Is it the past I see when I look up to the heavens... [Open]

[kirinoftai]

Characters: Taiki (Kirinoftai) and Open!
Content: Taiki explores the ship after joining as a passenger.
Setting: All around the Amestris!
Time: Afternoon/evening some time after the Sabotage stuff.
Warnings: Taiki being naive, adorable and perhaps a little lost, the potential for violence from Sanshi and/or Gouran if you pick on him (but that won't happen

Comments

Near the mess hall

[notrueking]

It was about an hour or so before the next meeting about the investigation-too long to count as a break, but not long enough to truly accomplish anything productive. Really, it seemed like a complete waste of time, as he'd just finished a meeting with another group.

...perhaps it was best to try and get some lunch. He wasn't particularly hungry, but he hadn't had anything to eat for a while... it might start bothering him later. Human limitations were such an annoyance.

[kirinoftai]

Taiki, had be been able to perform all of the magic and feats usually attributed to his species, would have been able to fully agree with the unspoken gripe about human limitations. As it was, it was all he knew.

He wasn't hungry, so he wasn't heading to the mess hall for food, it instead being simply another avenue of exploration. The smell of food was tantalising, but it was too thick with the smell of meat to appeal to him very much. The man that he saw there, a tall one with an eye patch and a moustache, made him slightly uncomfortable, though he couldn't work out why.

He was a little scary, so he slowed his pace, approaching gingerly.

[notrueking]

...ah. Who was that? Bradley didn't recognize the young-

...

...it took him a bit longer than usual to figure out that was a boy rather than a girl, and he still wasn't sure. How odd. In any case, the... child... looked somewhat lost. Well, given how he intended to be perceived...

"Ah... are you lost?"

[kirinoftai]

"N-not really..." he said, shrinking back slightly. "I'm just kind of looking around. A-am I not meant to be here?"

Yes, this man was very unsettling. He didn't look all that mean, but he definitely rang wrong to the boy. Luckily, he wasn't worldly enough to have even the faintest hope of figuring out why. Perhaps it was the moustache. It was hairy and strange, lurking on his lip like that.

He tried not to wince or cringe.

[notrueking]

"Well, did you sign onto the ship?" queried Bradley, bringing his hand to his chin. He felt a twinge of preemptive anger in case the kid had just wandered on; really, weren't people supposed to be checking that sort of thing, especially after the sabotage debacle? ...even so, he'd be pretty angry if the kid had just wandered on even without that, because kids couldn't just be left to wander everywhere. It was annoying.

[kirinoftai]

"Yes!" He said, nodding a confirmation. "I'm paying to be a passenger. That's allowed isn't it?"

He, of course, didn't know that he was the Captain of the whole ship. He looked rather important --maybe that was why he seemed scary, people in positions of power were always a little more imposing than others-- but he didn't know how important he was just yet.

[notrueking]

"Oh! Well, you're in the clear, then," said Bradley with a friendly smile. That was certainly a relief.

"You've turned in your paperwork, yes? It's not required to check in with me unless you want to, of course, but since you're here..."

[kirinoftai]

"I've left everything in the room I was given, do I need to go and get it?" He asked, suddenly looking worried.

He didn't look quite so scary when he was smiling, Taiki thought.

[notrueking]

"Ah, yes. You have to go get all of it and bring it right here," said Bradley, suddenly looking gravely serious. "I'll have to search through your things. Can't be too careful, these days..."

[kirinoftai]

Taiki considered sending Sanshi to fetch his personal effects, but thought that it might look a little strange.

"Okay!" He said, nodding. "Will you be here when I come back?" He asked, raising both eyebrows.

[notrueking]

...considering how the boy had been stuttering before, he'd expected more of a reaction than that.

"Hahahaha! No, don't worry about it. It was a joke."

[kirinoftai]

Taiki looked very confused for a moment, staring up at the big man with the scary moustache with wide eyes. So he didn't..?

"O-oh..." he tried to look confident again. "S-so I don't have to show you my papers?"

It showed, if nothing else, that the boy was distinctly naive. As a bonus, it made it clear that he had nothing to hide, too.

[notrueking]

Bradley really had to wonder if this boy had ever been on an airship before. Probably not, given his age. Still... he had a natural tendency to second-guess the naive, innocent types as having something to hide. It probably came from living with his older brother.

"Your papers are the only things you'll need-you can drop them off with me or the first mate whenever you have time. Just don't slack off on it."

[kirinoftai]

"Okay! Where shall I bring them to?" He asked, knowing that the chances of him being stood in this part of the corridor when he gathered them for approval were pretty slim.

[notrueking]

"Either my or the first mate's quarters are fine. They're not too far in if you enter from the top deck."

He paused a moment.

"But as I said, take your time. Are you hungry?"

[kirinoftai]

"K-kind of... but not really." He replied after nodding to his first instruction.

His mind already wandering from the subject of food, he looked up at him with big, wide eyes. If this man and the first mate had quarters close to each other, that must mean...

"Are you the Captain?" He asked, his voice tinged with awe.