Some one's smiling face hidden deep inside...

[keepsthefire]

Who: A bored, sleeping demon in a park and YOU. Yes you. You over there, too.
Where: The park
When: Afternoon
Style: Anything, you choose. :3

[It was weird to stare up and realize that wasn't sky above everyone that lived in the city. It was water, held back by... whatever force kept them from getting crushed. Rin didn't fully understand it and he really didn't try to. He just found himself staring at it often, especially during the times when he had nothing better to do.

With Zelda in a coma, his training was on hold. And he had no plans to cook with Italy for the day. So he was left to his own devices again. Thankfully this didn't usually spell trouble for him in Vatheon - unlike back home, before he got in to True Cross and began his exorcist training, where an idle day often ended in a fight for him.

Hell, even when he was actually working he usually found some way to get in to trouble.

But things were different in that city under the sea, and while Rin wouldn't complain about the lack of people who wanted to deck him in the face so much as look at him, he still wasn't entirely sure what to do with himself. Cooking and training were fine, when the people that helped with that were around to actually do it, but curses and random comas kept it from being consistent.

He wondered what Yukio would have been up to there, if he would have an easier time adjusting to Vatheon, or if it would be just as disconcerting and difficult for him. Of course he had no way of knowing the answers to those things, and the coral didn't seem to want to give Rin anyone he knew from his world save for Shura for the short time she had been there.]

Tch. Damn coral...

[A lazy but frustrated sigh escaped the half demon, and he let his eyes close, tail draping lazily across his stomach and arms behind his head. He didn't mean to fall asleep, but soon enough he was snoozing away and snoring quietly.]

Comments

[ex_wolfbrother668]

[Even if it's another kid, that's something of a relief.]

Doesn't seem right for someone your age to have to live alone.

[keepsthefire]

... really?

[He's sort used to being on his own, even with living in the abbey. He never gave it much thought.]

I'm not that young...

[ex_wolfbrother668]

How old are you?

[He can't be any older than 16 or 17.]

[keepsthefire]

Turned sixteen this past December 27th.

[ex_wolfbrother668]

[A soft smile and a shake of his head.]

I had never even left home at that age.

[Not that he had planned on it, but even the idea had been unthinkable. Boys might be leaving the Two Rivers that young now, but it's the Last Battle. Hardly normal circumstances.]

[keepsthefire]

Really... ?

[Rin scratches at his head a bit, thinking back to when Yukio was getting ready to leave for True Cross]

The old man was bitchin' at me, 'bout a year back... "You can't stay here at the abbey forever, some day you'll have to go out on your own." I figured he meant pretty damn soon.

'course... I quit school, so I guess it's not that normal. And it wasn't like I was at home all the time anyway...

[ex_wolfbrother668]

Maybe he just wanted you to be ready.

[How the boy keeps talking about school is unfamiliar to Perrin, and it probably shows even if he doesn't remark. Apprenticeships are much more common where he's from.]

[keepsthefire]

... maybe...

[The answer is quiet because, actually, it's more true than he wants to admit. There were a lot of things Father Fujimoto wanted to prepare him for, but...]

He kinda... ran outta time for that, though...

[ex_wolfbrother668]

[Perrin is quiet a moment in response. Then:]

Are you really doing so badly?

[keepsthefire]

Badly?

[Rin has to think about it. Even with the way everything went - and the mess his bastard of a grandfather made of True Cross a few months ago - he and Yukio were doing alright without Father Fujimoto around.]

No... not really. But I guess I do kinda miss him... he was the closest thing we had to a dad before he died...

[ex_wolfbrother668]

That's only natural.

[There are people who've gone whom Perrin misses. But the harder thing is that he feels responsible for many of those deaths.]

[keepsthefire]

[Oh, Rin feels responsible for it. But that's a long story.]

... we got in to a fight the day he died. I said some pretty crappy things to him. I'm kind of a shitty son...

[ex_wolfbrother668]

People forgive most any argument in time. I doubt it will endure in the pattern.

[keepsthefire]

What, like... you think he forgave me anyway?

[ex_wolfbrother668]

[Perrin couldn't know whether he had the time in life to forgive. But so long as he didn't die the final death, his thread isn't gone from the pattern.

So he nods.]

Probably. You were family, weren't you?

[keepsthefire]

[Rin still looks sad, and distant, but he does manage a tiny smile.]

Yeah. We were.

[ex_wolfbrother668]

[He's quiet again for a moment and then offers,]

It's Perrin, by the way.

[They're probably due for an introduction.]

[keepsthefire]

Huh?

Oh, right, sorry.

[Rin stands and picks up his sword, holding out his hand.]

Okumura Rin. It's nice to meet you, Perrin.

[ex_wolfbrother668]

[Perrin straightens and takes the hand, his grip strong but thankfully short of crushing.]

Okumura?

[Strange name. And Rin will need to explain the last-name-first thing.]

[keepsthefire]

[Rin's shake is a bit awkward since he doesn't usually greet people like that, but most in Vatheon seem confused by bowing-in-greeting so he's been trying to get in to different habits.

Last name first is a hard habit to break though.]

Er... it's Rin, actually. Okumura is my surname.

[ex_wolfbrother668]

Rin, then. That's easier.

[keepsthefire]

Eheheh... I guess it is, isn't it?

[ex_wolfbrother668]

I suppose I should get used to unusual names though.

[Not to mention unusual appearances. Perrin does glance at that tail again.]

[keepsthefire]

... "Rin" is a common name in Japan. I'unno about Okumura, though. I've heard it around but it's not as common as like... uh... Sato or Nakamura.

"Perrin" sounds... [don't say 'weird'] ... different to me, but I think that's cause of where I'm from, too.

[ex_wolfbrother668]

I suppose "Perrin Aybara" isn't very common... but it's a Two Rivers name.

Japan is your homeland?