[Event ORP] Aimes' Spring Fish Festival.

[Divine Keesha]

X Purple--Platypus X

Having completed his little verbal intercourse with Aren, Oxiin was buoyed up with the excitement of learning this invigorating new information about himself. Dashing through the crowd, his crippled arm swinging uselessly at his side whilst, in the other hand, he clutched the bread that he was going to feed to the fish. However, in his rush he collided with a woman who was looking at the children on the docks. He hadn’t been paying attention and smack! The impact was fairly heavy and it was enough to make Oxiin trip.

Flying downwards towards the floor Oxiin did the best he could to avoid hurting himself badly and thrust his good arm in front of his torso. His palm was grated against the wooden walkway and as he cussed profusely he was certain that he had just obtained multiple splinters. Tears brewing in his eyes he tried to collect himself but found himself looking up angrily at the woman he had barged into. Of course, it was actually his fault, but seeing as he had come off worse his childish mind wanted to blame her – the ‘responsible adult’ – for his pain.

“Ow...” He moaned, biting down hard on his lip in an attempt to prevent himself from bawling. Tears were creeping out of his eyes despite his determination not to cry like a whimp. “That hurt!” His tone of voice was both accusational and demanding some sort of help at the same time. Inge was busy being a mermaid and he was too full of pride to seek comfort from any stranger...

Lokia stood feeling the sea breeze pass her by before feeling a jolt. Spinning around to see what hit her she saw the boy go sprawling. Alarm seized her like a vice. He was swearing so she assumed it couldn't be entirely bad but bad enough all the same. Lokia quickly went to kneel by his side. "Are you alright?" she asked the fallen child. Lokia didn't believe the accident to be her fault, but she hadn't been paying attention to avoid either now had she? She needed to know the extend of the damage so she could best figure out how to help him.  

[Kanove]

Hymn straightened up and attempted to secure the hat that threatened to blow away if he were to not keep an eye on it. Scrunching his eyebrows he kept a hand on the brim and another went busy, sorting through a pile of freshly cooked treats. They were caramelized apple slices which had been skewered for easier enjoyment. With a nod the dust found one of his tastes and popped it into his mouth, using the moment to dig out some change and toss it on the counter.

"Thank you!" he attempted to say, his speech half muffled from the warm, gooey treat.

Engulfing one apple slice in a single bite he munched on it, content with the warmth and flavor. He felt a bit better having sugar in his system. Nodding he began to take another bite before he wandered right into another individual.

Stepping back he examined the curious little girl he had just bumped in to. "I apologize." he waved, attempting to excuse himself.  

[X Purple--Platypus X]

Oxiin was incredibly tempted to snap at her and tell her how ‘un-alright’ he was with a few select words but he bit back the pain and anger to raise his hand. It had indeed suffered the brunt of the damage and as he lifted it to show her he could see that splinters littered his palm and blood was beading along some of the scratches he had received. Wincing he realised he had grazed his knee too and through gritted teeth he replied, “I’m ok...” He was only lying to protect his dignity, but as he realised that he would never be able to extract the tiny slithers of the wooden dock from his one good hand alone his shoulders slumped and he quietly admitted, “I’m not ok.. Can you.. help me?”

Carefully wiping smears of what were tears from his cheeks he affixed the woman with his coppery gaze. “Don’t make a big deal though..” He hastily snapped, trying to lift himself from the ground. Wincing at the pain in his knee he managed it but realised that as a result of falling he had lost his bread. Fortunately it had only been hurled a small distance and he could spy it about a metre from where he shakily stood. However, going back down to ground level and grasping at it with his now incredibly sore hand was not going to be easy.

“Can you get that for me?” He asked the lady, pointing to the scrap of bread.. “I was going to feed the fishes but now I’m hurt and...” He trailed off as his eyes welled up again. His hand really stung and he felt so stupid.

 

[Ruriska]

It wasn’t so much a girl that Kanove bumped into, but rather, a girl in a cart. Anise felt something bump the side of her safe haven and she gave a rather uncharacteristic squeak. Her hand tightened convulsively on her blankets, the knuckles turning white. “Alex?”

Her guardian turned away from his conversation with Cadaver, and frowned over at Hymn. Of course Anise would end up getting jostled in there with all these people around and she’d have to get use to that, but he still reacted like a protective father. “Please be more careful. My daughter is in there.”  

