Happy Little Accidents (Gozai/ Nadia)

Beads of sweat ran down his forehead as huffed under the exertion. What sweat didn't risk dropping into his eyes was soaked up into his cap. The messenger bag bearing the embroidered logo of a courier company slapped against his thigh every now and then as he pedaled.

As the albino pedaled, a notable degree of momentum behind him, he approached a cross-shaped intersection. As he did, his head would whip to the right, and then to the left. No cars, good. Or so Gozai thought, not even slowing down. Unfortunately, with his attention momentarily drawn away from the road right in front of him, he only had the briefest chance to see a blur of black-and-white from the corner of his eye before he was upon it.

There was a sharp, high-pitched yowl that was just as quickly cut short by a sickening crack and the wet ripping and splat that followed. His eyes shot down to the front wheel of his bike, just in time for some kinda of fluid to splatter up, right into his face. Whatever curse-word was coming from his mouth immediately following this was drowned out by the sound of his bike impacting a garbage bin that was sticking a bit too far from the driveway of one of the nice homes.

Gozai realized he was tossed off his bike, but the next few seconds merged into a blur his brain couldn't quite process. Next he was processing info again, he found himself on all fours, a sting in his palms and an ache in both knees. He looked around, his bike was lying on the ground, next to the now-knocked over garbage bin, and there was something... lodged in the spokes.

He probably would not have even recognized the kitten as such with how mangled it was, had its head not survived the ordeal whole, its fluffy little face frozen in a look of what he could only assume to be horror. "Ow... Fuck." He cussed under his breath, turning himself so he was sitting down on his ass, taking weight off his battered knees, and giving him a chance to inspect his hands. What he seemed to have forgotten in all of this was the spray of liquid onto his face that had caused the whole crash, a spray of the kittens blood as it would turned out, the result being that he looked almost like he was bleeding from the head.

IT was mostly just small scratches, a few tiny pinpricks of red appearing amidst the pale skin of his hands where the gravel of the concrete had proven sharp enough. The albino's breathing began to settle, and the sound of his own accelerated heartbeat vanishing from his ears as the first rush of adrenaline was now beginning to break down.

He hissed a breath through his teeth, palms still stinging, when he heard, and then saw something. He'd first hear the pair of shoes, andd then saw them, and the one they were attached to as he spared it- her, a glance. A girl, probably around his age, one of... extremely avrage looks, as far as his own preferences went. For the time Gozai just hoped she wouldn't cause a scene.

He reached down, pulling up the right pant leg of his jeans far enough to get a look at his knee. Again he hissed. It was sore as hell, but there wasn't even bleeding. The girl had stopped a short distance away, apparently by the bike, though with his attention more focused on checking for potential injury, Gozai couldn't be sure.

That was when she spoke, something of a terrible fate. "Oh, it's not even that bad, seems to be just a few scratches-" He began to speak, now with his practiced, friendly but timid tone. He found himself pausing as he turned his head slightly to give the girl something of a smile, said smile quickly turning into an open mouthed stare when he realized she hadn't been talking to her. "And... Maybe a bruise... Or two." He'd finish his sentence with several pauses intermixed.

He tried to keep his expression neutral. Well, as neutral as a gaping stare can be. But inside all manner of emotion ran amok, chief among them both confusion and disgust. "I... Think it's dead."  He would say, still staring, trying to keep his friendly tone, but almost slipping into deadpan tone as he blurted the words out.

Nadia almost didn't hear the boy's words until after he'd said them. She was looking at her hands, contemplating. She was rolling up her sleeves as she looked over to the boy who had now pronounced that he was mostly uninjured. Although there was still quite a bit of blood splattered on his face. Watching him for a moment she said "Yes, your bike killed him." Nadia replied flatly.

