thenearshore | ( open ) #SaveTheTurtle

Who: Urashima and you
What: Recovering from a fight, some shinki/sword practice, and a vague attempt at a shopping trip
When: 9-11 June
Where: A park, a shopping mall, and an abandoned temple (Far Shore)

1. I'm going to take a look at the sea for a while... (9 June | the Near Shore)

( On the 9th, a voice message goes out on the network. It's short and simple, albeit, a little vague )

Heh heh… Can someone help me get back home? I got in trouble…

( He attempts to be lighthearted, trying not to worry anyone but there's something in his voice that suggests things aren't exactly okay. His voice is quiet and drags in the way one might talk if they were particularly tired. He also doesn't respond to anyone that asks for more information though, he's managed to attach an off-center picture of some sign and a particular landmark to show where he is. It's a park somewhere in the city, not too far from a shrine or two.

When you arrive, Urashima's on a park bench, laying down on his side with his eyes closed. It looks like he's napping and really, it wouldn't look like much is wrong at all if you saw him in passing. His usual turtle companion rests next to his face beside to a small pile of short needles which suggests he didn't just get sleepy and take a nap. )

2. I wonder if I can use this well~? (General | the Far Shore)

( After he's gotten home and cleaned up and has had a chance to recover, Urashima bounces back fast enough. He's not the type of person to stay grounded for very long and as soon as he's well enough, he's back to his training. This time, he's trying to change it up a bit! Instead of practicing at Hachiman's temple or some other center, he's checking out one of the many abandoned temples on the Far Shore.

There's a sword at his side but he isn't practicing with that right now. Instead, he draws his hand in a stabbing motion and strikes at a tree, cutting one of the branches. )

Huu...

( He makes a face. This isn't really as satisfying as actually cutting something with a blade............. )

3. What're we buying? (Shopping Mall | the Near Shore)

( Urashima's never had to worry about fashion before.

For most of his time in this life, he'd stayed in the Far Shore, only really going out to the Near Shore occasionally. Back then and even now, in these summer months, he'd been able to get away with his more traditional clothes— he was clearly just a kid on his way to local festival or something— but it's a little dated, isn't it? Maybe he should find something else? But where does he even begin?

The answer is the food court where he's just bought himself an ice cream cone. He's feeding "Himechan" one of the strawberries that came with it and just sort of... people watching next to some of the gacha machines. )

Eh... fashion sure is confusing, Himechan...

( Just mumbling as he watches some girls in lolita dress walk behind a group of kids in school uniform... )

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ …Huh. Points to him for creativity then. He’s learning. Directly receiving help isn’t something he can easily do, anyway, but this… He frowns at the omamori, as if vaguely recognizing it somewhere—one of the Near Shore fripperies, no doubt.

But he takes it in hand anyway, turning it over to examine it. He gets why Urashima’s brought it over and feels all the more agitated for it. With a huff that fails to fully encapsulated how indignant he wants Urashima to think he is, he replies: ]

All this is hardly necessary! [ And yet he doesn’t let go of the charm, though he can’t bring himself to look Urashima in the eyes right now. In a much quieter voice, he adds: ]

Damn you.

( Urashima bows his head. And of course, he figured Jakob wouldn't exactly be excited by anything he did to make things right but it was better to try than to not try at all! He slides the two boxes over.

The first box is smaller, pale green, and inside are eight sweets. The second box is larger, light pink, and has twelve pieces instead. He'l doesn't open them-- he'll let Jakob do that when he's ready but he'll briefly explain, )

They're wagashi. They're really good with tea. ( And though he won't apologize for wanting to repay a favor, the least he can do is give thanks. He sits up straight for a moment, both hands on his knees, and bows once. ) Thank you for helping us.

( Looking up through his bangs to see if Jakob is going to be upset about this too. It's like he can't do anything right, you know? He's figuring things out about Jakob but he isn't quite sure how to act around him in a way that would make Jakob happy. )

[ Happiness doesn’t come easily to a man who feels that he must constantly work for it, but he feels it now, welling up tight in his throat and stinging at his eyes as he blinks them away, his fingers closing over the omamori and clutching it tight with the force of his emotion. A charm for good luck, and sweets for tea? He doesn’t know what to say.

