[open] failure brews character, or whatever the saying is

[smilingbullet]

Who: D2, a cat, & you
When: January 8
Where: Some Far Shore park
What: Attempting to sew. Failing to sew. Judged by cat.



[ D2 wants to be able to help Forrest out with more things than fighting, cleaning, and cooking. That is, he wants to be able to at least be able to pitch in if his god ever needs any other pair of hands with his sewing and all that stuff. Except D2 knows nothing about those sort of things.

To a degree, he has started to get the hang of color combinations (though one could not guess that, considering the garish aloha shirt poking up past the neck of his pastel pink sweater- which has carefully sleep and fell printed in English on the front written underneath the picture of a person slipping on water inside a warning triangle- because those colors can only be described as loud.)

The only sewing he’s done in the past is stitching up wounds in emergencies. Then, pretty was hardly the no. 1 priority.

Nevertheless.

D2 spends most of his off time out of the temple and today is no exception. He’s not gone to the park for another run this time though. He’s gone there to hopefully avoid Forrest finding out that he’s trying to learn how to sew but it is not going well. The sewing. Forrest has not found him out yet at least. The stitching gets crooked, completely different in sizes, the thread knots, he has sewed this piece of fabric he’s practicing on to his pants maybe about a dozen times already, and it just looks really weird and wrong.

Not to mention sitting still for so long with something that doesn’t feel like it’s going anywhere is making him fidgety and unsettled; he keeps tugging at his dogtags and their chain, chewing on his lips, muttering random insults at the things in his hands (primarily in English and German) among other things. And he’s usually not at all a fidgety sort of person who does those sort of things.

The only reason he has not let out a ton of loud frustrated noises (they have this far remained fairly quiet) and gone beyond only considering to set this piece of fabric on fire is the cat that stalked him all the way from the temple to the park; Keanu is now skeptically watching him from time to time, otherwise just napping away or cleaning her paws and whiskers. At a particularly scathing look from the cat, he puffs up his cheeks at her. ]

Oh, if you’re adamant to be here you can at least be a little less critical about it. I’m trying, aren’t I?

Comments

[alchemists]

[ Elfnein was at the park getting some fresh air and sunlight, after tackling most of the new year's mayhem at her temple it was a much needed break. She noticed D2 trying to sew and a very smirk cat. ]

Maybe it's their way of trying to cheer you on?

[smilingbullet]

[ Of course he would be seen. Not that he minds, as long as this disaster doesn't get back to Forrest. He leaves the needle stuck in the fabric and tries to rub some of the frustration out of his face with his free hand. ]

You think so? She seems more like she thinks I'm hilarious or something.

[ The cat in question yawns widely, tongue curling to show that she thinks he's more pitiful than funny. ]

[alchemists]

Cats don't always show their affection in reasonable ways?

[ The cat Elfnein has at her temple does the same thing for the most part. ]

[smilingbullet]

That is true. Cats can be very contradicting.

[ He has more cats than this one at Forrest's, and knows cats other people has in their temples. ]

[alchemists]

The cat I adopted is the same in many ways, she don't like to show affection but she's always trying to guard me in her own way.

[smilingbullet]

Yeah, like from things occupying raised surfaces.

[ Keanu looks offended at the implication and she makes a disgruntled sound at her human's words. ]

Oh I wasn't talking about you and you know that.

[ Meow. ]

[alchemists]

Ahh, I know that far too well. Carol knocks any pile of books that are set on tables near her.

[sing_for_me]

[ It was the the sound of clinking metal that caught Alex’s attention. It was a sound she associated with a certain someone whose dog tags were the only things loud enough to let her know he was there. It was almost a reflex to look up when she heard it, enough to snap her out of her daze. Of course, the chances of it being him were slim, but he had appeared at the heavens before. Maybe not in the same form, but still.

The louder the sound the faster she walked, quickening her pace till she came to a clearing and spotted a person’s figure. ]

Ni— [ And she stops. The blonde hair was a give away already, but the clash of color schemes was another very obvious sign that this wasn’t who she was hoping it was. ]

Wha...[ Her eyes go from D2’s face, to the cat, then to his lap. ]

Um..are you sewing..?

[smilingbullet]

[ D2's cheeks are puffed up as he was apparently waiting for a reply from the cat-- except this is a normal, non-speaking cat, and not a nekomata or other kind of talking creature. They deflate a second or so after he looks up at the sound of her voice. ]

Oh, hey. Yeah. Or. Well. Sort of. I'm trying to, at least. [ He frowns a little for a different reason than at his inability to grasp this task. ] You okay?

[sing_for_me]

[ The puff of his cheeks didn't go unnoticed, and if anything, it helped her start to calm down. Though she's still slightly flustered from rushing over. She let's out a soft laugh, her shoulders relaxing when she catches sight of the dog tags in his hand. ]

Yeah--no, I'm, okay. Sorry, I..[ No point in really lying, was there? ] I thought you might be...someone else.

