The Silent Mountain Festival

Oki watched as the girl respond back to words spoken as she chomped down on her lollipop only to grab another. How many would she eat? Would she get sick? Or could she keep going until she passed out? Huh...an interesting side study that Oki would observe subtly for results as it kept its focus mainly on what was being said.

When it came to the subject of finding new people on the fly, Sharaku seemed to disagree with the idea of randomly approaching people without considering the consequences, but at the same time he didn’t seem to dislike the idea fully either. After all was not their own encounter random, if not more than this one here? And what of chat hmm? When around people that made chat fun or easy, what was there not to like about the random encounter?

“Mmm. I like the random encounters here and there. They always seem to bring good and bad things my way, so I can’t complain about being bored due to them,” Oki responded with a light shrug. Oki took things as they came and adapted to them as it saw fit. The outcome was really determined by what sort of company was around Oki. Nothing more. Nothing less. Oki was lucky tonight to have a bit of the familiar around it along with the new. The company came together to make something new and refreshing that the old being could enjoy.

With such good company, it was easy for Oki to remain in a lighthearted mood as it continued to listen to the words exchanged as the conversation came back to the subject of ties. As itself and the girl agreed that wearing the things were indeed bothersome, Sharaku seem to not see the problem with such things.

“Well, you may be the master of the tie, but I must agree with Maya here. They are quite trouble some for just a simple piece of fabric. The results are agitating to get right only to want to take it off a second later when it becomes unpleasant to wear,” Oki said as it rubbed the back of its head. “I honestly don’t get the point of formal wear either. Thus, just wear what you want as long as it is appropriate is my philosophy. Less stress and more time to do other things than fight with a tie or suit with those rules,” the being said with a light chuckle before becoming slightly more serious as it asked its own questions.

When the girl answered, Oki smirked at the rock climbing bit.

“Rock climbing, huh? Got any spots you like to go climbing in?” Oki asked in the same casual way that it had done before. It’s speech was normal enough as it fell silent to see if an answer would be given. Sharaku was mostly quiet during this time, making Oki wonder what he was thinking; however, before it could ponder the mystery that was Sharaku even further, the girl was asking a question of her own.

“This is the first time I’ve ever gone out of my way for an event. Usually, I just stay near home, but this one was interesting enough, so I came. Kind of glad I did, it is a lot more fun than expected and I got to meet another nice person on top of it all,” Oki said quite content with the company if not the festival itself. It was a bit too loud and crowded for the being’s liking to be honest, but as long as it had Sharaku and this young lady here the being could focus on them alone making the chaos of the carnival seem small instead of large.

Speaking of focus, Oki would blink as it looked over at Sharaku.

"You are not a native? Where you come from, Sharaku?" it asked curious...although it was not expecting an answer, especially with a stranger even more of a stranger than itself here.

To Sharaku’s words regarding the tie, Oki let out a light “Hehe,” as the being grinned at the other innocently enough. It could’ve made a comment back or poked fun at Sharaku, but with the Maya here, Oki resisted the urge to play. Besides it remember quite well that Sharaku had a limit to play time, so best not test its luck again.

In any case, green eyes would lock onto the girl as she answered the question regarding rock climbing. As she answered, Oki would look from the girl to the surroundings, its eyes catching the large dormant volcano that this festival was dedicated to.

“This place seems like the perfect spot to do that sort of activity. Haven’t hung around Penecia enough to say the same,” Oki said as it observed the mountain for a while longer before looking back at the girl with a smile. “I am glad that works out for you. I might have to see if there is a place near home to try that sort of activity one day. The new activity might be fun.”

Oki remained in good spirits only being bounced into curious mode when Sharaku mentioned he was not a native of the area. Oki had questioned the words and then the girl had questioned it too as she seemingly became more fascinated with Sharaku than even Oki itself was. That was a first…being out done in the curiosity department, but then again maybe this was a playoff of that wink from before. Heh. She must’ve liked Sharaku in some fashion or else she wouldn’t be showing that much interest.

