infinite_reflection

"[Sore bay...]" Seiya took another quick turn, used to travelling at her own pace. "Ooooh hot dogs sound good. eating dessert before lunch, watch out we might get arrested." She played it off with a straight face, nearing the district Miho lived in.

"Uh huh. We'll keep an eye out for the food police." Greg was the king of the straight face, of course, and maintained it with no problem. "Besides, ice cream in the middle of the day is more like a snack." He was watching Seiya a little more closely, thankfully, and wasn't thrown off as terribly by the sudden turn. Regardless, the boy made a mental note to never accept a ride from her...

"They like to hide, you know. In your food. Like the borrowers." Seiya lead him to a little hole in the wall, the yellow sign outside hand painted. All in all, much like the bookstore, it looked out of place. Holding the door open, a little jingle played over the speakers.

Well, this seemed familiar. Seiya definitely seemed to know all those mom-n-pop hidden gem-type stores, didn't she? Greg couldn't complain, it was a better way to get the local 'flavor' than any franchised or chain store. The little jingle that played was catchy, and he stepped in afterward to get a good look around. The boy halfway expected there to be another old couple behind the counter, jeez!

Nestled behind the counter was a boy much younger than the duo! In fact, he couldn't be more than ten. Adjusting the hat way too big for a person his size, he peered at them through the glass covering the ice cream.

Seiya greeted him with a fistbump, nodding to him. The boy glared up at Greg, pointing a neon bandaided finger at him. "Who's this?!"

Tilting her head up, Seiya narrowed her eyes. "He's with me, ya dig?"

The little boy sized Greg up, nodding. "Okay, he can stay."

An apparently exclusive ice cream club run by what looked like a nine year old... Greg was learning to accept the odd people that Seiya knew and the situations they got him in, and this was no different. "Uhh..." Was he really being eyed suspiciously by a little kid, here? Apparently he passed the little boy's test, at least. "Yeah, nice to meet you. I'm Greg."

Gregory shifted his gaze up to look at the menu; he'd expected something crazy and outlandish but most of the flavors looked more or less normal. He really needed to stop expecting everything here to be backwards and crazy! Everything was the same, mirrors and shadows notwithstanding.

The boy climbed up on the counter, extending his little bandaged hand towards Greg. "I'm Sho!" Brow furrowed, he still gave Greg and eat shit glare.

Seiya, however, was distracted by the large toppings display. That is until she noticed Greg eyeing the menu. Grinning, she pointed through the glass a uniquely colored container. "That's the watermelon one I was telling you about!"

Glancing back down the little boy, he found that dubious expression hadn't changed. Well, all right... Greg wasn't about to feel threatened by a nine year old, but it was cute that he was trying. "Uh... Gregory. I know that's a little hard for, uh... Around here, so Seiya-chan just calls me G-kun." He took little Sho's hand and shook it, then gave him a nod before looking to where his friend was pointing. "Oh? Huh, looks all right." A nice color, at least.

It didn't look like they had birthday cake here, so he might have to settle for that. Trying new things never hurt, and Greg liked the flavor of watermelon so it could hardly disappoint him. "Probably get a cup, uh... Getting it in the cone is always messy."

Sho pulled a little stool to the glass casing, jumping up on it before opening the little hatch that exposed the cool air. Taking a scoop, he plopped two in a couple of paper cups. Sticking a little plastic spoon in each ice cream mountain, Sho offered the treats to his customers.

"[Gregory?] Babies can pronounce that!"

Seiya puckered her lips, obviously hurt by him pointing this out. "... Anyways." Pulling her coin purse out, she paid for their ice cream.

Greg took his cup of ice cream with a nod in thanks, turning to Seiya and starting to go for his wallet... Turned out she was quicker, or at least got there first, and he dropped his arm to his side with a quiet sigh. One day he'd pay for something! "Heh, uh... Maybe it's harder for some people than others." The least he could do for that little payment was back his friend up, eh?

After a quick glance around the little ice cream shop, Greg turned back to the girl and scratched his head with his free hand. "Did you want to eat here, or uh..."

Glancing at him, a little appreciative smile spread across her face. Pleased points for Gregory! Where would they eat? Good question! Seiya slipped a spoonful of ice cream into her mouth, wincing at the cold. "We could go anywhere, really." That seemed a bit indecisive of her, so she opted for opening the door. "Like the park! Have I shown you the park yet?"

"Uh... No, I haven't seen it. Thanks again, Sho-... kun..?" That was correct, he was almost certain. If not, he'd offended one of Seiya's little friends! Oh well. Greg was out the door and exhaled with some relief, then slid a spoonful of the ice cream into his mouth to give it a taste. Hmmm... The furrow of the boy's eyebrows showed that he was indecisive for a moment, but then they lifted and it was clear that he was pleased. "Tastes good. A little sweet, but uh... I like it."

Watching him curiously, she waited for Greg's reaction. It seemed positive, so she pumped her fist with a pleased grin. "Toldya! I'm glad you like it." Down the street a ways, an iron gate lead to a wonderfully colorful park. The centered fountain, though a bit old and cracked, was still in tact, pumping water half-heartedly. Heading towards a bench, Seiya took a seat, chewing the chocolatey seeds in the ice cream.

The park wasn't quite as far as he'd thought, only a block or two away, and by the time they'd reached it Greg had finished one scoop of his ice cream. The guy usually didn't waste time eating things like this, and wasn't particularly prone to brain freeze either, so... "Huh. This place seems nice." A little empty, and probably not the sort of park they'd put on a brochure, but definitely not terrible.

Greg took a seat beside Seiya and leaned back on the bench, taking a look around and then sliding another spoonful of ice cream into his mouth. "I didn't really go to any parks like this, uh, back home." He didn't go anywhere back home that wasn't school or the house, to be fair, but that would've sounded lame if he'd said it.

