Nowi Wins!

     ”What did I just say?”

     Rinnosuke’s voice was cross, frustration relatively visible in his features. Idly flipping on the light switch that Nowi had failed to even check for, he pauses slightly as the situation is illuminated, and quickly kneels down.

     ”Hey…”

     ”You’re sprawled out on top of some important books and merchandise. Can you get up? I don’t want any of them getting ruined from being crushed by you.”

     Charming as always. Sighing loudly, a single hand raised to push up his own glasses, the shopkeeper shakes his head in disapproval, not particularly bothering to help her. Not like she seemed too hurt in the first place, anyways…

     ”This is why you should listen to people when they say things. Look what happens! You’re such an unruly kid… ah, I hope everything’s alright. … Hey, come on. Up alread—”

     As he speaks, the lights flicker suddenly, causing Rinnosuke’s gaze to point upwards as a crash of thunder makes itself heard. Quietly, he notices then that the rain seems to have started pouring harder…

She gets up, dusts herself off, then quickly kneels back down to attempt in re-organizing the merchandise the scattered. A fruitless effort, as the young woman had absolutely no clue what it was like before she dove into it. 

Giving up speedily she turns her attention towards Rinnosuke, still kneeling, and opens her mouth to protest that for the millionth time, she's not a kid, when mother nature cuts her short. Her neck cranes upward to watch the light struggle to stay on, eyes widening at the sound of thunder booming. 

Seconds pass with Nowi's mouth still agape, though steadily she rises to her feet as the patter of rain intensifies. Cumbersome drops now pound against Kirindou as if angrily demanding to be let in, afraid of the thunderous clouds that dropped from.

"...Woah!" 

Silence is broken by the amazed gasp of one green-topped girl.

"It's coming down pretty hard, now!" Her gaze returns to the other before dropping to stare at her hands, pensive brows pinching across her forehead as if searching for some kind of answer.

     Friends? Were they friends?

     ”… Ah, it’s curry. Curry and chicken katsu, actually. I’m quite a decent cook, I’ll have you know. Taught myself.”

     With the use of cook books and so on, anyways, but… hey wait, that didn’t matter much right now— she wasn’t even listening to him. Instead, she was on the way towards that one particularly closed door.

     ”Hey, stop! You’re not allowed in there, even if we are friends!”

     And as Nowi opened the door… she was greeted by a particularly dark, and slightly cluttered room. The smell of incense ruminated from the room much like it did in the others, though given that it was in a closed space with only a partially ajar window to let it seep out, it was much stronger in here. In a way, it was relaxing, really.

     Upon further examination, there was a bad, a desk, towering bookshelves, and all sorts of other trinkets.

Too late, she's passed through the barrier into the secret world of Rinnosuke. Darkness enshrouds her vision and a strange scent crinkles her nose to the point she nearly backs out. But Nowi's strong, she perseveres and pushes on.

"Hey, where're the lights?"

Waiting for her eyes to adjust Nowi wanders  the room quickly. Perhaps too quickly, as at one point her toe meets an unforeseen object on the floor and the former-dragon is sent tumbling ahead. "Eeeeahhh--!" 

...And so ends the life of Nowi, crashing into the clutter of the shopkeep's room. May she rest in peace... 

"Oohhhhhh...! Rin!"

     ”It’s not so scary if you’re inside, I think.”

     … Then again, he was dealing with a child here. Of course she’d find silly things like lightning and thunder scary. Children were just so—

     ”Eh? Hey, wait!”

     As Nowi wanders off, Rinnosuke stands upwards, beginning to quickly tail after the seemingly ‘young’ girl as she steps into his kitchen. From there, a wonderful scent can be picked up coming from the stove— the meal Rinnosuke was making for himself— and further beyond that was the dining room (a simple blue kotatsu) and aside from that, a small living room with a sliding glass door. Opposite to the kitchen was yet another door, closed for various reasons.

     ”Barging into someone’s home isn’t really legal, you know,” Rinnosuke started, catching up to her relatively quickly.

She hears him speak, and though she should heed his warning and apologize, Nowi just smiles, poking her head around the dining room.

"Huh? We're friends, aren't we?" Only to you, Nowi. "Hey, that smells really great! What is it?"