Funny. Sharaku seemed to miss that point and only seemed to be confused at the double questions. Quite amused, Oki would keep a light smile on its face as it observed the situation quietly as it nodded at Sharaku’s answer.

“Portugal, hmm? Interesting,” Oki would say as it seemingly fell into thought. However, the small action was more than that. It was actually an old habit of the being when it wished to observe something occurring. By removing itself slightly from the equation, it gave the girl the opportunity to react to Sharaku’s statement as she saw fit…and to be frank, Oki was more interested in that reaction than prying for more information for Sharaku at the moment. Cruel? Insensitive? Maybe or maybe not. Some old habits just couldn’t be erased from the being.

To its grin and snicker, Oki got a raised eyebrow from the other who didn’t seem to catch onto the potential play there. No surprise or disappointment came from Oki regarding this. It just simply accepted that this was just one of Sharaku’s quirks. In any case, green orbs would shift to look at Sharaku as the other made a suggestion on the rock climbing.

“Hmmm…I am not sure if I want to challenge the mountain yet. I am thinking small to see if I even like the ordeal, but I’ll keep the suggestion in mind,” Oki said with a smirk and nod of thank you. When it came to the subject of Portugal, the being found itself a bit more disappointed than it would like to admit. While the results did indeed come, they were a bit too unfair to Oki’s curiosity about the play between Sharaku and the girl. It seemed time had saved them both from the analysis as the girl gave a heavy sigh and Sharaku gave a simple perhaps in response to its words. Ah well maybe it was simply not meant to observe such things.  

Disappointed or not, Oki wouldn’t show it as instead the being became more interested in the paper the girl had. She wrote something down upon it before holding the slips out to them. Hesitating for a second, Oki would eventually reach out and look at the paper. There was a number there.

Hmm?

For a split second Oki was confused, but then processing the girl’s words the being nodded lightly at what was heard.

“Mmm. See you then, Maya. Take care,” Oki responded back friendly enough as the being watched the girl walk away and disappear into the crowd. What an odd meeting, but nice nonetheless. Oki had never expected this when it came here. Heh. Oh?

Sharaku’s voice broke the wandering thoughts causing Oki to look over at him with a light smile as it placed the paper in the a chest pocket next to the phone it had.

“So it would seem, but I wonder if we did call how she would know it was us? We did not give a number in turn,” Oki wondered for a bit and then shook its head lightly and refocused on Sharaku.

“We are going to wander a bit more before finding something else to do. Want to come for a bit?” Oki asked the other with a tilted head.

((Nah. It be fine. We can understand. ^^ What we don't understand is this fail post. >>))

Oki looked over at Sharaku as he answered the question regarding how the girl would know it was them should they call. As he laid out his logical answer, Oki took it in and then nodded lightly.

“We suppose that makes sense," the old being said before shaking its head and looking around the festival and then looking over at Sharaku as it asked if he wanted to tag along as it wandered the place. The other considered the offer and then opened his mouth and made his comment. To his words, Oki chuckled lightly.

“Ah, what to do what you, Shaku?” it asked playfully before nodding in the direction the crowds were flowing. There was much to do, but where to start was the hard part. As green eyes looked here and there, they would glance at this distraction or that distraction before gazing up at Sharaku.

“What do you like, Shaku. Games? Shows? Relaxation? We can go with anything so we will let you choose,” Oki said as its eyes drifted back to the crowds as it walked. It would pause as it looked at a fishing game and then the food booth next to it. Food...No...No, no, no!

Shaking its head to get itself to come back to reality, Oki would look away fromt the temptation as it looked for something else more distracting than the food. No there was no need for more food. It would go to sleep for sure if that occurred. In any case, Oki tried to play the event off as simply looking around, but how well it played this off was to yet to be seen. Hopefully, Sharaku missed that little oops in behavior.

