drear | OPEN SEASON.

[ maybe he has a blade in the flowers, or one of those new guns — the small ones.

(bird had been hit by one. it hurt, he said, but not that much.)

shijima raises a hand in half-greeting, then brushes a strand of hair away from her eyes in a flick of her wrist. ]

Mm. Who's buried here?

[ an interesting thing indeed. she shouldn't have fought with the shimizu boy, but it was unavoidable, as was the damage. she just doesn't know why she's here, in... well, she doesn't know where she is. ]

And a clarification on where 'this' is would be nice, as well.

[He's done with using weapons, using blades and guns and knuckles. The only real weapon he carries with himself these days is his evasiveness and his dodging. As demonstrated now with how doesn't answer her question and mentions instead that they were somewhere in America. Not too far from a major city but still a good distance from it.

Takes a step closer to her. Moving away from the dead and departed to the living and the current. It was good to see her again despite the odd circumstances. She's hurt but she's tough. Won't stop him fretting all the same.]

People no longer important. [There's a sense of tired amusement when he answers her question in that vague manner of his.] Was just dropping by here to pay them my respects. They helped me out in a lot of situations before.

Least I can do was say hello. Seems like a terrible thing to just be forgotten.

[ she rubs the back of her head absently, picking away a few flakes of blood out of her hair. it's rather uncomfortable. she'll start getting itchy soon, probably. ]

Aa. Is that so.

[ she doubts that they aren't important. he wouldn't come and see them if they weren't. even if it's just a routine, it's one that he's apparently kept up. ]

I suppose.

[ she looks aside. ] Unless you'd like to be forgotten, I think.

[ but before he can say anything, she goes on, talking a little more rapidly. ] My head itches, and it's unpleasant. Do you have a bath? Or a sink would do, as well.

[Her comment has him looked confused, ready to ask her what she meant by that when she makes her question first. To be fair it was the more important one.

At her question he focuses on that. He rifles through his coat and pulls out a set of keys that had a tag on them. Jingling them for effect.] Back in the motel I'm saying, yeah. I haven't downgraded myself into camping out in my car just yet.

Do you, hm, need a coat or anything? Snowfall is going to get bad in a few minutes if I remember the broadcast correctly. [He doesn't actually wait for an answer. Already he's taking off his coat for her to take. It'll help her keep warm and keep most of the blood out of sight when they get to the place.]

[ a motel? ] You're living transiently, then? That certainly brings back memories.

[ ...she really talks like an old lady. to be fair, she's half an old lady.

shijima tosses her hair back, lifts her chin and shrugs. ] Perhaps I should wait for the snow and roll around in it, instead. Then I certainly won't need a coat.

[ she can see him going to offer his jacket, but she takes a slight step back and announces: ] Carry my clothes, will you?

[ what a rude, bossy thing. shijima seems to have not changed at all, regardless of how she got here in the first place. walking around like this is tiring, and she wants a smaller form to rest in. smaller bodies are easier to feed, as well. so she draws in a deep breath and changes, morphing into the small white cat that once (a rather long time ago) led the boy home from the pantheon. ]

Your clothes? What the hell did you mean by tha-- Shitting dick fucks! [Oh. He forgot about this side of her. Sides, to be specific. The bossy one and the cat one since it has been a long time since the two had seen each other. Which could explain why he jumps back in shock, dropping the bouquet on the ground. He had to bite down on his tongue from swearing loudly, the sensation he feels like now akin to having lighting suddenly striking him.

After making sure his heart wasn't really lodged in his throat, he took a deep breath and calmed himself down. There was a brief look of annoyance at Shijima when he approached her, running both hands through his hair. The bouquet was ignored completely. Wasn't like anyone tangible would get them anyway.]

Jesus, Shijima! A little warning next time would be nice. My lives flashed before me eyes for a moment.

[Still he follows her orders and picks up her clothes. A whipped man whenever it came to the girls in his life. Lives. Whatever. Careful in folding them up, he notes the amount of blood on them and hates the fact she appeared when there was snow everywhere. The white blanketing everything around them made it seem much more brighter than it should be.] We're definitely going to play a round of Twenty Questions when we get back to the motel.

Which isn't a bad thing, mind you. They have great room service there and the vending machine there is decent.

