infinite_reflection

Entry tags:

open rp

Lazy Days

It had been a few days since Seiya had been released from the hospital. Sitting outside Yamada Mart, she flipped through the images Greg had shown her a week prior. Mirror Mirror, huh? If there had been doubts about the connections between the crime and the paranormal world, this erased them. Unfortunately, they couldn't just run to a police station and spill their story. As it was, Seiya doubted her friends would even believe her, had they not seen it with their own eyes. Normally on her break she would venture out for some air. Today, however, Seiya remained on the bench outside her father's store, wrapped up in the mystery surrounding her life. Setting the gruesome images aside, she propped her feet up on the empty side of the seat, watching people come and go. A lazy day indeed. (Let's say this is before the current Shadow Kota battle. c: )

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"Hah! Only since he was born, yes. I think after sixteen years I've finally managed 'decent'!" Mr. Harman laughed, glancing back at the pot, and then up at the timer above the stove right before it went off. "Well! It should be ready, then. Can you set the table, Greg?" The man pulled the lid off of the pot, almost sticking his face into the billowing cloud of steam but thankfully leaning back (a little dramatically) just in time to not get nice and scalded. "Hmm! Heat might've been too high. Shouldn't matter!"

Greg rolled his eyes, sliding open a nearby drawer to fetch three sets of utensils and pulling a few napkins from the plastic wrapping they hadn't bothered to discard... Hilariously, it was right next to what should have been the designated wooden napkin holder. Was it too obvious that two lazy men lived here? Well, one lazy kid and his mostly absent father... Either way. "Yeah. Let's, uh, take our seats, Seiya-chan." He beckoned her to follow him back into the entryway-slash-living room, then set the silverware and napkins down before taking a seat. "I'm going to warn you now, uhh... Dad's home cooking is never very pretty."

Giggling, she followed Greg obediently when he beckoned. Scratching her head, she watched him set the table. It was a bit foreign to her, the whole eating as a family thing, but if there was anywhere to try it, it'd be here! "I'm sure it's great. I've been living off Yamada Mart bentos for the majority of my life, so I'm guessing anything is better at this point." Giving him two thumbs up, she looked at the seating arrangements. "Where should I...?"

"We've got chopsticks, uh... If you'd rather have those, too. It's kinda like a stew, so." Greg shrugged, ready to get up and fetch those if she needed them regardless. "Anywhere, really. Dad sits across from me, so... Left or right, looks like you'll be, uh... In between." He gestured to either seat, only four at this relatively small table, and then leaned back in his seat a little bit. There were a few 'ooh's and 'agh's of apparent pain in the kitchen, though nothing that sounded serious... Mr. Harman had a serious problem with accidentally touching pots, and they hadn't invested in a pair of oven mitts yet.

In between two americans. All kinds of dreams were coming true today! Sliding into the closest seat of the two options, she folded her hands politely in her lap. The noises worried her only slightly, and Seiya leaned over to try and catch a glimpse of Greg's dad's battle with their dinner. "I see...!"

Poor Daniel Harman was fighting with that pot, trying to hold one of its woefully metal handles while also ladling stew into rather large bowls. In the end he escaped with only some pinkish fingertips that'd be sore for a few minutes, thankfully! He came out of the kitchen with an apologetic smile and the two kids' bowls down first, then went to fetch his own.

The first thing that might strike Seiya is how horrible the dish before her looked. Brownish yellow with some unidentifiable chunks... An odd consistency too, like a stew but just a little thicker. A quick glance to Gregory would show that he looked just as wary, and he dipped his spoon in to lift up a chunk and let it drop back into the slop-like broth. "Uhhh... Like I said. Not always pretty..."

Seiya watched the poor man enter with two big bowls, setting one before each of them before disappearing again. To be perfectly honest, the plop of whatever Greg'd scooped out wasn't exactly comforting. But she'd eaten weirder, and always the polite girl in front of company, she stuck her spoon in and examined the food while the cook wasn't present. "Well, they say that effort is wasted in presentation!" No, no they don't. But it came from a good place, either way. "Thank you very much for having me!"

