out and about [open]

[redheadcarrier]

Who: Asuka Langley Soryu, Open
What: Exploring the city and its many ruins.
When: Friday afternoon
Warnings? None, for now. Maybe Asuka being Asuka.

One could only stay cooped up inside for so long. Asuka's routine had been the same for months: get up, go train, come back to her apartment, maybe go shopping, kick the soccer ball around occasionally, drop in on Utena or Kanaya or someone. Or get sent on missions. She'd rarely ventured beyond the market. The crash and subsequent reshuffling of roommates had shaken something loose (or maybe it was because Kaji had returned, maybe it was because of Kaworu or Shinji or a thousand other things that had changed) and Asuka had decided that she wasn't going to keep herself penned in anymore. She was going to see the rest of the city. She'd wandered through the market first, buying a few knick-knacks and snacks (haggling all the while and yelling someone down if she didn't like the price) and then, slowly, she'd started to wander outward. She'd passed through slums, passed crowds of the downtrodden. She hadn't said anything to them - no, she was out here for herself. Not for them. The buildings seemed to become more run down the further from the Hold she went and that hadn't surprised her.

She'd finally chosen one and random and started scrambling up the slope of rubble that made up one wall, intnet on getting to the top to see the lay of the land. It was raining, as always, but at least it was a drizzle instead of a torrential downpour. It was still slippery and once or twice, she caught herself before she took a disastrous tumble. Finally, she settled on the (what had been) the roof, panting, a bit exhausted and a bit banged up, but she felt the better for it. Better then sitting around in her room all day, like she tended to do, after all. She didn't exactly feel happy, but at the same time she wasn't sad or angry. And the view was great! At least when the mist didn't obscure everything.

And that was an improvement. She took a deep breath and then grinned. At the very least, she could smile on the outside.

[OOC: Feel free to encounter Asuka in the market before she heads out or anywhere else in between.]

Comments

civic gardens:

[eyecontact]

They were still very much a mess, even after all the time spent...well, in time, trying to make Exsilium a better place overall. Shrubs and foreign plants were overgrown, tangled in with themselves and the neglected metalwork and statues strewn throughout the place, still faintly caged by metal framework, much of the glass blasted or gone away entirely. There were easy ways in, of course, that Jericho and many others had found already, so it wasn't like it was an isolated place.

Still, the denseness of the green made it feel that way sometimes. It was a nice transition from grimy, gray gloom and concrete all around; it'd never be the mountains he knew so well from home, but it was still a comfort. It was a nice place to retreat to, to reflect and feel a little less restrained.

Since the bombings, Jericho had been wary of taking his guitar out that way, lest he forget it and let it fall into ruin once again. It'd kill Sollux, for one thing – not to mention the trouble that Red X fellow went to in fixing it. Best to keep it safe in the apartments...

Until spaceships land on the apartments and kind of ruin all sense of security there, too, that was.

There was really no telling what would happen next, was there? Jericho was pretty certain of that now! So he made do, settling on gambling with the day to play to the green and easier thoughts, away from so many people. He wasn't what anyone could call a performance player: rather, his music was more of a stream-of-consciousness, giving him a means to speak without words, without a pencil or a paintbrush. The melodies would amble, as thoughts would, and perhaps get too repetitive as he mulled on something over and over, but it was a comfort to him.

He was out there, cross-legged under one of the thicker-set trees caged in there (all the better in case the rain started up again), plucking at a simple melody that had caught his attention. His fingers would slide down the neck at a particular point, trying to recall how Johnny had done so in his own jam session. It was a different style, but there were things about it he rather liked.

And practice made perfect, in theory.

Re: civic gardens:

[redheadcarrier]

Asuka crossed through the gardens, intent on taking in the sights there before she headed further into the ruins. She paused next to an overgrown tree and tugged her coat a bit tighter around her. Cloud cover or not, it tended to be chilly here. The sheer amount of green around her reminded her a bit of some of the farmland around Tokyo-3 - but this really was the only spot of green around here, wasn't it?

