of free will

— 〆 for a childhood story — ღ for a drabble about a romance/their love life — ⌆ for a story about their family/home life — € for a bad memory that still haunts them — ✢ for a good memory that makes them smile

Or…

The young girl regards the owner once more as he speaks up again, no longer standing but at her level instead. Aesop… and Kaworu Nagisa. Anna doesn’t think twice about introducing herself in return, lips parted to speak her own name, until Nagisa points out the issue. Ah… she shouldn’t be so willing to give her name out to strangers. But he seems nice, and as her red eyes drop down to the hand rhythmically stroking Aesop’s head, she decides to go through with her original plan anyways

"My name is Anna. If it’s only my first name, there’s no trouble." Her logic is simple. Her given name is common, and even if he manages to track down her surname… well her parents abandoned her a long time ago. Something like family records couldn’t help a stranger, assumingly. Anna doesn’t fully understand, but she feels this would be the safest route if any.

Then suddenly she stops petting the dog. Her eyes lock with Nagisa’s, and she notices something she hadn’t clearly seen before.

Once the silence returns, the teen goes back to what he was doing before, attention only half there in terms of focus. Sudden pause and stare from the child does callback the entirety of his attention. Sudden statement that the girl says does catch him off guard, causing the male to blink for a few seconds before letting out a low and breathy laugh. 

“Thank you. I don’t think anyone has ever said that before, honestly.” As far back as he could recall no one had ever. There were the few odd looks he had received while growing up, especially when having to go through the remainder or elementary school and middle school. “They’re really the only bit of color on me that stands out.” That’s probably why he got those looks, that and easily fascinated classmates. Complexion too pale to be considered healthy and the two red eyes that stand out so obviously. 

He noticed the smaller’s eye color as soon as she was close enough; it was hard not too really. He didn’t bring attention to them, not finding the need to. However, it would be considered fair game to at least mention them. 

A humble abode if there ever was one, within it’s confines was a treasure to be looted. It’s delivery to the venue had been witnessed firsthand, time bided in wait for the proper time to carry out his criminal activities with absolute surety that he would go undiscovered. When darkness fell, the only illumination in the late hour being the street lights on either side of the walk, the plan was set into motion and his hiding place within a tree vacated.

Stealthily approaching building with the cover of night playing quite the helpful hand, a window stationed on it’s side was the goal. A small pebble had been placed within the frame to prevent it from being closed all the way, the preparation for this crime thought out fully, making it a cinch to quietly lift it upwards to create an way inside without any need for damage to the property. More importantly, breaking a window would’ve alerted the homeowners and that was the last thing he wanted.

The exact location of the goods was not known, but a fair assumption had been made. Walking with a sort of fleet footedness, not a sound was made as the kitchen cupboards were riffled through, groceries pushed aside in search of the particular treat that he’d come for. It was found, scarlet pupils narrowed by improper satisfaction as multiple boxes were placed upon the counter top to be taken with him when he left. There was no reason to promptly flee as egotism made him believe that nothing could possibly go wrong.

Due to that abundant confidence, the thief situated himself comfortably on the same slab of granite as the boxes, one leg drawn towards his chest and a hand already having opened up a package. Short work was made of the box as less than half remained in a very small span of time, but despite how quiet he thought himself to be, his presence had been noticed whilst he’d been occupied with engorging himself.

The lights flickered on to reveal him in all his guilt.

Rather than run away, with a certain kind of lethargy did the albino lick the crumbs off his fingers. Gaze was leveled on the man whom he’d just robbed, body utterly lax without any noticeable apprehension. There was simply no point in acting rashly as it would not change that his face had been seen or do away with what’d been done.

Mild surprise takes over upon noticing the stark white contrast of the canine’s figure right at the entrance of the kitchen, like waiting for someone to toss a scrap or two. Kaworu pauses, head inclining and ears picking up the rustling of something. Automatic assumption would be that someone else had woken up and craved a late night snack, but why they didn’t turn on the light is the confusing part. Flicking the switch to the on position, it takes a few seconds for eyes to adjust. What’s expected is not what he sees.

