thebastion | [Day 156] | [Closed] And oh, come colder weather

Entry tags:

[Day 156] | [Closed] And oh, come colder weather

Who: Twins, and one half of a set (Kaoru, Hikaru + Rin)
Open: Closed
When: Day 156, afternoon
Where: Hospital
What: Bon helped Rin work through a lot of her feelings about Hikaru's arrival and the continued lack of Yuki in her life, and things are better for it, but there's still something she has to do...
Format: Action
Warnings: You all know the drill by now.

[Apologies - good ones, anyway - were never Rin's strong suit. She usually had to be muscled in to being sincere by Father Fujimoto because in her mind she hadn't done anything wrong whenever she got in trouble like that. She was just giving people what they deserved for being assholes, after all. But it was moments when she actually fucked up in a way that hurt people she didn't want to hurt that she found herself at a loss for what to do. Should she apologize? Would it even be accepted if she did? Would she come off sounding insincere? What if the person she hurt didn't want to see her?

These were all the things going through her head as she stared at the closed hospital room door, holding a bag in her hands in front of her, slightly more cleaned up and dressed up than she normally would have been on a typical day. She stared at the door handle, as if willing it to move on its own so she didn't have to make that step forward to grab it herself. If something could have just conveniently shoved her in the room to get things started...

But that wasn't going to happen, and she knew it. Taking a breath in, she went for the door and knocked on it gently.]

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Right! [sorry, Hikaru, some standards are going to have to slip a little bit. One of the compromises you have to make when living here] Besides, it's not like we're serving them to people.

[…the bed is kind of too small for this to work. He gives Hikaru's hand an apologetic squeeze and slips off the bed again, popping across to the other beds in the room to steal blankets to shake out and spread on the ground - well, no one was using them anyway, and they will make things a lot more comfortable than sitting straight on the floor.]

[It's for the greater good, Kaoru, so Hikaru will accept your temporary absence from his side. For his part, he's going to take the pillows off the beds and put them on top of your blankets - they'll do for cushions, right?]

You have an entire cart? Are you a maid or something? [She doesn't really look like one, though.]

[A picnic in a hospital. That's new. But it sounds fun at least.

Rin shakes her head to the question, going to get a few more pillows from one of the room cupboards and putting them down with the others.]

Only a few of us actually cook around here. Mireille, Zulf and I do most of it, but Mireille was pregnant and had her baby a little while ago. She's workin' again but she's left the bulk of the work to me since I got here. Whenever there's some one in the hospital longer than a day, though, I bring food up here.

Healthy and nutritious food, ne Rin-chan?

[taking the bag and setting it down with the blankets, before returning to help Hikaru down.]

Oh, the baby, I forgot to tell you about the baby! When we get you out of here, you have to meet people! [excitedly, but with a very slight undercurrent of "really, you have to". Reaching to take the plates and utensils from Rin once Hikaru is settled]

[once Rin is settled, a head comes poking out from under Hikaru's bed, followed by a scaly body. Tama-chan skulks quietly over to Rin, head lowered, and tentatively licks the back of her hand. She's sorry. Tama-chan's really sorry. Okay?]

Why would I care about a baby? [It may seem obnoxious to Rin, but it's a genuine question from him. He can understand needing to meet other people - they have to rebuild their connections, he supposes - but a baby? He assumes there's a story for that somewhere, and can't help but feel a bit left out for having missed it. Anything that has Kaoru excited would've been fun to experience, too.

With assistance, he carefully settles on a cushion, sitting on top of his legs so as to avoid putting pressure on any of the worse bruises. He's not going to say so, but he might need a bit of help with his food - honestly he figures he'll probably just flat-out end up eating off Kaoru's fork.

The appearance of Tama-chan brightens him up a bit. He really, really, really likes Tama-chan; she's freaking cool. He's still not over the name choice (really, Kaoru, what the hell?), but nonetheless, a large part of him hopes that she'll come to him next. ~~She's really, really cool, okay.~~]

So you guys make the food for everyone? How many people are here, anyway? [So, so many questions. This is what Kaoru's had to put up with the last two days, Rin.]

Well it's a very cute baby?

[That's really all Rin can contribute to the subject.

