bittybat | (no subject)

[ The more she gets to see of Damian, the more Kisa wonders about what kind of life he's led before coming here. And indeed, she looks both curious and confused, looking from him to his growing log pile.

Hm. Maybe this was a bad time. ]

Sorry... if I'm interrupting... I can come back later.

You aren't. [How she'd know her company is unwanted would be the fact he hadn't even looked up to acknowledge her. He probably would have said, "What do you want?" instead of "Hey."] Did you come for food?

[It doesn't sound condescending. He's aware she's staying with Sierra, a woman he's fairly certain is a vampire. Kisa wouldn't have the same dietary habits.]

[ Honestly, that's what Minato is for. So Kisa shakes her head, relaxing in the knowledge that at least she isn't being a hindrance. Old habits die hard. ]

I came for you.

[ ... A beat. Wait. ]

I wanted to... try a quest, I mean. With you. If that's okay...

[At first, he looks... surprised and confused all at once, but then the expression levels out when she clarifies. Lord, you can't just say you came for him, Kisa. Not after all they've been through.]

Alright. [Ha ha, just a quest. It's fine.] What quest were you intending on doing?

[ But she wasn't lying?? ]

... The one with the bell, and making a wish. It said it was in the woods, so...

[ Well, if she went without him and told him later, she gets the feeling he wouldn't be too happy about her doing it. But also-- ]

I think I'll be okay, if you're with me.

[Hm. The wish quest. He glances thoughtfully to the side, and then looks back when he raises his arm to wipe it along his brows and forehead.]

Alright. [He doesn't know what bullshit the town will pull, but it wouldn't hurt to at least try the quest, he supposes. The worst they could get is, what? A stupid "sexy Halloween costume"? Lumps of coal?] Hang on.

[Without any flashy show, he pops the axe blade into the round, flat piece of wood to leave it. At the side of the cottage, there's already a small stack of split wood. Damian hauls all he's cut over to stack it appropriately, then covers it with a piece of wide cloth. A tarp would be way better, keeping it dry, but... this'll do.

And then he motions for her to follow along.] Ready. I won't take anything. We should be fine. [If he can kill a man with his hands, they should not run into problems.] Come on.

[ What if they meet a bear, though. Can Damian Wayne wrestle a bear.

Kisa watches him quietly, still kind of surprised that he's apparently been doing all of this on his own. Hm. Well, it's Damian, so the surprise isn't that much, and when he starts moving, she trots after him. ]

Thank you. I can... help you carry the wood when you get back to it.

[ Since he was clearly busy with it when she showed up. ]

[Damian Wayne will absolutely, one hundred percent wrestle a bear and win.]

I can handle it. But if you need wood at your house, we can carry some there. [He's not sure if Sierra can be cold much less care about anyone else being cold. She had been in a rather skimpy outfit in the chilly forest that one night, but she had claimed she would cover up if she had something.

Maybe Sierra would know to keep their place warm.] You're at least not wandering around outside without proper attire.

... I got sick, after we came back to the town from that castle. I didn't want that to happen again.

[ So now she's warmly bundled and a lot more cautious as she steps into the woods, glancing around in the slight fear that Akito is simply just going to melt into existence from out of nowhere.

This doesn't happen, and she releases a silent sigh of relief. Okay. Bell. ]

[When his head turns back, all he does it kind of stare at her for a moment or two before focusing again on leading the way.

Her disappearance was... a tad lonely, in a way, but he isn't the kind of person to be attached to someone at the hip. He has a lot of autonomy, and he assumes everyone else should, too. If Kisa hadn't come around, it was fine. If she had, there would've been too many weird feelings they hadn't sorted out.]

There's a country above Croatia called Slovenia. At the top border is Lake Bled, and there's a legend about ringing a church bell three times to make a wish come true.

[He doesn't know if it's based on the same thing, and he's skeptical about wishes, but... here he is, winding them through the chilly, dim, whispering forest.]

What are you wishing for?

[ ... Oh. She hadn't thought there was actually a legend behind ringing a bell that isn't exactly related to the town, but maybe she shouldn't be surprised. The mirrors had come from a fairy tale, too. Maybe there's some value in going to the library one day to read up on more of them, just in case.

Kisa's quiet for a long moment, though, her eyes resting on the ground as they proceed. It... might confuse him, given how fervently she's searched for her family, and how homesick she gets. Her family has a bond, one she can't break, and to be this far apart from it has troubled her for months. But... ]

... For the Sohma family to never come here.

[Ah... Right in the feels. This is fine. He won't look at her for some time, instead continuing to press forward without briskly treading ground and losing her. In theory, it sounds great. It's a thought he's had plenty of times, one he has now again that he's by himself.

If they're at home, they're safer, is what he thought.] I doubt you'll have any control over that. [Sorry for being a Debbie Downer.] However.

Being here with you might not be such a bad outcome. If they're your family, and if you have a strong bond, you are already a step ahead of some of the others who arrive alone. You would be closer to finding the hen.

I don't think the love the town wants us to acknowledge is only romantic love.

I know... I thought about that, too.

[ Because she did have bonds here. People she cared about, without it being romantic in the slightest. And she thinks if Hatsuharu or Kagura were here...

But then she thinks about Akito, and she thinks about her mother freezing over, put into danger, and slowly her hands ball into tight, troubled fists. ]

I'm... selfish, though. I don't want them... to be in danger here. Or to be separated... from the rest of our family.

