Trying to Get Rid of a Headache (Tag Jasmine)

Tulio let out a slow breath, his fingertips massaging his temples as he tried to get rid of the pounding rhythm inside his head. It had been going on for most of the morning and it was driving him nuts. Silence hadn't made it any better, so he decided to surround himself with noise and see if that changed things. He had his usual seat on the ledge of the fountain, which was a good place to people-watch. He sighed, bringing his leg up so he could rest his elbow on his knee. Surrounding himself with the townspeople had always cheered him up before. He hoped today wouldn't be an exception to that rule.

"Jasmine! Please dance with us! Plleeeaasseee?" A girl says, her little group of friends giving Jasmine the big eyes. Jasmine sighs, only shaking her head.
"Not today girls, I'm not in the mood..." Jasmine says, still clearly upset from last nights events.
"Come on Jasss! You always say yes!" One of the other girls whine. Jasmine looks down at them before looking at Jack, the usual player on the street. He looks at her with a shrug, giving her the choice. Jasmine sighs again before placing her stuff down.
"Alright, just one." The girls made a unison of giggles and yells before getting in positions.

Tulio heard the group of small children before he saw them. He turned his head in the direction of the sound and saw a couple of kids around an older girl, late teens, early twenties maybe. It was hard to be certain. Was she related to any of the children? It seemed like they were close. Tulio watched them, getting curious. This was what he liked most about people-watching: that certain moment when a couple of them got your attention like an engrossing novel that you couldn't put down. It was those kinds of people that usually ended up in Tulio's plays, in some way, shape, or form. Of course, the dancing didn't sound like too bad of an idea either. Tulio admired any kind of art talent, and dancing fell into that category. He didn't choreograph dances himself of course, but he liked watching those who did, observing how they worked. It fascinated him, in a strange way. Then again, strange things always fascinated Tulio these days.

Jasmine looks at Jack and he nods lighty, grabbing his drum. Jasmine walks back over to the girls and the crowd moved out of their way. Jasmine snaps lightly to the beat before slowly doing a few moves, looking back at the girls. The girls followed and caught on easily and once Jasmine did the moves fully, they synched perfectly.

(( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEQNzZkhGro&feature=related

I love giving links ;D ))

For a bunch of kids, the group seemed to be pretty talented. Tulio wondered if he could get them involved in the theater somehow. Sure, the other directors gave him weird looks when he pulled people off the streets to be in his shows, but he always ignored them. Good talent didn't necessarily have to come from people who went to prestigious acting academies. In Tulio's opinion, talent was everywhere. And this was a prime example of it. The older girl seemed to be pretty good when it came to leading the others. Tulio liked somebody who took charge, led the way so others could follow. He smiled in her direction as he foot tapped in time with the beat.

As Jasmine fnishes the last moves - the girls following her - and bows, the crowd claps and throws money into one of the girl's coin collector. The girls squeal excitedly, jumping around like little bunnies. Jasmine smiles at them as they helped make her day a bit better.

Well, now seemed like a good time as any to introduce himself. With his head pounding a little less than before, Tulio made his way over, flipping a coin into one of the girls' coin collector with a flick of his thumb. "Very entertaining," he complimented. "And pretty synchronized, for a situation that popped up out of the blue." He glanced up at who he assumed was the leader of the group, the girl the others called Jasmine. "So, you're in charge of this little group?"

Jasmine looks at Tulio, examining him as he talks. He looked familiar, why did he look so familiar? As soon as he looked at her with a question, she lets out a simple smile. "I wouldn't say I'm in charge-but I do watch over these girls from time to time. They call me their mentor when it comes to their dancing. Taught them everything that I know." Jasmine explains, patting one of the girl's head.

Tulio gave a little smile. "It looks like you've taught the well," he said. He held out his hand. "Tulio Ranko, playwright. And as such, I'm interested in all forms of art, including dancing." He gave a cheeky grin. It seemed like being around people was doing his head some good after all. Or maybe he was just doing better now that he had a distraction.

Jasmine smiles before taking his hand, his name ringing bells. "Jasmine, Dancer at the Wonderland Dancers."

"Wonderland Dancers?" Tulio instantly recognized the name. "No wonder you're so talented. That place pumps out more dancers than the theater does." On more than one occasion, Tulio had borrowed a few dancers from there to use in a stage production. Sometimes, the dancers returned back to their jobs. Other times, they gave them up entirely to stay in the theater. Tulio didn't object to either option. Despite the Wonderland Dancers' reputation, Tulio always funneled some money into their place. Like he said, he always supported art, in all of its forms.

Jasmine smiles before now remembering why his name rang a bell. "Of course! You're Tulio Ranko, one of our main contributors!" She curtseys with a smile plastered on her face. "It's an honor to meet you Mr. Ranko."

Tulio nodded. "Yup. That's me." It was nice to be recognized for his good deeds. At least, that's how he saw it. The Wonderland Dancers had hit some hard times recently, and while the other higher-ups were content to let it fall to the ground, Tulio had fought to preserve it. No art should ever be allowed to die, that was his philosophy. And he lived up to it whole-heartedly. "I say it's an honor to meet a fabulous dancer," he said. "If you ever need some extra performance experience, you can always stop by the theater. I'll put in a good word for you."

"That.. That would be amazing!" Jasmine exclaims, smiling from ear to ear.

You'll never be anything outside from here. The voice of Ms. Doll echoed. Jasmine smile instantly went into a frown. "It probably wouldn't help though. I'd just be an amatuer compare to all of the performers there. But thank you."

Tulio rolled his eyes at the word. "Amateur, shmamateur. Great stars started off as amateurs once, you know. It's something everyone goes through before they reach the top. I mean, look at me. Before my name was known around here, I was living in a dingy apartment, writing scraps of poetry in the hopes people would buy a copy and give me enough money for a piece of bread. Maybe some beans if I was lucky." He put a hand on Jasmine's shoulder. "If you really want something, you gotta go for it with all you've got."

Jasmine listen to him intently, Ms. Doll's voice now dulling in her head. She smiles, now encourage. "I will try. Thank you. You should drop by again, I would love it if you see one of our recent shows."

"Oh, of course. Definitely." No doubt a show like that would ease Tulio's mind a bit. Going to a dance or watching an opera almost always calmed his mind down a bit when it was running rampant. Although just talking with Jasmine seemed to be doing wonders for his head. Or maybe that was just because he had something to focus on other than his racing thoughts.

"Thank you, it will mean so much to all of the girls." She smiles, now really pumped for tonight. Which reminded her. She looks around, now realizing it was past noon. She needed to be back at the club before Ms. doll had her stuck at bar duty again. "I'm sorry but I have to go back to the club now. It was nice meeting you Mr. Ranko. Hopefully I see you soon." She smiles before grabbing her stuff. She nuzzles the girl's nose before quickly heading back to the club.

"Nice meeting you too," Tulio said, waving at her before he set off in the opposite direction. Maybe today would turn out to be a good day, after all. His headache was gone, and he had met an interesting person. That was always a good thing in Tulio's book.