The days seemed to be all the same, windy and slightly chilly. Sometimes it was sunny, other days it was overcast. All Itsuki knew was that heading outside had become annoying with his hair constantly in his face, but it was a sacrifice he was willing to make if it meant learning something.
He headed to the antique shop for the second time this week, maybe it was out of hope of seeing someone again, he wasn't sure why. The place had began to draw him lately. There was exploring to be done and information to be found... as well as people. Not always the best thing, but it had turned out fairly well recently.
The boy had reached the shop and walked through the door, fixing his hair once he stepped inside. It seemed a little familiar to him, but it was to be expected when the days started to all feel the same.
Kerryn heard the door to the shop open and shut, although no one called out so she suspected it wasn't a customer. Standing up from her position on the other side of the staff counter, which she had propped herself up against while she daydreamed of the glade, she turned to look at the person that came in. She stood on tiptoes, managing to fold her arms on the counter surface as she looked at the boy who became visible to her. "Who're you?" She spoke clearly, faint recoginition registering as she remembered the day that she had met Kami and Sarria, and she had left as he came in.
Well, this was different.
Itsuki blinked at the girl before taking a couple steps forward. This was a face that seemed somehow familiar to him but his mind had been so jumbled lately, he didn't question not remembering anything about her. Figuring his best shot would be to remember as he went along, he answered her question simply. "My name's Itsuki. ...You?"
"Kerryn." She said in a clipped tone, trying to remind herself that not all boys are stupid, infact Ronin and Ray were quite intelligent, and amiable. Pushing herself away from the counter, she padded around it to make her way closer to the boy. "I take it you're a Simu?" She inquired, figuring that if he said no she could make an excuse about make believe, and if he said yes then she was fine off. Kerryn seemed to inspect him as she moved over to him, taking in all the little details. "Yes, you have to be." She answered herself, "Or else you wouldn't be here alone."
His eyes followed her carefully and became aware of her examination. Itsuki stepped back out of instinct, not enjoying others drawing too much attention to himself, mostly out of fear of being readable. So he simply slipped his hands in his pockets and watched her with stoic eyes. Once she answered her own question, the boy shrugged.
"Simu, huh? Is that what they call us?" First 'Companion' and now 'Simu'... coming here was really starting to pay off after all. He had a renewed interest in the girl moreso than to solve his strange feeling of a previous encounter, but rather as another source of information.
"That is what I was told by another, Ronin.. That was his name." Kerryn remarked. Keeping her spine, and thus her posture, straight for some reason she didn't feel as comfortable with Itsuki as she did with Ray. "Might as well go upstairs and have a sit down, if all we're going to do is stand and talk." Turning on booted heel, she made her way towards the stairs leading up to the second floor, looking over her shoulder to raise an eyebrow slightly as she waited for him to follow her. Disappearing up the stairs when, or if, he started her way.
There was that name again... Itsuki felt slighted that apparently everyone had met this other boy, except for himself. Especially now that he seemed to have information as well. Where were people getting this from?
He didn't have much time to think before he noticed the girl speak something of 'upstairs' and then... walked away. He raised an eyebrow as well at her disappearance, deciding to follow her. This Kerryn girl seemed to have an interesting personality and found himself curious to figure it out further. She seemed like one of those strong willed individuals...
Heading into the backroom, he found the staircase to his left and began to head up when he noticed the girl not far ahead. "What's so great about the upstairs?"
"It has a couch, and I like this couch because it has soft cushions." Her boots thumped against the wooden stairs as she made her way up them, not looking back at Itsuki until she was on the second level, and had crossed over to the couch. Doing a half spin, she half-threw half-flopped herself down onto the corner cushion. "What kind of antique did you come from? A teapot - like Roning perchance? A dagger - like Yeste'? A mirror? A key?" The question was borne of her own curiousity, although she wondered if there were more than one Simu from the same type of antique, there had to be. Didn't there?
There wasn't many stairs and so Itsuki reached the second floor with little difficulty. Upon entering the floor, he took in his surroundings first before watching the girl plop onto the couch. Unlike his encounter with Kyoko, he was pretty sure of the atmosphere and expectations Kerryn had just from her own actions. He made his way over to the couch and sat down as well, a good distance between them of course.
