Description: Target: Seijyun High. Obstacle: Some kid in the park out front. Alias: None. Summary: Ayame finds herself diverted from her plans by a strange young artist in the park. Creepy urchin or guardian angel? Or maybe he's a master of the same sort of cons she is... The runaway finds herself struggling to decide if she was left empty handed this time or /not/.
The park is a wonderful place. The light is shining as the fall weather presents a wonderful breeze, yet the sun remains lit as the clear skies present no clouds to block the sight. The typical park that's very expansive has people wandering in place; passing by, milling about, and every playing tag.
Those elements add the peace to the tranquil place. Young girls and other students usually pass by to chat amongst each other, but they are generally captivated by the artwork of one particular boy.
The young boy is painting a picture of the current settings in the park, drawing the paintbrush to stroke with a whisk across the tripod-held canvas. It's a lifelike depiction of the background that he sees.
Although it generally captivates the young girls, he pays little mind of it. The art and the beauty of the setting is enough for him. The young boy is, however, pleasant enough to offer them a bright, cheerful smile and a bow. The young man is having peace.
Seems like a nice kid. Friendly smile, a nice hobby that tends to draw attention from adults and curious girls alike. Located near the famous Seijyun all girl's High School, he no doubt draws some of the students to him like moths to a flame. If he's gotten by without any cheek pinching or girlish squeals from some of the students, he'll have to count himself lucky.
Another girl approaches the entrance to the campus, a heavy bag slung over her shoulder, her hands grasping at the strap as if to support its weight a little or keep it from being stolen by any would be hoodlums... Not that there tends to be /those/ types here in such a peaceful park in a well to do neighborhood of Southtown... Ayame is dressed exactly like she belongs to that very high school - the skirt, the blouse, the jacket, the works. Over her nose rests some glasses that enlarge her gentle, brown eyes for anyone who glances her way. There's a few problems with this presentation, however. Ayame doesn't go to Seijyun. She isn't nearsighted. And she isn't gentle.
The campus is prime pickings for the unscrupulous teen. Rich, naive, easily bullied girls aplenty within those walls. Ayame stands to make a killing if she plays her cards right. But as she approaches the gates she notices a gaggle of freshmen hurry by, running over to Jesen to act as his temporary audience for a moment. The girl decides to follow along lazily, moving to stand near the smaller freshman students to see what Jesen is up to.
"That is a very nice painting," she remarks, her eyes glancing over the artwork with a quiet smile. Ah, yes, time to scope out the options here for a moment. As the giggling gaggle of girls hurry along after a moment, Ayame lingers behind.
The people that pass by are temporary to him. He knows that they will leave away to do their own things. And while the people are merely passing away. It is a clockwork of life that everyone is a mere face. There is something special and unique in their art, yes, but nothing enough to warrant his attention. At least...
..Until now.
As the other voice speaks out about his work, the youth merely offers a smile as he continues the paint. Putting the paintbrush down, the youth turns to face her, as to get a good look at the blended in young lady. He merely cocks his head to the side, then he speaks with a gentle tone. Those yellow eyes almost glimmer at the process.
"Thank you. But I am sure you have a special talent as well."
"Such a charmer," Ayame replies, her mouth curling into a smile as if maybe she's flattered by the young kid's assessment. "I bet you say that to all the girls," she continues with a bit of a laugh, eyes straying over the painting a little. Hm. Artististic type. And a good one at that. That can mean one of two things in her mind. Either he's dirt poor and has nothing better to do. Street bums with a knack for art are hardly unusual, but they definitely aren't worth her time to interact with... Or he's some rich family's little brat. Maybe has a wad of inflated, ridiculous allowance on him. 'Lunch money' in the triple digits or something else obscene. If that's the case, he most definitely is worth her time.
"Do you mind if I get a closer look at it?" she asks, raising her well well manicured hand, complete with a fake set of polished nails intended to help her blend in with the wealthy Seijyun girls, and moves it toward him as if intending to rest it on the boy's shoulder as she scoots in perhaps uncomfortably close to 'get a better look' at the painting.
However, that moving hand JUST so happens to 'clumsily' try and knock the boy's glasses from off his face. Kid will be a lot easier to manipulate if he can't see straight.
There is an amused look to the young man, who smiles towards her compliment. But while she definately attempts to get closer to the painting, the boy actually doesn't mind it. He gives her a chance to move closer towards the painting. He offers a nod towards the young woman.
The youth actually tilts his head at the Ayame as she comes too close towards the rest of the shoulder. He doesn't seem to mind it much. Buit, when she happens to clumsily attempt to knock the glasses off of the face, she is successful in it knocking towards the cheek and the glasses land on the ground.
But the strangest thing? It actually 'disappears' per se.
...If she would look back, the youth would retain the glasses with a smile on his face.
"As I mentioned earlier. There's actually something very unique and special about you. Your energy." The youth actually walks past her to get access to his painting.
"Tell me. Did you once have a destiny with that gift of yours?"