Sleeves now rolled back, she reached into her messenger bag and pulled out a cloth already stained with paints and pastels. She draped the cloth over one bent knee, and set to work carefully removing the Kitten's broken body from the spokes. "These things happen." She added nonchalantly, dismissing any actual blame that he might have expected from her words. "Is your head okay? is that your blood or his?" She asked finally. If it was his, he'd likely not be as coherent as he sounded, but it was a good idea to make sure.

A few minute later and she had mostly dislodged the corpse from the spokes, though remnants still stuck to the bent metal in places. She laid the corpse aside, near the grass of the yard adjacent and clear of the street, before wiping the wet blood from her hands. There would still be stains on her hands for a couple days, most likely, but it would fade, like everything else. As she wiped her hands, she studied the boy. "I'm Nadia. Nice to meet you." She said by way of greeting.

The way she poke in return caught him off-guard. Most people he'd met didn't have it in them to state things in such a direct fashion. Indeed, it provoked half of a surprised gasp from him, as his mind scrambled to find something to say. She thankfully saved him the trouble of having to deflect the perceived accusation with the words that followed. These things happen? That's what she'd said, and the tone of the reply did make the albino wonder if maybe she had a few screws loose or something. "... Right." He would reply, in a low, almost deadpan tone.

Wait, his head? Blood? He felt fine, but his hands still came up to check, and if one were observing, the could notice how he visibly froze for a moment as his hands touched something wet.  His hands pulled away, far enough for him to see. what followed was a loud and sudden "GAAH!" of revulsion as the hand, now stained red with a blotch of blood swung away. His breathing seemed to grow more rapid as his other hand dug into a pocket, pulling out a slightly crumpled up tissue with which he began wiping the red liquid away from his hand.

He couldn't get all  of it, thin rivulets having already seeped into the thin creases in the skin of his palm, leaving a red residue the tissue could not get out without smearing more red streaks. He considered trying to wipe his face but decided against it, assuming he'd only make more of a mess. So instead he focused on the strange girl for now, who'd finished mostly extracting the remains of the kitten and moving it aside... With out gloves.

He resisted the urge to comment on that, as much as the thought made his stomach churn. To her introdcution, he swallowed. "The name's Gozai." He paused, as he brought one knee under himself and pushed himself back up into a standing position. "I hate to ask favors from complete strangers, but you wouldn't happen to have a mirror or the like that I could borrow for a few minutes?"

Gozai, what an interesting name, Nadia thought, as she studied the boy. No, definitely not his blood. But still...A mirror? no, she didn't carry around anything like that. She got closer, looking down at the already ruined cloth in her hands, and folded it over until the part that was exposed was not red with drying blood. "I don't have a mirror, but if you'll hold still for a moment..." She got entirely too close to the stranger's unusually pale skin, then, and started sopping up the blood on his face with her rag.

When she was done, she rolled back on her heels away from him and examined the soaked bit of cloth. She'd need a new one. This one wasn't going to wash out. Standing, she righted the trashcan that had been knocked over by the bike and dropped the soiled rag into it. Rest in Peace, bit of cloth, you've served your purpose well.

No mirror? Damnit. Though asking him to hold still? It made he albino want to question why she'd say something like that? He wouldn't have to wonder for long, as the girl, Nadia suddenly got closer, much too close in fact, and started cleaning his face with the rag.

His instinctual first response would have been a swipe at her, one he only barely held back. Following the urge to slug her across the face was a sense of nausea, who knows what other foul things stained that rag? But he held it in, somehow. Frankly even he was a little amazed.

Finally though, she finished, as much as she could anyway. Though It didn't really help the disgusting feeling the realization of having blood on his face had brought, if anything, it had made it worse. "... Thanks." He would say after an awkward pause. Gozai's eyes would follow Nadia as she righted the trash can and disposed of the disgusting rag.

"You're surprisingly calm, given the situation. Most people I've met would probably be freaking out. Hell, even I'm feeling a bit nauseous over this." It wasn't so much a question or an accusation, rather a statement, very matter-of-factual in tone.

