015 ✤ open

[akito]

Characters: Wanijima Akito + OPEN
Date: March 28th - 31st
Location: Various
Situation: Being a nerd
Warnings/Rating: N/A

-

1. (Tadashi; closed)

Donuts.

Akito remembers, through the haze of fever and body aches, that Tadashi had mentioned something about really liking donuts. He grew up in a café with his aunt and brother, so the taste and smell of donuts likely reminded him of home. There's not much else he can really remember from when he was sick, apart from gentle touches to check his temperature, or help him get from point A to point B when his legs were too weak to hold his weight. There were hugs too, he thinks. Remembers feeling warm and safe; dozing off to a deep, soothing voice, a steady heartbeat, and the scent of coffee and machinery, mixed with the fruity tones of his soap.

The scent is what confirms at that at least some of his vague memories are real, because there has never been anyone in his life who smelled quite like that - except for his temporary roommate, Tadashi. So regardless of what he does or does not remember, Tadashi did help him while he was sick and Akito owes him his gratitude.

So he spends his free time over the next few days gathering the supplies to make donuts. Nothing fancy, since it's his first time making the himself, but they should taste good all the same. It's hard to go wrong when there's this much sugar in a recipe, after all.

In the end only his first two donuts turned out ugly and over-cooked (Akito enjoyed them anyway), but the rest of them turned out exactly like proper donuts should. And maybe he went a bit overboard with the donuts, but he didn't expect frying dough to be so satisfying. In the end he has thirty-four nicely glazed donuts to take to Tadashi and his brother at the Midnight Hotel.

After informing Bird of who he was intending to visit, Akito earned himself an eager tag-along. His little companion snuggles into his scarf, cooing excitedly in his ear as Akito makes sure he has everything he needs before he jumps from his balcony and begins the short trip to the Hotel.

Akito arrives in under ten minutes, Bird chirping a tune that's a mash-up of multiple Beatles' songs. It takes a moment for him to realize something important:

He doesn't know which room Tadashi is staying in.




2. (Midnight Hotel; open)

Akito doesn't know why he hadn't thought of this sooner. If he can hear biorhythms from the human body there's no reason why he can't also hear electronic signals and wavelengths in the air. Now that he's feeling better and can focus enough to try, it turns out that the faint clicks and hums and buzzes he tunes out without any thought are exactly what he's looking for.

However he hadn't expected to find the signals underground.

He makes sure to try listen to a few consoles in all the various sectors to see if there's any variation, but no - it's always the same electric pulse shooting down into the turtle's shell where it promptly diffuses like a plant shooting its roots down into the earth.

There's another sound too, underneath it all. It's not hard to hear, but it's hard to distinguish when he has such limited time with the public consoles. Not wanting to draw attention to himself (or any more attention than he already has), Akito quickly flees to the Midnight Hotel, knowing it would be safe for him to pick apart the sounds there.

And he's right, of course.

In the Hotel it's quieter, and he doesn't feel the constant need to be on guard. The sounds are the same here, too. Electronic pulse shooting down into the shell, where it spreads beyond his ability to detect. It's not hard from there to focus on the sound underneath; a steady, soft rush of sound like waves on the shore, or white noise from a radio. He can't figure out the source or whether it's coming or going. But it's admittedly a soothing noise. Relaxing, even as a headache builds behind his temples from the strain.

If the consoles' pulses overlay it, do they intersect at all? It sounds like an entirely different wavelength altogether... Are the consoles masking something deep under Asti's shell? What is the deeper, calming sound coming from? Going to? Is it for communication, or something else? Can it be hacked?

Whatever it is, Akito enjoys listening to it.

Comments

[anewangle]

Luckily for Akito, Tadashi's not the hide-away-in-his-room sort, but he also doesn't feel comfortable leaving Hiro too far out of reach just yet. He's yet to find an outside source of income, so in exchange for his and Hiro's room he's offered to help with the hotel's cleaning and laundry. It's not exactly ideal too many tech's claiming all the good jobs already, but he's more than happy to do it in return for Anton's hospitality.

