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[akito]

Characters: Wanijima Akito & OPEN
Date: the merry month of May
Location: Various
Situation: Deliveries & Skating
Warnings/Rating: n/a

(A)

If someone had told Akito when he first arrived that he would start up two separate - albeit miniscule - businesses, he would have laughed. Now though, he finds himself enjoying the thrill of delivering packages as subtly as he can manage. Fake letters stay in his bag, with the real messages carefully lining hidden compartments. Larger packages are an issue he has yet to resolve completely, but he still does his level best.

He checks his suite three times every day for any messages regarding deliveries, and while he can't guarantee same day delivery, he can guarantee delivery within 48 hours or less. It doesn't feel like something worth being proud of, but Akito finds himself proud of it all the same.


(B)

With the way things are since the bombings, Akito has even fewer skating lessons to manage, but he still holds them twice a week. Most of the time he ends up alone, which he can understand given the current instability of the city. He still dedicates the allotted time to skating; refreshing his mind on how to perform the most advanced of his Tricks. It's a win-win in his mind - not only does he get to have time to forget about how he's alone in Keeliai, he also increases his chances of luring in more students.

Whether it be ice or inline, beginner or advanced, Akito thinks that skating is one of the best things in any world, which is why he's more than happy to share in the fun.



((ooc: feel free to make your own starter thread if neither of these work for you! also, I will be sporadic with my replies as I'm still adjusting to my new school schedule. I'll make sure to get to everything as soon as I can manage! c: ))

Comments

[hisbabygirl]

The trick certainly gets her approval. Sarah's jaw drops in awe and the girl wears a look of shock for a second or two before breaking into a cheer. "What was that one called? Can you do that again?" Stumble or not, that was amazing.

At the conversation turns to her father, Sarah sobers a little and nods. "Yeah, he's here. I mean, he's different, but it's totally him still." It's still strange seeing her father as he is now; older, more than a little broken and carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders.

She falls silent a second, and then smiles at Akito again. "Hey, maybe if we both work on it, we can get him to skate too."

[akito]

Akito doesn't actually know what that trick's name is, and he admits as much. "I don't know. If I do the same trick while doing the splits it's a helicopter spin though!"

Instead of doing the same trick again he does the helicopter spin. His landing is a bit harsher, if only because his shoulder is starting to bother him a bit more insistently; a twinge of pain that's growing to a more consistent throb. He still smiles broadly. No amount of discomfort can diminish how much he enjoys skating.

"Even different, I'm glad that he's here for you." Because she's young, and because nobody deserves to be separated from their family. The thought of getting someone's father to skate with them is a fun one, and he can't help but giggle. "I think you would be able to get him to on your own, but I'll definitely help!"

[hisbabygirl]

There's an excited cheer from the girl as Akito does the helicopter spin, and the throws a fist in the air with it. It's good to be able to do something relatively normal and just have fun for a change. She doesn't miss that something is wrong, but before she can ask, he's talking again.

"Hey, no, I need all the backup I can get. My dad is really cool, but he's kinda grumpy sometimes," Sarah explains. Her humor hasn't left her in the slightest. The mental image of her dad on skates is just too damn funny. "We gotta make it happen, okay?"

[akito]

"My papa is grumpy most of the time," Akito shares. He doesn't miss the abuse, but he misses his father all the same. Even after they ran away and found their place in the world, Kaito was always a constant they could rely on if they got into too much trouble. "He was the one who helped me learn all of my basic tricks. And I think together we can get him to join in! A good father-daughter bonding exercise in a place that could use more of those, ne?"

[hisbabygirl]

Sarah chuckles at that, but there's no hiding that she's not entirely sure they'll be able to do it. It's fun to plot and scheme about it though. The old dad, the one she knew, maybe it would happen. Now, there's so much more going on and Sarah's not sure how to handle it.

"My dad's just... got a lot on his mind," she says with a shrug. And then she smiles. "We should start a club for people with grumpy but still awesome dads or something."

