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Vincent had once again been out and about, looking for a bar to hangout of the evening. Wearing a black shirt and jeans, he had been wandering for about an hour or so, and was swaying down to the street to his earphones.
"It must be nice, it must be nice, to have washington on your side." he sang softly, a bit of a skip in his step
Sitting on a bench in what seemed like the middle of nowhere, a young Asian woman looked about her with wide wondering eyes. She was dressed in clothes way too big for her and they were faded. Definitely hand-me-downs. Her tshirt looked more like a giant hoodie on her and her pants were baggy and held up with a piece of string. But what was odd about her was her massive volume of silver white hair, the curls gently cascading all over her back and shoulders. If she had been dressed up, one might assume she was an Asian star belonging to some girl band or similar.
Her eyes were strangely multicolored and the colors appeared to shift almost like gradients with each movement of lighting. Those eyes were drawn to the man who was skipping down the street and... Singing? These future folks are weird...
Vincent was looking around when he spotted the girl and you know, ok, silver hair and multicolored eyes, let's investigate shall we. So he stopped skipping and walked over the bench, bright smile on his face.
"Evening, I'm sorry to bug you, I just have to comment, you're eyes are pretty." he said like it was a known fact, "Never seen muticolored eyes before, they contacts?"
She watched him approach, her face mostly blank and devoid of expression. "Good evening, Mr. Sir. Thank you for your comment. What are contacts?" she greeted and then asked in a soft voice, Japanese accent very strong.
"Um, contacts are something you put on you're eyes to help them see better and give them a new color, and please I'm not a mr or sir, I'm just plain old Vincent and all my friends call me Vinny." he said, his eyes for the briefest moment seemed to flash crimson before turning back to their regular brown, then he offered a hand
Hiroko simply continued staring at him, blinking slowly. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Vincent. My name is Azuma Hiroko. I am not wearing contacts."
he blinked at that and smiled, then began to chuckle and laugh
"Well then, this is a surprise, welcome to Philadelphia Azuma Hiroko, I'm a friend of Lamps and in my book, that makes you a friend of mine, I sent the gift basket." he smiled even brighter
Her head tilts to one side, almost like a dog questioning what it heard. "I do not understand. Did Lamp tell you about me?"
"She mentioned you in passing, said you ate all the garlic bread." he shrugged, "She said, 'Hiroko ate the whole thing'," he nodded, "Happy someone enjoyed the Garlic bread, I know Tonya too." he retracted the hand, "I was just looking for a place to get a drink, would you care to join me?"
At the mention of garlic bread, she broke out into a gentle smile. It wasn't really happy? Or... Sad... Just... Somber... "Yes, I remember the garlic bread. They were very delicious. Thank you for the bread." she said. Then she stood up and bowed to him. "I would be honored to join a friend of Tonya and Lamp for a drink."
He smiled faltered a bit at the somberness and motion her for to walk with him as he led her to a bar.
"For what it's worth, my partner is like you three and got out of a bad situation, I'm happy you three got out of it." he said simply on that matter, "I like to cook and bake, some people say it's not manly but fuck em, if you want any more of it, I can make some." he said, opening the bar door for her, "So, how are you finding the city?"
Male chefs were not unusual to her. It was common for many Asian men to be able to cook and bake. She kept mostly quiet as she followed him. At his question, she looked up at him with another curious head tilt. "The city is very noisy and smelly."
"Not a city girl?" he mused, leading her to a barstool, ordering himself a beer, "So, what do you want to drink?" he asked, "I was born and raised here, it's all I've ever known, but it keeps finding ways to surprise me, meeting new people and such, so, got any questions for a native?"
"What is a city girl?" she asked as she sat on the stool awkwardly. It was as if she had never sat on one before. She looked around curiously, wondering what this place was. "I do not have money."
"Like, a girl who grew up in a large city." he explained, he was speaking with a Lost so they had memory issues sometimes, he was used to explaining things to Avery, "It's ok, my treat, not the first time I bought a pretty girl drinks and it won't be the last, cost is not an issue." he assured, "Are you from Japan?"
