[Day 153] I understood the meaning of love... [OPEN]

[hellpyre]

Who: Rin and YOU!
Open: Open
When: 153, afternoon
Where: The Gazebo
What: The past few days have been difficult, but Rin is in a surprisingly good mood today. Apparently that's enough to warrant randomly singing??
Format: Starting in action, but I'll folow
Warnings: Rin being Rin is a given by now.

[The past few days had been a whirlwind of emotion. Some good, some bad, but all of it actually fairly exhausting. In it, though, Rin had gotten out some much needed things that had been bottling up for some time, and in a stark contrast to the anger that had nearly destroyed the kitchen, she found herself in a surprisingly good mood this day.

Like. Really good mood.

Good enough to apparently sing. Which she didn't do very often at all. Sometimes she could be caught humming a song while working, but actually singing something?

Well, she did used to be in the church choir growing up, so it wasn't that far fetched of an idea. But it had been years since then, and her voice was a little out of practice.

Still, something about that good mood compelled her to make her way over to the gazebo where the piano was. She couldn't play (Yuki could, but even she had fallen out of practice with that in recent years, too) but she knew enough to strike a note and start from there. She wasn't singing to anyone in particular, and the song that came out of here surprisingly wasn't a church hymn.]

Kuon no shijima yagate sora ni
aoku aoku tokete nijinde
mahiru no tsuki no usui kage wa
sugu ni sugu ni mirai wo yobu...

[It didn't quite sound the same without some accompaniment, but she still got rather in to it. Enough that she probably wouldn't notice if some one stopped to listen...]

Comments

[daughterofursa]

It's Zuko-

[She nearly adds her title, but stops herself. She'd been so proud before coming here to have reclaimed it, and now it's completely meaningless.]

Just Zuko.

[hellpyre]

[Rin catches that, and she raises her eyebrow a bit, but she's not that surprised. A lot of people in the Bastion don't bother with surnames or titles or anything else anymore.

Or never had them to begin with.]

'kay. Zuko. M'family name is Okumura, but everyone just calls me Rin.

[Except Kaoru and Colin but they're exceptions to the general rule.]

[daughterofursa]

Rin then.

[It's a pretty normal-sounding name anyhow.

Wait. Manners.]

Nice to meet you.

[hellpyre]

[Not according to Viola, but apparently everyone in her world is named after musical themes. Who the hell knows why.]

Mhm!

[And back to making food.]

So uh. We don't got a whole lot here, but if there's anythin' you don't like lemmie know.

[daughterofursa]

I've learned not to be picky.

[They may not even know the same kinds of foods for her to be able to tell Rin what she doesn't like. She certainly hasn't recognized any of the plants or animals around here. She actually saw some sort of pastry-bearing tree this morning.]

[hellpyre]

Oh. Well... that's good here.

[At least she's not like a certain pompous composer who complains at every turn in spite of Rin insisting that there really is nothing else.

And the doughnut tree is... ... a fucking doughnut tree. She has no idea what Aoi was thinking, she could have just asked Rin to make pastries instead of spending shards on a tree.

But that's neither here nor there.]

Stew is usually a pretty good thing to fall back on. Y'can just pick around anythin' in it you don't wind up likin'.

[daughterofursa]

Yeah. It's not so hard to make either.

[Never mind that mediocre stew is about the pinnacle of Zuko's cooking ability.]

[hellpyre]

Not really, no!

[You're going to have your mind blown by this stew then, Zuko.

Luckily Rin already had some made recently, and there was just enough left for about three or four more bowls. All she had to do was get it out and reheat it.]

[daughterofursa]

[Hey, she's had plenty of other people to cook for her over the course of her life. Some of them were professionals!

...although that stew is starting to smell pretty good.]

Is it ready yet?

[hellpyre]

[Rin could have been, if not for... certain events. But for her age she's pretty good, and for their limited supplies she's been making stuff that would probably bring a tear to a professional's eye. If anything she makes survival a little more bearable because of it.]

Juuust about~!

[daughterofursa]

[Zuko actually winces a little at that cheerful tone of voice and mutters, more to herself than to Rin:]

That must've been some burden you got off your chest.

[hellpyre]

[It had been. Unfortunately it wasn't everything that was bothering her, and something else was going to come along to remind her of that eventually, but for now she was just willing to enjoy her own good spirits while they lasted.

The comment does get a glance over her shoulder, but she doesn't say anything.

