[Log] Wonder if they have giraffes?
Characters: Sanada Genichirou, Yukimura Seiichi
Location: Petting zoo
Time: Some time over the weekend.
Rating: PG. Warnings for breakbrain (though both apply, I guess) breakage? It's these two, so.
Summary: Good news: no giraffes. The sheep are safe to pet! But don't touch the goats DD:
~*~
“We should do this.” Seiichi lay flopped on his stomach on Genichirou’s bed (their bed?) as he finally was poking through the map of the boat they received when they arrived. His feet kicked up in the air behind him, crossing at the ankles and swinging just a little as he read about the petting zoo. “There’s a petting zoo on a side deck, we should go.” He traced a route to the petting zoo from Genichirou’s room (their room?) so they would not get lost trying to find it... this time. “I wonder if they’ll have giraffes~?” He joked.
Sanada sat at the edge of the bed on one side of Yukimura, hand on his friend's other side so he could lean his weight on it as he looked over the top of the other's head to see the map. "Giraffes can't swim," he said matter-of-factly, as if this placed giraffes at the lowest rung of the social hierarchy in the animal kingdom. They were such awkward animals. He didn't like them, much less have any inclination of petting the creatures. "Penguins can swim. Let's look for penguins."
For that moment, Seiichi was glad that Gencihirou could not see his face. He bowed his head a fraction, trying to contain his mirth to a silent chuckle, but he knew his voice had a slight amused shake to it. “I don’t think this is the ideal climate for penguins, Genichirou.” Seiichi looked over his shoulder at Genichirou - who was much closer than he expected so he snapped back into position almost immediately. “Ah... it’s probably going to be things like goats and miniature horses...” He’d never heard of a penguin petting zoo, anyway, that would be weird. “I went to one once where they had horseshoe crabs and let you hold a tarantula...”
Sanada frowned above Yukimura's head. Darn. "Horses are nice; I don't want to touch a tarantula," he voiced instead, pulling away from Yukimura and getting off the bed. Really, he thought someone as extravagant as Atobe would at least have a couple of penguins on deck... Wiping any trace of disappointment off his face, he turned to the other and looked at him-- well, the top of his head anyways, which was what he could see standing up. "Do you want to go now? I haven't anything to do since Renji's holed himself away in that library; I don't know how he can stand not moving the entire day save to turn a page or pick up another book."
Seiichi folded the map, slipping it in his back pocket in the event he should need it to guide them. “Let’s go,” he agreed, also getting up off the bed. With each passing day they were on vacation, he felt more relaxed - he would sleep in a bit later, spend a little less time being productive, be happy to spend twenty minutes planning his day with Genichirou... “Maybe that’s his way of unwinding,” Seiichi suggested with a small shrug. He wasn’t too worried about Renji - he did weirder, more worrisome things than just hiding away in a library. Seiichi slipped his hand around Genichirou’s arm with a soft smile. “His loss, either way.”
Sanada looked over at his arm; there wasn't a way to mirror the gesture like in hand holding, so he just let it be. A petting zoo wasn't a place he would normally go to; Sasuke might have already grown out of that phase, so this may be his only chance to see goats and horses. He didn't know exactly what to think of animals-- he wasn't an animal person, but he neither liked not disliked them either. He *had* spent that one summer catching cicadas with Renji, and Sasuke had caught him a beetle once, but that was about the limit of his experience with animals. Why does everyone he knows like such things anyways, with their six legs and antenna things... "I don't want to touch a tarantula," he felt fit to repeat.
“I’ll protect you from the tarantulas,” Seiichi assured Genichioru, getting them walking in the right direction. Being the Earth-hugging, granola-munching hippie that he was, Seiichi loved all sorts of creatures - the slimy to the fuzzy, the feathered to the furred, and everything in-between. He would have loved something like a petting zoo as a kid, though he was just as easily amused watching a garden spider building its web. “I think you’re going to like the horses,” he mused. “You have a personality like a horse.”
"Akaya said the same thing about guys at a bar," Sanada mused out loud; perhaps they were just as bad as tarantulas? "It's a bit... funny... hearing you guys say that, when I'm supposed to be the one out there, protecting people." As he walked, he felt his legs drop into the stiff cadence of a patrol, regular beats against the ground. The motion was ingrained as deeply as his tennis strokes were from daily use back when he was still on the force. He mentally shook the thought out of his head. "What's a horse's personality like?" he asked instead. It was always a good idea to gather as much information about an unknown opponent before facing them on the field, Renji taught him that.
But if Genichirou was out there protecting people, someone had to be protecting him, too, right? Seiichi’s fingers just tightened a bit on Gencihirou’s arm as he fell into step with him, though his gait was more casual. This wasn’t a military march. “Horses are smart and proud - they are very empathetic and are influenced by the emotions of the people around them. They have an overdeveloped flight or fight sense, too - they tend to bolt when they’re spooked.” The more Seiichi described it, the more his analogy worked too well.
Sanada was in the middle of nodding when that last comment drove the rest out of his mind. Shooting Yukimura an overly incredulous look, he shouted rather emphatically, "I would never run from a battle! That would be dishonorable! That would be-- Tarundoru!!" It was a word he hadn't used much anymore (apparently police officers did not take too kindly to be shouted at by a younger instructor even if their kendo form was atrocious), but nevertheless it was a habit he fell easily into; the word just fit nicely in most circumstances.
Seiichi gave him a side-long look. “Genichirou, there’s no need to yell. I’m not even two feet from you. And it isn’t dishonorable to run from a fight you will lose - especially if it risks your health.” That’s when bad things happened to good people, when they did not know when to quit. It wasn’t fights that Genichirou ran from, anyway, it was affection. “What you run from isn’t a fight, anyway.”
"I'm not yelling!" But he lowered his voice. A fight to the death was more akin to what Sanada was thinking; a fight that he would lose, he would try to avoid in the first place. Not encountering it at all was better than the shame of running away. On the field, he would not turn tail and run, even if it meant losing his other shoulder... but he also knew that a dead man was no use for anyone. "...I don't run from anything," he said, frowning. He just didn't like the idea of it.
“Sometimes you run from me,” Seiichi countered, patting Genichirou’s arm. He would rather lay the topic to rest... and they were coming up on the petting zoo, anyway. Quickly changing the subject, he motioned to the entrance of the petting zoo. “This is it here,” he commented, letting go of Genichirou’s arm and holding the door for Genichirou. “If you feel brave enough.”
Running from Yukimura only happened when they were doing laps and he tried his hardest to overtake the other, Sanada thought but didn't voice. "I'm not scared of a bunch of animals," he growled stubbornly, stepping through the entrance and looking around. His eyes skimmed the horizon where it was cut off by the brim of his cap; good, no giraffes. Just making sure. "Did you want to see a particular animal?" he turned to the other again, "Or, we could just go through the place systematically."
Seiichi laughed lightly, shaking his head. "How about we just wander aimlessly and see what we find? This isn't a grocery list we need to check off." And sure enough, the closest thing to them seemed to be bunnies... little white and black bunnies with big floppy ears. "Let's go this way." He went over to the rabbits, crouching beside one to watch its little nose twitch. He always thought bunnies looked like they were up to no good. It was the beady little eyes.
Sanada crouched down at Yukimura's right, making no other move to touch the rabbits. One of them hopped over to him-- a ruby-eyed white Holland lop barely the size of his shoe. In fact, it hopped right onto his shoe and just lay there. Sanada stared at it from between his knees. The rabbit stared back. Then opened its mouth in a small yawn, and closed its eyes. Sanada poked at the white tufts of fur above the rabbit's brow, bright red eyes shut tight. He frowned. "...Niou," he mumbled under his breath, momentarily forgetting where he was and who he was with.
