Description: Just one of those random encounters. Where you just happen to run into someone on the street. In this case, literally. It's a hard collision, one that sends Ingrid spilling to the pavement...
[OOC] Ingrid "One Chang" Holmann says, "I think I once witnessed an ex-Remy fighting Jiro. It was pretty hilarious."
[OOC] Remy says, "Okay, I'll have a log running. I'll open - is it fine for me to end the pose with, say, Remy shouldering into some girl in the crowd?"
[OOC] Remy says, "Which would of course be Ingrid."
[OOC] Ingrid "One Chang" Holmann says, "Sure!"
[OOC] Ingrid "One Chang" Holmann says, "I should note, though."
[OOC] Remy nods?
[OOC] Ingrid "One Chang" Holmann says, "Ingrid isn't super confrontational. She's more likely to poke fun at a situation than pick a fight."
[OOC] Remy says, "Yeah but Remy's a bastard."
[OOC] Ingrid "One Chang" Holmann says, "XD"
[OOC] Remy says, "As I asid."
[OOC] Remy says, "Said. Need not be a fight"
[OOC] Remy says, "We'll see how it goes."
[OOC] Ingrid "One Chang" Holmann says, "Right- but fight can mean verbal as well :D"
[OOC] Remy says, "Oh yeah, yeah - we'll see."
[OOC] Remy says, "Remy /is/ confrontational, though, that's the point I was making."
[OOC] Ingrid "One Chang" Holmann smiles and nodnods ^_^
[OOC] Ingrid "One Chang" Holmann says, "Sorry, I'll stop nitpicking"
Steel and concrete. The smell of engine exhaust. The distinct patina of dust in the air, the pollution that characterizes an urban center. This is the heart of Southtown. With the usual Japanese obsession with order, it's cleaner than most cities - but that still doesn't change the basic facts of life. Traffic, crowds. Cars streaming by on the roads.
And upon the sidewalks, a tight press of humanity. Lots of people. A human sea flowing under the sun. Men and women, the occasional youth, the denizens of the metropolis. It's times like these when one can really see the sheer population density of a place like Southtown, a city with more residents than some small countries.
Down in the trenches, that fact is evident. For the people walking, crossing the roads, for the pedestrians on the pavement. On a crowded morning like this, you take care not to bump into or jostle people. To move with the crowd, not against it.
Or at least, that's what most people do.
Most people.
But not this man. Not the man in the black leather top, zipped up to the throat. Just shoving aside people with long sleeved arms. Pushing through, green hair streaming. Eyes smouldering, tension radiating from his lean frame. He stalks, heedless of social politeness and convention. Oblivious to the comfort and safety of other people. He just bashes his way through, knocking people aside - rude, yes. He garners stares, hisses, but he pays them no mind. He just continues his relentless forward progress, clearing pavement in impatient strides.
Then he comes upon a particular girl in the crowd. A girl with hair so pale it seems white, a girl in a blue dress.
And she too, he shoulders aside. Harsh and roughly. Growling something under his breath.
The densely packed crowds of the Southtown sidewalks, large groups of people walking to work and school. Everyone moving along in an orderly fashion. Well, not quite everyone, it seems. It's said that there's a reason Japanese culture is so polite, that the crowds are so dense that if one does not learn such good manners there would be mass killings on the streets, angers flaring to great heights almost instantly. If you knock into someone you offer a quick, sincere apology and move on.
Perhaps it's because of this that actually allows Remy to get away with his actions. You'd think that if someone did that in Metro they'd get a gun, knife, or fist pulled on them almost instantly. But the people of Southtown aren't that way, their culture tells them to glare disapprovingly, perhaps mutter a complaint, and move on. In this way order can be kept to a maximum.
Ingrid didn't grow up in Southtown. In fact she grew up in a very small town compared to this populous city, and so she hasn't been taught these rules of Japanese society. But she does have an edge; she's empathic. Long before Remy is upon her, she can feel his presence. Not simply because of his own emotions, but those around him, annoyance and anger flowing out as he passes like the wake on a ship.
When he's upon her it would be a simple matter to take a step to the right, press up against someone beside her and apologize to avoid the bump, but she doesn't. Instead she takes the shoulder roughly, probably more so in fact than he intended. Enough so, in fact, that she's bowled right over, directly in front of his path. "Ahh!" Perhaps he would simply step over her, but the crowds might make that tricky.
From the ground she winces, a play act- it doesn't hurt that much since her fall was intentional, and looks up to the green haired Frenchman. "Well, the least you could do is help me up." She extends a gloved hand towards him.
The man stops.