She frowned, about to move on, when the sound of someone playing guitar drifted to her ears. She perked up and carefully began to pick her way through the undergrowth. Her wnadering feet (and attentive ears) brought her around the bough of a tree to find a kid playing the guitar. Well, not just any kid. That weird mute she'd met once before.

She listened to him play for a little while longer before she gave him a little round of applause.

"So, you are pretty good at it, after all."

[eyecontact]

Applause was not what Jericho expected at the close of that half-baked thought-in-melody. The strings made a tinny sound as his fingers slid unchecked, clamping around the neck and silencing it as he straightened, eyes big, and spotted Asuka nearby. His face immediately flushed red as he gawked, and his stomach did a little flip at the praise.

Oh, gosh. He'd just been playing around – he didn't even know if it was anything that listenable!

He forced his hand off the guitar, lifting it in a still and silent gesture of greeting despite the embarrassment currently crushing him into the dirt as if it were a twenty-ton sledgehammer. What was the big deal, though? Raven and Sollux and Ashraf heard him play...yet strangers and barely-acquaintances were still a challenge.

[redheadcarrier]

Asuka wandered over and plopped herself down across from him without so much as an "excuse me". Why bother asking permission? Besides, it was easy to be confident around people who, well, weren't. They didn't challenge her. Despite the dampness, she curled her legs against her chest and settled in.

"Go ahead and keep playing! It sounds good."

[eyecontact]

She was really there to stay, wasn't she? Jericho gulped, his fingers still frozen on the guitar's neck. With a wincing grimace, his head ducked down, shoulders shrugging. Whatever string of thought he'd been on was very gone, for one, and the other...

Well, he didn't know what she was expecting to hear! She'd mentioned music taste before, but...

[redheadcarrier]

"Oh, come on," Asuka tone turned slightly irritated as she leaned forward slightly. That might be a bit of an evil eye.

"You can't be that embarrassed! Just play something already!"

[eyecontact]

Yikes!

Asuka was definitely not the sort to promote a peaceful, thoughtful atmosphere, was she? At least, that certainly was the impression Jericho got, wincing at her tone. Ill at ease, he dropped his gaze to his hands, the guitar...fat chance of being able to pretend that audience wasn't there, waiting, but it was easier not looking at her expression.

He chewed on the inside of his lip as his fingers flexed free of their vice grip, searching and feeling across the fretboard for the right place to start. What was the right place to start, though?

There were faltering, uncertain notes plucked, the start and stop of scales, of chords he knew that sounded well together before his thoughts led him, somehow, to something of a continuous melody. It was a slow, roundabout journey to something of a song, something suited to the green around them. Plodding, thoughtful, and plucked out with a tentative care, like someone speaking on something at length, nervous and unsteady.

[redheadcarrier]

Peaceful and thoughtful were all well and good, but Asuka usually liked action. She watched Jericho with a slight frown as he fiddled and adjusted his guitar (playing for timbe, obviously). She wanted to enjoy this (and maybe she wanted him to have a good time, too, but that wasn't really at the forefront of her mind). She just couldn't wrap her head around why he was so awkward and shy. She sighed, one foot tapping against the ground. When he finally started, she sat up a bit straighter to listen.

It wasn't exactly high quality entertainment, but he sounded good, once you got past how tentative he was. She settled in and simply listened as he played on. She could be quiet - at least for a few minutes.

[eyecontact]

If he closed his eyes, he could imagine he was alone – she was quiet, the illusion was fairly easy to make if he tried. He did try, getting lost in the methodical sound. It trailed off into pensive sounds, derailing from what melody he was trying to construct; it wasn't much sense by way of a song, but it did make the playing easier, more natural.

His brow furrowed, expression scrunching up as he hit a chord that made for a strange transition, and that seemed to snap him out of the daze. He blinked his eyes open and looked almost surprised to find her still her. How he'd ever forgotten was more a surprise, really; his face colored again as his mouth twisted and stretched into some kind of dubious line, not sure what kind of reaction he ought to expect – or brace himself for.

That same rooftop!

[observesthings]

Yukiteru had been making an effort to get out more, too. Anything to keep his mind off of what week it was, and the upcoming anniversary that would go un-celebrated. It was an occasion that would have otherwise had mixed feelings attached, but without her here, it was so much worse.