     A f o r e i g n e r, apparent as could be, her spontaneous arrival in Kairos occurring the night prior to the unusual occurrence that had rendered occupants of both Paralia and Kairos into the opposing city. The woman, beautiful as she was young, had lived a life unfortunately unexposed to the modern world. Family tradition had stated she stay on her family’s property - a castle buried within a forest, alongside a mountain in Germany. She wasn’t permitted access to modern technology, nor really to socialize with outsiders at all. Instead, she was to become a proper Einzbern daughter, to eventually become a proper bride. But it was stifling, and she loathed it. On a whim, she’d run away to Kairos, taking a good chunk of fortune with her.

“Is this really the city? It’s truly much larger than I even imagined!" It was an uninformed exclamation that left the woman’s soft lips after slipping out onto the streets of what she thought was Kairos that morn, clad in a simple, white sundress. It had been dark when she’d arrived, and sleep had come as quickly as she’d found the bed in her apartment; of course she wouldn’t have realized that she’d been displaced. “I didn’t expect it to be so green, however…!”

The more the woman wandered, the more curious she became. She was all but oblivious to the confusion of those she elegantly drifted past, her own intrigue in relation to pretty much everything making her less aware of what was going on around her.

“So this… this is a traffic light, then, and to walk across…" Red eyes drifted down to a circular button at the base of a pole, before a gentle finger pressed it. She’d seen cars before, at least, and even knew how to drive. But… proper roads? Traffic lights? This was her first time seeing either. Still, pushing the button didn’t seem to do anything? She’d been told pushing the button would ‘help her cross the street’. so she was expecting some sort of mechanism to move her.

Along the way her nose would scrunch at unfamiliar sensations -- not in disgust, of course. Just simple foreign reaction. Nowi usually would not mind being plunged into a strange place with no explanation whatsoever like this, but today she had things to do... Like -- her flowers, she had to water her flowers! Then she had to make a cake and oh did she leave the oven on last night...?

Coming up to a crosswalk Nowi hardly notices the young lady standing idle as the sign changed from stop to go. Just a stranger... a really pretty stranger, at that -- her own eyes find themselves stuck on this woman a little longer than intended. It was thanks to this slight moment of homosexual self-questioning that she noticed something strange... the other just.. kept pressing that button, again and again, despite the light having very obviously changed.

That was weird. And of course, Nowi just has to get into other people's business -- stranger or no. Her flowers could wait just a second for her own curiosities. "Hey!" She calls, walking quite close to the other and hardly hiding the fact she was staring incredulously. Head cocked to one side, Nowi places her hands on her hips.

"...Hey, so ummm... Are you gonna go or what?"

     A hypothetical laugh, really. Rinnosuke wasn’t laughing much at all. In fact, what that night brought back in his mind was the memory of his rather sore feet after returning home. It felt as though they were on fire.

     It was not something you would forget all that soon after such an unpleasant experience.

     ”… So you’re not buying anything.” His tone made him sound disappointed. And… well, he was. That meant a lack of business, and a freeloader to deal with. “I can at least appreciate the sentiment, though… also, can you not sit on the desk? I work here.”

     It really was a kind gesture— though, buying something would have been a kinder gesture. Also, getting off his desk would have been the kindest gesture in the world at this moment— her butt firmly planted on a paper of his.

     Thanks for that. … Wait, what did she just say about lunch?

     ”What? We? But I wasn’t—” And without further adieu he’s caught off guard by the sudden crack of lightning outside. Topic shifting automatically, a frown fills Rinnosuke’s lips as he peers past the curtains to the darkening skies above. “… The news didn’t mention anything about thunder.”

A moment passes in silence for Nowi, simply staring through the window with the other. A rare second in which serenity would captivate her... but it passes in an instant, almost as if it were never there, and a smile splits her face as she sets into motion once more.

"Ooh... Sure looks scary out there..." She giggles and pushes herself away from the window, flashing a grin towards her new friend before her eyes wandered past him and caught sight of a certain door. "Hey... what's in here?"

     Aigis had the feeling that she was forgetting something important, and almost completely forgot she was trying to find where she was and how she could get back home!

     “Ah, wait! I’m lost and I do not even know who you are! I do not think I could partake in ‘play’ if I did not know who you were!”