In the time between the initial collision, the girl's fall, and her plantive statement...he'd already moved forward a step. Now he stands with his back towards her, frozen in mid-stride. Slowly, he grounds his raised foot into the pavement, the sole grinding against the concrete. He turns, just enough for him to flit his eyes behind - looking at the fallen girl out of his peripheral vision.
His own hand comes up, fingers splayed, lightly brushing against hers...
...before he swats her hand aside, a violently dismissive gesture.
"You walked into me," he says, coldly.
Some of the people on the sidewalk will slow, and a bold few will even stop and look. Someone getting knocked down is one thing, that's enough to get some odd glances, though Remy was likely getting those anyway with his behavior. Someone asking for help up and getting their hand swatted away, that's something completely different. It's foreign. Even in this city that's practically an American one dropped into the heart of Japan, it's unusual, because it'd be so much easier to just help the person up and then debate the matter, or simply do so and walk on.
A small frown comes onto Ingrid's features, and she retracts her hand, rubbing the back of it for a moment before pulling herself up to her feet herself. Even more stares- she doesn't step aside and allow him to pass and go about her day. "Actually, you walked into me, just as you walked into the person in front of me, and the person in front of them. I'm just smaller, so you knocked me down as well." One of those people had been sticking around, but at that comment mysteriously disappears into the crowd, not wanting to be dragged into this matter.
He doesn't look at her. At least not fully. He notes her movement out of the corner of his eye. But he does not face her directly. He does not make any sort of eye contact.
"The way you stand," he says, in a low voice with only the slightest trace of accent, "the way you hold yourself."
His tone is strangely quiet - just barely loud enough to be heard above the noise of traffic, above the sounds of the city street. So soft a normal person would have to strain hard to hear him...
...but then, Ingrid isn't normal.
Which seems to be his point.
"You knew I was coming," Remy concludes, speaking the words without any sign of doubt. A cold certainty.
He gives a small shake of the head, and continues walking.
Ingrid hasn't done any special training to her hearing, but she can make out his words. She contemplates them. She does hold herself differently than others, but that's not his actual point, is it?
The young woman watches him as he begins to move past, and speaks out,"Perhaps I did. But then you knew I was coming as well- or at least that someone was coming, but you don't seem to care how many people you inconvenience as you walk through people. I wonder why that is." Perhaps that will catch his attention further. If not, she'll simply let him walk.
But he does stop. Drawing to a halt once again. His spine stiffening, arms and torso bending at the shoulders. He stands, perfectly motionless, forcing the flowing sea of pedestrian traffic to just go around him. He and Ingrid, standing still, are already creating a little island of stillness in the flow...and like any such interruption, it's beginning to draw attention.
"Why," Remy echoes, lifting his voice in rhethorical question, "why indeed."
"And why," he asks, without looking back, "do you care?"
A chance for something simple to become interesting. A small little smile forms on Ingrid's face and she takes a small step towards him, only enough to move her within a fairly normal speaking distance as he'd begun to move away. She speaks, and makes a small hand motion that perhaps he cannot see with his back to her. "I care because I am curious and inquisitive about the nature of people. Why they do the things they do, why they feel what they feel."
She takes a quick look to all those standing around and watching. "Nearly everyone here is simply going with the flow of things, following the beaten path. But then there you are, pushing past. Likely not because your destination is the other direction, but because what you want seems to be the act of going against the crowd itself. You seem different, and very much want everyone to know it. Is it so shocking that someone would want to know why this is?"
[OOC] Ingrid "One Chang" Holmann had a heck of a time wording that properly.
He stands there, silent, letting the girl finish her pat little speech. Did she rehearse that? Is that a platitude she gives to all individuals she chooses to preach at?
His hands curl into tightly balled fists, sharp nails digging into the flesh of his palms. His head moves as breath escapes his lungs. He gives a disdainful snort, an explosion liberally laced with unadulterated scorn.
"I think," Remy sneers, "you're stretching the metaphor. Far too thin."
"Metaphor? Perhaps it was that as well, but you were in fact doing just that- walking against the crowd and running into everyone who was going the other direction and happened to be in your path. Not only that, but you pushed as you did so." Ingrid smiles a bit more. "Do you deny that's what you were doing? Was my analysis of the situation somehow incorrect? If it was then by all means correct me, but from the little I've seen so far that seems to be the case."
Despite the scorn filled snort, and sneering tone of voice Ingrid seems completely undisturbed. She is used to feeling such emotions directly, when they're put out in the open they're far less shocking to her than perhaps they would be to another. "On one thing I must applaud you, however. You are remarkably true to yourself. That's not a common feature."
"Really."
