Well here's another place you can go- [open]

[whatsolarsystem]

Who: Sherlock Holmes (whatsolarsystem ) and anyone who passes by!
What: Sherlock is playing violin in the park to gather his thoughts.
When: Late afternoon-ish?
Where: In the park
Warnings: None. As a note, style of tags can be whatever you like.

Comments

brofist for tl;drness y/n~? :D

[ocean_lightning]

The greeting caught Ukitake a bit by surprise - he hadn't realized he'd ended up drifting within eyeshot of the latter - but what was done was done, he supposed. He hadn't been intending to disturb the man in the first place, but...well, that couldn't be helped now.

The situation might as well be salvaged in the meantime, of course - so Ukitake put on a smile and turned more fully all the same.

"Afternoon!" he replied, the greeting amiable enough. After another some pause, he changed directions and approached the bench instead, so that they wouldn't end up having a shouting match across the park or anything like that. Terribly awkward and all.

The smile shifted to something a bit more sheepish as Ukitake eventually achieved a more conversational distance from the latter on the bench, hand still tucked absently in his sleeves.

"Ah, I'm sorry to disturb you..." He dipped his head apologetically. "Just - I thought I might have seen you somewhere before, and I was wondering..." He paused a moment as a name occured to him a last. "...Sherlock-san, is it?"

Y! :D

[whatsolarsystem]

Sherlock played a few more haphazard notes as Ukitake drew closer, looking over him with a discerning eye. Flowing clothes, definitely not modern yet very exotic, no doubt owing to his seemingly Japanese heritage. (Of course, the whole "spirit" conversation he had with him made that part a little more complicated. But nonetheless-) He carried a weapon at his side, a katana it seemed. That in itself lent to the theory of a warrior or fighter, but his countenance was the opposite of threatening. Actually, he seemed rather friendly; a fact that was cemented by Sherlock's previous interactions with the man.

Sherlock snapped to attention when Ukitake began speaking, quitting his "music" for the time being, and setting down his bow next to him.

"That's right," he replied. "Saw you on the screen. Said your name was Ukitake Jushiro?"

[ocean_lightning]

"Ah, yes. That it is." His smile widened at that - well, it looked like he hadn't misfired completely after all! Always a relief...

Ukitake dipped his head again - though now it was less apologetic and more respectful, a small two-second bow accompanying the movement.

"You arrived quite recently, right? It's a pleasure to meet you in person at last, in any case. Although...well, I wasn't expecting to meet you here in the least, I admit."

He chuckled, straightening fully again, and gave the violin another sidelong look of piqued interest.

"I must say, I'd never encountered anyone playing music in this area until today..."

[whatsolarsystem]

"Really?" Sherlock asked in an off-handed manner. "Playing music in the park is one of the more popular clichés, where I'm from."

He began plucking at the violin strings as he spoke, like a child who always had to have something to do when sitting.

"This place is big; needed time to gather my thoughts. Let it all sink in. I wasn't necessarily here to perform, though that's obvious from the nature of the music itself."

[ocean_lightning]

"Where you’re from?"

The statement was echoed absently, maybe slightly distracted by the sound of the string-plucking that started up after it. There was no tone or melody in it at all - purely erratic. It certainly sounded quite odd, but...

"Well, music can be used in many ways, it’s true. Just because a song isn’t appealing to one person doesn’t mean it might sound different to someone else. Always a good way to pass the time too, I guess..."

Ukitake settled back absently on one heel, giving the area around them an almost unnoticeable once-over - though at this particular hour there was hardly anyone about, much less anything particularly threatening. But of course there wasn’t - and, with a mental shake of his head, Ukitake broke off the endeavor immediately. For years he'd been trying to tone down that habit - especially since arriving here - but it still came back every now and then. Too many battlefields and too much of a reason to be worried even at times like these, probably...

Instead he returned his attention to the conversation at hand.

"...Hm. If I could ask, what country might you yourself have hailed from, previous to arriving here? You mentioned Japan...your world was called Earth as well, I take it?"

[whatsolarsystem]

Although it lasted but a brief moment, Sherlock took note of when Ukitake quietly assessed the area. Still alert, and still slightly wary, it seemed. A sign of one acclimated to fighting, indeed.

"Yes, Earth," Sherlock said, responding to the question directed at him. "London, England. Westminster, if you like being specific. Mean anything to you?"

