infinite_reflection

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!"

"Don't make me come up with excuses to stay in the apartment, pff." Was that playful sarcasm in his voice? It certainly sounded like it, and the boy leaned back in his seat with a little snort. "It's kept me busy, uh, either way. Playing newer releases is harder here, because uh... Well, they talk kinda quick unless I can stop and read the text." Greg looked mildly embarrassed at that, actually. Hard to follow the plot when subtitles went by quick and people talked even quicker!

Both brows raised at the playful banter. She didn't think he had it in him! Laughing, she almost slid face first into the water. Steadying herself, Seiya decided to start hopping on one foot. Apparently, this was level two of the game. "I could translate for you! You know, with my beautiful fluent English." Two could play the snappy game.

"Whoa, careful!" Seiya almost fell, and he sat up a little straighter... Looked like he wouldn't need to get up and save anyone from a flailing fit in the water, though. Not yet, anyway, considering she'd just started jumping on one foot! Christ. "Hope you've got good, uh... Good balance, Seiya-chan." Greg eyed her a little critically, now. "And, uh... Only if you did the voices, too. Think you could do the gruff American soldier, eh?"

Wobbling as her foot caught on her untied shoelace, Seiya cackled. She was all too close to falling in the questionable water, yet remained teetering on the last straw. "Thanks! I'm a [professional!]" Glancing over her shoulder at him, she narrowed her eyes. "We're out of time, captain!! There's no use!! [WE MUST FIGHT FOR THIS COUNTR--]EEEE!" Swiveling, she flopped straight into the murky fountain water.

Greg cracked something like a smile at her American soldier impression, though it turned more into a look of concern when it looked like she was actually falling. "Er, are you-- Uhh!" Sploosh, down she went, and the boy hopped up to run right over to the fountain. Thankfully it was nearby, though now that he actually got a look at the water in there it didn't look too healthy to be submerging any part of the human body in it. "[Shit], uh, here, here!" He offered his hand, then anchored one foot on the fountain's base to pull poor Seiya out when she managed to grab it. It meant a little bit of grime on his hand, and likely more of him, but oh well!

The kids playing ball stopped at the sound of Seiya's crash landing, running over to watch. "Are you okay, Onee-san!?"

Seiya just laughed from deep within, neither embarrassed or hurt. Just tickled. Grabbing Greg's hand, she allowed him to yank her out of the rather disgusting liquid. Hoisting her leg over the ledge, she finally stopped laughing, just watching him with a look of 'well, what can ya do?' "I true soldier will go down for their country, Guregori."

Shaking out his slightly grimy hand, Greg shook his head and put on a faint little grin at her, uh... 'Determination', go with that. "Uh huh. You've done your service, uh... I don't think you want a bunch of horrible unknown infections to show for it, though. Do you live near here? Probably need, like... A shower, and new clothes, uh... And all that." Hey, maybe they'd both get to see each others' houses today. Unless she went home alone, and that'd be totally okay! ... Or, he'd end up a little disappointed, admittedly. The boy was curious, was that a crime?

When he grinned, she couldn't help but flash one right back at him. Wiping the sludge off of her cheek, Seiya saluted him. "[God Bless America.] Lowering her hand, she tried wringing out her hair to no avail. Going home and changing sounded like a good plan!

"Good idea. Wanna come?" she bluntly offered to bring him along, seeing as he'd shown her his home.

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