[Divine Keesha]

Lokia smiled at the boy reassuringly and retrieved the bread for him. This boy was tough and asking for help was probably not something he liked. She spoke quietly while she pulled out the small pack she'd brought for the day. "Accidents happen when so many people gather..." From her pack she withdrew a small bag-like container with gauze, tweezers, and other first-aid odds and ends. "I'm not the best at this so bare with me," she said pulling out the tweezers first. Gently grasping the boy's hand she began to pull out the slivers.

Not having anything to ease the sting the tweezers must be causing, she decided to try and distract him. "My name's Lokia. What's yours?" she asked.  

[Kuuro Kitten]

Cadaver had been in a mild conversation with Alex just before it was interrupted by someone. Looking past the older man he smiled brightly at the vision before him. "HYMN!" With his usual exuberance the teen dust launched himself at his old friend glad to see a familiar face. "Ah... this is my friend Hymn." He introduced to Alexander. Giving a polite knock he poked his head just outside of the cart to smile warmly at the young dustling within. "He won't hurt you Anise, won't you meet him?" He asked kindly hoping to help the spiderweb dust out of her shell just a tad. Turning to Hymn the teen dust introduced the duo. "These are my new friends, Alexander and his little girl Anise."
 

[Kanove]

'A curious bunch to run in too' thought Hymn, waving off the accident before the other clamored into him. "Ah, yeah, no, I won't hurt you," he stuttered, attempting to gain a grasp on what had all just happened.

When Hymn had been introduced to the other two, he bowed slightly and smiled,"My name is Hymn, nice to make the acquaintance of the both of you." The dust wasn't too good at introductions, and he felt slightly uncomfortable out of his normal attire. With a smile though he turned to Cada and wrapped his arms around the other, holding him in hug for a moment. "Where have you been?" he asked, looking back to Anise and excusing himself.

"I apologize if I disturbed you earlier," he said, "Anise, is it?"  

[Syusaki]

When Arietta finally got a closer look at the boy she was startled to see that he wore a black blindfold. H-He’s blind . . . ? Unsettled by the sudden turn of events and even more surprised by his loud voice, she immediately backed off and played defensively. “Pardon me, I didn’t realize you were blind at first. A lack of observation on my part and I truly apologize for that,” she answered, an uneasy smile pulling at her lips.

His noisy voice was close to frazzling the composed Arietta, not only was it unusual to be conversing with someone so boisterous, the skeptical glances that onlookers passed on were beginning to fluster her. “Your points are completely valid, so I assure that I’ll be examining my surroundings much more closely from now on.” The longer she interacted with the boy the more comfortable she grew in his presence. Silently, she quizzically eyed him once more, arms across her chest and a fist covering her mouth.

“Is there some sort of reasoning for the blindfold that you’re wearing? Perhaps some sort of sentimental history, or is there a logical meaning behind it?” Arietta questioned, curiosity piqued.

She ate the rest of her bread, stepping closer to him. “Judging by your loud voice, is your blindness recent? Or is it an affliction you got a long time ago and your guardians simply figured that your loud voice helps you navigate? I’ve heard of certain animals navigating through such means, so it’s plausible, I suppose.”  

[X Purple--Platypus X]

Snatching back the bread from her Oxiin winced as his fast movements made him hand burn with pain. Moving his fingers made the wooden splinters really hurt, whereas when he did not move them the pain was just a dull throb. Therefore, as the woman dug around in her bag for something to aid fixing up his hand he put the bread into a pocket within his oversized shorts. Then he glanced back at her and watched her extract a little pair of tweezers from her bag. Reluctantly he held out his hand... It was going to hurt having the splinters plucked out, but he guessed that the sooner it was done the better...

The first pinch and pull of the tweezers made him flinch and he accidently tried to yank his hand away. However, at the same time though the woman had told him her name and asked him for his. Twisting his head back round from where he had been looking away from her – trying to avoid looking at the painful process (which would undoubtedly make it worse what with the anticipation) – he frowned, grit his teeth as she levered another niggling bit of wood from his skin.

“I’m Oxiin.” He hissed through the spike of pain. His reply ended there... He wasn’t trying to be rude by not furthering the conversation and the woman had the right idea with distracting him – he just couldn’t think of anything to say right away decides a few expletives directed at the pain, so he wasn’t saying anything.

