Yesterday (open)

[orion]

Hn. She acted like it was a normal thing to do. It didn't feel normal. At all.

Orion stood and went to the window. Second story wasn't so high, but... No.

Stop thinking like that! What reason do you have to think that you shouldn't do anything?! Nothing had happened to him that should make him feel undeserving. In fact, Riki was treating him like he was her own son. She hadn't even as much as given him a harsh look, let alone scold him. Where was this coming from?!

He pushed his forehead against the window in a kind of rebellion against his own thoughts. His wings were spread out as he looked at the people below. He was up here, and no one (thought he wasn't quiet sure why they should) was going to stop him!

...he hoped...

[ninjaofdoom]

She was loading up on all sorts of fruits and cheeses and breads. It was nice to be given a variety. But she mostly looked for fruits that provided hydration. Grapes, strawberries, and tomatoes. She grabbed a couple loaves of bread, a block of sharp cheddar, and paid the woman at the booth. She was glad these things weren't too expensive. The strawberries carried the highest cost. Probably imports. As she turned to find a place for drinking water, something caught the corner of her eye.

A few people were starting to gather by the inn. They were whispering and pointing. She followed their fingers up the second floor...where Orion was shoving his head out the window and spreading his wings. What...is he...doing?? she thought brokenly. He didn't look to be in trouble. Wait. Is he going to JUMP!? No, it wasn't too bad of a fall, but still. She certainly hoped those wings could carry him. She quickly grabbed a bucket of water that had been left next to the well by one of the women standing under the window. Nobody noticed.

Riki moved swiftly through the crowd, never dropping or spilling anything. She had to shove a couple people out of the way, but they were quick learners and started to make room for her. Her feet were light against the ground as she found her way in a strategic spot. She looked up to him and spoke just loudly enough that her voice would carry up to him. "If you fall, don't land on your head!" The crowd around her gasped, most of them mothers. But Riki had been raised differently. Despite her lack of memories from before the incident, her remaining mentor had trained her the same way that the mothers in her clan had raised their young before they went off to training. If you fell, you would understand that it meant you would get hurt. This often prevented the children from becoming too reckless. She guessed now he would learn, too.

[orion]

Orion balked slightly when she called up to him, but his rebellious demeanor remained firmly in tact. His wings arched in an almost aggressive fashion as he scowled at the crowd below. Where was this loathing coming from? This was all relatively new to him, so why did it feel so familiar? Not his behavior at this moment, but the gawking and staring.

He wasn't going to fall. His grip on the window frame was firm enough. There was no way he would--

Orion pulled himself back inside suddenly. What in God's name was he doing? Causing a scene, that's what he was doing. Quickly he went back to his bed and sat down, staring at his one hundred and sixty-eight floor boards.

[ninjaofdoom]

She watched him from her spot on the ground as he scowled down at her, or the ground, she guessed. Then he abruptly pulled himself back inside. She could almost imagine him curling up on his bed and staring at the floor. She sighed and carried her groceries up to the room. She turned the key in the door and opened it. And there he was, on his bed and staring at the floorboards. Not exactly as she imagined, but she was still learning about him.

"Okay, Orion!" she announced joyfully. "Breakfast is served!" She set the bucket down and filled her canteen, and a second one that she had bought for Orion. She handed him the water and split up the food, dividing everything in half. One loaf of bread for each of them, half a block of cheese, half the grapes and half the strawberries. She's let him count it himself, but she knew it wasn't even. She'd clearly given him more grapes than she gave herself. She didn't need to eat too much, anyway. She sat back and started chewing on her bread, popping in a piece of cheese after every few bites. She would save the fruit for last. She liked the sweetness to linger in her mouth.

[orion]

He sat in silence for a while, watching her divide the food. He counted everything as she was counting it (faster, and probably more accurately). And he made no move to eat after she had started. The odd feeling that he should just sit and do absolutely nothing was back, and he was listening to it.

"I'm sorry," he said finally.

[ninjaofdoom]

Huh? She stopped eating and put her food down before looking at him. "Sorry? For what? You haven't done anything wrong," she said, confused. Did he still feel bad about her staying up all night? She had a feeling there was more to it than that, but she wasn't going to guess at his reasoning for being sorry.

[orion]

"I-" He frowned. He should be sorry for something... he thought.

