undergrounds | oh dear; oh dear (open post)

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oh dear; oh dear (open post)

JUNE 4; PLAYGROUND

There's a playground. Well, there a lot of playgrounds across the city. What makes this one right next to Coffers' Shop a bit more special than the other out there is this: Accidents.

It's not unheard of playgrounds to have the occasional accidents. It's who is the heart of the possible problem for this one.

Parents love it for the fact it's so safe for their kids there. They can drop their rowdiest youngsters at that spot and never worry about a scratch or bruise by the time they come back to pick them up.

Other adults though? The ones who shouldn't be lingering around or have too much interest in watching the kids? If you're not a babysitter for any of the children, there's a strong chance something may happen to you. Especially if you have an unfortunate reputation among the regulars there. At least the occasional sharp trip or tumble to the ground won't harm you that badly. A scuff or bruise but nothing too serious.

JUNE 5; GRAVEYARD (MORNING)

This part of the cemetery doesn't get a lot of attention. Compared to the ornate statues of angels weeping or grand mausoleums, the humble headstones and markers pale in comparison to them and often get little attention.

The row of tombstones here all belong to a small family, the (supposed) only surviving member studying not having quite enough time to pay her respects to the family she barely remembers. As a result it gets no notice, not attention besides the groundskeeper who keeps weeds off all the grounds.

Yet, in the early hours, some passerby may notice a trail of petals from a patch of wildflowers, outside of the cemetery, leading to the tombstones. This happens now and then. Not enough times to be reported on but enough times that the groundskeeper, if asked, will mention he's no longer surprised by the presence of tidy bushels of flowers on the graves. Someone is only paying their respects for them. There's no harm in that.

Plus he has no interest in going near it during these times. Not when it's so eerily cold that it makes his teeth chatter and his body shake if he's only a few feet from it. The coldness, in his opinion if ever asked, is the worst when near the one that happens to be marked FRANCISCO SEVILLE.

JUNE 5; COFFERS' SHOP (AFTERNOON)

... Is the shop chillier than usual? It seems to be with how when someone enters and they immediately shiver, rubbing their arms to ward off the chills.

The air-conditioning is strong but never this strong.

Those who go here regularly, from customers who come by everyday to and employees themselves, are having a hard time focusing on their works as they shiver and struggle to get the usually reliable free wi-fi to work on them or to get the coffee machine to cooperate for this one cup.

If asked if this happens a lot, some will say yes and some will be unsure but there's a general agreement in the air that this is not normal. The source of the coldness is hard to explain. The coldest spot changes from near the counter to the furthest corner or right outside the door.

Almost like it was... moving on its own.

[ OOC: Or make your own scenario in your comment! Prose and brackets welcomed! ]</td></tr></tbody></table>

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Flower picking? Did he just say flower picking?

There is no way to describe the utter elation at her face when he makes the suggestion, nodding excitedly for it and she cannot nod fast enough to convey her excitement at this prospect. "I would! That would be a nice touch. In fact I know a lovely bush nearby. It's where I get my own flowers every week."

Heiji smiled when he saw how excited Clara was. "Yeah? Then what're we waiting for?"

He started out to the trail that he'd noticed earlier, though of course Clara knew the place better than he did. "Been a while since I went looking for flowers. Hope I haven't lost my touch."

"It isn't too hard to do it," she promises him as she leads him to the patch of flowers she uses for her family.

It doesn't take them long to notice the patch of fragrant and colourful plants. If only because they're so striking to look at. The pretty flowers are all a vibrant bunch of reds and blues and purples, buttercup yellow and winter snow white scattered here and there to really make the bushel pop.

It's a surprise no one else has ever discovered them and used them besides Clara.

To be fair-- This is a spookier place to be in. The shadows heavier here and the place cooler even without Clara leading Heiji down to their destination. Probably the children themselves wouldn't want to go here as a dare. "So! What are you planning to do with the flowers, hmm? Planning a surprise for something or someone?"

Heiji didn't really mind the shadows or the cool air -- at least not once they got to the flower patch. He did, however, have to resist the sudden urge to roll in the flowers and get their scent all over him, which is exactly what he would have done in the Other Realm.

"Wow, check this out!" He bent down to take in the vivid color and slightly spicy smell of a marigold, petted the velvety-soft petals of a white daisy.

"I was thinkin' about laying some out on the graves, but... it'd be kind of a shame to pick all of these, too. Maybe just a few?" He should restrain himself a bit; after all, plants were living things, too. Not quite like the already-cut blooms to be found in a florist's shop, the flowers here were vibrant and wild. It'd almost be a shame to pluck them.

