The Way we've Grown [Guardians of Humanity + Sharaku]

When Oki had woken up and stretched within the tent that it had been using for the last few days since the shop had gotten burnt down, the being was prepared for another day of wandering, finding information and what not until it need to set up camp again to rest later that night. It wasn’t quite sure where his sister and her friend had hidden since the incident and kind of didn’t worry too much. If anyone could survive a fire, Sky was one of the folk to do it and the being was pretty sure she would take of care of her friend in the process.

In any case, Oki was on its own now more agitated than anything that some nutcase had dared to attack the shop...shortly after all the drama it had been through as of late. The being assumed that it was something to do with Sky, but for the moment had no solid evidence to fight her over it and to be honest…it had bigger fish to fry. So waking up and going about its usual ritual of cleaning up and clearing out camp, it would take Oki about an hour to finish all it needed to do.

Once done the being slung the pack it had with it on its back to move on. It lived a nomadic life now having enough money to survive off of and ways of making more if it needed to. It wasn’t that Oki couldn’t settle back in a place. It had enough savings and back up help to get the shop back up, but rather it wouldn’t settle back down. With the chaos of the world getting worse daily, this nomadic life made it easier to move and stay more or less hidden from enemies on all sides.

It worked in that regard, but also worked against the being since it was always alone with its thoughts. The being was still gloomy about having to break up with Hyde due to this insanity. It hoped the guy was doing alright. It was pretty sure it was a hard blow, but….it had to be done. Had to...

Shaking its head lightly, to try to push back the pain, the being drifted from its hiding spot and back out into the streets looking for a café to grab a drink and check its phone. It took only a few moments to find a spot it was looking for and slip in. Ordering a cup of tea, the being settled into a little booth by an outlet and plugged in the phone for a bit. It had planned to just drink the tea and let the phone charge a bit before leaving. It…honestly didn’t need food right now or so it thought.

In any case, two cups of tea later and the warm sensation from the drinks in its belly, Oki would grab what was its own and packing it away before drifting over to the counter to pay for the drinks and leave a tip. Once done there, the being drifted out of the café, prepared to go somewhere, when it felt its phone vibrate and blinked.

Pausing to pull out the item of its pocket, the being blinked lightly at the message icon before clicking it. It was a message from Shaku? Oh was he finally going to come to tea or rather a tea house in this case? Well not exactly. Green eyes read the text there.

So the silver head from the circus was with him and wanted itself and DJ to meet them where? Oki frowned at the name of the place. It did not recognize the name even though this island had been home for many years. Maybe the place was in New Town and thus overlooked. In any case, the being sent a text back to Sharaku saying it would be glad to come, but needed directions to the location.

After that, it began to walk as it searched its phone directory wondering if it had DJ’s number. It knew she was easily lost, so maybe if Oki could find her, it could bring her to the place or if not it would pray she too would ask for directions and not get lost assuming she got the message that is.

A text later, Oki found that DJ was on her way. Hoping she would not get lost on the way, Oki heard the familiar beep of the text message and looked down to see that Sharaku had answered. Ah, that little shop! The one it meant to go to way back when, but kept getting distracted by --

Oh, look! It was the flower lady and her collection of odd paintings! Yup! Just like that, Oki veered from its path and went over to the small booth where the rather friendly and oddly dressed lady was. Recognizing Oki, the woman smiled and easily started a conversation which revolved around the flowers and paintings. Intrigued by the chat, Oki was easily knocked off task as it fell into the deep study of the flowers and then the pictures themselves. The booth owner did not mind the being handling the delicate paintings knowing well enough that Oki was careful with her items.

As Oki was pondering a small photo of a lady sitting on the ceiling of a room serving tea below, Oki was on the edge of starting a new conversation with the owner, but instead saw something out of the corner of its eye.

Distracted by the movement, Oki looked up from the painting and saw DJ dressed in an unusual style walking passed the area. The being smirked and was about to excuse itself easily enough to say hi; however, the casual goodbye came a more panicked one as the being remembered that both itself and DJ needed to meet with Shaku and the silverhead at the food shop!

With the task back in hand, Oki bowed apologetically to the woman for cutting their chat short promising to catch up next round. With that hasty goodbye out of the way, Oki headed through the crowds and towards DJ before falling in step next to her.

