Ken → 003

[insorrow]

Who: Ken Hidaka and interested parties
Where: In and around Somni and Espoir
Style: Whichever, I'll match it
Status: Open

Comments

[unfearful]

[Things are not good. Things are. Not. Good. That much is probably very clear by Dominic's expression as he walks through Somni. He was hesitant to leave Anemone by herself, but it's not as if Vincent knows where they live.

What the hell does he do now?

When he notices Ken, though, he pauses, immediately recognizing him.]

Ah...

[insorrow]

[It takes Ken a little longer to recognize the man who has stopped to look at him. He gazes at Dominic in confusion for a moment or two before it clicks with him where he's seen this guy before.]

Oh, you're the guy who called me, right?

[Yeah, that'd be him, right? This would be the English guy he couldn't really understand, though he looks kind of different in person. More awkward, definitely, and-- at which point he promptly remembers exactly why Dominic was calling him back then and looks more than a little awkward himself. Quick, TOPIC CHANGE, please do not ask me about my mother issues.]

Um... nice to meet you. [In person, that is. Ken knows what he means.] How are you?

[unfearful]

[It's okay, Dominic has enough to worry about without Ken's issues on top of it. C:]

Uh... I'm fine. [A complete and utter lie.] What about you?

[And yes, he is most certainly awkward when it comes to being social.]

[insorrow]

[This is exactly as Ken likes it. It's bad enough having that stuff out there in the open at all without having to dissect it in front of a stranger. Best to keep things neutral.

[This is probably why Ken doesn't call Dominic on the complete and utter lie that he's feeling just fine. He isn't very good at keeping his mouth shut when it comes to awkward truths, but pressing Dominic about why he's feeling so uncomfortable might well lead to questions he'd rather not answer about the skeletons in his own closet - a closet which, thanks to his stupid Dreamberry, is currently missing a door. Keep things neutral. If this guy wants to say he's fine when he's not. Ken can respect that.]

Oh, I'm good. [This could probably have done with sounding more convincing too.] Got a couple of things I need to get hold of. You know where I could get a birthday card round here?

[Well, it's safer than asking a near-stranger where he could get new pajamas from, right?]

[kyudousha]

[Ever since that warehouse incident, Rita's been a bit more than slightly edgy. The things they ended up seeing, the experiences felt -- it was all so surreal, but more than anything, there wasn't any hard evidence to back up any of it. The vagueness of the situation is enough to drive a mage crazy, and indeed it very well could've. Between the warehouse and the infuriating clown-thing known as Xerxes Break, she probably could've driven herself up several different walls and still have energy to spare

[insorrow]

[Ken's pretty sure he's never met this girl, but he hesitates when she raises her hand anyway. When she speaks, it's merely a matter of deduction to work out who she might be talking to. She mentioned flowers, right? Since the street isn't exactly packed, a quick glance is all that it takes Ken to confirm that there's nobody else nearby carrying anything even as floral as a leaf on a twig. By a process of simple elimination he guesses she's got to be referring to him because he's the only one out here wandering around with his arms full of flowers.

[Her bluntness doesn't bother him at all. Ken's a pretty blunt person himself, and he has to be in a pretty bad temper to be at all put out by it and what with the fact he's out that damn warehouse and the sun's finally making its presence felt, he's feeling just fine right now. He smiles, because it seems like the right thing to do.]

Oh, these? I made this just now, so... well, from the shop, I suppose. [What'd Omi say it was called again? Not the Koneko, that's for home--] Nectar. I

[kyudousha]

[A good thing that her bluntness doesn't bother Ken, since Rita's the kind of person that can offend someone by just opening her mouth. It's something like a talent, really.

At his words, she shrugs.]

You still work, even when money isn't there as an incentive? That pretty much takes boredom to a whole new level.

[insorrow]

[Ken shrugs too. He can understand that this sounds a little - or even a lot - silly, now that he thinks about it. Which he hadn't done before, not really. The others wanted to work in a shop? Well, fine, he'd go do that too. That was where his team had gone, so he'd go with them. It was something normal to cling to in a world that was all too often anything but, and he'd far rather have something to fill up his days than just stand idle and wish he was at home and wait to vanish again...

[Yeah, so otherwise he'd just be bored. She's got a point.]

Yeah... it sorta just happened like that. But I'd rather be doing something than nothing, you know? Even if it is flower arranging.

[carrying_hope]

Hey, Ken.

[looks like you're not the only one out and about. After talking with Draco, Sena went further afield and found some fun things. He has a couple bags of new clothes, so he can stop either wearing Omi's and looking even more like a shotaclone, or Aya's and look like he's playing dress-up out of his dad's closet.

And he has a black, wedge-shaped bag hanging by a shoulder strap across his chest, too.]

...what're you up to?

[insorrow]

[This is Ken carrying several bags and wandering around the shopping district. He appears to be looking for something, and doing it rather hard at that.

[Then UNEXPECTED SENA IS UNEXPECTED and has him start a little. Ken, who has been staring intently into the window of an empty store, turns around slightly guiltily as if Sena has caught him doing something he knows he shouldn't be. Perhaps he has. Yeah, so there's no money here and nobody much to mind if he just helps himself from the shops, but this still feels weirdly like stealing and stealing is a sin.]

Oh... hi, Sena. Not much. You know anyplace that would sell me some food?

[Also he wants a soccer ball. A proper one, not a kids' toy. Perhaps more than one, in fact make that definitely more than one. But that can wait until he's eaten something, or so Ken guesses.]

[carrying_hope]

Ah, no...

[he shrugs after recovering from the surprise of...catching Ken off-guard. He never would've done so before. AND OBVIOUSLY HE HAS BEEN TAKING ADVANTAGE and yes, it does feel weird, but it helped that he saw everyone ELSE doing it too. Well, like two other people. And Aya said that the things from the shops were free for the taking.]

There's no one around at all. Except for the other people like us.

[insorrow]

[And it startles Ken that Sena is looking startled even though he was the one who surprised him. This could go on quite some time...]

Yeah, I was kinda getting that picture... it's a bit freaky. [Not that this has stopped him taking advantage.] There's got to be somewhere I can get some bento though or something, though. A convenience store, maybe. You seen anything like that round here?

Hey, you been out long?

[AND DO YOU KNOW IF THERE'S A SPORT SHOP ANYWHERE ROUND HERE. No, not asking that yet. Food.]