[ that's certainly some colorful language, shijima thinks, but her perception of language shifts along with her body. meowing, shiratama butts her head against his shins and steps away, dainty and arrogant at the same time.

even in this form, her white fur is stained with flakes of red. it'll come off, at least. she she darts away a few feet, only to lie down in the snow and roll around briskly, smearing away some of the dried blood.

it leaves red smears on the snow, of course, but any DNA testing will be inconclusive unless police suspect international crime.

she sits back up, licking her fur quietly, and sighs. or at least, she seems to, shoulders lowering for a moment before she stands up and walks back over to stand at matthew's feet, looking up expectantly. ]

[He would protest at her leaving evidence behind in a place like this but then again. It wasn't like sh was from here. And the blood mingled with the snow... So surely that meant they won't be able to pick up anything. Matthew hopes this is the case and goes along with the flow, the story of his life for some time now.

When she comes and sits next to him, looking up at him like that-- He meets her expectant look with a look of his own, his expression one that showed how he was puzzled by her actions. Then showed how bemused he was when an idea of what this was about popped in his head.

Crouching down, he manages to keep his sigh from becoming too dramatic. At this range, she should be able to notice he looked older. Nothing dramatic. But the subtle cues that it has been a while since the two have last seen each other. Some grey hairs were threaded through the red of hair hair and there were more lines on his freckled face. His frown only aggravated the latter while he stared at her.]

You're not expecting me to carry you along with your clothes, are you? I forgot how you you were at times. [He tries to see if her leg is hurt somehow but easily folds up like a worn stack of cards. No reason to pick a fight over something silly at this.] If you are, better hop on. Hope you don't mind the clutter in my car. It's been a while since anyone else has been with me in that shabby old rustbucket.

Edited (you saw nothing (o w o )) 2013-09-24 03:07 (UTC)

[ shijima raises her chin, looking away and almost sniffing. but she obliges him, or at least, seems to oblige him. he's the one doing her a favor, after all, but the way she acts makes it seem like it's the other way around.

she climbs into his arms. for a moment she looks up and stares into his eyes, wide golden irises focusing on him.

it's a small change, and only so much time that's passed.

but she rises on her haunches, risking imbalance, and noses at his temple. it's fine, she would say. it doesn't matter to me. but instead she lets out a quiet meow and settles down again. ]

[Seeing how much she focuses on him, Matthew resists the urge to run a hand through his hair lest he drops her and has a sullen Shijima in his metaphorical hands. It also takes all his strength to not laugh because fuck. It's been forever since he had contact with someone from the past. Physical contact that didn't end in bitterness or pain to boot. He gives her an affectionate look and then heads off towards his car.

It wasn't the most impressive thing in the world. A battered up Cadillac with its glory days clearly over with the scratched paint and dusty coat of grime and dirt under the layer of snow. Matthew opens the passenger door and holds his arms out for Shijima to take a 'seat there, the backseat not an option with how it was dominated by suitcases and bags and boxes of miscellaneous items. Signs of a man traveling for a long time, signs of a man who had no intention of stopping.

If there was one thing that hadn't changed about him was his love of playing cards. Solitaire set up on the passenger seat that he brushed away when he had opened the door, an Ace of Spades and Queen of Spades taped to the dashboard with some note written across it and an unopened deck of cards on the seat. Recently bought if the receipt next to it is any hint.] Home sweet car. Don't mind half the rubbish here. Been meaning to organize things back in Canada but things occurred there and had to split sooner than I hoped.

I think they've given up on finding me. I think.

[ if he dropped her, she'd be suitably upset. it's not a question of landing, but it's the principle of the thing!

as it is, shijima's happy to jump out of his arms and neatly into the passenger seat. she sits there for a moment before padding around in a circle and then sitting down.

she can see all the cards, but she sits down on them without hesitation. some card game isn't as important as she is. but after a moment she sits back up to look at the cards on the dashboard, and then back at matthew questioningly. ]

Don't mess them up too badly. I'm this close as to getting one suit completed. [It was the only way he's been entertaining himself when it was just him, the car and the road. Not that it sounds like he cares too much if the round was ruined. There was always another time.

Shuffling in, more slowly and carefully like his joints would protest at any sudden movements, he shuts the doors and starts the engine. Stays there for a few moments, trying to warm himself up from the winter's embrace.

