rekindleme | [open] wah wah etc

Entry tags:

[open] wah wah etc

Who: Shinju Gouka & you!
Where: District 3, District 4, District 1 (towards his apartment)
When: November 19th, mid afternoon to early evening
Summary: His roommate left. He's taking it badly.
Warnings: Copious amounts of tears, general misery

He'd been fine, for a while. He just didn't let himself think about it. He went out to work, explored the city in his free time, didn't allow himself to sit in the silence of the apartment any longer than necessary. He could pretend they'd just been missing each other by the fact that they were both so busy with other things. He was just asleep by the time Shinju got back, and there was no reason to disturb him.

That went on for about a week and a half.

It got to the point where he couldn't pretend anymore. Yu was gone and might never be back, and Shinju had no idea how to handle that information. He hadn't been sleeping well and he was on edge, feeling like if he tried to think too hard on his roommate's absence the floodgates would open and there'd be no stopping the negativity.

But apparently whatever was in charge here thought some kind of floodgates should open--Shinju was out in the shopping district continuing his attempts at distracting himself when the sky practically fell on him, and he hadn't had the foresight to carry an umbrella. Not that he could bring himself to care about being wet, but.

He blinked water out of his eyes, clamping his mouth shut as he started to look for somewhere more private--a bench in the park, maybe, since no one would probably be there in this weather.

A nineteen year old sobbing in the rain because his friend finally went home. He felt pathetic.

[OOC: Feel free to encounter him as he's walking or when he's made it to the park, or a little later when he's near his apartment and calmer (or at least, not sobbing).]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Diarmuid is returning to the apartments after a short shopping trip when he sees Shinju. The first thing that gets the boy's attention is that his friend is soaking wet. Even though it might not help, Diarmuid runs over to Shinju and holds his umbrella up over his head. It's a stretch and the boy has to go up on his tiptoes to do it, but he doesn't seem to mind.

The second thing he notices is how sad Shinju looks and that makes him worried, "Shinju? What's wrong? Why do you look so sad?"

The first thing Shinju notices is that there's a significantly less amount of water dripping on him, and he glances up at the umbrella before he looks down and sees its owner.

Oh, great. Diarmuid. And now a worried Diarmuid. He sniffs before answering, not bothering to wipe his face off. Most of it is rainwater anyway.

"Hey," he says, voice quiet. "I'm fine. Yu's gone."

He doesn't know why he mixed the truth with such an obvious lie, but it's gotten so hard to shed the facade he's put on for so long that he says it reflexively. He hasn't been fine in a long time, really--he's just had breaks from feeling terrible.

"Yu's...gone?" Diarmuid doesn't want to believe it, but he also knows that Shinju wouldn't lie about something like that. What he would lie about apparently? How he's feeling. Even Diarmuid can tell he's not okay. No one who has lost someone who they are good friends with here is okay right away.

"You don't have to hide how you are feeling to me. It hurts, right? And it's lonely not having him there..."

Diarmuid has lost a lot of friends since he arrived here. He knows too well how much it hurts.

The strain that comes back to his eyes and threatens to build up more tears shows that Diarmuid is right even before Shinju responds.

"Yeah," he says, whispering because he doesn't trust his voice to break. He takes a shuddering breath. "Yeah, it does."

He should be trying to be the strong one--Diarmuid's just a kid and shouldn't have to deal with his issues. But he's tried to be strong for so long he just can't anymore. He's done.

Diarmuid might be little, but he knows far more than a little boy should about being strong. He gives Shinju a quick hug and then pulls his friend toward the apartments, "Lets go and get you dried off. I will make you something warm to drink and you can be just as sad as you want to be. Me, Lir, and the puppies won't tell anyone. We promise!"

In other words, it's okay to not be strong around him. He isn't going to think less of Shinju for letting his feelings out.

Doing anything else than returning to the empty apartment sounds good enough for him to immediately agree--though he doesn't do it in words. He simply takes a breath not unlike a sniff and follows Diarmuid without protest.

When they get closer to the building's doors, he finally manages a "Thanks."

"You're welcome!" Diarmuid gives Shinju's hand a squeeze and then lets it go so that he can open the door into the apartments. He leads the way to his quietly, only speaking again once he has the door to his apartment open, "Here we are! Come on it and don't mind the puppies! They won't hurt you. They just like making friends. I will get you a towel and be right back!"

