notyourutopian | IC Contact: Recollé

Siiiiiiiiiiiigh.

No yeah that sounds great.
As if I can pass up an excuse to go to the beach at this point anyway.

Sure I'll see you there.

[And right on cue, Yukiko rolls up in the Mystery Machine. The passenger side door slides open and she calls out to her bestie.]

C'mon Eleanor! Hop in!

Being single isn't that hard. [Eleanor snickered.] Trust me.

[She sighed.]

Well, maybe it's...I hesitate to say a good thing, but...a change. Sometimes change feels terrible but works out in the long run. Even if we don't enjoy it at the time.

[Eleanor stopped long enough to push her backpack and a bag with her makeshift targets into the back of the van, then climbed into the passenger seat, grinning.]

The beach, huh? [She said as she buckled in.] So by 'training' you mean 'probably swimming' right?

Maybe... three years is a long time to suddenly be outside of one. But... [She sighed and raked her hand through her hair.] This isn't changing today. I'm not going to do something so foolish today.

If I ask someone, I don't want them to feel like it is a rebound. I want... I want to be over this, to accept this first, and to be ok with myself. I need [She shuddered a little.] I need to get to where I feel ok with just being me.

Thank you, Eleanor.

I actually mean training. But I also want to show you something.

[Already rolling out, Yukiko hit the main road out of town quickly.]

I...have sort of kept a couple of things from you. [A hint of shame in her voice.] Mostly because I didn't really know how to say it, but also because some of it isn't my secret to tell. Aaaannd with everything going crazy like it has been over graduation there's been no time.

So today. I'll give you a show, too.

I'll just pretend I didn't stick my swimsuit in my bag then.

[She grins as she leans back, but her eyes narrow a bit.]

Well...alright. I'm not one to turn down secrets and shows.

[And then she leans forward again to fiddle with the radio.]

Oh, we can go swimming too.

[The radio blares a little bit of jazz, the NPR station she usually keeps it on.]

But...just so you're aware, it's a new power. Something a bit crazy seeming. Remember how I said I felt I had a guardian angel?

[Eleanor can get behind jazz.]

Yeeees....

[And she was politely believing it because Yukiko believed it, and she believed Yukiko. but that wasn't the same as believing it...exactly...]

I think we're past crazy for powers, Yukiko.

[Well, that's just it. She'll be seeing soon enough.]

Um. What if I told you I know her name.

[Very distinctly: Her]

And what if I told you I can summon her into reality.

Well. [A beat.] I...would...proooobably...take your word for it?

[Maybe?]

Although like, seriously, you would need to show me.

That's part of why we're going to the beach. There's a spot I found nobody bothers with.

[On the other side of some rocks. In the woods. ssssshhh]

Also, does the name Amaterasu mean anything to you?

Uhm. [It did sound vaguely familiar.]

Asian god of some kind, right?

Goddess from which the Imperial Household is descended. She's the Goddess of the Sun, of Japan. And in a way, war.

Probably helps to take some time for you, you know? You might discover you like a bit of solitude. I know I do.

[There's a bit of an audible shrug there.]

Hey, sure. I can do reassuring when I have to.

I think I'm going to get some rest. I'll give you a call again soon. Hopefully for better reasons, ok? Have a good night, Eleanor.

[Chloe Mental Check List: 1) The world was not crashing into the sun, check. 2) She had been thinking... a lot, and determined a few things about herself, one of which was that she was not good right now solo. She could do it, but there had been nights every weekend when she'd been going crazy, so... check. 3) She'd seriously been staring at the 'unique date spots in Recolle' website for about three days straight now, check. 4) After the flowers, she'd had trouble getting one specific person out of her head, so... check. 5) Single shot of bourbon for courage, check.

She could do this. She still knew how to do this. Oh, who was she kidding? She had no idea what she was doing. But, the instant she'd tapped the phone number in, it was a little too late to go back, now wasn't it? Ring Ring. I mean, if she hung up now, that'd just seem creepy. God, how did people do this normally? Ring Ring... oh god, this was a terrible idea wasn't it? Maybe if she was lucky, nobody was home and she'd get the answering machine and just be able to hang up?]

Yeah, sure. Call me if you need anything, alright?

Night Chloe.

[When the call is answered there's a brief moment of silence, a distant, muffled curse, and then a thunk as it falls on the floor. Then about fifteen seconds of someone scrambling about before Eleanor manages to scramble it off the floor, slightly breathless as she answers.]

Yes sorry hello?

Sure, her. Because I am totally up on my Japanese mythology.

[Eleanor laughed softly.]

So your...guardian angel...is a Japanese sun goddess?

[Ok, that helped. Chloe had to suppress a giggle, and some of the nerves melted away when she heard the oath leaving Eleanor's lips. She had to call her more often. The girl was worse with phones than she was.]

Hi Eleanor, it's Chloe. [Aaaand the nerves were back.] So, uh... there was something that I wanted to ask you. And don't worry, this has nothing to do with crazy apps or anything like that. [Because, at this point in their lives, that was an important thing to say.]

[Yukiko smiles somewhat nervously as she speeds up, head bobbing.]

She is. She's...well, I remembered her name was Sumeo-Okami. That's one of Amaterasu's names.

[One she had understood instinctively.]

And I'm not sure she's a guardian angel, not anymore. At least, not literally.

Sumeo-Okami. Okay.

[Hm.]

So what is she then? Not actually a goddess either, I assume?

Oh hey! Sorry if I'm a little distracted, kinda doing a billion things at once. [There's a buzz and she sounds a bit different suddenly, as if she's further away.]

Putting you on speaker. So what's up?

[Speaker?!? Oh god oh god oh god, her nerves were shooting up through the roof. What if Eleanor's mother heard? What if her sisters were there? Was her mother or father the sort to react badly? Fuck! What did she do? Did she back out?

...well, she wanted normal, this was really fucking normal.]

(OOC: You're evil, by the way, I'm wheezing here.)

IC Contact: Recollé

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