Niou...? Seiichi’s eyes fell on the rabbit, trying to follow Gencihirou’s train of thought. White, puffy... fair enough. Seiichi leaned a little closer to Genichirou. “If that one is Niou, which one is Hiroshi?” He motioned to a brown rabbit that was a few paces away. “That one? No, needs glasses.” That was just begging to be sketched... and Seiichi suddenly wished he brought his sketchbook with him so that he could do some sketching while they wandered. Then again, goats liked to eat paper - Seiichi learned that the hard way as a child.
"The one in the corner," Sanada replied seriously, one hand placed on the ground so that he could point without falling over, "See the white spots around the eyes?" He looked back down at the rabbit on his foot, and picked it up in his hands so he could move. He had learned once, when he visited a cousin who had a pet rabbit, that the proper was to carry a rabbit was to support their hind legs-- this, of course, he was taught after getting his stomach scratched up and almost dropping the creature. Sanada passed 'Niou' to Yukimura instead; he looked like he knew how to deal with animals.
Seiichi carefully accepted the rabbit from Genichirou, holding it properly and gently passing his fingers over the soft fur. The tiny creature was indeed adorable, even if there was no question that it was the spawn of Satan. He glanced over at “Yagyuu” who was being a bit of a wallflower near the corner - looked like Hiroshi, of course. “I wonder if all of us are here, somewhere... as rabbits.”
Sanada scanned the large pen, frowning slightly. "They're not noisy enough to resemble Akaya or Mar--" He moved his shoe again, the shoelace of which was dangerously close to being eaten by another rabbit, with rust-red fur and busy devouring the dry grass that covered the floor. This one he picked up and stared hard in the face. It nibbled on his fingertips and he set it back down. "Do you think you can find all of us?"
Considering the challenge, Seiichi continued to stroke “Niou’s” fur and looked around. There were three rabbits together that were rather suspiciously familiar. A small black one with floppy ears and seemed to be completely enchanted by wildflowers growing in the grass. Beside it, a white rabbit with black ears whose ears stood straight up - alert - looking around as though it expected an attack. Another brown rabbit sat with them, peacefully chewing on grass, unaware of the apparent danger the second one sensed. “No,” Seiichi said with a chuckle. “Perhaps not.”
Sanada got to his feet and brushed off any dry grass that might have clung to his pants. He leaned against the wire fence surrounding the enclosure as he watched Yukimura handle the rabbit. He had heard the saying before that if you ignore something it'll ignore you-- this didn't really work with cats, but they were evil and do what they can simply to spite you anyways-- and he stuck with this philosophy when it regarded animals, something he could not relate to because it could not speak or play tennis or anything of relative importance. Ignoring was better than being bitten or scratched; too bad the philosophy didn't always work with people. "They like you because you're sweet?" he asked Yukimura, echoing the other's statement about supposedly 'normal' giraffes.
Seiichi first glanced at Genichirou, then at the rabbit in his hands, then back to Genichirou. “That could be,” he agreed not recalling their conversation about giraffes at first. It could also just be that these rabbits were specifically trained to be perfectly content to be handled by humans, as they would need the utmost patience to be in a petting zoo. Seiichi crouched down, gently releasing “Niou” to run free, though the bunny just stayed put, its little nose twitching. Standing, Seiichi laughed a little. “Ah... shall we see what else there is?”
Sanada nodded, waiting for Yukimura to go through the exit before leaving himself. He gave the rabbits a sidelong glance before leaving; to just be able to sit there while people stared and prodded at you all day long, it must be frustrating. The concept of a petting zoo itself was strange... It was like "Okay, this is what rabbit fur feels like. Moving on. This is the texture of goat fur. Etc." An inventory of sorts, so he could properly identify the hairs in a crime scene if that ever-- Nope. Not thinking about work.
The next area had baby goats - kids, Seiichi corrected himself internally - which, much like rabbits, were definitely evil. His experience of goats was that they would eat anything they could reach... actually, the deer that he saw in Nara were the same way, chewing on any plastic bag they could reach. He assumed it was because the animals were accustomed to being fed. Speaking of that... there was a little food dispenser near the goats. "Oh, look! We can feed them." Seiichi went to it, trying to figure out how the mechanism worked.
Following Yukimura to the food dispenser, Sanada stood out of the way to watch the other work the dispenser. He decided it wasn't a good idea for him to step up and help in circumstances like this; these sort of things he could not work out at a glance like Renji seemed to be able to do, and needed to spend a considerable amount of time prodding at it to figure out how it worked. Instinct was to give the box a rough shake, but seeing the pellets inside, that might not be the best thing to do either.
"...They're coming," he whispered warningly out of the corner of his mouth as he saw a goat approaching; they must know now that people approaching that area meant they were going to get fed. If he got eaten-- if he died here-- he would have no trouble blaming Yukimura.
The ominous tone of Genichirou’s voice sent a chill down Seiichi’s spine and he turned to look over his shoulder at the approaching animals in question. Goats were coming. He relaxed again, returning to toggling the food dispenser... that still wasn’t working. “...I can’t get it to work,” he said matter-of-factly, trying a little lever on the side and then pushing in another part... no really, it was not working. “...Goats really will eat anything, Genichirou - we should probably figure this out before they get over here and start eating our shorts.”
Oh no.
He was going to die here.
They were going to-- NO.
Sanada motioned Yukimura to stop and step aside, keeping his eyes trained on the gathering crowd of goats. He had dealt with mob situations before, but he had neither a baton nor non-lethal rounds on him, and they were outnumbered. When backup was not available, the next best option was a distraction and then to regroup elsewhere...
A sharp strike at the dispenser, followed by a loud crack; the group of goats simultaneously jumped back in fright at the noise. The base fell through and the entire container of pellets scattered to the ground. Shoot shoot shoot shoot shoot.
"RUN."
Seiichi was far too amused to argue with Genichirou. He bolted at Genichirou’s cue, running his hardest until they were assuredly free of the goats. He was unfortunately also laughing hysterically as he ran, so before he knew it he was breathless with mirth and had to stop, leaning his weight into one of the walls of the enclosure and wiping tears from his eyes. He wasn’t even sure what the funniest part about all of it was - Genichirou panicking and destroying the feeder, the goats pouncing on it as though they smelled fresh blood. or their swift flight from the goats. Breathless and still chuckling, he looked at Genichirou.
Chest heaving and jaw clenched, Sanada just stared back at Yukimura, with the incredulous expression of one who had just narrowly escaped death. Upon discovering several goats chasing after the pellets that had fallen into the pockets of his jacket and not having the time to empty them out, he ended up just sacrificing the entire thing and flinging it behind him, where it was promptly pounced on and torn to shreds by the overzealous goats. They had left the pen open, but at least the goats were happily feeding and not charging around-- he wasn't too keen on taking the responsibility of herding them back either. "...Atobe meant for us to die here, constructing a place like this, didn't he?"
It was a struggle, but Seiichi managed to adopt a serious expression and tone. “No, if he meant to kill us... there would certainly be giraffes. Vicious ones.” The longer he attempted to keep a straight face saying that and looking at Genichirou, the more his expression began to crumble at the edges. It was a petting zoo, not a deathtrap, and he was starting to think that maybe something bad happened to Genichirou when he was a child that would forever affect how he viewed otherwise completely harmless herbivores.
The faltering expression, Sanada failed to notice. He was too busy rescanning the horizon for giraffe heads sticking up like periscopes. He wouldn't put it past Atobe to be hiding those creatures out here somewhere, perhaps as an ambush when they have let their guard down staring at rabbits or horses. No chance of that now, he promised himself, tugging the brim of his cap down a bit with an air of complete seriousness. "I won't let the giraffes harm us."