"Antique? Well, I came from a mirror." He shrugged, but quickly caught Yeste's name. The boy looked her over again and tried to remember if she was mentioned to him once. He decided to question her about Yeste' later. "You didn't come from a mirror too, then?"
"Mm.. A mirror like Ray, you can't be that bad then." Kerryn mused, taking in his question before shaking her head. "No, I was the one who made her appearance from a key.. This key to be exact." She informed him as she held up the chain around her neck, dangling the golden, jeweled key in the air. As Kerryn adjusted on the cushion, she unbuckled her belt and loosened it slightly to give her more ease of movement while sitting down. "So, who have you met, so far?" She questioned, figuring that playing that annoying game of twenty questions might be the best way to get information from him.
Just days before he had gone this route and Itsuki knew he had to find a way to get around giving up everything about himself to those he met. After making himself comfortable by leaning back against the cushions, he looked over to her and gave her a small smirk, "Apparently, someone you've met." He pondered on leaving it just that, if only to see her reaction, but figured that a few moments of stalling silence was sufficient enough.
"You mentioned Yeste'. ...How do you know her?" Not that.. it mattered, right? He was just curious. ...Right.
Kerryn gave him a look, a look she had seem Bri issue more than enough to have perfected it herself. She tilted her chin up ever so slightly and looked through her eyelashes down her nose at him, impatient with the way he drew out the things he was to say. "I met her." She responded flippantly, a mirroring smirk tugging at her lips as she played his game. "From your questions, I take it you do too. How do you know her?" She questioned, turning his question back to him.
Damn, he hadn't been expecting her to respond in that manner. Itsuki mentally gave the girl credit for being more aware than she let on, but wasn't about to give up just yet.
He shrugged, as if it wasn't much of a deal. "You see, we met in the shop." He spoke as if beginning a story, but just to irritate her, he didn't elaborate further. The boy retained a firm glance at her, dropping the smirk so not to appear cocky.
"Mm. You realize, that if we continue to clip our meanings down to a couple words and simple phrases we'll never really learn anything." The girl obviously was a mite more intelligent than her years precluded to. "I met Yeste' in the shop, she showed me the dagger she came from, and she is going to teach me how to smith and fight." She rolled her shoulders in a shrug. It wasn't really that important to be kept a secret.
He took a couple moments to look her over quickly and wondered why he hadn't met many others like her. Itsuki figured it was his own benefit that there weren't as many who would handle him like she did. It was the release of information, though, that allowed him to give into dropping the game.
"Really... You must have hit it off with her very well." He wasn't sure why, but the thought made him tense up and fold his arms across his chest. "She does have a lot of weapons. ...In fact, she gave me a dagger on Valentine's Day." It was more than he would have liked to share, but it did beat telling her that he learned how to dance from Yeste'.
Kerryn wrinkled her nose at that last piece of information, "Valentines day?" Her tone implied that he might as well have suggested that there was a day where people celebrated the moon crashing into the sun. "What's that? Bri said something about it, but she never told me what it was." Letting her mind wander she nodded absently at the mention of Yeste's weapons, "Yes, she said that we may get a staff for me, I don't want to use blades, Bri wouldn't let me anyways.."
The notion of using a staff as a weapon made him give her a look. He didn't see the purpose of fighting with something that wasn't sharp, but if that was her perogative...
"Valentine's day..." he frowned, it hadn't been his favorite holiday but continued nonetheless, "Its a holiday where girls give guys gifts and chocolates or something like that." After a moment of consideration, he added, "Usually 'cause they like them."
Kerryn's look told him a lot about exactly how full if it she thought he was when he informed her of the meaning of Valentines day. "And, Yeste' gave -you- something?" She realized how judgemental it sounded after it came from her mouth, she didn't mean to sound that way. Nothing against him.. Yeste' just didn't seem the sort to give guys gifts. Or, not from what she knew of the other girl anyways. Plus, she was a little testy and it was affecting her relations. "And guys don't give girls gifts?"
