infinite_reflection

"[Yes!]" Oh boy, another adventure to Greg's house! It was like Christmas and her birthday all wrapped into one! As she hoisted herself up, the sound of the front door unlocking echoed down the hallway. Seiya froze, staring out towards the door like it was foreign.

A tall man pushed his way inside, sliding his shoes off at the front entrance. He seemed to be holding a few Yamada Mart bags, making his way to the kitchen. The typical Japanese dynamics of 'I'm home!' didn't really apply to him, and he made no effort to call out for Seiya.

Was that a noise from the door? Maybe her dad was home. Greg wasn't worried, at least not at first, until he saw that his friend didn't look very confident at the moment. He opened his mouth to ask her why, then shut it, and then joined her in staring a little intensely at the door.

Was it okay for Seiya to have a friend over? To have a boy over? She seemed old enough, in Greg's opinion..! That didn't mean her father held the same one, though. Regardless of that he didn't want to -speak-, so instead the poor boy continued to look like a deer in the headlights, here.

Seiya stood up, looking more confused than afraid. She twiddled her thumbs, pacing her room for a moment. Turning to Greg, she spoke in a low voice, "He's never home when I'm awake."

The noises from the kitchen were that of Seiya's dad putting some things away, and started the oven. His footsteps could be heard down the hall, and he paused to open Seiya's door. The man looked young, but not as happy as he did in the pictures in the hallway. He stared at Greg as if he was some kind of animal. Getting over it, the man turned to Seiya. "3 to 8." Closing the door again, it was like he'd never been there.

"Is that bad?" The boy used an equally hushed voice, looking just as confused as Seiya, and kept his eyes on the door for the most part. It came to something like a crescendo with those footsteps down the hall, and then the older man opened her door and poor Greg just about lost his shit. He didn't get the nicest look, and expected something like yelling to follow it up, but then there were only three words (or two numbers and one word) and Seiya's dad was gone.

Greg exhaled a heavy sigh of relief, he'd been holding his breath for a moment there, and tried not to look too frazzled. It didn't really work! When he spoke, it was still pretty hushed. "Not a wordy guy, uh, huh? Heh..."

As Seiya's dad closed the door, her whole demeanor changed. She was back to herself, moving to her calendar quickly. Penciling in the information she'd just been given on tomorrow's date, she turned to him with a look of 'no shit.' "My dad doesn't usually even TALK to me. That right there was a phenomenon."

The phenomenon here was how normal everything suddenly was, in Greg's mind! How could one person go from looking so confused to so terribly normal in the span of one three word 'conversation'? He shook his head and blinked a few times, clearing his head of that, and then spoke up after a little clear of his throat. "Uh, that... That sucks, I'm sorry. You're not in trouble, right? I'd hate if, uh... Y'know, I got you into something like that."

Seiya circled the time as well, glancing back at Greg. "No, I'm not in trouble. That's my work schedule." She smiled awkwardly. This was the reason she rarely brought anyone over. "He usually just texts it to me."

"Oh, well that works, I guess." Right, in that moment of brief panic he'd gone and forgotten about the whole decorating thing. Everything seemed fairly normal now, so..? "Right after school then? I'll come by, uh... I would have anyway, but I'll do it now... Too." Was that nice? It had sounded nicer in his head. "Uh, right. Back to my apartment? Sorry we're walking a bunch."

"I look forward to it!" She grabbed her bag, filling it with tape and whatnot. It would come in handy for the decorating! "It's okay, I walk everywhere." Opening her bedroom door, it appeared that the laundry in the hallway was gone, and the door to Seiya's dad's bedroom was slightly ajar. Upon her exit, he would slide it completely shut though, the TV casting a glow on the floor.

Greg stood up from the bed, turning around to straighten out the sheets just a bit, then adjusted his own clothing and followed his friend out of her room. There was an awkwardness in the air, he had a feeling she was well aware of it, and it made idle chatter difficult to conjure up. "Uh... Hm." The front door wasn't far, and it'd probably get easier once they were out of a slightly oppressive environment. "You can come over any time. Like, to my apartment. Uh, if you want." More or less his way of saying 'it probably sucks here, so come to my less sucky place'.

"Oh really?" That certainly lifted her spirits! Sliding another pair of shoes on (seeing as the others were grimy), she waited for him to follow her before locking up the door. "I'll take you up on that!" Looking this way and that, she paused. "Which way is... from here?"

