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Post by EMMELINE EVANS on Jan 20, 2014 11:17:02 GMT -8
| rabbit - hearted I look around, but I can't find you If only I could see your face Instead of rushing towards the skyline I wish that I could just be brave I must become a lion hearted girl Ready for a fight Before I make the final sacrifice We raise it up, this offering We raise it up This is a gift, it comes with a price Who is the lamb and who is the knife? Midas is king and he holds me so tight And turns me to gold in the sunlight And in the spring I shed my skin And it blows away with the changing wind The waters turn from blue to red As --- She had been so excited for her puppy. After setting her up with a collar, harness, leash, and tags—Sophie was the name she had decided on—she set out to take her for a walk right away. Her mom had offered to come with her, but Emmeline had decided that they needed to bond alone, and that she needed to learn to keep the little puppy under control on her own. Besides—she wouldn’t be out for that long, anyway.
She’d picked out mostly pink things for her little Shiba. The pet store thought she might be mixed with something else, but Emmeline was certain that she was more on the pure side—not that it would have mattered. Sophie was cute and she would have loved her no matter what.
Maybe taking her for a walk right away hadn’t been the best idea, though.
Everything was so new to little Sophie. She wanted to smell everything, and she didn’t quite understand what this thing tugging at her neck was. The first few minutes Emmeline had really had to struggle to get Sophie to even walk five feet with her harness and leash, so she ended up having to wait and extra thirty minutes while Sophie got accustomed to the harness and leash.
But, eventually they got out on the streets and Emmeline was feeling confident. Just a quick walk through town so Sophie could get used to other people—she had thought she had seen a dog park up the street a ways—maybe she would go there and start other-dog-socialization. That was important for a puppy, right? She’d done a bunch of research when she got home, while Sophie was exploring the house and meeting the rest of the family.
Emmeline, though, wasn’t quite prepared for when Sophie yanked on the leash. She had been keeping a loose hold on the leash to make sure that she wasn’t pulling too hard and choking her new little puppy. She was only eleven weeks old, after all. The pet store had had her for a few weeks. Sophie had spotted a squirrel and when it had taken off, so did Sophie.
Fear temporarily froze Emmeline to the spot when the leash slipped out of her hands. “Sophie! Sophie!” she cried—but Sophie wouldn’t recognize her name for a while longer. She took off running, barking at her quarry, and ran around a corner. Emmeline took off after her, but the puppy was pretty fast.
Not even two hours.
Self-loathing nearly crippled her, but she ran on after her puppy.
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Post by KEIJIRO WATANABE on Jan 21, 2014 13:27:53 GMT -8
Keijiro had gotten into the habit of going for walks. It helped him learn the city, the ins and outs and places to go. He'd found several nice hole in the wall restaurants, but he'd also nearly been mugged at one point. It had only been sheer chance that prevented it, and he'd been careful to avoid that part of the city in the future. A huge part of it was that Tokyo was a much, much safer place. It was a similar size, but in Tokyo you could cut down all but the very worst back alleys without a bit of fear. The majority of crime was organized, and things that happened in America every day--people being murdered for no reason--were major news back home. The difference in crime rates was so large, and Keijiro had yet to get used to the shift.
The neighbourhood he was in that day was nice though, and he doubted he was going to get mugged. It was the sort of neighborhood that was filled with well off families with overly nosy stay at home wives. Keijiro stood out for his hoodie, pulled up over his face to hide his scar, but otherwise he looked normal enough until he opened his mouth. He doubted he'd draw any attention at all, and he was almost ready to head back when he heard... something. A dog? Definitely a dog, a little puppy that was yapping as it ran towards him. It looked like it was going to just go by him, but the fact that it was trailing a leash told him that it probably wasn't a stray.
He liked dogs, but he had little experience with them. People were crazy about pets in Tokyo, but few people actually had them. There wasn't enough room to be comfortable with them, and he wasn't entirely sure how to pick it up. Instead he opted to step on the leash first, eliciting a yelp of protest. He was half worried the collar was going to tug off, so he bent down, scooping it up around the middle and lifting it off the ground.
Now, if it would just stop squirming, he'd be able to check the tag...
