xxx. AET .xxx
It was a normal summer day like any other. The sun was out, the skies were partly cloudy, and the shade underneath the canopy at the local park was especially comfortable.
There was a comfy little bench right in that spot that I liked to visit whenever I got off work.
It came with a great view of a dense copse of trees, verdant green grass, along with a small crystal clear pond that ducks liked to swim in.
It helped that very few people liked to visit this particular location due to how out of the way it was from the entrance of the park.
I could sit there for hours, and today, I did.
The beautiful scenery and the tranquil sounds of nature resonated with me as I sighed in contentment.
At times, it felt like nothing could break me from the trance I'd occasionally find myself in.
Well, until something did.
Or should I say, someone.
It was a girl.
She was short of stature, fair skinned, with long silver hair.
Now normally, I wouldn't be phased by the odd hair color of anyone, after all, I lived in the current century where hairstyles could be all kinds of colors.
No, what truly drew my attention and threw me out of my trance-like state, was in fact the manner of dress this random girl walking towards me was wearing.
It was armor.
Arm Guards, knee guards, a head piece that looked like a tiara of some sort that functioned like a hairband, along with an actual honest to god chest piece.
It was probably the oddest, yet most authentic getup I'd ever seen…at least when not at an anime convention.
Surprisingly, her armor didn't clash horribly with the comfy looking purple dress with white stripes she wore and paired rather nicely with the black skirt and leggings combo she had on underneath.
I was so perplexed with her manner of dress and genuinely confused on why she'd be wearing armor at all, that I didn't even realize she'd already walked over to me until she was literally standing in front of me.
I felt a bit awkward as we stared at each other. Her expression was awfully stoic, eyes crystal blue.
"..."
"..."
"Can I help you?"
With a nod she pointed at the empty spot next to me on the bench.
"Huh?"
It took me a second to realize what she was implying, but eventually my confusion at her appearance stopped affecting my manners as I realized all she wanted to do was have a seat on the bench.
"Oh, yeah of course." I told her, scooching over a bit so that she would have extra room.
She sat down, greaves making an audible ring on the steel frame of the bench.
The sound alone let me know that she was wearing actual metal, and I couldn't help but be impressed that somebody would be willing to kit themselves out in armor and walk around in broad daylight in this day and age with absolutely no shame whatsoever.
Maybe she was a cosplayer of sorts? Though whoever she was cosplaying as wasn't ringing any bells in any anime or show that I could remember.
Of course, it was none of my business what somebody did with their free time, so I simply acknowledged her presence as she sat down with a little nod and went back to relaxing and nature gazing.
She gave a nod back that I caught out of the corner of my eye, before we both sat there and continued to watch the ducks fight over a morsel they'd found.
It was a little weird at first.
I found my thoughts drifting towards this interesting girl on the bench.
Her manner of dress and demeanor were certainly interesting, but… at the end of the day, I had come here to unwind and so that's what I was going to do.
Decision made to firmly ignore this stranger and her eccentricities. I managed to find myself back into that zone again.
That state of mind In which my thoughts weren't weighed down by responsibilities and I felt as free as a bird.
There was no duty or obligation for me to fulfill, no true involvement or risk thrust upon my shoulders.
Only my own thoughts, and the freedom to allow my imagination to run wild.
This truly was the perfect spot.
Eventually, as the sun began to set, I slipped out of my zen-like state. I looked over only to realize that the silver haired girl was still next to me.
She too was gazing out at the scenery, but when I turned it seemed to have broken her out of her own reverie.
"Ah, my bad," I told her. "Didn't mean to disturb your peace."
She tilted her head cutely before reaching into her skirt pocket.
I raised an eyebrow as she pulled out a small notepad and pen.
She scribbled a few words on it before exposing its face to me.
"It's fine. You make good company."
"Thank you," I responded cordially. "You're not too bad yourself, though I hope you don't mind me asking but…" I pointed to her notepad. "Do you happen to be mute or something?"
She gave me a look that somehow came across as amused.
It was weird, because her face was so expressionless, kind of uncanny in a way actually.
On the other hand, when she used these small micro expressions such as the slight narrowing of her eyes and the almost imperceptible upwards turn of the corner of her mouth, I was able to get a general gist of her mood.
She turned her notepad back and flipped to a new page before writing something else.
"No, this is just the way I like to communicate."
"Gotcha." I said back, not really expecting that answer. "That's fine then, though you probably get a lot of wrist cramps writing like that all the time right?"
A shine seemed to go off in her eyes before she flipped her page and wrote anew.
"Not really, I'm used to it by now." *Flip* "It only really hurt when I was starting out."
"I see, I see." I hummed. "Well how long have you been communicating like this? A few years?"
*Flip*
"Try a couple millennia."
"Ha! Good one!" I snickered before I could help it.
I found it funny that a girl that looked to be in her late teens to early twenties could possibly sprout such a joke about being old.
But as her expression stayed the same and my snickering tapered out, the grin from my face dropped as my eyebrows narrowed.
"Uhhh wait, you're not kidding?"
At her head shake I crossed my arms in wonder, head tilted up slightly.
"Huh."
"..."
"..."
There was a moment of silence as I reached up to scratch the back of my head.
Was this girl being totally genuine with me about this? She couldn't possibly actually be a few millennia old right?
I mean, she does come off as being pretty straightforward so maybe it's actually true?
Then again, I could just be dealing with a really enthusiastic cosplayer…but perhaps I'm overthinking.
In the end, I suppose it didn't really matter.
"Well, if you've been around for that long I suppose that's plenty of time to get used to it then." I said, deciding to just play along for now.
