Not here to Pray (OPEN)

Midday and the world was out and about, doing whatever they wanted to make themselves go round. Of course, she was the same. Goodness, younger sisters could be vindictive toward their brothers. Then again, it wasn’t like she was doing anything too severe. Just trying to break into someone’s computer and put all their documents on an external hard drive for a client. Actually, this wasn’t something her skill was even needed for. Why her client didn’t just do this themselves, she didn’t know. Maybe some people were just lazy or didn’t have the time. Heavens knew she did. More than enough time. In fact, she was only half paying attention to what she was doing. The other half of her attention was taken by the tablet sitting next to her, doodling pictures that came to mind. Mostly, they were butterflies and skulls. Occasionally, a flower (if you could call them that) would find its way onto the screen.
 
This was the entire reason she came here of all places. Churches were a place of worship, which meant they were quiet. No one would bother her here. Normally, she would stay home and not bother with this place, but her mother was home today. She wasn’t the one who wanted to explain her little ‘job’ to her mother. That would be a long, difficult discussion, which she knew she would lose. Despite that being her entire reason for coming here, she was starting to get bored without anyone to talk to, “Would it kill somebody to come here at this time of day? Why are churches always so boring!” Maybe this place was too quiet. She could really use another voice, if only to keep her from listening to this dead silence, "Why can't anybody ever just come here for the fun of it?" She was almost tempted to leave, but the outside world was too loud...

Naomi would hear the sound of the church door opening as someone entered. Hachiro entered the church, he didn't particularly have an extremely good reason. Scratch that he did. Supposedly the temple of God was a place where one could find help to overcome their hardships, whether or not that was true he didn't know. Perhaps he might find some of the people who he pegged as going through a rough time here. Sadly there was no one here, except some girl with a computer, who was complaining about why no one ever came for the "fun of it?" What a petty thing to complain about. Clearly she did not know the point of a church, if she did then she would not be making such silly statement. Then again he had seen churches filled with wounded, sick, and a place where sins were heard.

"Church isn't a place where most people come to have a good time. There are bars, brothels, and arcades for such things." He would say rather matter of factly, "Most come here to have their transgressions forgiven, and it is a place where no evil can reach you. Or so they say." He would make his way down the aisle or nave as some may call it. He examined the altar for a moment before glancing at Naomi, "Though some ancient texts have been found that while Adam and & Eve were being chased out of the Garden of Eden by God, God was shouting 'We don't want you to become like us!' What could he ever mean by that? Well in that same place there was a tree that granted immortality. Because Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit and could now do evil. Some debate the the meaning, but I think it's pretty simple. God didn't want us to face an immortal evil, like he does with Satan. Rather, he chased us out so that we may overcome our evil instead of being trapped with it like a rat in a cage." His voice didn't fluctuate much throughout his rambling. He was starting to sound like an old geezer, and that just didn't sit right in his book. Best to cut to the chase before he started to sound emotional.

He shook his head, "Though someone as young as yourself isn't interested in such things. So let's cut to the chase, name's Hachiro, who exactly are you? If you don't mind me asking." Though his question implied curiosity, his tone remained rather impassive. In fact his whole stance and body language seemed to reinforce that point. Did he care? Or had he simply heard it all before? That was a question for Naomi to debate, he wasn't inclined to answer. At least, not until she had caught his interest, perhaps she had overcome a hardship and prove his theory correct.

Naomi bent her head back as she heard the church doors opening. Standing before her, or behind her in this case, was a man who would look more at home in and old P.I. movie than anywhere else. She picked up her tablet and drew a picture of a crossed out bar. She didn’t know exactly what to do for a brothel, so she skipped to the arcade. The picture would show Pac-Man and herself with a large space between them. She wasn’t a fan of the sun, so being out long enough to walk here had been bad enough. Actually, she hadn’t thought about the fact that she still had to walk back. A deep sigh escaped her lips for a brief moment. Only for the shortest one though. She put the computer to the side so she could keep her attention on him. She would tilt her head in confusion as he told her the story of God’s final worlds in the Garden of Eden. She didn’t say anything, instead thinking that that sounded like a dream she had once. Maybe.

She would clear her tablet and draw a large smiley face, “My name is Naomi. It’s nice to meet you.” She would draw something else next to the smiling face, but it was near impossible for her to even tell what it was. She sighed after realizing it would be easier to talk than to draw, “You got one question, now I get one two. Those are the rules of the game.” She would smile and her voice would be full of curiosity and joy, “What are you doing here in the house of God today? Praying or confessing or are you here to kill time like I am? Is it possible that the beavers have finally taken over the world and this is the last safe haven in the world?” The questions would ramble off one as a time, the last one mostly to herself.