Tadashi's heading toward the common showers when he hears that oddly familiar birdsong and, after a moment of listening (yep, that's definitely the same chorus of "Hey Jude" that Bird serenaded him with while Akito was sick), he detours away from destination to instead poke his head into the lobby, whistling the next line of the song when he spots boy and bird by the entrance.

He looks about the same as he did the last time Akito saw him, though what Akito remembers through the fever haze is up for debate. Same bright smile, same dark hair under that old baseball cap. He did forgo the blazer and cardigan, though, opting to stick with just a black t-shirt for the day. He doesn't need the extra layers while he's inside, and there's no point in risking what nicer clothes he has to the chemical cleaners he's got tucked under one arm.

[akito]

While Akito hears the whistling at the same time Bird does, it's Bird who recognizes the source first and ditches the boy in favour of flying over to Tadashi chattering up a storm of 'dashi dashi dashi'. He lands on his designated Tadashi-perch and peers over the edge of said perch to chit-chat with him face-to-face.

It doesn't take Akito long to follow, though he maintains a respectful, conversational distance between them. Which is probably different from the Akito that Tadashi remembers, because once he got used to hugs and cuddles when he was too sick to think much about it, Tadashi probably found himself with an armful of tiny nerd more often than not.

He gives a small, informal bow of greeting. Pulls his delivery bag to his front and carefully extracts three boxes, then holds them out for Tadashi to take.

"I... You said you liked donuts. I, um... think you said that, I mean? I don't... really remember much..." His eyebrows knit together, clearly irritated by the foggy memories. "And I heard you found your brother! So, ah... I made enough for two boys. Since I know how much teenage boys can eat when they get hungry..."

Way to say that as though you aren't also a teenage boy, Akito. "They're just regular crispy glazed donuts! I ate two to make sure they were good and... And... Um, they're a thank-you for taking care of me! Because you were only new and you didn't even know me, and there were more important things you could have been doing..."

At least he's aware that he's rambling right now, so he offers a smile; awkward and clearly a bit embarrassed. He's not used to thanking people for this sort of thing. Especially people who were practically strangers.

"Also... If you're one of Professor Oyaji's students, then you're good with technology, right? I... If you need a job, I can probably get you an entry position at Stark Industries. You wouldn't have a problem earning a chance from Zanru-san."

[anewangle]

"Hello, Bird-san." Tadashi reaches up to give Bird a gentle rub with one finger, accustomed to his new passenger after his time spent taking care of Akito. That careful distance from the boy is definitely new, though, and it deters what would have otherwise have been an attempt at a greeting in the form of a hearty hug. Tadashi's never really had any aversions to what Hiro would describe as "touchy-feely" sort of physical contact, but he recognizes hesitation when he sees it.

He takes a moment to set down his cleaning supplies before reaching out to take the boxes, looking them over curiously for a moment before Akito tells him just what's inside. Then what was a pleasant, but calm smile widens into something rather more excited. "Really? Thank you so much! You didn't have to do that for me. Everyone deserves to be taken care of when they're not feeling well, but aw, man, Hiro's gonna love these..." He bounces on his toes a little, genuine happiness and appreciation obvious in his posture and expression. Stranger or not, Tadashi never expected any sort of payment for his time and effort. It's just not how he operates.

The job offer draws his attention from the sudden supply of delicious treats and earns Akito a grateful nod.

"Even just telling me who I should talk to about it would be great, and I don't mind working my way up." He grins and gestures down at the cleaning supplies on the floor with a tip of his head. "Even if the technology part doesn't work out, I found out I'm pretty good at cleaning bathrooms."

[akito]

Bird is very appreciative of that gentle rub and fluffs himself up delightedly; tilts his head for a better angle on things and croons out his compliments. Akito is... conflicted. Because part of him really does just want to rush over and give Tadashi a hug - especially after seeing that his reaction matches up with the vague recollections he has of him - but the other part of him says that this is a stranger.