At my words she tilted her head in confusion.
In return I tilted mine back, matching her movement.
"What's up?"
*Flip*
"You believe me?"
"Well…yeah? Although that question kind of lowers my suspension of belief a bit." I said with a deadpan. "I mean, you weren't lying right?"
At her head shake I shrugged, "well then, there's no reason for me to believe you'll lie to me going forward so I'll believe you."
Her eyebrows furrowed.
*Scribble* *Flip*
"Isn't that a little too trusting?"
"Ehh", I waved off her comment. "Maybe, but it's not like you've done me wrong in any way so i think it's valid to consider you an alright person at least."
For a second I caught a small upturn in the corner of her lips and It only egged me on to tease her a bit.
"Besides, I don't see how a girl your size, older or not, could be dangerous to me in any way." I taunted, "Considering that armor of yours probably weighs a ton, I'd be surprised if you could even run in it."
*Flip*
"You'd be surprised"
I laughed at her response.
"Well then I'll try to get on your good side."
*Flip*
"Your on the right track"
"Heh, good to know. I'll try to keep it that way then."
Who knew this petite girl could have such a large personality underneath that quiet demeanor.
Her deadpan face only made it more amusing to me.
I then checked my watch and noted the setting sun before I stood up from the bench, making sure to crack my back in an arch to get a good stretch in. "Unfortunately, I'll have to get on your good side another day, time for me to jet."
At my words she gave a nod before writing yet again.
"Will you be here tomorrow?"
"Sure thing, I'm here every afternoon-" I told her while turning my head to the side to stretch my neck out for a few seconds. "Hnnn *pop* OoOoh that's good! -though weekends are kind of hit and miss. This is still probably the best spot in the city to relax that I've managed to find so if you begin to come here a lot you'll catch me more often than not."
Her head bobbed up and down at my statement.
*Flip* "I agree, it's very serene." *Scribble* Scribble* *Flip* "Well then, i'll see you tomorrow?"
"Of course," I gave her a smile before walking away, lifting my hand in a wave as I made my way out.
"See you tomorrow." I called back over my shoulder, managing to spot a small wave from her as I left the area.
What an interesting girl.
Walking towards the park exit I took a left along the path, leading me to the park restroom.
Spotting nobody inside I walked into the men's side and got inside the closest stall.
With a quick application of my ability, I envisioned what I wanted, and instantly I was inside of my home.
There was the familiar tinge of pain that came with its use. It started at my fingertips and spread like fire through my nerve endings to the rest of my body, but I'd grown used to such things long ago.
With a huff I settled on the couch, getting comfy with a blanket before grabbing the remote and turning the tv on.
I paused for a moment then hummed as I realized I was hungry. I could get up and get food, but then I'd have to leave my current position.
With a quick application of my power and a similar twinge of pain, a pan of leftover lasagna appeared in front of me.
"Ahhh that's more like it."
The fact that I'd grabbed it straight from the fridge and so as a byproduct, it was completely cold, didn't even phase me as I began to dig in with gusto.
With a lazy click of the remote the tv switched from a boring news panel to an action packed thriller as I mindlessly consumed media.
For people like me, this was the best kind of thing life had to offer, comfort in the moment. The here and now of absolute normality.
It was only while I was halfway asleep, eyes barely managing to stay open that a thought suddenly came to me, as if a light bulb had turned on in my head.
"Ah crap, I didn't even ask that girl's name."
Before I knew it, I'd fallen asleep with the TV on.
My dreams were filled with sprawling dimensions.
The typical imagery of rampant mayhem and blazing destruction, yet also cold beauty and warm creation flew by, accelerating into a blur of colors.
More images appeared, a myriad of faces threw me haunted looks, all the while creatures from the darkest part of the realms closed in on my location.
xxx.(scene break).xxx
The next day after I got off work, I went back to my usual spot. Using my power to appear at the treeline like usual.
Surprisingly, the same girl was already there, the glint of silver letting me notice her straight away as the sun's rays reflected off of it.
Matter of fact, her hair color was more like silver mixed with a gentle lilac.
I had to admit it was criminally pretty, looking somehow fluffy yet elegant.
Considering her age, I wondered if it was naturally silver? Maybe it'd been another color when she was younger?
She was feeding the ducks bread crusts, watching with a deep intensity as they fought over the small bits.
"I see you got here early."
At my words she turned my direction, crystal blue eyes clearly not caught off guard by my silent entrance, before giving me a small wave.
Good senses, this one. I wonder if she heard me coming?
She wasn't wearing the same dress as yesterday. Rather, a sky blue one with little stars on it, but she was still wearing her armor over it.
In her silence I spoke up.
"Uh hey…I totally forgot to ask for your name yesterday. My bad." I scratched at my cheek, a bit embarrassed at my rudeness for having not even attempted.
"I'm Rorel Gray by the way, it's nice to meet you again."
With a smooth movement she stood up and gave a small curtsy, before pulling out her trusty notepad yet again.
"Eucliwood Hellscythe. Nice to meet you, Rorel."
What the… Hellscythe? Did she really have such a chuni last name?
My thoughts were thrown off as she wrote something else.
"Do you have anything else to feed the ducks?"
At her question I hummed.
While technically I did, it wasn't accessible by normal means and so I'd have to reveal a small card of mine.
However, when I really looked at it, it wasn't like she was being anything but truthful with herself to me, so… I might as well reciprocate..
Besides, I kind of wanted to test her a bit.
The familiar pain ran through my body as I utilized my power, a small case of crackers appearing in my hand.
"Think they'll want these?"
