[open]

[daikonrose]

Who: Kyoko Chou and you!
What: tier 2 things!
Where: the beach, the gardens, maybe the roof? Wherever a picnic can be had.
When: throughout the month
Warnings: discussions of abuse might happen, depending on what stories get told


Koriko had been a little quiet recently, Chou thought. Not in terms of work--naturally, summer brought in a lively swarm of tourists. And there was certainly enough noise, what with the nightly fireworks courtesy of a certain scaly guest. It was the employee dorms, notably less packed with debtors than they had ever been, in Chou's memory. 

Well, it wasn't like she could call that a bad thing, if she thought about it. If they'd gone home--good! That was what she wanted, too!

It was just the quiet that got to her when she was in the dorms, that was all. So the Witch's suggestion of picnics, while mildly obnoxious in the way her forced bonding activities usually were, struck Chou as a nice idea. Yeah, why not take her meals outside now and then? The employee cafeteria sucked anyway!

So she did. Sometimes she would go alone, others she would invite a friend (maybe you?) or wave someone (maybe you?) over when she was already settled on her blanket. But if you were the type to come up to a stranger uninvited and ask for some of their food, well, she did bring a pretty appealing little spread most days.

Comments

beach

[the4united]

There's a random shirt sitting nearby on the beach. There doesn't seem to be anyone else nearby that it could belong to, but it also doesn't look like it's been there for very long. And the piece of wood next to it doesn't look like driftwood either...

A good way down the beach from that shirt, Dylan climbs out of the water, dressed only in a pair of pants. He's clearly happy as he scrambles up onto the beach, though that happiness seems to disappear as he starts searching around for something he obviously can't find.

"Oh, come on... it has to be here somewhere..."

[daikonrose]

Chou doesn't particularly mean to park herself so close to someone else's belongings, but they don't register as anything unusual at first, just part of the assorted mishmash you might find on a tourism beach. Even after she's settled in, opened her bento, and started to take in the scenery, it isn't all that weird. From the looks of it, some free spirit had come to the beach on a whim with no towel, no sunscreen, no nothing. She's in no position to judge, as far as that goes.

The man emerging from the water also doesn't strike her as odd right away, though she glances back at him now and then. He's a good deal closer when she finally looks at him long enough to notice something: pants. Those aren't swim trunks he's wearing, just ordinary soggy trousers. Clearly, this is a man who doesn't plan ahead or wait to do what he pleases.

This could be the mystery free spirit, then. Chou pipes up.

"Um, by any chance... is that, over there, yours?"

[the4united]

His head comes up at the comment. Is she talking to him? Maybe. Probably. He doesn't hear a lot of other people around this area, and he is clearly looking for something.

"Over where?"

Even if she points he won't have any idea where she's indicating unless he uses a little bit of magic to help him, but maybe she'll give him some kind of verbal cue that he can use to narrow it down.

[daikonrose]

Too bad, she does indeed point. "There. Right there." But, huh, that doesn't seem to do the trick. He's not looking. She presses on a bit more urgently, though she's starting to feel silly. It'll be embarrassing if she's wrong about him being the shirt's owner, and all this fuss is for nothing. "Up here, next to me! The shirt!"

[the4united]

Well, at least that tells him what direction to look in. And "next to me" is easy enough. He follows the sound of her voice to get closer and then calls up a little bit of wind to help him the rest of the way. It's a light breeze, but it does come out of nowhere and send some sand particles flying. Enough to be noticeable but not enough to be truly annoying, and easy to write off.

"Ah! This are mine! Thank you!"

roof

[battleformysoul]

Finding someone having a picnic up on the roof is a little bit odd. Niko's certainly never seen it before and he's been flying over the bath house for a long time now. Not that he doesn't understand going up there. It's one of his favorite places. He flies in closer, hovering the hawkzile near the edge.

"Clearly someone wants some alone time."

And yet despite noting this, Niko clearly doesn't care given the fact that he's impinging on that alone time.