He had left with the original intention of going to get some lunch at Rise's diner, but halfway there, he had lost his appetite. He didn't want to go back to his room; something about living with two women he barely even knew just seemed like a bad idea. Pulling his jacket tighter around himself, his cap barely kept his head dry.

The rooftop he was on had a faded billboard. One he could even easily climb. Yukki reached into his pockets, and retrieved his non-lethal dart case. The chrome case, which he kept safely inside a backpack, was one he had hoped he never had to open. Ever since he found out from Shelke what was inside those glass cases, he didn't even want to touch those things. Potassium chloride? White phosphorous? And he thought that machinegun he had in his own world was dangerous... the Initiative gave him an arsenal of chemical weapons that would make Minene nervous.

He began tossing darts at the billboard, the face on it faded from prolonged exposure to the elements. It landed exactly where he aimed; the person's nose. He had to stop himself from cheering; he just made that shot in the rain and wind.

He didn't even notice Asuka as she joined him there. Instead, he was grabbing another dart, this time aiming for the right eye.

[redheadcarrier]

Asuka blinked some of the rainwater out of her eyes as she finally clambered onto the roof. Hey - wasn't that Yuki? She watched him chuck another dart and then carefully eased up behind him so she could lean past him and crowd his personal space.

"Hey, Yuki, nice shot."

[observesthings]

The only reason he didn't freak out right then and there is because he's all too used to a girl sneaking up behind him unannounced, invading his personal space, and then calling him 'Yukki.' It takes several seconds to realize that A, Yuno isn't here, and B), the word 'Yukki' didn't come out nearly as high-pitched or nasally as he's used to hearing... or as a bloodcurdling, hysterical shriek in other, far less pleasant cases.

"E-Eh!? Ah, Asuka!" His throw goes wildly off-target, instead hitting the bottom part of what looked to appear something vaguely resembling the letter O to the left of the face on the billboard. He'd have to climb even high to reach it... maybe even jump. Or he could use Deus's Core, but... not in front of Asuka.

Catching his breath, he sits down on an old ventilation shaft mounted onto the rooftop. "I didn't think I'd run into you out here..."

[redheadcarrier]

Asuka nearly burst out laughing when Yukki fumbled and very nearly shrieked. Her gaze followed the dart as it buried itself off-target (rather far off-target, she thought) and then she glanced at Yukiteru again with a grin. As he sat, she settled herself against a crumbled wall, hands stuck in her pockets.

"Really? Why? I do go out, you know."

[observesthings]

"But it's raining. You could get sick." Never mind the fact that he's out here, too. Leaving the darts there for now, he puts his remaining dart back into its plastic case, and sits down next to her.

"Sorry, it's just... well... even though I'm kind of used to someone else doing that, I didn't expect it to be you." He pulls his jacket around him tighter. The overhand blocks most of the rain, but the wind doesn't help.

[redheadcarrier]

"I don't get sick," Asuka retorted with a snort, "I'm way too healthy for that."

She cocked her head curiously, "Why are you out here throwing darts anyway?"

Well, that was an interesting tidbit. Maybe she reminded him of someone back home. Which wasn't exactly a comforting thought, but it wasn't really terrible either. "Really? Who used to do that to you?"

Honestly, she didn't like following in someone else's footsteps.

[observesthings]

"Anyone can get sick," he answered with a shrug. But he's not gonna argue about this. "There's really nothing better to do... and I'm trying to get my mind off-"

He sighs. She asked... and, well, he trusted her enough to tell her. "Yuno. My... girlfriend. From my own world." The frown on his face suggests that not all of the memories of her are happy. And they weren't. They've been through so much, but she HAS saved him so many times. He owed his life to her a hundred times over.

[redheadcarrier]

"Ooooh? You've got a girlfriend?" Asuka's voice rose into that sing-song she tended to use when she was about tease someone mercilessly. "What's she like?"

