nostabbing: (HUG ⚡ no shhh coulson's not really dead)
Parker ([personal profile] nostabbing) wrote in [community profile] route_10652014-01-24 12:47 am

He Ain't Heavy

Who: Parker ([personal profile] nostabbing) and Ishimaru ([personal profile] ardent)
Where: Goldenrod City
When: Thursday, January 23
Summary: A couple of not-siblings take advantage of the warm weather to appreciate the out-of-doors. The fact that one of them is virtually comatose is largely irrelevant. Also basically this.
Rating: PG? I'll update the rating if it changes.
Log:

[It's a nice day outside.

It's been a nice day a lot, recently — there've been some mildly cloudy days and maybe the occasional rain shower, but by and large it's been sunny summer afternoons here in the middle of January, and even though Parker's still kind of convinced that the world is ending a little bit as evidenced by it, she has more important things to concern herself with for the duration. Namely, the fact that she's taken it upon herself to spearhead the Keep Ishimaru Doing Stuff So Maybe He'll Start Getting Better effort, which up until this point has largely been founded on such endeavors as putting food into him, walking him around places, and occasionally fleeing from bees.

Today, fortunately, they've largely managed to evade hostile insect encounters, keeping instead to the sparsely-populated streets of the city and wandering around on the sidewalks that will take them past comforting, familiar buildings populated with normal people and normal things. Sometimes they stop and look at the beginning blooms of utterly confused flowers; sometimes they pause to listen to street musicians with their Kricketunes put on a show. Most of the time they make sure to eat something, and Parker always makes extra sure those snacks never involve butter, pancakes, or anything obviously resembling the two.

She's still not sure about that one, but Hagakure said so and Hagakure's a bro, so that's what she's going with.

Today, the snack of choice is street crepes; she'd planned on maneuvering him toward the local donut shop for some delicious fresh crullers, but then the cart and its batter-swirling magic had caught her eye, and she'd been just fascinated enough by the whole business to sort of haul Ishimaru along as she drew near for a closer look.

Street crepes. No butter, no pancakes, and no meat. Also yummy. It's too bad she can't steal one (or seven), but paying isn't so bad when it's for Ishimaru, anyway.]

ardent: (With a thousand lies and a good disguise)

[personal profile] ardent 2014-01-24 06:06 am (UTC)(link)
[It's been several days since he'd spoken to Hagakure and Oowada; Ishimaru hasn't willingly spoken to anyone since. Part of it is because he doesn't have anything to say; part of it is because he can't bring himself to say it, even if he does. Most of it is because it's quieter where he is, and he's come to appreciate the security that accompanies not feeling anything at all; he spends most of his days there.

It's better than the anger from back in Hope's Peak; from what he knows of the situation, that had been what had caused Ishida to happen. He still isn't entirely sure what Ishida is but the thought of him scares Ishimaru somewhere deep down, in a place he doesn't acknowledge most of the time; he supposes that's a good sign, though. Maybe. At the very least it's enough to remind him that he's still here in a way that matters (rather than just a way that involves physically occupying space), and maybe he's not completely insane, and perhaps most importantly, that he isn't dead yet.

He follows his sister outside when she brings him, and he follows her to the crepe stand because...really, he isn't entirely sure why but she's bringing him and so logically it's important, because surely she wouldn't be dragging him over so urgently if it weren't.

He watches because it's something to look at; he isn't letting go of her hand any, even as they come to a stop in front of the stand.]
ardent: (I'm sorry that you never made it)

[personal profile] ardent 2014-01-24 06:28 am (UTC)(link)
[He'd had an argument with Kuwata once, he knows, about strawberries - well, not so much the strawberries but rather the way he'd talked about them. Or not talked about them but talked about something else instead before finally getting to the point, as the case may have been. He's pretty sure Kuwata had said he'd sounded like a walking ad for MEXT, though that seems like such a long time ago now; he finds that he doesn't like thinking of Kuwata very much (it brings to mind screaming and fights and perhaps more importantly that sick dull thud of the baseballs hitting his body) and it's making something shift inside his head in ways that make his skin crawl, so he quite simply pushes the thought out of his head and focuses, instead, on the swirling motion in front of him, and the colors of the fruit, and that's about when he remembers that he's been asked a question.

