1998/Fall is Coming

Fall is Coming
Date of Scene:	04 October 2016
Location:	Mitakihara/Pikarigaoka - Botanical Gardens
Synopsis:	Seth Locke and Lacrima discuss 'helpful' people and portents and miko visions.
Cast of Characters:	Norie Okana, Seth Locke

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Norie Okana has posed:
Fall. Fall is in it's early sway. Leaves are turning orange and brown. Grass is looking less green. Lacrima is standing beneath a tree as she frowns, that usual straight face she always wears.

She is thinking, unblinking, looking towards the pond. There's a few leaves drifting on the surface. Sometimes a koi gobbles up a fall waterbug on the top of the water.

She doesn't care about those. They just sereve as the white noise to the future of next week she is thinking about.

She will be thirteen years old next week, apporpiately, on the thirteenth of October. She wonders. If that really means anything. This is going to be one birthday out of a potential hundred... two hundred... three hundred... who knows. Thoughts have run through her mind. Will she age? More importantly... it'll be her first birthday. Without her family.

She miserably sighs out, despite not really needing to breath as she just lets herself fall backwards, arms outstreched to either side as she stares up at the canopy of the tree she's under.

She hasn't even told Jiaying, or anyone. That it was her birthday. The only one that might know is Riventon-san, and that's because she didn't lie when she filled out the paperwork- and if Riventon even bothered to look at it.

Maybe she didn't want to celebrate it.

Seth Locke has posed:
Walking along the path of the park, is the american boy Lacrima has come to know as Seth. He's dressed in his Infinity school uniform, with a satchel with the same emblem. Having quite a few things to think about that happened recently, he barely notices Lacrima resting under a tree. Once he does, he approaches, "Ohaio, Lacrie-chan."

Norie Okana has posed:
Lacrima tilts upwards. It's weird, the way she moves, just sort of bending upwards and placing her hands into the grass. She squints. "Oh. It's you. What was it. Seth?" she asks. "Seth. Right." she says as she huffs and lets her body flop backwards a bit.

"It has been a terrible week so far." she insists. "But that is nothing new for me." she says.

She purses her lips a bit as she sighs. "Are you coming home from school?" she asks. She asks this, despite the school uniform suggesting either going from to to.

Seth Locke has posed:
Seth Locke nods, "Yes, I am." He smiles, slowly looking around, "And I decided to make a detour to come here and get some peaceful conjectures about my life." He tilts his head in curiosity, then sits down, "A terrible week? Wanna talk about it?"

Norie Okana has posed:
Lacrima continues to lay in the grass and stare up at the tree. She mumbles a little. About something. "Some. Person. Who wrong me in the past." she is being very vauge. "Wants to be my friend. And help me now." she says with that same frown. Always the frown. Never a smile.

"She gave me a friendship bracelet." she says.

"I do not know why all these people insist on helping me." she says flatly.

"It's not like I'm going to get better." she says with a sigh.

"Peaceful conjecture?" she asks. "About what?" she asks.

Seth Locke has posed:
"Well, and isn't that a good thing?", Seth says. "To have someone who cares for you, even if in the past things went sour?" He adds, "Plus, you might not get better, but friends can ease pains of lingering problems; sometimes, all it takes is a small gesture."

When Lacrima asks about his conjectures, he politely dismisses that, "Oh, no... Stuff that goes on in life, you know...?"

Norie Okana has posed:
Lacrima frowns. "They're wasting thier time. I can't be helped." she says. "I can't be 'fixed' and I can't be 'cured' and I wish they'd understand that." she says as she sort of digs into the grass a bit. Then the dirt.

<"Stupid People"> she mutters in spanish.

"There's only two people who understand me and they're not trying to... cure me." she mutters.

"I hate it." she says.

"I hate when people feel bad for me. I just want them to understand why I have to do what I do." she mutters.

She frowns a bit. "What life stuff? My life is not very standard, nowadays." she says softly.

Seth Locke has posed:
"And then again, sometimes people who want the best for you are the ones who feel the most for you; and for that they're stupid", is Seth's reply. Clearly, he can understand Spanish. "Just a reading that the miko girl at the Hikawa Shrine gave me", Seth replies after a couple moments of hesitation. "That girl can be intense, I'll give you that."