Well, if he insisted, she wasn't about to say no. "I am from Hokkaido. May I have a glass of milk, please?"
"Glass of milk for the lady please," he then blinked, "Oh, sorry, may I ask you're pronouns, I'm he/him." he said, "Ugh, I always wanted to visit Japan, I grew up watching anime so it's always been a dream of mine.' he chuckled and rubbed the back of his head, "So, change in scenary in lots of ways, easy to be overwhelmed," then he looked to the tv, Phillies where on, "You a baseball fan?"
She looked from him to the TV and back to him. "What is baseball?" she asked. Did she just ignore the fact that he asked her what her pronouns were?
"It's a sport, ya throw the ball and they try to hit it." he said, not bringing up the the other question being ignored, "Hometeam needs to win this game or we're gonna be out, what are your interests?"
"... I do not know..." she responded as she turned to look at the TV again. "Why is the television so... Big? It is also very... Thin..."
he frowned that she didn't know her intrests, maybe her memories where taken too, like Avery?
"Flat screen, it's the style, it's big so the whole bar can see it, thin so it's easy to handle." he milk came, "So, what did the last tv you saw look like?" he asked, he knew Lost could be time displaced and was suspecting that that was her situation
She raised her hands to show him. Then she realized that she didn't know how to describe it, so her hands fell back to her lap. She looked about the bar, looking for something similar. That was when she spotted a box sitting under the bar in a far corner. She pointed to the box and then looked at him.
"Ok, so older models, they've been comin out flatter for awhile." he explained, "So, do you want to find things that do intrest you?" he directed back to that
Hiroko shrugged her shoulders, then reached forward to pick up her glass of milk. "I do not know." she mumbled before taking a long gulp.
He was about to say something, but decided not too, she just came back.
"I'm sorry, that must be hard." he offered, "I like movies, baseball, anime, tabletop games, I'm basically a typical nerd when you get right down to it." he chuckled, "Do you like music?"
She stopped drinking to look up at him again. A milk mustache lined the top of her mouth. "I like music."
"That's a start," he smiled, then saw the mustache and giggled, "You got a little something," he pointed to the top of his mouth, "So, what kind of music do you like, got a genre or artist ya dig?"
Almost like a child, she licked her lips bashfully. "I do not think an artist is for digging."
"It's a term of phrase, meaning you enjoy something, I like Breaking Benjamin, Linkin Park, Greenday, I dig them." he took out his phone and unwound the head phones, little ear pods, "May I put this in your ear, it plays music." he asked
She stared at the earbuds as though they were some kind of alien technology, her eyes wide and even slightly fearful. Put that in her ear? That sounds painful! She shied away from it nervously. "No, thank you very much."
he nodded and pocketed the phone, "Avery loves their earpods, helps them with the noise, try them some day, you might end up loving them." he chuckled, "So, back to my question, what kind of music do you enjoy?"
Hiroko relaxed when the phone and earbuds disappeared into his pocket. "I do not know. Music." she replied as she went back to gulping down her milk.
Vincent took a sip of his beer.
"I like musicals, Heathers, Be More Chill, Hamilton, Repo, Devils Carnival, sometimes I wonder how easy life would be if we where permitted to break into song everytime we felt like it." he blinked
"Something's getting in the way, something's just about to break, I will try to find my place, in the diary of jane." then he looked around, "Well, it would be better if people broke into dance."
She finished her drink, earning her another milk mustache before she wiped it off with a napkin that the bartender provided her with. "This is normal?" she asked Vincent.
"This, sitting and having a conversation over drinks, yes, people breaking into song and dancing, no, me, debateable." he smiled, "I like to think I'm normal."
Not having anything else to add, she looked around again, examining her surroundings curiously.
"Looking for something or merely observing?" he asked
"I am observing." she replied after turning back to face him. Her movements were kinda slow and formal, so was her speech. She enunciated each and every word and syllable, though some of it was pronounced weird anyway due to her accent.
"I've spent many a fine hour people watching," he turned around the bar, "That's why I love bars, you can sit and merely watch and listen, hundreds of little stories can be picked up."