That was... almost sweet. Almost. If they weren’t talking about giraffes, Seiichi might even feel moved by Genichirou’s resolve. As it was, he just let out another soft chuckle that he tried to hide behind one hand. “I’m always safe with you,” he agreed, looking for another animal he could subject Sanada to... ah, miniature horses were here. He touched his hand to Genichirou’s arm to get his attention, then pointed in the direction of the horses. “There they are.”
Sanada spun around in alarm, and then noticeably relaxed when he followed the other's line of sight to the paddock of horses... not giraffes. Eyes narrowed slightly, he stepped half in front of Yukimura as he lead the way, with an unvoiced 'They're dangerous. Stay behind me.' Approaching the stall cautiously, he held out a hand to prevent Yukimura from getting any closer to the animals until he has given them a proper inspection and gauge their danger levels. The horse closest to him by the fence barely came up to his hip, with soft brown eyes that he matched with a hard, untrusting stare. But he let his arm drop to the side.
The struggle to keep a straight face was slowly wearing Seiichi down - there wasn’t much more of this he could take before he just lost it. The horse that was closest to them was especially handsome and didn’t seem to mind that Genichirou was giving it a warning glare. Seiichi stepped closer, making sure the horse knew what he was doing so as to not spook it, and then ran his fingers over its withers. When the horse did not flee, he stroked down the side of the horse’s neck with a warm smile. He murmured nonsense to the horse like: “that’s a pretty horse, yes, you’re a good horse,” and wasn’t even aware he was doing it.
This was how every case started: people would get caught up in its false charm, start behaving weirdly, like Yukimura is now, then become lost; the horse would then have prime opportunity to charge or attack. Good thing he did not let Yukimura come here on his own without. Sanada kept a close eye on both the horse and is friend; and sudden movement he would pull his friend away, but like the case where a person is sleepwalking and not themselves, it is dangerous to both parties to touch the sleepwalker else they lash out.
Seiichi glanced around until he spotted a small container near the edge of the corral that was filled with chopped carrots - perfect. He moved away from the horse, though it followed him along the fence as he approached the food. He took out a small hand full of carrots put them in his pocket before glancing at Genichirou. "If you want, I can show you how to feed them," he offered. Though... Genichirou looked pretty... concerned.
Shadowing Yukimura as he got the bunch of carrots, Sanada couldn't help but feel a bit nervous. You don't just keep that sort of thing on your person; that's like having a wad of bills in your pocket in some foreign country-- it meant you were just *asking* to be mobbed. "I know how to feed them," he said out of the corner of his mouth, making neither a move to take one of the carrots nor to take his eyes off the horse. "I've even fed giraffes before," he added, as if it were such a brave feat he had accomplished.
How brave. Seiichi offered some of the carrots to Genichirou. "Then I'll leave this to you - I'm sure you can show me how it's done." He stepped forward again, running his hand over the horse's neck... though the horse did seem to understand that food was in its future. Horses were nothing like goats, though - they would not just suddenly swarm Genichirou and Seiichi (and they would not try to eat their clothing). They definitely were not as dangerous as Genichirou would have him believe.
Not breaking eye contact with the horse-- well, he was staring at the horse while it was staring at the treats-- Sanada groped the air for the carrots, though he couldn't see Yukimura's hand very well with the lack of depth perception in his peripheral vision. He chanced a split second glance over to where the other's hand was before taking the carrots and snapping his gaze right back to the horse. Don't move. Squaring his shoulders and passing the tip of his tongue over his slightly dry lips in concentration, he held the carrot out, holding it at the very tip of the stick with his arm stretched as far out from his body as possible, putting the greatest amount of distance from the tip of the carrot and himself as he could.
Usually, Seiichi was not one to correct Genichirou, watching him fumble through things, but this is exactly the sort of silly thing that probably made him hate giraffes. “Hang on,” he said, stepping closer and folding his hand over Genichirou’s, taking the carrot from him. “You’ll get bitten if you do that - let me show you.” He placed the carrots in his palm and held his hand out, palm up, to the horse (who had caught the scent of the carrots and was now quite eager). The horse craned its head forward, nibbling the carrots out of his hand - Seiichi felt the brush of his lips and occasionally teeth on his skin, but just remained still and watched the horse with a smile.
Sanada stared horror-struck at what Yukimura was doing, expecting his hand to start gushing thick red as the horse mauled the palm of his hand. He certainly did not expect the horse to give a soft whinny and lower its head, the tip of its nose prodding Yukimura's pockets for more treats, and the hand covered not with blood but with a light sheen of carrot juice and horse spit. When he turned to meet Yukimura's eyes, it was with the awestruck expression of the deepest reverence. How did he tame the beast just like that?
Seiichi took a few more pieces of carrot out of his pocket, once more offering them to Genichirou. The other man was giving him quite a look - as though he had just turned water into wine. “Do you want to try, too?” He reached his free hand out to pat the horse’s snout - it could not be dissuaded now that it knew that there was more food in its future.
His expression set, as if taking up a challenge that no one thought he would be able to do, Sanada took the carrot from Yukimura's hand and turned once more to the horse, who looked at him and gave a soft snort his direction. Even the horse was mocking him. Sanada frowned. What, don't think I can do it? He held out his hand again, carrot resting on the palm of his hand, and although he held his fingers straight and stiffly, there was a near unnoticeable tremor to the tips of his fingers.
Encouraging to the very end, Seiichi rested his hand (with horse spit, he realized a moment too late) on the small of Genichirou’s back over his (now horse-spit covered) shirt. If Genichirou would relax just a little bit, it would be better - horses were incredibly empathetic and could read the emotions of people around them and often mirrored those emotions. Sure enough, the horse approached Genichirou warily, slowly sticking out its neck and nibbling the carrot as though it was worried Genichirou would bite.
The touch to his back sent a small jolt down Sanada's spine, but he recomposed himself quickly. Seeing that his fingers were still intact was a confidence boost, and he gave Yukimura a quick glance-- that proud fleeting glance of a child to his parents, who has just learnt to ride a two-wheeler bike but has to keep his eyes on the road because the possibility of dying is still there. "Look!" he whispered excitedly to Yukimura, as the carrot slowly disappeared, and was replaced by horse spit.
Seiichi couldn’t help a small chuckle - Genichirou looked almost gleeful, and it was a rare sight. “I think it likes you.” Seiichi dipped into his pocket for more carrot with his free hand, placing a bit more in Genichirou’s hand and watching it be quickly devoured. “You can probably pet him,” he suggested, knowing now that the horse wouldn’t spook as long as Genichirou remained calm.
Sanada looked from his spit covered hand to the horse and back, then raised his other hand to place on the animal's neck-- he felt like it would be disrespectful to wipe spit onto the other, even if the spit did belong to it in the first place-- just holding it there for several seconds before removing his hand. He decided he liked horses better than giraffes. Maybe it was just this horse. Or maybe Yukimura had done something to subdue the animal so it appeared harmless. This horse was safe, Yukimura had some sort of purifying touch. "Let's go see the other animals," Sanada said eagerly; let Yukimura work his magic and make this petting zoo a safe area instead of the death trap Atobe had intended it to be.