Shinju steps in and closes the door behind him so that said puppies can't run out--he's familiar enough with having one that he does it without thinking.

"I don't mind them," he replies, though hardly above a whisper. He takes a few steps forward and crosses his arms, a little cold from being wet, but he remains standing as to not get any of Diarmuid's furniture wet.

While Diarmuid gets the towels, the puppies rush over to Shinju. Grey sits at his feet and looks up at him, big eyes just asking for pettings. White is a little more energetic, jumping around at Shinju's feet, but never jumping up on him. That is actually an improvement for the energetic puppy.

If he isn't too distracted by the puppies, Shinju will hear Diarmuid greeting Lir in the bathroom. A few moments later, the boy pops back out of the bathroom with several towels in his arms. He carries them over to Shinju and holds them out, "Here! What do you want to drink? I will make it while you dry off."

He may not have a lot of energy or desire to speak, but he's not about to turn down the opportunity to make a few dogs happy. He squats down and moves to scratch both of the puppies behind the ears, sniffing.

Shinju looks up when Diarmuid returns and takes the towels, using one to dry his head off first.

"Thanks," he says quietly. "Just something warm, it doesn't matter."

If he's here, he might as well let Diarmuid do a few things for him, but he'll make sure he doesn't inconvenience the boy too much. He's not sure he could stand it.

The puppies are very happy when Shinju starts to pet them and they show it by giving him as many thank you licks as he will allow. White even tries to get a few licks to his face in. However, as if they know something is bothering him, they don't move away from him even when he stands up to take the towels.

Once Shinju has given him an answer--or maybe that should be not-answer--about what he wants to drink, Diarmuid makes his way into the kitchen to work on it. After a short time, he has things for both tea and hot cocoa set out on the counter. He looks over his work and then turns back to where Shinju is, "When you are done, you can come and pick what you want!"

As for Diarmuid, he is going to go with hot cocoa!

Shinju dries his hair and face and wraps the towel he was using around his shoulders so he doesn't feel like shivering. When he's done, he carefully sits down on the carpet, not minding whatever the puppies might do, and takes off his socks and shoes so he can dry off his feet. Walking around in sopping wet shoes while upset is even less fun than being upset alone. Plus, his apartment is right there if he needs to get anything. Not that he feels like going back to his apartment.

"Okay," he replies, and once he's done drying off all the parts of him that aren't clothes, he gets back to his feet and goes to make himself some tea.

Sometimes tea is comforting, reminding him of the too-few nights in the winter when he got to spend time with his parents. Sometimes it's not so comforting, reminding him that he doesn't have that anymore. But today, his mind is taking pity on him in a few ways, and he's only looking forward to something warm after being out in the cold and the wet. Nothing like physical issues to distract you from mental ones.

Once he is sure everything Shinju needs to make his tea is there, Diarmuid carries his mug back into the living room and crawls up on the couch. Grey wastes little time joining him, but White decides to stay near Shinju for now. Hopefully, the excited puppy won't get in the way too much.

After taking a few sips of his cocoa, he sits it down for a moment because it is a little too warm, "Do you want me to get more towels or a blanket? If you want to take off your wet clothes, I can put them into the dryer!"

Diarmuid would offer some dry clothes if he had some that would fit Shinju, but he doesn't.

"I'm--I'm okay," he stammers after a moment, standing at the counter and waiting for the tea to brew. He's really not in the mood to answer any questions the scars on his chest might bring forward, not that he would blame the boy. It's difficult enough in the summer when the one on his right arm is in clear view.

He looks to where Diarmuid sits, thinking that's probably where he'll head after his tea is ready. His legs are a little tired.

"Just another towel, maybe. So I don't get your couch wet."

"Okay, I can do that! Make sure neither of the puppies get into my cocoa. I don't want them to get burned!" He hops down off the couch and runs into the bathroom to grab another towel. There is some splashing in the bathroom, and a few moments later Diarmuid comes out not only with the requested towel, but he has Lir in his arms as well.

"I hope you don't mind if Lir joins us. I didn't want him to get lonely!" Diarmuid sets the towel onto the other side of the couch and then climbs back up on it, which is something of a show in and of itself considering he is juggling Lir too. Soon, though, he is settled again with a puppy on one side and Lir in his lap.