To my expectation and amusement she didn't even bat an eyelash at the usage of my ability. Only reaching a hand out with her palm facing upwards in the classic 'gimme' gesture.
Her reaction confirmed a few suspicions of mine, but I obliged.
I placed them in her hand and watched as she shuffled over towards the waters edge. Crouching down while tucking in her skirt, she began to break the crackers up into little crumbs.
The ducks immediately began to gather towards her and began to quack in happiness as she threw the bits into the water.
With a shrug I sat down on the bench, watching the ducks as they crowded around her and made noisy complaints for more food.
It was only a few minutes into this that things started to get out of hand.
Apparently their calls were attracting more ducks, and what started out as three or four of the little water beasts ended up turning into about a dozen of them.
I could only watch in utter bafflement as at least twelve ducks gathered around her in a circle, one of them had even flown up onto her hair and was using her head as a roost, its chin laying on her headband armor piece.
She looked absolutely ridiculous.
I instantly began cackling like a hyena.
She shot me a side eye and huffed as the ducks began prodding her for more crackers but they'd eaten them all.
At her look I laughed even harder, thoroughly enjoying the image.
Even with my ribbing of her situation in the background, Eucliwood patiently withstood the fowl's harassment and righteous anger over her not having more treats.
Eventually though I began to pity her a bit as the birds began to squabble louder and louder around her.
It sure didn't seem to bother her much, but it sure as hell started to bother me.
When one of them began to lift up her skirt to go under it, probably in search of more food, I lost all amusement and stood up.
"Alright, that's enough of that."
With another flare of pain, another case of crackers was deposited in my hand. With a flick of my wrist I tore open the box and threw the crackers into the water.
Immediately the ducks left Eucliwood and began to gleefully quack as they descended upon the waters with mad abandon.
There was only one duck left and it was the one above her head.
"Come on now you lazy bum, get off her."
I could only twitch an eye as the duck gave me a haughty look before completely ignoring me.
"Oi. Don't ignore me."
I reached out a hand to grab at it only for me to jerk back as the damn thing actually hissed at me.
"Ducks can hiss?" I questioned while absentmindedly dodging a small lunge it took at my fingers with its beak.
A delicate hand appeared in front of me and I followed it up to Eucliwood as she held her palm up in the universal signal to stop.
Giving her a questioning look she wrote down a note
*Flip*
"This ones fine."
"Haaaah?" I looked at her like she was crazy."You sure? I can make him go away if you want."
She shook her head, *Flip* "I can handle it."
"Alright I guess, just let me know if you need any help."
She gave a nod and I went back to sitting down.
With the fun out of the way I got comfortable again and watched as Eucliwood grabbed the duck from off her head.
It gave a little squawk as her fingers encircled around it, but as she gently set it on the ground, the duck gave a small quack of appreciation before it lazily walked back into the water.
The silver haired girl stood up and patted down her dress before coming back over to the bench to sit next to me.
It was a bit closer than yesterday so I suppose she felt a bit more comfortable in my presence.
We sat in silence for a few minutes, enjoying the moment of calm before I heard a rumble next to me.
Looking over at Eucliwood I could only tilt my head as she stared stubbornly at the lake while the ducks continued to squabble over any leftovers in the water.
Another growl was heard and I began to smirk as she continued to ignore her hunger.
I could've swore there was the smallest of blushes on her face for a moment but I'm sure I was imagining it.
"You know…" I started, "you must be pretty nice deep down if you were hungry but still fed the ducks instead." I teased. "You could've eaten the crackers yourself if you wanted, I wouldn't have minded.
She looked over at me before shaking her head.
*Flip*
"They needed it more than me."
Glancing at the plump birds as they swam back and forth I gave her a deadpan stare.
"Really? They look fed enough to me."
She nodded seriously and my eyes narrowed in thought.
"Well…everyone needs to eat ya know. Would you like me to get you something? I'm pretty famished myself."
She gave me a long look.
At that moment, I felt like she was judging my worth as a person.
Maybe she was suspicious of my intentions? Though that was just my guess.
Fortunately it passed quickly as she simply gave me a nod.
*Flip*
"Anything is fine."
"Sure thing." I chirped back.
With another application of my power a brown paper bag appeared in my hands.
With a giddy expression I tore open the paper and revealed two deli sandwiches wrapped in parchment paper.
Her eyes seemed to shine too as I handed one to her and she opened up the wrapping to reveal the wonderful Italian sub goodness I'd bought earlier at lunch.
"It's from Johnny Shikes." I gave a hum of appreciation as I took a big bite out of mine. The flavor exploded my sense of taste in a tornado of spices as I gleefully began to dig in.
"They're the best sub place around I know of." I spoke in between mouthfuls. "Normally I get two to eat, one for now and one for later, but you can have the second one."
My boasting immediately took effect as she eye'd the sub as if it held the secrets to the universe.
With a dainty bite she chewed three times before pausing.
The shine in her eyes seemed to intensify as she practically glowed in happiness, clearly pleased with the offered lunch.
Within minutes I could only be proven to be yet again surprised by this odd girl as she practically devoured the sandwich before I could finish mine.
"Heh, I'm guessing you like it then?"
At her enthusiastic nod I could only chuckle.
*Flip*
"It was good, thank you."
"No problem! I'll make a Johnny Shikes fan out of you!"
*Flip*
"I think I already am."
"Hah, that's the spirit!"
It wasn't long before i finished my own, and as i cleaned up the wrappings by using my power to send them directly into the community trash at the entrance of the park, Eucliwood surprised me by tapping me on her shoulder with the butt of her pen.
"Hmm? What is it?"
*Flip*
"Are you teleporting things?"