He doesn't really want one, because he doesn't want to eat; he never wants to eat nowadays, though, and the strawberries look as good as anything does.

She'll get a nod out of him at least, and one of those quiet sounds that generally implies he's listening and he's here and he's aware of what's being said, and there's something about watching this that he's finding strangely calming.

They aren't pancakes, at least, and if there's butter involved then at least he can't see it.]
ardent: (Is an art that's hard to teach)

[personal profile] ardent 2014-01-24 06:48 am (UTC)(link)
[For a moment he's tempted to tell her no - he's never liked sweet things too much, though since coming here he's been kind of questioning whether that's because he genuinely doesn't like them or because sweet things are a luxury, something unnecessary and unneeded and after a while it was easier to not want them if he decided that he didn't like them, anyway.

He's had some of Oowada's cotton candy since he's been here, just once in a while. In between screaming about how much diabetes his brother was going to give himself, that is (he'd never exactly worked out how much diabetes, but the general thought was that it was going to be a lot of diabetes). And really, if he could come to like what amounted to spun sugar on a stick, then he could just as easily decide that he's getting chocolate all over his goddamn crepes and fruit.

So he nods again, and this time he looks back at her a bit when he does it, and he actually focuses on her properly for a moment before returning his attention to what's going on in directly front of him.

Yes. It sounds good. Why not.]
ardent: (I'm sorry that you never made it)

[personal profile] ardent 2014-01-24 07:11 am (UTC)(link)
[It's something Ishimaru notices after a long moment - the uncertain looks, the scrutiny - but it isn't something he pays much mind to; he's always been looked at kind of strangely for one reason or another, for one thing. For another, he got looks like that when they were out with Toranosuke sometimes, when he was old enough to notice and understand exactly what those looks meant.

That's just how people look at others who are having a hard time, that's all.

So he knows but he doesn't mind, and goodness Parker is getting a lot of chocolate on her crepe - because he knows about that too, despite her not specifying who's wanting what here - and when he goes to say something to her he false-starts a bit, his voice making a weird broken sound before he can actually manage words and that's almost enough to make him retreat again because really.

But ultimately he doesn't, and when he speaks his voice is quiet and his gaze is shifting something terrible, but at least they're words.]


...Thank you.
ardent: (Is an art that's hard to teach)

[personal profile] ardent 2014-01-24 07:42 am (UTC)(link)
[He nods again at that, though his attention is rather clearly fixated on the crepe than her, as though he's trying to work out what he thinks of it; he's getting better at eating on command, even though he still has to figure out how he feels about whatever's in front of him before he attempts - he's never said anything about how sick it tends to make him feel when he eats anything nowadays, but if it gets bad enough then maybe he will, who knows.

He decides eventually that he feels pretty okay about the crepe. It looks good, anyway, which is more than can be said about most things that are put in front of him; whether this will just turn to ash on him when he eats it has yet to be seen, though, and he's not going to get his hopes up too far.

He isn't sure where they're going to go in terms of appreciating things, but he finds it doesn't matter. He knows she won't lead him anywhere he truly doesn't want to go, and more importantly she can tell when he truly doesn't want to go anywhere; as long as it doesn't end in bees again, he supposes it'll be fine.

Not that he really minds the bees normally, but those were quite a lot of bees.]
ardent: (Is an art that's hard to teach)

[personal profile] ardent 2014-01-24 08:06 am (UTC)(link)
[He's content to follow, at any rate; the nudging is good because it gets his attention, lets him know there's something he should be paying attention to that isn't just the crepe and the way the ice cream shifts a little in the heat of the day, and even if he's not sure what to do with the words he finds himself grateful for them because at the very least they give him something to think about.

The horde has been spending a lot of time lost lately, he thinks, but surely they listen to his sister; maybe no one has told them that they should.]


...Okay.