Itsuki took it as a different meaning altogether, something that poked at him after he said the last part, as well as received the gift to begin with, and found himself looking somewhat flustered. He tried to gain his composure, but it was hard when he was blushing like that. His best defense was avoiding eye contact, but it wasn't the best tactic, really.
"Y-yeah, well..." The second comment gave him a chance to escape, but instead of conjuring up an elaborate attempt to bail himself out with this new wormhole, he just responded. "I guess they could.."
Bobbing her head softly in a nod, Kerryn let him off the hook, although the laspe into silence could have been taken as an out of the pan into the fire type situation. Looking down at her key she passed it between her fingers, watching her reflection become distorted in the materials.
Itsuki was usually one who welcomed silences, but in situations like this... it was the breeding ground for thoughts and questions which would plague his mind for hours if allowed to go unchecked. So naturally, he began to get uneasy when no other alternative was given. It was only a matter of time before...
"...It wasn't a big deal though. It's only a dagger, right? Not like its chocolate or... flowers or something. Right?" He started to ramble, barely aware he was doing so. Of course, the more he rambled, the less secure he felt and soon he thought of jumping out the window across the room. This hadn't exactly been the subject he had wanted to bring up, let alone to someone he just met. He was sure she wasn't interested to begin with and hoped she would... kick him, or at the very least change the subject. Just his luck would be if she found it interesting to prod him forward...
"It's only a big deal if you make it one. Like you're doing right now." She informed him before not so subtly changing the subject. "You know, it's the perfect weather for growing orchids. Not too hot, not too cold.. enough hours of the sun." Kerryn nodded at her own words, "I'm going a pot of orchids on my apartment balcony. Although, they're a little hard for me to deal with. I almost killed them when we had that cold chill lingering in the night." She looked out the window for a moment, looking at the mild weather outside. "I'm hoping it doesn't do it again tonight, it doesn't looking like it will.. but you never know."
He welcomed the change of subject and used the time to save face and regain his composure. Though, it didn't help much when it was something he didn't know too much about to begin with. "...You could give them a blanket, just in case." He shrugged and tried to think of what an orchid was. It must have been a plant of some kind. Itsuki thought about the weather though, and hoped personally that it wouldn't get cold either. "Hopefully it will get warmer. ...and less breezy."
"I convined Bri, my mother, that it needs a heat lamp.. So when I think it's going to be cold at night, I plug in the heat lamp to keep it warm and make sure frost doesn't build in the soil." Weighing something in her mind her eyes flickered back to him, "So, what do you do for fun? Since, well, you seem to have almost no interest in flowers. Or.. maybe interest isn't the word I'm looking for." She shrugged, the slightest roll of her shoulders.
Itsuki wasn't sure you could have fun with flowers to begin with, but understood what she meant. "Um. I like to sit on rooftops." His gold eyes moved around the room as he tried to find the right words to describe his interests. "Knives interest me and I'm currently trying to become a stronger person."
After explaining his interests, he watched the girl carefully for her responses and decided to follow up, "I take it you like plants?"
"Yes, I like plants." Kerryn thought about it for a moment, "I've never sat on a roof before, I've never even -been- on a roof before.. What's it like?" She asked, brushing her hair from her face delicately. Her eyes watched him almost cautiously, unable to settle herself down.
"Its a different than sitting on the ground... there, you're looking up at everything and it makes you feel kind of hopeless." His eyes moved around as if he was imagining the scene before him. "But when you're up there, especially on the high buildings... it makes you feel so powerful, above everyone, but not too high. Your fate is in your own hands and you're free... that's how it feels to me." Itsuki's eyes left the ceiling and turned downcast sheepishly, "I suppose its the feeling of being separate but in control of everything... and being alone. Its a safe enviroment to think."
The boy looked to Kerryn, as if to see how she felt about his opinion, hoping she didn't start laughing at him or anything.