"Oh?" I gave her a look over with some interest. "You can tell?"
*Flip*
"Yes, you're not using magic to do it though."
"I see, I see, so magic exists here too huh." I mumbled. Hand on my chin.
At my words she paused, before writing quickly.
"Are you not of this realm?"
"Eh you could say that, originally I was born here but I've been traveling most of my life. In fact, I've only recently settled back down here in my hometown."
*Flip*
"I see."
"Mhmm."
She pondered over my noncommittal answer for a couple moments before slowly writing her next question.
*Flip*
"Why did you come back?"
I paused at that question, probably longer than necessary as she tilted her head a few seconds into it.
"I figured I'd seen enough." was my vague response.
From there, there was silence as her inquiry brought back some memories I truly didn't want to get into.
She obviously sensed my mood shift as she scooted away an inch. Though I could tell it wasn't because she was suddenly wary but rather because she didn't want to push me away with her questioning.
"Don't worry about it Eu," She seemed a bit startled at my sudden nickname but didn't appear to particularly mind it so I continued on. " There's just some things you can't unsee you know?"
My response obviously resonated with her as she gave a solemn nod, gaze drifting off to stare at something unseen in the distance before they focused again as she quickly wrote down:
"I know what you mean." *Flip* "It makes sense that someone like you would enjoy places like this."
I smiled at her words.
"Yeah, once you've seen enough there's nothing better than finding someplace normal."
She nodded her head in agreement before something struck out to me.
"Although," I scratched my chin while thinking aloud. "I guess my original home isn't as normal as I thought it was considering someone like you could exist. Not to mention you implied magic exists here."
She tilted her head before flipping her notepad.
"Would you like me to inform you about the reverse side of the world?"
I hummed, brows furrowing as I tried to truly think about whether I wanted to be introduced to my realms version of the supernatural..
I left home when I was pretty young, so it's not like I'm heavily informed on the realms actual power structure and more esoteric dynamics.
But in my personal experience, just talking about certain things in certain places could bring unwanted attention.
Honestly, it was probably for the best that I didn't involve myself needlessly.
"Nah, I'm good." I finally said after a while.
She gave me a curious look, as if analyzing me in her head, before she nodded at my answer and we returned to watching nature in all of its infinitesimal complexity.
Eventually I found myself relaxing, slipping again into that zone of tranquility as I gazed out at the pond, Eu right beside me, neither of us bothered by the silence.
What a pleasant afternoon.
xxx.(scene break).xxx
"Tea?" I asked as I summoned a pot of tea along with a plate of biscuits onto the bench. It came with two decorated white china cups, one of which I offered to the silver haired girl next to me.
Eu gained that glint in her eyes again as she nodded enthusiastically.
I think I was beginning to understand that this girl was a real foodie.
It had been a couple hours since we'd been here and the sun was just beginning to set down the horizon.
With a hum of acknowledgement I summoned two halves of a lemon before using my ability to teleport all of the water from the teapot into her cup along with mine.
"Look, no hands!" I joked, which turned into a grin as she clapped away at my theatrics.
"And for my next trick!..." I then pointed at her cup, the water beginning to heat up and boil lightly at my command.
I wasn't conventionally heating it up of course, instead I was simply teleporting the water molecules back and forth around each other until they created enough friction and heat to boil.
She clapped yet again and I nodded in large exaggerated movements, glad that she was playing along. "Of course, of course, anything for my audience."
"Now for the finale." With a flourish I summoned a spoon to my hand and a jar of sugar.
I grabbed a scoop before pausing. "Ah wait, do you like sugar with your tea?"
She was obviously amused that I'd paused my 'show' to make sure that she would actually like what I was making her but she flipped her notepad nonetheless.
"One scoop please."
"Sure thing." I then cleared my throat, " as I was saying, my finale!"
With a little focus and a familiar pain, I poured the spoonful of sugar directly in front of her, missing her cup completely.
I chuckled at the perplexed look she sent me before she finally figured out exactly what I was doing.
The tiny particles of sugar were indeed falling towards the ground, however, they were not actually touching the floor.
Right before they'd touch the ground they would be teleported away, only to appear directly an inch above her cup.
It ended up looking like a small snow shower, raining sugary goodness into her cup.
Once again she clapped and I hummed appreciatively at her.
With a final squeeze of each half of lemon in our individual cups my work was complete.
"Drink up, hopefully you like the blend, it's my own tea leaves that I grew myself."
She tilted her head before slowly taking a cautious sip.
Seeing her shoulders sag in relaxation I gave her a knowing grin.
"You like?"
The corners of her lip upturned yet again and I couldn't help but think that this girl was ridiculously cute.
*Flip*
"Very. It's not too bitter but has just the right amount of earthiness."
"I know right!" I excitedly agreed, glad that someone shared at least a little of my passion. "I'm really crap at making good food but tea is my specialty."
*Flip*
"You do a great job. Especially for homegrown leaves."
I couldn't help but smile like a fool at the compliment. There weren't a lot of things I took a lot of pride in but being able to make good tea was definitely one of them.
"Thanks Eu, you say the sweetest things."
Another corner smile passed across her face.
*Flip*
"It was also impressive how you teleported the sugar."
"Really?" I side eyed her with a shrug. "That's not such a big deal though."
This time I actually got a raised eyebrow from her.
*Flip*
"Such precise control cannot have come easily,"
She tapped the butt of her pen against her chin before writing again
*Flip*
"In fact, I'm pretty sure you moved each individual grain of sugar instead of creating an area of effect."
"Oho?" My eyes shined. This girl was really one sharp cookie huh?