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Post by EMMELINE EVANS on Jan 21, 2014 17:53:20 GMT -8
| rabbit - hearted I look around, but I can't find you If only I could see your face Instead of rushing towards the skyline I wish that I could just be brave I must become a lion hearted girl Ready for a fight Before I make the final sacrifice We raise it up, this offering We raise it up This is a gift, it comes with a price Who is the lamb and who is the knife? Midas is king and he holds me so tight And turns me to gold in the sunlight And in the spring I shed my skin And it blows away with the changing wind The waters turn from blue to red As --- Emmeline wasn’t used to running, so even this short distance was killer. She didn’t have to guess which direction to go because the puppy was just barking away, so she just followed the noises and feebly called out her name occasionally, even though that was probably useless. In hindsight, she probably should have worked on manners before going for a walk, but she had thought the puppy might need some exercise after being in the store for so long.
Well, hindsight was always twenty-twenty.
Finally, she had run as far as she could and she had to slow down. She could still hear Sophie barking in the distance, but she was so fast. Emmeline was just happy that she hadn’t run out into the street—it wasn’t a particularly busy street, but Emmeline knew how bad her luck was. It was very probable that if Sophie had run into the street, she would have been hit.
That was just how lucky Emmeline seemed to be.
If that had happened, she probably would have just relapsed and tried to kill herself again.
“Sophie!” she shouted as loud as she could with her breath coming in gasps. Emmeline walked forward a little bit, but she could no longer run. However, she worked hard to get her breath back so she could chase after her and least try to catch up—maybe when the squirrel scrambled up a tree she would stop and Emmeline could find her. “Sophie, come back.”
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Post by KEIJIRO WATANABE on Jan 21, 2014 18:32:28 GMT -8
In the distance, he could hear someone calling a name--Sophie? Something like that. He didn't really make the connection until he managed to pin the little dog enough to check the collar.
Sophie? Oh.
He glanced around, unable to locate the source of the voice. Probably whoever had just lost their dog. It sounded female, but beyond that it was impossible to tell. Shouted voices weren't exactly the easiest to distinguish, and he couldn't easily tell even in the best of cases. He shifted, trying to keep a firm hold on the still-squirming puppy. The last thing they'd want was for it to run off, after he'd just managed to catch it.
"Over here!" He called out, his accent getting even thicker when he yelled, and the puppy seemed to let out a little yip of protest at the loud sound.
EMMELINE EVANS | MAY 24TH, 3 PM |
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Post by EMMELINE EVANS on Jan 21, 2014 18:44:54 GMT -8
| rabbit - hearted I look around, but I can't find you If only I could see your face Instead of rushing towards the skyline I wish that I could just be brave I must become a lion hearted girl Ready for a fight Before I make the final sacrifice We raise it up, this offering We raise it up This is a gift, it comes with a price Who is the lamb and who is the knife? Midas is king and he holds me so tight And turns me to gold in the sunlight And in the spring I shed my skin And it blows away with the changing wind The waters turn from blue to red As --- Sophie had stopped barking for a little bit and it had almost made Emmeline worry, but shortly after she had called out, someone had responded. She couldn’t understand it well enough, but the tone was readable. Emmeline blinked once, glanced around to try to decide where it had come from, then hurried in the direction she had been going. She was still out of breath, but if someone had found her puppy—and the small bark that had followed the call indicated that—then she had to hurry.
Her lungs protested and her side had a stitch, but she jogged onward anyway. Eventually she turned a corner and spotted a young man hanging on to her squirming puppy. Sophie had always been a little wiggle worm and hated being held, so it was no surprise.
“Sophie,” she breathed with relief.
She slowed to a stop a couple feet in front of him and bent over, gulping air like a fish out of water. However, Emmeline was fully aware how ridiculous she probably looked, and she knew that it wasn’t the best posture to have after running, so she straightened up and tried to get better control of herself and offered a grateful smile at the boy.
Of course, she caught a small glimpse of the scar across his face and was unable to avoid looking at it occasionally, but she tried her best and just explained herself. "That’s—Sophie—I—she pulled the—leash out of—my hand—and—thanks,” she panted, reaching out to take the leash and puppy from her. Sophie whined and made little puppy grunts to let them know that she was very unhappy that she was being restrained.
