asgardmeridiem | [Open] When darkness is upon your door

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[Open] When darkness is upon your door

Who: Hanako (

burntviolet) and you!
What: Lilly is gone. Hanako doesn't take it very well, and tries to cope with the loss by going to the places she likes.
When: Day 137
Where: There will be two options: Library, and the park.
Rating: PG.

[ A - Gefion Park ]

[ It was nothing short of a horrible week for Hanako, just like it was probably for most people. But what hurt her the most was the notice that her best friend Lilly was missing from her room. One morning she headed there as usual to help her get ready for breakfast, and all her things, along with her own person, were nowhere to be found. The "Contact Not Found" sign on her bracelet was the ultimate confirmation that Lilly was no longer in Asgard. It hit Hanako harder than it should have, considering that now she's sure her friend was safe from the danger that lies here. Her company, although short-living, did help her emotionally during the Darkness attacks. She would have possibly broken down otherwise.

She's going to spend most of the morning in the park, sitting on the grass by the lake. Nashi's been left in the House. Hanako wanted to be alone while brooding. It doesn't look like she had a great sleep lately, either, looking at the clear bags under her eyes. ]

[ B - Great Library ]

[ Towards the afternoon, Hanako can be found at the library, sitting on her usual beanbag and mindlessly flipping through the pages of a random book she picked up. She's not reading it, though... her mind is wandering to other, unpleasant places where it shouldn't be. Not even her most favourite hobby is helping her. ]

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Hisao sipped at his tea too, brooding a little. He just had no idea what to say. He took a bite of his cake and shrugged - it was actually pretty good. But this silence from her was nerve wracking.

"...did you have plans for dinner?"

"No." She could regard him with a shake of her head, but decided otherwise. It didn't make her answer any less cold, though. Hanako spent a few seconds tossing a glance at her own cake, finger playing with the little spoon.

"...um, in that case, did you want me to make something?" he asked quietly. "I was going to mke fish again. But if you wanted something else, I could do that instead. I wanted to go to the grocery store anyway, so...."

Another, longer pause. Really, it didn't matter to her, specially not today.

"... Anything is fine." She wasn't giving him much of an input.

He gave a small sigh. This was starting to stretch even his patience a little bit.

"Alright. Anything is fine. I'll make fish, then - did you have any prefference as to what you want with it? I can make some soup if you want, or stirfried vegetables or even a salad, if you'd prefer something lighter."

"Salad is alright with me."

Nope, she wasn't going to help you get out of the hole you dug yourself, Hisao. But at least she didn't give a general opinion this time around.

"Alright. I can make a salad, then."

He ate a little of his cake and sipped his tea in silence for a few minutes without saying anything.

"Did you want to come to the grocery store too? Or would you prefer to just meet in the kitchen later. If so, I can pick up anything you need while I'm there."

"I'd rather go home already. Meet at the kitchen." Now her sentences are cut-out, to add it all. Maybe if she stayed alone for a while, she'd calm down a bit... hopefully so.

"Fine. Let's do that."

Hisao ate down the last of his cake and washed it down with another gulp of tea, leaving some in the pot. He pulled some money from his pocket - enough to cover his own meal with a small tip.

"I'll get going then."

A curt nod in response. She wasn't even halfway done with her part, but it'd be best if he left her alone. Maybe her appetite would come back then, though that was a cruel thought she just had. She'd take care of the rest.

"Alright. I'll see you in a few hours."

He gave her a small wave goodbye and set out for the grocery store. He was feeling annoyed despite himself - Why was she being so cold over this? He didn't get it. Was it going to be like this every time they disagreed about something? That was no way for a friendship to run, was it? He knew he'd upset her and he was sorry but nothing was going to be resolved if she wouldn't even talk to him. It reminded him just how little she'd ever really told him about herself and really, he might not know her as well as he thought.

Well, he wasn't going to give up on at least trying to make her day better. Even if she was mad at him, he still wanted to remind her she had one friend from home still here. He'd make her a nice meal with things she enjoyed eating. She was never picky or fussy but he knew at least some of her likes and dislikes by now and he'd work with what knowledge he had. Maybe if he put in enough effort she'd see he really was sorry for upsetting her, even if he didn't want to compromise on this.

