cute sushi lunches.

[goesberserk]

Who: Heiwajima Shizuo and Orihara Izaya; Amalthea; Maya Fey (OPEN)
When: December 20th (daytime)
Where: Wandering around Sector 4
Summary: Shizuo caught the news about a new sushi restaurant and is now on a mission to find it. Plus, getting a lay of the land might be good.
Warnings: Should be pretty tame so long as he doesn't get pissed off.

Comments

I don't use this girl enough. :I

[notamare]

If Shizuo wasn't paying attention, he might not have noticed the young woman silently stepping out into his field of vision, her arms folded and feet bare. She was still some few feet away from him, but as she hadn't expected to run into anyone on her walk, she held herself perfectly still, like a creature about to bolt, staring in his direction as motionlessly as a statue.

After a moment, she tilts her head in what may be the equivalent of a nod. "Good day." Ew cigs.

[goesberserk]

It took him a while to notice that someone was there, but when Shizuo spotted the bare feet he paused in his stroll and glanced over. As he looked the stranger over, it became obvious that there was something striking about her; mainly, her pure white features. It wasn't the sort of thing that he saw often in Japan, but it wasn't something to judge about either. People couldn't help their appearance, after all.

She had looked scared for a moment, something that had caused a brief twisting in his stomach. He was used to seeing that kind of expression on people's faces when he passed by, and he tended to do his best to ignore it.

But then she greeted him, and his mood wasn't bad enough to ignore her. He lifted a hand and nodded. "Hey."

[notamare]

Don't take it personally, she's naturally skittish around people. She draws herself inwards slightly, her eyes focusing on Shizuo's cigs for a long moment.

Watch watch, her fail social graces will have her pitching a innocent question out of left field. "Why do you befoul the air?"

Catch, Shizuo.

[goesberserk]

Her weird way of talking was noted, but Shizuo knew enough people (Simon, for instance) who spoke oddly that he didn't think too much of it. So long as she didn't start rambling on like the doctor, things would probably be fine.

It did take him a minute to realize what she was asking, though, and he glanced at his cigarette, holding it between his fingers as he let it fall to his side for a moment. This wasn't something he'd had to deal with often; smoking was so common in Japan that he'd never really been questioned about it before.

It took him a few seconds of silence to find an answer, but he eventually replied. "It calms me down."

[notamare]

She tilts her head throughout the silence, waiting patiently. Of course the answer she finally get leaves her more perplexed than ever. How could something with such a horrid stench be calming?

"Such a small thing is capable of this?" Skeptical. Then a second later, "What is it that unnerves you?"

[goesberserk]

Shizuo didn't really know what it was about the smoking that made him feel better, but it's worked well enough -- and he'd admit that some of it was just habit. Plus, Tom had said that it would help him stand out, and now it seemed like he couldn't't get through the day without them. In some ways he was bothered by the fact that he had to rely on the things, but it was better than being more on-edge than he already was.

The second question she asked was a particularly loaded one, and he let out a sigh as he tried to think of an answer. There really isn't a good one, though, so... "Lots of things."

[notamare]

She leans forward slightly, her expression showing that she's sniffing the air slightly, then recoils, a hand to her nose.

"Uh!~ I can hardy bear the smell, yet you willingly do so. Surely there are less unpleasant methods to calm yourself?"

[goesberserk]

If she was so bothered by the smell, then why the hell did she come over to talk to him? He was annoyed just by that idea (she could have avoided him just as easily), but...

Shizuo didn't want to hurt this girl, and so he finally relented and drop the cigarette to the ground, putting it out with his shoe. He let out a sigh; he'd light up again when he was done with this conversation.

"Maybe, but nothing else has really worked." He'd tried meditation once, but that hadn't worked out so well. He'd only been able to focus on his heartbeat and not being able to properly blank his mind had just pissed him off.

[notamare]

Humans were so weird. "Why did you do that?" Nodding to the cig snuffed out of its existence. "Have you decided you no longer need such a thing to be calm?"

Because he could have kept right on smoking and she wouldn't have cared much. If it had bothered her that badly he'd have walked away.

"That is a pity." Seriously it was - not being able to meditate and enjoy the forest or anything? You're missing out, man.

[goesberserk]

Even though he had just done something for the girl's sake, she only turned around and questioned him about it. Shizuo knew that he was terrible with social interaction, though, and so he ended up pinning the blame on himself instead.

"I'm not gonna do something you don't like around you," he explained with a shrug. He didn't even know this girl, but he wasn't enough of an asshole to blow smoke in someone's face when they'd made it clear that they don't like it.

"Anyway... Did you need help with something?" He couldn't imagine she'd come up to him just to ask about his smoking habit.

[notamare]

In this case, Amalthea was more fail at social interactions than he was. At the explanation, she blinked, and bowed her slightly in acknowledgment. "You have my gratitude, yet it was unnecessary. Now you have nothing to calm yourself should you find it necessary."

And another shake of her head from the unicorn. "No, I sought only a change of scenery for the moment. I desire no aid at the moment."

[goesberserk]

Shizuo only shrugged, figuring that he would just light up again if he felt himself starting to lose control. He knew that a cigarette wouldn't be enough to help once it got bad enough, but he still made the effort when he could. This girl was weird, but not offensive enough that he was going to start throwing things at her, he didn't think.

So she didn't need his help or anything else. A change of scenery? That was... odd. He tilted his head at her. "What's your normal scenery?"

[notamare]

She didn't want to run from vending machines, so it was good he hadn't taken offense to her strangeness.

At the question, a ghost of a smile flickered across her face, and she turned to point towards the forest in the distance.

"There. My home is there."

[goesberserk]

If she lived so close-by, he didn't really see how coming outside was that much of a change of scenery. Still, maybe it was enough for her. He knew that he'd spent a few days cooped up in his crappy apartment, so he couldn't really blame her for wanting some air.

He nodded and then glanced down the road. "Wouldn't it make more sense to take a walk?" Or head out of the city, but Shizuo didn't even know what laid beyond it other than the ocean.

[notamare]

"I am." She seemed a little amused by the question. "The animals spoke of new buildings appearing, and I was concerned. I wished to see for myself if they pose danger to the forest."

[goesberserk]

Animals? Forest? Well, this girl had completely lost him at that point, and Shizuo only stared at her as he tried to force her words to make sense.

"There's a forest here?" And apparently animals spoke to her. Shizuo knew he'd seen stranger, so he would accept it as well as he could. It was the sort of thing he'd certainly thought about before, he had to admit. What would all the stray dogs and cats in Ikebukuro say if they could? Those were the sorts of thoughts that struck him when he was truly calm.