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Post by KEIJIRO WATANABE on Jan 23, 2014 11:54:59 GMT -8
The girl before him looked... well, she looked normal. Very American--blond hair, blue eyes, big nose. No one could really have mistaken her for anything else if she'd been in Japan, but the way she said 'Sophie', with her American accent, told him he was probably right on the money. Some people were exactly like they looked like, and others were not. She was wheezing and gasping as she tried to explain, but he was already fairly certain of what had happened, and her explanation confirmed it--she'd simply lost the dog, and that was fine. Totally understandable.
He did his best to pass the dog over, which was a task and a half in itself. He was doing his best not to drop the dog, but it would just not sit still. He scowled at the puppy, doing his best to let her get a hold on the dog before he pulled back, letting her handle the dog on her own.
"It's not a problem." He responded, accent thick enough to kill a man. "Just be careful, or else a car could get her."
EMMELINE EVANS | MAY 24TH, 3 PM |
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Post by EMMELINE EVANS on Jan 27, 2014 12:56:10 GMT -8
| rabbit - hearted I look around, but I can't find you If only I could see your face Instead of rushing towards the skyline I wish that I could just be brave I must become a lion hearted girl Ready for a fight Before I make the final sacrifice We raise it up, this offering We raise it up This is a gift, it comes with a price Who is the lamb and who is the knife? Midas is king and he holds me so tight And turns me to gold in the sunlight And in the spring I shed my skin And it blows away with the changing wind The waters turn from blue to red As --- Emmeline took hold of the leash he handed her and then stepped forward to wrestle the squirming dog out of his grasp. Sophie whined and grunted the whole time, trying to get free again, but between the two of them they managed to get her safely into Emmeline’s arms. She made shushing sounds the whole time, gently pleading with the puppy to calm down.
Finally she managed to get a good grip on the leash and set Sophie down on the sidewalk. She immediately tried to test the leash again, but Emmeline kept it firmly wrapped around her wrist. Sophie wasn’t running off anywhere this time.
When he spoke for the first time, Emmeline just kind stared at him, dumbfounded. She hadn’t expected such a thick accent to come out of him. Her mouth might have even been open, she just couldn’t recall. Finally, though, the accent registered in her mind and she realized what he was trying to tell her. It sounded the same as when someone in an anime had to say a phrase in English.
Well, except, they talked a lot slower so they could pronounce it better.
She found herself talking slower than usual without realizing it. “Y-yeah, I know. Thank you, again, though.” Part of her had wanted to say it Japanese, but he’d probably just think that was rude or weird or that she was trying too hard. She only knew a select few phrases that she’d picked up from watching subtitled anime, and she didn’t want him to think poorly of her.
And that scar. It was a burn scar, but just like with Moose, that scar was enough to make him entirely recognizable. However, she didn’t want to stare so she averted her gaze and did all she could not to look at his face—which with her was easy because she found it naturally hard to make eye-contact with the people she was talking to.
“Are—are you visiting America?” she asked. For some reason, she didn’t want to just leave it at the dog rescue. She wanted to talk with him some more.
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Post by KEIJIRO WATANABE on Jan 28, 2014 12:27:52 GMT -8
She was staring. Not so much at his face, which she didn't seem to have noticed thanks to her hood, but... well, at him in general. He had no idea she had noticed his scar, preferring to think she just hadn't noticed at all. She hadn't been before, and it wasn't terribly hard to make the connection. She was startled by his accent, and she wasn't going to be the first one to be so. She wasn't going to be the last either. He let out a little 'hn' noise as she stared, and the fact that she asked him anything at all was surprising. He'd expected a (likely mumbled) apology, and then for her to make a dash for it with her dog. Instead she was staring there, and Keijiro found himself reaching out, giving the dog a little pat on the head.
"Yes. Is it that obvious?" He was simply being polite--he knew how obvious it was that he was new to America. No nisei was going to have an accent like his. Even an issei wouldn't have an accent as thick as his was--thick enough to be unmistakable to all but the most oblivious of people. "I have just arrived. For school." He added, mostly as an afterthought. He wasn't just a tourist--he was an honest to goodness visitor.