Feeling Tama-chan coming up to her, she turns a bit, offering her hand palm up first before reaching to pet the Anklegator properly. She forgives you, Tama-chan. Everything is alright now.]

Uhm. 'bout fifty, give or take. We were a lot smaller, not that long ago.

[arranging the pastries onto the plates and… okay, yes, turning them so that they are at their best possible angle for presentation.]

So cute. [gotta back Rin up on that. He didn't think it was such a big deal himself until he got to see him and actually hold him.] That's partly down to me, though - I made clothes.

[all right, having next to no experience with children he actually bought baby clothes with shards, cannibalised them to make patterns and made them better. Offers Rin a fork before picking up their place and cutting off a piece of the pastry for Hikaru. The third plate sits unused.]

[Tama-chan comes a little closer to Rin, rubbing her nose and horn against her hand with apologetic whining noises. She's sorry, she's sorry. Can she sit on you?]

Only fifty? [That's barely enough for a dinner party.

He still doesn't understand the baby thing, but he figures he'll get it eventually.

He leans forwards to take the bit of pastry Kaoru's cut off, chewing thoughtfully.]

Not bad! [Really good, actually.] You make these all the time?

Well... yeah. It's not like a lot of us survived... there was only four from my world, me included, and one of 'em is gone now...

[Kuro, her familiar. The look that crosses her face is pained, but brief, as the conversation turns away from that to the pastries.]

Not all the time. Just special occasions!

[I.E. making peace with friends she's wronged.]

Weddings and birthdays. [nods and nods, taking a forkful for himself] So that must make us very special, then!

People kind of come in drips, but there's no way of predicting it. You know, like, sometimes several come from the same world, or from several different worlds, or you can go days and days and days without ever seeing a new face.

[Tama-chan sniffs at the plate in front of Rin. Can Tama-chans eat these? Can they?]

Ah, right... ['Survivors', that word. He's really going to start hating it very quickly. He glances at Kaoru.] And... it's just us here. [That's not fair. Why does Rin get company, and they don't? He grimaces, belatedly realizing that he's chosen a dark topic to go onto. Kaoru's words help a little; Tamaki and the others will have to show up eventually - they have to.

He makes a show of going along with the topic drop, regretting having brought it up. He's about to make a comment how of course they're special - but his eyes are drawn to Tama-chan sniffing at Rin's plate.]

Oi, Tama-chan! Kaoru, can she eat those?

[Shouldn't crocodile-snake-things be carnivores?]

[Rin had already picked up Tama-chan and put her on her lap by that point. The sniffing was harmless enough, but she did pull her own pastry away when she started to make a move towards eating it.]

There's nothin' bad in it... it's just fruit, sugar, flour mostly. Still...

[She's going to default to Kaoru on this one.

And Hikaru, you two have each other. Rin may have Bon and Night, but it's not the same as having her sister.

As much as she wants to forget that and just spend time with her friends, it's difficult not to think about her sister when she's watching the two of them.]

[an easy laugh, shaking his head]

A little is fine - if she doesn't like it or if she doesn't want more, she'll stop. To be honest, I've given up on trying to figure out her diet; she seems to eat anything and everything. I mean, Skyway creatures are one thing but, you know she's been catching fish and taking them to Seimei behind my back? I'm starting to regret ever teaching her how to swim.

[more cake, Hika-chan?]

Fresh veggies, she doesn't like, but once they're cooked she's surprisingly okay with them.

[…not addressing the other point. He knows how it ate at him, being here without Hikaru with him. He knows Rin feels the same, and in his experience drawing attention to it just makes it worse.]

[Since he hasn't spent any proper time away from Kaoru, aside from that heart-stopping hour or so after waking up, he doesn't actually fully comprehend just how lucky he is.

He'll happily eat that bit you're offering him, Kaoru. Man, Rin really is quite good at these. Aaaaand he's going to very pointedly ignore the mention of Seimei.]

Maybe you should tell her she's supposed to be a carnivore. [He gazes at Tama-chan suspiciously. He's pretty sure creatures like that shouldn't be having anything to do with vegetables, cooked or otherwise.]

Edited 2014-02-08 08:00 (UTC)

[Not talking about it is a good decision. If Hikaru asks about Yuki, she'll gladly give information, but aside from that she'd rather avoid it all together if at all possible.