Oki chuckled lightly at the other’s comments regarding the girl and what to do with him. Sharaku was an interesting fellow that was true; however, luckily for Oki he was also easy going. This attitude made it easy to play with Sharaku here and there and kept the situation rather light rather than serious and tense all the time. It was something that Oki appreciated from the other.

“Nothing, hmm? Perhaps I can live with that and perhaps I cannot. I will have to analyze this some more to see what action is best fitting for you,” Oki replied back easily enough to the other as it kept walking down the pathway avoiding crashing with the multitude of people that was gathered here tonight. When the being had asked what Sharaku wanted to do and even gave him the option of choosing something, the ancient being found itself bowing its head and shaking it as a light smile crossed its face.

Looking over its shoulder slightly with a smirk, it responded back to the other in light tones.

“You are no help at all; however, food is out for me. If you want food, I can accompany you to the booth, but eating anymore…well…I do not think that wise at this point,” Oki said as it rubbed the back of its head lightly. Yeah food would be a horrible idea for itself right now; however, it would not stop another from eating…even if watching said action would be hard to do. Ah well.

Looking forward again, it scanned the booths with care once more and settled again on the fishing one.

“There be a game and food near each other,” Oki said pointing out the booth. “Perhaps this will take care of multiple birds with one stone, no?” the being asked the other as it kept up its casual pace as it shifted through the crowds.

There was a light huff in response to Oki’s words regarding analyzing the other further; however, it was the words that followed that caused the being to grin as it threw a glance back at its companion.

“Hehe. You give us an interesting challenge, Shaku. We shall take it and see just how much we can uncover before deeming you unsolvable,” Oki said lightly to the other as it continued to move down the paths. It really did want to learn more about Sharaku. The old being kept bumping into the other, so it figured it was meant to try and understand him more. Even if Sharaku was indeed unsolvable, the exercise would be fun and besides, the man had given the being permission to perform the exercise, so the restraint of guilt no longer applied in this matter. Oki was allowed to study the other openly and that was a great gift to the information seeker.

Still, pleased with the permission that had been granted, Oki found itself letting out a light chuckle as the other responded back to its complaint about being useful when it came to determining what to do next. Ah, what a Shaku move. Always being vague and confusing and so entertaining to be around. Charming little quirk really; however, as the other spoke of food, Oki’s amusement faded lightly and was replaced by a sheepish behavior.

“Eh-heh. I always eye food…even when I should not be. My stomach has no room for more, but I want to try all flavors. It is a sad bad habit,” Oki responded easily as it kept moving towards the fishing booth game. Honestly, it need to control the habit a bit better, but food was food and unfortunately, Oki had not found a way to keep itself completely in line when it came to stuffing its face. Thankfully, the food booth had a distraction near it.

“Mmm. Well, if anything we will have something to do for now,” Oki responded back to vague response Sharaku had given as it walked a few more paces and finally reached the rather empty fish booth. The owner of the booth looked bored, but somewhat happy to see people coming to the booth.

“Howdy folks,” the woman said as she tilted her hat at them. “Care to try an' catch one of my beauties? I’ll give the first game to ya’ll for free for being the first customers of the night and all.”


“Huh. A free try?” Oki repeated as it moved up to the large tank of water and look down in it to see some small fish of various colors there. Immediately fascinated by them, Oki grinned like a little kid as it watched the fishes swim by.

“Look Shaku. Baby koi,” Oki said with delight as it continued to watch the fish swim by…completely forgetting the question of a try. The owner of the booth chuckled and looked up at Sharaku.

“Think we lost your friend there, so then," she began as she watched Oki continue to watch the fish. After a moment. dark brown eyes would swivel to look at Sharaku. "What about you, hun? Wanna give it a try?” she asked as she pulled a paper net from the bowl next to her and showed it to Sharaku. "If you managed to scoop the fish up and it doesn’t break the net, it's yours. Simple right?” she said smirking lightly at the other in an open challenge.