thebastion | Day 74 | Action

Who: Kaoru Hitachiin, Bon (

hellpyre ), Kuro (

silvervine ).
Open: Open
When: Day 74
Where: Somewhere nice and grassy near the Monument.
What: Kaoru is sketching. Come and say hello. Perhaps he can design you something?
Format: Action
Warnings: None.

[Kaoru can be found settled on the ground with his knees drawn up. Nestled in the space between his thighs and his chest, there is the large black egg with purple splotches that he "rescued" from the chicken coop at the farm a couple of days before. Adjusting to life with an egg in it is almost as strange as adjusting to Bastion Life itself, but thanks to some pep talks from Seimei, he's managing both. Having the egg has certainly helped - in lieu of settling on a proper name, he has decided to call it Tama-chan for the time being. Sure, it reminds him of home, but what other cute name could he come up with for a giant egg?

He has a few sheets of paper, creased in half and resting on top his knees, and is sketching what seem to be ways of attaching a number of bags to the body for storage, without sacrificing balance and freedom of movement to the shifting of the bags. Tapping the pencil against his upper lip... his current plan is for clothing to which the pieces can attach, but surely some sort of harness or strap system would be more adaptable? And waste less materials as well. Having come from a world where there is always more, he is terrible at conserving things and settling for less. Even his tools today, he has had to remind himself, may be meagre, but they do the job.

He tucks the pencil behind his ear and leans back, rubbing Tama-chan a little. He really ought to chat with someone who actually fights and find out from them what's needed.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

... I.. I guess so. A-and... the old man was more my father than Satan ever was or ever wanted to be. I was just... somethin' that bastard did when he was bored.

I wanna be like the old man. He said to me when I was little, "Rin, use your strength for a gentler purpose, so you don't wind up alone..." and I've been tryin' to do that.

This might be easy for me to say, but if you don`t matter to him, you shouldn`t let him matter to you. If your old man - [that sounds so weird coming out of his mouth and he`s only just realised it] as you call him - raised you and was all but your biological dad... it`s him that matters, surely?

[It sounds disrespectful, but for Rin it's actually a term of endearment really. And she's called Shiro worse, when angry with him. But she has gotten better about saying "Dad" or "my dad" more often than she used to.]

Y... yeah. It is.

[then, quietly:]

I miss him...

[it just sounds odd out of Kaoru's mouth, that's all. He doesn't tend to talk that way.] [with a sad smile]

I know. And that's okay.

[he proffers Tama-chan again, like his Honey-senpai holds out his stuffed bunny. Thanks to some ~~voodoo~~ fuda-shaped help from Seimei, it's quite warm and comforting to hold.]

[Oops. That's tears. Damn it. She hates crying, but a lot of people hate crying so that's nothing to be surprised about. She just hates how it makes her feel weak, and it reminds her too much of the night Shiro died, when she shed tears for the first time in years only because she had failed to save him in spite of how hard she tried.

But in Bastion, it's been a constant fight of her torn up, over-wrought emotions versus the sensibility that she needs to stand on her own two feet, be strong and keep going forward with the rest of the survivors. And her emotions often win.

She takes the egg, sniffling as tears roll down her cheeks, arm coming up to rub at her eyes though it does little to dissuade them]

[Oh no. Oh no, Rin-chan don't cry now, please ;A; Tama-chan's not good at soaking up tears, you should have used Kaoru's shoulder for that. In any case, he leans over to mop them up with his own sleeve. He's not the "if you cry, I'll cry" type, but he hates people being upset all the same.]

[It takes her a few minutes to stop, with mumbles of apologies in between her hiccups, but soon enough the tears slow to a point where she's doing little more than sniffling and nursing a slight headache.]

I-I'm okay...

You sure? [still dabbing at her worriedly. If he had tissues, he would be brandishing them] [managing a small smile]

We all know how it is, Rin-chan, and nobody can be brave all the time. Everyone needs a good cry every now and then. And a gel mask afterwards to help with headaches.

Y-yeah, I'm sure...

[Another sniffle, but with it a nod.]

Where am I gonna get a gel mask here... ? Dork... I'll just drink some water.

[finds a dry bit of sleeve and finishes up his mopping, giving her a quick look-over and a nod]

Or an equivalent. Cucumber slices? And a facial massage. [yes, yes. You may be getting the impression that Kaoru regularly avails himself of such treatments. That impression would be correct. Perfect skin doesn't come for free.]

And you're sleeping properly, yes? [Mama Kaoru is worried about a lot more than puffy eyes, Rin-chan :[ ]

I haven't seen cucumbers in months...

[Though the garden might conceivably be able to give them now.

Rin has never really had to worry about her skin. She doesn't even really scar unless the trauma is severe enough. The only one she has currently is a thin, very faint line around her right ankle, though if anyone were to ask her about it she'd try to avoid the subject entirely.

The question earns a tired blink, and while she might not have to worry about wrinkles, she can't exactly hide just how exhausted she's been lately.]

... no one really sleeps well here.

[on the one hand, it's a little bit reassuring to know it's not just him. On the other... it's not just him, and that's worrying. He's still figuring out how to wave a sword around and doesn't venture out onto the Skyway as often as the others because he doesn't want to hold them back. But the ones going out almost every day need their rest - need to be taken care of. And... well, he sucks at that, too. He's never really needed to take care of anyone else before either. But their small group... they're all each other has right now.]

[gently] You should lie down for a little while, Rin-chan.

I... I'm fine... really.

[Default answer from her, with a default forced smile that spoke volumes about how 'not fine' she really was.]

Don't worry 'bout me, okay? Demons are tough.

[he frowns a bit, eyes narrowing just a touch. He can tell she's fobbing him off, and he doesn't like it much]

You said yourself you're only half a demon, though. That means you're only half as tough.

Tch! Like hell! That just means I'm twice as tough, 'cause I've had to go through twice as much shit as any other demon!

[Kaoru sweetie, don't insult her pride. That will get you nowhere]

[tilts his head slightly] I'm not sure how all this stuff works but... perhaps it was your human side that got you through it.

[Rin's ears go down slightly, and her scowl turns in to a pout.]

Maybe...

[he did not know that they could do that! You're getting a pat on the head for the unintentional cuteness, Rin-chan~!]

Definitely. There's no species that does resilience as well as humans do.

[They're not as expressive or mobile as a feline's ears, but they can still move enough to show certain emotions.]

Mmf--...

Anyway. Regardless. I still worry about you, whether or not you want me to, so there's not much you can do about it.

You're quite literally stuck with me. And Tama-chan. And the rest of us.

Hmmf. Well... yeah. You're all stuck with me, too. And I worry 'bout everyone here plenty.

Day 74 | Action | Open

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