Seiya was certainly enjoying her ice cream! Her lips were already raspberry tinted. Nearby a few kids played on the swings, but other than that the park was mostly deserted.

When Greg took a seat beside her, she nudged his arm. "I came here when I was little, like, all the time." The culture barrier between them wasn't large, but definitely there. While Greg spent time at home and whatnot, Seiya had been practically forced to join clubs and spend time doing other things.

"Oh yeah? Huh..." Greg had the double-edged sword of privilege that was a busy single parent, meaning he had a lot of time to do what he wanted! Of course, what he wanted ended up being sitting in his room and playing video games, so there was that. "I played outside when I was really little, but not after third grade or so." He scratched at his cheek and then had another spoonful with a noncommittal shrug.

Hmmm... The boy was curious, but didn't want to come off like he was thoroughly interested in her life or anything. "What was, uh... How was growing up? Like, around here, anyway. That's probably a lot different than America."

Imagining a little Greg playing around in the clean cut, picket-fenced America made her smile widen. How adorable! Scooping up a bigger spoonful, she scrunched her nose at the cold.

What was growing up like? Seiya shuffled her feet in the grass, "Odd, I guess." She shrugged, the topic obviously a bit hard for her to wrap her words around. "There was this huge pressure from my dad to go out and be a part of as many things as possible; to know as many people as I could. He always said who you knew defined you." Seiya nodded, spitting out one of the chocolatey melon seeds as if it were real. "So I wasn't allowed to come home until it was dark, right? I'd say I was at club and just play here."

Judging by the slight crease in his forehead, that sort of lifestyle was a little odd to Greg. Worrying, even, and he hoped it wasn't the norm around here or anything. "I guess you were a pretty busy kid, then? Or, uh... I guess he thought you were, anyway." That sounded a lot worse than his little predicament, actually! Ironically the reverse, too, given she was forced to have time apart from her family. "I guess playing here would be fun, uh, anyway." Something told him not after a few days in a row of it. There was probably more to Seiya than he'd originally figured, ehh.. Heh.

"Really different than my childhood though, yeah. A lot more, uh... Relaxed, to say the least."

The fountain trickled, the streams losing power before spraying hard again. This place could definitely use a Leslie Knope, but it wasn't likely that anyone really remembered it existed. A little red ball rolled up to the pair, a tiny little girl jogging after it. Seiya kicked it up towards her, and she smiled appreciatively before rejoining her friends.

Tossing her now empty ice cream cup in the trashcan beside the bench, Seiya shrugged. "I made up a lot of games to pass time with." She smiled, trying to push the conversation slightly off the Yamada path. "Relaxed, huh? What did you do as you got older?"

Greg followed suit, dropping his empty cup into a nearby (and very full, maybe they could use a better janitorial service too) trash can. "What did -I- do? Oh, uh... Hmm." It would be difficult to phrase this without basically saying 'I became really anti-social', but he'd wing it as he went. The boy turned his attention to the kids now playing with their ball rather than Seiya, only so her potential reactions couldn't mess with his flow.

"Well, uh... I used to like school a lot, I guess. I wasn't really a smart kid, but uh... Advanced? I guess. I learned a lot of stuff really early, so it made it look like I was really smart and junk." Greg leaned further back on the bench, rubbing his chin and going abnormally slow with this little explanation. Hopefully she could dismiss it as his usual language barrier shenanigans. "It was a lot of pressure, I guess? For a kid, anyway. I, uh... Either way, I ended up liking video games and stuff. So, I did that a lot and now I still do." So the end wasn't exactly believable, and it obviously wasn't all there was to it, but it'd have to do as long as she didn't stick her nose in any further.

The kids giggled as they passed the ball from one to another. Seiya just listened, keeping comments and reactions to herself until he was finished. His story seemed... lacking. There was probably a lot that he'd left out, but it felt weird to press. For now, anyway. "I knew it." She nodded slowly. "I could tell, you're really smart." Seiya played with her hair, twirling it between her fingertips. "Did you have a lot of friends?" Was that too nosy? After all, he was the coolest guy she knew so, it was probably just safe to assume he did.

"Uh... Ehh. Not really, anymore... I learn quickly, I guess, but it's not like I pay attention in class..." Learning quickly was more or less the definition of someone who was smart, but nevermind that. The part about not paying attention was true, but that was because he'd studied pretty far ahead in the textbooks already. Tests were easy when he'd done that, and so... Err, friends? Well, that was certainly a question. "... Uhhh..."

Greg had to be honest here, he supposed. "Well... Nah. I didn't have any back home, and, uh... I've got you here, and Miho-san. And, uhh..." Well, he didn't know Ren very well. Or Seung Mi, for that matter... They were just people he'd met in passing. "That'sss it. I guess."

"Trust me, nobody pays attention in class." Seiya giggled at her own comment, shaking her head. It shouldn't have been funny, but in a city like this, well, they weren't exactly well known for test scores.

"Yep!~ You have us." Seiya put her hand on his shoulder, then felt like that was a bit much and retracted it. "And I have you two!"

If she was implying that she didn't have (m)any friends either, Greg would color himself surprised. The girl definitely seemed sociable, a lot moreso than him anyway, so that came as a surprise... Even if it was only an assumption. Hmmm. "Well, I'm uh... Happy I made a few friends, yeah. Been outside the house already more than I have in the last year, I think." A bit sad when he thought about it, but Greg tended not to dwell on thoughts like that.

Seiya hopped up, deciding to climb up on the fountain and tip-toe her way around the rim. Arms out to hold her balance, she watched her feet as she slowly put one in front of the other. Was this a game she played as a kid? "I'll have to make up more excuses to get you out, then!"

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