"Is this also your interest?" she asked, her wide multi-colored eyes watching him closely.
"Yes, I enjoy learning new stories and new things about people," he nodded, "Everyone has something intresting, and some are worth more than gold." he said, looking back at her, "So, question, what can you learn about me from my looks and our conversation?" he asked, deciding to make a game of it
Hiroko stared at him, making eye contact and almost examining him with her eyes. For a moment, it almost seemed like she was looking straight through him.
The Dragon Knows activated. Loophole achieved.
he blinked then chuckled, "Geez, that's a look ain't it, peer into my soul why don't ya."
She didn't stop staring, though her eyes soften into a mix of sadness and confusion. "You do not like what you are... And you wish you did not have to leave your sister one day..." she said after a few moments. Hiroko looked as sorrowful as he might have felt about his sister...
he blinked at that and just stared at her for a second.
"Ok, you're good." he whispered, "No, I actually love what I am, I'm just sad I don't have a choice but the second one." he sighed, and now it was his turn, he stared into her eyes and once again, his eyes seemed to flash crimson, a scarlet blood red before back to brown.
"I'm sorry that you feel the way you do, I'm sure it's natural to feel sorrow when you're in a new place, but..." he paused, and hazard a guess as it relates to fear, "The place you got out of, won't make you happy, whatever is there you know is bad, you can't go back to it, Tonya and Lamp care about you, I'm sure if you talked about it with them they would understand." his face and genuine concern, "and if not them, I can be a friendly ear, I promise anything you say to me will be between us."
Ahah. So he has similar powers to hers. She blinked at him curiously. But he is not one of the Lost. He is a different kind of monster. She wondered what kind. "My sorrow is for you, Mr. Vincent." she replied.
"So you're favorite season is Winter then." he recalled what Avery said about them and Sorrow, "And mine is for you and the rest of your people," he sipped his drink again, "I've had a hard life, filled with all kinds of sorrow, but I find what does not kill you makes you stronger, my sorrow builds me up and makes me better."
"I do not have a favorite season."
"Ah, forgive me then." he smiled, "Mine is Autumn, love Halloween, scary movies, candy, cute costumes, and the tree's are like a painted canvas, perfect wind." he sighed, "It's nice." he nodded then chuckled, "Can I at least be Mr.Vinny, I like my friends to call me Vinny, unless you don't want to be friends, that's ok."
"I can call you Mr. Vinny." she nodded. As she did, her chair wobbled and she stared down at it in surprise. Hesitantly, she moved again so that the swivel wobbled once more. A tiny smile stretched her face and she swung it from side to side, which brings out a giggle from her.
he chuckled and spun his barstool full circle
"It's fun ain't it, Mother bless swivel chairs." he laughed, probaby getting a few looks from other patrons but he didn't care, "That's good, find the small joys where you least expect to find them, very wise of you Miss.Hiroko."
At being called her personal name, she paused to look up at him curiously.
"I'm sorry did I say something," he faced palmed, "Wait, let me guess, Japanese naming conventions, ugh I'm sorry, Miss.Azuma."
Her head tilted to one side. "This is normal?" she asked. She didn't sound upset or offended, just... Confused and curious.
"Ok, here, first names are used, last names are less used, more for formal, most people would call me Vincent, formally it would be Mr.Drake." he explained, "I now in Japan, it's Last name, hororific, first is for family and close friends, right?"
Hiroko nodded her head. This was curious information. So if she wanted people to refer to her in the way she was taught was the right way, she would have to introduce herself as just Azuma... At the same time, that was rude... She wondered how she was to proceed with this from now on...
"What do you want me to call you?" he asked, trying to be considerate of what she'd used to
She blinked at him, slowly processing all this information. "... I do not know..." came her soft reply.
"Miss.Azuma," he said, "Miss.Hiroko," he said again, then a smile, "Azuma-chan?" he tried them all, "Which sounds the best to your ears?"
She frowned at the last one. She couldn't remember exactly, but she was quite sure that not even the people in her past called her that. "I think... Azuma-san is more appropriate." she mumbled.