It was then that he noticed Shijima's questioning(?) stare she was given to him and he looks back, wondering what's that about. Looking around to see what could have caused it, his eyes land on the dashboard themselves and he grins a bit. Almost looks a bit like his oldself.] Those? Oh -- They're notes from some people I got to meet a few months back in Paris. Didn't know they were even alive! We chatted a bit and I asked them to write some contact information. So we could keep in touch.

Pretty sure they're fake and if I use them, I'll just get hot air but I want to keep them. Better to have something of a loved one than nothing of a loved one.

[ a suit? like the little marks on corners, she guesses, looking at the layout under her paws.

shijima sits down on them again anyway.

paris, huh. that's very far away. she blinks at the notes quietly, as if absorbing every detail of them.

maybe she is. her face is rather more difficult to understand when she's a cat. shijima settles down and waits for him to drive. she'll have questions and words enough to ask him once she's clean. ]

[It doesn't take too long to coax the car to life so he can start driving.

The driving itself, on the other hand, well... Wherever that cemetery is located, it was best described as distant with how the day starts to become the night by the time they get to the motel. Matthew did his best to keep Shijima entertained. Telling her what had happened since her disappearance from Rapture, with some bitterness over certain things that went down there, and what happened after it.

Describing the motel would be difficult to do as it looked like all the other motels one would see in their life. A block of a building painted in drab colors with a bright neon sign stationed outside of it announcing its generic name and with how it had vacancy. It wasn't the ritziest place to be in so Matthew had no issue parting with some extra money when getting to the front desk and asking for some extra towels to be sent to his room, slipping an extra fifty to the person at the desk to not ask questions about the cat or the bundle of cloth he had in his arm.]

Room sweet room. [He's quick to enter it and quick to lock the door. Like the rest of the motel, the room was generic and simple. Only signs of life was Matthew's rather chaotic sense of organization of more playing cards, books and papers scattered on the bed and desk. The TV was left blaring on, the drone of news a comfortable source of static noise to him.] The bathroom is over there. I didn't take a shower today so I think there should be hot water for you to us.

I'll go check if my first-aid kit is still stocked up. Do you want me to help you with... the injuries or let you handle that?

[ she's listening, no matter how inattentive she looks. her eyes close every once in a while. her ears keep twitching, though, following his words over the clatter of the engine.

once they get into the motel and they're (relatively) safely in his rented room, she jumps out of his arms and quickly licks over her fur. a shower would be a good idea, probably, but true to her expectations, most of the blood had been dry and came off when she rolled in the snow.

her injuries, too, are mostly gone, fixed with tenpenka. so she shakes her head, a motion that's abruptly human and incongruous with her current form. she doesn't want to change back just yet — she's tired, and she wants to sleep.

after a moment's consideration, she goes back to where his legs are and rubs against them, finally butting her head against his shins before leaving to lie down and curl up on the bed. she's content to stay there, occasionally opening her eyes to peer at him or the television in between dozing. ]

If you say so. Er. Gesture so, to be more precise.

[Should something happen, he'll jump into action and make sure she's safe. The last he could do considering all the things she did for him back in that underwater hell. If she didn't want to move and just rest, he couldn't blame her.

He sits on the bed, right next to her and unwraps the scarf he wore on his neck and placed it as a bundle close to her head if she wanted to use it as a pillow. He's quick to change the channel to find something they could both watch or pretend to focus on. Eventually he decides to settle on some soap opera, the music and dramatic voices oddly lulling to him while checking his phone and seeing if he had any messages.

No messages so he settles with playing a game app on it. Sometimes he looks at her and catches her look at him. Gives a smile and returns his attention to the stick figures on his phone's screen.

Later into the night, he feels his stomach rumble in need of nutrition. Oh. Right.]

Hey. Hey. [He turns his attention to her and taps the space near her head, deciding not to risk her annoyance and actually tap her head.] I'm going to go out to grab something to eat from here. Knew I was forgetting something when we were driving here.

Anything you want when I go out? Milk? Fish? Mice?

[ shijima sleeps and watches in turns, occasionally lifting her head but relaxed otherwise. the reason why she'd been hurt is far away, now. she must have wandered quite far to get to america.

when he taps on the pillow, she yawns, first, before looking at him.

food sounds nice. she paws at her head, grooming herself quietly before deciding. it's hard to eat like this, too.

shijima jumps off the bed and slips off to the bathroom, pausing only to drag her dress with her with her teeth, where she changes back. she returns in a few minutes, smoothing down her wild hair half-heartedly. ]

I'll go with you. [ she would really like to know where she is, exactly. ]

Are you--

[Of course she's sure that she wants to come along. It was why she was telling him this in the first place. He scratches the side of his neck, sees no problem with it.