[ Didn't mean she wasn't going to change the subject though. ] So um..what are you sewing?

[smilingbullet]

[ His hand stops fiddling with the tags- he noticed her gaze being turned a bit below his face, and they are about the only reason that she might look in that area. ]

Someone important? You seemed to be in a rush. Sorry to disappoint you.

[ He doesn't really know how this person is important but it's clear enough that whoever she had hoped to see, it was someone who meant something to her. ]

Her face. [ He points a finger downward toward the cat with the hand still attached to the tags. The cat is giving him another look full of judgment. ] Though just an outline. It's not going very well.

[sing_for_me]

[ Alex felt her face heat up with embarrassment. ]

Ah—no! I didn’t mean— Yeah, I was disappointed it wasn’t him, but I’m not disappointed that it’s you..!

[ She felt even more ridiculous for even thinking it’d be that person now. Is there a hole to hide in...

Thankfully he goes back to talking about his sewing, which gives her a chance to calm down.

.....That was the cat? She should probably refrain from insulting him again.

Sewing is tougher than it looks.

[smilingbullet]

I didn't say that I thought you were the second. Though I'm a little relieved to hear that.

[ He smiles at her. And he'll take it that it was a very important person.

She wouldn't insult him, he can handle the truth. It's terrible, after all. He has zero talent for this. ]

It really is. [ He drops the tags back to his chest and lifts the piece of fabric to look at it with a critical expression. ] This doesn't look anything like any form of cat.

[sing_for_me]

[ Her eyes follow the tags as they fall, the sound lingering a little. But it was time to push those thoughts away. ]

Maybe..you can draw on the cloth with a pencil? Might be easier to have a guide to follow?

[handsome_genius]

[ Yoon doesn't recognize D2 as anyone he should know, but he walks by and sees someone sewing and his brow quirks up considerably. ‘Why here? With a cat nearby too.’

He walks on over to the ‘stranger’. ]

I couldn't help but notice... you seem to have your hands full for that kind of work, don't you? And outside of all places?

[smilingbullet]

[ D2 lets the tags drop from between his fingers and back to his chest. The cat turns an eye toward the newcomer. It's not as critical as the one she turned at D2. ]

I'm used to having my hands full, but I can't really do this at the temple, and it's a nice day anyway so I thought why not.

[handsome_genius]

So you actually do know what you're doing?

[ He huffs air a little. ]

Could've fooled me. I'd much rather do that indoors at a table.

[smilingbullet]

[ He looks down at his work. He looks up at Yoon. He looks down, up, down, up. He's got a smile on his face and- ]

Not in the least! Doing something you've got no clue about isn't gonna get easier just because of the location.

[handsome_genius]

... Sure it can.

[ Yoon points out in front of himself as if he's marking places on an invisible table where each item might sit. ]

You could have the project itself, then all of your tools, then a book to read directions from, and this phone where we can look up more help or call someone who knows how it works, and if it's being based on something else - a first draft or something you bought and are trying to recreate - you could have that too.

[artificialrose]

small>[There's a lot to take in here, and all Garry had been trying to do was go get groceries for him and Komaeda.]

[Of course, being himself, he does have to pause as he looks over at it all. The cat just seems to be generally existing... but, then, he supposes when one is in a bad mood, anything can set it off. After a moment to make sure that he doesn't have anything that has to go into a fridge immediately, he tentatively approaches.]

...So, it sounds a bit like you're having trouble.

[smilingbullet]

[ The cat looks up before the human does. She yawns and stretches, and jumps down from the bench to approach the stranger and rubs up against his leg. It's definitely just an attempt at getting food, and D2 side-eyes her for a moment before looking up at the newcomer. ]

Aah, yeah, a bit. I'm not any good at this.

[artificialrose]

[Is it because she smells sauce? Probably. Still, Garry crouches down to see if she's feeling so friendly for a pet.]

You should consider taking some classes, then. Or are you having trouble finding them?

[smilingbullet]

[ She can be friendly if it suits her, clearly, considering she's rubbing against one of Garry's shoes and ankles. ]

I haven't looked... I thought that at least figuring out how to sew in a straight line or with equally long stitches would not be impossible to learn on ones own but, well, it's not really working out yet.

[artificialrose]

[Pets got. Very nice. It's something soothing and mindless he can do, even as he looks up to continue talking with D2.]

Well, it's not impossible, but it's definitely a self imposed challenge. After all, learning on your own means you don't have someone to turn to so easily who can immediately show you what you've done wrong, or guide you on what aspects that you should work on.

[smilingbullet]

I'm aware.. Some things ought to be possible to pull off alone though right?

[ But he's miscalculated, clearly he has. ]