A Small Tea Party (Hyde)

It was so quiet today... An interesting thing to have with the islands seeming to be slowly destroyed... The Disfigured One didn't quite know how to feel about the strange events, to be honest. She found them unpleasant... And linked to the shadows... In the end though, as long as SE.RA.PH was no where to be found... She was okay. Maybe it was this fact that the Disfigured One found herself on a blanket on the clean grass with a small basket on it. She had only brought one doll with her, Nina Ludenberg. The quiet doll sat next to her owner with a small book in hand with the words 'Alice in Wonder Land' imprinted on its cover.

She slowly took out a thermos bottle from within the basket, taking out a few elegant tea cups after words. Her body had no use for food and the likes but she was capable of at least pretending... She was almost a doll in that aspect... Pretending her life away... Hiding herself sheepishly within her Doll Shop and talking to her wares... She was afraid to be out right now... She rarely left her shop for anything more than parts for her disfigured body...

Regardless, she sat on the blanket and poured some tea into a cup, picking it up and looking down at it. She wondered how humans properly drank such things... Didn't it hurt going down? What did it even feel like? The Disfigured One didn't rightfully care to be fare... She just enjoyed giving herself a moment of silliness was all.

Hyde was walking past with his guitar, a backpack, and his precious red cape He didn’t want to cause any of his friends any trouble,  yet it seemed a little sudden to move in with Oki like that. They only started talking,  it would be weird and it might even be seen as disrespectful. “Sigh….. I can’t lie like this forever..’ Hyde can’t say that everything is alright; at least Shun would know that this poses a problem for Hyde, since he lied in the dorms.  In the meantime, Hyde wondered if there was a small room on one of the malatsu inn’s, though he had no luck yet.

“Sigh….” Hyde sat down and noticed that there was a girl having somewhat of a tea party all by herself. Or maybe she was having some tea?  Either way Hyde was curious and sat near her, placing his guitar on the floor. “Good evening, it’s a beautiful day that were having!  Right? “ He couldn’t help but to be sincere and nice this time around,  he was using this as a distraction to his real problems, as well as getting to know the locals.  

Strength

Spoiler:

The Disfigured one had poured some tea for the studios looking doll, moving it directly in front of her. She sighed, almost wishing the doll could speak back to her. She had grown... Somewhat accustomed to being alone for so long... People visited her store at times and the commissions she retrieved required constant communications with the commissioner... But it was still so lonely... Maybe she'd find something that would satisfy her hunger... Who knew? Oh, but it would appeared her tea party would receive one more person.

She glanced over at the man, her hat tilted in a way that hid her missing eye. It was a good thing she had kept her head inside her... She didn't notice someone was in the park until they literally came to sit right next to her. She was a little startled and placed the tea cup on its small dish blinking a few times at him. Was this... Some sort of strange prank? Or was it... Fate? This was almost to convenient... But talking needed to be done... She didn't want to come across as rude...

"... Y-Yes... It's... S-So lovely t-t-today..." she said in her quiet and stuttering voice. It was clear she had issues talking... Hopefully the man wouldn't mind all to much. "... I-I-It's b-been so... S-S-Strange l-lately... I-It's nice... T-T-That the p-park... I-I-Is still... F-F-F-Fine..." she said in her fractured voice, sometimes dipping into a barely audible whisper. She put on a light smile though, glad to have someone to talk to for the moment.

‘mhm…… oh!” Hyde would say as he made an apologizing nod.“I’m sorry for just coming out of nowhere. I seemed to have bothered you with your tea party or, enjoying a cup of tea. It seemed like fun, so I wanted to say hi. I didn’t mean to make you nervous or anything. “ Hyde didn’t want to scare this little girl away. There was a time where he tried to be funny with Lune, she ran like hell. He still wondered if it was something he said? Or maybe Hyde was just a bit overly friendly.
“My name is Hyde Mizumi, what’s your name? Do you mind if I sit with you for a little bit? I don’t mind the company, but I don’t know if you mind it.” Hyde was silent for a moment, looking around at the set that the girl had

Elegant tea cups with a reddish tea within them sat on the blanket, the thermos sitting by the wicker basket neatly. It was a very cute scene to say the least as the Disfigured One placed the cup down. She looked back over to the man, a light tilt to her head as she did so. He was very strange to say the least... It didn't overly matter though... She was far stranger than most to be fare. She smiled lightly though, going to pick up one of the tea cups and hand it over to the man.

"I-I-It is... F-Fine... I-I-I can't... T-T-Talk well... I-I-Is a-all..." she said in her stuttered and whispered voice, bowing her head lightly to the man. She was dressed in a sort of white lolita dress, her hat a matching white with a large white flower on it. She seemed almost like a doll, if not for the clumsy way she moved. She hummed quietly though at the man's name, processing it before storing it in her memory. Her connection to most data files had been the first thing to be destroyed so it was no use to begin with... It just made her feel more like herself in a way... And less like the scared doll she had become...