"Why hello, DJ. How are you today?" Oki said as it glanced over to the girl with a big smile making sure to make its presence known, but also trying to appear to be casual. Yeah. No need to give its almost blunder away.

Oki walked next to DJ with ease, the girl thankfullynot jumping or overreacting to its presence. In fact, she seemed to come out of a focused thought or something as she turned and greeted the being in a calm fashion by its name. Oki simply nodded in confirmation to its name and then chuckled lightly as the girl became her usual self once more. She didn’t jump on the being this time which was good considering they were in a flood of people now….and anything that could either stop or knock the pair over would definitely cause some unnecessary chaos. So the being continued to walk easily avoiding people as it kept up with DJ.

“I am alive,” Oki said cheerfully hiding with the action and words just how hard life had been at the moment. What with the shop being burned down, the break up with Hyde and even the disagreements on certain things in life with Shaku potentially harming their friendship all mixed into a pot of “greatness” all topped with a nice serving of what the hell?

Yeah…life was complicated for sure, but the being did not want to worry anyone, so it kept its happy appearance up as it continued to move with DJ.

“How about you?” it asked as it shifted its bag to its left side to avoid whacking people with the items hanging on it too much. Did the move work? Not really, but hey at least it gave them a small space on one side to move in without worrying about the crowds. In any case, things were going more or less okay until DJ grabbed Oki’s hand and pulled it through the crowds in the direction of said shop. Caught off guard by the action, Oki would stumble forward a bit before simply following like a child being led by a parent through the sea of people that sought to separate them.

Once they had made it to their location, Oki was released only to have to handle a hug which it was not exactly prepared for. Running off of instinct, Oki caught the DJ in its arms and hugged her back more on fear out of her falling rather than a greeting. Still, the instinct came off natural enough, so about time the two separated Oki’s slightly scattered thoughts had calmed as it was asked a question.

It would look up at DJ for moment and then look back at the shop’s sign. They were definitely in the right place, but from out here Oki could not see if Shaku or the silverhead had made it.

“Hmmm…Let’s go see,” Oki said opening the door for DJ and then following her in. Once inside, Oki scanned the area for Shaku and the silverhead, but from its position at the door it could not see them.

"Hrmm...I don't see either and trust us Shaku is too tall to miss," Oki said as it took another step in to try and get a better view of the place.

It was odd not to smile with DJ around. She was just full of energy and entertaining too boot. Whether this was all show for the girl or not was debatable, but to Oki it did not matter. The girl was enjoyable, so it would leave the feelings at that as it let the girl in the strange restaurant.

“Sure,” was the faint response to the thank you as Oki gave her soft smile and then nodded at her comment about her current status. “It is always a pleasure to here good things from friends,” Oki said with a light chuckle before falling silent as it scanned the area for Shaku or the silver head. It was briefly distracted from its hunt when DJ asked about a Neko…a word that automatically sent chills down the being’s spin even if it did try to resist it. Glancing around, but thankfully finding no cat (the girl in question had disappeared from sight), Oki would blink and look at DJ.

“N-no.I don’t see one,” Oki said and then refocusing on the search muttered. “Thank goddess for that blessing.” But whether DJ heard said mutter or not was unknown and quite frankly forgotten once Oki spotted the silver head and Shaku. Shaku was watching them. Waiting.

“Found you,” Oki said lightly with a smirk focusing on the familiar as it glanced over at DJ and spoke.

“Come on,” Oki said and then led the way to the table, resisting every urge to run and hug Shaku. It wasn’t that the being was being silly or what not. It was just highly relieved Shaku had actually shown up. After that last conversation, Oki wasn’t sure what the man thought of it. So being on its best behavior for the moment it would approach and greet the pair.

“Hello, Shaku and…” Oki’s smile would remain on its face as it looked over at the silverhead. “Rita, no? Nice to see you both again,” it said and then moving to the side would allow DJ to sit first before sitting itself.

“I hope we didn’t have you two waiting too long. How have you been?” Oki asked its tones remaining casual and relaxed as its eyes drifted from the familiar and anyalzed the unfamiliar. It knew nothing about the silverhead, but if she and Shaku came together, then perhaps she wasn’t so bad. Besides she seemed like a good leader type in that battle before, so why not get to know the strange warrior some more?

It understood this was a business discuss, but could one not be polite in the process of such a thing? Have a small bit of fun?
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Status with folk at the table::