Seiichi smiled warmly at him, glad to see the child-like excitement in his friend's face. That's what a petting zoo should be like. "Hm..." He glanced around, spotting what looked like sheep (and lambs!) in the distance. "Oh! They have sheep. Do you like sheep?" Seiichi loved them. He loved them when they were all puffed up with wool, and he loved them when they looked sad and cold after they had been shaved. He had to wonder how sheep survived before humans came along and started sheering the wool. Did they just become more and more puffy? Could they be infinitely puffy? Seiichi giggled to himself at the image of a poor little ball of fluff with just a nose and feet sticking out.
Instead of responding right away, Sanada just grabbed Yukimura's hand and led him up to the pen. "You touch them first," he offered, motioning to the sheep in front of them. "You don't want to leave any of them out," he said, careful not to touch any of the animals before Yukimura did. They didn't have food directly on hand, but they must still smell of goat!pellets and horse!carrots; he pushed the wariness out of his mind though. With Yukimura here, it will be okay.
Did... Sanada think that the sheep would act differently if they were approached by him first? Seiichi nodded and said, "I will." The sheep munched away on the fresh grass below their feet, totally oblivious to Seiichi's hands as he poked and prodded at their wool, amused by the feeling of it in his fingers. Wool always felt oily to him, especially when it was still on the animal. He didn't like wearing it, but the sheep sure were cute. One sheep turned its head as though trying to watch him playing with its wool, but Seiichi wasn't sure if it could see around his own fluff. A little ball of glee started to build up in Seiichi's stomach - he adored fluffy little sheep.
Sanada watched the strange (it was like a smile, but Sanada knew it couldn't possibly be the case) expression grow on Yukimura's face-- it was the same one he wore when he was with the horse. Was that the secret, or the touch, or mere presence? He followed behind Yukimura watching him perform the miracle ritual (whichever one it turned out to be) as he walked along the animals, taking care to stay behind the other, and stepping where the other had already stepped, his footprints showing where the grass was slightly crumpled.
Much like the sheep itself, Seiichi turned to look over his shoulder at Genichirou who was... shadowing him. Glancing at their feet, he could see that Genichirou was literally following his footsteps, stepping only where Seiichi himself had stepped with such great care that it was not evident that two people had passed there. "...It's probably okay if you want to walk around, too..." He suggested, not really sure what was going through Genichirou's mind (and not sure he wanted to know).
"I'm okay," Sanada said quickly, stopping but keeping his eyes on the grass where Yukimura had last stepped, memorizing the spot in case the grass sprang up and he wouldn't be able to tell anymore after. The mental map in place, he looked up at the other and waved him forwards. "Go on, you haven't touched the ones in that corner yet. And that smaller one on the right back there, it moved since we last passed the group, you still need to touch it," he went on, looking around to keep track of which animals were already Touched and which have not yet been.
If anyone cared what Seiichi's opinion was, Genichirou was the one who was a bit touched. But, he would humor Genichirou who had inexplicably become very concerned with Seiichi touching every single sheep in the herd. He made his way back into the corner where Genichirou had indicated, making sure to give equal attention to each sheep in what was starting to feel like some sort of weird ritual. Next were they going to put on body paint, chant, and sacrifice a virgin (if they could find one on the ship - maybe Momoshiro)?
Nodding satisfactorily once every sheep has been touched, Sanada felt himself relax. The area was safe now, and he didn't need to constant keep track of all of those white shapes in his mind; they just refused to stand still and make life easy for him, probably just to spite him, the monsters. It had been hard to move without touching the sheep that Yukimura hadn't petted yet, with the enclosure flocked with sheep, but now it was okay and he didn't need to jump out of the way when one of those animals approached, in case it was untouched. One of the sheep bumped into his leg as it grazed, the tips of his fingers hanging right over the wool. He made to bend down to touch it, but stopped short. They had business to take care of. "Which animal is next?" he asked Yukimura, withdrawing his hand quickly.
Seiichi looked at him curiously. "You don't want to pet the sheep?" He asked. Genichirou had that "down to business" tone in his voice like they were on a mission. To do what he was not sure. There were still other animals, of course, but they weren't on a scavenger hunt - they didn't have to check each animal off of a list to get a gold star.
Sanada swept his hand quickly over top of the sheep's back, not sure if that was wool he had touched or merely a cushion of air. "There, I pet it, let's go now," he said urgently, turning to the exit, his eyes scanning the sky above them for the sun so he could estimate what time it was and how long they might have to Save the petting zoo. Pointing to the area next to them, a considerably smaller roofed enclosure with a small sign indicating guinea pigs, Sanada pulled on Yukimura's sleeve to get his attention.
At the tug on his sleeve, Seiichi turned his attention to the guinea pigs. He wasn’t so sure that Genichirou would like guinea pigs... they made god-awful squealing noises, but they were definitely very cute. “...Okay,” he agreed, finding himself once more wrapped up in the other man’s enthusiasm. And so they bravely ventured forth in the direction of the guinea pigs, even if Seiichi could not have known what courage it took for them to do so.
The enthusiasm tapered somewhat as they came to the little pens and the high pitched squeaks filled the air. Eyebrows furrowed in what could almost look like concern, Sanada looked this way and that, but could not tell what was happening to make them make such sounds, as if they were being tortured. Normally, he wouldn't side with the animals, but if Atobe was behind this... 'The enemy of my enemy is my friend,' or however the saying goes, right? "Seiichi!" he turned to his friend, expression set, "Hurry, you have to save them!"
"Save them?" Oh, the horrible noise. Seiichi shook his head, "That's just the sound they make, they're not actually in pain." They did sound distraught, but guinea pigs always sounded distraught - the noise got even worse when they were in actual danger. To demonstrate that the little creatures were just fine, Seiichi went to one and scooped it up - it was a short hair, mostly white with big brown splotches of color and beady black eyes. "See?" He stroked his free hand over the animal's little head.
Sanada did not look convinced. Rather, he looked a bit testy, as of someone who did not appreciate a practical joke played on them. So the little creatures were deceivers, were they? He bent down to stare the one Yukimura held in the face. You get no pity from me, he conveyed telepathically to the guinea pig, which just twitched its nose at him. "I don't trust them," he informed Yukimura. "In a different way than giraffes, but these creatures are more blatant in their treachery."
If Genichirou got any more ridiculous today, Seiichi might have to ask him to visit the nurse’s office. He counted back from ten in his head, clearing his mind to keep from laughing and continued to stroke the small creature’s head. “Why are the guinea pigs treacherous, Genichirou?” How did a rodent commit treachery, exactly? That was his next question.
"They don't say how they feel," Sanada explained, as if this were the most obvious thing in the world, "If they are not in pain, there is no reason to trick others into thinking they are. Deceptive creatures such as these, do not associate with them. Nor with giraffes," he added for good measure. "Those necks of theirs, you know, it's like bearing a bayonet where it can strike from afar. Cowardly creatures. If they had any sense of pride whatsoever they would engage in hand to hand, close up." It made sense. To him.
...And it made absolutely no sense to anyone else. Seiichi set the guinea pig back down in its cage, which caused it to make a few little squeals of protest, and then wrapped his arms around one of Genichirou's. "I think maybe we should cut our losses and get out of here while we still can. You never know what dangers might be around the corner." Why was he humoring Genichirou? Seiichi himself did not know.
"You're right," Sanada nodded, immediately stepping back from the pen. "There are too many here; we can't recklessly tackle this head on. Perhaps there are some professionals who will be able to control the animals en masse." Even if Yukimura had a magic touch for animals, Sanada would not risk letting him go up against a giraffe if Atobe had indeed hidden one (or more!) somewhere. "As long as people are aware of the dangers, they can pass through here, it's fine by me. Let's leave."
And with that, it would seem they had faced all of the dangers of the petting zoo.
But, Westley? Seiichi mused to himself. What about the R.O.U.S’s?