"M-My n-n-name... I-Is... W-Whitney T-Turner... A-And p-please... E-E-Enjoy s-some... Tea..." she said with a frail smile, glad to have at least someone to talk too. She looked over to her doll, her nose still buried behind the book she was reading. The Disfigured One didn't know what else to expect to be fare... She had given it that personality in the first place... And there was someone that was really willing to talk to her... Oh the joys!

Well, that’s alright as well. I can do enough of the talking for the both of us!” Hyde would say with a bright smile on his face. “So, Whitney right?  Are you a native here at San Malarus? You are quite the girl from a fairy-tale from what  see, all innocent looking and whatnot. The most people that I run into on this island are a good combination of thrill seekers and party goers. Though, I guess it’s fair to not judge a book by its cover.”

Hyde would then take up the small tea cup and sniff it a few times. Though he would look back at Whitney with an embarrassing smile. ” I’m sorry for that; It’s a force of habit sometimes when I try new things. “ Afterwards, Hyde would take a sip of the tea and his face would brighten up.  “Its! Good!!!! Wow, this is like drinking tea from out of a café place. Very good, what’s in it?

He was definitely an odd one in his choice of words. The Mauled only laughed lightly at his explanation. She didn't mind talking, just that it was hard to talk. It didn't bother her though as she listened to Hyde ask his questions. An odd assortment of them to say the least... Hm... Though, they weren't anything she hadn't already planned out for in advance.

"N-No... I-I-I moved here... O-Once m-my... G-G-Grandmother died... I-I run her d-d-doll shop... N-Now..." she said with her fractured voice. She dusted her dress of lightly, glancing over to Hyde at his compliment of sorts. Though it seemed he couldn't tell if she was a 'partying thrill seeker' or 'an innocent princess.' Most odd choice of words to describe one such as she... Disfigurements and all. "... I-I'm more like... A-A d-d-doll... Frail and... T-To delicate for... 'H-H-Hard c-core' e-endeavors..." she said with a weak laugh, hoping her explanation was a good alliteration to Hyde's question.

She picked up her tea cup and looked down at it lightly... Oh, this was a bothersome predicament... She didn't quite know how to go about in actually making herself seem like she was drinking the tea... She couldn't come up with any good excuses for it either... But she did come up with one. Her head was mostly hollow which would allow her to internally move her voice box a little bit above her mouth. After that was done, her head of sorts would crawl around within her body, finding worthless pieces of scrap lodged within places they really shouldn't be. It felt odd, but with the looses pieces of scrap the Mauled effectively made a temporary liquid storage device near her mouth. Though, it took a while for her to actually finish this inner feet... Hyde may have noticed her sitting still as she stared at her tea... It was probably going to break regardless and cause the Mauled a short circuit later on, but for appearance's sakes she took a sip of the tea and hummed as it slid into the half metal half wire container.

The Mauled glanced over at Hyde as he explained the goodness of her tea. How odd... Being a robot, she had never tasted the tea... She had only given it to customers or commissioners that came to see her work... They'd never say anything about her tea so she assumed it was either bland or just not as good as the recipe she used implied. Though, maybe they where just to focused on business to really pay attention to the flavor.

"I-It's... H-Hibiscus tea... I-It's infused... W-W-With calyces f-from... T-The r-roselle f-f-flower..." she said with a light nod, her head of sorts staying directly under the liquid storage device just in case. If it became to much, she had brought a towel with her... She was positive she could slip it under her dress for her head of sorts to get without Hyde noticing... Though, she was hoping something so odd wouldn't have to occur... Oh the predicaments the Disfigured One could find herself in.

Hyde frowned as he inched a little closer to Whitney. “I’m sorry about your grandmother Whitney. I don’t really know how it’s like to lose a family member or anything, but you have my sincerest condolences. After all, your grandmother left you with something that she cared about, with hopes that you would care for it just as much. The doll shop, right? “ When Whitney tried to explain how frail she was, Hyde would then try to form a muscle on his arm, but not much would show. “ And I’m the world’s strongest man, see the muscles? I’m buff!!! Haha, just kidding. But we all have our strengths and weaknesses. Being delicate doesn’t mean that you aren’t capable; nobody should judge a book by its cover.