[daikonrose]

Alone time wasn't really the goal, today. Chou just hadn't managed to quickly track down any friends to join her when she decided she felt like eating under the open sky again. Rather than let her stomach growl until she lucks out, or just eat another boring lunch inside, she elects to go somewhere with an interesting view. The Koriko skyline isn't a friend, but at least it's different.

Another different thing, that she was less prepared for, is Niko's arrival by flight. Chou stops chewing, just stares at him with pudgy cheeks for a moment.

Finally, she swallows, and deadpans. "Is this your hobby? Surprising people from up high?"

[battleformysoul]

"If I were trying to surprise you I won't have flown up in front of you."

He would have come from behind and scared the living shit out of her. Or he would have for anyone that didn't look like a kid. And wasn't a girl. Despite being a kid, if it had been TK he would have enjoyed it to no end.

"Flying is a hobby though."

And he appears completely at ease sitting sideways on his hawkzile and not holding on even though he's so high up.

[daikonrose]

"It's surprising enough. I don't know anyone else who can suddenly appear in any place, like you." She should be more shocked, though. Has Koriko hardened her to things like this? Maybe a little.

Still, she can't help staring at him, and his... what is that he's riding, anyway? "Holy men sure are full of mysteries...."

garden

[yes_im_kawaii]

[Sniff. Sniff sniff. A head pokes out from behind a bush, staring curiously at the food...]

[daikonrose]

[ Pausing the journey of a piece of tamagoyaki on the way to her mouth, Chou stares. Is that... a spirit, behind that bush? Or could it be a feral person? Either way, what should she do? ]

Am I... bothering you?

[ Somehow, that doesn't seem quite right. Is this girl eyeing her vienna sausages? ]

[yes_im_kawaii]

Auu!

[Makoto ducks back behind the bushes. Her stomach growls and she slowly starts to poke her head out again.]

[daikonrose]

[ What kind of noise was that? For real, is this not a human? Should she be making an offering?

That does seem like the safest course of action, since this could very well be a dangerous spirit in need of appeasement. So, what would be suitable to give? Chou stares into her bento box, assessing.

After a moment, she leans over to spread a clear handkerchief on the ground near the bush, and then places upon it a tomato cut into a flower shape. ]

[dadpaladin]

Kuro isn't necessarily on duty when he spots the girl on the blanket with the very appealing looking spread of snacks, but he is keeping himself otherwise occupied by patrolling around the island. He has his guard mask with him, though the fact that it's hanging from his belt rather than being worn properly is a nice indicator that stopping by to see what's up when she flags him down isn't actually a distraction.

"Is there something I can help you with?"

Clearly, the only good reason for waving a total stranger over is for assistance, right?

[daikonrose]

Oh. Oh, this is awkward now. She'd just been idly watching people pass by and had thought waving at the unmasked guard would be a nice thing to do, after she'd accidentally made eye contact with him. But he actually came over! And now he's saying Nice Policeman things, asking Responsible Adult questions, and she has nothing for him. Nothing.

"Um, no." Wait, don't just be honest like that, Chou! Come up with something! Geez! "--I just thought! It's kinda warm out today, and maybe you've been walking a lot, and I have some iced tea right here!"

[dadpaladin]

To be fair, he would have accepted the honest answer, but then she switches it up with a drink offer. It's... a little surprising, honestly, and sounds like a fairly hastily made excuse, but it also feels like it would be kind of rude to completely turn her down.

"Are you sure?" There's a small upturn at the corner of his mouth, just a little quirk of a smile that seems to put the question more on whether she actually wanted to make the offer, over a polite 'is it really okay?' gesture.

And, you know, it is pretty warm, and iced tea does sound nice.

[daikonrose]

"Of course!" What kind of savage animal would she be if she made the offer and immediately retracted it? She is now dedicated to seeing this through. "Hydration is very important! Please take it! As thanks for your service to the public, sir!"