Problems that would involve the authorities getting into it or actually needing to use the first-aid kit at the very least.]

--Alright. But let me get you at least a scarf to wear. Would rather not have people judge me for just letting you run around without something to keep you warm.

[Not that she possibly needed it. It was just to keep appearances normal for people who haven't been in their situation.]

Aa, all right.

[ she doesn't see much point in keeping warm, but... he's right. just wearing her thin dress on such a cold day would look pretty weird.

once they're both properly attired, she goes over to the door, not waiting for him to catch up before she leaves. ]

The worker will think badly of you, so wait a minute before you leave.

[ the woman at the reception desk does, still, give her an odd look as she walks by, but it's at least somewhat less suspicious than both of them walking together. ]

[Considering how he came here by himself a week ago, returned with a cat today and was would have walked out with a girl now if he didn't heed her warnings? It would have raised a lot of alarm.

He's quick to leave and quicker to ignore the questions of the person at the desk as he departs. Hopes she won't be able to put two and two together about him and Shijima. He didn't need the cops on his tail. Again.

As they walk down to the store, he is glad he gave her a coat. The snow was coming down. Not enough to impede vision but enough to leave people chilly even if wrapped in warm coats and scarves.] I suppose you have a lot of questions about things even after I talked so much.

I'll let you know now -- It isn't anywhere near the sea. Made damn sure of that when I got back here years ago.

Good.

[ she has memories of rapture, of course, but it's more the smell of seawater that bothers her. as snowflakes land, invisible, on her hair, she sniffles a little. it's colder than she thought it would be. ]

East, west, or north or south?

[ cardinal directions are usually the easiest to understand for an old lady like her! ] I'll need to get back soon, and to find out how I got here. Mm, it's a little strange. I wonder.

[He has an answer for her question, something he could respond to. It's been forever since he spoke to someone he trusted, believed wouldn't put a knife in his back or in his throat.

So excuse him if his voice croaks or breaks now and then. Crackling under the sudden growing up he now had to do since there was someone else with him here.]

We're somewhere in the North. North as we can be. I suppose it explains the snow. [The very cold weather. One that makes him pull his coat up higher, trying to protect his neck. The stinging hurt the most there.

The gesture helps hide his wince at the reminder that she'll be leaving. Sooner. Later. It doesn't matter. Besides the fact that she'll be leaving period.]

Do you need to leave so soon? Shame. I was going to give you a tour to this wonderful generic town and everything. Population: Typical with you and me as specials.

[ she notices his voice breaking, and doesn't comment on it. like a boy whose voice is changing, perhaps. he's certainly young enough.

shijima looks up as he tugs at his collar, stepping surely automatically through the shallow snow. ] I'll stay for a while, at least.

[ she doesn't mention why she has to go back. he already knows anyway. ] Oddities are everywhere, yes. But, I don't think that this place is as curious as the one under the sea.

I guess you'll be my guest in that case? [He tries to make it sound like a question instead of a request. A plea. He's getting older and older, he can't act any younger.

His acting skills have been rusty for the past few years. Given how he hasn't had much time to practice it in front of people. Her comment about the place has him nod, agreeing with her. With a look of clear relief on his features. If it could stay that way, it would be good for him.

They get to the store, typical convenience store that ran '24/4!' as the neon lights blared out in declaration. Products, unhealthy junk food and vague health snacks, could be seen inside. A bored teenager at the counter as they watched a television mounted on the corner of the ceiling.] Do you want to come in with me or just want to stay out here? I don't think there'll be enough people here to judge you waiting on the store.

[ it would be very easy to mock him for that, but in what's a moment of something like mercy, she only says: ] You'll have to be hospitable to your elders.

[ she peers through the windows of the convenience store intently, eyes narrowing at the wide variety of colors. how strange. ]

I've never been in a place like this before. Aa, perhaps like this, but less dirty. I suppose it's a good thing I'm wearing shoes.

[ that's a yes to going in, though she doesn't say it that way. slouching and picking at a knot in her hair, she heads for the door, ignoring the curious glance of the cashier. ]

OPEN SEASON.

so good and yet so sad

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dork kid late with starbucks excuse me

ur excused

thank u ; 0 ;

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