Progress. The corrective lenses knocked to the grass, Ayame's beaming smile from a moment ago fades. No need to worry about maintaining a faux friendly expression if he can't make out the details of her face now anyway, right? But as her eyes scope out his face to gauge how difficult it is for him to see without the aid of his glasses, she's startled to find them resting right there over his yellow eyes right where they belong.
He'll no doubt notice the furow in her brow and the furtive glance down toward the grass where she had distinctly heard the eyewear land a moment ago... But it's not there. How did he... is he a master of sleight of hand as well?
But then there's his questions and the girl actually looks taken a back. What kind of crazy inquiry is that? How could... how would anyone know? The girl glances back and forth as if suddenly wary that she's being set up here. Maybe this is some trick of her parents. Or perhaps law enforcement is seeking to entrap her while she's confused with the boy who was just put out here as bait...
But no one seems to be coming. No one standing around filming the duo... Ayame looks back toward Jesen, her expression hardening. "Who are you to talk of destiny?" she snaps back, right hand reaching forward as she tries to get a grip on the front of his shirt near the collar and pull him toward her. "What do you know about me? Destiny is a myth. An excuse people make up to explain away the horrible life they've carved out for themselves." Her lip trembles as her temper flares. The calm aura she tried to present moments ago bleeding away fast.
It's something that is interesting about her.
% What's that? The ties of fate that brings men to where their destiny lies. Yet, fearful of the path that may lead to misery, the men choose another path to make their own. Some follow the path that's actually productive with their life. Others, just a meager, daily staggering just to get by. It is actually a waste of a gift.
"I am Nobody."
That is all the youth says as the smile continues to run across his lips. His hands soon move behind his back, which is the same time that Ayame is attempting to yank him by the collar. At the one moment he was here in front of her very grasp, the spriteling merely leans back, sparkles trace behind him as his form becomes transparent, before it solidfies once more.
Retaining the calm posture, the boy actually smiles. "What do I know about you? Not much. I can feel the tides of destiny through the energy. ...I can feel the tides of destiny itself." He shifts his head over, looking up towards the sky. "Tell me. Was your destiny to be of a horrible life?" He considers, "Or was it how you perceived it to be?"
"Humans make up a lot of things." He considers, "Some are inspired, others only make it up and try to believe their own tale." He looks back at her, "Have you had that touch of inspiration?"
Her grasping hand slips through the space, fingers splayed wide as they fail to find traction on the cloth she was trying to grip. There is a frustrated blink as Ayame retracts her hand and finds it bereft of the fabric of his shirt. How did he... The girl's other hand comes up to tear off the glasses she didn't need in the first place, wondering if perhaps the fake lenses were interfering with her depth perception on some level.
"Damn right you're nobody. I'm going to show you just how-" She pauses as his questions continue, freezing in the middle of being just about ready to sock him solidly in the face, her right hand a clenched fist and cocked back over her shoulder.
"You're crazy, kid." she scowls, lowering her hand against her side, no longer about to strike him. "I thought maybe you were worth my time, but you're just another loopy indigent. With nice threads." She half turns then, as if eager to be gone from him, but she glances at him over her shoulder, brown eyes narrowed. "There's no such thing as destiny. Someday you'll get that through your head. All that matters is the life you make for yourself. Angels aren't going to fall out of the sky and hand you some amazing fortune on a silver platter. You need to spend less time talking about divine inspiration and more time making your own. Che."
Only then does she turn her back on him completely, shifting that black bag worn over her shoulder, though she doesn't walk away just yet.
"Still degrading yourself and your talents just to get by life?"
The smile actually transform to a more sad state. Not anger, not fustration, but pity. He actually offers her a glance, "Neither is what we hold, people say." He considers, "You have a strong dislike for it. I can tell that you are running away."
He considers her for a moment, "It will catch up with you, one day. No matter how far you run. Perhaps then, you will see that it is not bad." He offers a chuckle at her comment of the angel with a silver platter.
"If an amazing fortune is what you're after." The youth merely flicks a hand out, manifesting a letter. The letter is actually materializing, before he flicks his wrist.
Inside the letter is not a check. However, it is a map to somewhere in Albania.
"...Tell me, will you brave the travel to seek that fortune?" He fixes her with a serious look. He shuts his eyes, allowing the energy to slowly bleed from his body. That aura manifests itself slowly from his body as a pair of regal wings, both opting of different color. To the left side is the ebon side of the angelic wings while the right gives more of the lighter, ivory hue of the glowing wings.
"...It's your decision if you wish to seek the fortune or not."
"Still degrading yourself and your talents just to get by life?"
The smile actually transform to a more sad state. Not anger, not fustration, but pity. He actually offers her a glance, "Neither is what we hold, people say." He considers, "You have a strong dislike for it. I can tell that you are running away."
He considers her for a moment, "It will catch up with you, one day. No matter how far you run. Perhaps then, you will see that it is not bad." He offers a chuckle at her comment of the angel with a silver platter.
