[Action throughout the day and Open!] Playing in the rain.

[notyourutopian]

Of all the things Eleanor had discovered in Luceti that had been impossible in Rapture, the rain was probably her favorite one. It had taken her some time to adjust to the idea of it, to be fair, since in Rapture the sound of falling water generally meant something horrible had happened and a section of the city about to flood, but up here on the surface it was just...normal.

Weather in-and-of-itself was a new concept, honestly. Occasionally the big storms up on the ocean's surface would cause churn in the water around the city, but never anything more than messy water and unhappy whales. She'd loved the snow too, and bright sunny days and brisk, windy days, but rain was her favorite. Maybe it was just how it was a callback to home without being so close as to make her dwell on the negative things.

Which was why she didn't particularly find any reason to try and avoid it the way so many other people seemed to. In fact, she made a point of going out in weather like that, with the large, old-fashioned purple umbrella she'd acquired last summer. It hadn't rained all winter, which she knew was normal but had still been a bit of a frustration, and now that it was doing it again, she'd practically bolted from school at the end of the day to go for a walk.

And that was where she could be found for the rest of the afternoon, wandering about in her long black skirt and simple red jacket, her umbrella resting on her shoulder, a faint smile on her face. She would stop for a while to sit under one of the awnings by the shops and read, listening to the rain, then head back out for another walk. She'd picked up a pair of heavy-duty boots, and someone might happen to catch her hopping into a puddle with them to send up a splash and then laughing softly to herself.

Even during the height of the thunderstorm itself, she was (probably foolishly) walking around with her umbrella.

[ooc: People can run into Eleanor anywhere in the village during the rain, or yell at her to come in out of the lightning if they like. She might even listen!]

Comments

[notyourutopian]

Eleanor started back towards him, since there was no sense in trying to shout a conversation. "Ah...I've been well enough, I suppose." She said after she thought about it for a moment.

"What about you? I'm sorry about Kanji disappearing, I know you two were friends."

[linefacingforever]

"I'm fine," Yu replied softly, before letting out a breath. "It... hurt, when he first disappeared, but I'm sure he's back home now, so he's okay."

That was all that mattered to him really.

[notyourutopian]

"Mm," Eleanor smiled thinly. "I keep forgetting so many people have good places to go back to. You're right, I'm sure he's fine."

[linefacingforever]

"I... I'm sorry," Yu apologized, looking uneasy. "Kanji didn't tell me much; I didn't mean to offend you."

[notyourutopian]

Eleanor frowned at that, and then shook her head. "No, no. I just...I don't really talk to a lot of people. It's unnerving when they leave." That wasn't exactly accurate, but it would do.

[linefacingforever]

Yu stared a moment, before he smiled softly.

"I know how that feels," he replied softly.

[notyourutopian]

"Mm," she half-turned then, away from the school building. "Are you rushing home because of the rain like everyone else seems to be?"

A change of subject, but a necessary one.

[linefacingforever]

Yu glanced up around his umbrella.

"Not really," he replied. "It rains a lot in Inaba; I'm used to this."

[notyourutopian]

"I'm just the opposite," she said with a small smile. "It never rained in Rapture, it couldn't, so every time it does it here it feels...new, you know?"

[linefacingforever]

"It doesn't rain at all?" Yu asked, sounding as perplexed as he looked. "How...?"

How could anything survive like that?

[notyourutopian]

"I lived on the bottom of the sea," she explained with a faint smile and a little shrug.

"Are you going this way?" She added as she started to walk.

[linefacingforever]

...what?!

Yu stared at her back in surprise, mouth working and trying to find some response to that, but he couldn't find one. After a moment, his mouth clicked shut, and he gave a light shrug.

"Sure," he replied, heading after her.

[notyourutopian]

As much as Eleanor didn't like Rapture, it was hard to resist shocking people with it, and she laughed softly at the look of surprise on his face. At least she had the good graces to look embarrassed.

"Sorry."

[linefacingforever]

"Don't be," Yu replied, a faint smile coming to his face. "That's just not something you really hear outside of movies on my world."

And it was pretty awesome, but he wasn't sure if she'd appreciate him saying so.

[notyourutopian]

"That's probably a good thing. Most worlds would be better off without a Rapture." She hesitated. "I know mine would have."

She detoured to splash her way through a puddle, humming to herself.

"Where are you from?"

[linefacingforever]

"Japan," he replied, watching her splash around with a small smile. "I normally live in Tokyo, but my parents move around a lot. Last year they went over seas, so I stayed with my uncle in Inaba for a year."

[notyourutopian]

"Japan," that did seem to be a common thread here, didn't it? "There were people back home, from Japan. Not many, but a few."

"So, a big city and...a smaller city?" She'd heard of Tokyo, but never Inaba.

[linefacingforever]

"Yeah," Yu replied. "Tokyo is the city in Japan. Inaba is more of a town out in the country."

[notyourutopian]

"Hmm," she smiled faintly. "I've seen pictures of Tokyo. But they were from the thirties, I think. Before the war.."

"I've never seen a real city." She paused. "Well, except Rapture, but I really rather doubt it counts."

[linefacingforever]

"Yeah, it's a... lot different now," Yu replied, trying to picture that. He'd seen those pictures too, in history books. Comparing them to Tokyo now... well, he couldn't even begin to describe it outside of a really awkward: "It's... a lot more built up?"

He shook his head after a moment.

"What's Rapture like?"

[notyourutopian]

"Well," Eleanor had to take a moment to think about it, picturing her former home. "It's very pretty, at least from the outside. Everything is light up in neon and light, and the water around the buildings is full of fish and other creatures. A pod of whales lived a little ways outside of my building. I could see them from my window."

[linefacingforever]

Well, that... was not what Yu was expecting, from how she was talking about it before.

"It does sound beautiful."

[notyourutopian]

"Oh it was. On the outside," a sardonic smile. "But I suppose that's probably true of most crowded places."

[linefacingforever]

"And some not so crowded," Yu added softly. He glanced over at her, offering her a small smile. "So you're glad to be here then?"

[notyourutopian]

"Most of the time," Eleanor said with a little bob of her head. "There is something I was in the middle of doing when I was brought here, something that...has to be done." She frowned.

"But besides that, this is a...far better place than Rapture.