"Sure!" Too much enthusiasm; he dialed it back pretty quick with a little cough. "Not like there'll be tons to do, but y'know... Just, if you ever want to." Greg nodded firmly, that was enough before he dug himself into a hole and kept right on going, and took a moment to get his bearings before going... Left! "Uh, the apartments should be... Yamada Mart is this way, right? Okay, that means they're this way."

The walk was just as long as last time, about fifteen minutes, though Greg was more chatty this time so it might've gone by a little quicker. Sooner or later they'd arrived, and he mashed the elevator button in the lobby with a thumb before shoving his hands in his pockets to wait. "So, yeah. My favorite game is 'Snatcher', uh... It was only on the Sega CD, and it's pretty text-heavy. I don't, uhm... I don't think you'd like it all that much. Or anyone would, to be fair."

The conversation during the walk was a pleasant change of pace! Seiya was used to leading the talks between them, and was definitely surprised to see a chatty Greg. It was a good thing though, she was sure. By the time they reached his apartment building they were on the topic of video games. "[Snatcher]?" Seiya tapped her chin. "I'll look it up! You never know, maybe I'll love it." As the elevator doors swung open, she slid inside, leaning against the wall.

"Well, if you find it then I hope you do." He also hoped she liked reading, and tons of it. Greg stepped into the elevator after her and pressed the button for 10, then the doors slid shut and they were off. "Hard to emulate, too. If-- You know what, I can just come over and set it up one day, heh." He leaned on one of the walls while the elevator climbed, and when a 'ding' came from the little speaker near the console the boy shoved himself upright and they were off! Back to room 1001, which had apparently gained a little piece of paper hanging off of the door. "Oh... Uh, well, that means dad's home."

If Seiya inspected said door hanger, she'd find it was yellow and black and read 'CAUTION: MAN COOKING'. The warning seemed unnecessary, as the faint smell from inside was pleasant.

Following him down the hall, she raised both brows at the hanging sign. "Your dad's here?" Seiya brightened, wishing she'd been more prepared! Meeting his dad was a big deal to her, after all. Adjusting her bag over her shoulder, shifting from side to side, she sniffed the air curiously. "Wow that smells really good!"

Greg seemed much less enthused than Seiya in regards to meeting his father. It wasn't a situation anywhere near hers, so much so that he wouldn't even bother comparing them, but his father still embarrassed the hell out of the poor kid. "Uh, yeah. He's gotten better lately... At cooking, I mean." He knocked twice on the door and unlocked it, then stepped inside to give a greeting in English. "[I'm home, dad! And I brought a friend, so..!]"

"[Good afternoon, son! You wh-- You brought a friend?! Oh my, I'll be right there! Err, oh, oh dear!]" The older man certainly sounded excited, and definitely used a lot more emotion in his voice than his son. There was a clatter from the small kitchen area while he dropped something in the excitement, and after that had been picked up and haphazardly shoved on the small counter he stumbled out into the entranceway-slash-living room with a pretty goofy smile and a disheveled look about him.

Greg's dad, in all of his tall and lanky glory, was wearing what looked like a typical salaryman business suit with an apron that read 'KISS THE COOK' in English with a little heart below it over that. His hair was really quite curly and looked difficult to manage, accentuated by the fact that it clearly hadn't been managed and looked a little wild atop his head. The man wore a pair of glasses with pretty large lenses, and the prescription made his eyes look a little bigger through them. He lifted a hand to wave, realized it had a spatula in it, and then shoved that behind his back to wave with the other less occupied hand instead. "[Hello!] Er, that is... Good afternoon! Sorry, I'm used to speaking English here!"

Upon entering, the vibe in the apartment seemed to be a lot more lively than the last time she'd been there. Seiya slid her shoes off out of habit, taking in Greg's dad with wide, enthusiastic eyes. So much English! "[Hello!]" she replied with a polite bow, standing a bit behind Greg. Suddenly she found herself extremely nervous. "I'm Seiya Yamada. Sorry for intruding!"

"[Oh! You know English. Or you just copied me. Hmmm!] I'll use Japanese, okay?" The man was all smiles, and he offered the same polite bow in return once Seiya had given it. "You can call me Daniel-san, okay? Or Harman-san, if you'd prefer. And your name is..?"