One word, drawn out, the syllables pronounced with precise excessive weight. He turns, then, finally deigning to face Ingrid. The tall Frenchman gives her a long look, a level stare with half-lidded eyes. He ignores the crowd, puts them out of mind. The two of them are hardly alone on the sidewalk, hardly alone on this downtown street. But a moment ago, it seemed that Remy was paying little heed to anyone save himself. Now, at least, it would appear his world contains an another.
Although his tone of voice speaks volumes about how much that intrusion is appreciated. To wit - not at all.
"And you," Remy says, "does being true to /yourself/ involve amateur psychoanalysis of people you meet on the street?"
[OOC] Remy says, "Edit, 'contains another'. Bah."
Ingrid will mentally note that he did not, in fact, say anything about her analysis being incorrect. Of course in his case that might not mean much, as he seems to be more interested in inquiring about her own attitude in a sarcastic manner than anything else.
She's still smiling at him when he turns and faces her. Perhaps he doesn't appreciate the intrusion, but she certainly seems to. "Only with those who seem to warrant it. Often I find myself simply befriending those I meet. But you're much different, you make me wonder even more than usual what might drive you to act as you do and feel as you feel." A soft laugh, "Although I imagine I only infuriate you by doing so... But then you weren't being very courteous to me, so why should I be, to you?"
"Why indeed."
No, he doesn't deny the assertion. But it's hard to say whether that's because he accepts the essential truth of her words - or whether they simply don't matter to him in any way, shape, or form. Remy stares at her across the pavement, across the narrow expanse of concrete. For a few long moments, he is still, utterly still.
"Why indeed," he says, once more, repeating the words as if they hold special significance, "why indeed."
"I suppose," he continues, mildly, "that my physical imposition into your personal space grants you certain...liberties in return. Fair enough. But you seem to be taking a /particular/ interest, one /disproportionate/ to the situation."
emy regards her with a frosty gaze, his eyes hard, his lips pressed together in a thin line.
"And I can't say that's very..."
Remy pauses, making a show of searching for the right word.
"...healthy," he concludes.
[OOC] Remy says, "Bah, 'Remy regards her'. Typo.\"
Ingrid tilts her head slightly. "I wouldn't say I'm taking a particular interest. Though I don't always 'psychoanalyze' those I meet, I do try to get to know them. If it seems I'm being overly inquisitive, perhaps it's simply the way I'm talking with you, rather than the fact that I am."
The small white haired girl looks up to him and ponders for a moment before continuing. "If you wish me to leave you alone, you simply need say so and I'll turn and walk the other direction. Though you don't seem to enjoy my company, I find it very interesting seeing how you react." A light laugh, "Though that can probably be summed up as 'with hostility'. And as for whether or not it's healthy... Socializing is a very important part of maintaining one's health."
[OOC] Remy says, "AFK a sec..."
[OOC] Ingrid "One Chang" Holmann says, "DENIED"
[OOC] Ingrid "One Chang" Holmann :D
[OOC] Remy =(
[OOC] Ingrid "One Chang" Holmann lets out a heavy sigh, "Oh, all right. If you must."
"Socializing?"
Remy gives another snort, a sardonic look creasing his features. He glares at Ingrid, taking one step forward..
"I'd say," he spits, "you're treating me more like a lab rat."
One step, then another. He slowly crosses the gap between them, drawing closer.
"Do you /really/ want to see how I react, hm?"
She really can't help it, you know. "Oh, now that is interesting." Yes, it sounds exactly like someone who was studying someone like a lab rat would say, and it's intentional. She can hardly keep herself from laughing out loud. "That's not how I see it, however. I'm simply trying to get to know and understand you better. I can understand how it could make you feel I'm treating you like a test subject, but when you think about it socializing truly is simple cause and effect. You say something and someone else reacts in a certain way, and then you react to that. I am simply aware of this, and pay closer attention to it."
%Ingrid brushes her hair back over her shoulder as he approaches her more closely. "If I had to venture a guess, I'd say violence."
[OOC] Ingrid "One Chang" Holmann boo hiss. Bad autoediting on word :|
Remy waits, patiently, as Ingrid delivers her little monologue. He seems content to simply remain there, by now only a hair's breadth away from the girl - and just listen to her little explanation of her so-called methodology. He'd look calm, almost placidly serene, if it wasn't for his eyes.
But he stands there. He doesn't lift a finger. He just waits for her to finish. When she finally does, then and only then does he voice his reply.
"And if...I had to venture a guess...about /you/," he replies, "I'd call it overwhelming arrogance."
Remy bends forward, bringing his face close to hers.
"Who are -you- to judge?"
An eyebrow quirks, "Judge? I think you've got me completely wrong. I don't judge you at all. If you remember I complimented you earlier. I don't want to know why you do things in order to condemn you; I want to know because I find those things interesting." Ingrid taps her chin a couple times. "The only people I truly -judge- are those who commit wanton acts of harm upon others, while having little or no reason for doing so. I've only met one such person."
