thenearshore | Wanderings [Open]

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Wanderings [Open]

Who: Felix and You!
When: October 27th
Where: ~~Anywhere cat-free~~ Far Shore in the morning, Near Shore in the afternoon.
What: Since an invitation to look at cats isn’t high on his list, Felix is going to use the day to get a feel for the area.

A. Western District; early morning

[Even as the sun is rising, Felix is jogging through the Western district, coat tied around his waist. He’s making a point of looking around at all of the different places that exist around him, but he never lets up on his pace.

Jogging along behind him is a soulless shinki, their feet hitting the ground out of rhythm as they move through the district. Periodically, Felix will take a sharp turn, never speeding up, even if he is testing the agility of the figure behind him. She keeps up effortlessly, of course.

The longer they spend jogging, the more focused he becomes, taking turns, doubling back, really seeing what his shadow is capable of. If he wasn’t so consistent with his speed, even checking himself once or twice so she stays with him, someone might even think he was trying to lose the poor woman…]

B. Central District and The Heavens; mid-morning and early afternoon

[Having successfully given his shinki the slip, for better or worse, Felix has made his way into fancier parts, though his coat is still tied around his waist and he looks a little grungy for the area. Unlike his calculating (if meandering) path from earlier, he’s now wandering around looking for the sake of looking, because some of these places are amazing.

It takes a few hours, but he eventually finds his way back to the meeting hall, though he is wary of spending too much time there, given the dangers of being press ganged into cleaning by the white-robed shinki that practically swarm the area (or so he claims to anyone who asks).

Before he heads home in the afternoon, Felix will lose himself for a little bit in the Sakura grove to the North of the meeting hall. While he does spend a bit of time appreciating the beauty, he spends more time practicing teleporting himself between the trees.]

C. The Near Shore - Tokyo; late afternoon and early evening

[It’s not dark, yet, but the day is winding down. Even if people aren’t supposed to be able to see him easily, Felix has no intention on taking the chance that he missed something important to make that happen. As crowds increase on the streets, with everyone getting out of work and heading either home or out to socialize, he’s feeling a little more comfortable slipping away into the mortal world.

Alone.

It’s not exactly that he hasn’t been told about the dangers, and not even that he thinks he’s going to be able to handle it better than anyone else has. But he doesn’t like being told not to do something, and besides, if this was what he was meant to be doing, putting it off isn’t going to make it better.

Besides, he’s never, ever been to Japan before, and after the all the stories he’s heard from his family back home, he’s not about to pass up a chance to see it for himself.]

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Lucky?

[Hakkai turns, distracted from his lecture, and then pauses. The boy's pale, chest heaving with too-quick breaths, and as Hakkai blinks him into focus his phone tumbles from his hand to the floor.

It's not hard to recognize frozen terror. It's harder to guess what's wrong, but Hakkai breaks into a jog towards the boy, worry widening his own eyes.

Behind him, with a low and resonant bark, Bon breaks into a lope as well, easily outpacing Hakkai's run and brushing past him in a hail of loose fur and excitedly yowling cats. There's a new person! Bon loves new people. He particularly enjoys leaping at them.

Hakkai's order comes with a snarling note of command.]

Bon! Sit!

[The dog is barely half-trained, but he has sense, and his butt hits the dusty path barely a few feet from Lucky, still moving fast enough that he keeps skidding forward.]

[He doesn't look up at Hakkai when the man speaks and starts to move, but he takes notice when Bon barks. A single half step backwards and he goes down, hard, onto his rear, hands and arms coming up to cover his throat. Bon seems like a perfect charming canine, all things considered, once you remove the fact that he is barking and running towards Felix with yowling cats danging from his back and otherwise, yes, perfectly good boy.

As the dog slides to a stop practically between his feet, Felix leans back to the point that he falls over backwards, still covering his throat. He doesn't make a sound, but as Hakkai runs up, the boy's eyes will be squeezed closed.

It seems he may not be a fan of dogs. You know, not exactly.]

[Bon is a good dog, but Bon is also a very large and only moderately trained dog, who Hakkai has been trying to convince to behave himself for the several weeks since he moved into the temple with the shinki who have pride of place as his current favorite people. He can't blame Lucky for his reaction.

The cats are leaping down from Bon's back, grumbling and swearing in perfectly clear Japanese; a few are sitting down to wash themselves in elaborate shows of unconcern. Hakkai ignores them all and kneels next to Lucky, reaching out to put a hand lightly on his shoulder.]