Hikaru's comment actually gets Rin to put her pastry to the side, if only to pick up Tama-chan and hold her at eye level.]

Tama-chan. D'ya really want that pastry? Wouldn't you rather have some fish or meat?

[Yes, she's talking to the Anklegator like she's going to be able to understand her, and like Rin herself will be able to understand Tama-chan.

It's entirely possible she can understand her, though, same as the Squirts and Gasfellas she's been able to get more things from lately. Though it's equally possible Tama-chan is still too young for Rin to grasp whatever is going on in that Anklegator head of hers.]

But that's the whole point - I don't know what she's supposed to be. She just likes food, so… Omnivore, I guess. Like, anything we eat, she's interested in. [he didn't see how that was such a bad thing, seeing as regular meat wasn't always in decent supply. Besides, Tama-chan often hunted her own food]

[Tama-chan makes a little noise, squirming a bit delightedly. Of course she wants the pastry. Also, she wants fish and meat. Can she have it all, then? Can she really?!]

[As soon as Rin starts talking, Hikaru turns to Kaoru, astonishment written all across his face. Is she for real? Who does that?

...Maybe she's using her furry powers to communicate?

He turns back to Rin to watch the interaction, bemused.]

I wasn't actually serious, Rin-chan.

[Maybe she's slower than he first thought.]

Edited 2014-02-08 08:39 (UTC)

[Oh. She kind of got that. It was muddled, not clear like how she could hear Kuro when he was around, but the basic gist of what Tama-chan had said was there.

She lowered the Anklegator, giving both of them a serious look.]

So? I was. I can understand her. ... apparently she just wants all food. If it looks tasty she wants it.

[raises an eyebrow]

…it's actually not that unusual. Seimei can do it. I didn't know Rin-chan could do it, too. I thought she was doing that thing where you talk at animals even though they can't talk back. Like with dogs. [sniffs] Of course, my Tama-chan is much smarter than that.

[it's only because he knows Tama-chan well that he can understand her, though. Or rather, most of it is very educated guessing]

…though actually, I think she wants everything. Those two alternatives you gave? You just as good as offered them to her, in her book.

[Tch, that guy's name again. Once more, he'll dutifully ignore it. Except this time he's going to shuffle along the floor to be behind Kaoru, so that he can drape his good arm over his twin and lean on him with his chin on his shoulder. It makes him feel better this way.

In a loud stage-whisper, right next to Kaoru's ear;]

I think you're raising a spoiled brat.

[Not even a small trace of irony in his words. In fact, he approves; anything Hitachiin should get whatever they want. He's just a bit agitated because of the casual mention of Seimei. Sorry, Kaoru - he's trying, he really is.

There is also the exciting development of furry powers being real! He notes that for later. Rin just keeps getting better and better.

He'll also point at the pastry that's going uneaten at the moment. He'd like some more, please. ~~Tama-chan's not the only spoiled one here.~~]

Edited 2014-02-09 01:13 (UTC)

Takes one to know one. [semi-whispered back and… yes, he does notice him pointing. He does lift his fork. And he does not put it anywhere near the cake. With a teasing smile-]

Use your words, Hikaru.

Which ones? [He eyes off the fork. So many words he could use, Kaoru. So many. Don't tempt him to see what Rin does when presented with a guy who willingly flirts with his own twin, simply to get desserts.]

[twirling the fork between his fingers]

"Please" would be a good start. "Please may I…"

[He drops his hand to return to its flopped position, and taps his fingers against Kaoru, considering. He could honestly go anywhere with that.

In the end he huffs, deciding that right now probably isn't the greatest time to test all of Rin's limits. ~~She's lucky she's so important to Kaoru, otherwise he wouldn't even have thought about it.~~]

Kaoru, please feed me more of the pastry before Tama-chan decides to go ahead and eat them all.

[He hopes that Kaoru appreciates how much effort it took to turn down an opportunity that he really, really wanted to take.]

[leans forward, chuckling softly despite himself. He does appreciate it, of course he does] Yes, yes, I've got it, I've got it… [not that Tama-chan wouldn't save you some, Hikaru. Or… okay, she probably wouldn't. Not unless Kaoru told her to]

[scoops up a forkful of the fruit and cream pastry, guiding it towards Hikaru's mouth.] Here. Say aaa~h.

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