(Untitled)

[shareofdevils]

It was Marissa's third day on the island, and things weren't getting any less strange. The weather had been horrible the entire time, and when Summer tried to assure her that it was normally sunny and pleasant, Marissa couldn't help but feel as if she'd brought the storm with her, like one of those gloomy cartoon characters who have a rain cloud

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[babyviper]

Too much rain to live in her new house until repairs to the roof could be finished, and so O-Ren was confined to the compound. The compound bored her, though, and she had to think of her own ways to keep amused, especially since she had a hard time reading in English. Hiding around corners and other kinds of surprises worked well enough, and so she'd been waiting by the door.

But then someone entirely inept at opening doors attacked the poor structure, and O-Ren made sure that she was standing in the doorway herself, as if she'd always been there.

"You'll break it that way."

[shareofdevils]

Marissa nearly tripped and fell trying to avoid colliding with the girl in the hall. "I didn't do it on purpose," she explained, and stepped around the girl to try to tug the offending door closed. The wind made it difficult, and Marissa had to put her full weight behind it to manage it get it closed.

[babyviper]

"Most people don't do anything on purpose," O-Ren intoned, stepping back so she didn't get wet. It wouldn't do to get the gun on her thigh wet, after all. "I had a teacher who said that life was just a series of great accidents."

She knew she would paint an odd picture, not even fourteen but dressed like an office lady, weapons all over her small person.

"You're very tall."

[shareofdevils]

Marissa, her raincoat dripping onto the concrete floor, simply stared back at the girl a moment. "Am I?" she asked, and looked down the length of her body as if to confirm that. It was then that she noticed the girl was carrying what seemed to be a lot of weapons. It would have seemed out of place on anyone, but on a young girl, it was especially unsettling.

"Uh, nice gun," she added.

[babyviper]

"Thank you," O-Ren said, vaguely pleased. "It's a Smith and Wesson. Very effective." She looked up at the dripping girl. "You'll get sick if you stay wet. I'm making tea."

It was, in effect, an invitation.

[shareofdevils]

"Oh," Marissa said, uncertain exactly how to take that. "I was just going to go dry off, but could I have some of that tea after?" she asked, not wanting to assume an invitation.

[babyviper]

"It will get cold if you wait too long," O-Ren said. "Come to the kitchen quickly and it will still be hot." While the tall gaijin was very pretty, O-Ren had no idea of telling how smart she was.

[shareofdevils]

"I'll try to make it quick," Marissa promised, not one to shirk a kindness, however strange the person offering it might have been. She dashed off to the bathroom, hung up her coat and took a towel to her hair, and was back inside five minutes.

[babyviper]

O-Ren was letting the tea steep. Making tea quick and hot had been a valuable lesson learned when it was half of her diet. Stereotypical or not, she'd pretty much lived on instant noodles and tea.

"You're all crazy," she said, "to be out in the rain."