(Untitled)
Winter may still think it is dragging itself out, and it may have these ideas about how it's going to stay cold and crisp, but Steph knows better.
The sky is blue today and there's a hint of warmth in the sun and that means it is properly spring and therefore nobody can complain if she stretches out on a lawn chair in the lawn with a book and ( Read more... )
The sky is blue today and there's a hint of warmth in the sun and that means it is properly spring and therefore nobody can complain if she stretches out on a lawn chair in the lawn with a book and ( Read more... )
The good news is, Ichigo won. The bad news is, the only shirt he had in his bag was caught in the cross-fire and now lies in a tattered heap in his napsack. The cold doesn't bother the young Shinigami (yay spiritual benefits!) but being half-naked certainly does, especially with the kind of scars he's sporting. The long, empty walk back to the farm is the easy part. Getting into the farmhouse and retrieving clothing unseen? That part's hard, especially since he's wary about using Shinigami powers where anybody could see.
Grumbling to himself, bag slung over his shoulder, Ichigo is trudging closer and closer to the farmhouse from his usual sleeping spot when he spots a young girl (he's seen her before, he thinks) reading a book in the sun. He stops, hesitant to walk right past her, but eventually sees little alternative. His options limited, Ichigo makes the best of a shitty situation: he keeps his head down, says nothing, and attempts to hurriedly shuffle past her to find a new shirt.
Ichigo Kurosaki, master planner!
Reply
Steph, quite masterfully, keeps her face straight and pretends not to notice him. She's very tactful like that. Not so young, either, up close - she'll be twenty in a few months. (It did take her, yes, that long to learn some sembleance of tact.)
"There's spare clothes in the bunker," she remarks, apparently to her book, when he's at optimal hearing distance. "If you're cold."
Reply
"Me?" He acts innocent, as if she might be talking to the other half-dressed young man out in the cold. He's nervous (always is these days) because his stomach is still all flipped around from the changes, and he thinks he can still hear a bone shift and pop every couple of minutes. He's still getting used to being this...thing, and he doesn't like it one bit.
"I'm just out for a jog," he explains, ignoring the fact that nobody in their right mind would job dressed in jeans and no shirt in this weather. Also, she probably would have seen him as he jogged past her at the start. "The cold doesn't really bother me. I just don't notice it."
Why is he stopping to talk? Why not run for clothing?
Because he is dumb, that's why.
Reply
She's seen him around but hasn't managed to get around to introducing herself. Usually she's covered in twins and Sokka, though, which is her excuse.
Reply
"Really? Weird. Guess I'm just lucky." Ichigo decides it would be best to change the conversation to something that doesn't emphasize the things about him that are weird and abnormal. "I'm Ichigo," he says, holding out his hand awkwardly. "I don't think we've met?"
Reply
"I'm Steph." Her hands are small, like the rest of her - built like a gymnast, or an acrobat, graceful and strong. It's mostly the big cheerful grin that's noticeable, though. "Half of Steph-and-Sokka, although don't say that where he can hear, 'cause he still thinks it's Sokka-and-Steph. Are you sure you're not cold?"
Reply
"I'm Ichigo," he says, his own smile a little bit off from forcing it too many times in the past few weeks. His handshake is brief before he lets go, and he looks towards the bunker. "Um. Maybe?" He doesn't want to seem strange. He doesn't need that. Normal people get cold in the winter, Ichigo. "I think maybe I'll go get a shirt or something. Back in a second!"
And then he's hurrying off, headed for the bunker to retrieve some spare clothing. And he's probably going to come back, too! After all, it would be weird if he just ran off after saying he'd come back, especially in a space this small.
Reply
"Huh."
Reply
He returns a few minutes later, actually fully clothed this time, and sports his usual jacket as well (since he's not sure how cold it really is and he'd like to play it safe). He hesitates as he gets closer, but doesn't stop his approach. He said he'd come back, so here he is.
"Hey," he says, taking a seat on the ground beside her.
Reply
Reply
He tries to play it off casually, be he knows it sounds a bit strange to sleep outside in this weather. He doesn't feel it, especially not when the changes start, and half the time he's vaguely aware that he's not even i the real world anymore. When he wakes up, he's always somewhere near the farm and there's almost never blood on him, which is all he asks for.
Reply
Reply
Vaguely believable explanation in place, Ichigo moves on quickly from the idea of his father. "Everybody here seems pretty nice. Although I assumed you could turn into a dragon too or something. I'm told a lot of people here have led interesting lives before...all this."
Reply
(Kid wants to be normal? Well, that's not unusual. She can accommodate that.)
"Yeah, most people here are really nice. It's a good place to be. If I could turn into a dragon, though, I might be in - oh, Fiji, or Spain or somewhere. I don't like the cold much."
Reply
Ichigo hasn't yet seen very many places that have been completely destroyed beyond all repair, but he has seen places where the people have all but lost it. When the people turn violent and their humanity is lost amongst the fight to survive, he considers that place pretty much done for.
Reply
"Ray of sunshine, huh? This world isn't that bad. Oracle keeps tabs on most things - although I admit I haven't asked about Fiji. And there's still people fighting the good fight and all that."
Reply
Leave a comment