[He doesn't remember deciding to answer, but apparently he did somewhere along the line because he has, and he busies himself with eating some of that ice cream before it starts getting into any sort of major slippage; the chocolate over the strawberries tastes good, even if he's never liked sweet things (because it was so, so much easier if he didn't).

The ice cream doesn't taste too bad either, today. That's often a bit more dubious but for now it's all right.]


They...seem worried. A lot.

[...]

...the Eevees.

[Just for the sake of clarification.]
Edited 2014-01-24 08:07 (UTC)
ardent: (And as you step back into line)

[personal profile] ardent 2014-01-24 04:56 pm (UTC)(link)
[That makes sense, doesn't it. Hm.]

Well...it's hard to not know they're there. They swarm.

[Really, even Keisuke tends to get in on the swarming at this point. Sayuri doesn't, though, because she's entirely too much of a princess; she's a Kirigiri animal if Ishimaru's ever seen one.]

...I try not to step on them, though...I usually don't.

[Some of them just get indignant; the little ones are kind of like what Ishimaru's heard of little dogs. They'll follow you around forever, but the second you step on them they look like you've betrayed their trust in some fundamental way and now they aren't angry, they're just really sad.

...And then they're back to following again once you've given them enough pettings.

He's quiet for a moment, though, thinking about what's been said. Trying to connect things, to put them together in ways that make sense.]


Do you have one of them for yourself...? Like we do.

[...Well, that's admittedly not quite it, but it's close enough; the rest of his friends have one, after all, so clearly Parker should as well.]
ardent: (Is an art that's hard to teach)

[personal profile] ardent 2014-01-24 05:58 pm (UTC)(link)
[He goes quiet for so long that some might assume that he's not going to answer; he isn't bothered by the question, though. Just not really sure why it's a question in the first place.

It takes him a moment to process it, that's all, to focus on it solidly enough to answer, and the only way he can think to answer is with another question.]


Why wouldn't you?
ardent: (And as you step back into line)

[personal profile] ardent 2014-01-24 07:02 pm (UTC)(link)
[Ishimaru is content to just listen for the time being, focusing on the chocolate and strawberries and ice cream, and he's managing to eat it at a decent enough pace to keep it from just sort of melting everywhere; that last bit does get his attention, however, a bit more quickly than most things do nowadays.

It's a good day, really.]


...Why?
ardent: (Is an art that's hard to teach)

[personal profile] ardent 2014-01-24 08:22 pm (UTC)(link)
[Again, he takes that all in without moving to interrupt or interject; it's a bit...strange, to discuss things like this so openly, but at the same time it's sort of nice, in a way. He nods after all of that is out there; perhaps it's fortunate that his mind is perfectly willing to gloss over the details and implications and just dismiss it as a story to be told and not Something That Happened To Someone.]

Why didn't you go to high school?

[The question is sudden and more than a bit of a non sequitur in its own right; just the same, it's been something he's wondered for a while, and now that they're talking about this sort of thing, he doesn't see why not.]
ardent: (And as you step back into line)

[personal profile] ardent 2014-01-24 08:47 pm (UTC)(link)
...Maybe they would have wanted you at Hope's Peak. For the thief things. Before everything happened - they would have liked you.

[Somehow it wouldn't surprise him. Stranger things have gotten in, after all.]

I don't...remember what high school was like. I think it was good, though. We have pictures, from the year we were in high school together.
ardent: (I'm sorry that you never made it)

[personal profile] ardent 2014-01-24 09:06 pm (UTC)(link)
[He stares at her for a moment, trying to decide what he thinks of all that, before he shakes his head.]

If we did that...voting, I mean, for that sort of thing...it would probably be Naegi-kun. And maybe Maizono-kun for queen.

[He hesitates for a moment before he continues.]

Has anyone told you anything about Maizono-kun...?
ardent: (And as you step back into line)

[personal profile] ardent 2014-01-24 09:40 pm (UTC)(link)
[...welcome to high school, Parker, where the rules are made up and our royalty doesn't matter.