A beat, and then she adds with less intensity but still completely serious, "I have cups besides the one I'm using. Don't worry."

Gardens (hello :> I hope this isn't too late)

[sing_for_me]

"Chou!," she calls out as she spots her friend on the blanket. They'd decided to spend a little time together at the gardens today, a nice break from work and just..everything, really. It was something Alex was really looking forward to, and she hadn't had too many of those recently.

She approached her excitedly, seating herself next to her.

"Sorry, were you waiting long?

It's all good! <3

[daikonrose]

Looking up from the few stray flower petals and leaves she'd been brushing off the blanket, Chou brightened right away. She had a cheery wave all ready to go.

"No, not long!" Not that she had a watch, to truly keep track of the time. "I would have waited even more! Was it hard to find me?"

It had taken a good few minutes to choose an acceptably shady tree to sit under in the area they'd chosen to meet, but Chou had been up to the task. This was just the sort of outing with a friend that had played through her dreams since she was tiny.

<3<3<3

[sing_for_me]

"You're really sweet," she smiled at her warmly. If Alex could've had a little sister, it would've been wonderful to have one like Chou. It seemed a little much to say out loud, though. "No, not at all. You kind of stand out."

Alex didn't mind the petals. It made it feel even more like a picnic. They didn't have gardens as nice as these in the city--unless you owned a mansion. "Thanks for inviting me, Chou. I'm really happy that you did."

[daikonrose]

"Whaaat? Nooo!" Chou clapped both hands to her cheeks, somehow bashful and consumed with over-the-top delight at once. "I'm the one who wanted to do this! I should thank you!"

Now that Robin was here, Chou set about bustling to unpack the bag containing the bento boxes she'd brought. "Let's see, there are the napkins, and--sit down, sit down!"

BACKDATED to before kei left I can only have so much heartache

[whenyouneedme]

It had been a little while since Emi had hung out with Chou for the sole purpose of hanging out with Chou, and that was probably too long. When the prospect of joining her for a lunch came up, he'd been happy to go along with the idea. He'd even invited Eiji, but when the demi-human gave him one of those looks Emi had laughed it off. It was fine, it was fine.

It just meant that the pretty box dangling from his hand was all for him and Chou. Neener neener.

He was already lifting his hand in greeting as he found her blanket, grinning at the sight of her. "Hey, Chou!"

[daikonrose]

Getting Emi to find a free space in his packed work schedule that aligned with her own was like winning at connect 4. This was a success to be celebrated, so Chou had taken extra care packing up their lunch to share.

She was almost ready by the time he arrived, crouching down to smooth out one end of the blanket after shaking it loose from its folded state. Raising her head at the sound of his greeting, she sat up straight for a big wave. "Emi!" A pause, as she took in the full sight of him. "Oh... Eiji couldn't make it?"

[whenyouneedme]

Emi gave a little shake of his head, shrugging. "He's had twice as much paperwork since Mallory left. I guess fulfilling debts makes a lot of forms. He said 'hi' tho." It was a shame, really. Emi would have liked the chance to see them together. He had a feeling, and maybe this was mean of him, that he would have gotten some A+ lighthearted teasing in Eiji's direction which would have only resulted in spectacularly flustered faces. He truly lamented this loss.

Having Chou all to himself was pretty great too though.

The blond stopped beside her, making a low whistle. It was a for reals picnic with a blanket and everything! Neat! "What can I do? I, uh, only brought dessert..."

[daikonrose]

"Oh, you didn't have to!" she insisted automatically, though there was no real force behind the words. Though she wouldn't have been mad if Emi showed up empty-handed, this was hardly unexpected. Emi was a nice boy, he wouldn't skimp on her.

"I was the one who asked for this, so of course it was my responsibility to take care of the meal! You don't have to do anything." She was bustling about getting out their bento boxes, pausing to pat a spot near her. "Sit with me! Do you want a juice box, or tea?"