[ocean_lightning]

Ukitake nodded a bit, thoughtfully, as the answer came about - he'd had a notion it must have been somewhere in the west, the man seemed to favor that strange accent people used over there...

"Hm. Ah, it's a familiar-sounding place - er, minus the...'Westminster' part of it, at least. I believe I knew a few people that were sent on missions there once, a very long time ago." Like Vice-Captain Sasakibe for one... "I can't say I've ever been there in person before, though."

Nor probably ever would now, come to think of it...

[whatsolarsystem]

Sherlock's curiosity was piqued at the mention of these "missions", and his expression may have betrayed this, if only very slightly. London, though apparently now gone, was once his home; and he made it a habit to know about the goings-on in every street and alleyway when he still took up residence there.

"And dare I ask what type of 'missions' you're referring to?" he asked, lifting a brow. "Sounds almost clandestine, when there are no details involved. How novel."

[ocean_lightning]

Ukitake, in return, blinked a bit at that. ...Then again, he had mentioned missions, hadn't he...? It had been intended as a normal remark in passing, but then again it was fairly understandable that someone foreign to the workings of Sereitei - especially someone from the living world - might want to know more on the matter.

"...Oh. Well, they were nothing terribly out of the ordinary, I don't think - the details more or less amounted to just the usual patrol and reconnaissance."

He paused, then figured it would probably be best to elaborate, suspecting there would probably be even more questions otherwise.

"The Gotei 13 - where I was once affiliated worked before the world was destroyed - I suppose you could consider it as an organization of shinigami. Our main duties consisted of tracking down wayward souls in the living world and helping them back to Soul Society."

The explanation felt familiar, almost a bit recited, by now.

"Sometimes we don't always reach a spirit in time, though, unfortunate as it is. That's where the second part of our jobs usually came in - purification of Hollow, and so on. ...Ah, but it's part of standard protocol that we keep our duties as invisible to the living world as possible," he added, somewhat apologetically. "If we might, by some slim chance, be referring to the same Earth in the first place, I rather doubt you'd have noticed any of this going on in London. You certainly shouldn't have."

[whatsolarsystem]

Sherlock listened as Ukitake explained the nature of the missions he had previously inquired about, and found himself met with more information he certainly had no clue how to interpret. It all seemed too fantastical, too much like something off of the telly, and yet, that's how it all was. Nothing quite made sense anymore, not since the supposed destruction of his little third planet from the sun. This feeling of confusion, of being totally unaware of the new workings and rules of this new situation he found himself in... it was all a little ridiculous, really.

Small creases formed in his brow as he frowned a bit, after the explanation was given.

"And I certainly didn't, if it indeed did take place in the same world," he responded, a little dryly. "Not that it particularly matters. Very little makes sense anymore, so your story is just as plausible as anyone else's."

[ocean_lightning]

"I guess that's true, yes."

It was a mild, thoughtful agreement. Ukitake noted the man looked veritably at a loss, and he found he couldn't blame the latter in the least.

"It takes a lot of getting used to...everyone seems to have their own story to tell, in this place. Whether or not they can be believed becomes something more up to the listener, I'd think."

A small, barely palpable sigh followed the statement - he shruggeda bit helplessly.

"I know for a fact this story of my own doesn't really matter, in the end - the duties I once had as a shinigami are pretty obsolete in this place, now."

[whatsolarsystem]

Sherlock's frown had yet to disappear. Skills from one's world of origin, becoming completely obsolete upon arrival? Oh, he certainly hoped not. He had very little else to look forward to, after all.

"Then what is it you do here? Take the occasional odd job? Or have you taken up a more permanent task?"

[ocean_lightning]

If Ukitake had been aware of that thought, he would have clarified by professing that death was all but moot on the Thor, and therefore shinigami duties were entirely useless - there being no place for wayward spirits to commune to anymore. If there were any actual Plus spirits in existence on this ship at all was a pressing question in itself.

As it was, however, he simply laughed a bit.

“Ah, well, it’s still the odd job for me. I haven’t really considered settling with anything permanent yet...” In all honesty the thought was a bit strange to him - after spending a couple thousand years working as a shinigami Captain, the very notion of some other permanent profession was almost jarring. He’s spent almost a year here already, true, but...Ukitake didn’t think he was quite ready to part with that particular bit of the past. Not yet, not for a long time. “That’s just my own side of preference, though. I believe if you get to a certain level in wage, you can apply for a permanent job of your own choosing. I suppose it’s all down to the individual in the end.”