EMMELINE EVANS | MAY 24TH, 3 PM |
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Post by EMMELINE EVANS on Feb 7, 2014 11:45:57 GMT -8
| rabbit - hearted I look around, but I can't find you If only I could see your face Instead of rushing towards the skyline I wish that I could just be brave I must become a lion hearted girl Ready for a fight Before I make the final sacrifice We raise it up, this offering We raise it up This is a gift, it comes with a price Who is the lamb and who is the knife? Midas is king and he holds me so tight And turns me to gold in the sunlight And in the spring I shed my skin And it blows away with the changing wind The waters turn from blue to red As --- Emmeline fidgeted where she stood, feeling entirely self-conscious for some reason. He asked if it was terribly obvious he wasn’t from the country, and for a second Emmeline felt bad about bringing it up. However, some part of her told her that he didn’t sound at all surprised by the fact that she’d figured it out. Surely he was well aware of his thick accent.
She scuffed the ground slightly and pulled Sophie back when she tried to take off again. “Um—well, I mean just a little,” she said, shrugging slightly. She was probably red as a cherry, and she could feel her skin heat up. Had she been too rude, bringing it up?
Sophie seemed to give up on ever getting away and decided it was time she got some attention. She could get Emmeline’s attention whenever and had totally neglected this new person. The small puppy strained her leash, but when Emmeline figured out she wasn’t trying to escape she gave her a little bit more slack and allowed her puppy to jump up and paw at the new kid’s legs, begging for pets and gentle cooing.
“Is it—are you like an exchange student?” she asked awkwardly, unable to really meet his gaze to have a proper conversation. She was fishing for reasons to keep it up—maybe if he went to her old school she could offer him some advice. “What—what school are you going to?”
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Post by KEIJIRO WATANABE on Feb 9, 2014 17:34:30 GMT -8
The girl's comment was the sort of thing Keijiro was simply going to have to get used to. In Japan it would be rude to point out people's differences. In America, such a thing was simply accepted. Pointing out that someone was foreign wasn't someone intending to be rude. It was just something people did, to make conversation. It still hurt a tiny bit, but he pushed the feeling aside. It was intentions that mattered in America, not the effects.
The dog was seeking his attention obviously enough, and even someone with so little experience with pets could tell what it wanted. He reached down, scratching the dog behind the ears as they so often did in movies before petting her side, unsure of where would be best to pet in order to win the dog over.
"An exchange student?" He wasn't quite sure if he would count, and he thought on it for a bit before shrugging. "I am not sure. I am an international student, for University." He wasn't exchanging with anyone, was he? Did it count as an exchange? "At the university of southern california." Which had a well known music program, one he'd traveled far to get into.
EMMELINE EVANS | MAY 24TH, 3 PM |
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Post by EMMELINE EVANS on Feb 25, 2014 13:28:52 GMT -8
| rabbit - hearted I look around, but I can't find you If only I could see your face Instead of rushing towards the skyline I wish that I could just be brave I must become a lion hearted girl Ready for a fight Before I make the final sacrifice We raise it up, this offering We raise it up This is a gift, it comes with a price Who is the lamb and who is the knife? Midas is king and he holds me so tight And turns me to gold in the sunlight And in the spring I shed my skin And it blows away with the changing wind The waters turn from blue to red As --- At first Emmeline was going to try to get Sophie back in line, but it seemed as if the guy didn't mind so much and she had to socialize the puppy, anyway, so it wouldn't bark all the time and wouldn't be a mean dog. Instead she offered introductions, like she had forgotten to a little bit ago. If you were going to have a conversation with someone, you needed to be acquainted. Like a civilized person.
“Oh—yeah, this is Sophie. I just got her today so. . . she's not. . . we're still working on training,” she murmured. “And my name is Emmeline, but most people call me Emmie. . . ,” she said fidgeting slightly where she stood, unable to make eye contact still.
However she managed to look up at the general direction of his face—though still tried hard not to stare—and was wearing a look of astonishment. “You came here for college?” she asked, kind of stunned. “That's, um amazing. What are you studying?” She managed to reel in some of her awe and went back to staring somewhere around his midsection and sometimes the ground.
Sophie, however, just wagged her little curled tail and enjoyed the attention she was getting. Emmeline had a sinking suspicion that they didn't get a lot of attention, but all the puppies had look well-cared for, at least.
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