[salvagedsoul]

It was drizzling as always, but Kaworu didn't mind. The faint sound of the rain seemed to compliment the twangy sound of this ancient piano, the piano that he thought of as his own now. And perhaps its resting place was just as appropriate - the crumbling space around it was littered with old chairs and overturned tables, the floor was partially carpeted by stained and ripped tablecloths, and faded orange insulation foam hung from the parts of the ceiling and roof that still remained.

The space had adapted to Kaworu being there, too. One small table had been dragged up onto the slightly elevated stage area, so that he could set his tablet and other personal items on a surface other than the ground. His coat hung off a nail on the wall behind the piano. And on days like this, he would set a few cups and bent metal serving trays under the leaks in the roof above his piano, to keep the stage area dry.

This building was close enough to the city and the Hold that he sometimes had visitors, but concealed enough that people passing by it on the street usually could not hear the piano through the walls and rubble. Instead, the notes floated up through the open spaces in the ceiling.

[redheadcarrier]

Piano music. She must be going crazy. She's hearing piano music all the way out here, away from the market and everything that remotely resembles civilization. Asuka tried to follow the music as it echoed off of the walls. It took her a few minutes to track down the source, turning corners and climbing half-rotted staircases. It was actually kind of eerie, when she stopped to think about it. She finally pulled open a door that was already hanging off of it's hinges and stepped inside. In the center of the room was a piano. And playing it was someone she already knew. Her expression registered surprise and then she tamped down on it, tried to mute the reaction; act casual.

Instead she strolled around the piano and settled onto the bench like she owned the place.

"I didn't know you played."

[salvagedsoul]

The sound of the front door opening caught his attention, and he glanced over at the dark entrance way as he played. It took a few moments, but he realized it was Asuka who'd found him.

His first instinct was to smile at her, and that's what he did, but it's impossible not to think back on what happened the last time they met. She had come to him, to talk and open up, when it was interrupted in such an unfortunate way. He'd been thinking of her and wondering how she was, but the distractions from Shinji and his own confusion got in the way until now.

As she walked over, he smiled back down at the piano keys and waited for her to get there. Immediately, this was so unlike Shinji's hesitant acceptance of the seat next to him, when Kaworu had brought him here in February.

"My interest in Lilim would be facetious without an appreciation for your music," he said cooly. She didn't seem upset or angry with him - that's good. Although he knew that if she thought back on that day, she'd hide it, at least for now. "Do you play?"

[redheadcarrier]

Asuka shrugged and swung her legs back and forth beneath the bench, "Not really. Music is cool, I guess, but I was never really interested in playing it."

Besides, she'd been too busy learning how to be an Eva pilot. Who had time to learn how to play an instrument, pilot and be a college student? She reached out carelessly and jangled the fingers of one hand over the keys, producing a string of discordant notes.

"I could probably learn if I wanted to, though."

[salvagedsoul]

He nodded, more distinctively in agreement than as part of his slight swaying as he plays.

"I'm sure you could. You're good at most everything you try, aren't you?"

At least, that's what he'd heard about her as the Second. His hands didn't slow down, but he looked over at her again, smiling.

"Do you want to try?"

[redheadcarrier]

"Sure, I guess. How does this work?"

She leaned over the keyboard, hands hovering as she watched his hands glide over the keys.

"It doesn't look that hard."

[salvagedsoul]

"You just press the keys, but I assume you can see that much." He chuckled and lifted his hands from the keys suddenly, stopping the music. He'd been watching her watch him.

"It's not hard. Even a beginner can play a pleasant song." Looking back down, he began to play the simple melody of Fur Elise with his right hand. "Do you recognize this song? It's very nice, and simple to grasp."

[redheadcarrier]

Asuka settled onto the bench, back straight and brow furrowed slightly in concentration. Her eyes followed Kaworu's fingers as they moved over the keys and then she carefully tried to find the right position for her own hands.

"Yeah, I recognize it..." she murmured in reply, "Hold on."

Tentatively, she tried a few notes, searching out the right sounds. Her gaze flickered from her own hands to Kaworu's and then back again as she started to speed up. She was halting at first, then faster as she started to imitate Kaworu's positioning and started to catch up. She gave a confident little grin as the notes began to fall into place, "Hey, that's not too hard."