Appointment Post

[the_brightest_sun]

✉ Ⓐppointment Ⓟost ✉

☏ CALL JOURNAL
✍ WRITTEN MESSAGE
⇄ ACTION

Permanent post for small IC messages or encounters for the_brightest_sun @ luceti.
When replying to this post please mark the date in the subject line.

[Action, March 11th]
[Voice, September 8th]
[Written, June 10th]

Comments

[Action, November 23rd]

[shadedsunlight]

[Back to normal, life proceeds as normal. There's a light spring in Ginia's step as she heads toward Community House 3 with a small stack of children's picture books. With Thanksgiving in a few days and December just a little over a month away, a book on holidays from her world seems like a nice choice of reading material for the day. Lots of fun pictures to look at and maybe a bit of preparation for what the next month may bring.

When she arrives at the apartment, she knocks on the door and waits.]

[Action, November 23rd]

[justonename.livejournal.com]

[Everyone is gone. Not gone, gone but doing their own things. Ryoga is lost somewhere, Ukyo is at the restaurant, Ranma is somewhere else, and Goku's all alone at the apartment peeking at his journal and drawing pictures in another notebook. At least until someone knocks and the kid goes to open Ginia, smiling brightly at her sight and letting her enter.]

Hello, Ginia-neesan! Welcome!

[Action, November 23rd]

[shadedsunlight]

[Ginia returns the smile and gives him a fond pat on the head. She shifts her arm to reach into her book bag, where not do the books wait, but she's brought some treats; a box of chocolate chip cookies that will be taken out and handed to him. Hey, it's okay to spoil him once in awhile. (Or in her case, all the time.)]

[Action, November 23rd]

[justonename.livejournal.com]

[Goku laughs in delight at the pat and moves to make sure his drawings aren't in the way or anything before he's handed the box. It takes only a second to know what it is.]

Cookies! Thank you Ginia-neesan!! They are for me, right? Right? Can we eat some now together?

[Can he eat some even if she doesn't want some?]

[Action, November 23rd]

[shadedsunlight]

[Ginia smiles and nods, taking the moment to get her notepad and pen out.]

Yes, they're for you, and sure, we can have some. Not too many though.

I brought some books we can read together.

[Action, November 23rd]

[justonename.livejournal.com]

[Another good thing of being friends with Ginia besides his reading ability improving naturally, is that it helps make Goku a bit more patient. After all no matter how fast she can be, it still takes a bit to take out her notepad and write whatever she wants to say. The kid waits patiently and smiles brightly at the answer.]

Books? What they are about?

[Action, November 23rd]

[shadedsunlight]

[Instead of writing out a response, Ginia reaches into her bag and pulls out one of the books. It's very bright and festive, a mixture of happy kids and assorted items from various holidays; a Christmas tree in the background, a menorah, a kinara, the sort of things you'd expect from a multicultural holiday book.]

There are some big holidays in my world celebrated in December, so I thought it'd be a fun thing to learn about. I wouldn't be surprised a few, among other holidays from other worlds, were celebrated here.

[Action, November 23rd]

[justonename.livejournal.com]

[Happy kids and bright colors, whatever the book is about it has to be something good! The kid reaches to take the book from her hands.]

December... That's next month, right? The last month of the year? Why does it have big holidays? Are they like that Halloween thing from October?

[You can't expect to explain something new to the kid and not be fired with questions, right?]

[Action, November 23rd]

[shadedsunlight]

[Of course not, and that's why she adores Goku. She loves questions and answering them. A nod of her head as she thinks on how to answer. That's actually a good question and she's not entirely sure.]

I don't really know. Some of the holidays are religious in nature so the time relates to the birthday of certain figures or events that happened in December. It could also be because they're a celebration of winter and the ending of one year and the beginning of another. But yes, some are like Halloween. Shall we sit down and begin reading?

[Action, November 23rd]

[justonename.livejournal.com]

So it's like a birthday party for those people? Nice!

[He nods as he finishes reading her answer and... Promptly sits on the floor right where he was. What, this is a spot as good as any other to read, right? If she wants them to sit on the couch, though, she will have to tell him so. For now the kid starts reading the title out-loud.]

[Action, November 23rd]

[shadedsunlight]

[The floor is an excellent spot to read. Ginia sits down next to him and watches and listens as they begin to go through the book. On any words he has trouble with, she breaks down each syllable, then writes a word that has a similar sound, helping him piece everything together in her own silent way.]

[Action, November 23rd]

[justonename.livejournal.com]

[Reading with Ginia is so much fun! Goku loves it, even if she can't talk she can still teach him how to read and understand words. Once they are done wit the prelude the kid stops, looking at the title of the next part of the book, now focusing on a specific holiday before he looks at Ginia.]

Which holiday do you celebrate the most? I will read that first!

[Action, November 23rd]

[shadedsunlight]

I usually celebrate Christmas. Not in a religious sense, but I enjoy giving gifts to people.

[The pauses to look through the books, pulling out an illustrated version of "The Night Before Christmas" and handing it over for him to read.]

This is one of my favorites. My dad would read this poem to us every year.

[Action, November 23rd]

[justonename.livejournal.com]

You give gifts to people on Christmas? Why?

[Actually before that...]

What's a gift?

[He takes the new book and examines the cover, frowning at it a bit.]

Why is this guy coming out from the fireplace with a sack of toys?