"If an amazing fortune is what you're after." The youth merely flicks a hand out, manifesting a letter. The letter is actually materializing, before he flicks his wrist.
Inside the letter is not a check. However, it is a map to somewhere in Albania.
"...Tell me, will you brave the travel to seek that fortune?" He fixes her with a serious look. He shuts his eyes, allowing the energy to slowly bleed from his body. That aura manifests itself slowly from his body as a pair of regal wings, both opting of different color. To the left side is the ebon side of the angelic wings while the right gives more of the lighter, ivory hue of the glowing wings.
He actually muses, "Does the angel grant the wish for the person to bring the fortune? Or does he provide the opportunity for the person to get that fortune? You can wish for so many things, but you have the answer it when opportunity arises."
"...It's your decision if you wish to seek the fortune or not."
"Running away?" the girl stops, turning back around to face Jesen, eyes narrowed a little, her expression a bit sour. Is the little crazy boy calling her out?! Why she'll... Huh, his face looks kind sad. What a weird little kid.
"Hmph," the girl replies dismissively. The only thing that's trying to catch up with her is the /law/, and she's pretty sure that's going to be pretty bad if that day ever comes. Destiny doesn't have a prayer compared to the fuzz.
The letter seems to come from no where. What is that? How is this kid so good at sleight of hand? No wonder he's such a well dressed street urchin. He's good. But Ayame is all about taking when the opportunities present themselves. She doesn't even hesitate to snatch the letter from his hand and hold it up to her face as she scrutinizes it.
"What's this?" she asks, her curiosity piqued. This sounds like some kind of challenge. A test of mental alacrity. She likes it. "You think just because some loopy preteen holds out a map I'm going to go all the way to the States just to see what's there?" she snaps back, sounding incredulous. Travel is expensive, after all. Not that that's actually stopped her from stowing away on cargo planes before...
As she looks up from the map she observes the energy draining out of him, the manifestation forming an interesting display behind his back. Those eyes narrow again, suspicion setting in. It seems the girl trusts pretty much no one. "Oh, a real knack for fancy light displays, huh? Must make you think you're real special!" She shakes the letter at him with her right hand before lifting her left hand, palm up.
A small sphere of red hued chi hovers over her palm, a reflection of the temper that keeps rising to the surface in her arguments with Jesen. As easily as she made it appear she begins to juggle it one handedly, not even following the sphere's motion through the air. "See? Not so unique now, are you," she smirks before lowering her hand and allowing the small glob of energy to fall to the grass and vanish harmlessly.
She shakes her head. Ayame should feel bad for trying to dash some little creepy kid's happy thoughts, but she doesn't care. Instead her eyes are back on the map. She finds herself boggling that she's almost thinking about taking it seriously, as ridiculous as that sounds to her. Some weirdo in a park gives her a map and she feels like she needs to jet for the US to follow it? How's the crazy one now? she asks herself. Still... there's that slightest annoying nagging in the back of her mind that tells her that she SHOULD follow it. Certainly not destiny whispering to her. Maybe it's intuition.
"Opportunity."
At least, that's all that the boy states. While it is true that travel would be expensive, the map does reveal a plane ticket inside. So it looks like there is a little more to things than meets the eye.
"I am aware that I am not the only one special." He smiles, "Which is why I am glad. It would help to see signs of those that may see things in a different prospective." The youth pauses for a moment as he watches the red sphere form in her hand.
He actually smiles.
"That's a rich energy. There's something about it. It's ties, that was to take you somewhere." He shakes his head for a few moments. Then he slowly turns to walk away.
"Should you decide, just show the ticket at the airport." He muses once, then he slowly starts to walk away. "You might enjoy your trip there."
As he starts to walk away, the aura slips deep into the ground and starts consuming him, before he too vanishes in the blast mist.
"Will you seize this opportunity?"
"It's just snazzy lights or the power to hurt. That's all," the girl remarks with regards to his comments on her abilities. Her eyes glance toward the map, her left hand coming away from it as she realizes that the bottom portion was not the map but rather a ticket. This has got to be some kind of trap. No one is this nice. In fact...
Ayame glances back up toward Jesen, that suspicious look on her face again. This is starting to look like some kind of con game, just like the things she does to people. Only... more elaborate than most of her schemes. But she can't figure out what the angle is. What does he hope to gain with such odd duplicity? The ticket's probably fake, she tells herself as she looks back at the map with a bit of a frown. She'll probably present it at the counter and get arrested for attempted fraud or something, she mentally grunts.
"Okay, I'll play along, just so-" the girl remarks, looking up from the map toward Jesen only... to find that he isn't there. The mist lingers, evidence of his presence for a moment before it too seems to fade. "...I can prove..." Her voice fades out as she's left standing there with the map and ticket in hand.
Ayame frowns. She'll try this ticket at the air port. It can't possibly be real. She'll call his bluff. He'll see she won't be outdone like that!
Log created on 23:59:18 10/24/2007 by Ayame, and last modified on 01:45:35 10/26/2007.