Hyde would smile even brighter when Whitney explained what was in the tea, nodding his head and listening to her. “No need to be so modest, whoever I try something new tats good too, would always want to hear about it. Tell me more about being a doll shop owner, do you like it? Do you miss your grandmother sometimes? I bet she misses you too…”

Oh... He seemed truly sorry about her 'grandmother' being deceased... Did she leave out an important fact? Possibly... She had been distracted with trying to compensate for her lack of drinking abilities. It didn't overly matter though, she'd just clarify her previous statement in a better way than last. Though, Hyde seemed to be reading into her story in a way a psychologist would... She was almost scared in a way. What if her fabricated life would fall to shreds if the man continued his questions? An odd though to say the least... An almost scary one as well...

"O-Oh no... Y-You m-misunderstand... M-Me..." she said with a weak smile, placing her cup down on its tea plate carefully. She smiled frailly towards Hyde, dusting her dress off lightly again. She hummed for a moment, thinking of what to say. "M-My g-grandmother... D-D-Died o-over t-two y-y-years ago... I-I've been... M-Maintaining... H-Her d-d-d-doll shop... E-Ever sense." she said with a light nod of her head before picking her tea cup back up and drinking the rest of its contents. Luckily it wasn't a lot of liquid and her liquid storage device seemed capable of holding what little contents it held. A good thing to as she laughed at Hyde's action. He was a charming fellow to say the least.

"Y-You're quite... C-Charming, H-H-Hyde..." she said with another light chuckle, smiling lightly towards him. She didn't comment on what he said though... She had nothing to say. To be fare, her life was torture and pain. She didn't think highly of herself to say the least... She secluded herself in fear within her doll shop... She was a sad and disfigured husk of her former self... A terrible fate to say the least.

"O-O-Oh... I-It's lovely... W-W-Working w-within... M-My d-d-d-doll shop..." she said to only be asked questions of her grandmother. This was quite an odd string of questions... How would she answer them properly? She stayed quiet, trying her hardest to deduce what would be the safest course of action. "... I-I-I do... T-T-Though we d-d-didn't know... E-E-Each other v-v-very well... I-I w-w-was quite... Shocked t-to hear... S-She g-gave m-m-me h-her... Shop w-when s-she... D-Died... I-I s-s-suppose... I-It was f-f-fate?" she said with a light nod, more so towards her continuation of her story than in remembrance, though it'd be hard for Hyde to tell the difference.

“That’s a big responsibility; it must have even left in the will or something. It was nice of her. It kind of shows how much faith she has in you if she thought you could manage the shop all by yourself. I bet that your dolls are pretty popular among the little girls, right? This is the second time that Hyde met a young shop owner, the first one was Oki. Kei didn’t necessarily own the sushi restaurant that he worked, but his dad did. However, Kei was next in line and he was a pretty good chef.
Hyde gave Whitney an embarrassing smile when she said that he was charming. “Well, I try to be. I feel that its better to give off a more positive vibe than a negative one at times. Hyde would then look down a little bit. “To be honest with you Whitney Chan, I don’t believe in fate. I believe that the world is based on a series of chances. These chances are based off of our choices, its only fate we do nothing as we let the world turn, without making a choice at all. I don’t like to think that everything was decided for us as soon as we are born, wouldn’t it be better if we had a little bit more control over our lives?

Hm... This person did enjoy to speak... It seems he was truly going to keep his promise on talking for the both of them. Quite nice to say the least. It allowed her to think out her responses carefully and speak them as fluently as she possibly could. It was an odd endeavor to say the least... But something she didn't quite understand was his eccentricity. It didn't overly bother her though... Sometimes odd things where what gave people color, and with that hair, it was obvious that this man had a lot of it.

"I-It's... Q-Quite stressful... A-A-At t-times... A-A-As a-all p-personal... B-Businesses a-are..." she said quietly, nodding her head towards Hyde. She stayed quiet during his thoughts towards her 'grandmother' and the likes. She didn't quite know what to say about the 'past events' Hyde mentioned. It was true she had found the deed... But there was no will to be found within the shop. In fact, the old lady that ran it had no family left... So the shop had gone down into obscurity. It was an honest miracle the place hadn't been taken over by the government... Oddness to say the least.

"T-To be... H-H-Honest... N-Not m-m-many p-people... C-Come t-to m-m-my shop... T-The d-dolls I-I-I m-make... A-Are q-quite... S-Strange... T-To t-t-the p-populace... T-They're a-all... L-Like N-Nina h-here... S-Save a-a f-f-few..." she said as she gently picked up the doll next to her, showing the very life like doll to Hyde with a light smile. Her shop was filled with these life like dolls... Faceless and a few others where the only exceptions. She laughed lightly, glad to hear Hyde took her compliment so well. She was never one to flirt or the likes, but Hyde was quite charming.

