Day 63: Magus Park (Late Afternoon)

[oneman_onekill]

After lunch, Niikura was in much higher spirits, enough to actually suggest that he and Shiina go shopping for the heck of it afterward while they digested the heavy burgers. Even after thinking about it for a while, he still hadn't come up with anything he really, really wanted to buy, except for maybe some snacks, and those he could do without, seeing as they'd all be eaten in a matter of seconds. So, instead, he'd used his card to buy something cute (...he'd really used that word. WOW.) for Shiina. He'd actually felt pretty good about it too; even though she'd said that the hair bows were for kids, the smile on her face had said a lot more.

And now? Now, they were taking a walk through the park. It was still windy, but it had kind of warmed up...okay, it hadn't really, but that was okay because he could just protect Shiina from the wind with his gigantic, fat, poofy jacket. If he wrapped at least an arm around her, he could--this was a date, wasn't it? They'd gone out for a meal and some little cutesy activity, and now they were enjoying a quiet walk in a park with a pond and thoughtfully placed wooden benches and--

Niikura decided right then and there to be in denial.

"Looks good," he said with a grin, nodding to the ribbon now neatly tied in Shiina's hair.

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[requitedfate]

Going out to eat, going shopping together, going for a walk; these normal things were like a balm on her sanity. This was what normal teenagers did. This was how they were supposed to spend their time. It made her almost dread having to face the reality of what was happening to her right then. Even if she couldn't keep it, she wanted desperately to hold onto this one precious moment in time.

The compliment that broke the silence between herself and Niikura caught her off-guard. She smiled, unable to help herself. What a smooth-talker he was, just like her own Shou. She pulled her ponytail over her shoulder, running her gloved fingers through her hair. "Thank you. And, thanks for the ribbon and bow, too."

She didn't have anything to offer him other than her thanks, but something told her that he didn't care for things. He seemed quite content, actually. Another reason she wished time would stop.

She sighed, looking out over the abandoned park. "They're going to take us back soon, aren't they?"

[stylebythemile]

"Sophie?"

"Huh?" She might not have known someone was talking to her if her 'nurse' hadn't walked right up to her. They were doing a poor job of getting her to believe she was this Sophie person.

"It's nearly time to go. If there's anything you need to do, make sure to do it before the buses arrive."

"Fine," Sonia said. She didn't know why the woman had been tailing her all day; the town was crawling with guards. And it wasn't like she'd have gotten very far if she had tried to escape.

There wasn't anything else she could do, except talk to the Arts and Crafts members, but she didn't know where any of them were. She had money left over. She supposed she could go and spend it on something, but most of the stuff she'd want to buy was out (as in, they might not allow her to keep them. She'd seen people walking out of stores only to have things taken off them). She hadn't eaten since this morning, but she wasn't hungry.

Mountain's Antiques. She probably couldn't afford anything in there. She'd spent enough time looking around the repair shop today. She had to resist going over to the toy store to buy toys, too. (It was just that they were so hard to find on Mobius! There wasn't a single toy store left now that she was aware of.)

What now? Should she wait until the buses came? There was so much on her mind that she didn't think she could relax if she tried. This field trip had been more of a letdown than that month they'd failed three missions in a row. At least she'd learned a few things about the world she was in.

Sonia went into the park and looked around with her arms folded, hoping to see a familiar face. The wind wasn't letting up.

[Free!]