He drew attention to himself. That was bad... wasn't it?

"I don't know..."

He drew his wings in close to his head, slouching and looking very unhappy. He should just crawl away somewhere where he wouldn't inconvenience anyone.

Inconvenient... where had he heard that...

No sweety, it's no trouble. It's just a little, inconvenient.

"Inconvenient, " he looked at Riki, "what does that mean?"

[ninjaofdoom]

She looked at him, puzzled, for a moment before answering. Did he think he was being an inconvenience to her? Is that what he was worried about? She frowned a little at the thought. She'd never really considered anything to be an inconvenience. Rocks in her shoes or a bird pooing on her shoulder, maybe. Those were inconvenient. But taking care of someone who clearly needed help? How could that be inconvenient?

"Hmm.." she started, trying to think of a good way to word it. "Well, inconvenient is when something is...not really timed well. Or if it's just not particularly helpful," she finished, keeping her eyes on Orion. She didn't want to upset him, to make him feel like he was being in the way. She waited a moment before continuing. "Is that what you're sorry for, Orion? Do you feel like you're being inconvenient?" she asked.

[orion]

"I think..." he looked away from her. "Maybe."

He slid off the bed to sit on the floor with her. It was strange to think about, so he decided not to. Quickly he recalled all the numbers he had counted earlier, and added them together, but...

"What is this?" he picked up a piece of fruit. He was fairly sure that he hadn't seen one before... It was red, kind of an odd shape... and with... seeds? maybe. On the outside.

He brought the strawberry to his nose and sniffed it.

[ninjaofdoom]

She smiled when he changed the topic, proceeding to sniff the strawberry. "It's called a strawberry," she explained. "Go ahead, try it. They're naturally sweet." And my favorite, she added pleasantly to herself as she bit into one, carefully avoiding the green leaves. "Just don't eat the leaves," she added.

[orion]

He licked it tentatively, then decided that he would have to bite into it to actually taste it. And it was- "Mmh." He looked at the inside of the strawberry.

It was delicious.

He ate everything but the green, which he proceeded to study intently. Why eat everything but that part? Carefully he bit one leaf and pulled it out of the cluster. A thoughtful expression settled on his face as he ate it.

Not so good. That was why.

[ninjaofdoom]

"I told you not to eat the leaves," she said in a teasing manner as she finished off her portion of the food. The leaves weren't necessarily harmful, but it was like eating an orange peel. Not harmful, but rather disgusting. "Now, then. I hope you don't mind, but I need a quick..." she paused, trying to find the right word. She never slept for long hours.. "cat nap," she finished with a nod. That was exactly what it was. "If you need anything, don't hesitate to wake me up." She stood up and went to curl up on her bed.

She slept on top of the covers, not wanting to disturb the bed. She smiled pleasantly as she sunk deeper into her sleep.

[orion]

Orion nodded as Riki curled up on her bed. Silently he picked at his food, eating the fruit first, then nibbling at his cheese without finishing it, and leaving the bread completely untouched. Fruit seemed to be more to his liking, and he still didn't feel like eating much.

He sat then, not knowing quite what to do. He could almost remember something. It was more of a feeling than a memory, but, regardless, he stood and left their room. He closed the door quietly behind him, not wanting to wake Riki, and walked silently out of the inn.

He avoided making eye contact with anyone. That feeling that everyone was out to get him was creeping up on him again, but he pushed into a crowd of people anyway. A few timed he stopped to close his eyes and calm himself down. There was a feeling of danger, but it was different. The people didn't look quite right...

Orion finally sat down in the very center point of the marketplace. Remember something. Why does it feel wrong? There's too many.. maybe. There were more people in this area than he was used to, but what, exactly, was he used to?

He felt separated from them, even though they were swarming around him. Something told him that... he wasn't welcome? Maybe not this place... but somewhere... Aah! What did that mean?

[ninjaofdoom]

She was vaguely aware of Orion standing up and leaving the room, of the door opening and closing. She moved her head a little, readjusting herself and sank into her thoughts and memories. Her mentor had worked hard to increase her awareness, always playing tricks on her while she slept so that she learned to always pay attention to those surrounding her -- even those she trusted. She felt herself make a soft sound as she remembered one morning when she had woken up with a whole watch tower built over her. I should thank you, her mentor had said. I haven't had the opportunity to be so productive in a long while. It feels good. But you need to remember. It could've been much worse, he had added with a chuckle, helping her out and handing her a mirror. She laughed softly when she remembered that he had painted her face a multitude of colored paints that he had made while she was sleeping.