 

[YourDirtyLaundry]

"Eyyy...what a day this has been." a woman with flowing dark red hair said as she sat down outside of her job's office on the side of the street. She wasn't too happy at the moment, for she had just found out that her life was about to take a drastic turn. She watched as all of the children and parents walked down the road to what seemed to be a happy occasion. She then looked further down and found that it was the festival. She hadn't been one for festivities lately, but it would have been a good distraction.

"Is that today? I must have completely forgotten. Well, I just have to do something to get my mind off of things." she grabbed what few belongings she had and strode down the road slowly, watching as the children and their mothers and fathers were playing together, spinning and twirling and just having an amazing time. She smiled, but found the acts rather ridiculous.

When she arrived on the scene, she watched as the beautiful banners and all of the people were having such a wonderful time. She almost didn't know what to do with herself. There were a lot of people, and then she remembered something. When she was young, she remembered her mother and father bringing her to festivals like this, and how much fun they were. But of course, that was before her father's death. Since then, she hadn't come to anything, for she and her mother were too devastated to do much of anything.

She felt tears well up within her eyes and she quietly sobbed to herself for a moment before turning out to the sea and watching the fish as they flew under the water. There were so many, probably wanting the food the people had to offer. She wiped her eyes with her free hand and decided that this was where she needed to be.

She set down her belongings right there, for she didn't care if anyone took them. They were just some unimportant paperwork, and some things that would just remind her too much of her unwanted past. So, it was time to finally come out of the bubble she had been living in, and have fun.

She walked down the road, watching everyone as they passed. It seemed like a good festival to be at, for everyone seemed at least mildly happy. She saw children, women, and men there, which she hadn't really expected. She went to the different booths that people had set up, watching the children play, although she somewhat disliked children, they were at least cute to watch. As long as she didn't have to babysit or handle children, she was fine.

She was finally beginning to feel happy. She went to the dock after buying some of the food they had there, tearing it to pieces to feed the hungry little critters within the sea.  

[bpyan]

The woman Aren had bumped into stared at him for a while with curious eyes. For Aren, this was his cue to leave. Bowing his head in apology, he took a few steps backward and lost himself in the crowd of Aimes. This wasn't any help either since the people had started to look at him strangely, noting his hurried actions and nervous walk. He had to compose himself. He forced his body to walk slowly, blending once again into the crowd as his heartbeat slowed, he breathed deeply.

The gentle crash of the waves entered his ears as well as the noisy sounds of the birds that surrounded the place. After all that walking he found himself near the docks, much fewer people were in sight and he could finally breathe a sigh of relief. His gray eyes wandered around the docks, small groups of families were huddled close together as they fed the fishes that were swimming happily in the deep blue water.

The dust visibly relaxed as he walked slowly, his boots sounding as they collided with the wooden planks. He saw a lone woman sitting in the docks, it wouldn't be such an odd sight but today there were only groups of people, families, friends and even couples. It was quite out of place to see one human who was by themselves. He stopped in his tracks, eying the figure from afar.  

[YourDirtyLaundry]

The woman stood there at the edge of the dock, throwing food in the water for the fish that were there. She looked back and forth to see other people just having fun or loving their time there. She was alone, but she didn't really care. She was just angry with so many things. Trying to get her mind off of work and life was difficult, almost impossible. She didn't know what she would do.

She then sat on a nearby bench, a tear ran down her cheek. Her thoughts were racing and there wasn't much she could do to stop them. She just closed her eyes tightly, listening to the waves crash upon the beach, the birds flying in the air gave off their little caws and she felt the sea breeze fill her lungs before reopening her eyes once again.

She looked around once more, her red locks swaying behind. She noticed someone...different. She shook her head quickly and looked straight ahead, remembering the image that stared at her from afar. Was his skin...blue? She was nervous to do anything with a stranger, especially one that was different. But he was staring at her, or so she thought. He was also alone.

She smiled before turning her glimpse back to the man who was watching her. 'Well, maybe I should say something...I don't want him staring forever.' she thought to herself. With that, she took a deep breath, grinned once again, and got up, walking over towards him, as she did so, she wiped the tear quickly from her face.