"You actually managed to catch that too? Your senses must be pretty sharp."
She seemed to perk up at the compliment
*Flip*
"Of course."
I smiled at her smug look before taking a sip of my own tea, reveling in its taste as I went back to gazing.
Eu took another sip also, nonplussed that I didn't divulge any more information her way as we enjoyed the rest of the evening in relative silence.
The sun setting in front of us, its red orangish hues painting the scenery the colors of fall.
xxx.(scene break).xxx
As the evening rolled around I checked my watch. I'd ended up staying a little longer than normal due to Eu's presence and as much as i liked it, it was about time for me to go home.
Eu noticing my movement gave a flip of her pad.
"Heading out?"
"Yeah," I confirmed, standing up to stretch. "Gotta sleep, I'm opening up shop tomorrow."
Flip*
"I see, have a good night then."
For some reason a warm filling lit in my heart at her simple but honest words.
"Thanks, Eu." I gave her a smile. "Hope the rest of your night goes well too."
With a swish of her skirt she stood up too before writing one last thing.
"See you tomorrow?"
"Yeah." I agreed, actually looking forward to it. "See you tomorrow."
With no need to needlessly hide my ability from her any longer I promptly teleported home.
xxx.(scene break).xxx
The next day I got off work with a pep in my step, a grocery bag in hand. Heading into the familiar copse of trees I spotted Eu sitting at the bench yet again.
"Yo Eu!."
Flip*
"Hi, welcome back."
"Haha I'm glad to be back, oh! I brought you a treat."
At her questioning look I put my hands into the bag before pulling out two ice cream cones.
My job was twenty minutes away, but that didn't stop me from simply teleporting over here in order to preserve their coldness.
She gained that glint in her eye again before patiently holding out her hand.
"Chocolate or vanilla?" I asked.
*Flip*
"Vanilla."
"Of course, of course."
I handed it to her and she promptly devoured it with gusto, causing me to gape as the monster in front of me devoured that poor ice cream almost before it even had a chance to leave its wrapper.
"Did you even taste it?" I gawked.
*Flip*
"I love ice cream."
"I can tell." I joked back.
*Flip*
"There's only one thing better than it."
"Oh yeah?" My head perked up. "What's that? I can probably get you some, whatever it is."
She shook her head.
*Flip*
"It can only be found in Japan, not worth the effort."
"Hmmm" I rolled my shoulders, "Japans really not that far."
I mean sure it would hurt a bit, but no pain no gain right?
*Flip*
"We're in america."
"Your point?" I shot back with a smirk.
Her gaze grew skeptical.
*Flip*
"You're saying you could go as far as Japan and back without feeling tired?"
"Sure, it should only take me a few minutes if you manage to tell me the name of the store, well and what you want of course."
She seemed to struggle with the decision, obviously not believing in my claims outright but fighting with the thought that if i could really do it, she could get her favorite food.
Eventually she seemed to give in as her shoulders sagged a bit.
*Flip*
"Alright then, it's a certain brand of coffee pudding called Ichiban Purin. You can buy one at any local grocery store."
I hummed in affirmation before I stood up from the bench.
*Flip*
"Can you even speak Japanese?"
I gave her a weird look at her question before I brought a palm up and slammed it with a fist.
"Oh man, I guess that's never come up in conversation before huh?" At her questioning gaze I continued, "I'm multilingual, I can recognize speech patterns and break them down pretty easily so I know a lot of languages already. Japanese is just one of them."
At that her eyes widened a bit before she tapped her pen against her notepad for a second in thought.
*Flip*
"Ok. Well then how are you going to pay for it without yen."
"Who says I don't have yen?"
I couldn't help but laugh at her disbelieving look, finding the slight narrowing of her eyebrows dastardly cute, like a small mad panda bear.
"Just trust me, I do a lot of traveling."
She huffed cutely before nodding her head.
"Then it's settled! I'll get you your pudding Eu don't worry about it."
With my destination in mind I envisioned the grocery store that I'd seen the most in Japan, Kyomu Super.
I gave a small grunt as my ability activated, Eu gave me a look that seemed a bit alarmed but i ignored it in favor of concentrating.
"Be back in a bit."
From my perspective, the surroundings melted in a familiar mish mash of colors as an agonizing pain ran through my entire body.
I pushed through it though, only to end up in the back alley behind one of the various Kyomu Supermarkets in Tokyo that I'd been to before.
A few men were standing there and giving me wide eyed looks but I acted like nothing happened as I waved at them.
"Good morning." I told them in perfect Japanese.
"G-good morning" They all responded in kind, the classic Japanese instinct to always be polite practically forcing them to.
I smiled and continued on my way, rounding the corner to walk into the store.
No one would believe them anyway.
As I strolled I got a few odd looks, after all my tan skin, tall frame mixed with curly brown hair that touched my shoulders and hazel eyes were definitely not the norm around these parts.
None of the staring particularly bothered me though. It's not like this was the first time I was in a foreign place with foreign people around me.
After entering the marketplace I actually found her pudding relatively quickly and got in line.
When I got to the register, the woman there attempted to speak to me in English.
"I sorry, no american dollar use here"
It was choppy but I understood perfectly.
"It's fine I have yen." I told her in Japanese.
Her eyebrows flew up in surprise and I simply smiled at her expression.
She gave a rather fake cough to cover up her embarrassment, her cheeks slightly flushed before she responded back.
"My apologies, that'll be five hundred yen."
"Of course."
I reached into my pocket and teleported a five hundred yen coin into my palm before handing it to her.
"Your Japanese is very good for a foreigner, thank you for switching back to my home language."