"I-It... Shows... D-D-Doesn't i-it...?" she said with a light smile, going quiet as Hyde spoke of fate and chances. It was quite an odd rant of sorts... Something the Disfigured One wasn't quite prepared to hear. It seemed like Hyde was challenged with this subject quite frequently... It was an odd thing to be challenged with to say the least... But it didn't overly matter as she listened to Hyde speak.

"... I-I-I s-see y-your p-p-point..." she said in her fractured voice, humming quietly for a moment. She didn't know what to rightfully say to be hear... Did she believe in fate? Chance? What where they in the end? In the end... The Mauled found it easier to believe in fate... It felt less cruel that way... "... I-I'm s-s-sorry... I-I-If I-I... O-Offended y-you..." she said with a light bow of her head, hoping Hyde didn't feel any less comfortable with her.[/color]

Hyde waved his hand casually when Whitney started to apologize.” Whitney, you have nothing to apologize for. If anything, I should be the one apologizing. Perhaps I said a bit much, I bet that you wasn’t fully expecting me to run my mouth off when I sat here with my own ideals and crap like that.   Hyde would then make a short bow with his head. “I’m sorry Whitney…” After a bit of silence, Hyde would take in a deep breath and sip some more of the tea. He would then look at the doll that  Whitney was showcasing.
“You know, there is an artistic value in everything that you do. If you care for these dolls, or even had a  hand in designing them, I’m sure that you aren’t the only person in the world that’ll be able to understand them. There are people like you that can understand your passion for your trade, I think nina is quite lovely. “ Hyde would then raise Nina’s small hand and kissed the wrist lightly. “ It’s nice to meet you, Nina chan." After wards, Hyde would smile back at Whitney. “See? Were friends already, would you want to be friends with me too?

He, uh... Bowed to her? Did he realize the amount of respect he just showcased to her? Most people would probably take such an action with a grain of salt, but the Mauled's reclusive life style made her take things in a different light. Maybe it was the fantasy world she gave her dolls interfering with her ability to handle social interactions... But this made her feel odd on the inside... A feeling that only progressed as Hyde did something she found most unbelievable... He kissed Nina as if she where living... And then friendship? The whole turn of events made her head spin as she tried to process it all...

"You... W-Want to... B-Be my friend...?" she asked in an almost startled voice. She had never met anyone so forward... It was almost scary to think someone would really want to be her friend... SE.RA.PH destroyed any ability she could have at a normal life... They destroyed her life of servitude... She was a husk of her former self... Yet... Someone was willing to accept that? She couldn't believe her ears... Regardless, she placed the doll back down and smiled frailly towards Hyde.

"You... R-Really are... Charming... D-Do you... M-M-Make a-all the girls... F-Feel special...? O-Or a-a-am I-I... A-A special... C-Case...?" she asked with a weak laugh, slowly placing the tea cups back into the basket. She was clumsy in her work, and she dropped one of the tea cups by accident. She flinched lightly as she did so, her arm twisting in a violent way. "A-Ah... I-I'm... O-Okay..." she would mutter out, slowly pulling her arm towards her as she twisted it back into place with a convincing wince. Was her eternal frame work that faulty? She'd need immediate repair soon... Hopefully Hyde didn't notice any mechanical noises that quietly came from her...

“Hmm? I don’t have that much experience with women if that’s the kind of outlook that I give off. All I’m good at is being myself. But everyone should feel as if they are special. I mean, there is only one Whitney Turner, I can’t find you anywhere else but here. So yes, you are special. “ Hyde’s earnest smile would transfer over to a worried look once he noticed how she jerked her arm. “ Are you alright? Did you get a cramp or something Whitney?”
Cramps are the worst, Hyde had a few of them ever since he been on the track team. Granted, most of them would only ever occurred in his leg. “He wasn’t too sure if he could assist her or not. That would involved physical contact, and he didn’t want to be too troublesome.

The Mauled gently moved her arm back into a normal looking shape, bending her other hand to quickly pick up the tea cup and place it within the basket. She shivered as she did so... Her body was seeming to shut down in some areas... This was troublesome too many extents... If her body decided to jolt like it did once more, her internal mainframe may shut down... Something very bad and not worth the risk of having. She looked over to Hyde with a light sigh and apologetic look on her face.

"... I-I n-n-need... T-To head h-h-home n-now... I-I'm... F-F-Feeling quite f-feverish... N-Now... F-Forgive m-m-me..." she said with frail frown, going to slowly place Nina and the thermos within the basket as well before standing up weakly and with a quiet squeak of pain. Her body shivered as she did so... This was not a pleasant set of happenings. "... C-Could y-y-you... P-Pick up m-m-my b-blanket... H-Hyde...? I-I-I must h-h-head... H-Home n-n-now..." she said with another light wince, grateful her shop wasn't to far away from here.