Something old, something new...

[talks_to_nisse]

WHO: Kiku and Sindre
WHEN: Sunday, 17 April
WHERE: A Random Street
WHAT: In which something that was lost and forgotten starts to be recalled

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[mystiklsushi]

Kiku coughed, trying to clear his lungs a bit. He couldn't really smell the smoke, but he could somewhat taste it, and waving in front of his face was doing little to make it dissipate. It wasn't tobacco smoke, but...he couldn't quite place what it was.

"Uhn..?" came his eloquent reply to the sudden question as he tried to clear the tears welling in his eyes. He coughed again. "Beg your pardon...?"

[talks_to_nisse]

Sindre gestured at the smoke-being surrounding him. "The person in the smoke," he said. "The one you're waving your hand through. I can see it too."

He tilted his head at it, examining it carefully. "I'm afraid I don't know what it is--I've never seen anything like it. Do you happen to know?" he added, honestly curious.

[mystiklsushi]

"Person?"

He shook his head, not understanding. "At first I thought it may have been cigarette smoke, but now I wonder more at exhaust. I'm a little worried about the air pollution lately." A hand waved vaguely though the haze to capitalize on that point. He really wished they sold face masks in this country...

[talks_to_nisse]

Frowning a bit, Sindre shook his head. "Look," he pointed out. "It's just around you. And it has been with you at least as long as it would take for me to reach you; if it were normal smoke or pollution, it would have dissipated by now."

Hesitantly, Sindre offered, "You don't have to worry about me saying anything to anyone, or thinking you're going crazy."

[mystiklsushi]

Certainly, it was still there. And that was not normal. "Then I do at least know I am not imagining the smoke. I have no explanation for what it might be..."

He paused for a moment. "I am fairly certain that I am not on fire." This is followed by an uncertain look, which is somewhere between requesting Sindre to check for flames and getting him to admit that he knows about the hidden cameras.

[talks_to_nisse]

Sindre sighed a bit impatiently. "Of course you're not on fire. Smoke doesn't always indicate fire, no matter what proverbs say."

He took another look at the smoke-creature. It was starting to look more and more dismayed as Kiku insisted on its lack of existence. "No other passerbys are reacting to the smoke. Clearly we're the only ones that perceive it."

[mystiklsushi]

He was only becoming more perplexed by the instant. "I'm really not certain..." But now, it was a little thinner. The taste was already nearly gone, though he recognizes now what the lingering flavor is. Charred leaves and yaki imo. A fall tradition. But even that quickly fades as his mind switches over to logic and all that is left in his field of vision are a few remaining tendrils of smoke and a feeling that something has slipped through his fingers.

"Ah...it's already cleared up."

[talks_to_nisse]

Shaking his head, Sindre stared straight at the smoke-person. "No, it's still there..." he trailed off.

Addressing the smoke-person, Sindre realized they were being rude. "I'm sorry to speak about you in front of you. Are you able to speak? May I ask what you are?"

The person turned to face him, and its mouth moved. Sindre wasn't able to catch much, the voice too light, to ephemeral to carry far, but he was able to catch the word "enenra" repeated a few times.

Turning back to Kiku, he asked, "Does the word 'Enenra' mean anything to you?"

[mystiklsushi]

Kiku had to wrack his brain for the answer to that one. Luckily, he had been fascinated by stories of youkai for as long as he can remember. So, though it takes a moment, the word did indeed mean something to him, and he was able to recall one of the lesser known stories.

"It does, but...how do you...?" He trails off there, really not sure how to ask this question from a person who tried to speak to imaginary things in the air.

[talks_to_nisse]

"They aren't harmful, are they?" Sindre responded, eying it a bit more warily. If it had the presence of mind to hide itself away from Kiku, it was possible that it wasn't benevolent.

"If it is, I'll do my best to help get it away from you."

[mystiklsushi]

"Ahn...from the stories I can remember, they only appeared to people who were 'pure of heart', but," he shook his head. "I really don't understand what is going on."

At the recollection and admission, the air around him grew a little denser with smoke that he only partially noticed.

[talks_to_nisse]

Sindre nodded to himself, absorbing the information. "I'll keep that in mind, then. In case I see any others."

He gestured again at the smoke--at the enenra. "There's an enenra around you. And it--He? She? I'm not sure as to the proper personal pronoun--looks rather put out that you cannot see it."

[mystiklsushi]

There was not a politely standard reply to that statement. Really, he was not sure about the social protocol on this at all, though it seemed to be an ongoing theme between them. Every meeting was stranger than the last.

"I-is that so...? Then, I am very sorry..."

Possibly the strangest thing about this is that he has recalled several details from his childhood. Scenes from his vivid imagination in his solitary playtime. In his games, he played with kappa, danced with ame warashi, shared tofu with kitsune, and trod carefully around the territory of tengu. He imagined that the sudden talk of youkai was to blame, but the intense clarity of the memories surprised him a little. When was the last time he thought of those childhood games?

[talks_to_nisse]

Sindre's frowned deepened. Kiku acted rather consistently in his befuddlement throughout this, but his reactions to the enenra had been spot on. He had been so sure...

"Are you sure you can't see it?" he pressed. "It's rude to ignore it for the sake of saving face."

[mystiklsushi]

He snapped out of his thoughts to shake his head again. "There is still a little smoke, but I think it's mostly gone now. I...don't see anything else."

It felt like it wasn't enough, and he could practically feel the disappointment rolling from Sindre in waves.

"I'm very sorry if I've done something offensive..."

[talks_to_nisse]

"It's...fine," Sindre replied, disappointment evident in his face. "If you can only see it somewhat, you can't be held responsible for ignoring it."

Shifting his bag, Sindre looked aside. "Sorry for bothering you unnecessarily."