He has to think for a moment before he says anything further; he's not entirely sure what he wants to tell her about Maizono, he just knows that he does.]


...She's an idol - a...pop singer, I guess? She's really well-known for it.

She hasn't come here yet, though.
ardent: (And now you steal away)

[personal profile] ardent 2014-01-24 09:52 pm (UTC)(link)
[...Out of all the things he's considered with regards to Maizono in the past, whether he likes her or not has never been one of them.]

...I don't know.

[...]

She...did things...during the incident. Things that weren't very good. But we...

[Mnngh.]

...we all did things then. So I don't know. She's...not bad. I think.
ardent: (And as you step back into line)

[personal profile] ardent 2014-01-24 10:15 pm (UTC)(link)
...Kuwata-kun...he'll take it badly. If she comes here.

[He thinks for a moment about it.]

Maybe Naegi-kun, too. But...he'll be more okay, I think. We've talked about it. He doesn't hate her.

[...]

She's very pretty, though...and she's nice to people. I thought she was all right. We didn't talk very much.

[...oh, right.]

...She died, though. She was stabbed, so knives will probably a bad thing around her.
ardent: (Is an art that's hard to teach)

[personal profile] ardent 2014-01-24 10:46 pm (UTC)(link)
[He glances at her at that nudging; he doesn't seem bothered, at least. Still sort of off, but that's to be expected by this point, and at least it's no worse than usual.]

...Of course I do. Why wouldn't I?
ardent: (I'm sorry that you never made it)

[personal profile] ardent 2014-01-24 11:02 pm (UTC)(link)
[It's a little delayed, but she gets a shrug of her own.]

A lot of people hate Celes-kun.
ardent: (Is an art that's hard to teach)

[personal profile] ardent 2014-01-24 11:16 pm (UTC)(link)
Sometimes.

[He settles into another one of those weird, silent periods once that's out there; a bit too long to be a proper pause, but not so long that he's obviously retreated back into his head.]

...I want them to be okay.

They deserve it, too.
ardent: (I'm sorry that you never made it)

[personal profile] ardent 2014-01-24 11:38 pm (UTC)(link)
[His own gaze darts down at that, his eyes eventually sliding closed; he doesn't know what to say. He can't promise her that he will be - both because he doesn't know how true it is, and because no one from that school can really say they will, can they? They'll be okay in some ways, but in others they definitely won't be, and even if he knows that's just how things are there's not much to be done about it.

But he'd also told himself that he would be nothing like his grandfather, and his grandfather had never been okay again, had he? Not after the...everything.

It's something to think about; he's not sure he can right now. Another of those quiet noises leaves him without him really realizing it or deciding to do anything at all; his eyes are still closed.]


...I want to be. Eventually.
ardent: (And as you step back into line)

[personal profile] ardent 2014-01-25 01:11 am (UTC)(link)
[He opens his eyes to look at her at that - actually look at her, without his gaze immediately darting away or shifting around or being completely unable to focus, and even if he still looks a little dead behind the eyes at the very least he seems to actually be seeing what he's looking at for the first time in quite a while.]

...Have you ever heard of kintsukuroi...?

[He doesn't think she has; it takes him a moment to find words, to express what he means to say, and in that brief moment he almost second-guesses himself.

Almost.]


It's a Japanese art...mending things like pottery and ceramics. The repairs are done with gold lacquer, not clear...the idea is that even if something has suffered damage, it has a history and it's more beautiful as a result.

...I don't...know if we're broken or not. But it...maybe it's like that. Not how we're supposed to be, maybe, but...better for it anyway.
ardent: (Is an art that's hard to teach)

[personal profile] ardent 2014-01-25 01:28 am (UTC)(link)
...Okay.

[And for the first time since he woke up, it feels like it might be.]

Thank you, by the way. For...everything.
ardent: (And as you step back into line)

[personal profile] ardent 2014-01-25 01:47 am (UTC)(link)
[He doesn't return the smile, though he rarely does that anyway; the hand-squeezing is another story.]

...We should probably avoid doing that to the bees again...