"No problem." I amicably told her. "And I've had a lot of practice so it's not a bother for me."
With a wave back to her as she wished me a good day, I headed towards the nearest restroom.
Entering the stall I promptly teleported back to the park.
When I landed back a small drop of sweat dripped down my temple as I rubbed the back of my neck.
"Ah," Eu was patiently waiting in the same spot she'd been in before as I held out the bag to her, "I brought your pudding!"
I was thrown for a loop as she approached me gently before grabbing my hand with both of hers. It was the first time there was any physical contact between us and I was astonished at just how soft her palms were.
"Uhhh.. Eu?"
At my look she promptly shook her head before dragging me towards the bench.
I was genuinely confused at her tenderness as she forced me to sit down, the bag being placed down in between us.
Once I was sat she then began to furiously scribble on her notepad.
"Does using your power hurt you?"
The slight downturn of her lips were strikingly obvious as I chuckled nervously.
"Uh yeah? That's just how my ability works, it's not that big of a deal."
I was again completely caught off guard as she then reached upwards and grabbed my head. With strength that I honestly didn't expect, she firmly yet gently grabbed my temples and drew me along until my head was in her lap. My body naturally followed the movement as I found myself lying face up on her thighs.
With strands of silver tickling my face, I was bewildered by the sudden affectionate gesture.
So of course I tried to joke it off.
"Isn't this a little too forward for our third time meeting? At least take me out to dinner first."
At my words she began to write, the movement jostling me around as she scribbled.
"Pain is not a laughing matter. Relax until you feel better."
At her words I could tell she was serious, the narrowed eyebrows and slight flare of her nostrils was proof enough. Though the light blush she had told me my words had definitely gotten to her, even if only a little bit.
I sighed though, because from her response I was beginning to think she and I were a bit more alike than I'd like to admit.
"I guess you're right, to be fair though I've had to deal with this since I've been born so it's really not a big issue."
She seemed shaken by my words, her hand visibly trembling as she wrote her next words.
"I'm sorry."
I raised an eyebrow.
"What for? You didn't do this to me. As far as I'm concerned I was made to be this way, so don't take it to heart seriously."
*Flip*
"But.. you put yourself in pain to fulfill my selfish desire."
"It's just pudding." I deadpanned. "It's not like I don't travel a lot anyways, seriously japan is just a short stop for me."
She still seemed to be worried so I simply pointed at the bag beside me.
"If you're really sorry about it then eat the pudding, I went through the effort of getting it for you after all so the least you can do is eat it before it gets warm."
Her eyes darted between mine and the bag a few times before she huffed and grabbed her treat.
"Stop worrying and wipe that look off your face," I teased, "I want you to enjoy it, no friend of mine should be eating their favorite food with such a bleak look."
She stilled, hand stopping mid motion from peeling back the cover of her pudding.
She put it down before grabbing her notepad.
*Flip*
"You consider me a friend?"
I laughed.
At her blank look I continued. "I mean, if we weren't friends, it'd be pretty awkward considering im in your lap right now," I then shuffled my head a bit, attempting to get comfortable, causing her cheeks to flush by the barest margins. "By the way, it's a bit uncomfortable ya'know? Your greaves aren't really friendly on the neck."
She gave me an eye roll which made me chuckle.
"Besides, a stranger wouldn't go out of their way to another country just to get another stranger their favorite food, consider it our establishment of this friendship."
At that she gave a truly odd look, one that made me squirm a bit deep down even if I'd never admit it.
That look transformed, blossoming beautifully into a smile. It was small but full, one that caused my heart to speed up in my chest like a drum.
*Flip*
"Thank you."
"No problem," I said back without really thinking, enraptured at the angelic visage above me for the briefest moments before I cleared my throat to get my bearings.
"Seriously that's unfair…" I mumbled under my breath.
She tilted her head and I hummed.
"Don't worry about it, aren't you going to try your pudding?"
At my words, she seemed to have been reminded as a familiar gleam, one that I was beginning to grow fond of shined in her eyes.
She then proceeded to dive into it with gusto, savoring every bite and giving little shivers of delight each time the spoon reached her taste buds.
The only image above me was the distant sun above her head, setting her face in a halo of light, her long silver lilac strands continued to tickle my face as she happily munched away.
At that moment, I felt like it wouldn't be too bad if I spent my time like this forever.
xxx.(scene break).xxx
It was odd, normally I dreamed of things that would throw any normal person off the deep end, but when I awoke to the sensation of something poking my cheek, the only thing I could think of was just how bereft of anything it was.
*Poke* *Poke*
My eyes naturally drifted down to witness a dainty finger poking my cheek.
Looking up I saw Eu giving me a deadpan expression.
*Flip*
"My legs are falling asleep."
"Ah."
With a jolt I sat up.
"Sorry about that," I rubbed the back of my head, "I know I'm not the lightest guy."
I was actually pretty embarrassed that I'd fallen asleep on the lap of a girl I'd barely known for three days. Though I guess she put me there so it should be fine right?
While I was doing mental gymnastics on the ethics of doing such a thing she simply scribbled away.
"It's fine. You looked like you needed sleep."
I looked up at her, stopping my mental ramblings before I blinked owlishly.
I stretched a few times and felt well rested as I grinned.
"I really did, I feel great actually thank you." I genuinely meant it too, it'd been awhile since i'd had such a solid rest. "Exactly how long have I been out for?"
She looked happy at my gratitude, a small upwards turn of her lip letting me know.
Ah, so we were back to those kinds of smiles now huh? A shame I was looking forward to her full expression again.
*Flip*
"It's only been about an hour."