"Sorry, sorry, I tease and that's on me, I apologize Azuma-san." he said before sipping his drink
"Mr. Drake?"
"Drake is my last name," he nodded, "But please, Vincent or Vinny, no need to be formal around me." he offered, downing his beer, "Can we get some onion rings." he asked the bartender, soon enough a plate came out, "Please try some, they are amazing."
"... Thank you for the food and drink..." she mumbled as she bowed to him while seated.
"Please, think nothing of it, like the gift basket I merely wish to extend my hand in friendship to you and yours, and what kind of person would I be if I didn't get the cute girl something to eat." he laughed
She took a piece of onion ring to munch on gently, politely.
he watched her eat, a slight frown when he realized he should stop eating for the night, wouldnt sustain him and he was low on what he needed.
"Does it tast good?" he asked, "Try the chipotle mayo sauce, adds a nice kick without being too spicy."
She nodded again and did as told. Soon enough, she was eating through half the plate. Then she paused to look up at him again. "May I ask you a question, Mr. Vinny?"
"Please, never hesitate to do so." he said
"Why do you call me a cute girl?" she asked, watching him with those intense eyes.
he blinked in surprise and blushed at that question
"Well, because you are kinda cute, if you don't identify as a girl I'm sorry, I did ask for pronouns," he rubbed the back of his head, "But all and all, you are really cute, I apologize if I offended you, I just...have a bit of a weakness for faces like yours, gonna be the death of me." it was the death of him
She actually raises an eyebrow at him, confused by his reaction. It seemed... Overblown and weird. She had never seen a man act like this before. "I am a girl. I do not know what pronouns are." she replied cautiously, almost worried that he was about to explode.
"Well, these days people," oh boy it was this convo, "There are some people who are boys and are girls, but they where born in the wrong body, and there are some people who identify as nothing, they are just what they are." he spread his arms, "Welcome to a world of endless gender identity, my Avery is what they are depending on how they feel and if they are not here, please refer to them as they, like talking of a group." he explained, "It's alot to process, I understand, I can explain more if you wish."
She reached a hand up to scratch her head. "... I do not understand. I do not think I will..."
"It's ok, it can be confusing," he assured her, "Their are also other things more common, people who love others of the same gender, like men dating men and women dating women, it's all normal...at least most people see it as normal," he rolled his eyes, "I'm what ya call bi, I like both guys and girls."
Now she was staring at him as though he just grew ten heads. Men loving men and women loving women? How was this possible?! That was just... So weird... More than ever, she wished she was back home... But... Where was home? Certainly not back in Hokkaido... Not anymore... Everything was so unfamiliar and different...
he looked at her with some concern
"Hey, hey, it's ok, brave new world." he said, "If I'm overwhelming you, I'm sorry and please tell me." he cocked his head, concerned for her
His concern for her was just as unnerving, unfortunately. She wasn't used to this kind of attention. She looked away for a brief moment, then looked back up.
"I apologize for causing you to worry. Thank you for the evening. I believe I should go back." she said. Hiroko got off her chair carefully...
"It's ok," he got off his own chair, "I just...I know sometimes things can be overwhelming and I don't want you to be..." he tried to think of a word, "Mentally overstimulated."
"I will be fine. Thank you again. Good evening, Mr. Vinny." she said. She then smiled at him and bowed. The white-haired Asian began walking out of the bar.
he watched her leave, part of him wanted to follow and make sure she got home safe but he seemed to have startled her.
"Please be safe, if you ever want to chat again we can, would you like my number?"
he walked to her and took out a piece of paper, some recite for a pizza place and wrote down his phone number
"If you ever want to hang out, have drinks or a meal again, or just talk to me, don't hesitate to call this number." he handded it to her, "Please, don't hesitate to reach out if you wish."
She accepted the piece of paper curiously. "Thank you, Mr. Vinny." Oh, it looks like perhaps a number to call. She would have to ask Tonya what this was later. She bowed again and then continued on her way.
Vincent watched her leave and sighed, hoping he didn't give her a Clarity attack, he went back to the barstool and watched the rest of the game
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