle about it, making his movements all natural. "...yeah, like I said. Baeder is great. He had some of the best works I've seen. Beats the renaissance works by a mile." The boy muttered under his breath, hoping that he had said something completely passable.

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ooc: Don't worry bout it! It was an awesome post!