Rodents of unusual size? I don’t think they exist.
Location: Petting zoo
Time: Some time over the weekend.
Rating: PG. Warnings for breakbrain (though both apply, I guess) breakage? It's these two, so.
Summary: Good news: no giraffes. The sheep are safe to pet! But don't touch the goats DD:
~*~
“We should do this.” Seiichi lay flopped on his stomach on Genichirou’s bed (their bed?) as he finally was poking through the map of the boat they received when they arrived. His feet kicked up in the air behind him, crossing at the ankles and swinging just a little as he read about the petting zoo. “There’s a petting zoo on a side deck, we should go.” He traced a route to the petting zoo from Genichirou’s room (their room?) so they would not get lost trying to find it... this time. “I wonder if they’ll have giraffes~?” He joked.
Sanada sat at the edge of the bed on one side of Yukimura, hand on his friend's other side so he could lean his weight on it as he looked over the top of the other's head to see the map. "Giraffes can't swim," he said matter-of-factly, as if this placed giraffes at the lowest rung of the social hierarchy in the animal kingdom. They were such awkward animals. He didn't like them, much less have any inclination of petting the creatures. "Penguins can swim. Let's look for penguins."
For that moment, Seiichi was glad that Gencihirou could not see his face. He bowed his head a fraction, trying to contain his mirth to a silent chuckle, but he knew his voice had a slight amused shake to it. “I don’t think this is the ideal climate for penguins, Genichirou.” Seiichi looked over his shoulder at Genichirou - who was much closer than he expected so he snapped back into position almost immediately. “Ah... it’s probably going to be things like goats and miniature horses...” He’d never heard of a penguin petting zoo, anyway, that would be weird. “I went to one once where they had horseshoe crabs and let you hold a tarantula...”
Sanada frowned above Yukimura's head. Darn. "Horses are nice; I don't want to touch a tarantula," he voiced instead, pulling away from Yukimura and getting off the bed. Really, he thought someone as extravagant as Atobe would at least have a couple of penguins on deck... Wiping any trace of disappointment off his face, he turned to the other and looked at him-- well, the top of his head anyways, which was what he could see standing up. "Do you want to go now? I haven't anything to do since Renji's holed himself away in that library; I don't know how he can stand not moving the entire day save to turn a page or pick up another book."
Seiichi folded the map, slipping it in his back pocket in the event he should need it to guide them. “Let’s go,” he agreed, also getting up off the bed. With each passing day they were on vacation, he felt more relaxed - he would sleep in a bit later, spend a little less time being productive, be happy to spend twenty minutes planning his day with Genichirou... “Maybe that’s his way of unwinding,” Seiichi suggested with a small shrug. He wasn’t too worried about Renji - he did weirder, more worrisome things than just hiding away in a library. Seiichi slipped his hand around Genichirou’s arm with a soft smile. “His loss, either way.”
Sanada looked over at his arm; there wasn't a way to mirror the gesture like in hand holding, so he just let it be. A petting zoo wasn't a place he would normally go to; Sasuke might have already grown out of that phase, so this may be his only chance to see goats and horses. He didn't know exactly what to think of animals-- he wasn't an animal person, but he neither liked not disliked them either. He *had* spent that one summer catching cicadas with Renji, and Sasuke had caught him a beetle once, but that was about the limit of his experience with animals. Why does everyone he knows like such things anyways, with their six legs and antenna things... "I don't want to touch a tarantula," he felt fit to repeat.
“I’ll protect you from the tarantulas,” Seiichi assured Genichioru, getting them walking in the right direction. Being the Earth-hugging, granola-munching hippie that he was, Seiichi loved all sorts of creatures - the slimy to the fuzzy, the feathered to the furred, and everything in-between. He would have loved something like a petting zoo as a kid, though he was just as easily amused watching a garden spider building its web. “I think you’re going to like the horses,” he mused. “You have a personality like a horse.”
"Akaya said the same thing about guys at a bar," Sanada mused out loud; perhaps they were just as bad as tarantulas? "It's a bit... funny... hearing you guys say that, when I'm supposed to be the one out there, protecting people." As he walked, he felt his legs drop into the stiff cadence of a patrol, regular beats against the ground. The motion was ingrained as deeply as his tennis strokes were from daily use back when he was still on the force. He mentally shook the thought out of his head. "What's a horse's personality like?" he asked instead. It was always a good idea to gather as much information about an unknown opponent before facing them on the field, Renji taught him that.
But if Genichirou was out there protecting people, someone had to be protecting him, too, right? Seiichi’s fingers just tightened a bit on Gencihirou’s arm as he fell into step with him, though his gait was more casual. This wasn’t a military march. “Horses are smart and proud - they are very empathetic and are influenced by the emotions of the people around them. They have an overdeveloped flight or fight sense, too - they tend to bolt when they’re spooked.” The more Seiichi described it, the more his analogy worked too well.
Sanada was in the middle of nodding when that last comment drove the rest out of his mind. Shooting Yukimura an overly incredulous look, he shouted rather emphatically, "I would never run from a battle! That would be dishonorable! That would be-- Tarundoru!!" It was a word he hadn't used much anymore (apparently police officers did not take too kindly to be shouted at by a younger instructor even if their kendo form was atrocious), but nevertheless it was a habit he fell easily into; the word just fit nicely in most circumstances.
Seiichi gave him a side-long look. “Genichirou, there’s no need to yell. I’m not even two feet from you. And it isn’t dishonorable to run from a fight you will lose - especially if it risks your health.” That’s when bad things happened to good people, when they did not know when to quit. It wasn’t fights that Genichirou ran from, anyway, it was affection. “What you run from isn’t a fight, anyway.”
"I'm not yelling!" But he lowered his voice. A fight to the death was more akin to what Sanada was thinking; a fight that he would lose, he would try to avoid in the first place. Not encountering it at all was better than the shame of running away. On the field, he would not turn tail and run, even if it meant losing his other shoulder... but he also knew that a dead man was no use for anyone. "...I don't run from anything," he said, frowning. He just didn't like the idea of it.
“Sometimes you run from me,” Seiichi countered, patting Genichirou’s arm. He would rather lay the topic to rest... and they were coming up on the petting zoo, anyway. Quickly changing the subject, he motioned to the entrance of the petting zoo. “This is it here,” he commented, letting go of Genichirou’s arm and holding the door for Genichirou. “If you feel brave enough.”
Running from Yukimura only happened when they were doing laps and he tried his hardest to overtake the other, Sanada thought but didn't voice. "I'm not scared of a bunch of animals," he growled stubbornly, stepping through the entrance and looking around. His eyes skimmed the horizon where it was cut off by the brim of his cap; good, no giraffes. Just making sure. "Did you want to see a particular animal?" he turned to the other again, "Or, we could just go through the place systematically."
Seiichi laughed lightly, shaking his head. "How about we just wander aimlessly and see what we find? This isn't a grocery list we need to check off." And sure enough, the closest thing to them seemed to be bunnies... little white and black bunnies with big floppy ears. "Let's go this way." He went over to the rabbits, crouching beside one to watch its little nose twitch. He always thought bunnies looked like they were up to no good. It was the beady little eyes.
Sanada crouched down at Yukimura's right, making no other move to touch the rabbits. One of them hopped over to him-- a ruby-eyed white Holland lop barely the size of his shoe. In fact, it hopped right onto his shoe and just lay there. Sanada stared at it from between his knees. The rabbit stared back. Then opened its mouth in a small yawn, and closed its eyes. Sanada poked at the white tufts of fur above the rabbit's brow, bright red eyes shut tight. He frowned. "...Niou," he mumbled under his breath, momentarily forgetting where he was and who he was with.
