week 0 | eleanor

[shinssin]

[ When Eleanor passes by Hachiko(?)'s statue, whether she means to or not, she will certainly find Assassin doing his morning stretches. And when Assassin finds her, he drops everything to stand upright and wave at her with a bright, toothy smile. ]

Yo, Eleanor! What's up?

[ As if nothing ever happened in the bathroom yesterday. Everything is fine! ]

Have you eaten breakfast yet? Skipping meals is bad for your health, you know.

Comments

[exorcismo]

Eh-?

[ #Never4get the McDonalds bathroom incident of Monday. Or at least, Eleanor hasn't. Though she seems even jumpier than usual for some reason. ]

I haven't..

[ She says it real suspiciously, skeptical eyebrow raise and all. ]

Do you need something from me?

[shinssin]

[ Weird. Well, he's not going to point her behavior out just yet. ]

No?

[ Literally nothing. He doesn't need Starbucks so he's good on food for the week. ]

Can't I say hi to a pretty girl?

[exorcismo]

This is quite the turn around from the other day.

[ She crosses her arms, kinda' huffy, still super suspicious. ]

Do you have nothing to say about your behavior?

[shinssin]

[ What... what did he do. He said his piece? WHAT DOES SHE WANT. ]

I'm sorry I walked in on you and touched you inappropriately?

[exorcismo]

T-Thats.. you..!

[ What??? She just sort of makes vague confused and outraged noises. Before she just gives up. Whatever!! ]

Never mind--

[ She takes a deep breath, like she's literally trying to expel the anger from her body. ]

You're in an awfully pleasant mood all things considered. Are you not at all concerned about the situation at hand?

1/2

[shinssin]

[ He laughs, resting a hand on his hip. ]

Well, yeah... I'm kinda worried about the kids? They don't have their parents looking out for 'em, after all. [ And he knows how hard that is.

... ]

[shinssin]

Oh, and the fact that some of us are Reapers! But I'm sure you're not a Reaper, so it's fine.

You're too easy to read.

[exorcismo]

[ She’s not quite sure how to respond— ]

Honestly, I don’t know how you manage to say such charming things and then in the next moment kick yourself in the mouth...

[ moving on!! ]

To address your first concern, yes I’m worried about the children, many of them might not know how to fend for themselves, nor is that something one learns overnight.

[ now that she’s got that out of the way!! ]

You’ve made quite a few assumptions about me, and You seem very confident in all of them. That may come back to haunt you in the future.

[shinssin]

[ Hehe, she said he was charming. ]

Oh? And what are you gonna do about it? Kill me? [ Can she? He doubts it. And it should stay that way, honestly. ]

Everyone's been doing the same thing to me, so it's fine, right? Give and take.

[exorcismo]

I may do just that.

[ don’t try her ok ]

.. Does that bother you? That everyone has been so quick to assume so much about you?

[shinssin]

[ uwah he's so scared ]

Nnnnno? [ kind of. yes. ] I'm used to it. Jeez... You kill a few corrupt assholes and they call you a criminal. That's messed up, right?

[exorcismo]

[ he should be >:( ]

It is.

[ .. ]

You did a hard thing, and an important thing. Normal people aren’t prepared to accept the realities of justice, and they shouldn’t have to. That is after all, why the world creates people like us.

[ and then the smallest of smiles ]

I don’t know the details of what you did but.. I understand! And I don’t think you a crimminal for it.

[shinssin]

[He plays her words over and over again in his head, trying to look for the holes he can poke through and the lies with which he can steel himself. They're too good to be true.

He laughs sheepishly, looking at her from the corner of his eye.]

It's not like I mind being called a criminal... [Mostly.] And you really shouldn't be talking to me if I am... [It's better that way.] But what do you mean by normal?

[exorcismo]

I think I can decide who I'd like to talk to on my own.

[ Stop telling her what to do!! She's an adult!! ]

You alluded to as much in our previous conversation. The average person, if they've lived a normal life, does not ever kill nor are they ever prepared to do so for any cause.