"An hour huh?" I hummed as I looked around. The sun had moved quite a bit, but it'd still be a little while before sunset.
"That's good then, I wouldn't wanna miss the set today."
She nodded in agreement and we lapsed into our usual comfortable silence.
Noticing a few pudding cup containers neatly stacked on the side of the bench, with a quick application of my power and familiar burn in my body I sent them into the trash can.
Looking back at Eu I spotted the small downturn of her lips as she witnessed me do so.
"Oi I said it's alright, don't worry about me I can handle it."
*Flip*
"How can you deal with the pain?"
"Hmm?" I put my finger on my chin as I rubbed at the few hairs there. Geez, I really needed to shave.
"I guess it's kind of become second nature to me now." I admitted. "I did a lot when I was younger to push my pain threshold so at this point it's not too much of a burden on me like it used to be."
She tapped her pen along her chin before writing again.
"My powers are similar, they cause me pain when I use them. The only thing that stops it from leaking out is my armor."
"Is that so?" I continued to rub my chin as one of my suspicions was proven correct.
"Aha!" I snapped a finger as realization dawned on me. "Is that why you wear it all the time? I mean ever since I've met you, you've had it on."
At her nod I bobbed my head.
"I see, I see."
*Flip*
"We're similar, yet not the same, you can handle the pain of your abilities much better than me."
At her downcast look I shook my head.
"Nah, this and that are two different things, don't compare yourself to me too much, we're two different people after all. Our experiences have shaped us into who we are today." I put a hand on her shoulder to express how serious I was and she startled at the touch but didn't move away.
"If you choose not to use your power, whatever it may be, because it hurts you. Then I can't fault you for that, there was a time in my life where I was the same."
*Flip*
"But aren't you much younger than me? Someone my age should've gotten some semblance of control over it by now."
I chuckled at her words, causing her to narrow her eyes at me.
"Not necessarily, I'm older than I look."
At her confused stare that reminded me so much of a puppy, I gave a mischievous grin.
"There was some…spacetime fuckery in a place I visited once, I'll tell you about it one day, real nasty stuff, but…just know I've kind of forgotten my real age at this point."
"Although," I muttered, "I guess my body stayed the same age so technically I'm twenty? Or was it twenty two?"
As I descended into the spiral that was my actual body's age I caught a slight shaking of Eu's shoulders.
I looked over in concern only to realize she was silently laughing.
"Oi, it's not funny, I seriously lost track." I drawled, a lazy grin on my lips at the sight of her expressing herself even if somewhat muted.
Flip*
"How do you not know how old you are?"
"I told you already, space time fuckery."
She stopped giggling, the subtle movements of her shoulders halting as she quickly wrote out something.
"You weren't joking?"
"Hmm, Not this time."
Already knowing what she was gonna ask I put a palm up to stop her from writing anything else, giving her a knowing look.
"Seriously I'll tell you about it sometimes, but if i started now we'd be here until next week."
*Flip*
"I see…"
"Mhmm Mhmm" I hummed. "So don't get yourself up in a tizzy about not having good control of your power alright? Just enjoy each day as you have been, there's nothing wrong with that."
At her hesitant nod I gave her a thumbs up, glad that she was on board so to speak.
"Now, enough of these heavy topics."
A familiar box of crackers appeared in my hands and she perked up
"Wanna feed the ducks some more?"
The happy look in her eyes was all the confirmation I needed as I handed it to her.
A familiar quack instantly was heard as the same duck as before, the one who'd used her head as a nest, came waddling up from the water the second she opened up the package.
At her excited look I gave her an approving nod.
"Have fun."
xxx.(scene break).xxx
That day we watched the sunset yet again, and this trend continued for the next two weeks, as every Monday through Friday I would visit the park and hang out with my new friend.
We didn't get into very deep topics, nothing as heavy as that third day, but I found myself learning bits and pieces about her through casual conversation.
It all painted a somewhat dark past for her, but she wasn't the exception when it came to that sort of thing and so I didn't delve too deep into it.
It was only in the second week, particularly on a Friday, that something truly shook up the status quo we had.
xxx.(scene break).xxx
It was another overcast day, and a couple of hours had gone by since I'd shown up. I was gazing at the cloud formation above, wondering whether they would make viable beds when something strange happened.
It was the way in which Eucliwood stiffened besides me that clued me in. Well, that and the way the ducks and other animals in the forest around us began to scurry in droves, leaving the clearing eerily silent. It was distinctly different from the natural silence of the forest.
Even the insects were quiet.
At my concerned look she promptly whipped out her notebook.
"Someone is coming."
My eyes swiveled around in a sweep at her words, nothing catching my attention until a shadowy figure began to emerge out of the woods.
It brought with it an immense presence, something that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.
Old Instincts, ones born of need rather than practice ignited within me as I stood up and tensed.
"My my," I quipped, "who knew such a scary thing was lurking around my hometown."
I prepared myself, ready to activate my power at any moment as the shadows I was staring down solidified.
It was terrifying, it was death incarnate, it was-
"A little girl?"
My guard dropped as I scratched my head at what I was seeing.
Now I'd seen a lot of things in my time, some too terrifying to even really think about, but for a being with such a domineering aura to have such a pretty yet expressionless face I was thrown for a loop for the first time in quite a while.
Then I was thrown for even larger of a curve as I witnessed what this little girl was wearing.
"Is that tape?" I couldn't help but question.
Was this real? This little girl had literal tape along her bare chest, barely covering her nipples and wore some sort of gothic lolita outfit to go with it.
"What are you wearing?" I squawked out in horror.