Niou...? Seiichi’s eyes fell on the rabbit, trying to follow Gencihirou’s train of thought. White, puffy... fair enough. Seiichi leaned a little closer to Genichirou. “If that one is Niou, which one is Hiroshi?” He motioned to a brown rabbit that was a few paces away. “That one? No, needs glasses.” That was just begging to be sketched... and Seiichi suddenly wished he brought his sketchbook with him so that he could do some sketching while they wandered. Then again, goats liked to eat paper - Seiichi learned that the hard way as a child.
"The one in the corner," Sanada replied seriously, one hand placed on the ground so that he could point without falling over, "See the white spots around the eyes?" He looked back down at the rabbit on his foot, and picked it up in his hands so he could move. He had learned once, when he visited a cousin who had a pet rabbit, that the proper was to carry a rabbit was to support their hind legs-- this, of course, he was taught after getting his stomach scratched up and almost dropping the creature. Sanada passed 'Niou' to Yukimura instead; he looked like he knew how to deal with animals.
Seiichi carefully accepted the rabbit from Genichirou, holding it properly and gently passing his fingers over the soft fur. The tiny creature was indeed adorable, even if there was no question that it was the spawn of Satan. He glanced over at “Yagyuu” who was being a bit of a wallflower near the corner - looked like Hiroshi, of course. “I wonder if all of us are here, somewhere... as rabbits.”
Sanada scanned the large pen, frowning slightly. "They're not noisy enough to resemble Akaya or Mar--" He moved his shoe again, the shoelace of which was dangerously close to being eaten by another rabbit, with rust-red fur and busy devouring the dry grass that covered the floor. This one he picked up and stared hard in the face. It nibbled on his fingertips and he set it back down. "Do you think you can find all of us?"
Considering the challenge, Seiichi continued to stroke “Niou’s” fur and looked around. There were three rabbits together that were rather suspiciously familiar. A small black one with floppy ears and seemed to be completely enchanted by wildflowers growing in the grass. Beside it, a white rabbit with black ears whose ears stood straight up - alert - looking around as though it expected an attack. Another brown rabbit sat with them, peacefully chewing on grass, unaware of the apparent danger the second one sensed. “No,” Seiichi said with a chuckle. “Perhaps not.”
Sanada got to his feet and brushed off any dry grass that might have clung to his pants. He leaned against the wire fence surrounding the enclosure as he watched Yukimura handle the rabbit. He had heard the saying before that if you ignore something it'll ignore you-- this didn't really work with cats, but they were evil and do what they can simply to spite you anyways-- and he stuck with this philosophy when it regarded animals, something he could not relate to because it could not speak or play tennis or anything of relative importance. Ignoring was better than being bitten or scratched; too bad the philosophy didn't always work with people. "They like you because you're sweet?" he asked Yukimura, echoing the other's statement about supposedly 'normal' giraffes.
Seiichi first glanced at Genichirou, then at the rabbit in his hands, then back to Genichirou. “That could be,” he agreed not recalling their conversation about giraffes at first. It could also just be that these rabbits were specifically trained to be perfectly content to be handled by humans, as they would need the utmost patience to be in a petting zoo. Seiichi crouched down, gently releasing “Niou” to run free, though the bunny just stayed put, its little nose twitching. Standing, Seiichi laughed a little. “Ah... shall we see what else there is?”
Sanada nodded, waiting for Yukimura to go through the exit before leaving himself. He gave the rabbits a sidelong glance before leaving; to just be able to sit there while people stared and prodded at you all day long, it must be frustrating. The concept of a petting zoo itself was strange... It was like "Okay, this is what rabbit fur feels like. Moving on. This is the texture of goat fur. Etc." An inventory of sorts, so he could properly identify the hairs in a crime scene if that ever-- Nope. Not thinking about work.
The next area had baby goats - kids, Seiichi corrected himself internally - which, much like rabbits, were definitely evil. His experience of goats was that they would eat anything they could reach... actually, the deer that he saw in Nara were the same way, chewing on any plastic bag they could reach. He assumed it was because the animals were accustomed to being fed. Speaking of that... there was a little food dispenser near the goats. "Oh, look! We can feed them." Seiichi went to it, trying to figure out how the mechanism worked.
Following Yukimura to the food dispenser, Sanada stood out of the way to watch the other work the dispenser. He decided it wasn't a good idea for him to step up and help in circumstances like this; these sort of things he could not work out at a glance like Renji seemed to be able to do, and needed to spend a considerable amount of time prodding at it to figure out how it worked. Instinct was to give the box a rough shake, but seeing the pellets inside, that might not be the best thing to do either.
"...They're coming," he whispered warningly out of the corner of his mouth as he saw a goat approaching; they must know now that people approaching that area meant they were going to get fed. If he got eaten-- if he died here-- he would have no trouble blaming Yukimura.
The ominous tone of Genichirou’s voice sent a chill down Seiichi’s spine and he turned to look over his shoulder at the approaching animals in question. Goats were coming. He relaxed again, returning to toggling the food dispenser... that still wasn’t working. “...I can’t get it to work,” he said matter-of-factly, trying a little lever on the side and then pushing in another part... no really, it was not working. “...Goats really will eat anything, Genichirou - we should probably figure this out before they get over here and start eating our shorts.”
Oh no.
He was going to die here.
They were going to-- NO.
Sanada motioned Yukimura to stop and step aside, keeping his eyes trained on the gathering crowd of goats. He had dealt with mob situations before, but he had neither a baton nor non-lethal rounds on him, and they were outnumbered. When backup was not available, the next best option was a distraction and then to regroup elsewhere...
A sharp strike at the dispenser, followed by a loud crack; the group of goats simultaneously jumped back in fright at the noise. The base fell through and the entire container of pellets scattered to the ground. Shoot shoot shoot shoot shoot.
"RUN."
Seiichi was far too amused to argue with Genichirou. He bolted at Genichirou’s cue, running his hardest until they were assuredly free of the goats. He was unfortunately also laughing hysterically as he ran, so before he knew it he was breathless with mirth and had to stop, leaning his weight into one of the walls of the enclosure and wiping tears from his eyes. He wasn’t even sure what the funniest part about all of it was - Genichirou panicking and destroying the feeder, the goats pouncing on it as though they smelled fresh blood. or their swift flight from the goats. Breathless and still chuckling, he looked at Genichirou.
Chest heaving and jaw clenched, Sanada just stared back at Yukimura, with the incredulous expression of one who had just narrowly escaped death. Upon discovering several goats chasing after the pellets that had fallen into the pockets of his jacket and not having the time to empty them out, he ended up just sacrificing the entire thing and flinging it behind him, where it was promptly pounced on and torn to shreds by the overzealous goats. They had left the pen open, but at least the goats were happily feeding and not charging around-- he wasn't too keen on taking the responsibility of herding them back either. "...Atobe meant for us to die here, constructing a place like this, didn't he?"
It was a struggle, but Seiichi managed to adopt a serious expression and tone. “No, if he meant to kill us... there would certainly be giraffes. Vicious ones.” The longer he attempted to keep a straight face saying that and looking at Genichirou, the more his expression began to crumble at the edges. It was a petting zoo, not a deathtrap, and he was starting to think that maybe something bad happened to Genichirou when he was a child that would forever affect how he viewed otherwise completely harmless herbivores.
The faltering expression, Sanada failed to notice. He was too busy rescanning the horizon for giraffe heads sticking up like periscopes. He wouldn't put it past Atobe to be hiding those creatures out here somewhere, perhaps as an ambush when they have let their guard down staring at rabbits or horses. No chance of that now, he promised himself, tugging the brim of his cap down a bit with an air of complete seriousness. "I won't let the giraffes harm us."