She always seems to forget that... Losing the dour face, Nowi smileys brightly with one hand stretched forward to shake.

"My name's Nowi! Call me that." What else could she say? Well, there was the whole 'I'm a dragon' fact, but she preferred to shock people by show instead of tell, so she'd keep that hidden for now.

Tee hee. In that case I’ll have to live up to your expectations!

[Then another one of Nowi’s questions made Henry think about it but the question was met with a rather enthusiastic answer from his part.]

It’d be pretty interesting if they were! Imagine if we could sneak into one of their space ships and then fly it everywhere! 

"Wooooooow... Wouldn't that be scary? What if they were big monsters?"

     How did she even get here? … How did she get here last time? Ah, such mysteries were too much for him right now.

     Watching her arms reach towards the sky before plummeting to the Earth once more, Rinnosuke stared for a moment, right back at Nowi whom was staring at him— the two having contrasting looks on their faces.

     ”I was making lunch,” he exclaimed plainly, steepling his fingers. “And, I… yes? Sure.”

     He didn’t particularly know how to respond with how sudden of a question that was. This girl… at the very least she was unlike Lissa, whom came by to prank him. No, there was a slightly more… innocent feel about this one. … But, children were often mischievous, so who knows what he could expect? He hardly knew Nowi, anyways.

     Then again, he felt as if he knew enough. She sure was pushy, at the very least…

     ”… So can I help you with something today, then?”

"You know! I came to see you!" Her hands throw up once more. She truly was an animated individual, much in contrast to the stiff shop keeper across from her. With her display comes a smile stretching from ear to ear, as per usual, shining brilliantly on the lass' face. Hands down once again, Nowi spins to seat herself right on the desk, rump to wood, spine in a helix twist so she could still look at Rinnosuke while swinging her legs down below. 

Thump, thump, her heels bumped against the furniture's exterior softly with each swing.

     It meant for a day to relax, and a day to take it easy. The best kind of day, really. … No, truly, the best sort of day is a day where one makes money.

     Money to pay the bills and buy food, of course.

     That telltale jingle from his front door was enough to make Kourindou’s owner come running, however— pausing just before entering the main part of the store as he heard the voice of whoever it was that stepped through the door. It was… that child again?

     Of all the days to show up…

     ”Of course I’m here. If I weren’t, the door would have been locked,” Rinnosuke spoke— stepping out as to where Nowi could see him. Scratching his cheek and closing the door to the kitchen behind him, Rinnosuke mechanically walked to his desk, silent for a moment.

For now she skips to the desk and lightly places her hands upon it, leaning just slightly over so that idle pieces of green hair touched the wood. 

"Yup, just me." Who would she come with anyway? No parents, no kids, Nowi lived alone. It didn't occur to her that he still thought of her as a small child. Though at this time, a rather childish giggle bubbled through her smiling lips. "Well, I said I'd come, didn't I? Back at the dance -- don't you remember? Anyway..."

A shrill voice brought his train of thought to a screeching halt when he realized that, yes, the little girl was running right at him. He’d been charged by guys built like brick shithouses before but never by a little girl. The look on her face suggested she wasn’t gunning to beat him to a bloody smear on the pavement… instead, she looked like she needed some help.

It wasn’t everyday that Jack was accosted by a strangely dressed young girl. It took him a few moments to realize that she was tugging on his sleeve, so taken aback was he by her very existence.

"Calm down, kid. What’s up?" He kept his tone polite… but brusque. "You in trouble, or something—hey, whoa there!" He found himself being pulled by the sleeve. "What’s the matter with you?" Despite his complaints, the girl’s pull was stronger than he thought—he found himself being dragged towards the arcade his new friend had just left.

"I'm not hurt!" She answers his question quickly, quelling any misunderstandings. Turning to face him fully, Nowi's hands ball into eager fists that she puts forth to beg with. Hopping up and down, the girl continues.

"Mister I'm sorry but I don't have much time to explain! You really gotta come with me, I promiseI'llmakeituptoyouBUTCOULDYOUJUSTPLEASECOMEWEREALLYGOTTAGORIGHTNOW!!!!!!" She'd have to use another whole quarter if he wouldn't come fast enough -- she already paid for the dance!