Ironclaw, if you could take Bon into the back garden, please?

[One of the cats, with a loud sniff, announces, What's in it for me?]

My gratitude. Go.

[With a flirt of two tails, she hops up onto the dog's back, and leans over his ear, muttering.]

-- Lucky, I'm sorry to have startled you. Don't worry, Bon won't jump on you.

[Even after the animals start off and Hakkai speaks to him, it takes a moment for Felix to open his eyes. His arms don't come down even then, however, as he sits up and checks to make sure Bon actually is leaving. He watches the dog retreat, and takes a breath.

His entire body is shaking, but his breathing has already leveled out. His face is carefully neutral, now, and he looks around, eyes settling on his phone, out of reach.]

I thought I could show you some pictures.

[He doesn't look up, but leans away from him slightly. Despite the calm voice and face, he tenses, as though he expects to be hit.]

I'm sorry.

I froze again.

It's all right.

[Hakkai pulls his hand back from Lucky's shoulder, settling it on his knee. He doesn't move to get up, and he keeps his voice gentle; the boy's already tensing for a blow, and he doesn't want to make a move that can be misinterpreted.

He's starting to form some ideas about Lucky's life.]

Sometimes, I freeze, too. Everyone has their weak points; that's nothing to be ashamed of.

[He's silent for a second or two before he smiles, kindly, and adds:] What pictures?

[He slowly drops his hands from his throat, opening and closing them in his lap. For a moment, he studies his hands, then gives Hakkai a sideways look. Whatever it is you're thinking, sir, he'll deny outright. Because it was worse.]

Is that your dog? I'm glad I didn't hurt him.

[He shakes his head a little and takes another slow, deep breath.]

We really don't like dogs. My brothers and sisters and me. I think Mom wants one, but she understands. Your dog doesn't bite, does he?

[He leans forward, stretching out to grab his phone, and begins to check it for damage. The case is a little nicked, but otherwise, it seems unharmed. He makes a point of not looking up, so he doesn't see the dog even by accident.]

I took pictures of the temples. I figured out how to do that. I thought I could share with someone from home, but then I remembered I can't say anything, because they probably don't remember me. I mean they won't. So then I just took pictures because I like them.

I don't think I'm very good, though.

And I almost broke it anyway because I'm useless.

[He takes a breath, and holds out the phone.]

Here. I started taking some after I managed to ditch the lady from my temple.

[Because that's totally what he should be bragging about right now.]

Bon doesn't bite. He likes to play, but I'm teaching him to sit, so if he tries to get too close to you, tell him to sit and he won't bother you.

[It probably can't be worse than Hakkai is capable of imagining. He won't ask, though; he tries not to ask about others' painful pasts, unless they want to discuss it.

Everyone deserves the right to keep their own secrets. Especially if someone from Lucky's home is here as a shinki; that's hard enough for adults. For a child, it must be even harder to accept the idea that a loved one's memory is wholly gone.

Instead, he reaches for the phone with an interested lift of his eyebrows.]

Oh, interesting -- the woman from your temple? Do you mean a shinki?

These aren't bad at all for someone using an unfamiliar phone.

[He flips through a few more pictures, smiling.]

[He nods, a slight movement.]

She's not bad, but awful quiet and kind of stern. I don't think she likes the idea of me leaving the temple.

[Not that he really knows; she didn't say anything, and she's always frowning; at least, she has been since he got here. Yesterday. He wraps his arms around his knees, eyes still on the garden, as though he's just waiting for the dog to come barreling back. He suddenly sits up straighter, and turns towards Hakkai with a worried expression.]

Lotsa people don't like dogs, 'specially big ones. Just because someone doesn't like dogs doesn't mean it's my family.

[He licks his lips and drops his eyes.]

Um. In case it ever comes up. Later.

[Because he'll never forgive himself if anyone ever figured out someone without memories was someone important to him because he slips up and says too much about them. Not after the note and how everyone talks about it and...and...well, he likes Hakkai as much as anyone he's met in a year or more, but that doesn't mean trust, either.]

Just in case.

[So he does have shinki family here. And, for such a young child, he's trying hard to protect them. With that, and his interest in weapons, and his fear... his family, Hakkai thinks, might have been hunted. He clearly doesn't think adults are safe, even though he's willing to put up a front.

It's not a new look, that veiled caution Hakkai sees in his eyes. It reminds him of some of the youkai orphans that they've met.

He smiles, at last, and inclines his head.]

