Thought for food [Open!]

[powertotearer]

Who: Eiji (powertotearer), more adorable robot buddies, and you
When: IC 8/10
Where: In the gardens, along the water
What: Eiji needs to think a bit. And eat. That would be good too.
Rating/Warning: None so far

---

Eiji had not enjoyed his last stint in ViViD. Locked in a threatening place, dead people that looked way too familiar, and of course the terrifying moment of being strapped to an operating table for experiments, again.

There was really only so long he could spend in his apartment, moping, especially when most of the appliances weren't working and he really needed to eat.

So, if you were Eiji, you'd go out, find a spot along the water, and start a fire to grill up some fish--fish that he'd had to buy, when he realized he had no idea what species in the water were sentient and/or poisonous. But an impromptu cookout was enough to help clear his mind for a little.

What also helped? Three new candroids--two Battas and one Kujaku, who were happily playing with Eiji's two Takos.

Also, if any of the candroids were celebrating the malfunctioning of the inferior CYbuddy oppressors? Well, Eiji was trying not to notice.

Comments

[powertotearer]

The scents hit him hard as he peeked into the bag, and he had to back up for a minute.

"Kind of strong, aren't they?"

Still, he picked up the turtle and admitted, "They're cute, though. But I'm not sure why someone would want their bath water to change color."

[onethousen]

"I don't really know either," she said, eyes falling on the turtle in his hands. "Soaking in a bath is nice, and I know different herbal blends can help. The colours might be an extra way for it to feel special."

Herbal mixtures made more sense for what they were supposed to impart to bathers, considering what Kamaji had done at the bath house. "Though maybe you also don't want to see through the water." An allowance likewise made based on Lin's observations with the dirtiest tub in the bath house.

[powertotearer]

That guess wasn't lost on Eiji, though he admitted, "I'd think it would only make a bigger mess, though. Did you want to test some of them out?"

He started looking around for something to carry water in--they couldn't very well just drop the bath bombs into the stream, after all.

[onethousen]

For whatever reason, his offer prompted her into a little burst of laughter. Maybe it was the unexpected nature of the suggestion. Maybe it was just needing a reason to laugh when more often than not, even a few days here, she was feeling just shy of overwhelmed.

"What, right here?" She wasn't opposed in theory, only in practice. They were bath bombs! Didn't that mean using them in a bath? Or was testing a sample in cool water really okay? She honestly had no idea.

[powertotearer]

"Well, yeah. You want to make sure that it's going to work, and it's better to try it where it's going to cause the least damage. Plus, in a little water, that stuff's going to be really concentrated, so if it's going to stain or cause irritation, you're going to know right away."

That was the theory, anyway, and he got up to find an ice cream vendor and get an empty bowl. That he filled with water and set down on the ground. "Ready to try the first one?"

[onethousen]

It made sense to her when put that way. The kind of logical approach that made sure no one was injured out of hand. Or only injured their hand. Easier than having a full body rash or something!

When he came back, she nodded, indicating the turtle shaped one. "Use one of its flippers?" Mangling the poor bath product before it had a chance to dissolve entirely to pieces.

[powertotearer]

"Okay, here goes."

He broke off the flipper and dropped it into the cup, where it started fizzing and releasing glitter.

"That looks pretty cool! What do you think?"

[onethousen]

She leaned closer, breathing in the floral scent. The water seemed to have softened the effect. Reaching out, Chihiro dipped a finger into the fizzing swirl of glitter and (what might have been) honeysuckle.

"It's more like watching a science experiment than taking a bath," she said, leaving her finger where it was. Nothing burned or irritated her skin so far. If anything, it felt almost soothing.

[powertotearer]

"Kinda, but it's pretty nice." And then Eiji stuck his hand into it too. No staining either!

"This one looks good. It feels nice too."

[onethousen]

"Then it's probably safe to try in a proper bath. Should we try each of them like this?" She's not opposed. It seemed like a fascinating sort of science project with few benefits past a prelude to what homework (... can work give her homework?) she needed to get done.

[powertotearer]

"It should probably work out that way. Saves on full baths, anyway."

He carefully poured the water on the ground, being sure not to let it run right back into the stream.

"It should be okay pouring this out for now, if everything's going to go down the drain anyway, but if any of them are bad, we'll have to get some more cups. I don't want to let anything dangerous end up in the water."

[onethousen]

She looked a little torn. "I'd prefer if none of it ended up directly in the river," she confessed, casting the flowing water in question a contemplative look. "It's too easy to let things get polluted even when we're not trying."