Her thoughts drifted back to the room as she listened to the door open and close again, just as soft or even softer than before. Her first reaction was to think that Orion had come back in, but the sound of the feet was all wrong. They were too heavy to belong to the boy. And then she heard the sound of metal scraping against metal. Her eyes opened wide, pupils becoming slitted as she took in the man standing over her. The innkeeper stood over her with a sword half drawn. He whipped it out the rest of the way and pointed it at her. "I don't take too kindly to be threatened for a room, you know," he said angrily. "Besides, I was hearing some nasty rumors about were-cats starting to make a reappearance in these parts, and I think you may have something to do with it."

She blinked, letting his words register. She knew he wasn't stupid, but she didn't think he would have caught on so quickly. Perhaps someone in the small pub below had tipped him off. She didn't recognize anyone that had been seated down there, though. Hm. Perhaps she had passed through here before after all. It would have to have been several years, though. She didn't realize these people would keep such close tabs on her.

The man came closer, placing the tip of his sword to Riki's neck and applying a small amount of pressure. She sat still, on the edge of the bed, away from the wall. "Who would have said anything about were-cats to you?" she asked politely, her voice steady. This seemed to catch the man off guard. He clearly hadn't expected her to ask any questions.

"There was a young scholar down there, said you moved like he had heard were-cats did. Then a table of men mentioned that they had been robbed a while back, but there had been little evidence of it. So we got to thinking..."

"What? That I was going around and silently thieving people in the night?" she asked, insulted.

"It makes sense, don't it? After all, you were pretty quick to shove all that money on me," he stated.

"I have a better sense of morals than that, sir," she stated. This, for some unknown reason, made his temper rise and he brought the sword back ready to strike.

Riki's reaction was quick, leaping out of the way of the strike and moving behind him. She picked her foot up and shoved him out the window, sending him flying into the marketplace. She glared angrily after him, not caring about the villagers staring up at her with shocked expressions. How dare he insult her, and threaten her? She had done nothing wrong and he had come up the stairs to kill her! She clenched her hands into fists and took a deep breath. She needed calm. The marketplace was too crowded, too many people growing angry watching her. She climbed onto the windowsill and leaped down, landing lightly on her feet, catching her balance with one hand. She then stalked off into the streets, leading toward the edge of the village.

There was a small park on one street, and she retreated to it. There were a few large trees surrounding it and she climbed into one, settling herself amongst the leaves and branches. That innkeeper had no right. Those villagers had no right. How could they just accuse her? The worst, though, was that she felt guilty. Guilty for hurting him, though he had tried to kill her. No, that wasn't right. She wasn't guilty about hurting him...but guilty for doing it in front of Orion. She remembered seeing him in the crowd in the marketplace. She sighed and settled herself down against the trunk, hoping she hadn't frightened the boy.

[orion]

Orion gasped, along with most of the people surrounding him, when the innkeeper was dropped from the window that had been previously occupied by "some strange child with wings".

"Riki..?" Orion watched intently as she jumped easily from the window. Where was she going? Orion stood and tried to look over the crowd, but to no avail.

"Riki!" He shouted, pushing through people (who seemed rather fond of cursing at him) to run after her. He stumbled over their feet for what almost seemed like an eternity, and when he finally seemed to be getting out of the crowd -- he tripped.

On what, he wasn't quite sure, but he didn't like suddenly becoming acquainted with the ground. And he certainly didn't like that people didn't watch were they put their feet. He got up as quickly as possible; with a renewed sense of of God, I'm going to die, a few throbbing fingers on his left hand, and dirt all over his face. He held his breath for a few moments, trembling. There were too many people, even though he was out of the center of the crowd. There were too many of them looming over him. Too many of them giving him odd looks.

Too many, too many, too many...

Someone close to him spoke and sent him bolting after Riki again. He hadn't seen where she had gone, only the direction she had first headed in. He hoped that that alone would lead him to her...

When he finally found her, he had calmed down considerably. Orion stood under the tree, looking up at her silently for a moment. They were quite a pair, weren't they?

"Riki," he called up to her, "we aren't normal, are we?"