Of course not. You're right, plenty of people dislike dogs.

And even if I did think someone was your family... I wouldn't say a thing like that to a shinki.

[He rubs his hands against his legs, and then stands up, tossing another glance over his shoulder towards the garden. He crosses his arms, and offers a half smile to Hakkai.]

You're not the only person here.

[He shrugs, and then looks down at his phone.]

I never took a lot of pictures, but if my sisters show up or something, this is something I can show them and I won't have to worry about it. I tried to remember what...um...what our friend used to do. He didn't show them off to many people, but he always showed me.

[Plenty of people take pictures. That's a safe thing to mention. His demeanor hasn't recovered from the shock of meeting the dog; he simply hadn't been even a little prepared for something that big to come running at him.]

No, but I wouldn't talk about it to others, either. I was a shinki once myself, you see.

[If nothing else, it builds empathy.

Less, he sometimes thinks, than he should have; but empathy nonetheless. It's knowing shinki he loves that builds paranoia.]

But pictures are a good way to make friends.

[He smiles a little, and adds:] And yours really are quite good.

[Shifting his weight back and forth, Felix considers this revelation, not entirely sure what to make of it. Finally, he shrugs and looks over his shoulder at the garden.]

This is a bad idea. If they don't remember me, I shouldn't even talk to them. It's too dangerous.

[Hakkai looks away, eyebrows briefly pinching together.]

That might be true, yes. But it might also be that they approach you, and you'll have to bear the weight of pretending not to know them.

They won't recognize or remember you on their own.

[He sighs and shakes his head. It's a lot to think about, and not something he wants to think about. He licks his lips and then looks up to Hakkai.]

Um. What if I say too much, though? Then it won't matter if I was pretending or not, right?

[He doens't want to kill any other part of his family, especially if it's by accident.]

That's true.

Still... unless you tell them you're talking about their past, you won't remind them accidentally. That's what you really have to be careful of.

[He sighs, and adds:] It probably is easier to avoid them completely. That's hard, though.

[He is quiet for a minute. Then, he looks up, meeting Hakkai's eye.]

What would you want?

[He swallows.]

'Cause you've been a shinki.

When I was a shinki...

I remembered just enough to know that I had known a few of the people I knew here during my life.

[He crosses his arms, silent for a moment as his gaze grows distant.]

And what I wanted, then, was to be allowed to take the risk of knowing them better. But I'm not sure that it's possible to make that decision for a shinki, and it's not safe to let them make the decision unless they remember a little.

[He doesn't look away for a while, and then lets out a slow breath. He could ask all kinds of things; what if they never remember me? What if they remember the bad things about me? What if...what if...? But he doesn't tend to get lost in that maze once there is a decision to be made. You can't afford to waffle when the time's running short, and he's been feeling like something went sideways all day.]

Yeah. But it's not fair to just hide, either, is it? This whole thing's FUBAR. i can't say anything to her, but if I don't, it's still not a good answer. Why would she even want to look at my pictures, right? She can see it all herself.

If she shows up.

[He sighs, and looks back at the garden again; still no Bon, so they're good. It's also an excuse to try not to show that he's kicking himself for the slip.]

Um. Sometime, I still want to meet Jeep, but I don't think I want to go over there right now.

[He considers the garden for a moment longer, and then looks to Hakkai.]

I watched someone get killed by a dog. I kind of want to keep going, even if your dog is really nice. He's big.

[The slight break in his voice, the fear on his face, all of that is real. he's not telling anything but the barest outline of the real story, but he's letting Hakkai see something he normally wouldn't show. Of course, after he froze earlier, he's also banking the man had some idea. He's seen Felix handle a knife, too, so the edge of what to say and what not to say is harder to pick up here.

Felix hopes he's right to think this isn't a mistake.]

[Hakkai nods, without the least flicker of surprise or distress, and offers Lucky a reassuring smile.

(A woman Lucky knows is here, and a shinki, he thinks, filing the information away under "probably irrelevant, but keep an eye on the boy in case he needs help.")]

He is big, and I'm sorry. Let me know when you want to come over to see Jeep, and I'll make sure that Bon is somewhere else before you arrive.

[He swallows. Bon is a convenient excuse, one that has a lot of truth, but in truth, Hakkai is too much like the people at home he trusts and likes.]

Okay. I'm sorry I don't like him.

That's not your fault. I'm sorry he's not better trained yet.

[Hakkai inclines his head, smiling.]

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Wanderings [Open]

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