[akito]

If Akito cringes just a bit at her comment... Well, he'll just pretend he didn't. "My papa is a good person, but... He wasn't the best parent." What she says gives him an opportunity to make it sound better than it was though. "You could say he had a lot on his mind even before I was born, so I know what that's like! Maybe we could start a club for people who need or know someone who needs to have a little fun in their lives."

[hisbabygirl]

"O-oh, um," she starts, knowing full well that she put her foot right into that one. "Sorry. Guess I kinda assumed."

Akito is so kind and seemingly carefree that Sarah had made the call that his life until must of been relatively smooth. It's a silly assumption to make about anyone and she knows it. She feels a little bad still, but the more he says, the more at ease she is. The suggestion gets a firm nod and a smile. "Deal, that sounds about right to me."

[akito]

Akito waves a hand dismissively. "It's okay! My mother died before I was born, and apparently he was very single-minded since then." The last thing he wants to do is have this girl feel bad about something so unimportant.

"If we're going to work together and make people have some more fun, we should introduce ourselves first, ne?" A laugh; amused. "I'm... I go by Gazelle here, on the network and around the kedan."

He hasn't told anyone his real name yet, though he's meant to. He was going to, and then the explosions happened, and the network became compromised. But they're chatting in person, seemingly alone, so Akito doesn't see any reason not to share.

"But in person you can call me Akito."

[hisbabygirl]

"Oh," she says, understanding a little better but still feeling bad. Sarah's mother left when she was still a baby and the girl has really never had anything to do with her. She can relate a little to Akito in that regard.

"Gazelle is such a cool name! Is it a nickname?" Not for the first time, Sarah wishes she had a nickname. The best she's got is 'kiddo' and that's too general a title to call her own. "I'm Sarah."

[akito]

A shake of the head. "It was my mother's name. You could say that it was my name once, too." He thinks of his actual nick names and can't help the smile it brings. "At home people would call me Baby Shark."

Deciding that Sarah seems the type who might enjoy it, Akito gives a polite, informal bow in greeting. Bowing wasn't something the people he spent time with often did, so it wasn't particularly a habit, but Akito finds it nice to indulge in customs from home every now and then.

"It's good to meet you, Sarah."

[hisbabygirl]

"Aww, that's cute." She flashes Akito a warm smile. "Both names, really."

The bow catches her off guard, but she sure does enjoy it. It makes her feel a little special even. Feeling she should do something in return, she nods her head and bows a little in response. All she can hope is that she didn't mess that up or look silly.

"You too, Akito," Sarah says with a smile. "How come they call you Baby Shark though? It's nothin' to do with the song is it?"

[akito]

Akito hasn't heard of any songs about baby sharks, so he can't help but be curious about it. "There's a song?" And he thinks about the best way to answer her question without revealing too much about himself.

"When I was small I was good at fighting, and my Papa made me an emblem of a shark. He had it on the back of all my uniforms... It was a shark made out of letters to spell 'Fang'." A small shrug. "Because I'm a very small person, a friend at home decided to call me Baby Shark instead of Shark."

[hisbabygirl]

"Yeah, I'll teach it to you some time. It's a kids song so don't go expecting too much, but it's fun," she says, all smiles.

The more Akito talks, the more intrigued she is. There's something likable about the guy, and innocent and happy as he might seem, she can tell there's more to him. The mention of fighting as a child just about hits the nail on the head.

"That's even better. A name with a story that means somethin' tied to it? That's the best kind of name."

[akito]

"I like kids songs!" Because they're usually fun to sing, and about important things like family and friendship. Or sometimes about dangerous things, and they don't treat kids like they can't understand the deeper meaning to them. "I can teach you some fun ones from Japan as a trade!"

All this talk about nicknames and aliases, and Sarah hasn't mentioned one of her own, which piques his interest. "Do you have a nickname?"

[hisbabygirl]

"You've got yourself a deal," Sarah declares, grinning from ear to ear as she holds out a hand to shake on it.

His asking about a nickname of her own earns a shrug. "Nah, just... Sarah. Or kiddo. My Dad calls me baby girl but that kind of a dad thing ain't it."

[akito]

He shakes her hand with a small, amused laugh, though tilts his head at her shrug; thoughtful. "We need to come up with one for you, then!"