Either way, Akito finds himself relaxing in Tadashi's presence now that he has some concrete idea of what he's like, and it's visibly noticeable in his posture. He offers up a small, pleased smile in return for the enthusiasm, though it quickly dissipates into surprise.

"...Hiro? Your brother is Hiro?"

All hesitance aside, Tadashi will find himself being stared at quite intently by Akito, who is just now seeing similarities that he thinks he probably should have noticed sooner. Same brow. Same cheekbones. Similar expressions. Even their eyes are similar - different shades of brown (Hiro's was lighter; more warm tones, and Tadashi's are a little darker with some grey undertone). Jeez, even though Tadashi's ears are a lot bigger, they have the same shaped ears.

"You! You're definitely his brother! Whoa! How come I didn't notice it before?"

Yes, Akito. You should have noticed during your days of incredible sickness without any knowledge that Hiro had a brother at all that Tadashi was related to him. Totally.

"And, um- Talk to Ayin first. She's the main receptionist and we're friends, ne? She's been helping me learn how to read and write in kedan..." Right. Not what they're talking about now though. "Ask if you could have a meeting with Zanru at her soonest convenience! And... Before you decide to head over there, contact me and we can go together. I visit them a lot anyway, so if you're with me they won't automatically think you're a rude Foreigner."

[anewangle]

"You got it! I didn't realize the two of you had already met." He grins, obviously pleased to hear it. He and Akito hadn't really done all that much talking while Tadashi stayed with him (what with the poor kid's varying levels of consciousness the entire time) and his time with Hiro since had been mostly spent focusing on his brother's out of the ordinary behavior. "We've got a few years between us, so that can make it hard to tell when we're not standing right next to each other."

Also, the complete difference in their mannerisms and how they carry themselves.

"I definitely don't want to come off as rude. I'm a pretty obvious tourist as it is." He shrugs a little helplessly, but doesn't seem upset by the fact. It's not like every other Foreigner isn't in pretty much the exact same position. "Anton's been really nice, letting me work around here in exchange for the room, but I can't say no if there's a chance to get back into tech again. Maybe I can even help a little with getting this place up to speed."

[akito]

"Un! We did! I gave him warmer clothes, and showed him where this hotel was," he explains, expression brightening. "I flew him to my house and he screamed so loud! But the next time he just clung to me like a cat avoiding a bath."

Akito clearly doesn't seem bothered by this in the least. His amusement is practically palpable. "You have similar expressions, brows, and eyes. His are brighter than yours though - more like... Polished tourmaline! And yours have more grey tones."

Being able to relate, he nods in agreement. "It took a long time for me to blend in. A lot of times kedan don't realize I'm not one of them at first now." And that is something he takes pride in. Akito worked hard to get where he is. "If you're ever curious about things the kedan do, just find one who doesn't seem to dislike you too much and ask!"

Looking around, Akito quirks a small smile. "Yeah, Anton's really generous. I know he would have let me stay here if I asked, so I'm very grateful for that."

[anewangle]

So there are a lot of direction their conversation could take from here. They could talk more about the hotel or about prospective jobs for Tadashi. They could discuss kedan culture and how to better blend into it. Tadashi could thank Akito for helping Hiro out with new clothes and showing him to shelter (let's be real, that's definitely something that will happen at some point). Heck, they could plunk themselves down on the floor and have a doughnut feast, but they're not going to. Do you know why?

"... You flew him?"

That's why.

[akito]

"...Un! I fly all the time. Though it's more like really high jumping and gliding than literal flying..." He waves a hand dismissively because who cares about minor details like that? "Why do you think I'm the best at fast deliveries?"

Yes, that is pride you hear. Something Akito doesn't exude much of on a regular basis.

"It's more fun flying with other people though!"