He really, really doesn’t.

Finally, he hits upon one: ] Then open them. We will have them with our tea.

[ His eyes may or may not be a little red he will admit nothing but he does finally reach for that teapot to begin pouring its contents out into Urashima’s cup first, and then his. ]

( This is not what Urashima expected to see. At best, he'd expected some sort of pleasant indifference and at worst, he expected to be scolded for some reason. This is different, though. He's an observant kid, even if he's naive and tends to miss out on things. But he can see Jakob's eyes brighten and other small notes in his body language. Is he sad? Had Urashima made him sad?! That wasn't a reaction he was expecting at all and he wonders if he should apologize.

He snaps to attention quickly enough when he's given a command and nods. Opening the smaller box on top, he sets the lid aside for Jakob to see. They're small-- all bite size-- and colorful and bright. )

Have you ever had wagashi before, Mr. Jakob?

I don’t recall. [ Not during his previous life, and not during the next. But he’s seen them in his occasional forays into the Near Shore, online in cooking blogs and the like, but up close they’re even more impressive to look at for someone to whom presentation matters so much.

If anything, it helps to temporarily distract him from those…emotions of his. ]

They are a specialty in the Near Shore, aren’t they? [ He takes one in hand, gingerly, turning the delicately shaped leaf wagashi in his hand. ]

Did you make these yourself? [ Sorry, can’t help that incredulity creeping up in his voice. ]

That's right! ( They are indeed a specialty. A traditional one, even! ) And there are special ones for each season too! See? There are lots of bright colors and flowers for summer.

( While fall with have warmer colors, winter is reminiscent of snow, and spring celebrates the new cherry blossoms with all sorts of pinks. Right now, he'd be watching Jakob study his gift but Urashima's curiously studying his own cup of tea right now. It isn't green tea-- and he isn't surprised by this. It appears many people in the Far Shore prefer the darker and more flavorful teas from the west. He's sampled a few back during his stay in Roxas' temple. )

Huh? ( He starts to nod and then it turns into shaking his head no, ) I bought these.... The storekeeper let me make one because I helped him find his granddaughter... ( Urashima Kotetsu: Doing odd jobs and getting paid in random quest items instead of actual money. ) But I ate that one.

They're really fun to make! I can show you sometime if you want.

Hmph. Somehow I’m not surprised you go out of your way to help others in need. [ That’s just typical, really, for him to be so aggravatingly helpful like that. But more importantly, there’s just something so oddly poetic about wagashi that it’s really damn surprising that someone so naïve as Urashima seems to know way too much about them. Then again, his outfit does ring a few bells…

Eh, he’s probably been living in the Far Shore for way too long that cultural quirks like these are starting to mess with him. That’s totally it. ]

…But I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to learn. [ He’s not even sure if Add will be into shit like this, but Roxas might… ]

And what would you get in return for teaching me?

( When you're named after a folk hero that helped a spirit in need, it's only natural to live up to it and try to do the same!

Urashima smiles! It's encouraging and he nods. It never hurts to learn anything... unless you're learning how to use swords with Certain People getting slammed through shoji and into ponds and... )

Huh? ( Something in return? He'd never considered getting anything out of it and it catches him off guard. He begins to think, mouth hanging open, and drawing a blank-- ) N-nothing!

( But he knows that isn't good enough and he tries to recover, )

It's normal, right...?

To do things with friends...

[ There’s a very visible twitch of the lower eyelid as Urashima replies with that—also typical, but this time he doesn’t feel like blowing his top over it. He wants to make amends, dammit, not that he actually blames Urashima for awakening the pain in his leg. It’s fine. Everything’s fine and teatime is supposed to emphasize how fine everything is dammit— ]

I’m not in the mood to argue with you. [ So you can keep that F-word to yourself thank you very much. He’ll just come up with some other way to pay Urashima back for teaching him, or something. What now.

With a huff, he pops that wagashi in his mouth and follows it up with a sip of tea. ]

( open ) #SaveTheTurtle

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