She smiles at him, "I honestly apologize for coming off as arrogant to you. I never intended to look down upon you. I don't wish to make you answer for your actions, only to find out why they are as they are."
"Do you now," Remy murmurs, not bothering to hide his skepticism, "is that what you say to -everyone-...when you're being condescending to us walking human puzzles..."
He straightens, spreading his hands, fingers parted. He eases his head to one side, looking at Ingrid.
Around the two, the pedestrian traffic flows down the sidewalk - with a few still watching the two. But Remy's eyes are focused purely on Ingrid, his pupils freezing to twin points of razor-sharp ice.
"...existing merely to be unraveled by your superior rarified intellect?"
[OOC] Ingrid "One Chang" Holmann says, "Any chance I could get a quick emotional reading? ^^ What Remy's feeling, and specifically whether he feels any violent intent towards Ingrid?"
[OOC] Remy says, "It's pretty much as conveyed by the poses. Cold anger, disdain."
[OOC] Remy says, "Violent intent, yeah."
"I suppose it would have to be, since this is the only time it's happened, though not quite in the way you seem to think it has." His words now seem to be causing her to give deep thought to the issue. Before she was being relatively quick in her responses, whereas now it's taking her much longer.
"If that's the way my actions portrayed me, than I am filled with regret." Ingrid closes her eyes for a moment, and then looks back towards him. "If you wish to hit me to release your anger, you may. It's clear you feel I've wronged you, and you should have some recompense for that."
Remy lifts an eyebrow, genuinely surprised. But he isn't actually taken aback, he doesn't seem too badly thrown by Ingrid's response. It was simply...unexpected. It merely gives him pause.
"Oh," he asks, questioning. He raises a hand, but not in a fist. He jabs two fingers at her, aiming at her neck, the hollow of her throat - though he stops just short of contact, even if she does nothing to block or evade it. Not that he's expecting her to.
"And do you -want- to be hit, hm? Is this some sort of sadomachoism thing I should be aware of?"
She doesn't move, and the fingers stop just short as intended. "No, I don't want to be hit. I want you to make up for the way I've made you feel. You want to hit me- you can if you wish. Allowing you to do so is perhaps the easiest, most simple solution to helping you feel better about this encounter. The easiest way I can explain it is that it hurts me to hurt you, and I didn't realize I was doing so to the extent I was."
Ingrid takes in and then lets out a small breath. "I would also hope that my willingness to allow that would help you to understand that I didn't mean to judge or harm you." She leaves it at that, as further explanation might simply dig her deeper in the proverbial hole.
"Or maybe," Remy says, his arm still outstretched, his hand still poised at Ingrid's throat, "that's just what you say."
His eyes glint dangerously, a distinct edge slipping into his tone.
"How do I know this isn't another manipulation? You so /love/ to see people's reactions, don't you, girl?"
Ingrid makes a small hand gesture. "Take it as you will. I feel I've been honest with you, and if you feel otherwise then there's little I can do about it at this point." Her face has gone from smiling and amused to almost completely neutral. Remy's reactions are indeed very interesting, all the way up to this point. But in truth she's mostly lost interest in them. She hasn't met someone who's had such a violent reaction to her ponderings so far.
"Aside from," Remy answers, "offering yourself as a sacrificial lamb."
With an abrupt motion, he yanks his arm back, dropping it to his side. He exhales in a long hiss. He steps away, steps past her. He continues to walk, now, moving away from the girl.
"I don't know," he says, "what your game is."
It's a voice that carries with it deep and dark suspicion, the words of a man who believes he is being goaded, tricked, lured into something - and being strung like a puppet grates against Remy's very nature.
"But," he states, "I'm not playing."
"As you wish." Ingrid waits for a moment after he turns and walks away, and then does the same. She's going to have to give some serious thought about this encounter later. At what point did she cross the line... she'll have to find out. It's a harsh backlash when you go from interesting dialogue and interaction to causing serious emotional turmoil. Especially when that wasn't the intent. She never did get a straight answer from him for all that, either.
[OOC] Remy says, "Close? o_o/"
[OOC] Ingrid "One Chang" Holmann says, "Looks like it!"
[OOC] Ingrid "One Chang" Holmann says, "That was... XD;"
[OOC] Ingrid "One Chang" Holmann says, "Very good, of course. Strained. :D"
[OOC] Remy o_o b
[OOC] Remy says, "That was pretty neat, yeah."
Log created on 09:23:09 09/03/2007 by Remy, and last modified on 01:32:14 09/04/2007.