"H-hello. I-I couldn't help but notice that you were looking at me. Umm...can I help you? I'm Rose--well, Rosalie Black." she said, quietly, yet quickly. Placing a small, tender hand out for the blue-skinned man to shake. She was intrigued by him. She would have known if she had seen him before, but she knew she hadn't. This was an encounter like any other. She just didn't know it yet...  

[Divine Keesha]

Lokia held Oxiin's hand gently but firmly after his involuntary yanking. Poor child. This couldn't be comfortable even without the pain of his fall. She really should have paid more attention to her surroundings. Then perhaps Oxiin wouldn't have gotten hurt. Despite his ill fortune, Lokia was glad to meet him. She had a soft spot for children and Oxiin seemed to be a good kid, if not very open.

She continued to pull out the tiny slivers. Had she gotten them all? "So Oxiin, are you here with your parents or maybe friends? Or are you alone?" she asked still trying to distract him but also genuinely curious.  

[Ruriska]

Anise listened to the hubbub outside, trying to figure out what was going on. Her eyes narrowed in irritation as Cadaver greeted somebody with a loud cry and she wished she could be out there to see what this person looked like. How was she supposed to bring anybody under her control when she couldn’t control her own fears? Cada’s head soon peeked in the entrance of the cart and she frowned at him before giving a curt nod.

“Very well. Bring him around so I can see him.” She sat up straighter and smoothed out her skirts. When the Hymn fellow spoke, she refused to answer, instead addressing Cada. “Do tell your friend that unless I can see him I don’t want to talk to him.” She could see parts of him but she wanted a face.

Alexander stood by awkwardly. He nodded politely at Hymn and hovered beside the cart, as if afraid somebody would suddenly run off with it.  

[Rown]

Syusaki

When Arietta finally got a closer look at the boy she was startled to see that he wore a black blindfold. H-He’s blind . . . ? Unsettled by the sudden turn of events and even more surprised by his loud voice, she immediately backed off and played defensively. “Pardon me, I didn’t realize you were blind at first. A lack of observation on my part and I truly apologize for that,” she answered, an uneasy smile pulling at her lips.

His noisy voice was close to frazzling the composed Arietta, not only was it unusual to be conversing with someone so boisterous, the skeptical glances that onlookers passed on were beginning to fluster her. “Your points are completely valid, so I assure that I’ll be examining my surroundings much more closely from now on.” The longer she interacted with the boy the more comfortable she grew in his presence. Silently, she quizzically eyed him once more, arms across her chest and a fist covering her mouth.

“Is there some sort of reasoning for the blindfold that you’re wearing? Perhaps some sort of sentimental history, or is there a logical meaning behind it?” Arietta questioned, curiosity piqued.

She ate the rest of her bread, stepping closer to him. “Judging by your loud voice, is your blindness recent? Or is it an affliction you got a long time ago and your guardians simply figured that your loud voice helps you navigate? I’ve heard of certain animals navigating through such means, so it’s plausible, I suppose.”

"I'M WEARING A BLINDFOLD TO PROTECT YOU. AT LEAST, THAT'S WHAT JARETT SAYS."

The correct phrase Jarett had used was "this blindfold will protect you" but Rindou didn't quite grasp the fact how a blindfold would really protect him now. At first he'd believed it since he was somewhat unused to being in the dark but now that he was older, a bit more used to it. . . he figured the protection must have been meant for someone else. He certainly didn't need protecting anyway, he was more than capable of caring for himself. His time with Aren and with the other Dustlings, not to mention his running around all on his own, had made him strong. Not really smarter, but certainly stronger - and in more control.

"AND I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT WHEN YOU SAY LIKE ANIMALS. I'M TALKING NORMALLY, YOU'RE THE ONE WHO SOUNDS WEIRD. I'VE ALWAYS BEEN LIKE THIS AND IT'S JUST HOW I TALK. NO ONE ELSE SEEMS TO HAVE A PROBLEM, SO WHY ARE YOU ASKING?"

Rindou crossed his arms and swayed a bit on his feet, moving back and forth like he was rocking on an invisible boat. It was nothing overly drastic, his motions didn't look exaggerated...but it was clear he was swaying. The bottom of his feet where itching after all against this stuff people called the ground and it made it easier on him to not be standing directly on it. How could people stand to have this pressure all the time? It was beyond Rindou.