That was... almost sweet. Almost. If they weren’t talking about giraffes, Seiichi might even feel moved by Genichirou’s resolve. As it was, he just let out another soft chuckle that he tried to hide behind one hand. “I’m always safe with you,” he agreed, looking for another animal he could subject Sanada to... ah, miniature horses were here. He touched his hand to Genichirou’s arm to get his attention, then pointed in the direction of the horses. “There they are.”
Sanada spun around in alarm, and then noticeably relaxed when he followed the other's line of sight to the paddock of horses... not giraffes. Eyes narrowed slightly, he stepped half in front of Yukimura as he lead the way, with an unvoiced 'They're dangerous. Stay behind me.' Approaching the stall cautiously, he held out a hand to prevent Yukimura from getting any closer to the animals until he has given them a proper inspection and gauge their danger levels. The horse closest to him by the fence barely came up to his hip, with soft brown eyes that he matched with a hard, untrusting stare. But he let his arm drop to the side.
The struggle to keep a straight face was slowly wearing Seiichi down - there wasn’t much more of this he could take before he just lost it. The horse that was closest to them was especially handsome and didn’t seem to mind that Genichirou was giving it a warning glare. Seiichi stepped closer, making sure the horse knew what he was doing so as to not spook it, and then ran his fingers over its withers. When the horse did not flee, he stroked down the side of the horse’s neck with a warm smile. He murmured nonsense to the horse like: “that’s a pretty horse, yes, you’re a good horse,” and wasn’t even aware he was doing it.
This was how every case started: people would get caught up in its false charm, start behaving weirdly, like Yukimura is now, then become lost; the horse would then have prime opportunity to charge or attack. Good thing he did not let Yukimura come here on his own without. Sanada kept a close eye on both the horse and is friend; and sudden movement he would pull his friend away, but like the case where a person is sleepwalking and not themselves, it is dangerous to both parties to touch the sleepwalker else they lash out.
Seiichi glanced around until he spotted a small container near the edge of the corral that was filled with chopped carrots - perfect. He moved away from the horse, though it followed him along the fence as he approached the food. He took out a small hand full of carrots put them in his pocket before glancing at Genichirou. "If you want, I can show you how to feed them," he offered. Though... Genichirou looked pretty... concerned.
Shadowing Yukimura as he got the bunch of carrots, Sanada couldn't help but feel a bit nervous. You don't just keep that sort of thing on your person; that's like having a wad of bills in your pocket in some foreign country-- it meant you were just *asking* to be mobbed. "I know how to feed them," he said out of the corner of his mouth, making neither a move to take one of the carrots nor to take his eyes off the horse. "I've even fed giraffes before," he added, as if it were such a brave feat he had accomplished.
How brave. Seiichi offered some of the carrots to Genichirou. "Then I'll leave this to you - I'm sure you can show me how it's done." He stepped forward again, running his hand over the horse's neck... though the horse did seem to understand that food was in its future. Horses were nothing like goats, though - they would not just suddenly swarm Genichirou and Seiichi (and they would not try to eat their clothing). They definitely were not as dangerous as Genichirou would have him believe.
Not breaking eye contact with the horse-- well, he was staring at the horse while it was staring at the treats-- Sanada groped the air for the carrots, though he couldn't see Yukimura's hand very well with the lack of depth perception in his peripheral vision. He chanced a split second glance over to where the other's hand was before taking the carrots and snapping his gaze right back to the horse. Don't move. Squaring his shoulders and passing the tip of his tongue over his slightly dry lips in concentration, he held the carrot out, holding it at the very tip of the stick with his arm stretched as far out from his body as possible, putting the greatest amount of distance from the tip of the carrot and himself as he could.
Usually, Seiichi was not one to correct Genichirou, watching him fumble through things, but this is exactly the sort of silly thing that probably made him hate giraffes. “Hang on,” he said, stepping closer and folding his hand over Genichirou’s, taking the carrot from him. “You’ll get bitten if you do that - let me show you.” He placed the carrots in his palm and held his hand out, palm up, to the horse (who had caught the scent of the carrots and was now quite eager). The horse craned its head forward, nibbling the carrots out of his hand - Seiichi felt the brush of his lips and occasionally teeth on his skin, but just remained still and watched the horse with a smile.
Sanada stared horror-struck at what Yukimura was doing, expecting his hand to start gushing thick red as the horse mauled the palm of his hand. He certainly did not expect the horse to give a soft whinny and lower its head, the tip of its nose prodding Yukimura's pockets for more treats, and the hand covered not with blood but with a light sheen of carrot juice and horse spit. When he turned to meet Yukimura's eyes, it was with the awestruck expression of the deepest reverence. How did he tame the beast just like that?
Seiichi took a few more pieces of carrot out of his pocket, once more offering them to Genichirou. The other man was giving him quite a look - as though he had just turned water into wine. “Do you want to try, too?” He reached his free hand out to pat the horse’s snout - it could not be dissuaded now that it knew that there was more food in its future.
His expression set, as if taking up a challenge that no one thought he would be able to do, Sanada took the carrot from Yukimura's hand and turned once more to the horse, who looked at him and gave a soft snort his direction. Even the horse was mocking him. Sanada frowned. What, don't think I can do it? He held out his hand again, carrot resting on the palm of his hand, and although he held his fingers straight and stiffly, there was a near unnoticeable tremor to the tips of his fingers.
Encouraging to the very end, Seiichi rested his hand (with horse spit, he realized a moment too late) on the small of Genichirou’s back over his (now horse-spit covered) shirt. If Genichirou would relax just a little bit, it would be better - horses were incredibly empathetic and could read the emotions of people around them and often mirrored those emotions. Sure enough, the horse approached Genichirou warily, slowly sticking out its neck and nibbling the carrot as though it was worried Genichirou would bite.
The touch to his back sent a small jolt down Sanada's spine, but he recomposed himself quickly. Seeing that his fingers were still intact was a confidence boost, and he gave Yukimura a quick glance-- that proud fleeting glance of a child to his parents, who has just learnt to ride a two-wheeler bike but has to keep his eyes on the road because the possibility of dying is still there. "Look!" he whispered excitedly to Yukimura, as the carrot slowly disappeared, and was replaced by horse spit.
Seiichi couldn’t help a small chuckle - Genichirou looked almost gleeful, and it was a rare sight. “I think it likes you.” Seiichi dipped into his pocket for more carrot with his free hand, placing a bit more in Genichirou’s hand and watching it be quickly devoured. “You can probably pet him,” he suggested, knowing now that the horse wouldn’t spook as long as Genichirou remained calm.
Sanada looked from his spit covered hand to the horse and back, then raised his other hand to place on the animal's neck-- he felt like it would be disrespectful to wipe spit onto the other, even if the spit did belong to it in the first place-- just holding it there for several seconds before removing his hand. He decided he liked horses better than giraffes. Maybe it was just this horse. Or maybe Yukimura had done something to subdue the animal so it appeared harmless. This horse was safe, Yukimura had some sort of purifying touch. "Let's go see the other animals," Sanada said eagerly; let Yukimura work his magic and make this petting zoo a safe area instead of the death trap Atobe had intended it to be.
Seiichi smiled warmly at him, glad to see the child-like excitement in his friend's face. That's what a petting zoo should be like. "Hm..." He glanced around, spotting what looked like sheep (and lambs!) in the distance. "Oh! They have sheep. Do you like sheep?" Seiichi loved them. He loved them when they were all puffed up with wool, and he loved them when they looked sad and cold after they had been shaved. He had to wonder how sheep survived before humans came along and started sheering the wool. Did they just become more and more puffy? Could they be infinitely puffy? Seiichi giggled to himself at the image of a poor little ball of fluff with just a nose and feet sticking out.