Foreign body making himself at home on the granite countertops is one thing, having already consumed over half of fairly purchased girl scout cookies is another. Truthfully, the teen doesn’t know which to take offense to the most. The considered norm of society would have had the male more worried about the fact that someone was currently in his house, but Kaworu doesn’t see an immediate reason to fret, not even having the energy at the moment anyway. He can’t really accuse the other of breaking in, because there were alarms for when that happened and he’s quite sure everyone would be awake if they heard the window break. Instead the teen exhales a sigh, fingers musing his already messy hair even more.

Where could Cecil have gone to? This had been the third time this week that he’d disappeared from his usual station, off to somewhere where Kevin couldn’t find him! It was not only frustrating, but also just a bit disheartening as well. They had always been so close, but lately it was beginning to feel less so. It almost felt as if he’d been avoiding him. Not having quite pieced together what his twin’s attention had been focused on quite yet, he hadn’t thought to visit anywhere different. Maybe somewhere a bit more… scientific. He took one last chance and headed towards the performing arts wing, where the music and theatre students had collected. If Cecil wasn’t in his office, he might be there. If nothing else, he’d get to listen to some music while he waited. As he closed in on the double doors to the stage, the high falsetto of a violin took him by surprise. Though it was not human, the sound distinctly reminded him of a scream. Perhaps maybe, like the scream of a child. Kevin was immediately drawn to it, and, the closer he got the more the air in his ears sounded like static. Like white noise. Kevin’s entry was more than obvious. The auditorium had been dimly lit, so when he opened the door sunlight poured across the room onto the stage. But only for a moment. His sunlit silhouette vanished into one of the seats in the middle of the room. He sat quietly if the boy had kept playing. Once he had finished, he clapped, white teeth the most visible part of his form. “You’re very good at that!” he said; voice more of a hovering entity at this point. The acoustics caused his voice to envelop the room. “I’m Kevin Palmer, what’s your name?”

He makes his way to the auditorium because that’s the best place for playing and always goes there for personal piano practice. He isn’t quite sure if orchestra would be going over things today so he decides this will be a quick little thing and he can continue it at home before anyone else gets there. He plays Ode to Joy because that’s the first thing that is produced when the bow is dragged against the strings. He thinks that violins sound much more haunting than pianos but still just as lovely. The fact that he moves less when playing the stringed instrument requires the male to focus all his energy on each wrist flow and finger movement. It’s had to figure out which one takes more energy to play. 

He ends almost abruptly as he started chest heaving slightly and both instrument and bow at his side. The clapping catches him off guard, and the teen looks around, red eyes finally settling on a figure just barely distinguishable due to the poor lighting in the auditorium. 

Tipping the side of her large straw hat down a notch, Mana began to walk down the path towards the market area. It was one of the many paths that passes through the train station, and one that Mana had to walk through so often that it might as well be second nature to her. She was so used to it in fact, that she could take out a shopping list while walking and read it with ease. It can be a bit boring at times, but she actually didn’t mind it too much.

Mana hummed to herself while reading down the list of things that she needed to get from the store. It wasn’t a bad selection. With the money that their mother left for groceries, she could probably get a few good deals in and get a decent amount of food. Hopefully she wouldn’t have to carry a large amount of bags back up the path. That can be very bothersome at times. But she’d cross that bridge when she gets to it. All of these thoughts buzzed around Mana’s head until someone tapped her on the shoulder. It was when that she stopped walking and looked towards whoever that was.

It turned out to be a boy asking for directions. From the looks of things, he must’ve came from Kairos via the train station. Rarely any one from Paralia, as least from who Mana knew, asked for directions to anything in the city proper.

The people on the countryside do have a nice sort of politeness about them. Most of the ones that he passes great him with either a wave of a shouted but pleasant greeting, much different from the city dwellers. It does help ease him some and causes his interest to grow. The people that live so close are vastly different from each other, it’s amazing and Kaworu thinks that maybe he should spend more time here if there is time to spare.

The one that answers his question is around his age and seems extremely friendly. He allows himself to relax more, shoulders slacking like he was holding a breath. He looks over the piece of paper given to him to have a clear answer before words in response are spoken.