[Action, November 23rd]

[shadedsunlight]

[While not knowing who Santa is is entirely understandable, Ginia's a little surprised he doesn't know what a gift is.]

A gift, or a present, is something you willingly give someone without any expectation of getting something in return. Like these cookies. They're a gift to you because I want you to enjoy them.

As for the man with the toys, he's called Santa Claus, or just Santa. He has a few other names depending on where you're from, but he brings toys to all the good boys and girls around the world. He's a symbol of Christmas.

[Action, November 23rd]

[justonename.livejournal.com]

[Goku blinks in surprised awe and looks at the cookies as if it's the first time he sees them. So that's what a gift is? It sounds... Really special and big, yet at the same time it's something pretty small. Goku frowns a bit, apparently upset suddenly before he looks at Ginia.]

Then if I want to give you something too or share them with you, it ruins the gift? Because you're getting something in return and I'm not the only one enjoying them?

Why is he a symbol of Christmas?

[Action, November 23rd]

[shadedsunlight]

No, it doesn't at all. In a lot of different cultures, there are gift exchanges. During Christmas, people get each other gifts.

As for why Santa is a symbol of Christmas, I guess because he's very easily recognizable. A jolly old man in a red suit bringing toys to all the boys and girls. I'll have to see if I can find more books about Santa. But from what I know, he lives at the North Pole with his wife, Mrs. Claus, and magical elves that help him make all the toys. And once all the toys are ready to be delivered, he loads them up on a sleigh pulled by eight reindeer and flies around to all the houses.

[Action/January 20th or whenever would be best]

[mistlegacy]

[Ever since she learned from Ryoga about Ukyo's disappearance, Rydia's been meaning to check up on Goku. She'll pass by the restaurant, but if that's closed or he's not there, then she will try Ukyo's -well, now his?- apartment. Because she can, she's also brought a treat from the bakery/Welcome Center; apple cinnamon muffins. Pausing at the door, the green-haired woman knocks.]

[Action/January 20th]

[the_brightest_sun]

[The restaurant is closed, but only partially. It's closed to the public but there's someone inside. Even if Ukyo isn't there anymore, Goku wants to keep the restaurant working for when she returns... If she does. This and the books and toys she got him are the only things he has left of her after all. So he wants to open it, and with Hakkai there to help him he can probably even keep the menu as it was.

But it's still too soon. Even though he can enter the restaurant and prepare it for opening, he can't bring himself to open it yet. He just can't shake the feeling that she will arrive at any moment, or come out from the storage room, even as he walks preparing everything he could swear he can see her from the corner of his eye, working on the kitchen. And he ends just not opening, sitting there, crying, until he leaves, closes the restaurant and returns home with Hakkai.

So when Rydia checks the restaurant, the kid is currently inside, a crying mess... Until he hears the knocking. His mind can't think of who could be coming here, Ryoga announced that Ukyo had left and he hasn't said a word about the restaurant so... They should think that the place is closed. It could be someone who comes to check the place to set their own business, but the thought doesn't cross his mind. In his mind hope sets the idea that she's back, and so the the kid runs to the door and opens it wide, hoping to see Ukyo, a hopeful smile on his face which vanishes instantly when he sees that it's not her. And despite the green hair it's not Terra either, Goku then proceeds to stare at Rydia with wide eyes, too busy trying to not keep crying to be able to say anything.]

[Action/January 20th]

[mistlegacy]

[That vanishing smile breaks her heart, and she can guess without asking that he hoped to see Ukyo at the door instead of her. He doesn't have to hold in those tears, though, and she tries to make that clear when she steps in to give him a warm hug, if he'll let her.]

Hey, Goku....

[Action/January 20th]

[the_brightest_sun]

[He tenses a bit but soon gives in. He needs a hug, he has them, sure, but... It's not the same. And he feels he needs them more often than ever now. So he hugs back and buries his face against her body, still trying to hold the tears, he wants to be strong, he has to. Still he sobs lightly.]

We're not open yet, Rydia-neesan.

[Though he knows she's probably not her to get food. He still says it. Of course it's also his way of saying that he still can't bring himself to open it.]

[Action/January 20th]

[mistlegacy]

[She gives him a gentle squeeze, reaching up to stroke his hair.]

That's okay. I wasn't sure if anyone would be here, but I just came to see you.

[Action/January 20th]

[the_brightest_sun]

[He nods slowly, he had assumed so, why else would anyone come here? He's not going to give away this place for anyone to put something else here... Even if it hurts to be here, specially because they were here when she vanished right in front of his eyes.]

I'm... Here. Hi.

[He can't say he's fine, he's not. He hurts, deep inside, just as it hurt when Hakkai left. But this time it seems to hurt even more, to have scared him even. It was better when he decided to think that Hakkai had just got up and left.]

[Action/January 20th]

[mistlegacy]

[She's silent for a moment, just holding him. When she speaks up, her voice is even softer.]

I know it hurts. I lost people, too. One of them very recently. People say they're better off at home, but...it's painful to be without them, even so. It's okay to cry, Goku. If it were the other way around, I'm sure they would be missing you, too.

[Action/January 20th]

[the_brightest_sun]

I know... I know Ucchan would miss me for sure, she would.

[At times he's not sure about his own friends from home but he doesn't want to think of that. If it was Ukyo she would notice it and miss him, because they were family, she had been his mama.]

I'm sorry Rydia-neesan lost someone too. Terra-nee left too... Feels like if everyone is leaving. It's scary.