And I don't want Akito-san to come here and...

[ Hurt her friends. Make her feel worthless. That thought scares her more than anything. ]

[This is what Damian can understand; not wanting family to be in danger, or separated, or tortured.] Mn. [It's an acknowledgment. Even if this Akito is something like family, Damian gets not wanting them here, too.

What if the town brought some of the criminals? Two-Face, Joker--it had already yanked Catwoman, though that woman and relationship is trickier.

He's quiet, and then, he offers:] I don't want my family to be here either. It's better for them to be in Gotham where they're safe. [Oh.] Look.

[He's come to a stop. They came quicker than he expected, and came with less trouble than he had imagined. Maybe their stint through the forest before was enough. (Maybe it'll get them on the way back.)] The bell. [Silver and about as big as their heads, small enough the ring will probably be high and soft. It looks like someone tied it to a tree.]

[ He gets it, at least. Even though she can remember what he'd been like when his father had disappeared.

Kisa pauses, gazing at the bell... and then glances at Damian, a little uncertainly. She'd never asked if he had a wish, but there's no better way to test it than both of them making one, right? ]

Can... can you go first?

[ She has to decide. On whether to wish for her family or if that's even something that will work, since Damian doesn't seem all that convinced that it will. Maybe that's beyond the town's capability. ]

[Dammit. Damian gives her a kind of momentary, disgruntled glance then peers up at the bell again. He doesn't want to go first because he hasn't thought a lot about it.

It feels... useless. Fickle? Like a birthday wish. Something required, but something that holds zero merit. Should he wish for something intangible? Proof of Jon's safety? No, that only means he didn't believe Jon had returned home alright. A clue to help them find the hen? Break the curse? Would the town even hold up that end of the bargain or would it be a waste?

He steps forward and stands beneath the bell with his hand on the rope and his head tipped back, eyes looking up. After an exceedingly long, considering moment, he jerks the rope lightly and rings the bell, letting the echo of it spill out through the woods.]

I wish for... a bottle of strawberry Ramune soda.

[what]

...

[ Kisa, if asked, would have honestly stated that she didn't expect that. Here she is, worrying about an intangible wish, concerned that her family would get caught up in this, and Damian just. Wishes for a bottle of soda. In a matter-of-fact voice, like it's only natural that this is what he would have asked.

It's such a strange thing to hear from him, and before she can help it, a startled laugh escapes. Very quietly, and she quickly presses a hand to her mouth to curb anything else, but.

Oops. ]

[Her laugh startles him because he hasn't really heard her do much of it, and his head swivels around almost like he forgot she had been there? He was Too Focused.

This makes him... somewhat embarrassed, but more exasperatedly again than anything else.] What's so funny? [Don't laugh at his good boy deed...] Maybe I enjoy soda. [Damian doesn't look like the type of person to enjoy anything much less enjoy and drink soda.]

It isn't for me.

[ That's honestly fair, because this is actually the first time Kisa's laughed since she came here. And she at least has the courtesy to look apologetic, while... smiling. OOPS. ]

I'm sorry... I was just surprised. But that was kind of you.

[ ... Maybe that's it. Maybe she needs to think about making a wish for someone else's sake and save the second wish for when she can think more about it. ]

[Damian and kindness don't belong in the same sentence, shh.

Stepping back, he offers her the rope without moving it enough to ring the bell.] Dextera was trying to make soda for Ichinose. [This isn't for Guren!!! IT'S FOR DEXTERA, FOR REAL.] Your turn.

Have you decided? You can wish for something from home that you don't have here, if you want.

[ He literally just wished for something for someone else, that's the epitome of being kind?? Damian????

Kisa studies the bell for a long moment, turning that idea over in her head. Something from home... there isn't really anything. Except maybe her mom's or Tohru's cooking, but that seems kind of like a silly wish to make. Besides, if Damian's making a wish for his friend...

That decides her, and she gives the rope a firm tug, looking up at the bell as it rings. ]

I wish... for Damian to get something important from home. So he isn't as lonely.

[ Ah, well. Yolo. ]

[What THE.] N-- [One hand lifts, barely. It's too late. The bell rings first, and as soon as she says the words, there isn't anything he can do. The contract is sealed.]

Nn. [He doesn't seem mad... maybe frustrated.] Why did you do that? You were supposed to wish for something for yourself.

[Shit. He's gonna have to find someone else to drag to make a wish so he can give Kisa something. Or, like, think of something he can do himself.]

[ Kisa (calmly, quietly, sincerely) does what she wants. That's why. As she lets go of the rope, she turns to look at him with a slightly curious cant of her head. ]

You didn't wish for yourself.

[His sigh is the hissing, pained sigh of one who has just had their friend playfully rebuke them.] Not the point. Do as I say, not as I do, girl. [It's... touching, and he doesn't want to admit it.] At least there's two wishes. You have another one you can try.

For yourself. [laugh_track.mp3] You could have wished for something for someone else. [More deserving, he thinks? Does Kisa know anyone else besides Sierra, he wonders.]

[ She does, but in terms of close friends, well. That's a little tougher.

For now, though, Kisa simply frowns. She can get why he'd want her to wish for herself, because Damian's like that. But telling her she ought to have wished for something for anyone else except him... ]

... Damian.

[ ... ]

You don't... really like yourself, do you?