Kerryn's lip twitched as she thought of it, but eventually it pulled into a smile. "Yeah, I can imagine how it'd feel like that. Maybe I'll get Bri to take me to the roof my our apartment sometime. It sounds cool." Kerryn looked around the room after she had finished speaking, trying to draw on something to spark conversation because she suddenly found herself with nothing to say or to ask of the boy. Tugging on her necklace softly she looked back at him, and then away again.
Itsuki readjusted his posistion on the couch and when he sensed no further questions, he stood up and walked towards a bookcase in the room. "I'm sure this place is loaded with information."
When he stopped at the fixture, he had to crane his head to be able to see all of the books. His eyes slowly glanced through titles, trying to find something that caught his attention.
Kerryn watched him walk over to the bookcase, her stare was constant this time, seeming to have more courage since he wasn't facing her. "Do you like to read?" She questioned, "Or, learn?" She ammended, since she registered his comment about the shop being 'loaded with information.'
He didn't look away from the shelves as he listened to her questions. As he dragged his fingers across the spines of a few books, he shrugged. "I guess you could say I like to learn. I think I just like knowing... and understanding. It puts you ahead."
Itsuki smirked as he browsed past a book concerning orchids but continued to look.
"Why do you say that?" She tilted her head to the side and made herself comfortable on the couch, wriggling down into a half sitting - half laying down position. She closed her eyes as she listened to the room and the vague sounds of life outside of the shop.
"...Well, having information and understanding... anything, will put you in a better situation. There's nothing worse than an ignorant person."
Itsuki's finger stopped on one particular book and he looked at the spine for a moment before slipping it out. He seemed to examine the cover carefully before opening the bound document.
"Yes, but, isn't it better not to know some things?" She questioned, Bri had always told her that you shouldn't ask questions if you're not a hundred percent sure you wanted the answer, so there -HAD- to be some information out there that wouldn't do you any good to know. "Like, something that will make you unhappy? Or, hurt you?"
Itsuki stopped in his place as he thought over Kerryn's question. After a moment of consideration, he looked over to her. "I could see how knowing things could hurt some people... so I think so people shouldn't know everything."
A moment passed and he looked back down to the book, but only stared at the page, "But, I want to know. I think I can handle it. ...I wouldn't be true to myself if I refused to know something because I'm afraid."
Kerryn opened her eyes slightly, looking over at him as she folded her arms over her stomache, "True enough, but excercising the necessary amount of caution is always helpful.. What book are you reading?" She mused, drifting from topic to topic without rhyme or reason. Pushing herself up from the couch she moved over to the bookshelf he was standing infront of, inspecting the books like he had just before.
When she walked over, he glanced at her briefly before looking back at the book in his hands. "I don't know." Itsuki was about to set the book back, so far finding the handwritten text to be nothing useful until he found a peculiar word. "What was it that you said Ronin called us? Was it Simulacrum?" He continued to look at the text, but retained the same appearance of little interest.
"He called us Simu." She stated evenly, bending over to look at some of the lower shelves, "Why? Does your book say something about us?" Her interest seemed rather faint, although she just didn't want to show how interested she truely was to learn something, anything about herself.
After looking over the word once more he thought on what Kerryn had said.
Better off not knowing? ... Hrm. Alright, I'll humor you.Itsuki closed the book and slid it back into the small hole. "No, not at all." The boy had wanted little else than to find information pertaining to what he was and especially on how him and Ura were connected, but with his recent conversation with Kyoko and now Kerryn's comment, he felt himself thinking over things much more than before.
So, he continued to look over the titles on the shelf, regarding most of them with disinterest.
"Mm.." Was all the comment she made, although she was a little disappointed. "I should be going home." She remarked after a moment of silence, "Bri is probably wondering where I've been..." She sighed, knowing that if Bri had to come look for her again that she'd get grounded - again -.
The boy looked over at her for a moment then nodded. "Trust me, I know that feeling." Though, his small scowl was obvious evidence of his disapproval of that kind of behavior from his guardian.
"I'll probably see you around," he commented, not sure if he wanted to leave the room just yet.
"Alright, see you." Kerryn responded with a smile, moving to the stairs and padding her way to the bottom, finding the front door with ease and letting herself out onto the streets of Durem.