Heiji please no. Don't do that to the poor flowers. Look how pretty they are all. The colours.

Upon hearing his suggestion, Clara looks away from one of the flowers she's admiring and seems pleased by the idea of spreading the beauty of the flowers to the other tombstones that needed some love and attention. Lord knows they need it after being ignored for so long."I see nothing wrong with that at all! Here. Let me try to help you with this."

So she tries to help.

Tries.

Passerby, should they stumble upon them at that very moment, would have been amused by a sudden patch of lavenders and marigolds suddenly shaking and moving from an unknown 'wind' pulling and tugging them ever so faintly. It almost looks like they're dancing if one is unable to see the ghost struggling to get the flowers out.

Whoops? Sorry, Clara. Heiji reached over to pluck for the flowers that Clara was trying to get at, held out a few for her to pick up if she wanted.

"Say, um. You've raised a kid or two, right?" he asked. The question might seem like a bit of a non sequitur, but. Heiji actually didn't know many parents...

At least someone was able to get the flowers intact. By the time Clara wiggles the flowers out all by herself, the stems were half bent and leaves crumpled by her efforts. Oh phooey.

Not that she concentrates on them a lot. Heiji's question about childrearing takes her by surprise, evident by how the flowers phase through her hand and fall harmlessly to the grassy patch. She doesn't notice it because she's looking at him now, brow furrowed and frown prominent on her face. "Oh? Um-- Why yes! I did."

"Two boys," she explains, "and they were the rowdiest things when growing up. Especially when puberty kicked in. Why do you ask?"

"Well... recently I made the acquaintance of this guy. He's about... 18? Real sensitive, kinda bad-tempered, takes everything way too seriously. So I figured he was just like that."

He bent down to pick up a few of the flowers. "Ran into him at the store. He was after the same tomato plant seedling I was. Ended up gettin' it, too. But then he picked a bug up off of it. He held it up and slowly crushed it to death. Like with his bare fingers. And smiled, like he'd made a point or something."

Heiji tried imitating the gesture for Clara's benefit; the expression was more like a smirk than a smile. "Anyway, it seriously weirded me out."

"Well that sounds a bit like Kyeyke when he was growing up!"

Erm. Minus the bug crushing which does worry her. She purses her mouth to a thin and thoughtful line, mulling over what she's heard and trying to weigh what she knows and what she thinks.

"Did you two," she slowly begins, "talk after that little... stunt of his? And did you find out what the point was it about? It sounded like he was trying to leave an impression on you." Which didn't surprise her. Most teenagers wanted to make an impression, especially around adults to sometimes show that they didn't care about making impressions.

That sounds complicated and it is. Kyeyke, between her boys, was always the more difficult one to understand when he was rebelling or getting into trouble one way or another.

"I asked him what the heck he was doing, and he said taking care of my tomato plant." Cue gravelly Christian Bale Batman voice. Yeah, the bug crushing was a little troubling...

"Well, I think it was pretty clear he was tryin' to make a point, like he'd won and he was rubbing it in? But I don't see what that little bug had to do with anything. Yeah, you don't want bugs on your plants, but..."

He shook his head. "...You know I ain't a normal human, right Miss Clara?"

The imitation of the actor's infamous gravelly voice has Clara giggling as she tries to pick up the fallen flowers again but his last question has her pause, fingers hovering over the plants and not quite touching them.

"... Well. Yes, I do. You can see and communicate with me easily after all," she admits, knowing that being able to do that meant the individual was more than meets the eye. Clara has, more or less, accepted the inevitably of meeting people not quite normal since herself isn't normal.

She just happened to have good luck in running across good and friendly people like Heiji here. "Is that connected to your concerns with that the young man did?"

He smiled a little when he heard her laugh; talking to Clara always seemed to lighten the mood a bit. "Yeah, sort of. I know things die. Cats eat mice. Cuckoo chicks push other eggs out of the nest. It might not be pretty to watch, but it's kind of the way the world works. Still... that's survival. Killing that bug wasn't."

It was a bit difficult for Heiji to articulate his reasons exactly. It had been more of an instinctive reaction than anything else: part concern for fair play, part surprise, part upset at the waste, the ending of a life to prove a point that hadn't needed to be made.

"So you think what he did was... what's the word I'm looking for?" She manages, at long last, to pick up the flowers and look down at the petals like they'll have the answer. "Cruel? Harsh?"