Greg's dad did come off a little strong, so it wasn't surprising that she'd been caught more or less off-guard. The guy was excitable, easily so, and that was the most embarrassing part. Greg cleared his throat, glancing back to Seiya and then regarding his dad with a nod and a straight face. "Uh, Seiya-chan. That's her name, dad."

Seiya just stood completely still, never having met someone quite like Greg's dad. Not that that was a terrible thing! Cheeks flushed an embarrassed pink, Seiya squeezed her thumb and forefinger together, indicating a small ammount. "[Very tiny!] E-English that is!" Nervous Seiya was definitely a knew thing. "It's very nice to meet you, Harman-san." Would it be proper to talk about how great a friend Greg was? No no, that'd be overkill. She opted for just smiling.

"Right! Seiya-chan, it's good to meet you." Mister Harman certainly seemed a lot more fluent in Japanese than his son. There were no pauses, although he was still working on larger parts of the dialect. "Are you staying for dinner? You're lucky I always make enough for leftovers! .. Oh! It's going to burn-- It's nice meeting you, make yourself at home!" With that, he raced back into the small kitchen area and they heard another clatter with a gasp afterward. Nothing else, though, so apparently it wasn't too bad.

Poor Greg's cheeks were a little pink, matching his friend's, and he did his best to try and hide that. "He's, uh... God, I'm sorry. Heh." The boy rubbed the back of his head; it was pretty hard to hide the embarrassment. "Energetic. Really energetic."

"He's great!!" Seiya laughed happily, tugging Greg's arm to show it was all okay. "I wish my dad was that hands on! He seems really awesome." Shrugging her bag slightly off her shoulder, Seiya headed for his room. Waiting at the door, she started grabbing the tape. "Sorry I froze up, I really wasn't expecting that!"

Whew! A sigh of relief came from poor Gregory, and he looked leagues better after she apparently liked his dumb father. "I probably should have, uh, warned you. He tries really hard to be the cool dad sometimes..." He followed the girl to his now very barren looking room, but not before heading to the small pile of moving boxes and picking up the one he needed. The boy carted it into his room and then dropped it on his bed, afterward pulling it open to peek inside. "Yeah, here they are... My posters and stuff."

The bottom layer was clothing, clearly Greg's although not what he usually wore, that had not yet been unpacked either. Things like band t-shirts and other more relaxed outfits. Sitting on top were several movie and music posters as well as a few cheap trophies from sports he'd tried in his very early school years and some glossy pictures of him and his father together. One was particularly cute, with a young Greg holding up a fish he'd caught and smiling. D'aww!

"It's okay, I won't hold it against you." Playfully grinning, she began rolling little bits of tape into circles, placing them on the edge of her arm to keep them ready.

Peering into the box, she noted the unusual clothing. Betting that he'd look adorable in some of the band t-shirts, she pushed that thought away when he uncovered the pictures of him and his dad when he was younger. "AAAAH! [SO CUTE]!!" She lifted the image of little Greg and his fish, smiling from ear to ear. "Look at you!! [Adorable]!!"

Greg blinked at the odd reaction, then slinked his way around to peer over Seiya's shoulder. Oh, those old pictures... Pfff. Nothing was quite as embarrassing as his dad, so he couldn't even be mad. "Oh, uh, yeah. We ate that one. I think I liked it, dad said it was pretty big." That was back when his father was more or less a terrible cook, so they had to get the neighbor's husband to come over and grill the thing... A happy memory, more or less.

The boy pulled a likely unexpected assortment of music posters from the box, followed by an obviously thematic slew of gangster movies that he apparently enjoyed. Once again, there was little to be shy about after she'd seen his father, so Greg had no qualms about showing his apparent and slightly ill-suited interests. "I guess there's plenty of room on the walls, huh? You can just, uh... Use your best judgment on where to put them, y'know?"

"You ate it? That's so cool!" Seiya set the picture to the side for now, focusing more on the posters he'd gradually pulled out. Rap, gangster movies... it was just like everything she'd imagined! Turning them over, she began to press the little rolls of tape onto the corners, careful to center it so removal wouldn't tear them. With his permission, she went to it, plastering the images at odd angles so that they filled the room more than they normally would. At intervals she'd stop, switching a few around until she was pleased.

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