Day 28: Morris Park

[hajike-tobiume.livejournal.com]

[from Kelley Street]

The shinigami quietly entered the rundown park. It looked forlorn and very much like there should be a hollow or two hanging out in it. Yet a quick check of the spirit threads gave her no indication of any present. The gloomy atmosphere was perfect for her to do some deep thinking about herself and what all had happened in Soul Society.

Picking a bench under a tree, she sat and stared off into the park..She needed the quiet.

Comments

[byname-bynature.livejournal.com]

Artemis was about to say something about how his mother wanted him to at least experience what it was like to be a normal high school student, but it only brought back memories of what he'd told Renji earlier. Stuffing the urge to start crying again back down, he coughed and shrugged. "I should, but I don't think even a graduate university would be able to hold my interest. I've written most of the texts used in the majority of psychology departments. It would be a waste of time to take a class centered around something I wrote myself." He smiled at Ken, "Don't you think so?"

"I suppose..." The boy said, frowning, "But why on earth would I want to act like I'm a child when I'm not?"

[gentiana-clusii.livejournal.com]

"Who says you have to take that? Do something else, then. Something you enjoy doing." Ken shrugged slightly. "There's enough people stuck doing shit they don't like in the world. You have the chance to not be one of them."

"Because it's fun?" It would be a very sad day indeed when an assassin who was ten years older than Artemis knew how to have more fun than him.

[byname-bynature.livejournal.com]

But Artemis enjoyed what he did... there just weren't any classes he could take that would teach him the borderline-illegal things that he did. Oh well. "I like painting. Maybe I could produce a few of my own works, instead of forging others."

The concept of doing something that he actually wanted to do was foreign to Artemis. He'd been raised to believe that what he did for the Fowl family was both what he liked to do and what he did best. There was nothing else he could do. Was there anything that didn't involve his work that he liked to do? Maybe chess.

He frowned, obviously confused, "Why is it fun...?"

[gentiana-clusii.livejournal.com]

Instead of forging others. Right. Ken looked at Artemis and smiled slightly. "Yeah, it's more just...you that way. I'm not a painter, but finishing a flower arrangement that I thought of and did on my own...it's satisfying. It might not sell or anything, but it's relaxing and I feel like I accomplished something." He had just admitted to arranging flowers. And enjoying it.

"Fun is fun. Running around and screaming and just making an ass of yourself...and not caring. Not worrying about anything, not plotting anything, not having to think about everything all the time...it's just relaxing." Ken shrugged. It was like him being more pissed off that he couldn't play soccer while injured than actually being injured. "I guess it's something I can't really describe."

[byname-bynature.livejournal.com]

"Mm," Artemis nodded, "When I finished the C Cube--my own micro-computer with advanced technology--I was very satisfied with myself. Perhaps doing more things like that would be... fun. And maybe relaxing, since it's for myself instead of a client or plan."

The boy listened to Ken explain his idea of fun, and he nodded as though he understood. He didn't really get it though. "Well, in that case, I think it would be fun to just lay in the grass and stare up at the sky. And not worry..." His smile fell slowly. "About anything. Not think about anything." He paused in thought. "Do you think that's actually possible?"

[gentiana-clusii.livejournal.com]

"It is for me, but thinking isn't my strong point." Ken grinned. "My brain's default setting is 'off.'"

He paused to look at the sky, then pointed at one cloud. "That one looks like an airplane."

...here he was, initiating a game of cloud-gazing with a boy that was smarter than a good number of college professors, at a field trip from an asylum that turned into hell on Earth at night. Ken had known his life was fucking crazy, but this was high on the list of weird shit he'd done, once he thought about it.

[byname-bynature.livejournal.com]

Artemis nodded, "747 Boeing." Perhaps he was missing the point of the game... But he seemed perfectly happy to look up at the sky and play Ink Blots.

"The one over there," Artemis pointed, "Looks like a cell in mitosis." He frowned, "Or a kidney."

[gentiana-clusii.livejournal.com]

Well, at least he was playing. "That one's a stem of Artemisia." Leave it to the florist to point out one that looked like a plant. And he was maybe right if you turned your head and squinted. "...or something."

[byname-bynature.livejournal.com]

Artemis smiled. "I've never seen Artemisia. But it does look like some kind of plant. That one over there," He pointed again, "Looks like those ridiculous glasses you wore."

[gentiana-clusii.livejournal.com]

"...Thaaaanks." Ken snorted. "And Artemisia is the family of plants that has sagebrush and wormwood in it."

That one...Ken thought for a moment, staring at the line of wispy clouds, high in the sky. "That one...looks like fire." He couldn't help the slight trepidation in his voice saying that.

[byname-bynature.livejournal.com]

Artemis chuckled, "You're welcome!"

He looked up at the fire-shaped cloud. "It does..." His brow furrowed. "That's a very bad omen, in some circles."

[gentiana-clusii.livejournal.com]

"I know I'd consider it one," Ken muttered. He didn't get along well with fire, or the idea of fire. "But hell, who needs bad omens." Ken knew bad things were going to happen. He didn't need a cloud formation to tell him that much.

[byname-bynature.livejournal.com]

"Right..." Artemis murmured, trying to shake the feeling of imminent doom from his system. "Em... That one looks like a willow tree!"

He was starting to feel like he was getting the hang of this game.

[gentiana-clusii.livejournal.com]

"And that one's a rabbit." Ken was good at putting things out of his mind.

It really was a rather simple game.

[byname-bynature.livejournal.com]

Artemis smiled. He'd never had a childhood pet, but he'd always admired animals. Right now, he was wishing he could have some sort of furry thing in his lap to pet. Perhaps this whole mental institution thing could work as a paid vacation--during the day at least.

"That one looks like Holly," He caught himself. "I mean, a bird."

[gentiana-clusii.livejournal.com]

That was an odd slip to make. "Pet bird?" Ken ventured. It wasn't unheard of to speak of pets as if they were people.

Of course, Artemis could have meant a person. There was all sorts of weird shit going on here.

[byname-bynature.livejournal.com]

"A friend..." He said finally. "She's a fairy, but she doesn't always have wings like that. Just when it's necessary for her to fly."

Which was pretty much all the time, come to think of it.

[gentiana-clusii.livejournal.com]

"Huh. Here I thought all fairies had wings." Ken didn't find fairies so unbelievable. Why not? He'd seen all sorts of other weird shit, here, even back in his own world. And Artemis was from another place entirely.