Hanako walked her way back into the House when it was well into the evening. Instead of going straight home, she thought of taking a walk into the park to try and clear her head from unpleasant thoughts. That didn't quite work as expected, but it had the effect of forcing some bad feelings away. And it also made her hungry, which is pretty relevant here.

Though she was tired and still not quite willing to meet Hisao again, the smell coming from the kitchen made her reconsider the option of just going upstairs and sleep the night off. After all, she did agree to meet him there. Quietly and without saying anything much of a Hello, she slides in and takes a seat at the table. Not even going to bother asking if he needed help, she didn't feel up to it for obvious reasons.

"Hey!" Hisao said. He was smiling, working over a small pan from which the fish smell was coming. "I'm glad to see you."

He was smiling - buying grovceries and working in the kitchen had relaxed him enough that he was feeling optimistic again.

"There's tea there - help yourself. Food will be another couple of minutes, alright?"

"... Right." She spotted the tea where she sat, and pulled the pot close to herself along with one of the cups. Pouring her own share, she observed Hisao with the corner of her eye; he did seem in a better mood, going back and forth along the kitchen. Good for him, she thought.

Hisao just kept working. There was another pot boiling not far from the pan, and a rice cooker going too. He worked mostly in silence for another minute or two before going to the fridge and getting out two smaller bowls.

"Here, you can start on this wnhile you're waiting. It's my first try at a cucumber salad, so, hopefully you like it."

He'd tried it and he'd enjoyed it well enough. It was chilled, made with cucumber, sesame seeds, little bits of seaweed, shredded ginger, topped with rice vinegar. Not easy ingrtedients to find but he'd done fairly well.

"..."

She would spend a couple minutes staring down at the bowl full of salad. With the fork, she poked it around sperimentally, like lost in her thoughts. Then deciding it was enough poking, she picked a bunch and slowly munched on it.

...

It sure wasn't bad at all. Her expression betrayed a little hint of relaxation, and soon she'd pick another bite, and then another followed.

"Strictly speaking, it's supposed to be served in smaller portions, I guess. But I'm kind of proud of it so..."

He could see that she liked it, and that was good enough for him. He was spooning rice into another pair of bowls now, and then getting further bowls for soup.

"I hope you're on the hungry side. I made plenty. I mean, don't feel like you need to eat all of it, but I hope you enjoy it."

"I'm hungry."

She didn't say that out of a wish to make him happy! Rather... she wanted to answer to that with something that answered his statement.

... Anyway, she was going to dive on that salad, figuratively speaking. She was already done with one bow shortly after he finished speaking.

Hisao laid out the rice and soup next for her before plating the fish. It had been cooked with various spices and topped with chopped scallion. A little more advanced than his usual fare, but he'd gone back to one of the recipes he'd written down some time ago from one of the books he'd borrowed from the library.

"I'm glad to hear it - Enjoy."

He then went about setting up his own plates and bowls.

She wouldn't say yes or nod, but her answer was set through her actions as she didn't hesitate resuming her eating, picking at each other dish slightly before moving to eat them, still silently, but... with a sense of pleasure that lightened her up a bit.

Finally, his own portions were plated up and ready to be eaten. He sat down and ate in silence too, as he preferred anyway. He had to admit, he'd kind of outdone himself on this one. It was all pretty tasty. He poured a little soy sauce over his rice and left the bottle for Hanako to use if she needed it.

...well, OK. Maybe the fish was sliiiightly over done. Next time he'd cut the pan time a few minutes. And add a little more ginger. And chop the scallion just a little finer and spread it more evenly. Oh god. Now he was kind of nervous that maybe she wasn't actually enjoying it that much. It was a little hard to read her, after all.

Those were all details Hanako wasn't concerned about. Perhaps, the fact the fish tasted a little crispier than usual was more of a nice touch than otherwise. Not like she'd say it out loud, though.

Using the sauce on the rice, she then proceeded to alternate it with the fish and the salad remains. All of that in religious silence of course.

Soon enough he was finished and had laid his utensils down, finishing up with another drink from his tea cup.

"Are you full, Hanako?"

"... Hm." She made a little nod, very much filled up after she ate everything faster than she usually did. All that walking effectively made her hungry... she hadn't eaten so much in a couple weeks.

"I'm glad." Hisao replied, starting to gather up the plates and bowls.

"I'll take care of the dishes too, if you want to go do other things."

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