Hachiro watched the teenage girl draw on a tablet of some of the things he spoke about, what an odd thing to do when someone was speaking to you. A coping mechanism perhaps? Something she used to overcome hardships...no that can't be it. Why would she use it know if it was? However, set it aside when he began to speak about the Garden of Eden, which caused her to tilt her head. Clearly, she wasn't here to ask God to overcome whatever hardships she faced. Hachiro didn't know if that was a bad or good thing, depends on how one looks at it he supposed. He certainly wasn't going to philosophize about it, he had better things to do.

When she introduced herself, she drew a large smiley face, it was getting hard to maintain his uncaring attitude. She was breaking through his apathetic shell. "Pleasure to meet you Naomi." He would exchange those formalities, then she spoke of a game where she got to ask two questions. She really was an odd one, but what the heck. "Alright, I'll play your game then. I'm here to kill time, I guess, I came to see how people use this place to help their hardships. I was curious if I would see some people from my bar here, seeing of how they are having a rough time in their life. As for your second question.....No, they have not. Beavers prefer fresh water, and tend not to venture far from it." There was a slight pause as he observed her reaction before going on with the game, "I guess I get to ask three now? I'm not sure how this game works, but here I go. Why on earth did you come to a church of all places to kill time? On a day that is not a holy day no less? Finally, why do you draw stuff on your tablet in the middle of a conversation?"

Naomi nodded as he said it was a pleasure to meet her. As he answered her question, she only got more confused. Did people really have it that hard in the world? It was possible, but she couldn’t really think of anything that was too bad. Maybe she was just too young to understand all the problems adults faced. She was only 17, “At least the beavers haven’t taken over the world yet. I was afraid that we’d have to barracade ourselves inside of here. I mean, it wouldn’t be that bad, except I think we’d run out of food pretty soon.” Why this was her top concern didn’t make sense even to her. She was probably just crazy.

She was going to ask something else, but he decided to play the game. That meant that she could only listen and answer his questions as he thought of them. She was the kind of person who played by the rules, after all… Okay, she did when she was the one who made them up. As each of his questions popped up, Naomi would lean forward and would get a stern face (stern in the same sense of when a seven year old tries to make a stern face) as she tried to hear each thing he said, "I guess I get to ask three now? I'm not sure how this game works, but here I go. Why on earth did you come to a church of all places to kill time? On a day that is not a holy day no less? Finally, why do you draw stuff on your tablet in the middle of a conversation?" She would try to answer those in order, but, given her habit of not sticking to one topic, it would be hard. She hummed a little before saying anything, “I’m here because it’s quiet, but it ended up being too quiet. If it were a holy day, it wouldn’t be quiet enough. As for the tablet… I don’t know.” She knew she wasn’t good with speaking, but she didn’t know why she chose to draw on her tablet, “My turn again. Why did you decide to work at a bar?” She would ask only that one question. It was all she really wanted to know.

Naomi stated she was glad that beavers hadn't taken over the world, that they didn't have enough food to keep them alive. Hachiro simply shrugged, "Barricade it with what? Anything wood the beavers would use for construction if they didn't chew through it. We wouldn't be able to barricade anything if the stuff we were using was made out of wood. Though we wouldn't run out of food, you clearly haven't had to eat a beaver, it's actually pretty good if you cook it for long enough." He was speaking from experience here. When you wander the world you don't get very picky about what you get to eat, just as long as you can catch it without expending too much energy. After all survival is key in the wilderness.

It seemed she was fairly picky about such minor things, "If noise is what concerns you the most, consider yourself lucky. There are people your age without food and shelter." That may have been a bit harsh, but people concerned about such trivial things needed to look around them a bit more. After a moment of silence he would answer her question, "I chose the bar because it offered me a chance to observe people, not to mention they will let me play my guitar sometimes. You can stop by, but you can't have anything to drink. There are laws after all, and I would like to keep my job. Beyond on that, I like the owner he's a funny guy. That and the patrons like the tunes I play, guess I touch their soul or something. I just play based on what I've seen and learned."

She nodded at his comment. He was right about wood being useless against an army of beavers. If anything, it would prove to be their undoing, “Well, I would guess there is something not made of wood somewhere in this building. Maybe there are some stones somewhere. We could use those to keep them out for a while” Beaver actually sounded good right about now. It was getting to be lunchtime, so maybe Naomi was just hungry. She could feel her stomach rumbling at the thought. A blush crossed her face and a nervous laugh left her lips, “I guess I’m a bit hungry. It is getting to be that time.”
 