He just kind of forgot to grab his cocoa. Oops...

Shinju does as asked, picking up Diarmuid's cup along with his own so the dogs can't get at it. They do seem to be pretty excitable.

Although he's a little confused by the sight of the pokemon, he doesn't figure anything raised by Diarmuid could be that dangerous, honestly. He finally sits down on top of the towel and sets his own drink down on the table for now.

"Here," he says, offering the cocoa to the boy, since he sees it would be fairly difficult to move around now that... all of them are settled in.

"Thank you!" Diarmuid shifts Lir slightly so that he can take the cup without accidentally spilling on the pokemon. He tests the drink now that it has had time to cool and then happily drinks some when he finds it is now not so hot. Once he is done, he looks up at Shinju.

"I don't think you have met Lir yet, have you? He is a pokemon. A horsea! He's going to be my partner and will help me fight when we are both bigger...if we need to fight anyway," Diarmuid hopes that won't be the case but with how things have been changing it is so hard to say what the future will hold.

"Uh, no," Shinju replies as he picks his own drink up, not sure what else to say. He sniffs briefly, watching the blue pokemon for a second.

"Where'd you get him?" he asks, not wanting to think about the boy and his pet fighting. He hates violence, and he's done just about everything he can to avoid it here.

"There used to be kids here who had them on their world. Their names were Crystal, Silver, and Gold! When they came here, their pokemon came with them and, eventually, they had eggs. They were nice enough to give the eggs to three people and I was one of them! I..." Diarmuid pauses a moment, suddenly looking sad. "I might be the only person left who has one from that group." He hugs Lir tighter and the horsea leans into his owner to comfort him.

"We are in no hurry to start fighting, are we Lir? For now we are just having fun being together!" The pokemon blows a few bubbles to show his agreement. Hopefully, it won't startle Shinju too much.

Shinju watches Lir and Diarmuid for a few moments--bubbles are nothing to be afraid of, and he's already wet anyway--before he takes a sip of the hot tea. He lets out a long breath before he speaks.

"I guess pretty much everyone here has seen someone they like go home," he says. "I don't know why I got all shaken up when I knew it was going to happen at some point anyway."

When Diarmuid first met Professor Oak and Dragonite, they were startled by the bubbles. They actually thought that Lir was attacking them! As a result, Diarmuid tends to worry even when he probably doesn't need to.

"It still hurts!" Diarmuid looks up at Shinju, a serious look in his eyes, "Just because you know it might happen, doesn't mean you can be ready for when it does. The pain is still real."

It hurts Diarmuid so much to think about the fact that his brother might leave someday. He will probably end up being in the same shape--if not worse--than Shinju is now. Some pain a person can't prepare for no matter how hard they try.

The way the boy raises his voice makes Shinju meet his eyes, and for a moment, there's an unreadable expression on his face--he's forcing himself to be blank over the pain he's being reminded of.

He turns to stare into his cup.

"I've lost a lot of people both here and back home," he admits quietly. "I thought I would be used to it by now, is all."

Diarmuid shakes his head probably harder than he has to, "Some pain you can never get used to. The emptiness will always be there, but that's not always a bad thing. It makes sure you never forget that person!"

Much like Diarmuid was forced to forget who he lost...

The boy sighs and looks down at his cup much like Shinju is, "I lost someone back home and I can't even remember who it is. No matter how hard I try, I can't. All I know is I have an empty spot in my heart..."

Hearing that someone as young as hopeful as Diarmuid had to lose someone is bad enough, and it makes him frown in concern as he looks back to the boy. For several moments, he doesn't know what to say.

"That's awful."

Having to feel the loss and not knowing anything about it, not even having any positive remnants that you could comfort yourself with. It's hard enough being able to remember.

"I'm sorry. I can't imagine what that's like."

Diarmuid looks back up and gives Shinju a small smile, "Thank you, but you don't have to be sorry. It's the fault of the person who took them away, but father said he paid for it and I trust him. Now I just have to make sure I work hard, so that when I become a knight I can keep people from having to feel like I do!"

Will he be able to help everyone? Of course now, but he is sure going to try!

[open] wah wah etc

Nearer to the apartments

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)