Not quite but almost there, Clara thinks. That's what it boils down to, perhaps -- The boy acting in a way that was almost unnecessary to do, cruel even, when the bug did no wrong besides try to live. Which happened to get in the way of Heiji and them, yes, but it could have ended peacefully. Simply shoo the bug away, set it aside, and then think nothing of it.

"That's one way to leave an impression I suppose," she said, frowning. It's clear she doesn't agree with it. Neither of her sons ever did that before except for pesky mosquitos bugging them. They knew better. "I suppose what I'm worried about for something similar to that happening again. Only to the wrong person or thing. That doesn't usually end well, you know?"

She hopes she's making sense in her observations.

"It wasn't necessary," said Heiji, nodding. Clara had hit the mark, or at least close enough.

"And if it was just a normal kid, that'd be one thing. But he's not normal. He's trying to figure out how to use fire and lightning magic, and he doesn't have family members available to provide guidance."

It was a bit of a quandary, especially considering that Sasuke was really past the age where most kids figured out why pulling the wings off a fly was wrong.

In hindsight perhaps she should have seen the 'they also happen to have powers' angle coming given the both of them here.

Alright.

This is a little trickier than she thought. Clara was thinking of telling Heiji to let the boy be and only step in if something serious happens but fire and lightning magic being thrown in the mix is unconventional territory for her. She never had to worry about her sons possibly burning down a couch during one of their fights with her husband.

"What are your first thoughts on it? Do you want to talk to him? Try to…. guide him?" Because it sounds like the young man doesn't want that. Not at all. Maybe. Teenagers were difficult to figure out if you're no longer one and she hasn't been one for over several decades. "I think the most anyone can do there is just keep an eye on hime when you have the time. Simply make sure he's doing alright and not getting into trouble or in the wrong crowd."

He laughed a little. "Well, usually people think I'm the one needs mentoring. But even if I was aces at it, he's pretty, uh... defensive? Don't wanna listen to anybody."

Yeah, he could try. The problem was that Sasuke was such a teenager. "So I could give it a shot, but I think if I did, I'd have to be real careful not to let him in on it. Even then, I'm not sure it'd work. He's real muleheaded. And he's too old to go to Redbright full-time."

"Do they know? Well clearly you can solve two problems at once if you both can monitor each other then!" Clara jokes, trying to lighten the mood at the idea of someone watching Heiji as Heiji watches the teenager in question.

Teenagers were scary. A band that Magra likes sung about it once, didn't they?

... She realises how lucky she is that her granddaughter is so put together, her little moments of running off and being impulsive aside. "To be serious however-- That sounds like a good idea. He can't go to Redbright apparently but there are a lot of things to do in London! Why not simply hang out with him? See what his normal day is like? Maybe he isn't always like this."

Heiji briefly contemplated this idea.

"I... guess I could," he said, rubbing at his cheek with his index finger as if in thought. "Of course, if he knew that was what I was doin', I'm sure he'd just yell at me to get lost. He might be suspicious if I offered to pay for us to go somewhere, but... might be worth a try."

Did Heiji even want to know what Sasuke did in his spare time, though? Hmm.

"That's the attitude you should approach this with! Food is always a good offer for any growing person," she suggests, laughing a bit and covering her mouth with a hand to try and keep quiet so no one would over hear her.

Not like anyone will hear her here but old habits are difficult to get rid of. "Just think of it as spending time with him like how you spend time with anyone else -- Getting to know him better, wanting to know him better. There's nothing wrong with that.

"I'm sure he won't be suspicious long as you act like yourself, not yourself as a concerned party." That is what would give him away soon as possible around a suspicious growing teenager.

Heiji laughed a little, covering his own mouth but for different reasons. "So y'think he's still growing, huh? Well, that'd be good news for him."

He wasn't amused by the fact that Sasuke was 5'6", no of course not. "Then thanks, Miss Clara. I think I'll take your advice. I'm sure he'll be suspicious no matter what I suggest, but I guess if I plan things right, he won't notice!"

Like maybe if he made Sasuke suspicious about something else...?

Clara tsks at him, her expression disapproving and yet amused by Heiji's quick wit. "Don't be mean to him! I'm sure he'll get his day. Everyone gets either second chances or second growth spurts from my experience."

Clearly hers was the former.

Finally she picks up the flowers and holds them closer to her chest. A little damaged, a little bruised, but they're still in good form. She beams down at them, proud of her accomplishment in picking them up, before she looks before she looks back at him. "How about we get these flowers to the graves now? I have a good idea who needs them the most."

Plus the sooner they do it, the sooner they can avoid running across meandering children who are probably going to be spooked or awed to see floating flowers.

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oh dear; oh dear (open post)

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