Yeah, she had those days before. Days where she was afraid that she wasn’t going to have a place to live and days when she didn’t have a lot of food… She shook the idea off and gave him a big smile, “I guess you’re right. I should be grateful that I have so much. I still don’t like loud places though.” She spread herself out where she was sitting and yawned a little. She was wondering if her lack of food was really starting to get to her. She had to stay away though. It would be rude to fall asleep on him, “I’d love to stop by and see your playing some time. Although, I don’t know if my mom would like me being out so late. Especially at a bar.  I think she’d actually get pretty angry. I don’t want that to happen.” She has to be honest. She was still too young to walk in there without some kind of funny look. That, and she had a mother to answer to.
 

Spoiler:

Hachiro looked around when she mentioned something made of stone or an object not made out of wood. The altar was the first place to come to mind, but in the end he just shrugged, it was such a silly situation anyways that it was never going to happen. She made a comment that she was getting hungry, he had a large meal before coming here so he wasn't suffering hunger pangs like she was. Then again she may still be growing into a young woman, though he didn't know. After all, he wasn't a doctor he was a fairly simple man that had just seen the darker side of humanity while wandering the earth. Cultures treated puberty and initiations into adult hood differently, some more barbaric than others.

When she smiled and conceded to his point, she might catch a trace of a very soft grin, it wasn't cocky or anything, but he was somewhat glad she seemed to understand instead of trying to figure out a witty comeback. The grin would fade as soon as it came, he had an image to maintain after all. She mentioned how she would like to come and see him playing his guitar in the future. "Well you don't have to come into the bar, you might catch me playing around San Malarus, now I'm not some prodigy, but I'm not a bad player. It's just something I enjoy doing, so perhaps keep an eye or ear out for me with my guitar. You never know when I might show up." He would say in response to her, when a question struck him. "What about you, what do you like to do?"

She nodded at him, “I hope I hear you playing someday. I rarely leave this island, so the chances I’ll see you around just shot through the roof.” She raised her hand to the sky as she was speaking to emphasize her point, “We’ll have to meet again someday when you aren’t only playing for the patrons of the bar scene. Deal?” She gave him a thumbs up, not really leaving him a lot of room to deny her request. She would probably end up getting her way, even if he didn’t know how just yet. She had a magical way of getting what she wanted eventually. Usually by the power of not knowing when to quit.

He would change the topic again, “I like computers and stuff.” She would say with another small yawn escaping her lips. She held up her tablet and showed him a picture of a computer than had just undergone the painful operation of being taken apart, “I also like doing this. You have to know what makes them all tick, just in case. I’m not as fast with putting them together, but I can build a pretty basic one. Well, sort of. It’s really complicated and I’m still learning. Hopefully, I will have it figured out in a few years. Or maybe I never will. Who knows?” She would laugh a little at her own comment. She was enjoying this little talk, especially since he was chasing away the quiet. She was getting worried though. Her drowsiness was starting to get worse and worse and she didn’t know how much longer she could stay away.

She sure didn't leave him much of a choice. It was clear she wanted to hear him play, as to why? Heck, he didn't know maybe she was a secret music fanatic...but she said she hated loud noises. Music got loud, then again he played an acoustic guitar. It was a quieter than an electric one with an amp, but it could get loud at times. Well, if it was too loud for her then she would let him know, then it would come down if he cared for her minor complaints in light of the suffering others in Africa are going through. "Well if you wander around here in the afternoon you'll hear me play. My shift at the bar varies from time to time, but most the of the time I work early in the evening. Therefore I have plenty of time to do whatever I want, so sure it's a deal."

After they made their deal, she showed him a picture of a computer being taken apart, and she said that she liked them. Naomi sure had a funny way of showing it if that is how she treated the stuff that she liked. She later explained that she also liked taking them apart and putting them back together, figuring out what made them tick. Now that was something he could understand, after all he liked to figure out how the people who visited the bar ticked. "Seems like to me you have a pretty good grasp of it, at least destroying it. The more barbaric part of the process that is. Though I'm sure with time you will master the rest of it, the process seems fairly complicated." Hachiro didn't spend nearly as much time with computers as she did, sure he knew how to operate them, install, download files, but beyond that...he wouldn't dare try to disassemble one. He would shake his head a bit, before simply stating, "Heck, you know more than I do, so at least you are off to a good start. I just know the basics, I don't really have to work with computers given my job. I just mix a mean couple of drinks to keep the patrons coming and to make sure they keep buying. A drunk dollar is still a dollar, or so my last boss would say." The man would shake his head against, that man was consumed by his greed. It was part of the reason why he quit his job, why should he work for a man that could not overcome his hardships? Not to mention his new boss was so much more lenient and nicer than the last one. That was rather surprising seeing how they were in the middle of a busy city.