Sorry, Zuko. She just wants to have her moment.]

[daughterofursa]

[That's fine. Zuko just returns to her own thoughts, watching Rin at the stove without really paying attention to her. Is this what the rest of her days are going to be like, nothing but strange things and strangers? Rin seems nice enough, but she is a stranger.

It kills her to sit around like this when she could be out looking for other survivors, but she's still healing. A warrior needs her rest, her uncle would tell her.

...

This is a pretty strange-looking kitchen, too, now that she's noticing.]

[hellpyre]

[It's not entirely modern - sort of a mix of both the old style that it once was and newer appliances. It's well used, too, given over to four months of fairly heavy use in order to feed multiple people every day. The stove, refrigerator and some other appliances are of course of modern electric make, but things like the wood stove set in to the wall, the wooden counter tops, the pantry and the cupboards all kept the old style that looked like something out of a scullery in a castle.

Finally the stew is heated enough to be eaten, and Rin takes out a couple of bowls from one of the cupboards, dishing it out and bringing them both over.]

Want any bread? I just made some today.

[daughterofursa]

[But what's a refrigerator? And how does that stove Rin was using work? Maybe she's a firebender.

Zuko is about to tuck into the stew but glances up at Rin's question.]

Oh. Sure.

[hellpyre]

[Not... exactly.]

Okay!

[There's a tall rolling rack of bakery shelves that she had set several loaves of a sort of oat-y bread have been set to cool. She goes to get one, cutting a few slices off on a wooden cutting board before bringing them over in a basket.]

[daughterofursa]

[Meanwhile Zuko takes her first spoonful of stew, and.. all right, even with the smell she wasn't expecting it to be this good.]

...this isn't bad.

[hellpyre]

[A compliment is a compliment, and when it comes to food that's what Rin strives for. If other people like it, that's all that matters.]

See? We don't got a lot here, but I've learned to work with what we do have. I try to make everythin' as fillin' as possible so no one goes hungry!

[daughterofursa]

I guess that's important.

[It's hard to accomplish anything useful if you're starving, after all.]

[hellpyre]

Mhm! So if you ever need anythin' from here, lemmie know. I can even pack some good travelin' food if you decide to head out to the Skyway. Also, you might wanna ask around. I know a few people have started goin' in pretty big groups, if you wanna join 'em. Oh, and every coupla weeks, Nathaniel finds another Core on the Skyway for us to go look for. That usually means takin' a lotta people for extra manpower and whatever.

[daughterofursa]

I'm a pretty good fighter on my own.

[She may not be quite ready to team up with a bunch of strangers.

...

Maybe the dragon.]

[hellpyre]

[That gets a bit of a frown from Rin.]

I am, too. [Well. She's strong and has a lot of power. Her skil with the blade is somewhat relative in that case.

Speaking of which, it is near by, tucked in a corner in a red silk case with her leather harness for it and the other sword she uses leaning against it.]

And I've still had things out there almost get me. I had a pretty scary run in with one'a the Caelondia devices not that long ago. I probably woulda died, if my friends hadn't been there to drag me out.

... that said, you can go out alone. It's your choice. I just know people that have done that and not come back.

[daughterofursa]

Then I guess they weren't as talented as they thought they were.

[Clearly Zuko's estimation of her own skills and how they rank against whatever monsters are out there is completely accurate.

It's difficult for her to imagine there being any creature, besides a dragon, that would be any tougher than her own family. She's fought and learned from the best.]

[hellpyre]

[Whoops that would be a button you just accidentally pushed, Zuko.]

... Night was one of the best exorcists in the business back home, and she still wound up with a fuckin' hole through her chest. Marie was one of the top Death Scythes from her world, she wound up lost. And Maka was from the same world and he was no pushover, either. Sonic, one'a the fastest things I've ever seen. Osahar, Shion, Nezumi, Shiro... I can't even count all of 'em. In the three months I've been here, we've lost just as much as we've gained out there.

Number one rule of the Skyway: Don't underestimate what's out there. And don't overestimate yourself. Anyone can fall. Even you.

You didn't know them, and I barely know you, but I'd like it if you didn't talk shit about the dead.

[daughterofursa]

[Another person would probably back down and apologize. Zuko, not so much.]

If their pride in their abilities is what got them killed, then that stands even after they're dead.

But if the same thing happens to me, you're free to call me an idiot once I'm gone, too. I've heard worse to my face.