Returning to the subject of Norie - and a nice move to avoid being the person of interest -, he asks, "So, what is it you do that makes other people feel so bad for you?"

Norie Okana has posed:
Lacrima frowns. She rolls her eyes. There's always that one person that understands. Seth will find her dialect is off a bit. Mainly because it's two hundred years out of date. It's still understandable though. Completely.

"Oh. You do. That." she says. "What did she say?" she says. "What did she see?" she asks.

"I'm not sure I can enter shrines. I haven't tried since..."

"Well. I can enter churches..." she ponders.

She head tilts.

She sits back up and head tilts. "I wonder if you can figure it out." she says. "Since. You seem to believe in that sort of thing." she says.

"What may. Turn my skin pale. Make my teeth pointed and block out the large majority of my positive, or good, emotions?" she asks.

She lays back down as she mutters. <"People only feel bad because if they don't help, it makes them feel bad. They're only helping due to the selfish feeling of trying to act like like they're caring because they feel obligated."> she says in Spanish. <"I only know three people who genuinely care for me."> she says quietly.

Seth Locke has posed:
The american youth proceeds to explain, "Well... When she made a reading about my late mother, she got really serious, and came to the conclusion something terrible had happened to her. In fact, I was there to witness her fading away to cancer, when one day she decided to take her own life." A lot of the details are left unaccounted, naturally. "But then, she started going on something about me, about men with masks, girls with wings in a tube, and my own heart, twisted..." He stops, realizing he said too much.

He shakes his head, "Then, I get shoved with an ofuda on my forehead. I mean, really? She thinks I'm an evil spirit...?" He chuckles a bit. "After that awkward moment, she tells me that this is something that could happen to me, and I should be careful and stay away from corrupting influences." At this, he shows concern, "I don't even know what that's supposed to mean, so how am I supposed to do that?"

Shifting the subject, he listens to what Lacrima says. "Churches, or more broadly, holy ground... Pale skin... Pointy teeth... No emotions..."

And the bells ring: KYOUKETSUKI!

He looks at the young girl - if you can call it that anymore - with a sceptic expression. "...Huh?" And he pats he on the shoulder, "Nice try there, Lacrie-chan! But it's daylight."

Norie Okana has posed:
Lacrima frowns. "That is good advice. To stay away from corrupting influences." she says matter of factly. "And if you know ahead of time. To be very weary." she says. "Of what you touch and buy." she says.

"Of who you associate with." she says. "Darkness likes to strike you when you're at you're most vurenable. When you don't see it coming.

She 'hehs'. Not a laugh. That kind of sarcastic 'heh'. "Myths and Legends are wrong." she says. "At least. They do not encompass everything." she says matter of factly. "Daylight doesn't bother me. Neither does Nighttime. Or hot weather. or cold weather. or lukewarm weather or sunny or rainy... it doesn't really matter. I'm cold no matter what." she says.

"Tsk. No emotions. I have emotions." she insists. "Just not any good ones. It's really easy for me to be...upset. angry. jealous. sad. lonely. But. I cannot feel ... happiness. Joy. togetherness...."

"Love."

"A year ago. In week. It'd been nearly a year ago." she says.

She moves to her to feet and brushes down her blouse and her skirt a moment.

"You can belive whatever you want about me." she says flatly.

"But I would take that miko's advice." she says.

She hrmphs, at the contact. Indeed. She's cold to the touch. It isn't that cool out yet- and even through her clothes it's obvious. "Don't touch me." she says.

With that. She begins to walk past Seth and away.

"I guess. When we meet again." she says with a loud sigh.

Seth Locke has posed:
Seth Locke removes his hand as soon as Lacrima tells him to, after which he frowns. Her body, cold... Just like a corpse! The pieces are piling up in his head, and the puzzle looks to be complete, now.

As the girl gets up and starts to walk away, he just stands there, slowly taking in the info he just got, and comparing it with what he witnessed - and was a victim of - over ten years ago.

And he would stay like that, staring off into the abyss, for a while longer.

"I... I-it's true..."