So, he played around here in the afternoon? Naomi could manage to sneak a peek at that. It’s not like she did anything else with her day besides sit around her room. She would scribble the information down in the air with her finger. To the outside, it would look like a weird habit, but to her it was a way of making sure she remembered something important. She could have always just taken a memo on the tablet, but that wasn’t how she did things. She needed to make it as needlessly complicated as possible for herself. That was the best way to do it. As soon as she had finished ‘writing’ everything down, she would speak up again, “I’ll be sure to come and hear you.

Her cheeks would puff up a little when he said she was good at destroying computers. Yes, she had said the same thing, but she wouldn’t call it barbaric, “This one was going to be thrown away… Someone asked me to make sure that all the information on it was gone. Did you know simply deleting something doesn’t make it go away? If you aren’t careful, someone can still find all the information and retrieve it. It’s like super-duper theft that most people don’t even know about. Sometimes, I help people get rid of that left over information. I wouldn’t call that barbaric. Smashing this poor thing with a hammer, now that is barbaric.” She scrolled through the pictures to find one of that same computer. This time, it was put together, “See? It’s perfectly fine. Of course, I didn’t have all the pieces, so it doesn’t actually work, but I did manage to put it back together.” Yeah, she had lost a few of the pieces during the operation. It was a much older model, so many of those pieces weren’t even made anymore. That meant this was the best she could ever hope to do with it. She put her tablet down as he started talking about his job. When he mentioned a drunk dollar, she had to ask, “Does a sugar-high dollar count too? Because if it does, I may order a kiddie cocktail (Shirley Temple) someday. Those things are really good.” She was seriously addicted to those things. Then again, it wasn’t that hard to make one. On the other hand though, all the ones she tried to make ended up tasting funny.

Hachiro cocked an eyebrow as she wrote in the air? A way to remember things? Most likely, he would have thought that someone as technologically gifted as her would have made a note in her smartphone, though it was foolish for him to make such assumptions. Did she even have one? He had no way of knowing, he knew she had a tablet...surely they functioned the same. They had the same maker. Sure he didn't know that much about technology, but he wasn't that old-fashioned.....was he? He stroked the shadow of a beard on his face in thought. All this reflection was making him sound like an old geezer yet, was he? ....Damn what was this, his midlife crisis? 'I'm only 31' he thought, and didn't speculate on it further when her cheeks puffed up a bit.

She removed all the information on it? When she was asked? Was she a hacker of some sort? Did she embrace the darkness he had seen in other's hearts because they could not overcome a hardship? Well it all really depended on what the information was, if it was some teenager on hormones collection of digital pin-ups it was harmless. Granted, how many people go to get those things deleted by someone who is apparently an expert? It was suspicious, but Hachiro wouldn't pry. "Huh, so they were upgrading their stuff then? That seems to be a trend among the younger generation, gotta get the best of the best. No, I didn't know that, though I doubt anyone cares about the fact that I looked at how some owner of a professional team is getting removed because of a stupid comment he made. Well I'm glad you're helping people with their troubles." That last statement was somewhat of a lie, he didn't know what exactly she was helping them with so he just went with a positive statement. She made a comment about smashing it with a hammer and he nodded his head in agreement, before showing him a reassembled product, which didn't work because she lacked the parts for it. "Well you got the skill from my perspective, granted I don't know what professionals would think about that." He said before giving her a slight shrug. Then she asked if a sugar-high dollar counted for as much as a drunk dollar. "If it influences your judgement then it would, but that isn't my philosophy. Also you have to be old enough to drink at the bar, but the regular lounge area is open to all patrons. Though beer and the like are off the menu without the proper identification."

A sideways glance at his watch gave him the time. He had to go to his job in a bit, but he had to grab his guitar. Blast! He knew he was forgetting something! He looked back at Naomi, "Well I gotta get ready for work, the owner asked me to play tonight so I gotta go grab my guitar. It was nice meeting you Naomi, keep your eye out for me and an ear open for the sounds of an acoustic guitar. I might play you a song, if you're lucky." With that said he would turn and leave the church his footsteps growing fainter, stopping only to open the door. His footsteps would resound off the stone path before the door closed, and she would no longer be able to hear him.

((Exit))