"Well, I'll give it a try first. If it's no good, we can head out... Uh, dad isn't the type to get offended. He knows he's not that good, heh." Greg dug his spoon in again, lifting out a chunk, and gave Seiya a little nod before sliding it into his mouth and furrowing his eyebrows. Hmmmmmmm. He shifted the spoon around in his mouth for a moment or two, eyes slightly narrowed... "Hmmmm." The boy dragged it on, taking the spoon out of his mouth and then rubbing at his chin... Before an errant snort gave it away, and then he cracked something like a smile. "It's good, uh, I'm kidding. Dig in, it's just chicken with cornbread. Ever had that?"

"Okay!" She gave him a serious nod, watching Greg intently as he took the first bite. What a brave soldier! Digging her fingertips into the edge of the table, Seiya leaned slightly forward as he dragged on his reaction. Completely mesmerized, his sudden snort made her jump. "Tch!! You had me worried!" Slapping his arm playfully, she grabbed her spoon, testing the waters. It wasn't half bad!

Mr. Harman stepped into the room after that little smack, all smiles as usual, and took his seat across from Greg just as the boy had predicted. He'd removed the apron, now just in a suit and tie, and clasped his hands together for a small 'grace' before digging right in. "So, this is your friend then? Are you in the same class?"

Greg ate a little slower than his father, who was doing so like a much hungrier man, and just shrugged at the question. There was a weird silence; apparently he wasn't going to be the one to answer!

Chewing slowly, she ate at about the same pace as her friend, swinging her feet gently beneath the table. Sure, things were a bit uncomfortable, but nothing too soul crushing. That is until the parent questions started rolling in.

"Ah... no, I'm a fourth year." Seiya scrunched up her nose. Man she felt old.

"Oh! How nice. You must not see each other too often, then? Or do you meet after school?" When he wasn't talking, the man was shoveling stew into his mouth. It was one aspect of a lifestyle where he really didn't like to waste time, if only because so little of it was often free! The fact he was home for dinner at all was about a 'once every two weeks' occurrence.

Greg spoke up this time, thankfully making this a bit less awkward. "Uh, nah. She works at Yamada Mart, I stop by there most days when I come home from school. Sometimes we hang out then, uh, so... Almost every day."

Blowing on the spoonful in front of her, she took another hearty bite, grinning all the while. It was nice that Greg had stepped in to answer the next one, giving her time to prepare her thoughts. "Mmhm!" was about all she could contribute, not looking up from her bowl.

It was easy to see that Mr. Harman was very happy about this, though it was probably embarrassing his son just a bit with how enthusiastic he was over it. "Very nice! [Awesome!] He hasn't been a little stinker, has he?" It was obvious from the man's tone that he was joking, "But no, Greg has always been a good boy. Good grades, too!"

Poor Gregory just about choked at the mention of his grades, and straightened up in his seat afterward. "Not -that- great."

"Oh he's really smart, I can tell." Seiya nodded seriously, eating a bit more of the surprisingly tasty dinner. He had mentioned being smart, and who was she not to take what he said as truth? "And he's a really good boy! I enjoy his company a lot." For whatever reason, that made her cheeks hot, and she opted for shoving more goop in her mouth before she further embarrassed herself.

Greg's cheeks had a pink tint to them, though it was almost entirely because they were talking about his school performance. It was a weird subject for him; good grades were awesome but he still felt like an absolute nerd whenever they were brought up. Not a good feeling! He chose instead to follow Seiya's lead and jam more questionably-food into his mouth.

Which was good, because his father still had plenty to say! "Wonderful, wonderful! [Cooool.] How do you like our apartment? I'm sure it's not quite what you're used to, and we're not done unpacking just yet!"