[ a pause ]

Most people, I would say, don't believe it to be appropriate to kill under any circumstance. And that's for the best-- not all are fit to enact and pursue justice.

[shinssin]

[ Justice. It's written in his stories, on his back. Would she know his name if he told her that? Probably not.

But he can dream. ]

Someone's gotta do the dirty work. Might as well be us. Some just gotta have what's coming to 'em. It was tough, back then—

[ Assassin stops short of telling the whole truth, but the next words are sincere: ]

But who cares what a shady assassin's gotta say, right? ... [ He grins. ] Thanks.

[exorcismo]

[ There's a very clear disappointment on her features when he relents in speaking. As pushy as she is she won't pry (she doesn't think she'll get a real response anyway).

Buuut, she reaches over a puts a hand on his arm. ]

I most certainly care-- when you're not spouting absolute nonsense, at least.

[ She opens her mouth to speak, stops, and then fumbles for a moment before she finally finds her words. ]

Truthfully, I don't care much about getting to live again. But despite that, I feel like this place may be a chance to make up for my failures in my past life. I want to keep everyone safe-- but it's a bit selfish, because I want to do so partly because I don't want to fail again.

[shinssin]

[ That's a dangerous thing to say to someone who could snap her neck at this very moment. Assassin's sure she already knows that and he's certain she'd be stubborn enough to refuse his requests. So he's silent. He won't resist today. ]

Who wants to make the same mistakes, right?

[ ... ]

My first kill... was for my master.

He was going to be tried for a crime he didn't commit, but they sent assassins to kill him before he got there. Make it look like an accident, you know?

[exorcismo]

He must have been a very special person to earn such loyalty from you. I know what it feels like, to have someone important unfairly taken away and.. to not be able to think about anything but avenging them.

[ She places her hand where her heart should be, fingers curling into the fabric. ]

My mother was murdered when I was very young. She gave her own life so that I could live. Whenever I look at the scars on my skin from that day sometimes I'm so consumed by the thought of finding her killer that it's all I can do not to shake.

[ It's not soon after the words have left her mouth that she gets a little bashful, embarrassed from speaking about something she's rarely gotten a chance to verbalize. ]

I apologize, I imagine these aren't the sorts of things you'd want to hear about so early in the day. But it only felt fair to share when you did first.

[shinssin]

[ It's true. Even now, a thousand years after the Song dynasty's fall, he still wishes things were different.

It's a surprise when she says she feels the same. ]

... Nah, it's fine. [ He snorts. ] So you were human after all.

[ People love; that's why they struggle. But Assassin's not the type to dwell on philosophies. He only sees and feels. ]

That's good.

[exorcismo]

Good? Did I seem like I could have been anything else?

[ she says this despite so many non-human creatures in her own world taking on human forms. Still, she’s always separated herself from non-human beings entirely— they were either tools or enemies, she’d never even consider being looked at as anything else ]

And you? Were you not human?

[shinssin]

... Heheh.

[A cheeky grin. (Which means he is, kind of, but he's also an asshole with trust issues, so.)

He teleports, and he's suddenly relaxing on one of the nearby benches.]

Still, I didn't think you'd warm up to me so quickly! Am I your type or something?

[exorcismo]

[ She visibly jumps when he teleports and whips around to face him, all frazzled and what not. ]

Do you have to do that?

[ She's never going to get used to that. ]

Not to worry, I've cooled down significantly when you opened your mouth a few seconds ago.

[ So she's only gonna get real answered out of him like 30% of the time, got it!!! ]

1/2

[shinssin]

[It's fun.]

Hey, hey, you're killing me here, Eleanor.

[shinssin]

[But not long after, he cracks a smile.]

... Let's get breakfast. I'm starving!

[exorcismo]

[ She's not sure what kind of response she was expecting, but somehow it wasn't that ]

V-Very well then.

[ Cause she IS hungry after all, but she definitely gives him a LOOK ]

It's regrettable we don't have the means to cook for ourselves, but I'm growing quite fond of this "Starbucks".