Nadia Watched the boy as he spoke, telling her how most people would be freaking out about this. Thinking about it, she probably was a bit too calm about it, but that was just her. "You're welcome." She replied, looking back at the corpse. It was too mangled to do anything with, really, taxidermy-wise, but...Maybe some of it's bones could be salvaged? Would Mr. Kaska be able to do something like that? She'd need something to put it in though...

"Death is an important part of life. The other side of the coin. And fate flips it with a moments notice. I suppose it fascinates me. I'd probably have been just as calm if your positions were reversed." She admitted, bending down again to inspect the kitten. "I'm sorry if that seems strange."

Damn, this girl had to be more messed up then he was, with the things she was saying. It was all well and good, relatively pseaking anywas, to the point about being fascinated by death. What followed though made the albino's eyes go wide. He would stare, even as Nadia bent down over the body.

After leaving his lack-of-response hanging in the air for an awkwardly long amount of time."I.... Think I'm just gonna try and forget what you just said... For both our sakes." Again his tone was deadpan, though a bit fast in its delivery.

He then turned over to his bike, and lifted it back up, trying to ignore the tiny flecks of gore clinging to the spokes. "You probably shouldn't be touching that though. I hear stray animal can have all kinds of diseases and parasites." He then said, adding in some small bit of...concern was maybe the best way to describe the minute tone to his voice. Honestly, he just wanted to just get the hell out of here, find the nearest place where he can wash his bike, and forget he'd ever met this crazy girl.

But he couldn't be sure if he could just leave her. Unlike most people, Gozai could not get any sense of certainty to what she might do or how she might react if he just up and left now. He needed to try and get on Nadia's good side, see if he can maybe gleam a little into what is going on in her head.

."I.... Think I'm just gonna try and forget what you just said... For both our sakes." That was fine. She said strange things sometimes and not everyone could fathom them or reconcile them. So if he wanted to forget or ignore the things she said, that was okay with her. It wasn't said for his benefit anyway.

He picked up his bike, looking over it. Looked like he was about to leave, maybe, then he cautioned her on touching the kitten. She showed him her hands, still stained red in places from pulling the creature's remains from the spokes of his bike. "Too late." She chided, smiling lightly at him. "Don't worry. I'll find something to use to carry him." She assured the boy, looking around. Still...that would be easier said than done.

The suddenness of Nadia reaction came as a surprise to Gozai, who took half a step away in revulsion as she showed him her bloodstained hands. He moved his gaze to the remains of the cat, and then back to her. Carry? He wondered to himself. The albino thought of a question to ask, even if he had a suspicion he was going to regret asking it. "Carry him? Dare I ask where?"

Nadia looked back to the unusually pale boy. Everyone wore a mask, she had learned. Some concealed more than others. Over the course of this conversation, she felt as thought she'd glimpsed something underneath in the revulsion of this boy's responses. Looking back down at the corpse she replied. "I work at a shop where the shop owner does Taxidermy. He may have uses for this little guy that don't involve him rotting on the side of the road." She replied easily. She hoped Gozai could understand that, while the prospect was a little disgusting, it was more about honoring the body this poor creature had left behind.

Oh great, the freak knew another freak with a thing for dead animals. Fitting, really. "Sure." Was all he had to say in reply to that. He would climb onto the back of his bike, lifting one foot onto a pedal. "Well, uh... Thanks for the help, I guess. Try not to get tetanus or something from that." Gozai would say as he gestured toward the mangled bits of cat, trying just to keep his voice calm, before pushing off with his other foot and beginning to cycle away.

[Gozai EXIT]

Nadia watched the boy cycled off, a small smile coming to her lips. She was used to people reacting this way to her idiosyncrasies. It was a little amusing to her, as well, she had to admit, when others didn't see the world the way she did. But that was okay. Everyone was entitled to live the life they wanted... She looked down at the corpse and supposed they were entitled to the death they wanted too. But seriously...how was she going to carry this little guy?

[end]