Pushing a particular lump in circles, Seiya averted the eyes of both Harman men, biting her lip a bit. "It's really nice, even like this. That's why I was here today, actually, to help decorate and unpack." She smiled to herself, scratching at her cheek nervously. "I live in a more traditional home, so it's nice to see what apartments are like."

"Oooh, traditional! Greg, you'll have to tell me how it is if you ever visit." Mister Harman had finished his first bowl, and scooted his chair back with a smile. "I'm going to get a second helping! Thank you for helping my son spice up his room, by the way." He nodded and then stepped (or more like skipped) back into the kitchen.

"He's a little nosy, uh, sorry." Greg looked to Seiya a little apologetically. He twirled his spoon in one hand, looking a bit more relaxed at the moment, and tilted his head just a bit. "He's not usually home much, so if you do come by you can, uh... Pretty safely assume he won't be here." He apparently considered that a positive, based on his tone of voice.

Watching Greg's dad skip away, she felt her muscles ease up. The pressure to be a good kid lifted, and she slouched a bit. "He seems really nice, just..." Seiya glanced towards the kitchen to be sure she wasn't heard. "... wow I'm terrified I'll say something stupid." Laughing at herself, she slid her now almost empty bowl away, wiping her mouth with her napkin.

"Oh, heh. He's not gonna flip or anything if you do, really. Still, uh... I think I know what you mean, yeah." Greg had a final spoonful of the stew-slash-slop and then pushed his own bowl away with a content sigh. "I guess that was pretty good. Better than usual, actually. We can probably, uh... Flee to my room when he comes back, if you want." He really wouldn't judge her poorly for it, either!

"I am very much up for that." She gave a solemn nod, a strange question popping up in her head. "Hey, does your dad know about...?" Seiya gestured wildly at the air, "The whole mirror thing?"

Greg gave her an odd look, like that should've had a really obvious answer, and then shook his head quickly. "No, uh, of course not..! I don't think he'd really understand, uh..." Granted, of the parents he'd seen (Seiya's, Miho's), his dad would probably the one to react the most reasonably. Of course, Mister Harman would also be far too busy to do anything to help, even if he did believe his son.

"Ah... I didn't think so! I just didn't want to accidentally say something, you know?" Seiya took a mental note, rubbing her neck like she wasn't really sure if she had wanted to even bring it up. "My dad doesn't know either. Not like that's surprising."

Hmmm. Yeah, he didn't think anyone would be telling their parents about this... A little weird that no one outside of their school or even older than them knew anything about this. Or maybe someone did, and they just hadn't met them yet! A lot to think about, and a lot Greg didn't want to consider right now. "Heh, yeah. Well, uh, I think it's probably gonna stay between us--"

Dad was back! He stepped in with a smile, setting his once again full bowl on the table and then pulling up a seat. "Keep what between you two, huh?" He looked between the two of them, a moment of incredibly awkwardness, and then just laughed. "I'm only kidding, of course. Kids don't tell their parents everything, heh, that's just how it is! No worries."

When Greg's dad re-entered, Seiya quickly shut up about any and all things related to the mirror world. Nudging Greg's leg with her own, she hoped it passed a signal of ixnay on the irrormay, though she probably didn't have to warn him at all. "E-Eheh!" A nervous chuckle was all she could manage before standing. "Thank you very much for dinner, Harman-san. I think we have a few more posters to put up, though!" Anything to get out of the room.

"Of course!" The man's smile only got wider at the thank you. "Feel free to come around any time you'd like. And good luck with your, posters, there! Just pretend I'm not here. I was a kid once too, you know!" He nodded and dug back into his meal, leaving the two kids to do what they would.

... What he thought they were doing was a little unclear. That last bit had Greg staring a little awkwardly at his father, though after a moment he just shook his head and stood up. The boy beckoned Seiya to follow him and retreated back to his room with one hand over his face. "So, that's my dad. And, uh, and his cooking."

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