IC Inbox - Asgard Eventide

[samantha_grey]

An old, brick edifice stands in front of the burnt-down ruins of a home in the hillside. Mountains rear up in all directions, covered in lush, green vegetation. Nobody comes this way anymore, but you have the sense that anything placed in the mailbox attached to this old structure will be found by someone, the only living person for whom this place still has any meaning.

OOC: Feel free to comment here if your character wishes to get in touch with Samantha Grey directly. Let us keep any such material to PG-13 or less. If you're interested in something that should be matured tagged, contact me via PM and we can discuss it.

Comments

[samantha_grey]

[she wrapped an arm around one leg and grunted. The 'principle of the thing. He really was the sort who had a stubborn streak to him, wasn't he? She had trouble understanding it, though she did understand wanting to make her own choices.]

I'm only going to not shout at you over this on the condition that you don't lose a friend over it. I already told you that. You can't just give up on her as a friend. You are being a little nuts, more than a little really, but you can't just give up on someone else for the principle of the thing. So you haven't lost her, or I really will be upset. You just need to keep trying. Be patient but keep trying.

[She sighed and ran her other hand through her forehead.]

Thanks for the vote of confidence all the same, Hisao. I have trouble thinking of myself as good, but thanks.

[seventeenpills]

I'm not giving up. I'm hoping she'll come around and at least talk to me some time soon. She really means a lot to me - I couldn't just give up on her if I tried. But she's... you have to have patience with Hanako. Push too hard and she retreats that much further. I've learned over time that when she's upset, it's best to leave her be. I have other friends who are making sure she's eating and she seems to be active in the community still which is a lot better than back home, where she'd lock herself away for days and forgo food and sleep...

And of course you're a good person. I haven't seen you kick a single puppy yet.

[A small smile - it's intended as a joke, despite being a little dry and a little lame.]

[samantha_grey]

Hah... ok, that one's kind of funny actually. But, good. I'm glad she's got people to take care of her in the meantime. Hopefully this will figure itself out eventually.

Preferably before this all turns into a warzone.

So, since we're chatting, what else you been up to, other than befriending satan's bastard stepkid?

[seventeenpills]

[He leaned back on the seat, satisfied that the elephant in the room was trundling off elsewhere.]

Well, my boss, Ayame, wound up being sent home. He left his boutique to one of the employees who's a friend of mine too so we're going to try and keep it running if it's possible.

I'm sad that he left, of course. But we're going to do our best to keep his vision alive here in case he comes back.

[samantha_grey]

[She nodded. It seemed that there was a regular flow of people in and out of this. She wondered a little what it was that made one stay and others go, why some seemed to remain almost indefinitely, while still others appeared, disappeared and reappeared again without memories. More proof that the gods must be crazy.]

I suppose, in a way, it's the whole topic of 'doing this because this is the sort of thing we're fighting for,' isn't it? You keep things like this alive around here to make there be some purpose in folks fighting the good fight. That, or it's just to honor a friend's memory. Both decent enough reasons.

[seventeenpills]

I guess there's that element of it too - I mean, we're invested in this business and the other people working there, so, we want to protect it that much more. But really, for me, it's more about gratitude. Ayame gave me a chance to work with him even though I had no experience at any job, let alone the one he wanted me to do.

[He smiled and gave a small shrug.]

It would feel spoiled and ungrateful to abandon his store now just because he isn't there.

[samantha_grey]

I suppose that makes sense. [Thinking about it in terms of her mother...] Yeah, if you liked him enough, I could see why you'd want to keep the memory alive or give up on it. Who knows, I think I saw one of the trolls come back with their memories, so maybe they'll be back too.

[seventeenpills]

Yeah - that does seem to happen sometimes. I'd like to think we'll work in a way that would make him happy if he should return.

It might be a little harder because he was the main designer as well as everything else he did... but we'll see.

[samantha_grey]

... What sort of things do you guys do at a boutique anyway? There might be someone else around here with the sort of design skills to help out now that he's gone, you know.

Either way, you'll figure it out. Running a business isn't rocket science... or at least it hasn't been so far.

[seventeenpills]

Well, I model. So, whatever men's clothes are the newest range or on sale, I wear them and help customers find things while wearing the clothes, and sometimes I just get asked to stand in one place and show certain items off to customers. It's a really easy job but a lot of fun.

[samantha_grey]

Oh wait, so it's clothing then? Have you tried talking to Nakama maybe? I don't know if she does men's clothing, but I think she said at some point that she designed clothes, and she'd probably really like doing that sort of thing again.

[seventeenpills]

Actually, I'd promised to introduce her to Ayame at some point but that was only a short time ago and he left before I had the chance. She already works for another business and from what I understand, the locals who run it have been very good to her so I doubt she'd want to have a conflict of interest like that.

[samantha_grey]

Ah, well at least she's got work going for herself as is. It's a big town, but you're right about conflicts. No point making them where they don't need to be.

[seventeenpills]

She's about the hardest working person I know to be fair - she's always working on something, be it her job or training or cleaning or helping other people out with whatever, or volunteering at the Hospital - Heck, just listing all that stuff was exhausting let alone living it.

[samantha_grey]

Yeah, that really sounds like her. Sometimes, I honestly think she hides in her work to get away from all the things that worry her.

[She sighed and laughed a little.]

As long as she doesn't work herself too hard, it'll be ok.

[seventeenpills]

Honestly? I think you're maybe right. Without going into details, the kid has been through a lot and I don't even know the full story myself. But her work ethic is amazing.

[samantha_grey]

Yeah, she hasn't told me that much about her home life, though I caught a bit of a hint here and there. It's all pretty much her business, and not mine, but you ever see her looking like she's going to overdo it, bop her. She doesn't need to overkill this.

[seventeenpills]

Don't worry - I do my best to remind her to have fun where she can. She's b een a good friend to me so I do my best to return the favor, even if it means telling her she should try something she finds counterintuitive.

[samantha_grey]

Heh. You play conscience for a few people around here, don't you? So, who makes sure you listen to reason now and again. It sure as hell isn't me.

[seventeenpills]

No. But you TRY.

[He couldn't help laughing just a little at that.]

Satellizer has actually sat me down for a few talks about learning my place. You know - playing with the skillset I have, not the one I want. Other than that I guess I'm left to my own devices at this point.

[There had been Hanako's sage advice too but they'd already covered that.]

[samantha_grey]

I ended up talking to her a couple times. Little spacy, but she's a nice enough person. And, as long as you've got some people around to watch your back, you should be fine. Is she from your world or did you meet here?

[seventeenpills]

Spacy? Well, she's not really a big People Person so I can see how she might seem that way. No, she's from a different world - she lives in Japan but comes from Europe originally. She goes to a school called West Genetics where they basically modified her to fight giant aliens from another dimension.

[samantha_grey]

First time we met, she kind of crashed into me. It was funny. Friendly but...

Wait...

What?

God, that's like some of the weirder crap from my world. I kind of feel sorry for her then. Not a fan of getting conscripted into someone else's fight.

[seventeenpills]

I'll admit I'm really not a fan of the idea either. But it's what she knows, so, I try not to let my distaste of the whole deal show. I think that's one of the reasons she's a little edgy around people... I know I would be too if I came from a situation like that.

[samantha_grey]

Is she used to people not understanding, or is it more that she just doesn't know if she can really trust them? I could see either of those coming up a lot, or both.