Quickly taking a look around to make sure nobody spotted me in such a precarious situation- no… a dangerous situation now that i think of it, I quickly grabbed my coat jacket, before scrambling over to put it on her..
She didn't really put up a fight, only giving me an unnerving stare as her coal black eyes seemed to try to peer into me.
"Please wear this, I don't know why you're wearing what you are and I'm not going to even ask, but you have to understand my integrity is at stake here."
At my words she hummed before very slowly she raised her arms up imperceptibly, helping me to get the coat to fit more snugly.
It was terribly over sized, and so because of it the coat looked more like a beige dress on her now.
She stood still for a scarily long time, not moving a single muscle as the coat jacket reached her calves.
"Uh, you okay?"
"..."
"..."
"Psst." I turned towards Eu as I whispered, throwing a side eye her way as I grew more and more concerned at the weird silence that the black haired little girl was going through. "Is she okay Eu?"
It was only then that I truly took in the look on Eu's face.
"Eu!? You alright? Why do you look like you've seen a ghost?"
I never got my answer as the black haired girl finally moved, causing my attention to shift over.
She seemed to have sunk even further into the fur of the jacket somehow as she gave me a look of such intensity that I subconsciously froze.
"I…will accept this gift."
"Uh, it wasn't really a gift. I still need it back when you leave, that's kind of the only one I have."
"..."
"..."
There was an awkward silence
Her eyebrows scrunched in confusion.
"This….is not a gift?"
"Correct," I nodded, heedless of Eu's growing horror behind me. "It's more like a loan."
The girl gave me a very slow blink and again the hairs on the back of my neck stood straight up.
"I … do not understand."
"..."
"..."
"Alright so let me explain." I then proceeded to go into a very in depth explanation of what a loan was, going so far as to even go on my phone and pull up the literary textbook definition of it.
I don't know why the hell I did it, I didn't even know if she would care, but as she continued to watch me with an uncanny intensity I knew one thing.
She wasn't getting away with stealing my jacket.
It was MINE dammit, It's even one I literally bought while doing slave wage work instead of just teleporting it into my dresser. It had sentimental value as far as I was concerned.
"And so as you can see from the textbook definition of what gift and loan means, I'm not giving it to you, just loaning it until I can reclaim it at a later date."
"There," I couldn't help but grin proudly as my carefully elaborated explanation was finished. "Now do you understand?"
Her head tilted, allowing me to see her pointed ears for the first time as the curtain of black hair parted slightly.
Was she an elf or something?
That kind of made sense in a way…perhaps she was a young elf with a lot of power? That kind of explained her carelessness yet menacing demeanor.
"I Understand" she finally spoke, breaking me of my spiraling thoughts. "Then you want something…as collateral? Perhaps...one of my snakes?"
"Erm…no." I denied immediately.
The hell did she even mean by snakes?
"That's not the type of loan I was talking about, did we seriously not just read the definition together?"
I turned back to Eu to see if she was also witnessing this tomfoolery only to start as I saw she'd dropped her notepad.
"Woah! you alright?" I ignored the strange girl holding my jacket hostage while I quickly scurried over to pick it up.
She simply stared at me with such an expression of shock, eyes wide and mouth slightly parted that I couldn't help but laugh at how adorable it looked.
"You should close that before a fly moves in."
Her mouth closed with an audible click as she sent me a smoldering glare before grabbing her notepad out of my hands before scribbling furiously.
*Flip*
"I'm fine, what in the world are you thinking? Do you know who that is?"
"Huh?" My head turned back to the little girl who only watched us unperturbed, her head was actually still tilted so I was pretty sure she was still considering what I meant by the type of loan I was giving her.
"She's an elf or something right?"
At Eu's incredulous look I scratched my neck.
"Am I wrong?"
"I understand now." The girl behind me spoke, repeating what she'd said earlier, her voice monotone.
Eu stiffened in front of me and I turned back around to face her..
"You do? That's great." I sighed in relief, glad that she'd been able to keep track.
"However…"
The air around her seemed to begin shimmering and a wind began to pick up in the area.
"What if I just took it?"
Funnily enough, it was those words that caused me to truly relax.
I know it may sound odd and with her posturing I was obviously being threatened in some capacity, but from my experience, it wasn't even intentional on her part, she was simply asking a genuine question the same way a child would ask why they couldn't kill butterflies.
In the end you just had to be firm with these kinds of people.
"Then I'd have to take it back."
I heard a sharp inhale behind me but I ignored it in favor of staring down this child thief.
"..."
"..."
She smiled, causing goosebumps to roll along my skin as she gave me a nice long look at the enlarged incisors of her teeth before she spoke.
Ok so maybe not an elf. Possibly a vampire?
"Very well.." Something in her seemed to change as her speech moved a bit more fluidly. "The item shall be returned upon my leave."
When she spoke those words the world froze. Or at least it seemed that way as something heavy seemed to flow into the air. A pressure of some sort.
I looked over, realizing Eu had finally escaped her stupor and was standing next to me, a wary look on her brow.
Quickly she scribbled upon her notepad.
"Ophis of the infinite, why are you here?"
"Ophis huh?" I chimed in, "So that's your name? Or maybe an Epitath?"
I was promptly ignored by both of them as they blankly eyed each other up.
"Eucliwood Hellscythe."
"Oi" I grunted at these girls completely tuning me out.
"Originally…I came here for you...however…" She walked forward and I got a good idea of just how small she was when she stood in front of me, her head only reaching my pecs.
She leaned forward and I found myself staring into her coal black eyes, slit pupils like some sort of serpents gazing deep into my own.
"This one will do also."
xxx. AET .xxx