Did the rivers here have spirits? She wondered if she can ask about that, or who to ask, in that case. "We should look for those other cups before going any further."

[powertotearer]

Eiji nodded. "Good idea. In fact, we can probably try them in a sink somewhere--that way, we definitely know it's going to get cleaned out of the water."

He put out the remains of his cookfire. "Where do you live? I can walk you home."

[onethousen]

It sounded like a better plan to her all around. Water from the sewers had to be treated to be made safe for anything again, or so she vaguely understood, and sinks connected to sewers. Somewhere along the line. She nodded, tucking the rest of the turtle away into her bag with the other bath bombs.

She named a section of the Residential District not so far off from various code-born (or whatever they were) lived. In a way, people did seem to congregate regardless of intention. "Though it's okay, I can probably finish testing like this on my own."

Meaning she didn't want to drag him away from other duties he had, or things he wanted to do, simply because she'd ended up sharing an odd problem she was facing with him at random.

[powertotearer]

"It's okay. I'm kind of done for the day anyway." It really didn't take long to clean everything up, after all, although the candroids were a little disappointed he wasn't letting them play with the fish in the stream.

"Unless you had someone you were supposed to meet, though."

[onethousen]

Pausing to think, Chihiro shook her head. "Not right now," she admitted, but she hadn't been sure. Her schedule was actually clear, as far as meetings with other people went. Other life chores? Those were definitely still on her to do list. Along with a belated introduction! Chihiro bowed her head to Eiji, just enough to be carefully polite.

"My name's Chihiro. Thank you very much for your assistance with these bath bombs, sir."

[powertotearer]

"You don't have to do that!" He was already way out of practice with formality, and that was just back at home.

"I'm Eiji. And I'm happy to help, really."

[onethousen]

Sorry, it was ingrained, Eiji... but she offered up a small smile either way. "It's nice to meet you, Eiji-san." While happily moving forward, keeping her bag of bath bombs close. It was nice, as far as days went. Nice, but still nothing like home.

"Have you been in Cerealia for long?"

[powertotearer]

"I got here a month ago with a friend of mine. But either way, we've kind of been away from home for a while."

He reached over to help with the bag, in case she was getting tired.

"How about you?"

[onethousen]

"A few days ago." Three by now, which had her nervous. Three days and she'd been able to find a means to helping her parents before, but here? No one had the same information, or the same simplicity of reality, to contend with. Everything was more complicated.

"What do you mean when you say that you've been away from home for a while?"

[powertotearer]

"Oh." That had to be hard, on a kid as young as she was, he figured.

"Well, we ended up in another world before this, but it was pretty bad. And before that, I was traveling a lot and had only stopped off at home for a little bit, so..."

[onethousen]

"Wow. I didn't realise so many had been to other worlds before ending up here." She was impressed, glad that it was more common than she'd thought. It was also a neatly distracting thought from any of those she'd prefer not to linger over.

"Does it get tiring?"

[powertotearer]

"Travel? Or just being away from home? Well..."

It was a surprisingly hard question, now that he really thought about it. He hated knowing what had happened to his world. He hated not having a choice whether or not he could leave or go back. He really hated some of the things he'd witnessed and experienced.

But he couldn't wish it all away, not when it had brought him friends.

"I guess it depends. It's exciting, going somewhere else. I meet new people and see things I never could before. But I never really had a place I felt like I could call home, not until really recently. And I realize now that I miss it when I'm gone--mostly all of my friends. But it doesn't mean I wouldn't want to meet everyone else too. I just like having a place and people to come back to."

Then, realizing this was a lot to dump on a kid, he asked, "Does that make sense?"

[onethousen]

She listened to him as he spoke, holding her bag close and doing her best to understand what she was hearing. The excitement, lacking a sense of home, missing friends... some of it resonated better than other things. Yet part of what she'd been learning was how to understand those points of view that were different than hers.

Could she understand what he was saying. "It does. You miss the people who can't be with you. They're your home." Not any blue house, or grey house, or any colour house. The people were who he missed. She could understand that. She felt it too. "It doesn't mean that meeting new people and seeing different places isn't interesting. You just also have people to come back to. That's important to you."

It was something important to her, too, for all that her people mostly meant her parents. Until here. Now it was every face she could remember that spoke to her heart as something like home.

[powertotearer]

Something about the way she was holding the bag close to her made Eiji wonder if maybe this was harder on Chihiro than she was trying to let on--how many times, after all, had he seen Hina back home clutch her purse or whatever (and sometimes, the unfortunate whomever) was closest when talk turned to her brother?

"Are you okay? Do you have anyone here to stay with?"