Instead of responding right away, Sanada just grabbed Yukimura's hand and led him up to the pen. "You touch them first," he offered, motioning to the sheep in front of them. "You don't want to leave any of them out," he said, careful not to touch any of the animals before Yukimura did. They didn't have food directly on hand, but they must still smell of goat!pellets and horse!carrots; he pushed the wariness out of his mind though. With Yukimura here, it will be okay.
Did... Sanada think that the sheep would act differently if they were approached by him first? Seiichi nodded and said, "I will." The sheep munched away on the fresh grass below their feet, totally oblivious to Seiichi's hands as he poked and prodded at their wool, amused by the feeling of it in his fingers. Wool always felt oily to him, especially when it was still on the animal. He didn't like wearing it, but the sheep sure were cute. One sheep turned its head as though trying to watch him playing with its wool, but Seiichi wasn't sure if it could see around his own fluff. A little ball of glee started to build up in Seiichi's stomach - he adored fluffy little sheep.
Sanada watched the strange (it was like a smile, but Sanada knew it couldn't possibly be the case) expression grow on Yukimura's face-- it was the same one he wore when he was with the horse. Was that the secret, or the touch, or mere presence? He followed behind Yukimura watching him perform the miracle ritual (whichever one it turned out to be) as he walked along the animals, taking care to stay behind the other, and stepping where the other had already stepped, his footprints showing where the grass was slightly crumpled.
Much like the sheep itself, Seiichi turned to look over his shoulder at Genichirou who was... shadowing him. Glancing at their feet, he could see that Genichirou was literally following his footsteps, stepping only where Seiichi himself had stepped with such great care that it was not evident that two people had passed there. "...It's probably okay if you want to walk around, too..." He suggested, not really sure what was going through Genichirou's mind (and not sure he wanted to know).
"I'm okay," Sanada said quickly, stopping but keeping his eyes on the grass where Yukimura had last stepped, memorizing the spot in case the grass sprang up and he wouldn't be able to tell anymore after. The mental map in place, he looked up at the other and waved him forwards. "Go on, you haven't touched the ones in that corner yet. And that smaller one on the right back there, it moved since we last passed the group, you still need to touch it," he went on, looking around to keep track of which animals were already Touched and which have not yet been.
If anyone cared what Seiichi's opinion was, Genichirou was the one who was a bit touched. But, he would humor Genichirou who had inexplicably become very concerned with Seiichi touching every single sheep in the herd. He made his way back into the corner where Genichirou had indicated, making sure to give equal attention to each sheep in what was starting to feel like some sort of weird ritual. Next were they going to put on body paint, chant, and sacrifice a virgin (if they could find one on the ship - maybe Momoshiro)?
Nodding satisfactorily once every sheep has been touched, Sanada felt himself relax. The area was safe now, and he didn't need to constant keep track of all of those white shapes in his mind; they just refused to stand still and make life easy for him, probably just to spite him, the monsters. It had been hard to move without touching the sheep that Yukimura hadn't petted yet, with the enclosure flocked with sheep, but now it was okay and he didn't need to jump out of the way when one of those animals approached, in case it was untouched. One of the sheep bumped into his leg as it grazed, the tips of his fingers hanging right over the wool. He made to bend down to touch it, but stopped short. They had business to take care of. "Which animal is next?" he asked Yukimura, withdrawing his hand quickly.
Seiichi looked at him curiously. "You don't want to pet the sheep?" He asked. Genichirou had that "down to business" tone in his voice like they were on a mission. To do what he was not sure. There were still other animals, of course, but they weren't on a scavenger hunt - they didn't have to check each animal off of a list to get a gold star.
Sanada swept his hand quickly over top of the sheep's back, not sure if that was wool he had touched or merely a cushion of air. "There, I pet it, let's go now," he said urgently, turning to the exit, his eyes scanning the sky above them for the sun so he could estimate what time it was and how long they might have to Save the petting zoo. Pointing to the area next to them, a considerably smaller roofed enclosure with a small sign indicating guinea pigs, Sanada pulled on Yukimura's sleeve to get his attention.
At the tug on his sleeve, Seiichi turned his attention to the guinea pigs. He wasn’t so sure that Genichirou would like guinea pigs... they made god-awful squealing noises, but they were definitely very cute. “...Okay,” he agreed, finding himself once more wrapped up in the other man’s enthusiasm. And so they bravely ventured forth in the direction of the guinea pigs, even if Seiichi could not have known what courage it took for them to do so.
The enthusiasm tapered somewhat as they came to the little pens and the high pitched squeaks filled the air. Eyebrows furrowed in what could almost look like concern, Sanada looked this way and that, but could not tell what was happening to make them make such sounds, as if they were being tortured. Normally, he wouldn't side with the animals, but if Atobe was behind this... 'The enemy of my enemy is my friend,' or however the saying goes, right? "Seiichi!" he turned to his friend, expression set, "Hurry, you have to save them!"
"Save them?" Oh, the horrible noise. Seiichi shook his head, "That's just the sound they make, they're not actually in pain." They did sound distraught, but guinea pigs always sounded distraught - the noise got even worse when they were in actual danger. To demonstrate that the little creatures were just fine, Seiichi went to one and scooped it up - it was a short hair, mostly white with big brown splotches of color and beady black eyes. "See?" He stroked his free hand over the animal's little head.
Sanada did not look convinced. Rather, he looked a bit testy, as of someone who did not appreciate a practical joke played on them. So the little creatures were deceivers, were they? He bent down to stare the one Yukimura held in the face. You get no pity from me, he conveyed telepathically to the guinea pig, which just twitched its nose at him. "I don't trust them," he informed Yukimura. "In a different way than giraffes, but these creatures are more blatant in their treachery."
If Genichirou got any more ridiculous today, Seiichi might have to ask him to visit the nurse’s office. He counted back from ten in his head, clearing his mind to keep from laughing and continued to stroke the small creature’s head. “Why are the guinea pigs treacherous, Genichirou?” How did a rodent commit treachery, exactly? That was his next question.
"They don't say how they feel," Sanada explained, as if this were the most obvious thing in the world, "If they are not in pain, there is no reason to trick others into thinking they are. Deceptive creatures such as these, do not associate with them. Nor with giraffes," he added for good measure. "Those necks of theirs, you know, it's like bearing a bayonet where it can strike from afar. Cowardly creatures. If they had any sense of pride whatsoever they would engage in hand to hand, close up." It made sense. To him.
...And it made absolutely no sense to anyone else. Seiichi set the guinea pig back down in its cage, which caused it to make a few little squeals of protest, and then wrapped his arms around one of Genichirou's. "I think maybe we should cut our losses and get out of here while we still can. You never know what dangers might be around the corner." Why was he humoring Genichirou? Seiichi himself did not know.
"You're right," Sanada nodded, immediately stepping back from the pen. "There are too many here; we can't recklessly tackle this head on. Perhaps there are some professionals who will be able to control the animals en masse." Even if Yukimura had a magic touch for animals, Sanada would not risk letting him go up against a giraffe if Atobe had indeed hidden one (or more!) somewhere. "As long as people are aware of the dangers, they can pass through here, it's fine by me. Let's leave."
And with that, it would seem they had faced all of the dangers of the petting zoo.
But, Westley? Seiichi mused to himself. What about the R.O.U.S’s?
Rodents of unusual size? I don’t think they exist.